YOHOOO! PARTY ON! 50 REVIEWS! 50 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? It's like I received for each chapter 10 reviews! Keep on the good work! It's so nice to have people review!

I'm proud of this chapter for some reason. The end is quickly written. Perilous gladly pointed out that I had to write Lucius reaction to Hermione's legs. I had completely forgot it.

Sorry, sorry, sorry Julie! Triple time sorry! SORRY SORRY SORRY!

Perilous: I am a HG/SS worshipper as well! But for this plot, Lucius was just exactly what I needed.

Dragonsdaughter1 : Let's hope this story also has a good end ! (Can't assure a happy one, tho).

CarebearErin: I like this Lucius as well; he's different from the others, that's why I like him. Read and see his reaction to Hermione's leg loss!

Gcho831: I hate cliffie too! Therefore: new chappie!

The-Sexy-Flower: Oh my Godness! I'm so truly SORRY I didn't mention you in my thank yous! It's really mean of me! Please, do forgive me. This chapter is dedicated to you! I'll be ready to do whatever you want in compensation. Oh- and I just finished reading your both stories. I liked "Ready or Not" the best.

Sirael: …. Ok,- I'm scared now. Chapter five is gulp… Perfect? (Are you sure about your mental health?) I feel really, really pressurized about this chapter; is it good?
And yes, definitely yes, I write the best when Lucius and Hermione interact. The discussions and feelings come very easily.

Pooh! Minor fuck-up here. Sorry. Me bad. I have to correct it somehow. (1/2 later). Phew! Hope I fixed the end somehow.

I've put on some peppermint socks and lit my thinking box: how about a weekly update? Each week one chapter appears? Yay or NAY?

My Dirty Little Secret.

Art: the more expensive it is, the better it is. Lucius disagreed. Art wasn't always beauty; people killed sometimes art by selling it. Copies were made of one painting; to see one type of beauty made you immune against it after a time.

Therefore, Hermione was a safe bet; she was never the same. Lucius knew that she now very different from the Hermione who had been in Hogwarts.

Lucius bend down towards Hermione's face. She couldn't look any lovelier than this. Her cheeks were wet, as was her hair, her dress crumpled on her body. Her breasts expanded under her tedious breathing and her lips were very red. The rest of her face was even whiter than before, looking unreal in the sunlight.

He placed his legs and lower body between her legs, and bent down, resting the weight of his utter body on his elbows. Hermione's head rested on only one cushion. Lucius rectified this immediately by dragging under Hermione more pillows.

The girls eyes were closed, her breathing quick, but she tried to calm it down. He saw her eyes move underneath her eyelids. When Hermione was comfortably installed (her shoulders relaxed a bit), Lucius inhaled sharply, taking in her scent.

He exhaled slowly, carefully blowing the air on her forehead. Hermione couldn't stand it anymore and opened her eyes. He brushed his nose against her unplucked eyebrows. He loved how naturally beautiful Hermione was. The only perfume she had on was her deodorant, her calves weren't shaved (the hair was so light you couldn't really see them against her sun kissed legs); she smelled slightly like vanilla soap and milk. She was health. She was true.

"- You are beautiful. Therefore, you are truth."

Hermione's eyes widened, her pupil eating up her iris. Her body tensed. He was rubbing himself against her, kissing and probing her, in mock tenderness. But was it mock tenderness? Maybe he believed in what he said.

His weight, his heat, his presence were intolerable. Hermione would have done anything to have back the force in her legs so she could kick off her tormentor. Alas she couldn't do anything. His elbows were in the space between her arms and torso, but just some of his weight was on her arms. For now he didn't hurt her; but she knew that if she started to squirm, he'll use his body weight to immobilize her.

So she did the only thing she could to create a distraction with: she talked.

" -Beauty isn't a criterion for truth. "

Lucius was slightly taken aback. He stopped his ministrations, much to Hermione's relief. His eyes softened a bit, and he passed his hand in her hair, noticing how soft and unctuous it was. He felt the strange urge to bite into it. Her hair looked good enough to eat. He finally understood what the term 'Visual Treat' triggered in people.

He passed his hand again and again in her hair. It annoyed Hermione inconsiderably. It reminded her of her father; he always brushed Hermione's hair when she was little. Per se, the caress wasn't bad; but the fact of feeling a man old enough to be her father (literally, his son was in her school year) between her legs made her sick in her stomach psychologically. It was incestuous and wrong.

" -Of course it does; what is beauty is truth. The rest is just invention. "

"- The criterions for beauty change."

Hermione searched for his eyes. He felt it and he bent down so that his hair hid them in a white curtain. He bent down so closely, his eyes melted into one and Hermione tried to block her breath from inhaling the same air as him.

" - So does truth"

She couldn't have agreed more. But she didn't want him to know that. The problem with Hermione was that she was an intellectual. She knew how to recognize one; a real intelligent person. Many people are considered smart just because they pretend to understand a situation. They often betray themselves by saying this one sentence: "There is nothing to understand". In the context, it might make one blush and feel stupid; but really, if you think about it, the person is just a wholesome cretin. Intellectuals are individuals that just wait to be contradicted.

Hermione wanted to know everything, but sadly enough, she had come to point where she simply knew too much. She wished she still could hope for help, convict herself she had a chance to get away. But she knew also that right now, for the moment being, she couldn't do anything. She could just wait and see and try to keep Lucius at bay all by herself.

Hermione tipped her head backwards, clearly showing her disinterest. Lucius felt this and put his head on her breasts, just for a split second, the time of a heartbeat. He walked off from the bed.

The girl sighed softly in relief and felt for the first time how exhausted she was. He bent down and passed the blanket he had taken from her earlier on her frail body. Hermione closed her eyes, and turned slightly to the side, shifting her legs so they didn't hurt.

Lucius felt the strange urge of kissing her as he saw form in the bed. He bowed, placing a tender kiss on her soft cheek.

The movement was so tender, so pure, so childlike and chaste she almost felt his adoration as a gift. She smiled, seeing the irony of the situation.

"-You are supposed to hate me; your inner Death Eater should be screaming outrage right now.

"- Hermione, you have to try something before saying whether you like it or not."

"- You are talking about your Death Eater membership as if it was food."

"- I never thought it that way. But then again, it is a bit like that."

She curled up, passing the soft, crisp fabric of the blanket over her face, hiding herself. This reminded Lucius of his child days when he waked up his parents really early in the morning and his parents hid under their cover to escape from the sun.

"- No offence, but we will never understand each other."

"- I love things I cannot comprehend."

Hermione's eyes opened violently under the covers. She said often exactly the same thing. This immerged the memories of her friends and Hogwarts. Yet as soon as she saw their faces and felt them near her, she tried to repress them. She wanted them away; she couldn't afford to think of them.

She might do something rash that could end in her being dead. Or worse, - she might start to cry.

"- You are insane."

"- I am not. Being insane is to things you cannot explain why you do them; I can explain why I do what I do."

Hermione nodded, not daring to peek out from the covers. Everything might become too true then. Better she stayed undercover (she smiled at the word game). She was going to hide. But only for now. She will be brave and fight later. For now, she would just rest. Just rest and not talk anymore.

Lucius watched Hermione fall asleep again and when he was sure that she definitely was away with Morphée, he rose up from his chair and silently left the room.

Lucius walked half way down the spiral and then he sat down. The wall of stone was cool against his back and Lucius breathed in and out very slowly. He had a problematic dilemma: Hermione's legs.

He knew they were severely damaged. Although he didn't have good notion of inner anatomy, he knew that Hermione's tendons had been cut off. He also understood that she paralyzed from the knee down to some extent.

This had its advantages as well; Hermione couldn't flee. She was dependent of him; therefore he became the most important person in her life. Of course her loss of mobility would force Lucius to always be around her. But maybe it wasn't such a bad thing; he had a valid excuse to be with her all the time.

But her legs closed a whole spectrum of things. Lucius couldn't run after her or dance with her or watch her swim naked. But in return, she couldn't run away from him. He was lucid enough to realize that Hermione was anything but pleased about this kidnapping. But he was everything she had now.

Maybe, just maybe, her legs being maimed could his ticket for her love and comprehension. He knew she hated him; but if love can turn to hate, can't hate turn to love? But did he really want to love her?

Love is a very natural feeling; very few people can't love. But comprehension, not compassion, but comprehension was very difficult to obtain. Often you couldn't define clearly your feelings and to find someone who could understand feelings like you is quasi impossible to find. So, if Lucius could obtain Hermione's comprehension, he wouldn't care if she didn't love him. That would be so much more than some other people would have. But he also knew it will require time.

Post Author's Note: Review, review, review...