Falsity
Just A Penniless Writer
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Part 4: The First Signs of Life
"And so, Miss Granger, that brings us to the beginning of the very… public… game the two of you have been playing for the last few months."
"And so it would. The Friday following Lucius' birthday, I completed my first mission as Helen Wright, Lucius' new love-interest. It was a dinner party at a rather nice restaurant in Diagon Alley, held by Mr. Alias Barnum, a former business acquaintance of Lucius."
"Did everything go smoothly?"
"More or less."
When she stumbled into the Room of Requirement after classes on Friday, she was beyond exhausted. Homework, still done to her high standards, was now only part of her burden. Her evenings were taken up by etiquette training with Madam Pince, and she woke early in the mornings to practice while the rest of the school slept.
Thinking over the numerous rules she had read about during the week, she realized exactly how patriarchal the system was. Madam Pince had ruthlessly and continually reminded her that female opinions had no place while men were speaking. That had struck a nerve in the frazzled girl as she had never been one to submit. She was doing this to prove the worth of the Muggle-born, but now that she thought of it, she was also doing this to prove the fortitude of women.
She would have to be strong. Her manners would have to be beyond reproach even if her attitude was not. She would not be obnoxious, merely equal.
And all this would be so much easier were she not so extremely tired.
Taking out the outfit provided for her use this evening, she began the painstaking process of fitting into the garment. After half an hour, she was about ready to give it up and call the entire deal off. She was tired, she was sore, and she was stuck in a dress.
And that's exactly how Draco found her.
"You're not ready yet! He's expecting you in half an hour!"
"I know, I know! But this dress isn't exactly easy!"
Setting down the Portkey to be used for her departure, he went over and began pulling down the dress. Almost immediately, it began to take less the form of a beautiful bag and more like a lovely gown. She hated to say she was impressed.
"But…how?"
"My mother didn't trust the house-elves to assist with some of her more priceless robes."
"What happened to your mother?"
"She was a bitch."
Hermione, not knowing quite how to respond to that, decided it best to remain silent.
"No, that's not quite fair," Draco continued as he began the process of buttoning the long line of buttons down her back while she absently began on a sleeve. "She's not so much a bitch as she is set in her ways. When Father came back from Azkaban, he was different, and she wasn't willing to go through that. She had already been having enough difficulties with him spending all that money to fund the Dark Lord. She couldn't keep up with him, and she didn't want to."
"Oh…"
"I wouldn't worry about it. Her letter and care package last week said she was spending time in her new villa in Magical Tuscany. You shouldn't come across her."
"Oh. Well, that's good."
Having completed dressing the girl, Draco turned her around and began the spells to change her back into Helen. However, even when those were completed, something was most definitely off.
"You're tired."
"I've been busy."
"You cannot go to this party looking like you'd rather be asleep. Father will be most disappointed."
"I know. I will wake up when I get there."
Eyeing her with obvious disbelief, he pulled a vial from his robes and held it tauntingly in front of her. The green liquid was practically sparkling with energy.
"Invigoration Draught?" she asked with happy relief.
"Enhanced Invigoration Draught."
"Enhanced?"
"A certain Potions master I know has a special recipe that diminishes the negative side-effects."
"Professor Snape gave you that?"
"Of course. I am his favorite student."
Huffing with displeasure, she eyed the vial hopefully.
"I suppose I could give it to you…" Draco drawled, and her eyes jumped to alertness. "For a price."
"How much?" she asked with determination. As much as she hated to say it, she really needed that potion to get through the night. It was too tempting not to inquire.
"Merely information."
"What do you want to know?"
"That dance you did for my father. The encore. Tell me, Granger, how exactly does the Gryffindor know-it-all know how to dance like that?"
She blushed even as she attempted to snatch the potion out of his hand, only for him to pull it out of her range.
"My mother," she mumbled.
"Your mother!"
"This summer I told my mother that I wasn't feeling very…girly of late. With guys as my best friends it is understandable, but there are times when even I want to be feminine. My mother happened to be reading some trashy novel at the time about the Middle East. In the book, the heroine had learned belly dance in order to seduce the ruler. I was bored as I'd already done all my summer work and read all my textbooks, so I looked into it. Everything said it was quite the challenging dance, so of course I had to try it. The difficulty only made it that much more entertaining."
"Of course, you would think that."
Ignoring him, she went on.
"After the war ended, my mother and I were trying to spend some quality time together before my final year. I mentioned offhand that I had been practicing belly dancing, and we shared a good laugh. When I came back to Hogwarts, I practiced once or twice a week. On my eighteenth birthday, my mum surprised me with the full dance ensemble."
"Your…your…mother bought you that outfit?" Draco spluttered.
"Yes."
"Dear Merlin, Muggles really are barbaric."
"It was a coming of age present, you pretentious pureblood!"
"Of course it was," he drawled in disbelief.
She merely glared and snatched the potion from his slack hand. Before he had time to protest, she had already removed the stopper and finished drinking it. Almost immediately she could feel new life entering her veins. It was quite the rush.
"Are you finally ready?"
She smiled in the face of his annoyance.
"I am most thoroughly prepared, Mister Malfoy."
And with a wink, she grabbed the Portkey, spoke the word of activation (the most adequately chosen 'courtesan'), and was transported from the room only to topple quite gracelessly into her employer's arms.
Lucius, now that he had a Plot after over a year of substantial Plotlessness, was perfectly ready to take gratuitous advantage of the opportunity presented to him.
"You are late, Miss Helen. I do believe I should be compensated for your lack of consideration."
She wanted to snap at him, had the perfect comment ready and everything. However, that would not serve her purpose. She had a Plan, after all.
"My utmost apologies, sir. Whatever can I do to reimburse you for the trouble I have caused?"
It was sickeningly sweet and said through practically grinding teeth, but maybe he would allot that to the fact that his grip was a bit too slack, she had yet to find her feet, and was therefore slipping steadily downward. Of course, he was well aware of her precarious position. He had, in fact, ensured it would occur. Therefore, he was more than willing to buy her words at face value.
"My price is so little, my dear. A kiss is all I require to forget your temporary lack of manners."
After all the late nights and early mornings all week studying precisely what he found lacking, she was beyond furious at his easy comment. However, she had by then become aware that he would not release her until she relented to his demands. And, really, was it so much to give him a kiss if it would save her the indignity of sliding to the floor?
It was with that idea in mind that she used the fistfuls of dark green robes she already had to pull herself closer to his confident, pointy face.
"Fine," she muttered as she lunged forward to give him an angry kiss. To her dismay, he pulled away.
"Tut, tut, tut, my pet. Like you mean it."
Taking in a deep calming breath and picturing all the good that would surely come from going through with the Deal, she leant toward him again as best as she could in her precarious position.
She was not unfamiliar with kissing. It was just that she was unaccustomed to kissing a male who wasn't drunk or making the first move. Thus it was that she did the first thing that came to mind.
Lucius, despite his warnings, fully expected her to do as little as she could get away with. Thus he was unprepared for the chaste, open mouthed kiss that was bestowed upon him. As it had been quite some time since his last contact with a woman, he intended to fully enjoy it. When she started to pull away, he stole a quick kiss, not much more than a sweep of lips, before righting her unstable footing in an effort to keep her from hearing his happy sigh. Hear it she did, but she misinterpreted it as that of a horny man wishing for more.
Perhaps she hadn't entirely misinterpreted it.
Still safe in their delusions, neither seemed to notice the other was experiencing similar lingering feelings of pleasantness. Instead, she merely straightened her already crumpled dress robes as he dusted imaginary dirt from his sleeves.
When they were done with their grooming, he motioned for her to take his arm so he could Apparate them. However, before he could finish saying the words, he noticed something that had earlier evaded his keen gaze.
Her eyes, Helen's beautiful blue eyes, were a lovely shade of brown.
"What?" she asked self consciously as he continued to stare at her face.
"Your eyes…were they not blue?"
Gasping, she immediately turned to the gilded mirror on the hallway wall. She took note of her changed features to see immediately that yes, her eyes, formerly spelled blue, had returned to the familiar brown.
The potion! Of course, regular Invigoration Draught had some effects against Illusion charms. She was just lucky the enhanced version hadn't completely destroyed her new appearance. Damn, she'd been so bloody tired she hadn't even thought about it.
But what to tell him? Grasping at straws in search of an explanation, she turned to face him again.
"Do you not like them? Would you prefer I return them to blue?"
"Is this your natural coloring? It's quite…fitting. No, keep them brown. I prefer it."
It was wrong to blush at such a strange compliment from such a conceited man. Or perhaps it was because he was so conceited that the compliment made her blush. Regardless, her cheeks reddened and she tightened her grip on his forearm.
"Thank you, but we'd best be on our way," she said softly.
"Yes, we should," he mumbled softly in return. Internally, he was wondering why, with her pink cheeks and brown eyes, he was suddenly reminded of Hermione Granger at the Quidditch World Cup some years ago. Discarding it as a fluke memory, he pulled her closer and they disappeared in favor of their new destination.
"And that was your first sign, of the necessary three in the 'Do Not Recognize' spell, that 'Helen Wright' was, in fact, Hermione Granger?" the Auror asked pointedly.
"Yes," Lucius clipped with no small amount of tedium.
"But you thought nothing of it?"
"Of course, I didn't. It was preposterous to be thinking of another woman, particularly one I was not fond of at that moment, while I was holding perfection in my arms."
The Auror merely raised an eyebrow. Lucius merely smirked as he thought how that particular expression was wasted on such a man. Really, some people just couldn't do it properly.
"The dinner party, Mr. Malfoy, was in honor of Mr. Alias Barnum in a private dining room at Magnifique in Diagon Alley?"
"Yes."
"And how did Miss Granger, as Miss Wright, take her introduction into Wizarding High Society."
"She did most wonderfully…until some fool had to mention punishing a house-elf."
"That was your second sign?"
"It was so much more than just that. There was almost no living with her after that."