Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the character Kuro
A/N: Okay….hope you enjoy. Please don't forget to review.
Chapter Seven
Vampires
It was sudden…like a storm—the panic that surged through Lucius Malfoy's body. He had seen that man's picture…studied it even. He knew who was standing there looking Hermione over like she was his next delectable meal. Lucius felt nothing in the air…no enchantment…no spell coming from this vampire. It was Hermione. He recognized it. There was a look of total comfort and familiarity on her face and Lucius began to worry.
Was this who was comforting her in her sleep?
"Father?"
Lucius heard his son's voice from behind him…the direction of the house.
"Why are you not with her," Lucius asked through gritted teeth and with a tone that rang with a bit of panic.
"She said she was a bit chilly in the breeze," Draco said holding up a pair of jeans and t-shirt. "She asked me to grab these off her bed. What is going on," Draco asked noticing Hermione's deep interest in the vampire and the surrounding Death Eaters.
"Trouble, Draco. Get back to the house. Now."
Draco didn't have to be told twice. With a curt nod, Draco backed up into the dark and Lucius heard the faint sound of him disapparating. Lucius' eyes had not left Hermione for even a second though. Kuro whispered something. Lucius didn't hear it, but it was obvious by the look of recognition on Hermione's face that not only had she heard him, it wasn't the first time she had heard whatever it was he said.
Merlin, he hated that look on her face…he hated Kuro even more for being the one to create it, for being the cause of that look.
It really was beautiful…all blood issues aside.
The breeze pushing her hair back over her shoulder, the completely relaxed look on her face with the slight smile on her lips...it was hypnotizing to Lucius no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. It was a look a vampire should not be creating. Like his son, he noticed the surrounding Death Eaters and began to worry…to wrack his brain for a way to get to her, to take her away from that vampire.
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Those words…those words she dreamt of him saying, spoke to her very soul…spoke of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Hermione wasn't a slow girl though. She noticed the movement around her…the Death Eaters that were dispersed in the crowd, slowly moving toward her.
Part of her, some part of her that held the memory of this man's arms wrapped protectively around her urged her to run toward him. He would protect her…he would die for her…he would kill for her. That thought, that feeling was frightening. She was hyperaware of everything around her…even Lucius standing a good distance away behind her. Somehow she could see him and he was worried, panicked trying to figure out a way to save her.
He was willing to save her…he was desperate to save her.
Lucius' eyes darted around nervously. He had to get to her. He had just stepped forward when he saw her move. It was sudden. It was quick, yet his mind would replay it over and over in his mind in slow motion so he could appreciate her every move while he slept. Her hair swirled around her head, falling down her back as she turned quickly and began to run through the crowd as fast as she could straight toward Lucius. She knew exactly where he was and was doing everything she could to get there.
Lucius had taken another step forward, wanting to run for her, but at the same time he needed to keep an eye on the Death Eaters moving faster toward her. Her hair streaked through the air behind her. No one around seemed to notice the panic that surrounded her. The Death Eaters closed in on her the closer she got to Lucius.
It was automatic, intuitive, total instinct that had Lucius hold his arms open for the young woman. He felt her small frame collide with his much larger one…curling into him as if his being alone could hide her. His arms immediately wrapped around her, pressing her closer to him if it were possible before turning on the spot and disapparating away with the young woman in his arms.
Their sudden apparition into the safe house was anything but graceful. It was a landing Lucius Malfoy would easily have paid witnesses to forget. They apparated in such a strange position that they crumpled to the floor immediately. Draco looked down shocked and amused at the sudden appearance and tangled fall of his father and Hermione.
Lucius, upon the rough landing, immediately moved one hand from around Hermione and moved it up to her cheek where he placed it there in a half attempt to grab her head and make her look up at him. She was crumpled on top of him, very aware that he still had one arm around her waist as if he were keeping her there.
"Are you alright," he asked in a most un-Lucius like fashion.
Hermione couldn't answer immediately. The out of character actions…responses from Lucius had thrown her completely off track. It made her stop and think very slowly about what he asked and how to go about answering it while a large part of her mind tried to work out what exactly that was she was seeing in his eyes and hearing in his voice.
She opened her mouth to respond, but instead she let out a squeak of surprise as she was hauled off Lucius by a very forceful hand.
"Why must I always find the two of you on top of each other like hormone crazed teenagers?" Severus stood there, keeping a hold of Hermione's arm while he glared down at Lucius. "She technically is a teenager, Lucius. What is your excuse?"
"Severus," Lucius said in a sardonic greeting as he stood up.
Hermione though was not happy. She jerked her arm out of Severus' grip, getting his attention in the process.
"I am of perfect legal age to be on top of whoever I wish," Hermione stated with no hidden annoyance in her voice.
Severus watched with a raised eyebrow as she stormed up the stairs toward her room. When he heard the slamming of her door, Severus turned that raised eyebrow to Lucius.
"Indeed," Severus said in response to Hermione's statement, but he was clearly searching Lucius over for any signs of previous inappropriate behavior.
Lucius chose to ignore Severus' attempt at intimidation. He stood there brushing his clothes off and flicking any bits of dirt he thought he saw there in order to maintain his impeccable appearance.
"Tell me, Severus. Does it upset you to find that…young woman on top of me because you think of her as a daughter…the daughter you and Lily could have had or," Lucius said pausing for a moment as he looked up from his cleaning ritual to observe Severus' discomfort. "Or is it because she reminds you of Lily? Interested in knowing what else of Hermione is very much like Lily?"
Draco's eyes couldn't go any wider as he watched Severus dive toward Lucius. Why was his father tormenting Severus like that? Severus was seething. How dare he? He wanted to get a hold of Lucius and tear him apart. He started to question Lucius' sanity…Lucius' ability and willingness to protect Hermione. Draco was shocked when Severus' fist made contact with Lucius' jaw. He was even more shocked when his father hit Severus back. Though if Draco was honest he knew he shouldn't have been surprised…not too surprised anyway. His father had been known to get into out right fist fights before—with Arthur Weasley for example.
Hermione stepped out of her room, fully dressed now and stood in shock at the top of the stairs watching Lucius and Severus fighting as if no one else was there watching their barbaric behavior. She stormed down the stairs not willing to allow them to destroy her house the way Lucius and Arthur destroyed the bookstore during their fight.
They were face to face, Lucius ready to punch Snape again when Hermione appeared by them, squeezing her way between them and placing a hand on each man's chest as if to keep them away from each other.
"That is bloody well enough."
Lucius and Severus both looked down at her slightly shocked at the strength the slip of a young woman held within her. Her cheeks were flushed in anger as she looked between the two supposed grown men.
"Unbelievable," she said with a bit more than a hint of sarcasm.
With a stern look Hermione pointed Severus toward an arm chair noting the black eye forming. With a glare toward Lucius as if in warning, he turned and sat in the chair. Hermione turned to look at Lucius. He wouldn't even look at her. The red swelling around his jaw told her where Severus had hit him.
"Sit down, Lucius," Hermione hissed at him pointing toward the sofa.
"What did you say," Lucius asked in total disbelief that Hermione had just used his first name in such a manner.
Her eyes cut up to him. Lucius took note of the look in her eyes and the flush of anger on her cheeks and though he liked it immensely…though it reminded him of how she looked during the final battle…he realized why the Potter boy usually always did what she said.
Lucius sat down.
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the two men, foot tapping in agitation.
"I would have thought that both of you would have believed yourselves to be above such barbaric behavior," she said looking between the two like a mother scolding her children.
Draco was amused by the whole scene to the point of standing by the large windows stifling his laughter. That proved to be his first mistake. At the sound of his snickering, Hermione's fire filled eyes turned to him.
"And you," she said. "You just stood here and watched?"
Draco's mouth opened as if in disbelief that she was now putting the blame on him.
"You can't just barge in the middle of something like that," Draco said to his defense.
That was his second mistake.
Hermione turned her full body to face Draco.
"Well, I did," she said.
"Yea, well, we can't all be Gryffindors."
And that was Draco's third mistake.
Her wand was out. Lucius and Severus watched as she touched and caressed her wand with a slightly evil glint in her eye as she looked from her wand to Draco.
"No, Draco. We can't all be Gryffindors. Perhaps you need reminding of exactly what it is that makes me irrefutably Gryffindor?"
Draco shook his head no remembering the feeling of being trapped with no where to go and the feel of her fist smashing into his face.
"Good," Hermione said sticking her wand back in her pocket. "Then go to the kitchen and get me two ice packs."
Draco nodded curtly and ran off to the kitchen only to return seconds later with the two ice packs. She took them both. With one she walked up to Severus and slammed it hard onto his eye causing him to wince in pain as he replaced her hand with his to keep the ice pack in place. She walked over to Lucius and sat on the sofa next to him. With light fingers on the side of his chin not bruised and swollen, she gently turned his head to better see. Then she took the ice pack and with just as much, if not more strength than she used on Severus' she slammed the pack onto the blemished skin. He hissed in pain as he took the pack from her hands and glared at her.
Obviusly Hermione Granger was not a woman to be trifled with…which made it all the more fun.
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When Hermione went to bed that night it was with the knowledge that just down the stairs sat Lucius and Severus discussing what the next thing to do was…how best to keep Hermione safe. Still they would not tell her who that man was on the beach…the man she felt so connected to. When she asked she was met with a strained silence and odd looks between the men. They shared the secret of who he was and Hermione was not part of that club nor was she invited.
She felt a bit safer going to her room and going to bed knowing they were down there. Part of her wondered why she feared sleeping in there. After all, did she not have that overwhelming sense of safety when she was faced with that Kuro character on the beach? Didn't she feel that it was he who was entering her room and it was he who was offering her that protection in the night?
Hermione closed her eyes…drifting off to sleep with nothing but the soft sound of the waves crashing along the beach and the incoherent murmurings of Severus and Lucius down stairs.
She didn't know what time it was. She just knew that at some point in the silence of the night she felt the rising panic in her chest only to have it quickly abated with a warm protection. She didn't shy away from the feeling…she didn't fear it…she welcomed it with a soft moan and a slight shift to get as close to that warmth as she could…that warmth was protection…that warmth was a connection.
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He was a lone figure sitting in the throne like seat. No one else was in the large room…just the man on the platform staring out over the empty room as his finger tips slowly caressed over his lips in thought. The girl…that girl…the key. His obsession with her had always been just that…an obsession. She had something; she was the key to something very important to him and his family. The stones had confirmed as much. That explained his obsession with her.
His fingers moved slowly.
He didn't really see the room around him, but the beach and Hermione standing there before him.
It was the first time Monogatari Kuro had ever felt fear.
How could he feel fear…fear toward those he was to lead? No, it was fear about her safety. He knew what most of those men wanted to do to her…and none of it involved a painless death. "My pet" took on a different meaning the moment he was face to face with a Hermione that was awake and all but asking him to come to her.
The room surrounding him came into focus as the sound of the doors opening and the echoing sound of footsteps in the large room brought him back to reality. His dark eyes looked up watching Chi cross the room with a box. With a toss of his head, Chi flung his black hair out of his eyes and came to a stop by an extravagant looking end table. He sat the box on it and then pushed his dark rimmed glasses up on his face as he smiled rather slyly.
"Is that it," Kuro ask softly.
Chi nodded.
Kuro stood up and walked down from the platform to the little end table and opened the box looking at the finery that lay inside.
"Has this crossed any Death Eater's hands?"
At his question Chi looked at Kuro curiously.
"No, I did as you asked."
"You know," Chi said clearing his throat. "Ayame was concerned this would happen…that you would somehow fall for the key, for an outsider in more than one way."
Kuro narrowed his eyes at his uncle. Yes, Ayame would have something to say about Kuro's…interest in Hermione beyond her use as the key to save them. He was a sour melancholy man. He was the only one of them to have married since the first vampire in the family and as such outlived not only his wife, but his child—forced to watch his great-grand-daughter from a safe distance so that she may never have know what it means to be a Monogatari. Yes, he would not approve of Kuro's interest.
But Ayame was not head of the family.
"You are the future head of this family, not to mention the Crown Prince…," Chi began, but was quickly cut off by the death glare from Kuro and his words that held the threat of growing louder.
"Rui has already said he will not step down until I am ready."
Chi sighed.
"Kuro…what? Are you going to give the throne up for this witch?"
Kuro closed the box up and handed it back to Chi without answering him.
"You know what to do with it."
Chi held the box under his arm as he pushed his glasses back up his face shaking his head slightly. His footsteps echoed in the empty room.
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They were safe inside the house. That's what was decided. Hermione Granger could no longer leave the bounds the charm had on the grounds of the house. That meant no more little outings. It niggled at Hermione's mind. Part of her wanted another encounter with this unknown man—to find out exactly what pulled her toward him, but then another part of her mind kept replaying the feel of Lucius Malfoy wrapping his arms around her.
She looked over the edge of her toast as she nibbled on it. Lucius had the Daily Prophet laid out before him glancing through the head lines as he ate his breakfast. His hair was tied back today. Hermione's eyes scanned over his features, her mind continuously replaying the feeling of his arms again.
"Yes, Miss Granger," Lucius asked not bothering to look up from his paper.
Hermione dropped her toast when Lucius spoke. Draco snorted into his pumpkin juice. Lucius folded the paper back up and leaned slightly over the table toward Hermione.
"It is not polite to stare, Miss Granger."
Lucius was excellent at the stoic faces. So excellent that Hermione would never have guessed how much he enjoyed seeing that blush creep across her cheeks. Draco stood up from the table, taking his plate to the sink. Hermione watched him go, but he didn't return. She was left alone on the veranda with Lucius. He watched her push her food nervously around her plate. She took quite a tiny bite and looked up. Lucius had one eyebrow raised up wondering if she could even taste the food she just put in her mouth.
Hermione felt frozen under his gaze for a moment. She recalled the strange look and the rushing panic she saw in him the night before. Lucius observed the way her eyes grew as if she could read his thoughts. He wondered briefly if she could. Hermione was good, but she wasn't that good. He watched her gather the remaining dishes noting how she did not finish her meal and scurry off to the kitchen. Lucius watched her go. He almost lost her last night…someone else was almost taken. That just wouldn't do.
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Rabastan stormed through the room with Rodolphus and a few other Death Eaters following behind.
"I thought you said he would be different…he wouldn't care if we killed the Mudblood."
Rabastan turned his narrowed angry eyes to the young Death Eater.
"Obviously I was mistaken," Rabastan snarled. "He made it very clear last night. We will be allowed to finish what the Dark Lord started…what that Mudblood fixed. He assures me that she will be punished adequately for her error in the matter, but punished by his hand only."
"So what do we do for now," Rodolphus asked.
Rabastan turned from the dancing fire in the fireplace and looked over the faces of those he considered to be the faithful Death Eaters.
"We have a plan…for the night of the ball."
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Hermione knew she was a witch and that any of the Malfoys would probably say something rude to her muggle way of doing dishes, but she was deep in thought. It was driving her crazy not knowing who exactly that person was and knowing that upstairs in Lucius' room was a file with his name on it.
So, who exactly is Monogatari Kuro?
She took a deep contemplative sigh and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the slight pressure of Lucius behind her placing a tea cup in the sink. He sat the tea cup down and remained behind her as if trapping her there.
"You are aware under the current circumstances I cannot allow you to go shopping for a dress for the ball?"
Hermione closed her eyes trying to will away the shivering feeling she got when Lucius' breath caressed her ear with his words. He still wasn't moving.
"I…I can transfigure something," she nearly whispered.
"Hmmm…yes, I suppose you can," he said…still not having left his position.
Lucius couldn't say why he was still there…just that he didn't want to leave. She would be safe and he would make sure of it…but why?
"Wh…who is Monogatari Kuro?"
With her words Lucius was snapped into the here and now.
"What," he asked.
"That was the name on the file…the name of the man on the beach. Who is he?"
Lucius thought about what to say. Then he took two fingers and gently slid them down her neck from behind her ear to her bare shoulders slowly moving the spaghetti strap of her shirt off her shoulder in the process.
"He's a vampire…a very unique vampire."
She was shaking before Lucius said those words. With those words she dropped the tea cup she held and it shattered in the sink.
"Oh, Merlin!"
In her panicked nervous attempt to scoop it up, she inadvertently shoved a piece of the tea cup into the palm of her hand. When she cried out in pain she quickly found herself facing Lucius as he had swirled her around to face him and was holding her hand looking at her wound. She began to twist her hand out of his grip which caused him to look at her instead of her wound.
"I need to go clean it," she said in a whisper again.
He watched her run from the room like he was a poisonous snake.
Hermione's heart was pounding.
What the bloody hell was that about?
She was scared and nervous at the same time. What did Lucius mean by "unique vampire?" When she stumbled out of her bathroom with a freshly bandaged hand she saw the box.
It sat on her bed as if she had left it there.
She stepped toward it and with a quick flick of her wand determined there was no spell associated with the box or its contents…no hex…nothing. She carefully opened the box to find a gorgeous dress in such a deep dark shade of red it was nearly black. She smiled…who sent her this? Who wanted to see her in it?
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He watched her walk into the Great Hall between the two Malfoys. She was wearing the dress…the dress he chose for her…the dress he wanted to see her in…the dress made for her. The hall was full of laughter, music, celebration of a war won and of the lives lost in the process and the joy of being one of the lucky ones.
From where he was at he could see her two friends, Potter and Weasley, both looked amazed at her. It stirred a bout of jealousy within him. She was looking around. He wondered if she could feel his presence.
Lucius.
He looked disgruntled…put out…bothered by the girl's presence.
Still she looked around. He watched her dance with her friends…he watched her greet professors…he watched her appear to argue with the Weasley boy…he watched Lucius watching her as if he had some right to do so…some claim on her.
Kuro smiled.
She was alone. She wanted to be left alone…he could tell. She was looking around though and Kuro saw this…saw this chance. He moved through the shadows of the room inching closer and closer to her, feeling the pull she had on him.
He would have her.
He would hold her and dance with her.
She was the key and he would have that key.
A/N: Kuro Fans: As I said, Kuro is simply leaving his world to come play in the HP world for a bit. I have started a LJ for Kuro's real story. There is a link on my profile page…I would love the feedback.
Also…the family stuff for Kuro in this chapter: My LJ has his family tree posted if you would like to see.
next chapter: takes you back to right before the ball, Lucius's reaction to Hermione, what is going on in Hermione's side of the ball, a bit of news for Hermione and what exactly is Hermione researching? And where is she going?
I know the stuff with Kuro is confusing, but I can't give it all away at once now can I?