Disclaimer: J.K.ROWLING! Hehee... Darn can't wait for HBP

Chapter 18 : The Talk

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"Ah... There you are, Miss Granger. It's lovely to see you again."

Hermione turned to see her host standing behind her.

Lucius Malfoy.

"What do you want, Malfoy." Hermione

"Tsk, tsk... Now, now Miss Granger... why not have dinner first before we talk?" Lucius gestured to the table laden with food in front of her.

"No... I won't. I will never eat nor even touch anything in your house." Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Oh come now Miss Granger... will I ever poison my own food? I'm hungry and my stomach is growling as we speak." Lucius told her.

Hermione frown. This man standing in front of her doesn't sound or look like Lucius Malfoy at all. He seemed... different. What was different?

"Who are you and what have you done to Lucius Malfoy?" she asked.

Lucius Malfoy smirked, walked pass her and sat down on the chair at the end of the table.

"Come and sit down, Miss Granger... and I'll answer all your questions over dinner." Lucius pointed to the chair next to him.

Hermione reluctantly walked over to the chair and sat down gingerly on the edge, keeping an eye on the platinum-haired guy beside her. A plate suddenly appeared in front of her and a whole set meal slowly filled her plate. Lucius had already tucked into his meal and he was clearly hungry. After a few seconds, Lucius noticed that Hermione had not even touched her food.

"Go on, Eat... you'll need your strength to talk." He shook his head and went back to eating his meal.

Hermione picked up her fork and stared at the meal in front of her. One whiff from it and she realized that she was indeed hungry. She had skipped lunch and she had little to eat during breakfast. Hermione picked on the meat and gingerly nibbled on it, once in a while looking up at the man beside her. Lucius saw this and he laugh.

"Miss Granger, please... you don't have to be so well-mannered in front of me. Not after what I did..." His eyes glittered and Hermione saw something in his eyes. Wait... was that... Regret? No, it can't be. Lucius Malfoy is a Bastard. He cursed Severus. Keep nibbling.

Halfway through the dinner, Lucius felt that it was time to answer her questions, since the last fifteen minutes she had been watching her with curiosity in her eyes and it really did annoy him. He hated being watched when he was eating. Who doesn't?

"Okay then, Miss Granger... What is it that you want to ask me?" Lucius went on cutting his meat.

"Who are you and what have you done to Lucius Malfoy?" She frowns when Lucius started to laugh. It wasn't a loud one; it was a small one... kind of like not wanting to but couldn't help it.

"I am Lucius Malfoy. What makes you ask that question?" He ate the meat while looking at her straight in the eyes.

"Well, for one... You don't seem so..." Hermione frown, trying to find the perfect word for his sudden change.

"... seem so uptight?" He answered her. There was a pause before she nodded at him. Lucius gave her a sad smirk.

"I'm tired... Miss Granger. Tired of being what I am not. Tired of being... used... of being toyed." There was a faraway look in his eyes as he said this. Hermione was curious. Used? Toyed?

"After the Dark Lords'... Voldermort'... death... I thought I could live my life the way I wanted it. I wanted to be free; I wanted to spend time with my family away from all these... these pretenses!" He was looking around him and there was anger in his face. "I know that being pureblooded I have to be proud about it. I am proud... and it's because of the pride in me... I joined Voldermorts group."

Lucius stood up and walked slowly to the window near him.

"Oh it was fun at first. Torturing the other wizards, forcing them to either join us or die... I did take pleasure in all of it. It was a few years ago did I realize that I was blind. Blind in seeing what I've done, blind to see what a monster Voldermort really was." Lucius gripped the edge of the windowsill, seeing the raindrops fall and stick to it.

Hermione really did not know what he was trying to say but she just kept quiet while he kept on talking.

"You remember the day Narcissa died?" He turned his head to the side, not really looking at her.

"Er...Yes. June fourteenth, 1995. She committed suicide though Harry, Ron and Me knew it was not suicide." Hermione glared at Lucius. When they had heard of Narcissa Malfoy's death, they were surprised to hear the cause of it and contemplated that Lucius had killed her.

"Yes... it wasn't suicide... What do you think caused her death?" He asked her again, this time turning to regard her.

"We thought you killed her." Hermione set her chin straight and looked into his eyes bravely.

Lucius smirked and nodded.

"Yes... I did."

Hermione was startled to see his smirk falter and his gaze fell to a sad look.

"I did it because I was under the Imperius Curse."

Hermione frown. No don't believe him. She had heard of Lucius being the great actor that he was from Severus. He could turn the puppy dog look and many would swoon over his story, leaving him scot free.

"I don't believe you..."

Lucius looked up to set his gaze level with hers.

"Let me ask you, Hermione..." Hermione flinched, hearing her name on his lips, "... will you kill Severus just like that? For no reason?"

"No... I wouldn't."

"Why won't you?"

"Because I love him... I will never hurt him... no matter what people say."

There was a pause.

"No matter what the tell you?" He asked.

"No..."

"Because you love him?"

"Yes..."

"Then what makes you think I will kill Narcissa? I know what people say about me and Narcissa but believe me; I love her with all my heart. When Draco was born and we found out that she couldn't bear anymore child as it will affect her health, I gave them both my love. I didn't care about the rest of the world... I wanted to give them the best the world ever had. I wanted to make them feel loved and not neglected." Lucius had been pacing back and forth in front of her as he was talking.

Hermione could see the anger in his face, the determination as he spoke about his family and the love in his eyes as he speaks about Narcissa and Draco.

"Narcissa was unhappy about me joining Voldermorts' group but we knew it can't be helped and kept quiet through everything. A few weeks before Narcissa's death, Voldermort wanted me to persuade Draco to join our group. Narcissa didn't agree to it. No matter how hard I try to persuade her, she wouldn't let Draco take the mark. It was then when I knew it was because of her love for our son did she decline the Dark Lords order."

Lucius sat down on his chair and pushed the plate forward. In seconds, the plate dissapeared.

"When the Dark Lord found out about Narcissa's so called betrayal, he was outraged. He wanted to punish her for it but I begged for him to release her. He relented at first but he hinted that he was getting impatient about it and I had gone nowhere with the persuading. Finally, one night... the Dark Lord cast the Imperio on me... and ordered me..." Lucius made a choking sound and turned away.

Hermione heard some sniffling from Lucius and was surprised to see tears in his eyes. Now Hermione didn't know what to believe. Lucius really was very convincing.

Lucius shook his head and wiped his tears away. He turned to Hermione and gave her a smile.

"Anyways... If am not mistaken, Congratulations are in order."

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" He grinned...

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