I don't own HP, ok? Ok. J.K. owns everything and I don't make any money here.

AN: Ok, dudes and dudettes, I need you to trust me here, ok? You trust me? Good. Then keep in mind that trust and all the reassurances as you read this and the coming chapters.

Also, you might be fools for trusting me, but I want you to try, anyhow. ;)

Eau-bleu...yes. No. Yes. What was the question?

Hermione was restless that night in all her chores, but she kept her promise and refused to stay up with the stalwart father and son. She said goodnight to the men at the entry of the living room before walking across the hall and into her room, shutting the door behind her. Draco looked after her longingly and Lucius nearly gestured, nearly told him to go after her if he wanted her so badly, but he stopped himself in time. Draco and Hermione were adults and the situation was not a natural, or easy one. If they wanted to solve things they needed to do it by themselves, so they could at least have the benefit of knowing their choices in the matter were entirely their own doing. There could be no blaming of fates on others at this point in time, no avoiding their own feelings.

Unfortunately, Lucius didn't see quite how they could handle things well and clearly, either. They had only a week left, after all- a week and a half. That was hardly enough time to come to a decision, although in his day he could recall plenty of witches and wizards younger than them who'd pledged themselves with all their hearts. Still, things were different for his Draco and their care giver. If Draco stayed willingly, he could never try and clear his family name, not if he wanted to definitely be off on good behavior. And Lucius knew that Draco was the sort of good young man who desperately wanted that. Were his feelings for Hermione stronger? Lucius wasn't sure.

And he doubly wasn't sure of Hermione's feelings. Oh, certainly, there was something intense and basic about the attraction they shared. His son was tender with Hermione in a way he'd never seen him before. And Hermione…she lit up around Draco. He wasn't sure his son saw it, or if she was aware of it, but she would blush, and her eyes would follow him, and her step gained a nervous spring to it.

It was painful, yet touching, and he knew without a doubt, no matter how he felt about his own situation, let alone her, that he wanted to see his son happy. He could admit to himself easily that he wasn't in love with her; not the way Draco loved her. He cared for her, he wanted her to smile, he saw so much of the other great witches he'd known in her…and of course, she was his last connection to Narcissa, save Draco.

And oh, how he missed his wife.

There was a small noise from beside him and he looked over in the light from the quietly playing television to see Draco had fallen asleep. His face was relaxed, peaceful, and he looked so like the little boy Lucius had once known and held upon his lap. Impulsively, he stood up and walked over to him, bent over and kissed his forehead.

"I love you," he whispered, smoothing Draco's hair back tenderly. "Pleasant dreams, my boy."

Then he picked up a blanket and pulled it over him, tucking it about his shoulders. He left the television on and carried Draco's coffee cup back into the kitchen. Placing it in the sink, he absentmindedly reached over and flipped the coffeepot off.

He knew he wouldn't get any sleep tonight, regardless. Not with his mind firing this way.

Glancing outside, he rinsed out the cup and ran the dishrag over it. Then he turned it over on the drain board to dry, and continued to stare out the window. All was dark, except the light outside the barn, glowing in the distance. Lucius narrowed his eyes briefly at the shadows and then turned away and moved back out into the living room.

Draco was still asleep, and Lucius was about to head up the stairs to the loo when a noise from inside Hermione's bedroom caught his ear. He hesitated only briefly before walking over to her closed door. He knocked lightly and glanced back over his shoulder to Draco, who gave no sign of waking up.

The noise came again. Was that…tears? Moans of pain? He couldn't tell. He knocked again and still, nothing. Annoyance flickered across his face. Was this what Draco had dealt with all those nights before? The nagging concern, the reluctance to intrude?

The noise came again, more loudly, and Lucius decided he'd better intrude anyhow. Slowly, he placed his hand on the door knob and turned it until it clicked open. Then he quietly pushed it open and peered into the dark bedroom. He could just make out a lump huddled in the middle of the bed, shaking. The occasional soft cry was drawn from beneath the sheets, followed by a low moan.

Lucius glanced over his shoulder again, but there was no sign of life from the living room. He moved further into the room and hesitated at the side of the bed until she began crying again. Then he sat down quickly and put a hand to what he hoped was her shoulder.

He'd be damned if she woke his boy up again, when he was just getting a good night's sleep.

"Hermione," he called softly and shook her shoulder slightly. She responded by twisting around and throwing her arms about his waist, burrowing against him.

He was caught off guard and pulled back, but she only held him tighter. He couldn't see her face, because it was so dark in the room, but he could feel her against him, thin and shaking, cheeks wet with tears. She was sobbing openly now and he finally lowered his arms and tried to comfort her, reassure her it was just a nightmare.

"Hermione, you were dreaming," he said softly. "Wake up, now. Please-"

She shuddered against him as his hands rubbed her back, mumbled something into his chest.

The whole scene was pitiful, and Lucius felt his heart beat faster. The poor, stupid girl. And of course she was cold- the chit was barely dressed. No wonder Draco had been seduced. Lucius felt heat come to his cheeks and he looked at the doorway again. Hermione was shivering violently now and he finally tore his eyes from the shred of light creeping in from the living room and tightened his arms about her, giving in to her pathetic tears.

"Shh," he murmured. "You're safe now. I have you."

She mumbled something again and he began to rock her gently in his arms, back and forth. Gradually, the crying stopped and the shaking went too as he held her close, warming her, bringing her back to wakefulness.

Hermione was dreaming of the torture again. It had been weeks, literally, since she'd dreamt of it in so much detail; and to see it now, to relive it…was horrible. But there was a difference in this dream- instead of the Death Eaters hovering over her as Ron forced unspeakable acts upon her; it was Blaise Zabini who stood in the corner, an awful smile upon his face; while Ginny curled away from the scene before her, covering her eyes and ears as best she could. She cried and moaned and was very proud of herself for not screaming- Zabini wanted to hear her screams, she knew that- but then he came again, and pushed everyone out of the way, as he had before.

He brought the light.

She gasped with relief, but couldn't open her eyes against the images, even as she felt him holding her, comforting her. She tried to tell him that, and thank him, but her lips wouldn't obey her. She could only feel his strong arms holding her, only smelled his aftershave. He enveloped her in warmth and familiarity and it was finally enough to calm her, to stop her shaking and her tears.

"Hush," he was saying, as he had before, his voice barely a whisper. She felt his hand on her head, in her hair, and she finally lifted her face and blinked. It was too dark to see, but she could feel him there, in front of her.

"Draco," she breathed and relaxed against him again, heard his heart beating fast. He stiffened some and she wrapped her arms further about him. "I'm sorry I woke you again," she mumbled. "Thank you."

Then she lifted her face and caught his lips to hers, relief in every line of her body. But there was something wrong. Instead of relaxing and pulling her closer, tension ran all along him, and he tried to pull away before he gave in to the kiss. She whispered his name against his lips again and he did jerk away from her that time, held her off.

"What-"

"I'm sorry," he hissed and then thrust her away and stood up. She blinked up at him again, confused.

"Draco," she began and suddenly the room was flooded with light from the hallway as someone flipped a switch.

She froze as she realized it was Lucius standing so near her bed. She swallowed hard and tried to tear her eyes from his face, but couldn't. He was staring back at her, panic and anger surging through his shoulders, making him appear vibrantly alive for a split second before he pressed his lips together and turned his head away, towards the door. She licked her lips, scared to follow his line of sight. She started to say Draco's name again, but before she could complete it she heard his voice.

It was dreadfully cold.

"I'm over here, Hermione," he said and she slowly turned her head to see him standing there, one foot in the door, hand on the light switch outside.

Her heart plummeted to her stomach. She could see from the set of his face that he'd watched the entire thing. That was why Lucius had pushed away so quickly. That was why…Lucius…she looked back at the older man, who was staring at his son, shame written across his face.

"Lucius, I…Draco-" She turned to him again, eyes pleading, and he stepped back into the hall. His eyes flicked from her to his father and back to her.

Then he turned and left without another word, taking the stairs up and a second later they heard the bedroom door slam. Hermione jumped at the noise and closed her eyes, tried to control her temper, calm herself.

Lucius didn't say a word as he watched the emotions fly across her face, and when she finally opened her eyes and glared at him, he was able to return her gaze without much of a reaction.

"You heard him," she said. "You heard him at the door- that's why you pulled away. Not because you didn't want to kiss me. Because you heard him. What the hell sort of game are you playing at, Lucius?"

His lips twitched slightly at the corners and he eyed her coolly.

"I am a warm blooded male, Hermione," he murmured. "You can hardly expect me to show no reaction at all to a beautiful woman's kiss."

Her face changed, turned thoughtful. He realized that was perhaps not the best choice of words.

"Lucius…I don't-"

He cut her off. "I don't, either, Hermione, so stop deluding yourself. It was an accident, more so than the first time. I came in because I heard you crying and found you in a state, so I attempted to comfort you. You, in your delirium, thought I was Draco and kissed me. It was hardly an affair of any sort."

"Oh, god," she muttered and put her face in her hands.

"God has nothing to do with it," Lucius responded and she fairly growled and sprang into action, rising and grabbing her jumper before sweeping towards the door. Lucius reached out and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. She pulled away.

"Let go of me-"

"Leave him be," he said softly. "He'll come around. He'll think it through. Leave him be, for now."

"I have to explain," she began and he shook his head.

"You don't. I'm telling you, I know my son. He's no imbecile. He's hurt right now, but he'll get over it. You'll only make it worse."

"Get your hands off me," she ground out, looking away from him and he released her shoulder, stepped back.

"Then by all means, go. Attempt to explain. I can't wait to hear the ensuing argument," he sneered and she glared at him again quite hatefully before turning and rushing for the stairs.

Lucius sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before turning and sitting on the edge of the bed again. He couldn't even waste time on feeling terrible, he was so tired of the entire charade of those two. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

A minute later, the yelling began.

No one really was going to be getting any sleep tonight. Yet he couldn't quite decide if that were a good thing, or not, at this point. Too much seemed to hang in the balance.

Hermione knocked softly on the door and called to Draco. A second later the door was flung open and Draco stood there looking down at her, obviously trying not to cry- that or trying not to murder her. It was hard to tell which. Hermione lifted a hand to him and when he glared at it, then at her, she dropped it again.

"Draco, please-"

"Please what? Please let you in so you can convince me that you aren't secretly in love with him? That you're not just sleeping with me because he doesn't want you? Merlin, Hermione, you meant it when you said it could be anybody in this position, didn't you? You don't even care-"

She slapped him hard across the face, just as she had with Lucius earlier. He stayed where he was a second, face angled downward, torso turned as he absorbed the shock of it. Then he brought his hand up slowly and rubbed his cheek, his jaw.

Hermione froze, shoulders tensed, hands covering her mouth in horror. Draco worked his jaw a moment and then finished his sentence.

"-that I love you," he breathed.

Hermione shook her head, closing her eyes against it all. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, repeating it as if she could erase the last ten minutes.

"I don't care if you're sorry anymore or not, Hermione. I'm not sorry for saying that. It's fucking true, isn't it?" he asked, his voice gaining volume again. He could see she was as upset as he was, that she felt terrible for what he'd seen. But he couldn't stop pushing her. He had to know the truth, once and for all. Before he was gone and it was too late. He had to know.

"It isn't!" she exclaimed. "That was a mistake, just like before-"

Draco's heart stopped beating.

"Before?"

She covered her mouth again. Oh, god.

Draco whirled away, went to the window, stared out.

"So everything you said is true."

"Draco, that's not how it is!"

"Then tell me how it fucking is!" he returned, the words ripping from him. "Damn it, Hermione, I can't take this! Is it me or him? So help me, I'll…" He turned away again, suddenly brooding and Hermione let out an angry bark of laughter.

"You'll what? You're bloody stuck here, and I'm stuck with you! What did you think this was? I never promised you anything, Draco Malfoy."

His shoulders began to shake and she felt her shame growing. But her fear of being stripped, of being emotionally exposed before him when she was just going to lose him anyway…it made her angry, made her want to twist the knife deeper. She shook her head, tried to control that part of herself. This was Draco, and she…

Strays, she thought. We're all strays.

She took another step into the room. "Draco, I-"

"Get out," he hissed.

"You can't send me out of my own home," she shot back and he turned his head, gave her a sneer worthy of his father.

"No, I suppose not. Is that how you prefer it?" he asked. "Is that the only way you can handle your men? Bound and servile?"

Her face collapsed and he knew he'd pushed too hard.

"Hermione-"

She turned away, but didn't leave, instead leaned in the doorway briefly before stumbling out into the hall. He saw her clutch at the stair railing and slump to the floor, body shaking from silent sobs. His heart ached, and he started to cross the room, to go to her, when a shout from below stopped him, and he saw her head lift in response.

It was Lucius, and he sounded desperately alarmed. Draco knew he turned around swiftly, ran to the window again to look out, but it felt as if he were moving far too slowly; especially when he saw the bright orange glow coming from far behind the house.

The barn was on fire.

AN: Trust me. Honest. I promise I don't plan on making a coat of your skins later. I swear.