AN – I own nothing!

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Chapter 2

Lucius stared at the three wands pointed at him as he held his breath. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the side of his collar was roughly jerked. Before he knew it, he was slammed against the wall, which forced the air out of him. He then saw Severus's face was inches away from his, and he could clearly feel the end of wand directly in the middle of his throat.

"Severus," Lucius gulped. "Good to see you again old friend." His heart started to beat rapidly beneath his chest. He knew pretty damn well that Severus wanted to kill him.

"Friend?" Severus hissed through clenched teeth. "How dare you call me friend, when it is you that almost got me killed last year!"

"Professor Snape! No!" Hermione exclaimed as she jumped out of her seat. After just two steps of running towards the aid of Lucius, she felt strong arms wrap around her, preventing her from coming any closer.

"No Hermione!" Remus said as she held onto the sides of Hermione, not allowing her arms to flail, or not allowing to get her wand if need be.

Severus's head snapped as he took a quick glance at Hermione. He saw more tears flowing down her cheeks. Was she crying for Lucius?

"Please Professor. He means no harm!" Hermione sobbed out loud, trying to free herself from Remus.

"Hermione," Lucius managed to gasp as he felt Severus's wand press more firmly against his throat.

Albus and Minerva moved close to Remus. Their wands still pointed towards Lucius. They looked at each other, and then at Remus. Afterwards, they looked at the girl struggling to be freed from his grasp, as if needing to get to him. Why?

Remus turned his head and looked at Albus and Minerva. His brow frowned, asking the same question. What in Merlin's name was going on?

"Hermione now is it?" Severus questioned through clenched teeth. "Since when did you two get so personal? Did you put her under a spell of some sort?" His eyes black eyes narrowed, as he looked into the silver bulging eyes of his enemy. "Miss Granger," Severus started, not taking his eyes away from Lucius's, "I do not know what is going on between you and Mr. Malfoy here. I have no idea why. Surely it is because he has cast a dark spell on you."

"No! No! Please…" Hermione pleaded through her tears.

"Severus, perhaps you should-"

"Bollocks Albus!" Severus interrupted him, as he turned his head abruptly to face him. He then took a quick glance at Hermione. Clearly the girl had gone mad. No doubt she was somewhat influenced by Lucius one way or another.

"I could've killed you. Except I let you go, and let you escape. You had to live," Lucius stated for Severus. It was loud enough for everyone to hear though.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Severus asked with all anger, inching his face closer to Lucius. His nostrils flared and eyes raged. His control for not killing him on the spot was rapidly thinning out. He could hear the cries of Hermione becoming stronger and stronger. He tried to ignore them, but for some reason, he was having difficulty not to. He clearly remembered him almost dying. When his double status with the Order had been discovered, the Dark Lord had sent Lucius to get rid of him.

Lucius gulped, and didn't say anything. Maybe he shouldn't have baited Severus in such a way.

"Answer me God dammit!" Severus bellowed as he pinned Lucius harder to the wall. He could clearly see that Lucius was hiding something. "I could use Legilmens on you. Don't make me!"

"I am also trained in Legilmens," Lucius informed him. He watched as Severus eyes widened in shock for the briefest moment, before they became angry once again.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you surely had some involvement in the deaths of Miss Granger's parents. It's the truth… yes?"

"No, I would never hurt them nor would I hurt Hermione!" Lucius suddenly said, without even blinking his eyes.

"I said the truth! Not more crap!" Severus said. "If you knew the Dark Lord was going to kill them tonight, then why the fuck couldn't you save them?!"

"It was Dolohov and Lastrange. I was at home with Narcissa having dinner. I found out later that they were killed when I was summoned. It wasn't me! If I knew, then I would have saved them! I too am a double agent. I am not loyal to Voldemort!" Lucius answered aloud. He breathed in a few times before continuing as tears had started to form and flow from his eyes. His tears and show of such emotion startled everyone in the room, except for Hermione of course. "I would have died for them, not caring if I had been exposed by the Dark Lord or not. It was their destiny however. I wish I could have changed that but no! And my promise to them long ago was to protect Hermione."

Albus approached both wizards, as he slipped his wand inside his pocket. He placed his hand on Severus's arm and softly said, "Severus, let him go."

Remus too at that moment decided it was best to let Hermione go so that she could get to Lucius. However, he was about to let go of Hermione, he felt her legs buckle and give way. She had stopped struggling against him, and became a sobbing heap. Slowly Remus started to lower her onto the floor, and he begun to rub her back along with Minerva. They both looked at each other, not knowing what else to do.

"What makes the Grangers so special?" Severus asked in a somewhat softer tone. He had lowered his wand, but he still kept Lucius up firmly against the wall.

"Their death will be a milestone in this war. King Richard will return and will fight against the Dark Lord. Fight for his family, for his throne," Lucius explained.

"Impossible!" Albus gasped. "He has no family! Prince Philip died ages ago right after Queen Margaret. Afterwards the king went into hiding."

"Rumor says that he had died as well," Severus added.

Lucius shook his head. "If there was no king or queen alive, the throne would have already fallen. With that, the Dark Lord would have the possibility winning this war all the more. And if he does win, he would claim the throne as his own."

"He's alive then. If he dies in the war though…" Severus paused for a moment as he thought of the horrifying possibilities of what may happen if Voldemort was to win. "If he is to die, then our kingdom will crumble! He has no heir!"

"Prince Philip never died… until tonight," Lucius said softly. He slowly turned his head and looked at Hermione who was curled up into a ball on the floor, crying her eyes out.

Four pair of eyes followed Lucius's gaze. All of them trying to figure out exactly what Lucius was getting at.

Severus's wand then dropped to the floor, as the hand that was holding Lucius slowly slipped away from the other wizard's clothes. It finally dawned onto him.

"Philip Granger…"

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AN – I hope you liked this chapter. Where you expecting that twist or not? Please once again… Review! Review! Review!