Authors notes; this chapter contains torture, attempted mutilation, and graphic, desciptive violence. As well as detailed, explicit sex.
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Hermione awoke shackled. Her eyes fluttered open and she took stock of her surroundings. Where was she? Darkness, damp walls, silence. If she were to hazard a guess, it would be that she was in the dungeon of Hogwarts. It was cold, her robes had been stripped away leaving her in only her under dress which was thin and did little to alleviate the chill. Hermione trembled.
She could vaguely recall being stunned, frozen. Who had done that? There was a vague recollection of Ginny's voice. They'd obviously stunned her after incapacitating her, because she couldn't remember much after falling face first to the floor.
Hastily she looked for her dark mark. The chains clinked as she moved. The glamor had been removed. They knew. A cold lump settled in her gut.
She was terrified. Of course she was well versed in the sensation of fear, its sickly, icy presence in her belly was familiar. But this was different. She'd betrayed them and they knew. Her reasons for it and why things had played out the way they had were immaterial to them it seemed.
Lucius… She longed for his touch…she needed him. She gazed at her other arm, the mark that branded her as Lucius's property now held a different meaning. Her heart throbbed with her need for her husband.
Fear pulsed through her now, sharp and bitter. This was her mission and already she'd failed. She'd allowed herself to be captured. How was she going to capture Harry when she herself was already a prisoner?
"You're awake." A voice said. It startled her out of her fearful introspection.
Hermione turned her head slowly to find Harry seated in a chair beside her, his face was grim, gray and drawn.
They stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.
"You betrayed us." Harry said matter-of-factly, his tone bleak, cold.
She didn't reply, noticing that her arms were shackled strategically. Far apart and useless. Was it so that she couldn't touch her dark mark? No, Hermione scoffed, they didn't know just how skilled she'd become with wandless, non verbal magic. Lucius had been carefully cultivating her control over her magic, bit by bit until she was rather proficient at it. It took much more effort and a deep concentration, but Hermione could cast a small array of spells this way. She smiled mirthlessly, they always underestimated her.
"Why are you smiling? Aren't you going to say anything?"
She lifted her head again to look at him. The boy who lived. How much had she sacrificed for him? Her entire childhood, herself, everything.
"What is there to say?" She replied blandly.
Harry used his wand to remove the stasis placed on her which she hadn't realized was there, along with a pain numbing spell and a glamor. Instantly a throbbing pain alerted her to an injury on her hand. Blood covered her fingers, running down her hand onto her arm in rivulets. It stained the sleeve of her gown, once resplendent, now torn and dirty.
"They tried to remove it." He was referring to her wedding band. "The tried to cut it off. I had to stop them from cutting your finger off."
"By the looks of all the blood, I'd say you took a bit too long to convince them to desist."
She clenched her teeth together, rage pulsing through her in unfettered waves.
"They were going to cut my fucking finger off and you almost let them, Harry?" Hermione spat, her head drooping forwards to alleviate the tension on her neck. The angle she was shackled was designed to give no rest, no respite, on her tiptoes with her head hanging at an unnatural angle supported thus by magic. It was the pose of a prisoner of war who was going to be tortured. She tried not to focus on that. They couldn't mean to torture her, she had to hold out hope that the friendship they'd shared since first year was enough to save her from their wrath.
She could see that they'd cut into her finger just below her ring with what appeared to a side cutter or maybe a bolt cutter. It had sliced her flesh almost clean to the bone. It was a good thing they'd used muggle methods instead of a slicing charm. The reason for the muggle method was glaringly obvious. It was far more painful, long, drawn out, torture as well as being a nod to her parentage.
Harry just stared at her. He smiled. It wasn't nice. "You're the enemy now." He said as if that explained everything, justified it. "You're a fucking Malfoy."
"I'm your friend." She whispered. She could feel the sting of tears and she blinked furiously.
Harry's green eyes were emotionless. "Not anymore."
She swallowed hard. "Just like that? After everything we've been through together?" Her voice sounded odd because her mouth was desert dry. She was so thirsty. "After everything I…" she broke off…she'd been about to say 'sacrificed' but she knew it was useless.
Harry didn't reply. He stared at her expressionlessly.
"Why did he mark you, Hermione? Mudbloods are never marked. Explain that to me."
Hermione flinched at the slur in her old friend's cold voice. Harry had never used it in connection with her before - ever. She hung her head, her neck was tired. Her hair swung forwards to hide her face.
"The Dark Lord wished it to be and it was."
"Don't you mean 'the one who can not be named'?"
Hermione laughed, her face still hidden. "No, Harry, he is my Lord now, didn't you know? That's what you wanted to hear me say, isn't it?"
The door opened and Ron walked in with Moody. His face was set, angry, devoid of anything at all. Moody looked manic and more than a little insane. The fear inside her intensified tenfold. Moody feared no one. He didn't care if certain curses were illegal. He'd often used unsolicited methods to torture prisoners. The unforgivable curses were part of his repartee.
"What …"she choked on her tears and paused to gain control of herself. "What are you going to do to me?"
Ron refused to look at her, his jaw tight.
Moody's magical eye careened around the room and then ran over her several times. "We need information, Lady Malfoy and you have been inside the viper's pit for weeks. Start talking or else you will be forced to speak."
Hermione shook her head. The Dark Lord's displeasure was far more fearful than theirs. As if bound by a vow of silence, her lips sealed.
"I c..can't tell you anything." It was the truth. She couldn't betray Lucius even if she wanted to, their marriage rites would prevent it.
Lucius….oh merlin…she'd give anything to see him right then…
Her heart ached. She suddenly longed for the cool corridors and vaulted ceilings of Malfoy Manor.
Safety…
Home….
Hermione bit back a sob, squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as she could.
Bellatrix had taught her, she must not show fear…they'd scent it like wild dogs. She must remember her lessons…. remember…remember…
"I always knew you wouldn't stay loyal if you were captured. Told Shaklebolt not to let you be Malfoy's handler. It was a mistake to allow you to be in contact with that bastard."
Ron and Harry stared at her in shock.
Moody saw their surprise. "Oh yes, I'd forgotten you weren't in the loop on this. Hermione was Malfoy's handler."
"He was a spy? Merlin!" Harry looked stumped.
"' Was' is the operative word - the moment Granger was captured Malfoy vanished too. We suspected that he took her. But we couldn't prove it, There was no sign of them."
"Malfoy didn't…" Hermione choked, her mouth so dry it was difficult to speak. "He didn't take me, it was the snatchers, they gave me to the Dark Lord, it wasn't him."
Three pairs of eyes regarded her with surprise.
"You better start talking," Moody ignored her previous words. "I don't have much in the way of patience."
Hermione shook her head slowly. She spoke to Harry while her gaze was locked onto moody. "Harry, please, don't let him do this…"
Harry shook his head and swallowed hard. "I can't…" he began.
" Crucio." Moody said casually.
It hit her with the power of a tsunami and she screamed, her body bowing in her shackles.
It hurt, worse because it came from those she'd trusted.
There was screaming. It echoed around the lofty, dank dungeon oddly.
It took a while for her to realize that it was her own voice which cried out so piteously.
Her gaze fixed on Harry's face and then Ron's as the cruciatus did its evil work. They looked uncomfortable, worried, guilty.
The torment was equal to being flayed alive, submerged in boiling water - head first, torn asunder, reassembled and then torn apart once again…the pain was never ending. It ebbed and flowed, crested and crashed leaving her a wreck in its wake.
But then it ceased, abruptly, with only a small respite before it began all over again.
Focus… a whispered word floated through her clouded consciousness. It was a woman's voice, familiar and somehow comforting.
A dream, she was once again on the floor of Malfoy Manor and Bella was teaching her. The cruciatus was the older witch's signature curse. She was almost immune to it herself. She cast it powerfully, your intent was as important as the curse itself. Moody was no Bellatrix.
Remember…focus!
Hermione clung to that voice, it was her only sanity, her grip on reality.
Push the pain away, Hermione…you can do it…force it away…focus on yourself…
She took the pain, split it and occluded it away, into several different compartments to lessen its power.
Focus Hermione…don't let me hurt you…use your greatest weapon to vanquish them…your mind is your own…no one can take that from you….
The scream died on her lips suddenly and she hung there twitching spasmodically.
"What's happening?" She heard Harry ask.
Moody grumbled. " Crucio!" He spat again and Hermione's body jerked, then twitched again and again as if she were being electrocuted, but she didn't scream, her stare was now vacant and fixed on the floor.
Lucius….oh merlin…she needed him…his commanding presence…his fearsome countenance…warm hands…self assurance…protection…
Little mudblood…you're mine…my witch…mine…
Her ring heated causing the blood on her finger to sizzle, it created an unpleasant scent in the damp, darkness.
"Bloody hell." She heard Ron exclaim stupidly. "What's happening?"
"She's fighting the cruciatus curse. Someone has been training this witch and I can scarcely believe it. I've only ever seen one other person do this. But it can't be! She would never help a mudblood!"
"Who was it?" Harry asked, worried. Not for her, oh no, never for her! Hermione's usefulness hinged on her ability to aid Harry and the order. She was no use to them now, just a vessel to gain intelligence for the Order.
Friendship? What friendship?
Moody dropped the curse and Hermione's body continuously twitched, her nerves fried. Her wide eyes were unblinking, staring, as though she had died and maybe she had. The Hermione who had sacrificed her childhood for a friend…she was dead…the Hermione who had once upon a time had a crush on Ron…she was dead. The dutiful witch who had sacrificed endlessly for the Order…she was gone too.
"Bellatrix Lestrange." Moody growled. " Impossible!" He muttered in bewilderment.
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Lucius paced the room, rapid and agitated, like a caged manticore. His black robes billowed around him like a sentient creature, as he stopped, turned and paced back again. He was furious. They had taken her. Right out of his house.
It was at the Dark Lord's orders, which meant Lucius couldn't respond as he normally would to such a brazen lack of respect. He gritted his teeth - fucking Potter! That little bastard had crossed a huge line taking his wife out of his own home.
The Dark Lord had planned this, but somehow, the reality of it was so much worse than the theory had been.
There was no other way, he had to follow the plan so that Hermione could complete her mission. He touched his dark mark, wandlessly, to summon the Dark Lord.
Voldemort apparated into the Manor immediately and Lucius's face became blank as he occluded his rage away.
Bellatrix was with the Dark Lord.
"What news?" Voldemort asked, his voice low and gravelly.
Lucius bowed. "Potter took her, my Lord, just as you said he would."
Voldemort looked happy, it was impossible to tell whether it was a grimace or a smile. Lucius gritted his teeth, dangerously on edge.
"You don't appear to be pleased, Malfoy." Voldemort hissed. Bellatrix tilted her head to one side observing Lucius.
"It is merely disconcerting to have my wards breached, my Lord."
"There's more." Bellatrix guessed shrewdly, biting her lip, her curls wild about her face.
Lucius hesitated for a moment before he hissed through clenched teeth. "They are torturing her."
The Dark Lord looked unperturbed, but he eyed his General with curiosity. "How do you know?"
Lucius held up his hand, the one which bore his wedding band. Even Bellatrix looked surprised when they saw the ring was a burning, brilliant red, as if it were a live coal.
"I can feel her." Lucius growled, soft and deadly. "She's in pain."
Voldemort looked fascinated. "Are they linked?" He gestured towards Malfoy's ring.
"Yes, they are linked, my Lord. I can feel her distress, pain, all of it." He paused. "They've cloaked her. I can't trace her location, but I can use the ring to apparate directly to her side. Anti-apparition wards will be useless if I use the trace on her ring…"
Voldemort sighed dramatically. "That would defeat the object, Malfoy, she has to complete her mission. You can only go to her aid if she summons you with the dark mark."
Lucius said nothing, his jaw tense.
"She is stronger than you think." Bellatrix offered, with a twist to her lips. "She will surprise them all. She has a mission to accomplish, Malfoy. She will summon us when she needs to."
"I don't think she can." Lucius's tone was harsh.
"She will find a way. Or else her life is…" Voldemort was cut off by Lucius, furious and dancing on the very edge of insubordination.
".. forfeit…I am well aware, my Lord."
Voldemort stared at the man who was first among his death eaters. His countenance was the same as always and yet there was something at odds. He was acting like a man…torn . Voldemort's red eyes glowed as comprehension dawned. The little mudblood must have gotten under his skin. As skilled an occlumens as Lucius was, he was not able to occlude away the entirety of his emotions concerning the witch that was bound to him by that ring. Their marriage rites made it impossible, for they were bound flesh, blood, bone and magical core to one another.
"She will summon us as soon as she can." Bellatrix said again, curiously supportive of the mudblood. She had faith in Hermione's abilities, which in itself spoke volumes. "I have tortured her for extended periods during our training sessions and I know that after the initial shock, she can occlude enough to fight back."
Voldemort grinned, his plan to steal Hermione Granger's loyalty and allegiance and bind her to Malfoy was far more successful than even he had hoped for. For in taking her from Potter and Weasley, he had stolen their greatest weapon - Hermione Granger's mind.
Her mind and magical prowess were now in his service and she would eventually produce a child of unparalleled power for him to use, as a servant, a weapon, like no other.
There was no doubt in his mind that the mudblood would find a way to fulfill her task, for he'd wager his entire dark army on the fact that she was just as enamored with her husband as he was with her. All that magical coupling was surely enough to bind them effectively on top of their marital bond.
However, Bellatrix's relationship with the girl had been accidental, although extremely beneficial to their cause. His second in command was hardly ever affected by anyone and yet when she did bond to someone, she was unwavering in her loyalty.
Hermione Malfoy was proving to be indispensable and she hadn't even completed her mission yet.
"When she summons you Malfoy, I wish you to take a select few with you. Take whichever dark objects you think will assist you in leveling this safe house. I suspect, as you yourself said, that this will be their headquarters. I want it gone. The resistance will fall and Potter will be my prisoner before the night is over."
"My Lord." Lucius bowed in assent.
It would be a fucking pleasure.
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"Hermione…Hermione…." Someone was calling her name. It seemed to be very far away.
She turned her eyes slowly towards the sound.
It was Harry. His green eyes bore a token of the previous affection between them.
Liar. None of it had ever been true. Hatred simmered in her heart.
Her golden eyes were blank, dull, lifeless. Her lips parched. Tremors lifted her fingers sporadically and her limbs twitched with the after effects of the pure unadulterated agony of the cruciatus.
Moody had given up on temporarily, giving her some respite.
"Please, just help us, Hermione…" Harry pleaded prettily. "Just give us the information we need and this can all stop."
Even now, they wanted to use her.
Moody grabbed a fistful of her hair and tilted her face upwards roughly. "She's still occluding." He said. "She has a powerful mind."
"Leave her alone." Harry said, at last sticking up for her.
But it was too late, in more ways than one.
Moody shook his head, "Can't do that, Lad, we need to know what they're planning and she is the only answer."
Without warning he hit Hermione with a Sectumsempra curse.
A multitude of cuts appeared on her face and body and she flinched but made no sound. Blood bloomed in crisscrosses across her entire body and then began to trickle in small rivulets.
"What are you doing?!" Ron burst out, speaking for the first time. "You'll kill her!"
Moody brushed it off brusquely. "I'll heal her before she's too far gone."
"What are you hoping to accomplish?" Harry said, his face pale.
Moody grunted. "I wanted to see how deeply she is occluding."
"It's an unforgivable curse!" Ron spluttered.
"So is the cruciatus and you didn't protest too much about that!" Spat Moody. " Get out and let me do my job!"
"Hermione worked for the Order just a few weeks ago, I know she's a Malfoy now, but this seems a bit excessive." Harry reasoned warily. Moody terrified the best of them.
"Just fuck off an let me do my job…" he growled, his magical eye rolling around frighteningly.
Just then they all paused. The most extraordinary thing was happening. Magic curled in bio luminescent tendrils around Hermione's limbs, it began at her fingers and before long it ran along every part of her. It lit up the darkness of the dungeon. Her ring glowed scarlet.
"Bloody hell." Ron said, his mouth hanging open.
Harry stared in awe, the glowing light reflecting on his glasses eerily.
Moody stared too, at a loss for the first time.
The sectumsempra had severed the shackle on Hermione's right arm. Without hesitation she reached over and touched her dark mark in a quicksilver blur of movement designed to catch them unawares.
Moody chuckled cruelly. "That won't do you any good. You need a wand for that girl. Didn't he teach you anything? Leaving a baby death eater all alone and defenseless."
Hermione fell back, her face expressionless, pale and marred by the blood. A trickle of it ran out of the corner of her mouth.
"They'll come." She whispered beneath her breath, her lips barely moving.
Moody began to laugh but the sound was cut off abruptly as several plumes of black smoke appeared around them and just like that, they were surrounded by a company of masked death eaters.
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Instantly there was a small battle raging. Moody threw a bombarda maxima at the death eaters which Malfoy deflected easily with a powerful protego, cast wandlessly. Moody's good eye widened in surprise at this small sign of Malfoy's magical prowess.
He knew it was Malfoy because, although masked, Malfoy wore his hood down revealing his long platinum blond hair, free and falling around his broad shoulders like a mane.
Harry and Ron appeared frozen in fear making it easy for Thorfinn and Dolohov to apparate behind them and apprehend the gormless twosome, wands to their throats.
Bellatrix laughed shrilly as she used her wand to cast a Everte Statum which threw all the newly arrived order members backwards rather violently. Once discombobulated, she used an Expelliarmus to collect all their wands.
Lucius cursed as he varnished the remaining bonds binding Hermione with a flick of his fingers. She slumped into his arms.
"Lucius.." she said ever so softly. "You came."
"Of course I did." He murmured.
Lucius lifted Hermione and placed her on the ground beside the wall closest to them. Her face was stained with tears and blood, her lips trembled violently, as did her body. He removed his mask and set you work.
The battle raged around them. When a particularly nasty hex hit the ward, Hermione realized that they were hidden beneath a disillusionment shield.
Lucius cast a diagnostic spell over her and rapidly read the results. He used healing charms she'd never heard spoken before and Hermione could feel her wounds healing, one by one. He drew out a small vial of a blood replenishing potion and, after removing its lid, he held it to her lips. It was the most tender he'd ever been towards her.
At last she was healed, physically. Lucius lifted her chin, his strong fingers caressed her skin lingeringly, his arctic blue gaze searching hers deeply, with an intimacy which caused her heart to flip flop.
"I didn't know…" she murmured weakly, staring up at him. He reminded her of an archangel, except she knew that he was more devil than angel. Perhaps Satan himself, cast out of Heaven.
"What?"
"That you're a healer."
"I studied the art out of necessity. The Dark Lord required me to learn healing. It's useful on the battlefield."
She understood at once, he tortured prisoners, healed them and then began again.
A chill swept through her being. This man hadn't changed, he was still deadly, an assassin, a murderer, a man skilled in the art of torture and yet it didn't matter to her anymore.
Lucius leaned in, his face curiously blank. He was occluding so as not to frighten her.
"Who did this to you? Which one of them was it?" His voice was dangerously smooth and even but Hermione could sense the savage rage emanating from him.
The hatred inside her mushroomed, it was all encompassing and she didn't know how to contain it.
"It was Moody, but they allowed it, Ron and Harry watched while he…while he…." her voice trembled and then she stopped abruptly.
"They're all going to die, little witch." He told her matter-of-factly. "None of them will leave here, apart from Potter."
Lucius took her hand, his large one curling around hers protectively. Their magic thrummed, running over their joined hands like static electricity, it gave Hermione strength she didn't know she possessed. Lucius used a quick scourgify on Hermione to remove the blood from her skin.
She sent him a small smile of thanks, sat up and then rose to her feet. Still holding onto Lucius with one hand, she summoned her mask and robes with the other. It was the first time she had done it and there was a sense of power in doing so.
The mask slid into place like a glove, it's smooth, cold planes adhered to her features as easily as fine silk. It felt good. Her death eater robes were heavy on her slender shoulders, but their weight comforted her.
On impulse, Hermione turned to Lucius, took off her mask again and standing on tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his.
His response was to press her body to his, one hand cradling her head and one against her spine. It was the sweetest of kisses in the darkest of places.
They pulled away simultaneously and secured their masks. Removing the disillusionment, they were once again in the thick of it. Hermione noticed that Malfoy didn't use his wand. It was in a holster which sat across his chest diagonally, much like an auror would wear it. He covered her until she could locate her wand.
Hermione summoned her wand and it flew out of Moody's robes from where he lay bleeding heavily. Malfoy immediately went to Moody and used a curse Hermione had never heard before. Her enquiring mind longed to ask about it but she was distracted by watching it work, macabre as it was.
Malfoy had uttered a single word in Latin, " Liquescere!" He gestured towards Moody, his hand turning slowly, as if he were opening a door.
Moody's already broken body writhed in agony and he screamed, again and again. His skin became a strange puce color and then he began to bleed from his eyes, nose and mouth, as well as every other opening. His skin bubbled, as if his insides were boiling. He died moments later in a puddle of blood.
Hermione felt sickened and perversely glad that mad eye Moody had died such a terrible, painful death. Her fingers still twitched from latent nerve damage as she turned to Harry.
He had stopped fighting and was staring at Moody's body with a horrified sort of fascination. His fingers crushing his wand with white knuckle intensity.
Hermione had an idea.
"Imperio." She said, pointing her wand at Harry.
A weird glazed look fell across his face, it was blank, open to suggestion.
"Stay there, Harry. Wait for me." She told him and he did, as docile as a puppy.
She saw Thorfinn, Dolohov and Lestrange nod their heads in approval at her tactics. After all, the Dark Lord wanted him unharmed.
She saw Bellatrix had Ron and she wanted to watch the older witch exact revenge.
Hermione felt like another person dressed like this. It was empowering.
As she drew nearer she could hear Bellatrix taunting Ron. The things she heard surprised her.
"Ooohhhhhh….you really fucked up Weasley, you hurt a Malfoy…I wouldn't want to be you….!" Bellatrix cooned, as she walk-danced around Ron's prone figure.
"What do you care?" He rasped weakly. "She's just a traitorous mudblood bitch."
Hermione gritted her teeth. She was infinitely tired of being called by that name.
Bellatrix tutted, leaning over him. Ron tried to escape her rather ineffectively. "But you miss the point, blood traitor, she is our mudblood and you've fucked with her. She's part of my family now." Her crazy smile disappeared in an instant and her face switched to malevolent. "I don't take kindly to anyone fucking with my family other than me."
Ron's surprise turned to abject terror.
" Crucio." Bellatrix said, soft and singsong like.
Ron twisted, his gangly body bowing inwards and upwards, contorting in agony.
Hermione stepped closer to them, her lips tight beneath the mask.
Bellatrix paused, her gaze meeting that of the younger witch briefly. She nodded in greeting. Ron slumped in a pile of tears and sweat on the floor.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Hermione whispered softly.
Ron turned his face and saw her standing there but recognition dawned only when he saw the wild tumble of curls surrounding the mask.
"What shall I do with him, Hermione?" Bellatrix asked, brows raised, dispelling any lingering doubt in Ron's mind as to who this death eater was
There was a long pause.
"Kill him." Hermione shrugged before turning away. "I don't care.'
Bellatrix smirked, "I think I'll take him back for Nagini." She stunned him and levitated his body for easy transportation.
Hermione joined Malfoy in eliminating order members as they entered the dungeon, picking them off one by one until their ranks were decimated. They worked together to kill the last few squirming bodies and Hermione saw a splash of red hair amongst the dead. Gunny Weasley too had succumbed.
Soon there was no one left to come and Lucius took an orb out of his cloak.
"We are to blow up Hogwarts." His gaze fell on his wife. She nodded at Lucius and turned to Harry
"Come, Harry, we must go now."
Harry followed Hermione blindly.
They apparated outside the castle walls to watch the carnage and Hermione, acting on instinct alone, raised her wand skyward.
" Morsmordre!"
Green smoke plumed through the air and shot skyward. It formed the skull which opened its mouth to allow the serpent to writhe through it.
The assembled death eaters all watched silently as their newest member raised the Dark mark over Hogwarts.
The orb contained fiendfyre as Hermione soon discovered. Lucius threw it and within seconds it engulfed the castle in an inferno of flames.
They apparated away in plumes of jet black smoke, Hermione holding onto Harry.
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The candles burned low Lucius and Hermione Malfoy retired to their chamber.
He lay back on the massive bed and watched her with glittering, predatory eyes and an alarming stillness while she undressed. First her robes, then her shoes.
Hermione watched him in return, her belly filled with thousands of fluttering butterflies. They'd been together before many times, but never like this.
He was only half dressed, bare chested, with his hair loose about his shoulders. It was oddly intimate being with him while he was so at ease. She was catching a glimpse of the man behind the mask, the real Lucius Malfoy.
He was still utterly intimidating and lethal, possessive and at times cruel. His vast experience overwhelmed and excited her.
"Come here, wife." His voice was deep as he held out a hand to her.
A frisson of something wonderful rushed down her spine, like the bubbles in muggle Coca-Cola. Wife. When he called her that, gods, she died a pleasurable death. Possession dripping from those syllables, she was his, just as he was hers. Arousal pulsed through her body at the realization that this magnificent man, this wizard whom everyone respected and feared was her bonded husband. Hers.
This was the first time she'd come to him without cohesion, with a clear mind. She wanted this. Their triumph in destroying the Orders headquarters was a heady victory and with the rush of it still in their blood they were unstoppable. It strengthened their bond.
It was a gradual thing, but they became aware that their marriage bond caused more than just their magic to meld. Each of them now possessed characteristics of the other, which was becoming more pronounced the longer their union lasted.
She took his hand, admiring the visual display of their magic meeting in a rush of blue energy which raced along their skin from the point of contact. She blushed as he seated her astride him, on his hard muscled stomach. Already she could feel the hard, solid length of him nudging at her ass.
"Come and ride me, witch." He told her as he lifted the skirt of her gown and slipped her knickers from her body.
Heat seared her flesh at the expression in his usually glacial eyes, it made her slick with need to see his desire for her so plainly written in his gaze for her to see.
She moved backwards until his belt was in front of her and she was seated below his prominent erection. She unbuckled it and then undid the buttons of his trousers with shaking hands.
Hermione pulled his cock out from the confines of his trousers and admired its pale length in her hand. It was beautiful. Its bullous head was a delicious shade of pink, it's small slit leaked precum onto her fingers. There were blue veins along the length, she rubbed her thumb over the soft ridges. It was long and wide
Lucius watched her touch and examine his cock, his gaze electric heat.
She swiped her thumb over the head of his cock and gathered his natural lubrication, using it to stroke the length in slow, leisurely strokes. His groan caused wet heat to surge through her body and pool between her legs
"Fuck, Hermione, you'll undo me before we've even begun." He growled, using her given name only for the second time while they were so intimately occupied. A thrill shot through her.
Hermione offered him a small smile, her cheeks flushed with a becoming peach. Her breaths became erratic as he reached for her bodice and tore it open with one tug.
Her breasts tumbled out, nipples already erect and aching. Lucius cupped them, his long wicked fingers tugging on the tender buds which made her grind herself against him unconsciously.
He stripped her bare, admiring her body as he went. Finally she was naked, perched on top of him like a sensual nymph. Her eyes glowed golden, pupils blown wide as she watched him in turn. He gripped her hips, digging his fingers into her soft flesh, trying to mark her smooth, velvet soft skin. Using both his thumbs, he spread her pussy lips, admiring the glistening proof of her arousal between the rose petals of her sex. His gaze was filled with predatory hunger as it met her shyness, a miniscule smirk on his sensual lips. He held her gaze as he touched her center, spreading her moisture through her folds. She undulated against his questing touch, her small hands braced on his stomach to balance herself while the dim light glinted on her wedding band. The tangible proof that she was his made his cock twitch hungrily. He was dying to be inside her skick depths, to claim her, over and over again until there was no doubt of who she belonged to.
Hermione lifted herself and, using her hands to guide his cock, she impaled herself on it.
Her gasp and his growl were the only sounds in the silent room. Their heavy breathing and the gossamer rasp of their skin brushing.
Lucius slid his hands under her arse, cupping the succulent flesh, as he guided her movements. She rode him slowly, getting a feel for it. But he urged her on and soon she was bouncing on his cock, harder and deeper with each undulation of her hips. Lucius gritted his teeth against the exquisite sensation of her velvet sheath encasing him so tightly. He was hard pressed not to come right then and there like some pubescent boy. This tiny witch, with her tangle of soft curls and luscious body unmanned him in the most pleasurable of ways. He watched, entranced, as her eyes became dreamy and her soft, plush lips parted to emit the small cries of her pleasure.
He sat up and slid his fingers further between her legs, to where they were joined. His fingers explored the place where his cock disappeared into her pussy, stroking her slippery petals, holding her open and lifting her entirely as he thrust up into her, displaying strength which amazed her.
Tingles raced down her spine while a hot clutching heat grew in her belly signaling an approaching orgasm which would level her. Lucius held her gaze as her eyes became unfocused, cloudy with pleasure and then they rolled back into her head in an endearing display of ecstasy. The heated clutch of her pussy on his length finally undid him and he came hard.
The bed shook, and the windows rattled as their magic sizzled and merged, shaken by their joining, a visible chemical reaction rushing over the surface of their skin.
Hermione was a sight to behold, small sparks of blue light running along the strands of her hair. He stared in silent wonder as her eyes fluttered open and their golden brown depths were luminescent, glowing, wonderful.
"Your eyes." She traced her fingers along his temple, then his cheek and finally his lips.
"Yours too." His voice was husky-deep.
"What do you think it means?"
"Our bond is strong."
She smiled, slowly laying down along his torso until her head rested on his chest. Lucius enfolded her in his arms and she sighed in satisfaction, breathing his scent in deeply.
"Yes, it is." She said.
.
.
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Author's note; I deliberately didn't delve too deeply into Harry and Ron's fate. That would make this story too dark. This story is actually about Lucius and Hermione and their gradual descent into love. Please let me know what you think. As I'm sure you can tell, I don't do mushy romance. Soul deep devotion is more my jam.
Also, there will be an epilogue which will be a snapshot of Lucius and Hermione in the future. I've already started writing it.
I read through all of your comments and ideas and I treasure each one. Let me know what you'd like to see in the epilogue.