Disclaimer: There once was a little old lady who lived in a shoe... wasn't me. Follow the same reasoning and you'll find that I own none of this.

Last time:

The insult was evident in Hermione's voice. "That's what you get when you marry a muggle-born, you have to deal with muggles. You'll survive somehow."

"No. What I meant was… you know my mo–"

An ear-splitting crack, followed by the sound of an explosion stopped them both. Through the window they could see a plume of purple smoke rising in the distance.

Half way turned to race towards the door, a strong arm held Hermione back.

"I need you to stay here." Draco bit out roughly and strode from the room.

'Well…' she thought, and then 'Well…' again because she couldn't come up with an adequate thought to replace it.

Hermione wasn't really the kind of woman you could just tell to stay put. While she was quite content to do just that when it suited her, as soon as she was ordered to, it was practically impossible for her to do so.

She didn't actively court danger, far from it. Hermione was one of the least likely persons to go running off into a situation she knew nothing about. That she had been involved in and survived, in her mind largely by accident, so many dangerous situations came down to a chance acquaintance in first year, because Harry and Ron were just the opposite. There was usually a conflict between the calm and reasoned part of her that wanted nothing to do with mortal peril and the bravery and courage that had caused the Sorting Hat to place her in Gryffindor in the first place. However, if that perilous situation appealed to her sense reason, or to her boundless curiosity, it was necessarily a short conflict.

Any command to 'stay there', 'don't go in' or 'look away' immediately peaked her curiosity. It meant that something was happening or there was something beyond the door. There was a something that someone didn't want her to know about, a secret something, a secret that Draco wanted to keep her away from. Perhaps a dangerous something, but that was merely a secondary concern at this point:

Hermione felt that it was far more dangerous not to know.

She disliked words like something; they were imprecise, inexact, uncertain. Secrets and mysteries were troublesome things, the possibilities played over and over in her mind. A secret would distract her, by its very virtue of being unknown, for as long as it remained as such. It was important for her to recognise exactly what the secret was and label it as such, no matter if it was an entirely innocuous and mundane object or piece of information. The mystery would keep her awake at night until she solved it. She could easily become obsessed by her ignorance, consumed by her need to understand.

Especially important were those somethings that people actively tried to prevent her learning about.

She needed to know. She felt safer that way. It was safer that way. No one could surprise you with information you already knew.

But she wasn't ready to pick another argument with Draco just yet.

She did stay there, in the room, just as he had asked…

She stayed for long enough to watch from the high up window as Draco's pale figure raced out the gates flanked to two burly guards. She wondered for a moment about the image that made, even after so many years out of Hogwarts her first impression was of Crabbe and Goyle, then Hermione left.

She just didn't get very far.

Racing out the door and into the hallway, she collided with a hard body hurrying in the opposite direction. The man steadied her and held her at arms length. A mumbled apology was halfway out of her mouth before she looked up to see pale hair and sharp features half frowning down at her. She was speechless; for a very disconcerting moment, Hermione thought she had ran straight into Draco, who she had surely just seen leaving the castle.

"Hello, where are you rushing off to?"

The genuine nature of the question, lacking even a hint of accusation, broke her from her confusion. The brash voice was markedly different from Draco's clipped and measured tone.

"Luc?"

The faint lines of a frown smoothed from his forehead. "That's handy. You're rushing to find me, I wanted to find you and we found each other."

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Good question. Why were you looking for me?"

"I wasn't... But now you're here – the explosion, do you know what's happening?"

"Explosion? Oh, that? Explosion is a bit of an exaggeration. It was nothing, really."

"Draco seemed to think it was all a bit more than nothing."

"He worries too much."

"I think it's more than nothing."

"Then you worry too much too. Match made in heaven. You can both jump at the sound of every slammed door and dropped cauldron lid and fret together for the far-ranging consequences."

She was incredulous at his belittling attitude. "Be serious, Luc. It was an explosion. They're typically large and fairly destructive. If I've learnt one thing from experience it's that very few objects explode for no reason."

"That's my point exactly. After all that you've experienced it's completely understandable if you imagine that things are all much bigger and perilous than they really are."

"Don't patronise me. It wasn't my imagination. I felt it."

"Even so," Luc stood his ground, smiling blandly.

"I don't care what you think, I'm going to check it out and see for myself."

When Hermione attempted to side step around Luc, she found herself looking into the wall of his shoulders just as before. She tried again. It was as if they were part of a very awkward dance routine, each time she took a step to move around him, he would follow and bodily block the corridor.

"This is no time for jokes."

Completely ignoring the tone that had been known to fell larger men, Luc smiled down at her, "I'm deadly serious."

"Get out of my way."

"Can't."

"Let me pass, Luc or I'll…"

The hand that had reached into her pocket for her wand closed around thin air. Looking down, both her hand and her pocket were empty. She didn't have her wand. It had been there in her pocket when she left the room, but she didn't have it now. Hermione's heart beat fast in her chest and her face flushed hot then cold. She raised her head and narrowed her eyes to once again meet Luc's. Taking a large step back and grounded her weight, preparing for a curse or hex to be fired off.

"Don't go jumping to the wrong conclusion," his voice was still warm and friendly. "You might hurt my feelings."

He hadn't drawn a wand and his hands remained relaxed by his sides, but that meant nothing.

"You stole my wand and you're keeping me captive." Her voice was curt and laden with frost. Eat your heart out Draco.

"I stole your wand and I'm keeping you safe."

"What?"

"The safest place for you is here, in the castle. Not running around a country you hardly know. There are people here who can protect you."

"You?" She was incredulous, did he really --

"Me."

-- He did.

"First of all, that would make it 'person', singular. Secondly, I'm not sure I am safe with anyone who takes my wand and refuses to give it back." Hermione held out her hand, "If I had my wand, I'd be safe wherever I was. I could protect myself.

"But you don't.

"Because you took it from me!"

"Immaterial. Without a wand you're safest here, in the castle. With me."

"You said that there was no explosion, nothing to worry about; why should I now be so concerned about safety and protection?"

"It really was nothing and it will still be nothing later on. But we've previously established the fact that Draco worries too much. Whatever happened, you don't need to go give him another thing to add to the long list that already exists."

"Give me back my wand. I won't go anywhere, just give it back."

"It's collateral. You can have it as soon as Draco gets back, not before."

"I won't forgive you, you realise that? Holding my wand ransom for my good behaviour breaks all the rules."

He simply nodded, "When times call for it, we must use any means to achieve an end."

"That sounds positively Slytherin." Hermione sighed, as she turned back towards the parlour she had sprinted from moments ago. "You really are his cousin, aren't you?"

Luc laughed, "He pays me well."

Halfway through the doorway to the room, Hermione froze. "Pays?" Turning slowly she sent Luc a level gaze.

His smile didn't falter for a second, but she did notice the small nervous twitch of his eyebrow. There was an extended pause as Luc shifted his weight with slightly less grace than usual.

"Obviously. Draco has to bribe people to put up with his company for even short periods of time. I assumed you must have been getting a packet, agreeing to marry him." He winked, and it was all Hermione could do not to blacken his eye so badly he would be hard pressed to ever open it again. "You should really look into renegotiating your contract."

There was another lengthy pause during which Hermione decided to ignore him. She walked over to the window and scanned the view. There was now no sign of the plume of smoke that had risen in the distance and she couldn't see any damage on the ground. She was sure she had felt and heard something (there was that dreaded word again), but Luc's words had placed significant doubts in her mind.

Hermione attempted to focus her thoughts on figuring out the explosion from what little she thought she knew. But it was proving impossible, she just didn't know enough of the facts and she was second guessing herself at every opportunity. To add to that, Luc's pacing kept pulling her attention was back to the room and to him. His actions appeared almost thoughtless, but there was a pattern in his moving about, running his hands over the walls and furniture or shifting and examining the few ornaments the room had that suggested a purpose behind the too-carefully studied casual demeanor.

Perhaps feeling her eyes on him, Luc turned.

"See anything you like?"

Hermione fought the instinct to roll her eyes. She didn't think it was anywhere near as bad as Luc's winking, but it was still a bad habit and one that probably irritated people far more than she realised.

"It's quite clear that you see a lot to admire here, and aren't content just to look."

Luc just raised an eyebrow, refusing to be baited. "Adhering to a strict 'look but don't touch' policy may be the deciding factor in why Draco's not paying you enough."

There really was no winning against a Malfoy. Even a Malfoy who, like Luc, had only recently discovered he was one... the fact that she even tried was a sure sign she would end up in a psychiatric ward soon, Hermione figured, if it wasn't already cause enough to admit her then and there.

A/N: Not dead! New chapter! Surprises all 'round!

Sorry for disappearing for such an extended period. It's a long story, boring at some points and deathly boring at others, all of which I hope to work into coming chapters... kidding. I want to say thank you to all the people who sent me messages telling me they were (patiently) waiting for more. Extra special thanks to those who did so nicely, you know who you are.

Yes, this is short and not hugely interesting, but I figured I had better put this up now or I never would. There will be more to follow… longer and more interesting, hopefully. At this point we should all of us just be glad that I still remember how to string a sentence together.

Readers and especially reviewers are all very much loved and to all those still with me I say, you're a bunch of masochists... lovely, beautiful masochists who all deserve better.
Enough grovelling?