A/N: Alright, who all is up for a smack Ron over the head line? Line forming here! Haha, seriously, though, enough of Ron. Thank you to everyone who favorited or followed after last chapter! Huge shout out to everyone who reviewed as well! This chapter begins the shift in relationship!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter eleven and be on the lookout for chapter twelve soon!
October, 1999
As the days to Harry and Ginny's engagement party ticked down, Hermione was desperately looking for a way to get out of going. Of course, she'd told them she'd be there, she felt obligated to go, but now it seemed like a terrible idea. Why should she had to subject herself to Ron's presence and Molly Weasley's disapproving looks when Harry and Ginny wouldn't be able to spare more than five minutes to her, given the number of guests attending?
She'd thought of a million ways to get out of it, but all of them had significant holes. She wished that she could just pretend to be sick, like a normal muggle would, and she cursed the speedy potions cures that existed in the Wizarding world for the first time in her life.
She'd even considered claiming spattergoit, but then she remembered that Molly would have significant knowledge of the symptoms, and be able to tell if she was faking.
Scowling, Hermione hated herself for being such a pushover to her so called friends, when they had done so little to make her feel welcome or appreciated. She only seemed to pop into their minds when they needed something.
To her surprise, an excuse came from an unlikely source. The Wednesday before Harry and Ginny's party, Lucius asked her if she'd like to accompany him to France for some meetings for work. He thought that her expertise would be needed there, as the French wizards were always prickly about working with the British, and he hoped Hermione could help smooth over the cultural issues.
Her relationship with Lucius had gone from walking on eggshells to rocky to nearly normal again in the weeks after her failed date with Cassius. Hermione was very uncomfortable with being forced to confront her growing feelings about Lucius, and she was sure that he was just as uncomfortable with realizing that he was jealous of some wizard.
Initially, she thought about refusing outright, given that she had such little time to prepare. To add on top of that, she didn't know if it was a great idea for her to be alone with Lucius for two days in a foreign place. They would probably be spending all of their time together.
But then, Hermione remembered her lonely cocktail dress hanging up for Harry and Ginny's party and how convenient it would be to just go to Paris. She could blame it on work, and then she wouldn't have to pretend for several hours. It would be a really great opportunity for her, as well, to show her worth on these envoys to other countries.
In the end, it took her shamefully little time to decide officially to go with. She would go to Paris with Lucius for the meetings on Thursday and Friday, and then she could just stay the rest of the weekend in the City of Lights, exploring museums and restaurants to her heart's content.
Happily, Hermione penned a quick note to Harry, letting him know that her plans had changed and a promise that she would owl her gift to Grimmauld Place.
Hermione was happily packing for her weekend, happy that she'd actually gone shopping with Daphne, when she heard her floo go. "Hermione?" Called a voice from the living room.
Standing, Hermione left her bedroom, mildly surprised to see Harry standing in her quiet little flat. "Hey Harry, what's up? Something to drink?" She asked him, her mood unshakeable even by his unexpected appearance. When he refused, she invited him into her bedroom. "I am sorry you have to watch me pack. I am just really busy." She said apologetically.
Harry sat on the corner of her neat bed, watching Hermione search through her closet for a particular dress, surprised to see the change in the type of clothes. "That looks nice, Mione." He said, when she held up a wrap dress to her body in the mirror. "Is it new?"
"Yes, I got it about a month ago. Daphne took me shopping." Hermione told him eagerly. "She was appalled with my work fashion apparently."
Hermione didn't miss the distasteful look on his face when she referenced Daphne. "You have been hanging out a lot with Daphne lately. I wouldn't have expected the two of you to have much in common."
"Well, she's nothing like I expected." Hermione said, honestly. "But she's a great friend." She defended the Slytherin girl, remembering that she had she own wrong impression of the girl not that long ago.
Perhaps Harry took that as a dig at himself. "Look...Hermione, I know things have been strained between us for a while now...and I want to say sorry." Harry told her, truth shining in his green eyes. "I know that...well, I've been hard on you with the whole Ron thing. You always seem like you have everything together. I just wasn't expecting it to bother you so much."
"You expected me to not be bothered by the fact that my boyfriend of nearly a year was cheating on me?" Hermione deadpanned. Honestly, she was over what Ron thought of her, or didn't think of her. She wasn't going to let him dictate her life anymore.
Harry had the decency to look embarrassed at her words. "He told me that he'd ended it with you."
"Well, he lied." Hermione countered, unwilling to back down from this.
"I'm sorry that it looked like I was taking his side. I didn't know the other side of the story." He argued, picking at some non-existent lint on his pants.
"You did take his side." Hermione insisted, unwilling to bend over this time, like she had in the past with her friends. "You could have at least asked for mine." She was surprised that she wasn't getting angry like she thought she would.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, this time with feeling, and Hermione believed him, even if she wasn't ready to forgive him. Yet. "I just need to make sure that the reason you aren't coming to the party...isn't that you are just trying to avoid us."
"Harry." She smiled softly at him. "I'm really just going for work. It was something that came up, and it's going to be a really great opportunity for me." Hermione was shocked by how easy it was for her to lie to Harry's face.
Still, it seemed to relieve some of the guilt that he was apparently carrying around. "Good. Well, I am glad you've found work that you really seem to enjoy." He told her. Hermione blushed, wondering how much of her work she just enjoyed because of Lucius. "I better get home now, let you finish packing."
"Yeah, get out of here so I can finally pack my knickers." Hermione teased, standing from the floor and walking him to the living room. She gave him a hug before watching him leave in the green flames.
It was nice to have the little chat with Harry. It certainly didn't bring things back to normal, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.
Hermione had expected traveling with Lucius Malfoy would be a pain, but he'd actually been quite a patient companion. Of course, he'd arranged for a private portkey to take them across international lines - only the best for Lucius. But once he got there, he was quite efficient, taking them to the hotel to get checked in.
She was kind of surprised that he didn't just have one of his "people" (aka house elves) take care of it for him. It was odd to see him so self sufficient.
Their rooms, though separate, were right across the hall from one another. After giving her a chance to freshen up, he was quick to escort Hermione through the streets of Wizarding Paris, only to take them to the French Ministry, where their meetings would be held.
Hermione was introduced to so many leaders from around the Wizarding world, including the French, German, Italian, Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, and Belgian Trading Boards. She was a bit disheartened to learn that she was going to be the only woman in the room, but she was still glad to be there, lending her voice.
The only problem was that the other leaders seemed to be absolutely clueless about the banking culture that existed in England. She had no idea how their harebrained idea was going to work, and she wasn't afraid to say it. The meetings were to discuss the possibilities of a centralized currency across Europe, but it seemed to Hermione that it wasn't likely to happen, and she wasn't afraid to say it to Lucius when they walked back to the hotel together.
"I mean, honestly, Lucius! Have any one of those powerful men even talked to a goblin before? The thought that they will just hand over total regulation of the banking industry in England is preposterous." Hermione ranted to him.
He smirked at her. "You see, this is exactly why I brought you along. I wanted to be sure that this idea wasn't too short sighted to succeed." Privately, he admired the way that her face was transformed when she was angry and ranting about someone. He just wanted to kiss her. Again.
"It's not that I don't want a centralized currency to succeed. The muggles actually have something like that." Hermione told Lucius.
"Where do you think we got the idea?" He asked her, giving her a real smile when he saw her shocked face. "What? I am not so...prejudiced that I won't use an idea that can make me money."
"Ugh, I don't know wether to be pleased that you know about muggle culture, or disgusted by how you are using it. What's next, the World Wide Web?" Hermione asked, sarcastically. She was privately quite pleased that he knew anything about the muggle world. She really wasn't expecting it.
Lucius nudged her with his shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous, Hermione. We don't have the computer infrastructure to support that."
Before she knew it, their playful banter had gotten them to the lobby of their hotel. "Excellent work today, Hermione. You were well spoken and show that you have a good cultural world view." He stared down at her from his impressive height. It was so easy to relax with her, for some reason, he found all of his usual mannerisms dropping.
Hermione blushed, rather prettily. "I never know how to feel about your compliments. I always think that you should be berating me for being a filthy mudblood." She said under her breath.
Lucius stiffened at hearing the slur. It was still an awkward issue between them, one that they never really talked about out loud. "Well, I only give compliments when they are do." Silence stretched on between them. "Shall we meet here in the lobby tomorrow morning to discuss transportation home?"
Hermione bit her lower lip, not wanting to stop talking to him yet, but realizing that she was being dismissed. "Sounds good. Have a good evening Lucius." She returned to her own room, alone.
The following morning, Hermione met Lucius, bags packed, in the lobby. She smiled, wishing him good morning, before deciding to tell him her plans to stay for the rest of the weekend. "You can go onto the portkey office without me, Lucius. I was planning on spending the rest of the weekend, exploring Paris."
"What a coincidence." Lucius practically purred. "I was also planning on staying the weekend. Where are your accommodations?" He asked, intrigued at the possibility of perhaps spending more time with the tiny Gryffindor girl.
Hermione blushed again. "I actually haven't secured any yet." She figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find something. She could certainly stay in hostel if she needed to. With her magical abilities, she would be very safe staying on her own.
"If I might be too bold, would you like to stay with me? The Malfoy family has a flat not far from the Notre Dame." He said trying to sound as suave as possible. It would be...highly advantageous to have her to himself for the whole weekend. What a happy coincidence.
Hermione opened her eyes in surprise at the offer. She never expected something like this. "Oh, I couldn't impose, Lucius. I will just find somewhere to stay, keep out of your hair." Saying that made her think of his hair, and what it would be like to run her hands through the long silky strands.
"I must insist." Lucius said, a bit more forcefully than he meant to. "I just want to make sure that you have a bed to sleep in. I highly doubt that you will be able to find suitable accommodation this late."
She nibbled her lower lip, considering his offer. "Oh, alright, if you insist." She finally decided on. While her mouth was agreeing, her mind was spinning, wondering what she'd just agreed to. It was a terrible idea, to put herself in such close quarters with such a huge temptation.
Was he going to expect her to sleep with him? Share a bed? Sure, they'd kissed, twice, but she wasn't sure what he expected out of their odd relationship. It was so odd that she was even having to worry about any of this with Lucius Malfoy.
Still, she found herself grabbing onto his arm, allowing him to side-along apparate her to his flat in Paris, excited to find out.