A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed after last chapter! You are all so awesome. Hermione is going to be going through so stuff in the next two chapters, so prepare yourself. I really hope that you still like it though. For this chapter, we have Christmas!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter sixteen and be on the lookout in chapter seventeen soon!
December, 1999
When Lucius had invited Hermione to spend Christmas with him, she didn't hesitate. She didn't have anywhere else to go, with her parents out of her life, and the reception still frosty at the Burrow. Still, when Harry and Daphne asked where she was spending the holiday, she told them she was going to Sydney to spend time with her parents.
Instead she was off to Bruges in Belgium with Lucius. The house that he owned there was much more "Malfoy" than the flat in Paris, but it still wasn't intimidating to Hermione. It was a cute little row house just off of the canal.
Hermione was excited to spend the holidays with Lucius, as it seemed like a new step forward in their relationship, though she wondered if Lucius was disappointed to not get spend the holidays with Draco. It was a bit odd to think of her former school mate as Lucius's son, but it was the truth. She figured this was probably a good sign, if he was spending Christmas apart from Narcissa.
They arrived late on the 23rd, but Hermione was eager to explore the city, so Lucius obliged her, bundling up and taking her out into the light snow. Even the gentleman, he even offered her his arm while they strolled through the canals, Hermione entranced by all the lights. "This is so gorgeous, Lucius." She said. Even his house had been decorated with white Christmas lights.
"I am glad you like it." Lucius replied, wrapping his arm around her body when he brought her back inside. "I always loved coming here when I was a child."
The only problem Hermione had was that he didn't have a Christmas tree in the parlor. It had a huge fireplace, so Hermione knew it would look adorable fully decorated. After much pleading and begging, Lucius promised to take her the next day to find a tree.
When he lead her up to his room, Hermione was pleased to find another fireplace and huge, comfortable looking bed waiting for them. She changed into her pajamas - emerald green satin shorts and top, trimmed with white lace - and came out of the bathroom, nervous to see Lucius's reaction. It was her first time buy fancy pajamas, and she had bought them with him in mind.
"I must confess, I am pleased to have you completely to myself." He said from his place in bed. He'd lit a fire in the fireplace, and was reading something from work. He set his papers aside. "Especially when you look so fetching in Slytherin green."
Hermione blushed, but slid in next to him in bed, eager to get warmed up. "I am glad that you invited me. I would have been terribly alone without you." Hermione admitted. She pressed her head against his chest, and listened to the fireplace crackle and pop, before her eyes fell shut.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she felt terribly embarrassed that she'd fallen asleep, when she'd had plans to break in this new bedroom with him. Lucius was running his hands through her curly hair. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. I wanted to give you an early present."
"Mm, I would still take that present now." His voice was still raspy from sleep and it sent a thrill of heat through Hermione's core.
Smiling, Hermione crawled up on top of Lucius, her center pressed tightly against his morning erection. Pulling her top over her head, she revealed her bare breasts to him, nipples tightening immediately to the cold, and her body covered in goosebumps. "What a lovely present you make, sweetheart."
Hermione sighed as his large hands came up to cup her breasts, kneading and squeezing them, rolling the points of her nipples. She rotated her hips against his, wanting a bit more friction.
Lucius, unpleased with the angle, pulled himself up, until he was seated upright, with his back resting against the pillows. From here, he was easily able to capture one of her nipples in his hot mouth, his tongue flicking against the bud.
She let her head fall back, but she really needed a bit more, as each suck of his lips had her core tightening in need. Reaching a hand between them, she grasped his cock, rubbing him up and down. It didn't hurt that her hand would brush against her clit each time.
"I need you in me." She told him, ardently. When she couldn't take it any longer, Hermione pulled away so that she could shimmy out of her bottoms, while Lucius did the same. Positioning herself above him, Hermione slid down inch after glorious inch filling her body. She thought that this way he seemed deeper somehow, and her clit pressed against his body with every thrust.
Soon, he was gripping her hips hard enough to cause bruises, but Hermione was too desperate for release to care. Pressing her face into his neck, she focused on the feeling in her throbbing cunt, pulsing around him in desire, again and again until she finally snapped, her body tensing in orgasm. It took Lucius only a few more deep thrusts before he was following her over the edge as well.
Hermione wasn't sure how long she'd laid there in his warm embrace, before she struggled to get away. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to spend the whole day romping about in this bed?" Lucius asked, unwilling to have her take her warmth away.
She smiled at him, but shook her head. "As tempting as that sounds, you promised me that we could go shopping for a tree today, and then I want to decorate it."
Reluctantly, Lucius let her leave, only to follow her into the shower so that they could begin their day together.
After the day had been spent out shopping, Hermione and Lucius returned to his parlor to decorate the room. Hermione had chosen a variety of Slytherin green and silver to decorate with, knowing that it would make Lucius happy, though she still had a few red and gold baubles up on the tree.
It was a magnificent tree, filling up the whole space, but certainly making it seem much more homey. It made Hermione's heart clench to think that perhaps, in a year's time or in two years that it could perhaps be her and Lucius's home that they shared together.
When their tryst had begun, Hermione had tried not to get too attached, thinking that he was fickle and likely to send her away. But he hadn't. If anything, he'd elevated this thing to a relationship, treating her like an actual girlfriend. Now, Hermione found herself wanting more.
They sat down for Christmas dinner, made by a Malfoy house elf (to Hermione's thinly veiled annoyance), of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, ginger carrots, and rolls, as well as a perfectly paired wine. Hermione had worn full dress robes, knowing that it made him especially happy to see her so dressed up (though, she also knew that he quite enjoyed watching her pfaff about in jeans).
It was so domestic, sitting at the formal table with him, and Hermione decided that now was probably the best time for her to broach the topic with her blond lover. "It's been so nice to be alone here with you, Lucius." Hermione said sweetly. "Though, I do wish that we could...take this...to the next level. I wish we didn't have to hide away in other countries."
Lucius pushed his empty plate away from him, eyebrows knitted together. "I am afraid I don't understand what you mean, Hermione."
"It's just, this feels so secretive." Hermione said, unable to meet his gaze. "I'm not embarrassed of you, and you're not embarrassed of me...well, it seems like we're hiding things. I want to be able to tell my friends about us. I want our relationship to be out in the open."
"Aren't you happy with me?" Lucius asked. He was very content with the state of their relationship and didn't want anything to rock the boat.
"Of course I am happy with you!" Hermione pleaded. "I just want us to have...well, a real relationship."
"It's difficult, Hermione." Lucius said, rubbing his hand over his face. "It wouldn't be a good idea to...go public, until the divorce is finalized. And I am working on it, I promise." He offered her his hand, which Hermione gladly took.
"I guess I will just have to wait then." Hermione said, feeling a bit down. She really just wanted to be able to talk about her love life like any other woman in her early twenties. She wanted to gossip about it with Daphne, and be able to tell her the real reason she was shopping for things. She wanted to rub it in Ron Weasley's face.
"Now, shall we go into the parlor and open your present?" Lucius asked her.
Hermione eagerly nodded. She was excited for Lucius to open his present as well, as she'd spent all of December agonizing over it. When they were sitting on the couch by the fireplace, Lucius accio'd her present, before handing her a long thin package.
Hermione eagerly tore into it, only to find a gorgeous emerald pendant necklace, nestled amongst the velvet. She gasped at the finery of it. "Oh, Lucius, I can't accept this. It's too much." Her fingers lovingly caressed the jewel at the center.
"It was my great grandmother's." Lucius said, before pulling the necklace from the box and moving behind her to clasp it around her neck. "I just wanted to make sure that you had something to show you how serious I am about this. How much I care about you."
She stared at the green stone between her breasts, all fears about his divorce proceedings evaporating. He cared about her. He was serious about her. Turning around in his arms, Hermione pressed her lips to his mouth in a fierce kiss, trying to put all of her emotion in that one embrace.
When she pulled away, Hermione eagerly led Lucius back to the couch and bounded off to the tree to pull out his gift. She'd spent a really long time thinking about what to get him, but now she was so worried that it wasn't at all what he'd like. Still, she placed the parcel in his hands and watched as he meticulously opened it, with baited breath.
Lucius gave her a small smile when he opened the luxe dragonhide briefcase. "It has an undetectable extension charm on it." Hermione said, biting her lower lip, looking for a bit more of a reaction from him.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you, Hermione. I can't remember the last time I've received such a thoughtful gift." He ran his fingers along the fine stitching of the bag. "Normally people just send me firewhiskey."
Hermione felt her heart clench at his words, knowing the feeling. Usually people just got her books, and it sometimes seemed like they just tried to find the densest, most boring (to them) book to give her, and she'd gotten quite a few repeats. "This is the best Christmas that I've had in a long time." Hermione admitted.
A beat of silence passed between them, before Hermione leaned forward, eyes trained on his lips, and they met in a tangle of limbs and lips. Breaking their kiss, Lucius looked at her with a smirk. "You know what would just cap this as a perfect weekend?" He asked. "If you let me take you on that rug in front of the fire."
She giggled before nodding. "It seems a bit cliche, but...I won't say no." He pulled her towards the roaring fire, eager to get her out of the robes and to make love to her into the late hours of the night.
Hermione returned to work the following Monday. Even though many other departments got the week between Christmas and New Years off, anything dealing with economics was not that lucky. Still, Hermione was still floating on cloud nine, with all her memories of the weekend with Lucius distracting her.
She wore her emerald pendant, and found herself fiddling with it frequently. It was nice to look down and see it and be reminded of Lucius. It gave her something to hold onto with she could finally be open about her relationship with the older man.
Unfortunately for Hermione, she was not as good about keeping their tryst secret as she thought. Daphne noticed immediately that Hermione was acting differently and she certainly noticed the large emerald around her neck.
Unable to keep her concerns to herself, Daphne insisted sweetly that Hermione join her for lunch, under the guise of complaining about Draco having come to Christmas dinner with Astoria, and how annoying they were being about Daphne not following traditions. The horror of having a job.
After seeing Hermione fiddle with the necklace for the thousandth time, Daphne finally asked her about it. "That's a nice necklace. Present? I didn't know that emeralds were your type."
Hermione was unable to keep the blush from her face. "Yes, it was a present...for Christmas."
"It looks so much like the necklace owned by Lucinda Malfoy." Daphne stared at her friend. "I saw it at a revue once. Malfoy didn't give it to you did he?"
"Daphne!" Hermione gasped, perhaps a bit embarrassed to be caught out. "It's not like that."
Hermione was not as good at lying as a Slytherin, though, so Daphne was able to pinpoint immediately that she wasn't being truthful, and groaned. "Hermione. I thought you said you were going to leave it. How long has this been going on? I don't want you to get hurt."
"Honestly, Daphne, nothing is going on." Hermione said. "I won't get hurt...everything is going to be fine."
Daphne's green eyes furrowed in concern. "I just...you can tell me anything, if you want. When you want. But, I can't tell you what to do, I suppose."
Seeing how bothered Daphne was with her affair had worry churning in Hermione's stomach, thinking about her relationship. It was true that Lucius said he cared about her and was serious, but…
They were still sneaking around, and it wasn't a real relationship. She'd been so swept up in the romance, she'd rather gotten ahead of her morals. Hermione Granger wasn't like this, she didn't carry on affairs with married men, but, well...she trusted Lucius.
She just had to hope that the divorce would work out and then they could be together. Properly.