A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You guys, it honestly means so much to me! I never imagined that people would feel so strongly about this fic, and I am getting sad that we are nearing the end! You can also follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) to get chapter notifications, future stories, etc. I also just posted the second chapter of a new multi-chapter. It's an Antonin Dolohov x Hermione, but with a colonial twist. I think you might like it, so please check that out if it tickles your fancy. It's called Fille du Roi.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter twenty two and be on the lookout for chapter twenty three soon!
August, 2000
"Did you see the paper?" Daphne asked, barely giving Hermione a chance to sit down at her desk. She threw a copy of the Daily Prophet down, looking around to make sure that their boss hadn't shown up for the day, yet.
Hermione shook her head no, before picking the paper up. She usually read the Quibbler, finding the Daily Prophet to be too salacious in the post Voldemort era. This headline caught her attention immediately, thought. "MALFOY FILES FOR DIVORCE FROM WIFE!" She gasped.
She was a little bit annoyed that this was considered newsworthy, but she couldn't deny that it was a picture of Lucius leaving the records department. Hermione scanned the article, which explained that he had filed, citing irreconcilable differences for their split, though the journalist was speculating on what Narcissa had possibly done. Apparently she had a string of ex-lovers who were happy to talk for a bit of money.
With her cheeks flushed, Hermione was ashamed to know the real reason had likely been because of her.
The rest of the article discussed the history of Narcissa and Lucius's relationship together, starting from their time at Hogwarts, and accompanied by happily smiling photographs of the pair. It made Hermione's heart clench tightly.
"Well? What are you going to do?" Daphne asked, her eyes wild. Hermione had done well so far, standing her ground with Lucius and not letting him back into her heart, but in Daphne's opinion, this just made it a completely different ballgame.
"Nothing." Hermione responded primly. Yes, it was good to learn that perhaps Lucius hadn't lied to her about the state of his relationship with Narcissa, but it was still half a year too late. He'd broken his promise to her months ago, and just because he was following through with it now, didn't make everything forgotten.
"Nothing! But, Hermione-" Daphne cut herself off, seeing Lucius Malfoy approaching his office, looking stoic as ever. Giving Hermione a meaningful look, she quietly promised. "We are not done discussing this." Then, she flounced back to her own desk.
Hermione decided that she needed to make her feelings known to Lucius as soon as possible, so he didn't get any false hope in regards to their relationship. She strode purposefully into his office, throwing the paper down on his desk. He didn't even need to look at it to know what it was. "I just wanted you to know that this doesn't change anything."
"Hermione-" He started, but she cut him off.
"No. I am glad to learn that you didn't lie to me about the state of your relationship, but this is too little to late. If you were serious about me, you would have done this last year." She said, hands on her hips, and feeling rather proud of herself.
"You are completely right. And I didn't do it for you." Lucius said, maintaining eye contact with her. Hermione was surprised to say the least. "I did it because it was the right thing to do. Narcissa and I haven't loved each other for a long time, and we both were trying to cause hurt to the other."
She almost couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, and she sat down in the chair across from his desk heavily, eyes in her lap. Now she felt a bit horrible and conceited for imagining that he'd been pining after her for the last three months. "Well, then...I'm glad for you."
"But Hermione, I can promise you this." Lucius said, his gray eyes steely and serious. "I am not giving up on you yet. I know that I treated you poorly and for that I am sorry, but I am going to fight for you and I promise that one day, I will have you back."
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. She never expected Lucius to fight for her. She always imagined that Malfoys just expected good fortune to fall into their laps, much like she had. But now...perhaps she meant more to him than she gave him credit for.
"I need to go." Hermione finally replied, his promise all that she could focus on.
Lucius certainly made good on his promise to fight for her, and he was relentless in his pursuits. The first thing that he did was put her forward for a promotion with the International Magical Office of Law as Head Researcher. The job was similar to the work she did for the Trading Standards Body, but it was better paid and it had a broader scope. She would even still be in close contact with Daphne, though not in the same office.
When she asked him why he'd done it, if he was unhappy with her work, he smirked at her. "I am serious about having a real relationship with you, Hermione, and to have a relationship with my subordinate would not be appropriate."
That was the other perk of the job. She was no longer a direct report to Lucius. She got the job easily, and settled in nicely.
When it was time for them to leave the office for the day, Lucius always met her in the lifts, walking her to the apparition point. He would tell her if she looked nice that day, ask about the general status of initiatives that she was working on, and was just lovely to her. He did push any amorous affection onto her, instead, courting her like a normal person.
And people certainly noticed that something was brewing between the two of them. Harry had asked her at lunch one day about it. "You and Lucius Malfoy seem to be pretty chummy."
Hermione had blushed bright red. "Well, he was my boss, you know. He's nothing like I would have expected him to be. And he's very complimentary of my work." That made Harry curious, but he didn't understand enough about the law to really delve into the details of what her work entailed.
Luckily for Hermione, Harry was a bit too obtuse to put anything more together than just a professional respect between former colleges.
He also sent her all sorts of romantic tokens as well. At work, she found a respectful bouquet of flowers waiting at her new desk on the first day of working in the Office of Law, with a well meaning note wishing her the best in her new job. The bright blue hydrangeas looked beautiful and didn't arouse suspicion.
The more obviously romantic flowers he saved for her home. Roses, forget me nots, baby's breath and gorgeous pink lilies cycled through her home in the weeks after his divorce was announced. He even sent her some of her favorite sea salted caramels.
Each present made her heart ache in longing. If he were her boyfriend, each gift would be so perfect, but the fact remained that he wasn't. He'd promised to fight for her, to win her back, and whether he knew it or not it was working. Each token of his affection weakened her resolve, but it was lack of pushiness that really made her heart grow fonder.
Shaking her head, Hermione pushed the thoughts of Lucius from her mind. Maybe she should try to move on.
September, 2000
The news that the divorce had been finalized swept through the wizarding world. Lucius Malfoy was back on the market, and it made all sorts of witches try for a go with him. Hermione tried to pretend like it didn't bother her, but deep down it did.
It was really pathetic for her to be sitting in a cafe in Diagon Alley, trying to read a book, but being so distracted by some girl younger than her trying to get Lucius's attention. Forcing herself to stare at the words on the page, Hermione tried to forget that he was just standing there.
"So you are the little tart that ruined my marriage." A voice rang out in the small shop. Hermione looked up, completely embarrassed to see Narcissa staring down at her. Luckily, the only other person there was the shopkeep. Hermione prayed that he would keep silent on this.
"I did nothing of the sort." Hermione responded, casting a muffliato discretely, hoping the keep this conversation between the pair of them.
Narcissa looked her up and down before taking the other chair at the table. "Don't try to deny it. Lucius told me all about your torrid affair when he asked me for a divorce the first time. Of course, I didn't know it was you specifically until last month."
Hermione was surprised to learn this. She couldn't believe that Narcissa had known about her for months. And still, she hadn't given Lucius the divorce? "I don't really think you are one to talk. It seems as though you have your own history of affairs."
"Yes, but Lucius was perfectly happy with our arrangement until you came along." Narcissa sniffed, rolling her wand in her hand. "Now, all the papers are speculating that I did something horrible because he was the one to request the divorce. My reputation is ruined!" The woman bemoaned.
The brunette rolled her eyes again at this nebulous idea of reputation. "Why didn't you just ask for the divorce back in October then, if you wanted to save your reputation?" Hermione was feeling bitter, knowing that so much heartache could have been saved if Lucius had only acted sooner.
"Because I was happy with the way things were!" Narcissa positively hissed. Hermione wondered what Lucius had ever seen in her. She was acting like a spoiled little brat, not getting her way. And didn't she see that it was only her happiness she was ensuring keeping the farce of the marriage going?
"Yes, but Lucius wasn't happy." Hermione insisted. "Before we started...our affair, he had already told me that you two had come to resent each other." There was no point in denying that she had participated in an affair.
Narcissa looked surprised. Perhaps she hadn't known, or perhaps she'd been more happy than Lucius and assumed that he'd felt the same. "But what about me? We never had to see each other, and we each had our needs met by other people."
"Maybe he just...wanted more than that." Hermione offered, unsure of why she was having this conversation at all. "I can't help you with any of this Mrs. Malfoy."
"It's Miss Black, actually. Lucius insisted I take my maiden name again as part of the settlement." Narcissa lamented. The Black name did not carry much weight at all these days.
"I'm sorry that things happened the way that they did." Hermione said honestly. It was true that she never wanted to come in between a couple's marriage vows. "But, I don't have to justify anything to you. Now, if you don't mind, I was reading my book."
Narcissa looked shocked at being dismissed by the little witch, but stood anyway, leaving Hermione to her own thoughts.
Hermione made her way to Grimmauld Place for dinner with Harry and Ginny. The couple were deep in wedding planning mode, planning on getting married in December, around Christmas time. She was amused to see their kitchen covered in fabric samples and other wedding accoutrements.
"Wow, looks like a wedding magazine threw up in your kitchen, Harry." Hermione teased, giving her friend a hug.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I am excited to get married, but I can't wait for it to be over. There are a lot more things to do than I expected." He admitted. "Luckily, Molly is helping out a lot." Hermione nodded, wondering just how much Harry actually like his future mother-in-law's help. "Come on, Gin was just setting the table in the dining room."
Hermione walked in, but stopped short, seeing that Ginny had set a fourth plate. Just who else was going to be joining them? "Gin, why are there four plates?" Harry asked, clearly confused.
Ginny looked guilty, until they heard the Floo in the other room activate. Ron Weasley swaggered in looking entirely confident and entirely like he was meant to be there. "Hey guys, sorry I am late. Hello, Hermione, you are looking beautiful tonight."
Feeling her jaw actually drop, Hermione rounded to glare at her former friend. Did he not remember all of the terrible things that he'd done? Then she turned to Harry. "Harry, you promised. What is he doing here?" When she first started coming to dinner at Grimmauld, she'd made her bespeckled friend promise that he wouldn't try to force them back together.
Harry held up his arms. "I didn't know Hermione I swear!" He turned to face his fiancee. "Gin, what did you do?"
Ginny smiled sweetly, trying to smooth things over. "Come on, Harry. You know that Ron and Romilda have been broken up for months and it's obvious that Hermione and Cassius aren't going anywhere." Ginny grabbed onto Harry's arm. "Don't you think that it's time that they move on and get back together?"
Hermione gasped. "Come on, Hermione. Everyone knows we're meant to be together." Ron said, giving Hermione an award winning smile.
"Listen up you two. I've told you before that Cassius and I are just friends, so we were never going anywhere to begin with." Hermione snapped at Ginny. "But even so, I don't ever want to get back together with Ron after the way he treated me! He cheated on me, he implied that no one could ever want me, and he never apologized! Why would I want to get back with him?"
"Gin, how could you?" Harry asked, clearly annoyed, and disappointed. He'd worked very hard to fix his relationship with Hermione and he was concerned that he was going to lose her again.
Hermione stood there in silence while the other three broke out in fierce arguments. Just a little over a year ago, she'd thought she wanted to be with Ron forever, but so many things had changed. Instead, she knew now that she wanted...Lucius.
Groaning, Hermione felt so stupid. She'd been longing to be in a relationship with Lucius for so long, and now she had the opportunity, but here she was being argued over by a Weasley, when she could be in his arms. "I've made a terrible mistake." Hermione said, quietly, but getting their attention. "I need to go." She said, knowing exactly what she needed to do for the first time in months.
Harry, seeing the determined look on her face, just nodded, and let her rush out the front door.