Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. I think I am all caught up on responding to reviews. Also thanks to erbkaiser for checking this over for me. Any remaining mistakes are mine. A quick shout-out to clumsydolphin, who is in the hospital. Get well soon, lady!
Lucius Malfoy lived a life full of regrets. In fact, his life had been taken over by regrets ever since that monster inflicted the mark upon his arm. It went without saying that most of them revolved around his daughter. This most recent situation forced those memories to the forefront once more. Sneering at her in Diagon Alley in her second year, Dolohov almost killing her in the Department of Mysteries, and Bellatrix torturing her right in front of him. And now it was him all over again. He would never forget the pure look of betrayal on her face when she spotted him with Dolohov. It appeared as if he could not prevent failing his daughter in some way.
Draco was barely speaking to him, holding him responsible for his sister's injuries. He was quite sure he had lost both his son and daughter this time. Even Severus, Mr. Nott, and Mr. Zabini were failing to acknowledge his presence. Narcissa, on the other hand, was so distressed over Hermione that she hadn't yet realized he was responsible. He couldn't even say that he blamed them. There was only one person who seemed to not place all responsibility for Hermione's injuries on his shoulders and it was just about the last person he expected: Harry Potter.
After Hermione had fallen to Dolohov's curse, Lucius flew into a rage unlike any other. The next curse to leave his mouth was the Killing Curse. Luckily, his aim was true and Dolohov fell dead to the ground. As he ran to tend to his daughter, he heard a shout and Potter and Draco came into view. At the same time, a barrage of pops sounded across his property. Aurors, alerted by his usage of an unforgivable whilst on probation, materialized on his property. They had him on the ground, bound in magical ropes, before one could say Stupefy. He watched Draco pick up Hermione and disappear immediately to what he assumed was St. Mungo's. Potter, on the other hand, remained. As Potter's eyes swept the scene in front of him, Lucius could see understanding dawning on his face. Two Aurors hauled him roughly to his feet and were about to take him straight to Azkaban as per his probation terms when Potter interrupted.
"Wait. You can't take him."
"Sorry, Mr. Potter. We have a dead body here and the trace on his wand clearly shows he cast the Killing Curse."
"Are you daft? Do you have any idea just who that dead body is? That's Antonin Dolohov, the only remaining Death Eater who isn't in Azkaban or dead. I'd say he did you a favor. And if you would take a look around you, you'll see it was clearly in self defense. I refuse to let you take this man away."
"You have no authority here."
Lucius would never admit it out loud but Potter impressed him in that moment. He could see the young wizard's temper was rising, but he coolly ordered the Auror to get the Minister right away. As they waited, his worry over his daughter steadily increased. He knew she had survived dueling with Dolohov once and he could only wish and hope she prevailed once more. A lone pop signaled the arrival on the Minister, who went immediately to Potter and took him aside. He could not hear what they were saying, but he could see that they were arguing, with Potter getting increasingly upset. Finally, Shacklebolt threw up his hands in defeat and motioned to his Aurors to release him. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. As Potter approached him he tried to communicate his appreciation but he was cut off.
"Save it. You'll need to give them a full account of the details as to why you were in the company of a fugitive Death Eater, but right now we need to get to St. Mungo's."
He nodded his ascent and rushed off to the hospital, hoping against all hope that his daughter was still alive. As he was brought to her room, he was never so grateful to find that she was alive, even if in grave condition. Lucius refused to leave her side even when the Minister arrived to receive his explanation. He made it clear that this was the first he had heard from Dolohov since the Final Battle and he was unsure just how he was able to get through the wards, but it was an issue that was going to take priority as soon as Hermione was healthy. Dolohov had been looking for some assistance as he had been in hiding for a long time. Lucius had been about to politely tell him to leave when Hermione happened upon them. Things had escalated from there. The Minister was not happy about the fact that Lucius had been planning to let Dolohov leave, but after some prodding from Potter, he relented and agreed to let Lucius off this time. It was unspoken that there would not be another chance for him. He did not care much because, if it was to protect his family, he would do whatever it took to achieve that.
Hermione had been in St. Mungo's for two weeks the first time she stirred. He was sitting by her bedside, joined by Narcissa, Draco, and his daughter's two fiancés. Potter has just stepped out to go get tea for everyone. At first, no one was quite sure just what the noise was. It was a low keening sound, almost a whisper. Draco was the first to realize it was Hermione making the noise and he rushed right to her side. They couldn't understand what she was trying to say as she had moved on from the keening sound to muttering nonsense.
"Is she waking up? What is she saying?" Theo asked, worry shining in his eyes.
"Serious? Hermione, can you hear me? What's serious?" Blaise asked. "That's the only word I can make out."
Hermione was starting to get more visibly distressed at this point, starting to move around a bit.
"Someone go get Potter, maybe he can help," Draco ordered. Blaise nodded to him and ran out of the room. Potter must have been on his way back to the room because Blaise returned within minutes with Potter bringing up the rear. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the room the screaming started. Her powerful screams reverberated against the walls of the room and caused everyone to flinch. The screaming instantly brought memories of the war to the forefront of Lucius's mind. Looking around the room, he could see it was the same for Draco, Narcissa, and Potter. Both Potter and Draco's eyes were flooded with despair as they tried to bring some measure of comfort to Hermione, while Narcissa was sobbing in the corner. Mr. Nott and Mr. Zabini both looked equally distressed, almost giving off a defeated demeanor. Everyone was pushed aside as healers rushed into the room, yelling codes and orders to vacate the room. He stood to leave, pushing his hair away from his face, and was surprised to feel the dampness upon his cheeks as his hand brushed his skin. A feeling of uselessness washed over him as his daughter's screams followed him from the room.
Another week would pass before Hermione woke once more. This time, it happened in the dead of night and he was there alone. He had managed to convince everyone to leave and get some sleep as they were all surviving on very little. After everyone had vacated the room he pulled his chair up to the bed and took Hermione's hand in his. As he watched over her, he once again couldn't help but wonder if he would ever be anything but a failure in his daughter's eyes.
He eventually fell asleep upright in the uncomfortable plastic chair. His sleep was fitful, wroth with nightmares, watching Dolohov curse Hermione over and over, as if it was a loop in a wizarding picture. When a small sound startled him from his sleep he jumped from his seated position, wand at the ready. Scanning the room with his eyes, looking for any sign of danger, they landed on his daughter. He was taken aback to see that her eyes were open and she was looking right at him. He immediately went to her side and took her hand once more.
"Hermione. Are you in pain? I'm so sorry, sweetheart, this is all my fault."
He looked intently at her and it seemed as though she was trying to tell him something. However, her eyes fluttered shut and sleep overtook her once more. He tried to think of this as a good thing as at least she wasn't screaming this time. Sighing, he settled back into the chair, refusing to sleep just in case she woke up once more.
The first thing she noticed was the absence of pain. The second thing she noticed was the noise. Specifically, the noise associated with arguing. She attempted to open her eyes, but they did not want to cooperate. She didn't care, she was sick of floating around in unconsciousness. She tried again, willing them to open. Finally, after a great effort, they did. She immediately took in the situation happening in her room. It seemed as though Severus and Lucius were arguing with Harry, over what she did not know. Taking a brief glance around the room, she noticed Blaise, Draco, and Theo were standing in the corner, watching the argument. She didn't see her mother anywhere. As the volume between the three men began to increase, she decided to try to get their attention. No one had noticed she was awake yet. She tried clearing her throat, but no one could hear her.
"Excuse me."
That didn't work either, as her voice was too weak to garner anyone's attention. Looking around, she noticed a small plastic cup on the table next to her bed. It took a surprising amount of effort, but she somehow managed to reach over and pick the cup. With as much force as she could possibly muster, she launched it at Harry's head. The room instantly quieted as six pairs of impossibly wide eyes focused on her.
"Well, it's about time you noticed I was awake."
At her comment, all six men rushed to her bedside. She was sure she noticed a few elbows being thrown on the way. They all started talking at once, but she put a stop to that by holding up her hand.
"One at a time please. You are hurting my head."
"How do you feel, cara?"
"Weak, sort of fuzzy-headed. How long have I been out?"
"It's been almost a month," Theo answered. She looked at him in shock. A month? Her time with Sirius had only felt like hours, not a month! Thinking about Sirius brought a pain to her heart and she knew she had to talk to Harry about it. But there was one person she needed to talk to more urgently. With her eyes fixed firmly on Lucius's face, she told everyone to leave. The protests were immediate, but she would hear nothing of it, she needed to talk to him. She noted the hurt expressions on the men's faces as they left and she internally sighed. She knew she was going to have to deal with that, but she really wanted to talk to Lucius first. After the room was clear of everyone but Lucius, she motioned for him to pull up a chair. She tried to get a read on his feelings, but his face was expressionless, as usual. They stared at each other before she broke the ice.
"Where is my mother?"
"I forced her to return to the Manor for some rest. She was making herself sick. Please know that she's barely left your side."
She nodded, glad that Lucius was able to get Narcissa to take care of herself.
"Why did you lie to me about Dolohov?"
"I...Hermione, please. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I swear to you on everything I hold dear that I did not lie to you."
She arched an eyebrow, giving him a suspicious look.
"Then why was he there? I know how warding usually works. He couldn't have been there if you hadn't invited him in."
"I...I don't know yet. We've all barely left St. Mungo's since that day. Dolohov was a master in curse-breaking and wards though. If there was anyone that would get through, I'm not surprised it was him. My best guess was that he did something to them while the Dark Lord was in residence. Re-doing the wards is only a secondary concern to me right now. They can wait until you are fully recovered."
Hermione took a deep breath. As crazy as it seemed to her, she believed him. Remembering how awful he looked that time she woke, she was starting to realize that maybe he actually cared about her. Taking a good look at him now, she noticed he looked even worse than before.
"Where is Dolohov now? He didn't get away, did he?"
A pained look overcame Lucius's face, as if he didn't want to answer her question.
"He's dead."
Hermione wasn't exactly surprised by that revelation. She figured Dolohov would fight to the death, especially if someone had called the Aurors.
"Did someone call for the Aurors? Did one of them get him?"
If Hermione thought it was possible, she would have said that she saw a look of nervousness cross Lucius's face.
"Ah, no. It wasn't an Auror. It was me. I cast the Killing Curse as soon as you went down."
Hermione was astonished that he was sitting next to her.
"But you are still here. How did you not end up in Azkaban? Why not just stun him?"
"You don't know Dolohov like I do, Hermione. He was particularly vicious with women and once he got one in his sights, he would not give up. Even though he was on the run, he would not have stopped trying to get you. I couldn't let that happen. It was safer for you if he was dead and that was more important to me. I'd repeat my actions if it was needed. You're my daughter, Hermione, you have to know that I would do anything for you."
"Sure. Anything but keep me," she replied bitterly.
She knew she had gone too far as soon as the words left her mouth. Her words made Lucius flinch, as if she had struck him.
"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," she said softly.
He nodded sharply in acceptance of her apology. Standing up, he informed her that Harry has been the one to get him out of returning to Azkaban and that he had to get back to Narcissa. As he swept out of the room, Hermione closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. A few moments later, she heard her door open and everyone else file in but she kept her eyes closed, feigning sleep. She did not want to talk to anyone just now and she was tired. It didn't take her long to actually fall asleep and she was grateful to sink away into oblivion.
Lucius strode out of his daughter's room, taking care not to slam the door behind him, regardless of the fact that he wanted to. He pushed past the five wizards congregating around the door and made his way to the nearest apparition point. Ignoring the calls and shouts following him, he apparated back to the Manor and headed straight for his study. Sitting down at his desk, he summoned his firewhiskey and a glass straight to his hand. Pouring some into the glass, he drank it quickly, hoping it would give him some peace. He knew when Hermione said she had wanted to talk to him that their conversation would most likely not go well. He had thought he might have been wrong when she seemed to believe him about Dolohov, but then she managed to rip his heart out and trudge on it with her ill-spoken words. The ever-present pain in his chest that existed since giving his daughter up appeared to increase in intensity. It was nearly as agonizing as the day Hermione pointed Bellatrix's wand at him.
He poured another glass of firewhiskey and choked it down before letting his head fall into his hands. All he wanted, all he ever wanted, was his family complete and happy. He was starting to wonder if that was ever going to be possible, if his daughter would ever be able to forgive him. It went without saying that he hoped so, but only time would tell.
A/N: Well, I guess I lied about an understanding between father and daughter. I just couldn't resist that parting shot. But rest assured, she feels badly about it. I promise, things will be resolved. Soon. :)