Hermione stared at the pages of her book, her mind deep in thought rather than immersing itself in the book she was supposedly reading. Hermione was sitting all alone in the Manor's library as Draco was off with Bellatrix making last minute preparations for the following day, the day they expected Draco to be snatched by the Order.
Hermione shuddered at the thought of Draco being snatched but she tried to reassure herself that it would only be temporary. Hermione was more nervous about the kidnapping than Draco, she put that down to the fact that he had been busy planning everything while she was left alone with her thoughts.
"I'm sure a troll could read faster than that, you haven't turned a page in ten minutes."
Hermione shut her book and rolled her eyes at Lucius as he strolled into the library and settled down on the sofa beside her.
"He'll be fine you know." Lucius said, wrapping an arm around Hermione. "Besides, it'll only be for a few days. You survived six years in the lions den."
"Yes, but they didn't hate me." Hermione sighed. "I doubt Harry and Ron will have the restraint not to have a go at Draco once they have him at their mercy."
"We both know that Draco can handle himself." Lucius reassured Hermione. "He's still got more brains and power without a wand than those two friends of yours have with their wands."
"They're not my friends." Hermione growled.
"That's reassuring." Lucius muttered. "You've been so quiet these last few days I was beginning to think you'd gone soft on me and grown a heart."
"I've always had a heart Lucius, I'm just careful who I let into it and I have no room in it for Gryffindors."
Lucius smirked at Hermione's answer, while she was cold and calculating at times she was also one of the most loving people he had ever met.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked. Hermione nodded and shifted slightly so she was looking at Lucius. "Once you started school and befriended Potter and Weasley, did you ever doubt what you were doing? Have you ever considered siding with them?"
"No, I've never considered siding with them but I must admit for a while I did have a few doubts over what I was doing." Hermione admitted. "But by the end of first year I realised that they were just as biased as us, only they pretend to be so noble and act as though we're wrong for judging people by blood when they judge people as well."
"What do you mean, they judge people? How do they judge people?" Lucius asked.
"They judge people by their name and what house they're sorted into." Hermione explained. "For example, by the time I befriended Harry and Ron they already hated Draco and I know for a fact he had barely spoken to them. They hated him purely because of his name and what house he was sorted into. Not that it was just Harry and Ron who thought like that, I also realised everyone, including Dumbledore, treat the Slytherins badly."
"That's nothing new, I'm afraid." Lucius said, bitterness lacing his voice. "Even when I was in school everyone looked down on the Slytherins, considering us all to be evil."
"You are evil, Lucius." Hermione pointed out, making Lucius beam with pride at what he took to be a compliment.
"Thank you, I'm flattered you think so." Lucius smirked at Hermione before turning back to the conversation. "You said Dumbledore also treated the Slytherins badly, how so?"
"The thing I found to be the worst was the cruel and humiliating way he stripped them of the house cup at the end of term feast." Hermione frowned as she remembered Dumbledore's actions that day. "Everything with the Philosopher's Stone and Quirrell had happened a few days earlier but he waited until the Great Hall was decorated in Slytherin colours and the feast was about to begin to award extra house points. He then made sure to award Gryffindor just enough points to edge ahead of Slytherin before changing the decorations and declaring us the winners of the house cup."
"You think he deliberately waited until then to award the points?" Lucius questioned. He could definitely see Dumbledore being as malicious as what Hermione was describing.
"Yes, it was deliberate. He never would have done that if Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff had won the house cup." Hermione said, sounding sure in her statement.
"Let's guess, no-one else saw anything wrong in the way he went about things." Lucius said, shaking his head. While awarding house points was a reasonable thing to do in the circumstances Lucius had to agree with Hermione that the timing and way it was executed seemed to be incredibly malicious.
"Of course they didn't." Hermione snorted at the absurdity of anyone questioning Dumbledore and his actions.
"Hopefully the old fool won't be there next year." Lucius said. "Unless something goes wrong I think the war will be mainly over by this time next week."
"Do you think everything will have settled down before school restarts?" Hermione asked. She knew a victory for Voldemort at the exchange didn't necessarily mean the end of the war but it would mean the main job was done.
"I would think so." Lucius said. "Why? Are you nervous about going back to school?"
"A bit." Hermione shrugged. "I'll be pleased not to have to act as a muggleborn but there'll still be plenty of people that won't like me or what I've done. I really can't imagine I'll be welcome in Gryffindor."
"Maybe we can get you resorted in Slytherin, where you belong." Lucius suggested.
"That'd be nice." Hermione smiled. "It would also be nice to be able to see Draco more."
"Do you not see enough of him?" Lucius asked with a chuckle. "You two are practically inseparable, have been since you were children."
"We spend so much time together at home because we never see each other at school." Hermione said, looking at Lucius curiously. "Did you not know that?"
"No." Lucius shook his head. "I assumed you used to sneak around to meet up."
"No, we decided it was safer if we stayed as far away from each other as possible. We didn't want to risk anyone catching us and wondering why we were friends." Hermione explained.
"That explains it, then." Lucius muttered under his breath.
"Explains what?" Hermione questioned. She wasn't sure if Lucius had meant for her to hear but she had and was curious as to what he was talking about.
"Why you and Draco have taken so long to get together." Lucius said. "It's been obvious for years you were heading in that direction and I often wondered why nothing had happened until this summer."
"It was hard enough to stay away from each other in the first place, if we were together I don't think we would have managed." Hermione said.
"It might have been hard to explain if the pair of you were caught in a compromising position at school." Lucius mused. "Although you were missing out, there are plenty of places in Hogwarts that are perfect for a secret rendezvous. I spent many a happy hour in a deserted corner of the castle with plenty of young girls."
"Lucius." Hermione exclaimed, blushing at the older wizard's words. She knew from stories Narcissa had told that Lucius was a womaniser in his school days but she had never expected to hear Lucius himself reminiscing about his teenage romances.
Lucius merely laughed at Hermione's embarrassment as he stood up. "I'll be leaving you now. I'll see you at dinner and don't worry about Draco, everything will be fine."
Lucius briefly kissed Hermione on the top of her head before leaving the library. Despite barely speaking about Draco and the plans for the next day Hermione felt much better after her talk with Lucius. She felt so much more settled that she even managed to read a few chapters of her book before she headed upstairs for a shower and change of clothes before dinner.
Draco watched silently as Hermione excused herself and left the room, he wanted to follow his girlfriend but as it was his last night before his capture he instead stayed with his worried mother. Draco and Bella had arrived home shortly before dinner and they spent the meal talking about the following afternoon. Since the plans had been made Draco was getting used to his mother's disapproval but that night for the first time he had gotten the impression that Hermione also wasn't a fan of the plan.
The first night after the plan had been mentioned Draco had tried talking to Hermione but she had distracted him instead. In the two days since then Draco had been too busy working out the finer details with Voldemort and Bella to discuss things any further with Hermione. Hermione had actually seemed her normal self for the past few days but over dinner she was extremely quiet and looked worried whenever the plan was mentioned, which was actually quite frequent as it was the main topic of conversation.
Despite the fact he was eager to speak to Hermione, Draco stayed with the rest of his family in the front room when his girlfriend headed upstairs shortly after dinner. After spending a couple of hours alone with his mother, as Lucius and Bella had disappeared off to talk in private, Draco said goodnight and hurried off upstairs.
When he entered his bedroom Draco was pleased to find Hermione lying on his bed, wearing one of his shirts. Hermione smiled at Draco as he entered the room but made no move to get up and greet her boyfriend as he closed the door behind him.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded as Draco walked over to the bed and perched on the edge of the mattress. Draco pulled off his shoes and socks before turning back to Hermione.
"I've got something for you." He said, pulling his wand from his pocket and handing it to his girlfriend.
"Your wand?" Hermione looked at the piece of wood in her hand with a puzzled expression. "Why do I have your wand?"
"I don't want to risk the Order getting hold of my wand tomorrow so I want you to keep it until the exchange, you can give it back to me then." Draco explained.
"What about the raid though?" Hermione questioned. "Surely it'll look odd if they capture you and you don't have your wand."
"That's where this comes in handy." Draco grinned, producing an exact replica of the wand Hermione was holding. "It's a copy of my wand, even Dumbledore won't be able to tell it's not my real one. This way if the Order do anything odd to my wand it won't matter because the real one will be safe with you."
"That's a really good idea." Hermione said. She wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to put some sort of tracking spell or something on Draco's wand the moment they had him in their possession, at the very least she knew his wand would undergo a thorough examination to see if it could help them in anyway.
"So you'll keep my wand safe until the exchange?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded as she placed Draco's wand on the bedside table before turning back to face her boyfriend. "I'll keep it safe, you just better come back for it."
Draco reached out and brushed a lock of Hermione's unruly hair away from her face. He now understood why she had been so quiet and withdrawn over dinner, she was worried that something would happen to him and he wouldn't return.
"Of course, I'll come back." He whispered, leaning over and pressing his lips against Hermione's. "Is this what's bothering you? You're worried I won't come back."
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "I know it a stupid thing to worry about. The Order won't risk hurting you too badly, but I can't help myself. We've only just gotten together and now we're being separated."
"It'll only be for a few days." Draco reassured Hermione.
"I know, but our timing really sucks." Hermione smiled. "We've spent years waiting for the right time to get together and when we do we only manage a few days together."
"At least we've made them memorable." Draco grinned. "I also think we should spend tonight making a few more memories together."
Hermione grinned back at Draco, knowing exactly what sort of memories he was talking about making. "I like that idea. Come here."
Draco didn't need to be asked twice and he happily moved further onto the bed, pulling Hermione closer to him and joining their lips once again. Hermione moaned softly into the kiss as her hands began unbuttoning Draco's shirt. Without breaking the kiss Hermione and Draco divested him of his shirt before making a start on his trousers.
Once Draco was down to his boxers he gently pushed Hermione back onto the bed and slowly began to remove the shirt she was wearing. His grey eyes darkened with desire as he realised she was wearing nothing underneath his shirt and his movements sped up considerably as he unveiled her body to his eyes. Hermione chuckled at Draco's eagerness to get his shirt off her once he realised it was all she was wearing.
Once the shirt was discarded, Hermione removed Draco's boxers and the two teenagers fell back onto the bed wrapped in each other's arms. Despite the eagerness to divest each other of clothes the lovemaking that followed was drawn out, lasting until the early hours of the morning.