A/N: I know, ridiculously fast update. But when I get excited (mainly by reviews) I write faster. Just a hint!

"Severus?" Lucius called as he stepped into their rooms. He never minded that they were small, despite his entire life lived in excess. He enjoyed the intimate setting with Severus. On holidays they would, sometimes, go to Malfoy Mannor, as he still had to keep it maintained. However, he disliked the feeling of abandonment that he felt there. It was too quiet without other people in it, even if he could just get someone to putter around, maybe he would like it more, but it was, for the time being, too quiet. And so, his preference remained the Potions Master's quarters, where, from the living room, he could hear Severus working in his lab.

"Lucius, I'm in the lab, I'll be done in thirty-seven minutes," came Severus's distracted voice, further muffled by the door of the lab. Before Lucius could ask what he was going to do for a full thirty-seven minutes he heard, "Grade some of your essays, I know you are nearly a week behind!" Lucius sighed and sat down on the couch and started to grade with his detested reading glasses on. Lucius really hated getting old. Well, it wasn't so much of getting old as damage to his eyes from a spell, but still, no matter how handsome Severus thought they were, he despised them, unless of course they got him lucky. Then they were barely tolerable.

Lucius was in the middle of grading some third years who were writing about what he thought was suppose to be hinkypunks, but apparently the half the class seemed to think the essay was about doxies. He shook his head, for the last two years he had been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and sometimes he just could not understand how some students even passed through Hogwarts.

"Nice glasses, love," Severus greeted Lucius with a kiss on the cheek. He was tired, they had found Miss Granger late in the evening and he stayed up to brew for another hour and a half after the fuss in the Hospital Wing. He just wanted some sleep, well, actually he wanted some tea and chocolate biscuits right now, but definitely sleep soon. After getting a glare from Lucius, he headed into the kitchen for some tea and his favorite chocolate biscuits that he kept hidden from his lover. He brought them both into the den with him and reclined on the sofa, enjoying his warm beverage and sinfully delicious chocolaty treat.

"Severus, love, can I have one? Please?" Lucius whined, he loved the biscuits, he could never find them, but he loved them, so much. They were simply divine.

"Absolutely not. These are mine!" Severus grinned. He grabbed three, knowing that Lucius would want one. He slowly ate a biscuit with his eyes closed, moaning at its delicious flavor. Granted, he was over exaggerating a bit to mess with Lucius, but they really were delicious.

"Severus…"

"Mmhm?" Severus smirked as he reached for a second, but not before Lucius was up and plucked it out of his reach and taking a bite.

"You are evil, you know that, Sev? Truly evil," Lucius half glared at his lover while the Potions Master just grinned at ate the last biscuit in front of him, washing it down with his tea.

"Yes, I'm the evil one. Because I won't tell you where I get the chocolate biscuits. I am a criminal!" Severus smirked as he floated the dirty dishes to the sink, where they washed and dried themselves.

"You are deliberately torturing me with them. That's evil!" Lucius objected while putting down his marking quill and the rest of the pile of essays on the coffee table. Both he and Severus went into the bedroom and stripped to their boxers before sliding into bed.

"This is going to be the last bit of peace for a while now, isn't it?" Lucius murmured tracing invisible patterns on Severus's chest.

"Perhaps. Hopefully, Miss Granger will be brought to light of the events of the past two years with an open mind. And we must also hope that that mind hasn't suffered too much damage," Severus mused.

"Just when I think I've moved forward with everyone, I now have to convince another person, and she hasn't been around to see everything that has happened," Lucius sighed while Severus grasped his hand, stroking it lightly with his thumb.

"Don't worry so much, Luc. Everything will work out fine, it has to," Severus asserted. The couple then allowed their exhaustion to overcome them and fell asleep.

The next morning Lucius woke to an empty bed, but promising smells from the area of the kitchen. He threw on a dressing robe and went to see what Severus had made for breakfast.

"Omelet. No meat for you, just vegetables, you also get fruit and toast. And before you ask, no butter. You're eating habits are atrocious," Severus had already dressed for the day and was ready as soon as he finished his breakfast and the paper left in his morning routine.

"But, Severus! Biscuits and donuts are acceptable breakfast foods!" Lucius whined. He liked eating unhealthily; it made him feel younger. Unfortunately, his lover had other ideas and thus, whenever Severus cooked, it was always healthy food. He quickly ate the healthy food placed in front of him and was even able to read part of the front page of the Daily Prophet before it was time to get ready for the day with a shower, facial moisturizer, and getting dressed impeccably well. He seriously wondered how no one else thought he was gay prior to his release from the marriage contract. Nevertheless, he was ready for the day, gathering the essays from the coffee table he set off for his office. While it might be Saturday, he still held office hours, not to mention, he particularly enjoyed his office and he really needed to get those damned essays done.

Meanwhile, in the Hospital Wing, Poppy was bustling over a sleeping Hermione Granger. She had just shown signs of waking when Severus strode into the room with the nutritive potions she asked for, and unsurprisingly, the Headmaster followed nearly a minute after Severus in his entrance to the Wing. Severus placed the potions in the cabinet near Hermione's bed and sealed the door to prevent any damage from coming to them, while handing one of them to Poppy.

"Poppy, my dear, you are looking rather well, and so is our patient, it seems," Albus greeted with a twinkle in his eye and a kind smile on his face.

"Yes, yes, Albus, she seems to be doing fine. Besides being under fed she seems to have a considerable amount of stress to her bones and joints, however that can be easily managed and she is well on her recovery from that. There were a few breaks that were old and had to be re-broken and mended correctly. However, her mental status is what I'm most worried about," Poppy listed off her worries. She honestly did not know what Miss Granger's mental status was going to be, they had to wait until she is awake to determine such thing. Luckily, she knew they wouldn't have to wait long, and was proven correct when one Hermione Granger opened her eyes.

"Miss Granger," Severus nodded at the child. She looked slightly frightened, but she appeared to be more aware than she was the previous night.

"Pro—wat…wa…" her voice was frail but Poppy wasted no time in getting her patient the requested water, instructing her to only take small sips.

"Professors," Hermione managed, her voice was still weak, but it was present. "What day is it?"

"It is the 15th of October. You, my dear, have been missing for nearly two years now," Dumbledore responded with a gentle smile and reached out to touch her shoulder, when she pushed back, away from him.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I don't want to be touched," she still glanced at his hand warily. "How about the war?"

"It's over, Miss Granger. The final battle was about three weeks after you went missing," Severus intoned. She shot her eyes to him, studying him closely.

"It's over? But he…" her voice sounded faint again and confusion had clouded her eyes along with panic, which the Matron picked up on almost immediately.

"Alright, Albus, Severus, this poor girl needs some rest. You can interrogate her later, but she has been under a great deal of stress," Poppy shooed the men out of her Wing and then turned back to Hermione. "Here dear, take this, it's a nutritive potion. Then, we can give you a light breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Fruit, can I have some fruit? And toast, maybe?" Hermione asked, her eyes hopeful.

"I think we can do that, but no jam I'm afraid, maybe some plain cream cheese or light butter, we don't want to put too much sugars in you, might upset your system."

"Thank you, I haven't gotten to eat much fresh fruit or toast while I was…away," Hermione finished uncertainly. It was odd to think of herself as missing, as she always knew where she was physically, geographically, however was a different story.

"Perhaps, after breakfast, you could write some of your story down in a journal? I find writing experiences down helps me sort through things a little bit easier. Would you like to try that?" Pomfrey offered Hermione.

"Yes, please. I would love to write something. It's been so long. Maybe it'll help in the long run?" Hermione was ever hopeful. Not a moment after, her breakfast tray arrived by elfin magic in front of her. Some fresh fruit, toast, and a leather bound journal to the left of the tray appeared.

"Well, either the Headmaster, the House Elves, or Hogwarts herself must have been listening!" Poppy smiled gently at the girl who looked at the journal in wonder. Just how long had it been since the bookworm had seen a book? Been allowed to write? With a shake of her head, Poppy gathered herself and told her patient, "I'll go grab some quills for you from my office, but I want at least one piece of toast gone and a quarter of that fruit gone as well, before I even think of giving you a quill!"

Hermione did not need to be told twice and delved into her breakfast, going slow, knowing that her stomach could get upset if she hurried to fast. She was nearly shaking in anticipation at the simple joy of writing, even if it was going to be of her horrible journey over the past two years.

As promised, Madame Pomfrey returned with four quills and Hermione was granted permission to write as soon as she had her fill.

"Madame Pomfrey, could I by any chance, see today's Daily Prophet? Or maybe some older ones?" Hermione, ever desperate for knowledge, wanted to learn about what had been happening in the world that she had been taken from, she needed to know.

"Perhaps later, dear. For now, concentrate on writing and see where that gets you. We want to make sure we have all the facts. Remember to sleep if you get tired. No need to get the entirety of the past two years done in one morning. I will be in my office, tap the tray twice if you need me, dear," Poppy concluded, knowing that Miss Granger would have known that, knowing how frequently her best friend, Mr. Potter, had ended up in the Hospital Wing. Smiling fondly at the memories, Poppy left to go and consult with Albus on Hermione's mental condition and how they were to proceed.

"Ah, Poppy," Albus started, stepping out from the Floo in her office. "What more have you gathered about Miss Granger?"

"Well, besides her physical condition, of which you were already appraised, she seems to be mentally stable. However, she has an aversion for touch, as you witnessed. I also do not know how well she will cope with all of the changes we have seen over these past two years. But she is currently journaling her experiences from the last two years, weather or not she'll show them to you, is a different matter. I think, Headmaster, we need to shelter her and allow only a controllable amount of information from these past few years to get to her. Otherwise, she may react unfavorably to the added stress," Poppy gave her opinion soundly to an agreeing Headmaster.

"I agree with your assessment. But where can she be sheltered enough? Not the Hospital Wing, I'm afraid. Too many student come in and out. Perhaps with you?" Albus mused.

"That would be impossible. I have emergencies at all hours of the night, I would be unable to provide the near constant care. She would almost have to live with two people to make sure everything is alright!"

"Two people? Hmm. That might work, Poppy," Albus started to twinkle once more.

"Albus! Severus and Lucius? She doesn't know about Lucius! Albus!" Poppy exclaimed, thinking about the worst possible scenario of her patient's reaction.

"Poppy, you, yourself said that she would need two people to watch over her. And Hogwarts is the best place to keep her sheltered, and the dungeons even better. Perhaps, this should be the new information that we give her in bits. Lucius Malfoy is not evil. It will be wonderful. We'll have tea!" Albus exclaimed. While he knew it would be a rather large bump in the road, he believed that he, Severus, and Poppy, not to mention Lucius himself, could convince Hermione of Lucius's true allegiance. Not to mention, with a few tweaks of the schedule, and maybe some "guest lecturers" there would be constant supervision of one Hermione Granger. Now, he just had to convince Lucius and Severus that this was in their best interests as well.

"Albus," Poppy sighed. "I know there is nothing I can do to change your mind, but I am letting you know right now, that you are going to be the one that has to tell Severus."

A/N: Thank you for reading, and if you would like to read more, REVIEW! That is all. : )