DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns most of the characters and settings here—I own the rest.
This chapter's title is dedicated to Lucius and comes from the David Bowie song "Ziggy Stardust."
I haven't heard from my trusty reviewers in a while, so I hope you are enjoying things. We're getting closer to the end of this tale. Excelsior!
NOTHING ELSE MATTERS
Chapter 33 – Well-Hung with a Snow-White Tan
Hermione chose to retire to the library for several hours after breakfast; she was not disturbed until the chime rang for lunch, which was a largely silent affair (except for Evan's random chatter). Lucius was not present; he was taking a rest to relieve Portkey lag.
After lunch, Lucinda took her aside and told her that she would be leaving from the Portkey Office in Salem to visit her daughter in California, having decided that sending an owl, even with the sure-to-be welcome news of Avery's demise, was not the proper thing to do.
"If you prefer, I'd be glad to arrange lodging for you and Evan in Salem while I'm gone," she added.
"That…er, won't be necessary…of course, if you'd prefer we not stay here, that's your prerogative," Hermione stammered.
"Oh! I'm sorry, that's not at all what I was implying. I meant, of course, that you might not want to stay here with Lucius."
"Really, I'm sure it will be fine," Hermione said. "He hasn't informed me of his plans, but I assumed he'd be heading home soon enough. Plus, Evan seems to enjoy his company."
"Yes, I'd noticed that. Would you two wish to accompany me to Salem to see me off?"
"That would be very nice; I'm sure Evan would enjoy it."
It turned out that Evan was very happy to go along, not only because he enjoyed any kind of travel, but also because he was hoping to check out the sporting supplies store and the toy store again. After they'd seen Lucinda off, they headed to the Flying Witch. Hermione wanted to get one of the alien figurines as a gift for Ginny. While there, Inanna invited Evan to Rhiannon's weekly movie night and sleepover, a tradition that allowed Salem's single magical parents to have a well-deserved night off.
Thus, later that evening, Hermione happily ensconced herself in a chair in front of the fireplace with a book and a glass of brandy.
She'd gotten through about two chapters when Lucius entered the room and quietly cleared his throat to let her know he was there.
"Oh, good evening, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said, politely, as she marked her place and then sat the book down.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony now, my dear," Lucius said, as he sat down in the chair next to her. She noticed he was also holding a glass of brandy and was in a mild state of dishabille—wearing a lounging robe, with his hair loose and hanging over his shoulders. It was an appealing sight, which Hermione was sure was entirely calculated. "I've given the servants the night off, and I'm aware that Evan stayed over in Salem." He then looked her directly in the eyes. "I must say I am very pleased you decided to stay here this evening."
Of course you are, Hermione thought. And I suppose I knew this was coming. I'm sure he's spent his required time with Lucinda, and I'm lonely and bored, to be honest, so really, where is the harm? She merely replied, "But of course, Lucius."
"I…understand that you may be somewhat reticent to indulge in pleasure with me, given that Walden isn't here. I can assure you that I will be very discreet." He sat his brandy glass on the side table.
"I do appreciate that. I'm not entirely sure that Walden and I will ever have a relationship again, and I also know that you can't even begin to opine on that without…repercussion, so my suggestion is that we put that subject aside for the time being and simply enjoy ourselves."
"I was hoping you'd be of that opinion," Lucius said, as he stood up, walked over to Hermione's chair, plucked the brandy glass from her hand, took her hands, and pulled her into an embrace in one very smooth motion….which he'd likely practiced, she thought, but she didn't care. Several minutes of heated kisses led to him murmuring in her ear that she needed to Apparate them upstairs post-haste.
It turned out that Lucius had prepared well for his journey to America—he'd packed a number of pleasure potions, as well as contraceptive potions; Hermione downed both, figuring that she was better safe than sorry.
They spent hours in Lucius' master suite in mindless blissful pleasure, in the bed, in the tub and once up against the dresser when they got too heated to make it back to the bed. He worshiped every inch of her body and didn't ask for anything in return. They dashed to the kitchen for a midnight snack, which became an erotic food adventure. They spoke very little, and when the interlude finally ended, she stayed with him, reluctant to give up human contact, illusory and fleeting as it might be.
When the first tendrils of light began snaking their way through a tiny gap in the curtains, Hermione awoke abruptly. Lucius was splayed out over the pillows on the far side of the bed, snoring quietly, which she found amusing. His hair, however, was still as smooth as it appeared during daylight hours, which she found mildly irritating. She Summoned her robe, got up, donned the robe, quietly padded over to the window, and slid the curtains open a slight bit wider.
There was a large, unblinking black eye looking at her. She gasped and pulled at the curtain to reveal a raven.
"Bloody hell," she said, without thinking too much about it, and, behind her, Lucius stirred and sat up.
"What's the matter, my dear—," Lucius began, and as he said that, she heard the rustling of the covers and his soft footfalls, but he stopped, clearly having also seen the raven.
"Oh…" Hermione said, as the raven continued to stare. She was sure it had taken in the scene before it in excruciating detail, and as both of them watched, the raven turned, spread its wings, and flapped away toward the distance.
They looked at each other.
"I know you can't say anything," Hermione said, after a long pause. Lucius nodded once, sharply, in response.
The Resurgence members made their way over the rocky ground to the meadow overlooking Hogwarts as the sky progressively grew lighter.
"We've completely buggered our element of surprise," Travers groused, as he nearly tripped over a stone.
"So what?" Yaxley replied. "We have the advantage in terms of skill…" he paused, realizing that he'd contradicted his previous statements. "Don't say it, Selwyn!"
"I wasn't going to mention anything," Selwyn whined. "Other than that I'm still thirsty."
Walden abruptly turned around and cast Aguamenti directly at Selwyn's face. "Shut yer geggie!" he growled, toward the spluttering man.
"That wasn't necessary, Macnair," Selwyn said, after he'd dried himself off with a flick of his wand.
"Aye it was," Walden grunted. "We're here. What now, Yaxley?"
"Well….er….I suppose we could all Apparate directly to Hagrid's hut," Yaxley replied, in an extremely non-committal way.
"Fine," Walden said. "Everyone hang on to me, then, unless ye want to get Splinched." Once they landed, Selwyn muttered, "I miss the old way of Apparating, with the black smoke and such." Travers punched him in the arm. Walden held up his hand and waved it to get them to keep quiet as they approached the stone steps and large wooden door.
"You'd think he would have tried improving the place," Selwyn muttered again. Travers punched him in the arm again.
"Stand back, ye numpties, he's due to come out any minute ta feed the thestrals," Walden said, as he pointed his wand directly at the door, and intoned, "Reducto!" The door exploded into myriad wood fragments. Hagrid appeared immediately, brandishing a pink umbrella and yelling at the four wizards, "What th'….get away from me house, ye blackguards!" Spotting Macnair, he shouted, "What the hell are ye doing here! I knew ye was a bad 'un!" He barreled through the door, knocking over Selwyn, who seemed to be hypnotized by the umbrella. "This is for Hermione!" he yelled, as he swung a giant fist in Walden's direction; Walden flicked his wand and Hagrid was yanked up into the air by one foot—the umbrella slipped out of his hands, and Yaxley snatched it up. Walden said, "Leave the lass out of this!"
"HELP!" Hagrid yelled, and the wizards heard the sounds of wings flapping; Yaxley glanced up and glimpsed the thestral herd, who were circling the trees, preparing to come in for a landing.
"Silencio!" Walden intoned, pointing his wand at Hagrid, who was rendered mute. Yaxley pointed his wand at Hagrid and shouted "Incarcerous!" As Hagrid was bound up by the magical ropes, Travers yelled, "Look there!" Loud, pounding footsteps were sounding and the trees were shaking. Selwyn was still in the process of getting to his feet, swaying in a punch-drunk fashion.
"It's th' other giant, Hagrid's brother," Walden said. "What's the plan, Yaxley?"
"Er…" Yaxley muttered, looking decidedly planless as he clutched the umbrella.
"Never mind about that," Selwyn muttered. "Looks like we're caught," he added, as he fell over again in a dead faint.
"What?" Yaxley and Travers glanced at Selwyn. "What do you mean?" Travers asked.
The magically amplified voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt intoned, "Drop your wands. Hands in the air where I can see them." Fifteen MLE officers surrounded the group.