He would be Lucius.
He knew that all of those thoughts, those words, those feelings, were truly his, Ezra a mere tool to allow him to express them.
Today would be a day for explanations, for truths, and not just the ones he needed to tell Hermione, but truths he had to admit to himself.
But the question had to be asked, who was Lucius Malfoy?
One thing he was not, was free.
Perhaps this was what drove him to supress and harm others, an excuse he could never accept. No, Lucius knew that he had been a coward.
It was strange, a paradox almost, that Lucius was so strong, so powerful, and yet so weak at the same time.
In Ezra, Lucius could be whoever he wanted to be. There was no expectation of him, no madman holding a knife to his family's throats, no fear which had driven him to prejudice.
In Ezra, Lucius was free.
Before Hermione went to meet Lucius, there was someone else who she definitely needed to see. She had managed the previous afternoon to properly distract herself from thoughts of Lucius, but this had led to something crossing her mind that she hadn't thought of at first, and suffice to say that she was mad.
So, that is what found Miss Hermione Granger marching towards the Ministers office, ignoring all protests that he was too busy to be disturbed, and after a curt knock opened his door.
"Hermione?" He said, surprised as he looked up from a stack of parchment in front of him. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, I don't know Kingsley." Hermione said as she closed his door perhaps a little too forcefully. "Do you think having someone working with a man who might kill her wrong?"
Understanding dawned on the Minister's face and his Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Now, Hermione." He began in his politician's voice. "You have to understand why I did this, let me explain."
"You better explain." She said as she angrily took a seat. "Or I wouldn't be too surprised if Rita Skeeter found out why Lucius Malfoy got such a short sentence." She threatened.
He sighed and started to tell her why he'd done what he had.
"When the first few war trials began, although we had evidence of some crimes, there were so many we couldn't prove, so many criminals that we knew we wouldn't be able to put away for anyway near long enough. So, you can imagine why I would jump at the chance to resolve this when the opportunity presented itself. Lucius offered me a deal. He would give as much evidence as I wanted on whoever I wanted, his family excluded of course, and in return I would make sure that he didn't end up in Azkaban."
"Go on." Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.
"I was hesitant, I really was, but after reviewing his case files I realised that there were far worse people to have out and about than Lucius Malfoy, so I agreed to it. He was helpful, really helpful, he threw himself into the work as if his life depended on it, and in a way, I suppose it did." Kingsley told her sombrely. "You probably already realise this, but Azkaban destroyed Lucius. I didn't like him, but I could not deny that to see a man like him fall that far made me sad. I knew Hermione, I knew that he wouldn't hurt you, because I knew that he would never do anything that would that would put him back in there."
Hermione had never felt threatened by Ezra, not once, in fact, she felt safer than usual when she was with him, but that wasn't the point.
"I appreciate that you believe that to be true." She told him, trying to remain relatively calm. "But why couldn't you have just told me who he really was? I'm sure I could have done a better job observing and testing him if I knew."
"I worried that you wouldn't agree to it, given what happened to you at Malfoy Manor those few years ago…I'm sorry Hermione, I should have told you." He admitted, clearly genuinely apologetic.
"Well that's what I came here for." She said as she stood, satisfied that Kingsley was appropriately remorseful. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Ezra and I have an archivist to meet."
"You're still continuing with the project?" The Minister questioned with wide eyes.
"Of course." Hermione replied simply. "Have you ever known me to quit?" She said with a smile.
"Thank you Hermione." Said Kingsley, true appreciation in his voice.
"One last question." She added. "Who else knew? I mean, who knew that Ezra was Lucius?"
"Just myself, the judge and the chief of security, and they also knew about his current working with you and we agreed together to allow him release from his house arrest." Kingsley explained.
"I'm glad to hear that it's a small number of people." Said Hermione, somewhat relieved that there wasn't anyone else she needed to go and have a stern conversation with, another part of her relieved that the chances of Lucius' safety being compromised was small with so few people knowing of the role he played in the war trials.
"Goodbye Minister." She said as she opened the door. "Sorry to have bothered you." She added with false sweetness.
Hermione made her way through the atrium, preparing herself for what was to come, and was about to enter the floo when someone called after her.
"Miss Granger." Greeted Blaise as he approached her. "I'm glad I caught you before you left. We need some more of your polyjuice for security training and the chief asked me to personally make sure that you got the request."
"Oh yes, of course." She agreed distractedly, her mind focused on her upcoming meeting. "I have a large batch that should be done by the end of the week so I'll send it over once it's done."
"Thank you." He said with a curt nod before turning on his heels and marching off in the other direction.
Hermione had never known quite what to think about Blaise. In school he had been studious and relatively quiet, but he didn't hang around in the nicest crowds. Now he worked for the aurors and was a strong upholder of the law, as well as a hard and efficient worker, but Hermione couldn't help but feel uneasy around him sometimes, probably because she could never quite work out what he was thinking.
Hermione arrived early to the Museum of Magical History, as was typical these days, and while she waited she couldn't help but think about how easy it had been for Lucius to play the part of Ezra, something she knew was hard to do from her time impersonating Bellatrix.
Lucius had blended in with everyone in the Ministry so effortlessly, simply changing his appearance to hide who he truly was, just like a chameleon. Then again, chameleons were covered in bright colours that often stood out, not camouflaged at all, and in that sense she supposed you could still call Lucius one. His personality had seeped through his disguise, his presence still overwhelming no matter what he looked like.
She wondered if she could trust him, surely the fact that she knew what he'd done was cause for concern, one more person who could slip up. In a strange way, Hermione felt as though she could trust him. When you knew just how bad someone could be you no longer had to worry about hidden motives, because likelihood is that you knew them all already.
She believed what Kingsley said about Lucius not harming her though, it was obvious that he was unlikely to do something that would put him back in Azkaban, but part of her didn't want that to be entirely the reason. Surely he wouldn't hurt her even if he could get away with it, surely not now...
The doors to the museum opened and a familiar man entered, although, this man was not truly familiar to Hermione at all. There was Ezra, walking slowly yet purposefully towards her, and she could see that he was not the Erza she knew. No, the person she now saw before her, she was sure, was truly Lucius Malfoy. Now, the question had to be asked, although she knew his name, did Hermione know who this man was.
She had seen Ezra, she had seen the Lucius Malfoy the rest of the world had seen, but also the broken man he had become during the war, the one few had experienced, and she wondered whether the Lucius with her now was any of the men she thought she knew.
As he approached the nervousness she was sure she had been suppressing all morning finally hit her. She had thrown herself at this man yesterday, what must he think of her? Then again, he didn't exactly seem to be complaining, but perhaps he just reacted that way in the heat of the moment. Oh Merlin, she hadn't felt like this since going to the ball with Viktor all those years ago, and now it felt ten times worse.
"Good morning." Greeted Lucius formally and it stung Hermione more than she would have expected it to. "Hermione." He added, perhaps noticing her reaction. In future she noted that she would have to be careful to school her facial expressions when around him.
"Hello." She smiled. "Lucius." She added softly as she saw the archivist approaching.
Lucius looked slightly taken aback, his silver eyes widening in surprise, and Hermione had to supress a smile that she could make the infamously collected Malfoy patriarch lose his composure, if only for a mere second.
The archivist approached them and introduced herself and began to lead them through the museum. Hermione and Lucius walked contently behind her as she pointed out some of the more interesting and notable pieces they passed. Hermione had been here many times before, but never for work, so couldn't wait to see what so few of the public even realised was down beneath its floors.
Hermione and Lucius followed the archivist down into the museums vaults. As far as Hermione knew, under the museum there was a vast collection of artefacts of importance to the history of the wizarding world, many which would never be seen by more than a few. The place had very high security, some suggesting that it was even better than what they had at Gringotts.
It was then that Hermione realised what they were walking towards. Ahead of them was what looked to be a shimmering layer, sort of like a heat wave, and Hermione almost stopped in her tracks. It was just like the Theif's Downfall at Gringotts, a security measure to remove any concealments or enchantments.
How could she have overlooked this? Of course there would be something like this in the museum. What would happen if Lucius was exposed? The effects of the polyjuice were bound to be removed when he walked through it.
She looked to her left at Lucius but he appeared to be completely un-phased. Did he not realise what they were heading towards? Would he have even come if he knew the risk?
Hermione chastised herself, she knew Lucius was a smart man, she was sure he would have thought about this. Even if he knew about the barrier she was sure he would still have come. He could not afford to slip up in any way, and it would look suspicious if he was unwilling to go through the security at the museum.
Probably noticing the look of panic in her eyes, Lucius shifted closer to her.
"Do not worry Hermione." He whispered, his warm breath tickling her neck and sending a delicious shiver down her spine. "It will be fine." He said as he gestured to his pocket, the top of a flask poking out the top.
She understood immediately, he planned to retake the potion as soon as they were through the barrier. It was her potion, she knew it took no more than ten seconds to take effect, all they needed to make this work was hoping the archivist would keep walking and not turn around for long enough for the potions effect to work again. Fortunately, unless there was a hidden trap door in the floor, it looked as though the barrier held no fatal consequences like in Gringotts, so unless it had a warning signal attached they should be fine.
Hermione was counting the steps in her head as they approached, her heart rate picking up as they got closer.
Three. Two. One.
A warm sensation passed over her as they walked through, it felt as though she had just walked through water and yet she wasn't wet. She let out a breath once she was on the other side, nothing seemed to have happened.
And then the barrier turned red.
For the love of Circe! Would these sorts of things ever stop happening to her?
The archivist was about to turn around when she noticed the change of colour, but Hermione quickly walked up to her and stopped her, hoping she could improvise and give the potion enough time to take effect, sure she had seen some platinum hair appearing out of the corner of her eye.
"Sorry." Hermione apologised. "I've got a couple of cosmetic spells on that might have set it off." She lied.
"The barrier normally doesn't pick those up." The archivist said, confused but not suspicious. Hermione wasn't one to use her war heroine status for personal gain, that just wasn't who she was, but sometimes, like today, she was grateful that it allowed people to trust her easily.
"They're ones I've altered myself so that might have caused it." She suggested. "I should have known not to apply them today when I knew we were coming here."
"Oh, don't worry Miss Granger, no harm done, it's easy enough to fix."
She turned to cast a spell on the barrier and Hermione held her breath, hoping Lucius looked like Ezra once more, relieved to see the dark haired man looking back at her slightly smugly, a glint of admiration is his eyes.
"There we go." The archivist said with a smile as she continued to lead them towards the vaults. "All fixed. We shouldn't have a problem going out, the barrier only works one way you see, so you can reapply your charms if you like, not that you need them Miss Granger, you really are beautiful."
"Thank you." Said Hermione, relieved that there wouldn't be a risk of Lucius being caught out on the way back.
"Yes, Miss Granger." Lucius said low and hot in Hermione's ear. "You really are."
Hermione could feel a burning blush spreading across her cheeks, a different kind of heat settling between her legs. She didn't know what it was exactly she felt for Lucius yet, it was all so confusing, but one thing was abundantly clear. She wanted him.
They were at the museum in order to photograph the horcruxes for their book (those that weren't completely destroyed that is), and anything else that caught their attention while they were there.
The archivist led them past rows of neatly labelled draws, cabinets and shelves, until eventually they came to a door marked 'The Second Wizarding War'.
"Here we are." She said as she cast some complex spells to unlock the door. "I'll have to supervise you while you're here, museum policy I'm afraid, but feel free to look at whatever you want, all items have been checked for curses and dangerous items are stored elsewhere so it's safe." She assured them. "I'll just be over in the corner doing some paperwork if you have any questions."
"Thank you." Smiled Hermione, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be alone with Lucius so that they could talk. "Looks like we have a lot to go through."
The room was large, as was to be expected, but thanks to the way things were organised it was easy for them to find what they were looking for. Some of the horcruxes had been completely destroyed, like the diadem, but a surprising number had been recovered, mostly owing to their original historical importance prior to being horcruxes.
The ring, locket, cup, and diary were all present. Hermione felt uncomfortable seeing them again, especially the locket which had caused her and her friends so much pain. She could feel Lucius' presence behind her, could almost feel him stiffen when he saw the diary. She wondered what was going through his mind. Did he regret what he had done with the diary? Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.
"Looks like we've got four." She said, trying to distract him from whatever he was thinking as well as herself.
"Five." He corrected her, pointing to a very large snake skull which she had overlooked.
"Oh yes…" She said weakly, the memories of being chased by Nagini ones which had haunted her for far too long.
"So." He said, interrupting her thoughts. Maybe he could tell when she needed to be drawn out of her thoughts too. "Whose camera are we using first?"
They had had quite a heated debate about how to take the pictures. Lucius (whom Hermione thought to be Ezra at the time) had initially suggested that they use a magical camera. Hermione, however, had disagreed. There wasn't going to be any movement in the pictures, so why use a magical camera when she had a very good muggle one which would produce photographs of much higher quality. Lucius had grumbled somewhat, and now Hermione knew why, but suggested they each bring their own, take pictures with each, and decide once they saw the results.
It came as a surprise to Hermione then, when Lucius pulled from his robes and enlarged what looked to be an old muggle film camera.
"An heirloom." He explained as he started to assemble it.
"A compromise?" Hermione asked quietly with a small mischievous smile.
"Perhaps." He conceded with a smile of his own. "I used to use it when I was at school."
"Not a magical camera?" She teased.
"No." He explained as he set up the equipment. "You're right, it loses the quality so there isn't any point for it with still objects." He paused. "And it is better, I find, sometimes, to look at a photograph and imagine what's happening for yourself, to see all the emotions in someone's face from a single picture, without any preconceived notion the movement the magic creates might give you."
"Yes." Hermione agreed, taken aback by his statement, not sure what to say. "I've learnt recently that preconceived notions can be wrong."
Lucius' hands stilled only slightly in his work at her words, the only sign that they had had any effect on him, but it was enough, and Hermione knew that it meant something to him.
They worked mostly in silence after that, they knew the time for talking would be later, when they were alone. Their task was finished fairly quickly but since they were here they decided they may as well look around for some other items that they might want to photograph, not to mention that Hermione would have come up with any excuse to stay for longer to get a good look around.
She found all sorts of interesting things. Diaries from people on the run from snatchers, an old death eater mask that she put away as soon as she saw it, hoping that Lucius didn't find it, and even some wanted posters of Harry that she photographed for the book.
All was going well and Hermione was enjoying herself, that is, until she opened a drawer she should really have checked the label of before doing so.
Inside were several wands, one of them causing her to freeze.
Hermione had handed in that wand to the Ministry to help with evidence for the trials, was so sure she would never see it again that it caught her off guard. Bellatrix' wand, the wand that tortured her, the wand she wish she'd snapped.
Lucius seemed to notice her distress, always so perceptive, and began to walk towards her.
If she had noticed one of the other wands in the drawer, if only she had known what it would do to him, she would have told him to stay away.
"Hermione, what have you found? Is everything al-" He paused, the words stuck in his throat.
His hands started to shake, his breathing picked up and his so often calm eyes were filled with fear. Hermione worried that he had been cursed perhaps but remembering the archivist's words she followed his eyes and saw what was causing his reaction.
A white wand with a handle of bone.
Hermione slammed the drawer shut but it seemed to be too late, Lucius was reaching for his throat, trying to loosen his tie as he stumbled backwards.
"Lucius." She called out to him, forgetting the archivist might hear, trying to help him, to calm him down, but he was too far gone, Hermione only just catching him in time with a levitation spell before he passed out cold on the floor.
Sorry again for another rather abrupt ending to a chapter, but this was just where it seemed right to end it.