I'm back! Sorry about the long wait, I really didn't manage to write a single word while I was away so it's taken a bit longer than I had anticipated to get this out. On the plus side, I managed to see several chameleons in Africa which I thought was very apt.
Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy!
Hermione awoke early the next morning, 4am perhaps, when a nurse came to check on Lucius' condition.
She sleepily rolled off the bed to let him be examined, not caring at all that the nurse had seen her in Ezra's bed, it wasn't as if anyone knew who he was anyway.
"He seems to be fine." The medi-witch told her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he could be discharged this afternoon."
"That's great." Said Hermione with a yawn as she made her way back to the bed, too tired to think of any other questions she should probably be asking. "Thank you."
The nurse looked surprised as Hermione pulled the blanket back around herself but composed herself quickly, Hermione supposing it was natural that people might be a bit shocked to suddenly find out she was climbing into bed with a man no one knew twice her age.
"Let me know if you need anything." The nurse offered, turning to leave the room fairly quickly, Hermione happy to be alone with Lucius once again.
As she lay down next to him, Lucius rolled on his side and slung an arm over her.
Hermione froze, but relaxed when she realised he was still asleep. Lucius pulled her close, her back now tightly pressed against his hard chest. He tucked his head into her shoulder and Hermione could feel him smile against her neck.
"Hermione." He half whispered, half moaned as his grip on her tightened, his hand snaking down her body to where he seemed to know she needed him.
Hermione almost whimpered when his hand ghosted over the small amount of skin exposed between her top and jeans. His fingers attempted to open the button at the top of her trousers but in his not so conscious state he failed and let out a small growl of frustration.
Hermione wanted to help him, to let him touch and explore her, but she could hear footsteps in the corridor outside and realised that this was not the place or time for it, no matter how much she wished it was. Besides, she wanted the first time he touched her to be with his own hands.
Reluctantly she brought Lucius' hand back to her waist and held it there, Lucius seeming content to entwine his fingers with hers and nuzzle further into the crook of her neck instead.
She hoped that the next time this happened he'd be far more awake.
They both woke at seven when Severus came back to visit, this time Hermione mildly embarrassed to be seen in the arms of her Professors best friend.
Lucius, on the other hand, seemed to be revelling in it.
"Sleep well?" Asked Severus dryly.
"Mmm." Lucius hummed as he rubbed his thumb across Hermione's waist. "I had the most pleasant dream.
"I'm sure." Said Severus with a roll of his eyes.
"So." Interjected Hermione, trying to move the conversation to more comfortable territory as she slowly removed herself from Lucius grip. "Have you found someone to play Ezra for the day?" She asked, pretending not to hear Lucius' small grumble of protest as she left his side.
"I have." Said Snape, clearly pleased that he no longer had to listen to his friends insinuations. "He is trustworthy, smart and, in my opinion, the only person who could pull off Ezra's demeanour."
"I doubt that's possible." Added Lucius, Severus simply ignoring him.
"Well then, who is it?" Hermione asked excitedly, faintly registering the doors opening at the other end of the room.
"Really Granger, I'm surprised you'd have to ask." Came a voice that for many years had made Hermione flinch.
"Draco." Hermione said with a smile, automatically standing to embrace him in a tight hug as was there usual way of greeting.
"Hello Hermione." He replied, his smile not quite as wide as her own, his eyes straying to look slightly suspiciously at his father. "I'm surprised to see you here."
"Well I wasn't about to leave Lu-your father, unprotected after what happened to him was I?" She explained, convincing herself that it wasn't a complete lie, realising that Draco might not be too happy to discover her feelings for Lucius.
"Thank you then, I'm glad to see that he seems to be recovering." He said, his voice turning a little fonder.
"Draco." Called Lucius, beckoning his son to his side. "Are you really going to help me? I wouldn't want to put you in danger again. I promised myself, and you, that I would never-"
"Father." Interrupted Draco sternly, but not harshly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to help you." He explained. "I am a Malfoy, and Malfoy's stick together."
Lucius face softened and the love he bore for his son shone through clearly, a small but powerful smile appearing on his lips. "Thank you, Draco. Severus was right, you truly are the only person who I could ever trust to do this, but, do you understand the danger?"
"It may surprise you to know that I worked out who Ezra was a long time ago, ever since your sentence was so short. Suffice to say that having Pansy Parkinson sneak me into the records room helped too." Draco admitted smugly.
"So you knew?" Lucius asked with pride. "All this time…I should have told you."
"No. It is better that you did not." Cut in Draco. "At the time I would have taken it badly. I would have seen it as you trying to win back my favour, once again pandering to those in power, for I was blinded by my resentment of you." He explained, clearly trying hard to keep any anger he still had on the subject at bay. "We'd almost lost everything because of you, my mother had left because of you, and it wasn't for a long time that I understood your actions, and sometimes I wonder if I even do….But I am happy to know the truth now, and grateful that my father isn't rotting away in Azkaban."
"I see." Nodded Lucius with regret, clearly ashamed.
"But enough of that." Said Draco, taking control of the situation in a way just like his father would. "We need to come up with a plan."
Unsurprisingly, it didn't take the four of them long to work out what they needed to do.
They figured that it would be unlikely that any of the nurses who had attended to Lucius would see him at the Ministry, or that word of Ezra's hospitalisation would have gone far, so it shouldn't strike anyone but the cursers suspicion if he was seen out and about.
Draco would take half of the polyjuice with him and transform once they were away from the hospital, leaving Lucius to finish his recovery as Ezra and be sent home hopefully that afternoon.
Severus was to go to the Manor to check and fortify the protections there on the unlikely grounds that someone had worked out Ezra's true identity, as well as alert the ever faithful elves to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
So, an hour later, Hermione found herself walking through the Ministry atrium with Ezra at her side as usual, everyone around them none the wiser to what had happened.
At least she hoped so.
Draco played Ezra well. Severus was right, she really couldn't imagine anyone else doing it with such ease, but she could tell it wasn't the same, knew she would have noticed had she not been privy to the switch.
Whatever it was that had drawn Hermione to Ezra in the first place wasn't quite there, the confidence and power he seemed to exude, the effortless superiority, and it solidified what Hermione already knew, that it was most definitely Lucius she had fallen for.
Despite their differences, Hermione was sure that no one noticed that anything about Ezra had changed. It was almost as if Draco knew exactly how to behave around everyone, even the subtleties in his actions were on point, and she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Draco had observed his father in this form from afar.
Regardless, they got to her office without incident and began to execute phase two of their plan. Phase one was complete, to let a lot of people see that Ezra was out and about and as far as anyone was aware, one hundred percent healthy and un-cursed.
Phase two was to spread the word that Ezra would be away for quite some time due to a relative being very sick. Although the curser might see through the lie it didn't really matter for they would be unlikely to find out where they were hiding him, especially if they didn't know that Ezra was Lucius.
Draco was to go to the Minister and explain that he needed to leave for some time. They trusted that Shacklebolt wasn't involved in the attempt on Lucius' life but one could still never be sure who might be listening, so they decided not to tell him what had happened for now.
Hermione's job was going to be a little easier. All she had to do was wander around the Ministry complaining to all the biggest gossips she knew how annoying it was that Ezra was leaving her with all this work to do, hoping that no one would notice how out of character it would be for her to complain about having lots of work to do. If anything, normally, she'd probably be happy about it.
Hermione would probably have to spend quite a lot of time out of the Ministry herself now as well if she wanted to continue working with Lucius, which she couldn't deny she did, but it was likely to go unnoticed considering how little time she spent at the Ministry these days anyway.
It was as she was heading to her final destination, the mail room, where there were always a few of the newer employees loitering about, always good for spreading news around, that she overheard something that she found curious.
"You'll never believe who snapped at me this morning?" Said a wizard Hermione guessed was in his early twenties.
"Who?" Asked the witch who was searching through a pile of letters next to him. "I'm intrigued."
"Zabini, that's who." The wizard informed her, clearly shocked. "I mean Blaise Zabini never snaps, he just stands up taller and gives you one of those looks that makes you wish you were talking to an angry dragon instead. It was most out of character."
"Hm, well I suppose he's probably just a bit stressed lately." Offered the witch disinterestedly. "There's that big anniversary event coming up and you know he's doing all the work our boss should be doing, give the guy a break."
"I suppose…" Mumbled the wizard.
"And besides, I'm sure you did something that was worthy of being snapped at." She teased.
At this point Hermione was deep in thought and the rest of their conversation blended into the background.
Now why was Zabini so tense today Hermione wondered? The wizard was right, it was out of character for Blaise. In all her years of knowing him he'd barely flared a nostril when he was angry. Something must really have him out of sorts.
Maybe….
"Miss Granger." Came Ezras's voice. "There you are."
"Oh, Dra-Ezra, how did your meeting with the Minister go?" She asked as they began to make their way towards the atrium.
"As well as can be expected." Draco explained. "Shacklebolt protested, but after I informed him that we were almost done with the project." At this point he leaned in close and whispered. "Which I'm assuming it is knowing you and father."
"Naturally." Hermione replied with a smug smile.
"And that yet another member of our ever dwindling family was dying of Dragonpox, just like our poor Abraxas, so I suppose he couldn't really demand that I stay."
"Good, well done." She said, her mind half elsewhere, the conversation she had overheard playing in her head again.
"Is something wrong?" Draco asked her quietly as they approached the floo.
"I'm not sure yet, maybe, I'll explain when we're back with the others."
Draco approached the floo first and called out for the Iron Belly, Hermione to Hogwarts.
The plan was to meet with Lucius and Severus down in his quarters in the Slytherin Dungeons, but they didn't both want to floo there straight away so as not to create any suspicion.
Hermione was now in her own room up in Gryffindor tower and began to make her way to the dungeons a little slower than she might have any other day.
Zabini…
If he was the one who cursed Ezra, it would make sense that he was so on edge after having heard that he was alive and well, but something didn't add up to Hermione.
Blaise had always been smart, and like Severus had said, whoever had placed the curse on Lucius was most likely not. Secondly, it was still out of Zabini's nature to get flustered, even if a serious plan like this had failed, so his behaviour alone was something to be worried about. Then there was the question of motive, as far as Hermione knew he didn't have any relatives in prison and, if anything, she was sure any evidence Ezra had given regarding his mother had helped to keep her as unscathed as was possible.
She had however seen Zabini that morning on the way to the museum, but he'd been acting completely normally as far as she remembered, simply asking her about the next polyjuice shipment.
The polyjuice…Blaise knew all about it, and her new research on it, was it possible that perhaps he knew that Ezra was a disguise for someone?
Hermione wondered whether she should tell the rest of them. He was Draco's friend, she wouldn't want to create any sort of rift between them unnecessarily…but then again, what if she said nothing and Draco was in danger.
She let out a growl of frustration as she began stomping rather childishly down the stairs, grumpy with the fact that these sorts of things never seemed to stop happening to her.
With a sigh, she decided the best course of action would be to ask Lucius who he had encountered that morning, and where he went, to see whether or not Zabini was mentioned. If he wasn't, she might just do some investigating of her own for now.
At last she reached the door to Severus' quarters and knocked on it three times. Despite no longer being a school girl, the practice still filled her with a small amount of dread.
Thankfully, Draco, now back in his own body, was the one to open the door, so Hermione didn't have to experience any nasty cases of dejavu.
"Ah, Hermione, finally made it I see." Greeted Severus.
"Mmm yes." Purred Lucius with a salacious smile on his lips. "At last."
Hermione shot her Professor a questioning look due to Lucius' somewhat strange behaviour.
"The hospital released him early on the condition that he take a calming potion." Explained Severus. "It is intended to keep the body and mind relaxed so that any residue left from the curse doesn't have an effect, but it seems to have relaxed whatever filters on his speech and actions that he may have had as well."
"I see." Said Hermione as she took a seat just a little out of Lucius' reach. It wasn't that she didn't like the way that he was looking at her, hell, she loved it, but she didn't think she could stand the embarrassment if he were to do something in front of her mentor or best friend.
"Draco tells us that your trip to the Ministry was successful." Said Lucius as he looked at her like a hungry predator.
"Yes." Confirmed Hermione, unable to quite meet his heated gaze. "I think the word should spread that Ezra will we away for an indeterminate period of time."
"Good." Said Severus.
"Indeed." Added Lucius as his gaze dropped unabashedly down her body. "However shall I thank you…"
"Um, Hermione, you said something was bothering you earlier, in the atrium." Draco cut in, clearly uncomfortable with his father's behaviour, Hermione hoping that he thought it was all just a side effect of the potion.
"Oh, yes, I was just thinking about where Lucius went the morning before our visit to the museum, and whether or not he noticed or recognised anyone." She explained, covering her lie with a truth and hoping Severus wouldn't notice.
"Good question." Said Draco, happy with the change of subject. "We need to know as much as we can so we can try and start to work out what happened here."
"I agree." Interjected Severus. "But I'm not sure Lucius is quite in the state to be properly answering questions."
"I assure you that my mind is quite sharp." Said Lucius irritably, his eyes never leaving Hermione. "I was at the manor most of the morning dealing with paperwork for the estate, I then left twenty minutes before I met with Hermione and walked through Diagon Alley. No one caught my attention, other than Hagrid, whom I could not help but notice." He explained clearly, all evidence that he was under the effect of a potion gone. "I did, however, feel a slight tingling sensation as I opened the museum doors. Although, I accounted this for the fact that I had just spotted our dear Miss Granger." He added, Hermione certain now that the potion was still working.
"When you entered the museum?" Questioned Severus. "That would suggest that whoever cursed you knew that you were going there and lay in wait for you."
Draco and Snape continued to throw this idea back and forth but Hermione's thoughts had gone back to Zabini. It had taken her no more than five minutes to get from the Ministry to the museum, so that left Blaise with five minutes to have hidden himself after seeing her if he was the one who had cursed Ezra. It was possible, the fact that he spoke with her so close to when the incident occurred seemed to incriminate him further as it seemed a very clever thing to do to try and distance yourself from the crime. Of course, he could have always hired someone else to do it, but that meant a loose end that needed tying up, and she doubted Blaise would have taken the risk.
There was still one question though that she was yet to think of any answers to.
"How did they know we were going to the museum?" She asked aloud.
"I fear that is a question that could lead us to our culprit but could be difficult to answer." Said Severus dispiritedly.
"Then it's a good thing you're working with one of the best investigators around."
I've started reading 'The Bespoke Witch' (which I'm loving and wish I had more free time to read) but I'm baffled as to how someone manages to write such incredible chapters so fast. If only I could do the same!
Not sure when the next one will be out as my work load has sky rocketed this term, but I'm trying to make myself write at least a pathetic 500 words a night so hopefully it won't be too long. (I'm also still not 100% on top of the plot so I do spend a lot of time just staring at the screen thinking.)