Before you read on. Nobody panic! Well, maybe you should a little... Answers are given, terms are made.
xoxox
Last night was absolutely horrible. All three of the wizards in her life were borderline bickering the whole night. She wasn't sure how she was going to survive this. The witch did not even want to go to work today, she just wanted to sleep. Hermione was grumbling to herself as she opened her office door and saw one of the scariest people sitting at her desk. Lucius Malfoy had made himself at home in her office, sipping a teacup from across her empty chair.
"Sit, girl," he ordered and she gulped and moved to sit down in her chair.
There was a large beat up book sitting on her desk in front of her and the Malfoy seemed anything but amused with her. He pushed a teacup at her and she reluctantly dressed it. "You are not poisoning me, are you?" She asked carefully and his lips twitched.
"No, not today, Miss Granger," he replied simply. "There are bigger problems than your condition..."
Not trusting him she waved her wand over her cup and found no traces of anything but the tea. "Alright, it is quite clear you are here to talk with me, Mr. Malfoy. What can I help you with?"
He flicked his wand at the door and shut it, making Hermione internally swear; she was hoping that if she needed help she could seek it easily. "Draco spoke of a dream of yours. Tell me, did it seem real?" He questioned and her face hardened.
"You didn't come to badger me about my pregnancy?" She asked and he laughed with wicked delight.
"That will come shortly, for now, let us remain on topic," he muttered and raised an eyebrow. "This dream, did you happen to come across that book in front of you?"
She knew this book and it still scared her that he brought it with him; Lucius was anything but careless. It was part of the Malfoy's more delicate tomes of knowledge. The book that Draco had found the end of her calculations was in that book. This was the book that started it all. "Yes, I know of this book well." She replied and his lips pursed.
"Did you see this book and read it before your dream?" He inquired, his voice sharp.
"Yes, I believe a couple of days before it, thinking back now." Hermione murmured and sipped her cup while opening the book.
"You awful girl," Lucius spat and Hermione's face paled. "Do you realize the trouble you have caused yourself and quite possibly my son?"
"No- I- Why?" She sputtered and he sneered and pointed at that book.
"That isn't a plaything from Hogwarts, that is buried magic you are toying with, Miss Granger. You never asked yourself why you had such an elaborate dream of... entertaining two older wizards?" He snickered and Hermione's glare was sharp.
"You are going to insultingly tell me, so get to it, Lucius," she snapped and he sipped his cup, letting the silence push on them.
"Inter Sagum Tenetur?" He asked and she thought hard on the latin. "Think hard, Miss Granger."
"Well, yes, what does my incantation have to do with this. We severed the binding." She folded her arms and he flipped to the marked page.
"Just so you understand the ramifications of this. I wrote it out for you." He spat and Hermione read his crisp writing.
The caster of said Veilweaving would be binding said individuals to a lapse in time. Most certainly reoccurring within the frame until the binding is severed properly. The severing of such magnitude would require a shift from the Veil and those among the curtain: Inter Sagum, (the reference to the Veil). "Veilweavers", casters of incantation will have deja vus, dreams and quite possibly unexplained attachments to all individuals. There is a reason to believe subjects will, of course, be stalled in said lapse until the casters are Inter Sagum themselves, thus completing the exchange.
Hermione's jaw dislocated, "what?" She choked and Lucius folded his arms.
"In other words, you have just made your relationship with my son and all included, very complex." He spat and she covered her mouth.
"I am having a baby with one of them," she shook her head and Lucius chuckled.
"That is the least of your problems, Miss Granger. That child has a risk of not being born unless you find a way to stop the lapse in time. Imagine you having to relive moments of this life again in another dream? You would slowly drive yourself to madness." Lucius cleared his throat, "Draco had admitted you were not insane and I did not believe him until he told me about moments we had not lived. I am not quite sure he told you, but he has been going through similar... dreams. Whatever this spell pertains to, it is effecting those who casted it." Lucius finished and Hermione frowned.
"What do you mean? What evidence did he provide?" Hermione spat and Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"The exact terms it was going to take for him to court and marry Miss Greengrass for one. Secondly, he revealed a very... unsavory secret of mine that he would not have known unless I had spoken it to him. These dreams did not start until after this spell. When he read the same incantation, you had. You did not trust him with the contents of the full spell in your last lapse did you?" He spoke with resentment and Hermione shook her head.
"Not the full extent, no. I had my own personal notes I could decode. I shared with him everything this time..." Hermione trailed off and rubbed her face, "which he was privy to see when he helped bring me back in the last lapse. When he repeated the incantation in his mind this time it created the connection... Bugger!" Hermione spat and skewed her face.
Lucius sipped his cup and frowned, "You will have to fix this, Miss Granger. Unless you plan on going insane slowly and then I have nothing else to tell you but good luck. You may want to snoop in my library for an answer to this query, it is not in that book... I do have conditions." He spoke and fully turned to her.
"Conditions?" Hermione echoed and Lucius nodded.
"If that child is indeed Draco's, you are going to marry him and raise a Malfoy properly. I do not like you. I do not like your meddling or your toying with magic you clearly do not understand. Your blood... well, some decency would come from your unmanageable intelligence I would hope. However, I am a wizard of a certain degree and caliber who does not accept... impotence. My blood line will be carried through with proper care, regardless of your love affairs. I am not in the dark about Miss Greengrass's condition. Let's just say we both have investments into this now." He finished and Hermione paled.
"I would rather go insane!" She cried and Lucius smiled brightly.
"I was quite sure you would say that. Which is why I am going to remind you... your lovers. They could easily not have it as simple next time. They do not have the same... staying power. Attachments can suddenly grow to resentment if someone is stuck in the past. I highly suggest you make the most of the present and future." Lucius declared and Hermione sneered.
"You wouldn't be proposing such unless you had a plan, Lucius," she growled and he smiled again and sipped his teacup.
"You are a smart girl. I happen to know that you will have until the end of your pregnancy, give a couple months or so maybe for exact timing, to be able to find an answer. I am willing to bet that you will not be able to find out who the father is for... mysterious reasons they will claim. You and Draco are now muddied in magics you know little about. I, however, am going to become your greatest ally, whether you want me to be or not. That child in your belly is going to be quite the motivation."
"You are convinced it is a Malfoy," she said flatly and he nodded pouring himself another cup of tea.
"Very convinced, in fact. The only benefit you will have of me not knowing for certain is we will not be able to find out until the small child will be born. You can still try in two months, but I am telling you, these magics are quite old. You touched the Veil last lapse? Did you end up returning in your dream?" He mused and Hermione heaved a sigh.
"Yes, I did. Remus and Sirius brought me back before I woke up." She responded and he nodded.
"Unfortunately, they brought you back, which of course just recycled the pattern of the lapse and included them into this unsavory complication... You have been among the Veil's magic before. That would have left something on you. Come let me have a look." He declared and she frowned and blushed.
"No!" She shouted and he chuckled.
"Lift the back of your hair up," he declared and she let a low guttural sound.
Turning she lifted her hair from her neck and he gasped almost immediately and got up. "I wasn't sure until now..." He trailed off.
She jerked away from him and glowered, "what?" She snapped and he smirked and sat back down.
He pointed to the book. "It's in there."
She scanned the pages and saw his next small piece of parchment shoved in six or so pages in.
A small, curved scar would appear if touched by the Veil just below the hairline.
"You wondered why everything plopped in your lap this time? It all went smoothly, yet you still passed out? Depletion. You are strong enough to cast the spell, which I would never dream of doing, and still, survive. You will be able to sever the loop properly because of your death. If you didn't, I would have suggested you just start from scratch and try again."
"How many lapses have we been through?" she gasped and Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Curiosity later, Miss Granger. Will you accept my conditions?" he inquired and she bit her lip.
"I have to tell them first," she murmured and he shook his head.
"This is the only time I will offer and under the terms that you will speak to no one about such. Not even my son." He said sternly and she paled and rubbed her face.
She held out her hand and looked away from him as he shook it. "Very good. I suggest you speak to your superiors about taking some much-needed time off. You haven't much of it left and there are many books to go through." He told her and took his hand away from hers.
He stood up and went to the door, "Miss Granger," he started and she looked over at him. "I do expect you to be taking great care of yourself. Mustn't chance illness in times like these," he declared with a wicked smile and left her office.
She slumped in her chair glaring at the book and rubbing her belly. "This is quite the tale we are weaving, little love. I hope your daddy is not Draco or we are going to be buggered in large measure." Hermione pulled out a parchment and sighed as she wrote out her request for leave...