Thank you for the reviews! You are all the best! One anonymous reviewer was chastising Hermione for drinking alcoholic drinks-I will draw your attention to the disclaimer that pregnancy is different in the wizarding world, anonymous reviewer. It's magic!
zeeksmom I did not mean to infer drugs or Hermione's drink being tampered with-faulty reviewing/editing on my part. I've fixed it now.
For those of you wondering what the French relations are up to, that is purposefully murky still! Hehe.
Thank you to all the new story followers and faves-welcome aboard!
All right, I'm just going to shut up now because it's the middle of the week and I'm tired. Warning: lemon ahead, so if that's not your thing, skip it, mmkay? I may have tipped a bit more toward salacious here, but again, I'm too tired to care. Also, copious science content that is semi-accurate, in what I hope is the best tradition of erudite fiction writers. Read and let me know what you think, please! Thank you!
It was Percivel and Thompson again, another pair of Aurors unknown to either of them already talking to Draco in the foyer. There was no sign of the thief, so presumably another pair of Aurors had taken him to the Ministry.
"May we speak to you?" Percivel's tone was business-like and he entered the study briskly as soon as Lucius had moved aside, taking in the paperwork that Hermione had scattered over the desk and suspended along the wall of bookcases. Papers were floating easily and Lucius had no doubt that she could move them around at will, reassembling in whatever pattern fit the thoughts in her head at the time.
"You seem to be drawing quite a lot of attention, Mrs. Malfoy," Thompson said sardonically as he entered the room after his partner. Hermione flushed—it was the first time she had been addressed by her married name, and she realized that everyone at the Ministry would be calling her that from now on. There was no notion of women retaining their maiden names in the wizarding world.
Lucius watched Percivel take idle note of Hermione's work while Thompson looked around the room once then focused his attention on Lucius. Ah, this was clearly the interrogator today.
"How long have you been back from your honeymoon, Mr. Malfoy?"
"We only returned when Draco notified me that there was an attempt to breech the wards."
"I see. And all of this?" Thompson indicated the paperwork with a wave of his hand as Hermione walked over to where Percivel was about to pull down a piece of paper from her invisible peg board.
"Don't touch that," Hermione said frostily. "I'm going through my work to try to determine what the thief could possibly have been after. Clearly it had something to do with my genetic research at the Ministry."
Percivel nodded in brief apology and stepped away from the papers, which Hermione had flipped around with a quick flick of her wand. Lucius' eyes had narrowed and Thompson cleared his throat to regain the elder Malfoy's attention. "Yes, so your son was telling us. How far did he get?"
"I don't know. I wasn't here." Lucius' tone was bored and Thompson exchanged a glance with his partner. "Why are you so convinced that the thief was after something to do with Mrs. Malfoy's work?"
"Oh, I don't know, perhaps the fact that she has been the subject of two attacks?" Lucius' voice was dripping with sarcasm and Thompson changed tack.
"Mrs. Malfoy, do you have in your possession any paperwork that is not duplicated elsewhere? Something that the thief could only get his hands on here?"
Hermione, who had crossed the room to her husband after ensuring nothing of a delicate nature was open to prying eyes, fixed him with a look of disdain. "Do you really think that I'm going to tell you that? Even if I wanted to do so, I think Kingsley Shacklebolt would not take kindly to an Auror asking the Ministry's top researcher to break her wizarding oath, hmm?"
"But you do think that is what the thief was after—something you are working on?" Thompson persisted doggedly.
"Obviously," Hermione said, in an imitation that would have done Snape proud. Lucius chuckled to himself and ignored the dark look that Percivel cast his way.
"How was the thief caught?" Percivel asked, his gaze fixed on Lucius.
"I stunned him," Lucius said. "Draco was giving chase, and I helped him. We portkeyed right in front of the house."
"Your wand, please," Percivel asked, and Lucius drew out the eighteen inch wand and flipped it over expertly and without any hesitation.
Thompson was watching Hermione closely and asked, "And did you draw your wand, Mrs. Malfoy?"
"My husband's reflexes were sufficiently fast to not require my help," Hermione said, unsurprised by the mundane spells that were being called forth from Lucius' wand after the stunner. The portkey activation, a few shrinking spells, Accios…Percivel didn't even bother to listen past the eighth spell and flipped the wand back to Lucius. "Thank you."
"Not at all." Lucius inclined his head graciously, and Hermione marveled at the Slytherin-ness of the situation. It was no wonder that nothing ever stuck to the Malfoys, as they were clearly prepared to evade accounting for their actions to anyone else if they could possibly avoid it. It made her slightly uneasy, but the more she got to know Lucius the more she realized that his conduct was bound by a very rigid code of propriety and honor that had little to do with the laws of the land and everything to do with familial ties and the most basic of survival instincts. It was glorified and prettified with the most elegant and charming manner, but at his heart Lucius was very much concerned about himself and his family first. If she wanted to truly know him, she would, as he had said, have to get to know much more about his world, because it was what defined him.
"We'll give you a copy of our report tomorrow, and I'm sure Director Underwood will communicate any findings from our interrogations of the suspect," Thompson offered after a nod from his partner.
"Of course," Lucius bowed his head again slightly, and the Aurors excused themselves from the room. Once the doors closed, Hermione flicked her wand to turn all of her papers around again as Lucius walked to the sideboard to help himself to a firewhiskey. Hermione watched him and demanded, "Well, tell me what you learned at least. I don't want to know how, just the what, please. I don't think my opinion of you would be helped by any details."
"Probably not," Lucius agreed, a hard edge to his eyes that made Hermione uncomfortably aware of just how Dark her husband could be at times. "He was after the genetic profiles specifically. There was no demand for the methodology from his 'employer', so that probably means that whoever they are, they know how to duplicate your methods."
"Damn," Hermione said quietly, her mind turning over the new information, assessing it. "That's not good. I had hoped it would take someone else a bit longer to figure out exactly where in the genome I've been working, and I've held that information very close to my chest."
"Is there anything in the procedures for sample collection that would give a hint? Something that is added perhaps, that could tell them what you are looking at?"
Hermione paused and thought while Lucius knocked back a finger of the whiskey, the burn in his throat better than the acid that was clawing at his stomach. It had been nothing to him to deal with that thief, but there was a price to be paid for such dark indulgences. Right now he wanted to either break something or fuck Hermione hard across the desk, and neither was an option until they had hashed through this and talked to Draco. He threw back the rest of his drink and shoved the aggression aside.
"Back in the beginning stages of the work, I had the tubes waiting with the primers for PCR at St. Mungo's. This was two years ago, but I was not keeping an inventory. If someone had taken one, I would not have known about it. That would give them a place to start, if they hit upon the right fragments." Her voice was slow as she met his eyes, and Lucius swore under his breath.
"You had only just been hired, Lucius. No one had been paying the slightest attention to me then."
"Clearly someone was! That is precisely why I have been so insistent about keeping a close hold on everything associated with your work!" Lucius glared at her, but Hermione glared back at him. His gaze grew as cold as ice but Hermione refused to be cowed.
"I was running an entire genome through sequencing by myself and doing so at a pace that would have exhausted anyone else. I was interested in speed and efficiency. With literally NO HELP, do you honestly mean to hold me accountable for a security lapse?" Hermione fought to control herself, the volume of her voice rising as she spoke, and Lucius held up a hand.
"Enough. I am not going to chastise you, damn it," he snarled. "Unless you happen to still have your Time Turner, there is nothing to be done about it now."
Hermione's eyes flashed with shock and Lucius turned toward her to look at her with sardonic irritation. "Do you honestly think I let that lie? Do you think, knowing me as intimately as you do now, that I would have stopped before finding out how Black was still alive?"
The memory of that night flashed hot through her, burning her with the sting of their shared past when they had been on diametrically opposed sides in the midst of a deadly war. Lucius' jaw was set and his face was as cold as marble, hiding the flush of feelings on his part except for the quicksilver flashes in his eyes as they stared at each other.
"No, I don't suppose you would have. Just like I won't stop my work, no matter how many threats we receive or attempted break-ins or assaults." Hermione's voice was flushed with intent and passion, determined to be heard through Lucius' possessive instincts and anger at yet another glimpse of how little control he had managed to exert over the danger facing her.
"I know that, you little witch," Lucius hissed, halting just close enough to her that she could feel his anger and agitation like palpable waves. "But I'd prefer you to do it in a manner that doesn't get you killed!"
"Do you care, husband?" The words poured from her mouth before she considered just how many endorphins and neurotransmitters were erupting in a primitive cacophony in Lucius' brain, but she realized it a split second before he crushed her to him, his eyes flashing with more emotions than she could name as he ruthlessly plundered her mouth, his erection firm and insistent against her navel.
"I'm going to fuck you across this desk," he growled, meeting her eyes, satisfied with the reciprocal, involuntary lust, "and then you're going to beg me to come." His mouth slanted over hers again, wrenching a heartfelt murmur of approval from his wife as he shoved both hands underneath the elastic of her soft pants to grip her bum. Merlin he needed this, right now. He had her bottom naked on the desk and her hand had just freed him from his trousers when they both finally acknowledged the knock that had grown loud enough to penetrate his primal fog of arousal and dominance.
"Damn it, go away, Draco!" he yelled, but Draco's next words were the nail in the coffin for it.
"Potter is here!"
"Ten minutes!" Hermione called out loudly, then grabbed her wand from her hair and cast a silencing spell. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing heavily. "Take me."
Lucius didn't have to be told twice. He filled her with one thrust, and made good on his threat, moving Hermione right across the desk with force and depth. It wasn't about lovemaking nor gentleness. Hermione hadn't expected anything from it, she just knew he needed this. It was a surprise that it turned her on, and she was begging him, harder, faster, "More, God Lucius, please more!", which made him bite her ear and whisper, "I told you so," before he soothed it with a savage suck that sent more heat right to her groin. When they both came it was quick and hard, just the way he had shagged her. He straightened immediately and scourgified himself, then turned his wand and did the same for her. He held out his hand for her to get off the desk, keeping her from retrieving her pants temporarily.
"I will protect you at all costs, witch." His voice was still growly, the edge taken off by the hard shag but the possessiveness still in full frontal force.
"I know," Hermione said, then reached up to kiss him softly. "It's nice that you care too, Lucius."
He didn't say a word, sliding his wand back into its place and catching his hair back smoothly into a queue. When he nodded to Hermione she had her slacks back on and had removed any creases with a small charm. She removed the silencing spell and cast a cleansing charm on the air as Lucius opened the door, allowing an irritated Potter to rush in, followed by Draco who rolled his eyes.
"My apologies for the delay—we were going over some of my notes," Hermione said weakly, throwing her gaze to Lucius who eyed her back as if to say, I wouldn't have apologized at all, witch.
"Percivel let me know what happened, and Draco gave me his version of events. I want to know what you found out from the thief," Harry said, looking at Lucius. His tone was even, but Hermione knew her friend's tells and he was pissed about something. Clearly Lucius thought he was up to something as well, as he was in no hurry to elucidate further, the silence stretching across their staring contest.
Deciding she needed to step into the breach, Hermione said, "Harry, we think he was after something I brought home. There is no other explanation for the break-in. We were trying to find a pattern."
Harry glanced around the room and recognized the familiar sprawl of Hermione's notes, which caused his shoulders to relax marginally. "I can tell. I still find it hard to believe that nothing untoward occurred between you catching this guy and calling the Aurors."
"What are you insinuating, Mr. Potter?" Lucius asked, his tone deadly soft. Hermione walked over to her husband and put a hand on his chest to get his attention.
"We need help." Her voice was low, the request unspoken. When he still said nothing, she darted a glance at Draco, who engaged Harry in a meaningless point while she spoke quietly to Lucius. "I know you trust him with my safety. Can you honestly tell me you trust everyone at your level in the Ministry?"
He didn't have to answer for Hermione to know she had won the point. Taking her husband's hand in her own, she turned back to Harry.
"He let it slip that he was after the genetic profiles which I brought home."
A muscle in Harry's temple ticked as his jaw clenched. "Let it slip, did he?" His wand hand twitched, and she felt Lucius' muscles tense under her hand.
"Harry!" Hermione's tone was sharp. "Yes, he did. Now can we focus on why he would be after that? It's the first time the attacks have moved toward my research and not me personally."
The effect of pointing that out was immediate, as Harry's brow furrowed. "You're right. It's not someone who just has a grudge against you."
"No, Mr. Potter—it never has been," Lucius said, walking back to the desk to survey Hermione's paperwork. "That means that anyone Hermione has spoken to about her work might be at risk, including Muggles."
"Lucius was asking me to compile a list of researchers I might have spoken to when I was beginning the studies, or anyone I met at a conference."
"I will put together a list of anyone who had access to your early stuff at Mungo's," Draco offered, his mind already leaping to the correct conclusion about the events of the evening. Lucius glanced at his son, then met Harry's gaze.
"They know how to find the gene, then," Harry said testily, and Hermione looked at him.
"We think so. It's the only thing that makes sense, Harry."
"Do you think the Muggle researchers are in danger?"
Hermione let out the breath she had been holding as Harry finally spoke directly to Lucius, and Lucius glanced up from his desk, his face stoically calm as usual.
"They may be." Lucius nodded to his wife, who was shuffling her notes again, putting them in chronological order. "We will go over your processes with a fine tooth comb to see where else someone might have gleaned information. Had you been to Muggle research conferences before I was hired? Did you consult any Muggle researchers?"
Lucius swept his wand over the desk and moved all of her notes to hover in an identical pattern, clearing his desk and pulling out a fresh set of parchment and a charmed quill that started transcribing his words. "We need the names of any Muggle researchers you have contacted. And whose profiles did you bring home?"
"I'm going to call Underwood," Harry said, but Hermione stopped him after an unspoken exchange with Lucius.
"No. Talk to Kingsley directly, Harry. And make sure he's alone."
"Fine. Excuse me for a minute," Harry said, and Hermione knew he was going to send his Patronus. It was still a technique that the Order had kept to themselves, and Hermione felt the edge of the secret cut across her, but she set it aside. It was irrelevant at the moment. Fortunately if Lucius or Draco noticed they chose not to say anything, and the scratching of three quills on parchment was all that was heard for a few minutes. The door opened and Hermione heard a soft voice, her head popping up to see Astoria.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Nothing for me, love," Draco replied, absentmindedly kissing his wife's hand as she passed by, ruffling his hair. Hermione had not spent much time with Astoria, but from what Lavender had said and the occasional glimpses of them together, she knew Draco loved his wife.
"I'd love a cup of tea, and can you organize these by date, please?" Hermione said, making a snap decision after seeing her daughter-in-law standing there looking left out. There was a stunner—she had a woman two years her junior as a daughter-in-law! Hermione snorted to herself and Lucius glanced across the desk at her, the corner of his mouth quirking up briefly.
"Perhaps a pot of tea Astoria. Mr. Potter will rejoin us shortly."
"Of course." Astoria snapped to summon a house elf, asking for a tea tray and some light snacks before settling down with her wand and the considerable stack of paperwork that Hermione had gifted her with.
"Do you want them cross-referenced by name?" she asked Hermione after a few minutes, and Hermione blinked in surprise.
"Yes, that's a great idea, thank you."
Astoria simply inclined her head and returned to her work. After a few surreptitious glances at her revealed that Astoria was probably one of those nauseatingly organized people, Hermione quit her covert surveillance of the work and focused on the sequences arrayed before her. Lucius had an equal number spread before him on the desk, and the pair of them were combing through slowly, looking for anything that might be significant. This was the scene that greeted Harry as he re-entered the room.
"Did you see the CpG islands near 160254 and 160252?"Lucius was focused now in a way that was completely familiar to Hermione.
"Kingsley is going to Floo over," Harry said, but only Draco paid any attention.
"Fine, it's open for the Minister at present," he said as he continued scratching names on what was becoming a rather detailed list, as he was including the reason(s) the individuals could have accessed Hermione's research.
"Yes, that is why I brought this set home. I wanted to know if they were present in all of these." Hermione raised her to head to look at Lucius, the two of them engaged in what was a common feature of their work meetings.
"Are these all Squibs?"
"Yes. I left the magical parents at the Ministry."
Lucius immediately focused his attention on Harry. "Those need to be locked down immediately. Call Thickness and get the Unspeakables over there now to move it and lock it all down."
"You can't just take charge, Malfoy. I have to pass that along through Underwood—"
"I'm giving you permission, Harry," Kingsley said as he stepped out of the fireplace, wiping soot from his robes. "You realize Pius is going to ask for all of the research, Lucius."
"He won't get it," Lucius said firmly, keeping his eyes firmly fixed to the pages. "Magical Research does not belong in the DMM, and we both know it."
"I have never disagreed with that," Kingsley said placatingly. "However, it might be a prudent short-term move."
"There are no short-term moves at the MoM, and we both know it," Lucius retorted softly, and Kingsley looked at Hermione, who appeared equally ensconced in the pages and pages of letters before her. He turned and looked at the other pair of Malfoys, Harry having once again departed the room to make arrangements for the DMM to secure Hermione's work at the Ministry.
"Now, Draco or Astoria, can you please explain to me why the two people who apparently desired my presence are now ignoring me?" Kingsley was unoffended, aware of how Hermione was when she was focused on something. What Hermione had failed to appreciate when he made Lucius her boss was how equally tenacious he was. He internally grinned at the sight of the pair of them working feverishly and amicably together, finally.
"Granger and Father are looking for a pattern in the Squib sequences—something to do with the regulators that Hermione has been looking for. We know the thief was after that data." Draco didn't flinch under Kingsley's interrogating look, and the Minister shifted his attention to Astoria, who was almost done reorganizing Hermione's notes from all of her conversations with Muggle researchers over the years, bright purple and blue flags sticking out and waving lazily among a litany of other colors, but those were the most prevalent.
"Some of these are abysmally short—are you sure they could be regulators?" Lucius was speaking to Hermione as if the others weren't there, his grey eyes flashing to hers in challenge again.
"They are shorter compared to other reported sets, but they are highly selected. That is not chance—it's most likely that they serve a regulatory purpose."
"Have you cross-checked against Muggle genes?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't insult me."
"But you do have a Muggle gene downstream, right here," Lucius pointed to a segment of the genome in question. "It's possible that it regulates that gene."
"Or it's too far away, and it's far more possible that it regulates this one," Hermione retorted, putting her finger down on the magical gene in question. "That's the one that is downregulated. I just don't know if it is a histone deacetylase or if it is involved in chromatin remodeling by a pathway that hasn't been fully elucidated yet."
"How are those transgenic nifflers coming along?"
"I don't know!" Hermione erupted. "You wouldn't let me be involved in that, remember?"
"You can't be in charge of four projects at once and also do the bulk of the work," Lucius retorted.
Hermione let that pass because she knew he was right. "Are you done with your set? Because every one of the profiles has to have it."
"Yes. They do."
"What is the implication of that?" Kingsley asked idly, having wandered over to watch them bicker.
"It means that I may have found the regulatory regions that control the expression of the recessive gene that makes Squibs. Maybe."
"Why would someone want this information?" Kingsley's voice was deep, and he turned to Harry as he re-entered the room, looking tired. "Well?"
"The Unspeakables are in the department now, securing all of Hermione's work. They will move it to a secured location until you decide where it should be on a more permanent basis."
"Great work Harry," Kingsley said, then turned his attention back to Lucius and Hermione as two house elves apparated with a full tea tray and another tray full of nibbly bits.
"Tea, Minister?" Astoria asked, gracefully setting aside her wand and preparing to play mother.
"Yes, please. Strong and black." He smiled politely to the younger Mrs. Malfoy, who nodded and turned her attention to Harry.
"Mr. Potter?"
Lucius and Hermione exchanged a look, then Lucius began to speak. "If you had the genetic profile of the magical genes and this recessive gene, you could screen Muggles for…likely partners."
"Fuck," Harry said, which elicited an, "I beg your pardon," from Astoria, who was still focused on the tea, and a low whistle from Draco.
"History of Magic, eh, Father?" Draco said, throwing his gaze to his father and then Astoria, who set the teapot down with a bit less than her usual grace as Lucius' words and their implications sank in.
"Shit," Kingsley said, his brow furrowing. "This is not good. We have ministries from all over the world asking for precisely this information—and I'm not hesitant to tell you that I doubt all of them are capable of treating this in the ethical manner it requires."
"Indeed," Lucius said darkly, his eyes darting to his wife's with ill-concealed impatience.
"It's what you said at the beginning," she said, and he nodded silently.
"Wait, he said that at the beginning? Lucius Malfoy, concerned with ethics?" Harry considered himself to be remarkably tolerant nowadays, all things considered, but that seemed to beggar belief.
"Oh, the irony, Harry Potter!" Lucius was coiled with tension like a snake about to strike. "However, some of us are old enough to have had parents and grandparents who vividly recalled the last great war that involved conflict between Muggle and Wizard. Whatever else you think of me, Mr. Golden Boy Fucking Harry Potter, consider how deeply committed I am to protecting my family and my world!"
Kingsley's frown was deep, and Hermione silently implored Harry not to bait her husband anymore.
"This is extremely serious. What are you doing about the Muggles you've had contact with?" Kingsley asked, cutting through the crap.
"We are making a list now—Astoria was cross-referencing it for me while we looked at the sequences."
Kingsley's eyes flew to the stack of colorfully tagged pages, snagging on the most common colors. "Who are purple and blue?"
Astoria pulled two files with blue and purple tags. "Dr. Frederica Hayes of Cornell University, USA, and Dr. Leonard Mullan, Oxford University."
"I want Aurors on them now. I'll Floo call Fabian myself."
"They won't accept outright bodyguards," Hermione said. "You will have to sneak them in—I suggest having the Aurors pose as students. Make sure they are good at Potions so they can fake their way along, or Arithmancy so they can pose as chemometrics experts."
"And that they are young," Lucius added drolly, and Kingsley nodded, then stuck his head in the fireplace, calling out Fabian's address by use of a spell that muffled his words for everyone else.
"The Americans won't want our Aurors," Harry said tiredly, mindlessly accepting the cup of tea Astoria had prepared with one sugar and some milk and drinking it without thinking. "It's going to be a hellacious battle to get them to do it without giving over any information."
Draco passed his list to Lucius and walked over behind his wife's chair to rub Astoria's shoulders. "That's all we can do for now, poppet. Bed time for us, I think."
"Thank you for your help, both of you," Hermione said sincerely, catching one of Astoria's hands as they passed by.
"You're welcome," Astoria said, pressing an air kiss on her cheek before letting her hand go and heading to bed with Draco.
"Malfoys stick together, Granger," Draco drawled, winking at her cheekily as his wife was kissing her cheek.
"Arse," she grumped, then stretched her neck. She was feeling tired as well, and Lucius' attention focused on her like a laser.
"You need to go to bed."
Hermione noticed that he hadn't said they would go to bed, just that she needed to go to bed.
"I'm fine."
Lucius' eyes snapped at her but she held her ground, then purposefully looked at Harry. Kingsley was still talking in the Floo, and at that moment she was wishing them all gone so she could crawl into bed with Lucius and sleep until about noon tomorrow.
"Eat something," Lucius ordered, propelling her to a chair and pouring a cup of tea for her, then making sure she drank it.
"I'm not hungry," Hermione protested weakly, but he waved a miniature ginger orange scone under her nose. "Oh, all right, one."
Lucius seated himself next to her on the couch, a satisfied look on his face as he used his wand to prepare his cup of tea using a little spell he'd taught himself at eight. He took a sip, perfect. Kingsley finished his floo call and seated himself in the chair next to Harry's, selecting a vanilla tart with fresh currants.
"Your tea," Lucius said, offering Kingsley a cup of strong black tea.
"Thank you," Kingsley said, taking a large sip and then a bite of the tart. "Ah, very nice. It is pleasant to have something sweet after dealing with unpleasantness."
No one said anything as they drank their tea and polished off several of the treats from the tray. Finally Kingsley stood, brushing crumbs from his robes. "Lucius, Harry, thank you for handling this discreetly. I will be in touch tomorrow through more official channels. In the meantime, Harry, keep this evening's events under your robes, if you please. I have to do a bit of digging around with Pius before I will feel it appropriate to bring in Yaxley or Underwood."
"Of course, sir," Harry replied.
"Lucius, I expect to see you first thing in the morning, please. As far as Yasmin is concerned, you are merely giving me an update regarding your department's work in your absence. 10 AM, please."
"Of course," Lucius replied. "And Hermione?"
"I wouldn't dream of excluding her," Kingsley said, his eyes twinkling at Hermione, who was still seated in her chair. "But I agree that you should not present a perfect picture of harmony and felicity. You do understand?"
This was directed to Hermione and she nodded. "Of course, Kingsley," she said, even though she was not happy about it. However, she was too tired to argue.
"Good night then." Kingsley bowed to them all, and disappeared into the Floo in a swirl of subdued pattern.
"I'm off as well," Harry said, giving Hermione a hug after she stood to say goodbye. "Mind yourself, 'Mione."
"Of course I will, you prat," Hermione replied. Harry nodded to Lucius civilly, then used the Floo to take himself home.
"Bed," Lucius said firmly as soon as the flames had turned back to their normal orange, advancing on his wife with a suddenness that saw her swept up into his arms before she could protest.
"I can walk!"
"Hush," Lucius chastised her, then lazily disapparated them to their bedroom. Since this was where she had wanted to be for twenty minutes, Hermione couldn't find the heart to protest his high-handedness, and went through the motions of getting ready for bed with the fogginess of overexertion.
"Good night," she whispered to Lucius, pressing a simple kiss on him before she snuggled down and fell asleep.
