I hope all in the USA had a great Independence Day holiday! I had family fun and the time flew by. I had hoped to post this sooner, but how I arranged things was not sitting right with me. I rearranged the order of a few events from here on out and I think it flows much better. I hope you think it was worth the wait.
HPthe3rd: glad you like Lucius!
HG4Eva: Yes, well, I'm sorry to say they have a bumpy road ahead. I hope the end is worth it, however!
zeeksmom: Your request for more fun lemony fluff is going to be satiated shortly, not this chapter though because it's more plot advancement. But it is coming. :)
Alesia: Hmm, I cannot comment. However, we have not seen the last of poor Calvin. And your notes will pay off. I am dropping more hints this chapter about the baddies.
GlitterGrrrl05: LOVE all your reviews! Thank you! I love the detailed feedback, it's awesome.
jmullinax: Here you go! Let me know what you think!
Karen Bristow: Yes, poor Yaxley. We shall see what becomes of him-not today, however.
DibsOnBrigan: Glad you are enjoying all the twists and turns!
If I missed your review, I apologize! I hope you will continue to chime in!
Ok, things continue to be slowly revealed. And where IS Kingsley when you need him? Hmmm...stay tuned! Please let me know if you liked it! For fun, I imagined Jason Isaacs in real life when describing Lucius' glamour in this chapter, and the maternity book Draco seeks makes an oblique reference to the real life midwife Ina May Gaskin, whose maiden name was Middleton.
"You fucking pompous coillon! You think you have the right to tell me what to do because you've kept your blood 'pure' through poisoning, murders, and strangling for the past five centuries? No wonder the Borgias married into your line, else you'd have assassinated them!" The tall man was practically dripping with contempt, his broad frame coiled with violence. His tone was vehement but Malfaille simply raised an eyebrow, quelling the irritated, bulky wizard with a look.
"This is very unnecessary," Cornelia began coldly, and from the other side of the room Antonin Dolohov's wand flicked with a soft but powerful Crucio. The witch writhed to the ground, the noises coming from her mouth not quite pain, her expression almost feral.
"Discipline your pet later," the wizard said with irritation, and Dolohov fixed him with a dark glare as he flicked his wand again and left Cornelia to her aftershocks.
"I'll deal with you later," Dolohov said, then fixed his attention on Malfaille. "And you, don't you tell me how to plan an attack. You just stick to your character assassinations and Imperiuses and keep your underused wand to yourself."
"I think we both know it is unwise to threaten me," Malfaille said quietly, the underlying threat implied by his casual air. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to see to those character assassinations that will bring us exactly the witch and information we desire."
The blond wizard snorted before Malfaille turned and disapparated from the room with a crack. Dolohov turned his attention back to the map spread before him, and pointed to a building. "There. That is the best vantage point from which to cast. I will want at least six of you here, here, and here."
"And what of me? Or did you break me out of Azkaban simply for the challenge?" Thorfinn Rowle asked, straightening up at the thought of an attack as Cornelia's gasps turned to soft pants from the floor.
"Don't worry, I've got a special job for you," Dolohov promised coldly, and the blond smirked.
"How is it that you can look so dignified even in jeans? Relax, Lucius!" Hermione hissed as she smiled at a man across the room. He was now a post-doc somewhere, but she had met him two years ago at another conference. Smiling in return, the man made his way across the crowded room, drinks in hand.
"Hey, how you are you? Sophia, right? I remember you from the Gordon conference in Korea, right?" He gestured to one of the drinks in his hand, but Hermione shook her head no and gave Lucius' arm a polite but firm yank.
"Please let me introduce you to my co-worker, Hamilton Mountbanks."
Lucius turned from scanning the crowd and scowled at the young Muggle, who was eyeing Hermione in a way that was entirely unacceptable. Hermione was wearing a mild glamour that she was using at Lucius' insistence, but it was not far enough from her true appearance as to render it difficult to renew acquaintances she had made with Muggle researchers before he became her boss. Lucius, on the other hand, had glamoured himself to be nearer Hermione's age, with short light brown hair and blue eyes.
"Pleased to meet you," the Muggle offered, nodding at the drinks in his hands as an excuse. His eyes widened slightly as Lucius pulled Hermione to him at the waist, a clear show of possession.
"Likewise," Lucius said coolly, his accent undeniably posh. Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes at his childishness. Really, she was pregnant! Granted, he hadn't let her show it here, but even with his slightly altered features, he was far more handsome than Samuel Thompson.
Samuel turned his attention back to Hermione. "So, Sophia, still working for that start-up you were telling me about? How is that gene family research coming along?"
"Yes, I am. Hamilton is our chemometrics expert," Hermione explained, letting her hand slide to rest on Lucius' bum. Two could play that game. Of course, her arrogant husband simply smirked as he chimed in.
"Yes, we have made good progress. In fact, we are hoping to speak to a few researchers, like Dr. Yin," Lucius said, referring to a genetics researcher from Malaysia. Hermione nearly started, but kept her mouth shut. They had agreed not to mention the two scientists that they really wanted to speak with, but she did not realize that Lucius was quite so well informed about the other Muggle researchers, nor that he would throw one into harm's way to deflect attention from themselves.
"Oh yes, she is quite a chemometrics expert. However, I don't believe she is supposed to be here until tomorrow—at least that is what Su said when I was talking to her earlier." Samuel continued chatting on about various graduate students and post-docs, and Lucius merely gleaned information as Hermione asked a few carefully worded questions. Spotting someone waving at him from across the room, Samuel finally excused himself, a bit regretful that he hadn't made a move on the pretty Sophia the last time he saw her.
"That Muggle wanted into your knickers," Lucius observed drily, "But I grant that he is a useful loose-lipped fool."
"You're cute when you're jealous, in a snarky sort of way," Hermione replied, steering Lucius toward the opposite side of the room. "I see Dr. Mullan. We're going to get some drinks and go have a chat."
Lucius noted the Aurors tailing the professor, wondering what on earth possessed Calvin to assign Ferdinand Aurelius to undercover work. His glamour was poorly held together, the shimmer obvious to experienced eyes. The wizard's wand hand was visibly twitching, and Lucius frowned. "Hold on a moment," he said, shifting so that he held Hermione by the arm instead of the other way around.
"Cast a shield charm, now," Lucius whispered, flicking his wand into his hand after casting a 'Notice Me Not' spell. Hermione's nonverbal magic was impressive, but she was still reliant on her wand for strong shield charms. They both saw the wand as Ferdinand drew it and prepared to cast, irrespective of the Muggles in the room. He was aiming right at Dr. Mullan, an affable looking gentleman whose large walrus mustache and thinning hair made him the archetype of a traditional Oxford professor.
"Protego!" Hermione's shield charm surrounded Dr. Mullan before Ferdinand's curse could hit him, and the other Auror and who they presumed to be an Unspeakable also assigned to the professor leapt into action, Muggles or not. Unfortunately, they were not the only magical folk present, and Hermione felt a curse impact the shield she had been holding over herself, whirling to find that green haired witch casting at her again. She reinforced her shield and sent a succession of stunners and jinxes at the agile witch, pleased when one connected, but annoyed that it was so weak that the woman was able to cast it off easily.
"Duck," Lucius said, sending a powerful Alarte Ascendare at the witch, which saw her plummeting skyward in the large ballroom, cracking her shoulder on a large, modern chandelier before she halted herself and plummeted back toward the ground. They could not afford to see what happened to her, because Lucius' own shield was nearly rent by a very powerful curse.
"Your spells are weaker than mine! You focus on protective shielding for both of us, and I'll take them down or get us out of here, whichever is easier," Lucius snapped, whirling them both to face the new threat—Thorfinn Rowle. Lucius' face was briefly overwhelmed by his rage, the Crucio that flew from his wand after a diversionary jinx one of the strongest he'd ever given in his life. He took vicious pleasure in seeing that it hit home, splintering the shield charm and bringing the bulky blond to his knees as the tremors wracked his body. He wasn't allowed to hold it, however, because Antonin Dolohov sent a vicious pulse right at Hermione, and he knew that her shield would not be enough. Shield penetrating curses were one of Dolohov's specialties, and Lucius would be damned before Dolohov would carve up his wife again.
"Protego!" Lucius used the verbal incantation to make it stronger, parrying the curse as Hermione petrified Rowle. It would hold long enough to get them out of range of the next thing Dolohov would try, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the green haired witch cruelly cut down Simeon Venugopal to make her way back toward them. There were several other witches and wizards dueling now—presumably the American Aurors had joined the fray. Muggles were screaming, ducking, and trying to get out, but the doors had been sealed, rendering the entire scene chaotic and dangerous as Muggles fell from stray curses.
"Duck!" Hermione pulled him to the side and cast with all her might, "Cataegis gelido!"
The normally inoffensive weather spell she had modified as a means of keeping Snatchers at bay was a potent force in the closed ballroom, the gale-force winds and hail causing all present to be distracted, and in the case of Green Hair Girl, blown back thirty feet by the power of the spell. It had cost her, though, and Lucius could see the shield she was trying to hold over them both weakening significantly. He looked around the room for a quick exit—they needed to get out of here, now.
"Lucius, Mullan!" Lucius turned his head and saw as Rowle decapitated the Auror defending the professor, then grabbed him and winked out after clasping a pendant around his neck.
"Fuck," Lucius said, but he couldn't worry about the professor's fate now. Dolohov was back at them, and Lucius was hard pressed to parry his curses between his own vicious curses. Hermione knew they needed to leave as well, and spotted the means.
"Up," she hissed, keeping the witch who was reapproaching busy with minor jinxes. They were aided by an unknown wizard who was engaging the witch from the left as well, which was probably the only thing that kept her from being more dangerous, as Lucius was fully involved with Antonin.
"Serpensoria vipera," Lucius hissed, the spell sounding much like Parseltongue. Dolohov would know how to counter it, but he split the spell, a second, smaller viper slithering right to Antonin's leg while the wizard pulverized the larger snake. As the viper's fangs sank in, Hermione verified her aim and hold on Lucius, then cast a nonverbal Ascendio. Lucius immediately threw his own, more powerful spell behind hers, and they rocketed through the skylight in the center of the ballroom, a shower of glass falling behind them.
"Accio!" Lucius' wand flew, all of their belongings assembling themselves with lightening speed in their case. He had discarded the glamour in the hall the second they had been attacked, but he was still in the Muggle jeans and long-sleeved shirt, the beautifully fitted sport coat discarded carelessly.
Hermione was so tired she could not even help him, and she doubted he would appreciate any attempts to try. They needed to leave, the portkey already made by Lucius the second they were back in the hotel room. The mess at the conference would have been dealt with by the American authorities—they had no idea how long the fight had continued after their hasty exit.
"We have to tell Kingsley and Harry right away," Hermione said, and attempted to conjure her Patronus. Unfortunately, her magic was so weak that it was a fuzzy cloud, and Lucius snatched her wand away from her before she could properly cancel the spell.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he hissed. "You are far too depleted to even attempt such a thing! Do you want to endanger the baby's life?"
"You mean any more than I have already?" Hermione half quipped, but there was no arguing the fact that she was hardly likely to have an untroubled end to her pregnancy. "He's still moving, don't worry."
Lucius pressed a hand briefly to her belly, a short press and caress as if he needed the physical reminder that their child was still there.
"I don't suppose you can cast a corporeal Patronus?" Hermione asked weakly, and Lucius met her eyes before issuing a curt, "No," and returning to the case, shrinking it and taking her hand and the portkey. "But I believe Draco can. He will be waiting."
If he was curious about why she wanted to use a Patronus, he kept it to himself, and with a quick tap of his wand they were pulled into the portkey and straight back to the Manor.
"What the fuck have you two done now?" Draco asked as Hermione accepted a kiss on her cheek from Astoria. Both were clothed in their pajamas and robes, waiting in Lucius' study.
"Draco, can you cast a corporeal Patronus?" Hermione asked unexpectedly, and Draco shook his head.
"Not the last time I checked," Draco said, but Astoria spoke up.
"I can."
"What a treasure you are," Draco said, frank admiration in his gaze before he swiveled his grey eyes back to Granger.
"Unplumbed depths," Lucius said to himself as he made Hermione sit down. "Narcissa was right."
"But why do you need one?" Draco asked, and Lucius was glad his son had asked the question he was too proud to ask himself.
"I need to send a message to Harry, and you can do that through a Patronus charm," Hermione explained, seeing the light dawn in Lucius' eyes.
"Damn clever of Dumbledore," he admitted, certain the meddling wizard was responsible.
"Yes. Astoria, could you please?" Hermione asked, and Astoria produced her wand and cleanly cast, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silvery kestrel burst forth, and Hermione told Astoria, "Now you call it over to you and give it your message, and the person it needs to deliver it to."
It did require some precision with her wand, but Astoria was nothing if not precise. She spoke to her Patronus, "Find Harry Potter and tell him he needs to come to Malfoy Manor immediately, and to summon the Minister."
The kestrel bobbed its tail once and then flew off, its speed commensurate with the animal.
"Well, that gives me incentive to keep attempting the corporeal, I suppose," Draco said, catching Astoria's hand easily in his own. "Nice clothes," he remarked, causing Lucius to glare at his progeny.
"A necessary evil," Lucius huffed. He thought he might have time to change before Potter arrived, but Hermione's lids fluttered and Lucius immediately slid alongside her on the chaise. "Draco, Hermione!"
Draco slipped into Healer mode, and called for Firkin to retrieve his potion stock. "She's depleted quite a bit—she'll need a solid 24 hours of rest—Accio Parous Pepper-Up!"
The small bottle zoomed into his hand, and he poured the potion into a very drowsy Hermione's mouth while Lucius held her head.
"Keep still, Granger," Draco ordered in his no-nonsense tone of voice, passing his wand over her body and carefully checking her vital signs and those of the baby. "Circe, Hermione, you don't do anything by halves…she's very low, I am going to have to check into whether it's safe to give her a Reficiat philter or not. I think so, given that she's almost six months, but I want to be sure."
"Which book do you need?" Astoria asked swiftly, and Draco turned his head to his wife.
"Huldah Middleton's Menses, Gravidation, and Menopause," Draco replied, watching carefully as Hermione's eyelids slowly opened again and Astoria went to the library to fetch the tome.
"Is Harry here yet? I admit to feeling a bit tired," Hermione said, aware that both Lucius and Draco were watching her like a hawk, Lucius having somehow practically pulled her onto his lap. "I fainted, didn't I?" she sighed, as if disappointed with herself.
"You're very depleted," Draco said again, and Hermione snapped at him in irritation. "You're still not up to full strength because of the pregnancy."
"Yes, I know that! But it was that or allow one of us to be killed—which option would you pick?"
"When will you listen when I tell you that you must restrain your exuberant impulses?" Lucius growled. "I could have taken us out of there entirely, but just one spell more…"
Hermione ignored him and turned her attention to the fireplace, where the flames had turned green in the brief second before Harry walked through. He was fully dressed, which was unusual, but his first words explained that.
"I've been called into the Ministry. I am betting you know why that is—care to explain before I go hear the official, bastardized version of events?"
Astoria returned with the book and handed it to Draco, who used his wand to go straight to the relevant pages. "Ah, yes, good. The Reficiat potion is fine after the fifth month."
"We were at the Muggle research conference in the States, and there was an attack on Dr. Mullan of Oxford," Hermione began, but then found herself staring at an extremely large vial of a potion that smelled highly unpleasant.
"Drink it. Small sips, over ten minutes. I will time you." Draco's stern expression reminded her of his arrogance in school. Hermione took the first sip and nearly gagged.
"I know, it's dreadful. I'll get some tea for when you're done," Astoria said, summoning a tray from Twigs.
Harry turned his attention to Lucius, who, after assuring himself that Hermione would continue to take the potion, looked Harry straight in the eye and asked, "Why was I not informed that Thorfinn Rowle was broken out of Azkaban?"
Harry was stunned. "What? Are you sure?"
"Considering that I was twelve feet away from him, yes, I'm sure!" Lucius snarled. "There has been at least one wizard broken out from Azkaban. I suggest your superiors, and I use that term very loosely, be made aware of it!"
"Shit. Kingsley is going to be pissed. I can't tell Underwood without clearing it through Kingsley," Harry said apologetically. "Things have been…complicated of late with the chain of command."
"I'll say," Lucius' voice was cold. "In any case, he was working with Dolohov. Rowle grabbed Mullan and portkeyed him away. We recognized some of the attackers from Hogsmeade Wood, but with the Americans in the fray and at least one Unspeakable, I haven't a clue how many there were."
"What about the Muggles?" Astoria asked, Draco still keeping a close eye on Hermione's dosing and subsequent shuddering as she worked to keep the potion down.
"I don't know how many were hit, but there were several. They sealed the doors," Lucius said sourly. "I have no doubt that several were killed, and in some unpleasant ways."
"Fuck," Harry muttered under his breath, then looked at Lucius and Hermione. "That explains why I'm being called in then. We've probably got the American Auror department crawling up our arses to explain why you were there, why they weren't notified, why you didn't have a protection team…" Harry trailed off as he considered the many vectors for the shit that was doubtless traveling at high velocity through the Ministry.
"I'd say that is why Kingsley is not here," Lucius remarked grimly. "And we did not get a chance to talk to Mullan or Dr. Hayes before chaos descended."
"We'll have to set up an individual appointment with Dr. Hayes," Hermione interjected. "It's too important not to," she said by way of explanation when Lucius opened his mouth to forbid it. Instead he gritted his teeth, because she was correct, they needed to speak to the woman. Instead he stood and strode over to his desk, looking for something to either smash or drink.
"Uh, Mr. Malfoy? You're bleeding. It's coming through your jeans. Just…there." Harry finished lamely, pointing at an area rather high up on Lucius' left hamstring. Draco looked at his father's backside in the snug jeans and grinned. Potter was right—the dark fabric made it difficult to tell.
"Another five minutes and I'll see to that," he said cheerfully, watching the time tick down as Hermione dealt with a particularly violent urge to retch.
Now that Potter had pointed it out, he felt the sting of the nasty cutting curse. Doubtless it was something from Dolohov, which meant Draco's technique would have to be a bit more harsh. He felt quite violent, all things considered, but refused to give in to the childish pique that tempted him to throw his goblin crystal inkwell into the hearth. Instead, he settled for the pointless inanity of cursing.
"Fucking piece of goblin whoreson!"
It was the first of several colorful curses that flew from his lips when Draco was finally allowed to get down to the business of healing the gash in the privacy of Lucius' bathroom.
