Hermione was still trying to adjust to her father's news a week into the Easter break. All week they had been practising and honing Hermione's magical skills. Today however her parents had gone out, leaving Hermione on her own. Hermione spent the morning practising her wandless magic, before having some lunch and heading up to her room to change.
All day the thought of visiting Lucius had been swimming around in her head and she'd decided to act on it. Lucius had told her more than once he would always be available for her to talk to and Hermione felt she needed to discuss what was happening with her father with someone other than her parents. She hoped that Lucius would be honest with her and not try to spare her feelings like she sometimes got the impression her parents were doing.
With the decision to visit Lucius made, Hermione spent a few minutes getting changed. She pulled her curly hair up into a high ponytail and carefully applied a bit of make-up. She then pulled on a pair of tight, black trousers and a deep purple top. As usual when she was at home her nails were painted a dark colour and she wore her ring with the dark mark. Pulling on a pair of low heeled ankle boots, Hermione grabbed her wand and headed down to her father's study.
Before leaving for the Manor, Hermione pulled her cloak from the cupboard and swung it over her shoulders. She wasn't particularly bothered about taking the cloak, but she knew Bellatrix was staying at the Manor and she didn't want to run into her without her cloak obscuring her identity.
It wasn't until Hermione stepped into the flames she considered the possibility that Lucius wouldn't be at the Manor. She knew he worked from home a lot, but she also knew he had plenty of dealings with the Ministry and actually had an office complex somewhere in wizarding London. Luckily when Hermione arrived in Lucius's study, the blond man was sitting at his desk.
Lucius looked up in shock, his eyes widening when he spotted Hermione exiting the fireplace. "My Lady. Is there anything wrong?"
"No, I just wanted to talk if that's okay." Hermione replied.
"Of course." Lucius nodded, suddenly realising why she wanted to talk. He'd spoken to Voldemort the previous day and he'd told him that Hermione knew what was happening to him. "Would you like to go for a walk in the gardens, My Lady? It's a lovely day, I'm sure a bit of fresh air will be better than staying indoors."
"Firstly, it's Hermione. I don't mind you calling me My Lady, but in private I would rather things were less formal." Hermione said. "And a walk sounds lovely, but I hardly think I'll feel the benefit of the sun with my cloak on."
"I can cast a few glamour charms on your appearance." Lucius suggested.
"I'm not sure." Hermione bit her lip nervously. "I don't like the thought of running into Bellatrix with only a few glamour charms to hide my appearance."
"Don't worry about her, she's off looking at a house with Rodolphus." Lucius replied. "Luckily the blasted woman is finally moving out."
"I take it you're not keen on your sister-in-law." Hermione chuckled.
"She's bloody awful." Lucius spat. "Even Narcissa's had enough of her. She's been practically intolerable since her return. All she does is complain about you, she's not a fan I'm afraid."
"The feeling's mutual." Hermione snorted. "I don't exactly like her either."
Lucius smiled at Hermione, more than happy to have found someone he could share his dislike of Bellatrix with. "So, glamour charms. Should I cast a few, and we can go outside. I promise Bellatrix won't see you."
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "But what about Draco? Is he around?"
"He is, but even if he does see you I'll doubt he'll recognise you." Lucius said, casting a few charms on Hermione. "Have a look." He said, stepping back and pointing to a mirror on the far wall.
Hermione walked over to the mirror and looked at her new appearance. Lucius had darkened her hair so it was jet black and her eyes were a beautiful shade of sapphire. The changed hair and eyes combined with the fact she was wearing make-up and figure hugging clothes gave Hermione confidence that even if she spotted Draco, he wouldn't recognise her as Hermione Granger.
Undoing her cloak, Hermione dropped it on a nearby chair and turned to Lucius. "Let's go outside."
Lucius smiled at Hermione, before opening the door and escorting her outside. As they walked they made small talk, which mainly consisted of Lucius complaining a bit more to Hermione about Bellatrix.
"Is she going to cause problems?" Hermione asked. "I mean, once I'm in charge."
"It's a possibility." Lucius admitted. "Very early on you're going to have to show her you're not to be messed with."
"What if I can't?" Hermione asked quietly. "What if I'm not strong enough to take over, yet?"
"You are." Lucius reassured the young witch. "Your father has great faith in you, as do I. I know it wasn't supposed to happen this fast, but you were always going to take charge of the Death Eaters."
"Was I really?" Hermione asked. Her father had told her as much, but she still wondered if he was only saying that because he had no choice in stepping down.
"Yes." Lucius nodded. "When he told me what was happening, he told me about his original plans. He was hoping to spend your last three years of school slowly bringing you into the action, and handing control over sometime after you'd left school. He was still going to be around, but the Death Eaters would be yours."
"But father said the Death Eaters would never follow me if he was still around." Hermione pointed out.
"It's true, they wouldn't follow you as it stands now. But in your father's original plan you were going to have been around for years, building up trust and support within his followers. A hand over of power would have been a natural thing, and even though he still would have been around your place as leader would have been accepted with ease."
Hermione nodded at Lucius's explanation. She wished that was the plan her father had been able to follow. While part of her was actually looking forward to the challenge of leading the Death Eaters there was still a huge part of her that was unconvinced she could handle the pressure. She was still so young and it would be a hard task to control her father's followers while keeping her identity a secret and dealing with school.
"How are you coping with the news?" Lucius asked, after a few minutes of silence passed as they strolled around the large garden of the Manor.
"I'm not really sure." Hermione sighed. "It's all come as a bit of a shock to be honest."
"I'm sure it has." Lucius said sympathetically.
"Do you think he'll survive the loss of his magic?" Hermione asked.
"With any luck." Lucius replied. "I know your father wants you to be prepared for the worst case scenario, but I have faith that won't happen. We've found a lot of helpful spells and while none will fix the problems with his magic, they should keep him alive."
"You sound more optimistic than father." Hermione sighed.
"Your father's just been cautious. He doesn't want you to get your hopes up and be crushed if the worst should happen." Lucius explained.
"I want to be optimistic." Hermione declared. "I don't want to believe the worst, I want to have faith he'll live."
"And that's a great attitude to have." Lucius said. "Just as long as you're not burying your head in the sand and can deal with the worst if it should happen."
"I know it's a possibility and I can deal if it happens. I'm just choosing to believe he'll be alright." Hermione said.
"You keep doing that." Lucius smiled. "Yes his magic will be gone, but the spells and potions we've got on standby should ensure he's physically okay. Well, as okay as a man his age without magic can be."
"So what you're saying is, he's basically going to be an old man." Hermione said. She knew her father was old, but with magic he was still wasn't anywhere near as old as he could get.
"Basically." Lucius nodded. "Without magic he's not going to live to be in his hundreds, but he should still have a few years in him."
"I hope so." Hermione sighed. "I want him to see what I make of the Death Eaters before he goes. I want to make him proud."
"You already make him proud." Lucius said. "Everything you've done has made him so proud."
Hermione smiled at Lucius as the two continued to walk towards the bottom of the garden, where there was a gazebo standing next to a stream. As they walked they talked about the Death Eaters and what would happen once Hermione was in charge. Lucius constantly reassured her he would support her and once she took charge she could depend on him in anyway.
"Draco's keen on joining the Death Eaters you know." Lucius said conversationally.
"Have you spoke to father about it?" Hermione asked. "I know he likes Draco and is keen to have him onside."
"That's what he told me, but he also made it clear that any new initiations are up to you. Now you're getting ready to take charge, he wants you to be sure of who gets the mark."
"I can tell you now, I would willingly let Draco join." Hermione told the wizard she was walking with. "But I want to wait until I take over before making any firm decisions. We can talk about it again in the summer."
"Take as long as you want." Lucius said. "I know Draco is eager to join, but waiting won't hurt him."
"Will he still be as keen once he knows it's me in charge not my father?" Hermione asked.
"If anything it might be more of an incentive." Lucius chuckled.
"What does that mean?" Hermione stopped and turned to look at Lucius, who also stopped.
"It means, he has a crush on you." Lucius answered. "You should have seen how disappointed he was when he returned home for the holidays and I mentioned there was no meetings scheduled this fortnight. He was gutted he wouldn't get a chance to see you again."
"I'm sure he wouldn't be so keen if he knew who I really was." Hermione muttered. "He hates me."
"No, he doesn't." Lucius insisted. "He hates muggleborns, and at school you pretend to be a muggleborn. I'd dare like to bet that Draco could tell you barely anything about Hermione Granger, he probably couldn't even tell you if she was attractive. All Draco sees when he looks at you at school is a mudblood, he doesn't see The Dark Lady who's hiding underneath."
"Maybe." Hermione shrugged. "Or maybe he just hates me. Just after Christmas we had a run-in and I accused him of fancying me, just to get him off my back, and he looked so disgusted at the thought."
"Again, he would have been disgusted at the thought of fancying a mudblood." Lucius replied. "He most certainly wasn't disgusted at New Year, was he? If I remember rightly he was rather smitten with a witch whose name or identity he didn't know. He liked you because of you, not because of what you looked like."
"Do you think I should tell him who I am?" Hermione asked.
"That's your decision. But if I were you, I'd have a bit of fun with him first. Maybe make him see if he can guess who you are." Lucius suggested with a wicked smirk. "I have to admit it might be fun watching him moon after a girl he doesn't know the identity of."
"You're evil, Lucius." Hermione laughed as the pair continued their walk.