A/N: Hello all my awesome readers. I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, but my computer decided to die a quick and painful (for me) death. Thankfully, I had the majority of my stories backed up. Hooray for thumb drives! Lost a few ideas I had tucked away, but that is way better than losing everything. Now, I've got a new computer, she's a beauty, and I'm back up and running again. Thank you all for the great reviews you left from the last chapter, I enjoyed them all as always. I'm so glad you're loving this story. I've really loved every minute of writing it. Here we see a bit of what is going on in the minds of both Lucius and Hermione after their night together. Enjoy!
Special Thanks: To my wonderful beta, TabiPrewett. You my dear are amazing and I appreciate all your hard work and dedication.
Chapter 18
Hermione went back to her room after leaving them in the dining room. Pacing back and forth as she tried to think about what both Draco and Lucius had said to her. However, she felt stifled after a bit and needed some air.
One of the plus sides to all the charms all over the house was that even in the middle of February, it wasn't cold on the balcony. It was comfortable, not too warm or too cold. It was perfect really, and when a breeze blew by, it was the same perfect temperature as the rest of the balcony. Plus, it smelled of fresh blooming jasmine, which was a bonus in her mind.
It made her wonder if when it rained, if the rain could get through, or the snow for that matter. It hadn't snowed again since she'd been there to know.
Hermione stepped out on the balcony and leaned against the railing. Staring down at the almost frozen garden below, that somehow still had pretty flowers in it. Deciding that it had to be magic that kept them from dying off in the cold weather. Otherwise, someone had planted winter hardy flowers in the garden so that it would still be pretty even when it was freezing outside. Either option was possible in a magically owned manor, such as this one was. She doubted Lucius would be happy to have a bare garden, regardless of what time of year it was. It had her wondering briefly who maintained the gardens here at Malfoy manner, before her mind drifted back to her earlier conversation at breakfast.
Hermione could see both of the Malfoy men's points. It was silly to stay living there with Lavender running around. What the daft cow had done wasn't exactly illegal, at least, Hermione didn't think it was. She hadn't tried to kill Hermione, only to embarrass her.
The Weasley twins had been doing that for years. They once put a very mild lusting potion of some kind in the punch bowl at one of Molly's parties, and just about everyone was snogging by the end of it. It hadn't been powerful enough to make people have sex if they didn't want to, but if you had a crush or even loved someone, you were busy snogging them. Unless your crush was busy snogging someone else. Which had happened to poor Neville.
A sad smile touched her lips as she recalled how devastated the poor young man had looked when Hermione noticed what was going on. Her own kiss with Ron had ended, and as she glanced around to see if anyone caught them snogging, she'd seen Neville. Hermione had gone out of her way to introduce Neville to a few witches she knew from work. He was now happily engaged to one of them.
Forcing her thoughts back to the situation at hand, Hermione decided that maybe she should look into the questions of legality later. Hermione always believed knowledge was good to have, even if you never used it. Whether it was legal or not, she mainly needed to think about the actuality of Lavender going ahead and purposely trying to hurt her next time.
Lavender was many things, but a murderer wasn't one of them. She wouldn't poison Hermione to kill her. Though she wasn't all that bright at times, so she might not mean to kill her and do it by accident, but that was an extreme situation. The chances of it going that far were very slim, accident or not.
However, Ron had heard what Lavender said and had just stood there. He hadn't defended Hermione, didn't try to stop Lavender, nothing. Why wouldn't he defend me or try to stop her? She wondered. We were friends once. Does he not see me as his friend anymore? Do I even want him as a friend if that's how he would treat me?
Hermione shook her head sadly as she considered that, finding she didn't know if she did want him as a friend. All those years of friendship. Years where we talked and laughed at the Burrow, spent holidays and summers together as teenagers. The hunt we went on and the bond from surviving a horrible war, is all of it gone now over Lavender Brown?
Hermione pondered that for a while. Thinking about all the things that had been going on lately. Latching onto and dismissing several thoughts before she sighed as it all added up in her mind. Though maybe not all of it is Lavender's fault, Ron has been acting more and more like a stuck-up prat over the last couple of years or so. Maybe Lavender is just the icing on the cake, she thought.
Hermione heard the whisper of Lucius' glass door. Knew he opened his balcony door, but she stayed staring at the same flowers that she had been since she stepped out. She didn't hear him come out his door so maybe he just opened it. Or maybe one of the elves did.
Hermione quickly slipped back into her thoughts. Letting them wander a bit before it settled on a new thought. Maybe it is time to move. She had been thinking she wanted her own place. She wanted to not have everyone under foot anymore.
Though Ginny will still come around a lot, especially if Harry is working late or gone for a day or two. Ginny would need Hermione to help keep her distracted, so she didn't go crazy letting her imagination get the better of her.
Harry will come with Ginny if he isn't working, or he'll come on his own because he misses me and wants to talk. Though they didn't talk as much as they used to.
Though, it was understandable, he was married now. Ginny had taken on the role of best friend and confidant in a lot of ways. He wasn't fighting a huge war, so he didn't need Hermione to be there to calm him or simply distract him from his life.
Hermione was frowning when she felt warm hands suddenly resting her shoulders. "You've been standing out here for almost an hour, Hermione. Care to share your thoughts that have kept you rooted to this one spot for so long?" Lucius asked her.
She turned to face him, making his hands drop, as her back pressed gently against the iron railing. "Just thinking. Mostly about what you and Draco said downstairs."
"Come to any conclusions?" Lucius asked her.
Hermione sighed. "Not really, I've mostly just been having general thoughts about everything."
He reached out and took her hand. "Come with me." Gently pulling her into her room.
Hermione frowned. "Where are we going?"
He continued to lead her into her room and over to her borrowed bed. He sat down on the bed, before he kicked off his shoes. "Take off your shoes and come here."
She had no clue what he was doing, but she was not going to have sex with him right now. Though, instead of arguing, she did as he asked. Kicking off her sneakers as he rearranged her pillows, so he could lean against the headboard like this morning.
Hermione climbed over him and settled down beside him, with her leaning against him as her head rested on his shoulder and his arm came around her. It took a few minutes before he finally spoke.
"You can start whenever you're ready." Lucius said.
Hermione frowned. "Start what exactly?" Not sure what they were doing.
Lucius chuckled. "Telling me what you were thinking about for the last hour."
Hermione shifted slightly to look up at him. "Who said I was going to tell you?"
He smirked. "I did, just now. I figure if you've been bouncing thoughts around your brilliant mind for over an hour and don't have a single conclusion, then it might behoove you to add in a second brilliant mind. Maybe we can come up with one or two together."
Hermione moved to rest back against him as she was before. It couldn't hurt. She thought. "I was thinking about Grimmauld Place." She said.
Lucius nodded, encouraging her to go on.
Hermione took a breath. "I've lived there ever since I graduated and have never lived anywhere else, but either at home with my parents, at Hogwarts, or at Grimmauld Place. Adding in the Burrow for a few weeks here and there, of course."
Hermione sighed. "My parents died in Australia, they...were in a car accident. Do you..."
"I know what a car accident is." Lucius said quietly to her.
Hermione frowned. "It was during the war, while I was hunting with Harry and Ron. I didn't even find out until...after the war, a month after, in fact. I was...going to go get them and they weren't at their house. A neighbor...a kind muggle woman with bluish gray hair told me about it, she thought I was a friend or distant relative that came for a visit."
Lucius frowned, not fully understanding. "She hadn't met you or heard of you? Hadn't seen a picture of you or anything?"
Hermione shook her head. "I...I wiped my parents memories of me before I went on the hunt with the boys. I didn't want...Voldemort to find them and use them against me somehow, or for them to worry while I was gone. They didn't know I existed and so neither did their friends or neighbors there. I erased myself from their memories because…if I didn't survive...they wouldn't mourn me for the rest of their lives."
Lucius sighed, he hadn't known all the details, just that she didn't have them any longer. "I'm so sorry, my dear." He said softly.
Hermione looked over at him again. "That isn't your fault, Lucius."
He gave a small smile. "I know, Hermione, I was only showing sympathy for your loss. I know that to do what you did, you cared about them greatly, and I'm sorry you lost them." He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently.
Hermione settled back against him again. "After I came back, I stayed at the Burrow for a bit. I found I didn't want to go back to school and simply took my N.E.W.T.S at the Ministry. Kingsley arranged it, Harry and Ron did it too."
Lucius nodded. "Draco did as well, though his reason was that he couldn't go back to school. He was in their rehabilitation program and on house arrest."
Hermione sighed. "I heard about that when it happened. I never came by though, and I don't think any of us ever did either." She hadn't thought about Draco at the time, but now...
Lucius squeezed her side lightly, already suspecting where her thoughts might be headed. She was genuinely a kind and caring person after all. "It's alright, my dear. You weren't friends with him then, and you all still hated him for his misdeeds before the end of the war, understandably so. Now back to what you were telling me." He already knew she'd never been back to the Manor until just a few days ago. He didn't blame her at all either.
Hermione forced herself to focus again on what she'd been telling Lucius. "I ended up moving into Grimmauld Place with Harry. Ginny was still at school, she was in her final year, and Ron was still living at the Burrow, though he came over a lot. Harry and I both got jobs at the Ministry, he went the Auror route, and I just couldn't do it." She said.
Lucius frowned. "Couldn't do what, be an Auror? I know you're smart enough to pass their exams, so it's not that."
Hermione smiled. "It's funny you mention Ministry exam. They had me take one, like an aptitude test, to see where I'd best be suited. I took it after I already worked there for a while, and I scored so high, that I could have taken a job in just about any department I wanted."
"How is it you ended up in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures if you could go anywhere?" He asked.
Hermione shrugged. "I couldn't follow Harry and be an Auror. I'd seen too much death and fighting and didn't want to be a part of that any longer, so I talked to Kingsley about it and he understood. I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I'd even be good at other than what I was already doing, which was mostly just filing paperwork at that time. He's the one that suggested the test to see where I'd fit. I thought I was back to square one with the results, still having no clue what I wanted to do or what I should do."
She smiled. "Kingsley asked what I did on my own that I enjoyed. He wanted me to name something, anything I'd ever just done because I wanted to, not to help Harry or fight in a war, but just for me."
"Other than reading books, I'm assuming." Lucius said with a small smile.
"Yes, other than reading." She said. "I had thought of working in a library, and Harry thought it would be a perfect job for me. However, I knew I'd never get any work done with so many books to read and I'd constantly be yelling at people for not treating the books right."
Hermione laughed softly before going on. "I don't know how long I sat there, just trying to think of one thing I'd ever done that was just for me. My answer was rather pathetic actually."
Lucius scoffed lightly. "I find that hard to believe. You're the great Hermione Granger, surely, there must have been hundreds of things you'd done."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But, sadly no, when you take everything out of the equation except for me, there wasn't much left." She said.
Hermione felt his intake of air, knew he was going to argue, so she stopped him. "I'm not saying my life hasn't been good or meaningful. I'm just saying everything I'd done, up until that point and time, had been for other people or other reasons. That was the point of Kingsley's question, to make me think of me, to think about what I'd want."
Lucius let the breath he'd taken in out. "So, what did you come up with?"
Hermione grinned. "S.P.E.W."
Lucius frowned. "I beg your pardon?"
Hermione laughed softly. "I came up with an elf rights program back in my fourth year. I called it S.P.E.W. It was the one thing that I did just for me. Well, it was really for the elves, but I did it, because I wanted to do it."
Lucius smirked. "I had heard about it, though I think Draco called it something else. So, what did the letters stand for?"
Hermione smiled. "Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I wanted them to be free and able to choose for themselves."
Lucius bit back a chuckle. "How did your campaign go?"
She laughed again. "Not well at all, not even the house elves at Hogwarts appreciated me trying to get them more rights or respect. In fact, I think the only elf that enjoyed the knitted items I made for them, was Dobby. He would wear a tower of four hats or more at the same time, and sometimes two or three pairs of socks a day just to make me feel better. He was already free so..." She trailed off as she glanced towards Lucius, the previous master of Dobby.
Lucius nodded. "I'm glad Dobby was free and happy before he died."
Hermione's brows shot up. "Are you?"
Hermione knew from Draco that Lucius had insisted on many things changing around the manor after the war. The treatment and living conditions of his house elves were one of them. Having been caged and imprisoned himself in Azkaban, Lucius didn't want to be responsible of imprisoning anyone else either. His elves had been given the chance for freedom, and when they decided to stay on, Lucius conceded to them staying and serving his family, but only under certain concessions. Uniforms were a must, so they were warm enough while working in or outside the house, and the garment added a layer of protection should anything splash on them while cooking or cleaning. Now, they also had to take one day off to do as they liked, though the elves argued to only have to take one day bi-weekly, as opposed to weekly like Lucius suggested.
Lucius nodded. "Yes. I may have been angry at losing him at first, however...I came to see that...unfortunately, no one in my home had treated him well enough during his time here. Dobby had been with my family since before I was born. He always worked tirelessly to do everything I asked of him, as a small boy and later as an adult. He deserved to be treated better than he was while in residence here. I'm ashamed to say that...it took my own incarceration and my family being trapped in my home by the Dark Lord to finally see how wrong it had been to treat Dobby so horribly. I'm glad to know that he was happy during his freedom before he died."
Hermione leaned into him. "I'm sorry, Lucius. I shouldn't have asked." She hadn't meant to bring up something he felt so awful about.
Lucius kissed the side of her head. "No, my dear. You may ask anything you wish, and painful or not, I shall endeavor to answer any queries you have about me. It is good to remember our shame and shortcomings sometimes. I think that doing so keeps us from repeating our mistakes."
Hermione met his gaze. "I think you should be proud of all that you've overcome. It's not easy to change how we are raised to think or believe, and yet, you've done just that. Remember that, be proud of that, you've earned the right to be proud, instead of ashamed."
Lucius leaned down and gently touched his mouth to hers, giving her a soft and easy kiss, before pulling away again. "Thank you, my dear." He meant it too. Lucius had worked hard, and it was easy to forget that he should feel pride in all that he'd let go and all he'd done to help since the war. It was easy to bask in the shame of what he'd done to cause so much pain instead. It was good to know that he was slowly balancing it all out, all of his bad, with all of his good. He wasn't done, by any means, but it was nice to know that all the good was slowly lifting the heavy burden of guilt he felt.
Hermione moved on, hoping to ease the tension her question had brought on. "You know, I tried so hard to help the elves of Hogwarts during my fourth year, trying to free them so they didn't work for nothing while at school and it didn't really do me any good. I'm glad...I'm glad that Harry and Ron thought to tell them to leave during the final battle. That the boys made sure the elves didn't die needlessly, because no one else thought to tell them to go."
Lucius frowned at that. "What do you mean?"
Hermione shrugged. "Harry and Ron, during the Battle of Hogwarts, went to the kitchens and told all the elves to go. Told them that Severus was no longer headmaster, so they could leave. Its funny, the boys, Ron especially, gave me so much grief for trying to help the elves, and in the end, he was the one to make sure they got away from the battle. He was the one to make sure they knew it was okay to go."
Lucius' frown grew at her words. He was confused because, it was almost like...she actually believed what she'd just said. Did she really not know how it really happened that day? "My dear..." Unsure how to break it to her. "I'm not sure...that is exactly how it happened." He already knew how the house elves were freed before the final battle, and it wasn't because of Harry Potter or Ronald Weasley.
Hermione frowned as well. "Of course, it is. I was standing there when Ron said it. He said that we needed to free the house elves. It's what made me finally see that he could be more than what he'd always been as a child. That he could think of other people and not just about himself, or his stomach." She'd kissed him, for goodness sakes, because he had finally shown that he was growing up.
Lucius debated his next words, before mentally shrugging. "My dear, do you really believe the elves would have listened to a boy who wasn't even technically a student that year?"
Hermione didn't know how to answer that at first. "Well...why not? Whom else would they have listened to? Ron and Harry told them to go. I saw it."
Lucius nodded. "I'm sure your friends did tell them to go, but as to whom the elves would have listened to...it would have been the Headmaster of Hogwarts instead of a...former student, at best."
Hermione shook her head. "Severus wasn't headmaster any longer at that point."
Lucius' brow knitted. "According to whom, may I ask?"
"Well..." Hermione started, "erm...I suppose...wait, but McGonagall took over at that point as Headmistress. She took charge and started ordering everyone to prepare to fight and sent the younger students to use the tunnels and hide with Aberforth so they'd be safe. The castle even responded to her as the one in charge and aided in the defenses that night."
Lucius nodded. "Yes, as was her role as Deputy Headmistress whenever the Headmaster wasn't around to handle things himself. However, Severus wasn't actually removed as Headmaster at that point. Not officially. So the elves would still be required to do as they were told by the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress. So if the Deputy Headmistress didn't tell the elves to leave, exactly whom do you really think did? Because I assure you, the elves wouldn't have neglected their duties and left on account of a student, current or former, telling them do so."
Hermione's lips parted in shock. What Lucius said...made sense. A lot of sense. She'd never thought to consider it before, but..."Are you telling me that Severus Snape told the elves to leave? When? How? He just...flew away that night, he went straight to his master after all the other teachers turned on him."
Lucius smirked. "My dear, he was stuck playing a very long and detailed role. All house elves are bound to their masters to ensure their secrets are safe. Severus, as Headmaster, was master to all the elves bound to Hogwarts. The only ones not completely bound, I believe, was Dobby and...Crouch's former elf...I forget her name...anyway, the point is, they were bound to Severus, bound to keep his secrets. They already knew where his true allegiance was. Since they knew he was a spy, that he was really fighting on the side of light, he had already instructed them to leave, to go where they would be safe once the battle started. You and your friends telling them to leave only let them know it had begun."
He left out the part where he was sure the elves already knew it had begun the moment Severus left the grounds that day. There is no way any one could do much around that castle without the elves knowing about it. It's why they are bound to the Headmaster to begin with. It's also how Dumbledore seemed to know everything. The elves told him everything that happened around the castle. What the elves missed, the portraits made up for, information wise.
Hermione was shocked. "So...what Ron did that day...was really...nothing." If she'd known that Ron hadn't done anything amazing, maybe they wouldn't have gotten together at all. That was the turning point in their relationship, and now, it was like it never existed.
Lucius shook his head. While he may not like the boy, the boy's actions of that day were no less heroic or meaningful, simply because Severus beat him to it where the elves were concerned. "I'm not saying that, my dear. Your friends still thought to save the elves, when others did not, and they should be commended for their thoughts, I'm simply saying that Severus deserves some credit as well. I don't want you to feel obligated in whatever you decide, simply because of something you thought happened in a certain way, when it in fact, did not. I just thought you should know the truth, is all."
Hermione sat quietly considering that. Lucius was right, it didn't change the fact that Ron thought to save the elves, but it did mean that Severus had done things during the war that people still to this day didn't know about. Severus deserved so much, and yet, she knew he would never sing his own praises.
Lucius, realizing they had gotten off track, gave Hermione a soft pat. "So, back to our earlier discussion. Other than your elf campaign, how did you end up working in your current department in the Ministry?"
Hermione gave him a small smile, deciding to think more on her revelations later. "Well, between my desire to make things right for the elves, and then knowing how hard things were for Remus, it was only natural for me to settle into a department about magical creatures. I just didn't know Kings had already decided that was the right path for me. He knew how close I was to Remus and how much I hated what he went through due to him being a werewolf before he died. Kings was just giving me time to sort it out."
Lucius shifted, bringing her just a bit closer to his side. "So, after your job, then what?"
Hermione sighed, leaning more into the man with his arm wrapped around her. "We just settled into a routine. Harry and I went to work, and at the end of each day we'd came home, usually around the same time since he was still training. Together, we'd cook and have dinner while talking about our days, each taking turns with chores as we cleaned up any mess we made. Afterwards, Harry tended to study for his upcoming Auror exams as I read, or if Ron was over, they played Wizard's Chess. Sometimes I'd watch, others, I again just read whatever book had taken my fancy. Once it grew late, we were off to separate beds. On the nights Ron came by, sometimes he'd stayed over with me, and other times, he went home with just a kiss."
Hermione chuckled softly. "Ginny came home from Hogwarts and moved in there with us. Though, Molly still doesn't know that Ginny was sharing a room with Harry, instead of with me. Ron eventually moved in too, and after we had been dating for a quite a while, things just kind of progressed until we were living together in my room. Not much changed except instead of dating, we were engaged."
She wasn't even sure how that happened either. One minute they were a couple, and the next, they were telling his parents that they were engaged. She didn't even think they really talked about it much, or if Ron really properly proposed, he just asked her one night when she wanted to finally get married. Then, he wouldn't set a date, beyond moving the possible time frame from one future season to another, until he wouldn't even discuss it that much.
Lucius waited for her to go on, but saw she was lost in thoughts. "You're woolgathering, my dear."
Hermione gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I got distracted by other thoughts. Anyway, it was the same, though things got worse with Ron. He joined the Chudley Cannons and it was...hell."
Lucius frowned. "How so? I thought he always wanted to play for them."
Hermione shrugged. "Ron always had an air about him after the war. He loved the articles written about him, liked his picture in paper in the gossip section, but his ego became outrageous after joining the team. Before long, he started acting like he was the hero and Harry and I only helped a little in the war, and he acted like he was the team's star player, when he wasn't really that good compared to the others playing."
Hermione frowned as she went on. "After he got sacked, he just got worse, depressed mainly. He was constantly moody or grumpy, and as the days passed, we grew more and more apart. I just didn't see it, or maybe I didn't want to see it, but either way, it led to him and Lavender."
Lucius thought about his role in helping Weasley get on the team. Is it possible that me helping the daft sod only made Hermione's life worse? That certainly hadn't been his intention.
Not noticing his silence, Hermione went on. "Partly, while I was standing outside, I was thinking about Ron and me?"
Lucius paused in his thoughts, frowning at her statement. "How so?"
Hermione shrugged again. "We were friends once. Have been friends since our first year together at Hogwarts, and now...with everything...I don't think we're friends any longer. Even if you take the relationship part out of the equation, and him cheating on me, a friend wouldn't let his girlfriend insult his best friend like Lavender did with me. He should have stopped her or at least defended me, and Ron didn't do either of those things. Even if he still thinks we are friends, I'm not sure I want a friend like him anymore."
Lucius reached over and brought her face up, so he could look at her. His voice as smooth and as calm as it always is. "Hermione, that boy is a fool. A fool who didn't deserve your friendship if this is how he treats you, a fool to have ever let you go after he had you. Don't let your sense of loyalty force you to keep someone in your life that doesn't treat you as you should be treated. Otherwise, you'll only be disappointed and hurt."
Hermione knew he was right. Ron hadn't treated her right and it was out of loyalty to the friendship they'd had that she told Harry not to make him leave. Harry was Ron's friend too, and she hadn't wanted to be the reason the boy's friendship ended. Adding in that Ginny is Ron's sister, Hermione didn't want to cause any strife with any of them.
By that same logic, Hermione realized she was the common factor in all of it. She was Harry's friend, Ginny's friend too, but Ron was their family. Family by blood with Ginny and by marriage with Harry.
Hermione couldn't come between them and she couldn't stay. If she stayed it would only make things worse, it would put a strain on her friendships, and it would put a strain on Ron's connection with Harry and Ginny.
It was time for her to leave and find her own place. The realization, she found, saddened her, even though she had been kicking it about, she hadn't really thought about how she'd feel to just leave. A huge part of her life was in that house and with those people.
Lucius saw her lost in her thoughts and saw too that whatever they were, she wasn't pleased by them. There was a bleakness growing in her eyes, and seeing it, it hit him hard. He didn't like to see her upset.
"Come here, my dear." Lucius said before shifting her until she was on his lap once again, but all he did was wrap his arms around her and hold her. "Tell me why you're sad."
Hermione let him envelop her, she needed to be held. Needed him to hold her. Wait, when did that happen? How did I go from being petrified of this man, to needing him? I barely kissed him a few days ago. She thought.
Has it really only been a few days? Hermione thought back on it. Thursday, Severus came to her, Thursday night had her in Lucius' office and now it was only Sunday. Barely four days, if you count Thursday. How did this happen so fast?
Though, Hermione knew how, it hadn't really only been a few days. He had been showing up more and more since her lunch with him in January. Stopping by to offer lunch and say a quick word, showing that he cared that she took care of herself and ate, even if it wasn't with him.
These four days only gave Hermione a chance to see him on a regular basis, to let her talk to him, see what he was like. To see that he actually had a kind and sweet side to him. With yesterday alone it had brought a closeness and intimacy that she'd never had with anyone. The lusting potion and her reactions to him aside, she saw how Lucius treated her, respected her.
The closest thing she ever to that before had was during her hunt with Harry and even that had been different. There wasn't any kind of spark or attraction, Harry was like a brother to her, but even he hadn't been like this with her. Holding her like this when she needed him to, Harry might have hugged her, but not this intimately.
Lucius' voice pulled her from her thought. "Hermione, talk to me, tell me why you look so sad." Pulling her back enough to look in her eyes.
Hermione swallowed. "It's time for me to go, to leave Grimmauld Place. I know I thought about it before, but now that I know I have to...part of me doesn't want to. It's been my home and the people in it are like my family. Even Ron, for so long was a part of my life, and with the decision to leave, I feel like I'm losing them, in a way."
Lucius sighed as he held her to him again, stroking her hair and back gently. "You're not losing them, if you're as close as you say, they'll always be in your life. Your friends will still see you and I'm sure you'll want to visit them now and again."
Hermione knew he was right, but it still made her sad to think of leaving. She leaned closer against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes and just breathing in his scent as he continued to just hold her.
His strokes on her back deepening to slowly make the tension leave her body, making her relax more and more in his embrace. Before long she fell asleep leaning against his chest with both of his arms around her.
It was a while before Lucius realized she had fallen asleep as he held her. His lips curving at recognizing that with her doing so, it showed that she trusted him enough to sleep. That she didn't feel the need to keep her guard up around him, and that she felt safe enough in his presence to simply rest.
Lucius continued to hold her for a bit, just enjoying her being in his arms and basking in her trust. He never thought he'd have it from her. Never believed that, she of all people, would ever trust him.
After a while, he moved her, so Hermione could stretch out in bed, wanting her to be comfortable, not wanting her to become cramped by staying in his lap. He watched her sleep, lying beside her with his head propped up, leaning on his elbow, his thoughts wandering.
It would take her a bit to find a decent place to live. Hermione would need time to search for something, time to go look at different places until she found one to her liking. She had said she had thought of leaving before, but she hadn't had time to really look for a place with work and other things taking up her time.
Lucius didn't want her staying in that house with her ex until she found what she was looking for though. He didn't think it would be safe for her, nor did he think it would be a good environment for her. To be under constant strain and stress with watching Weasley parade his lover about.
Lucius wondered how she'd feel about staying in his home until she found a new residence. It seemed like a good idea to him since he had plenty of space in the huge house, but she always argued. He always had to prove to Hermione why what he said was a better idea than what she wanted to do. It was both frustrating and amusing at times.
Lucius liked that she didn't blindly follow anyone's instructions. That she was smart enough to think for herself and needed logical reasons before doing anything.
However, it had its downsides too. Lucius hated having to explain himself to people, he was used to people simply following what he said and her challenging him was different than what he was used to. Hermione challenging him intrigued him too. It kept things interesting, to have to use his own logic and cunning to overcome her arguments.
No matter what Draco said, she wasn't a pushover though, she was simply kind and generous. Hermione didn't feel the need to punish people for their shortcomings, but she was stubborn when people did things she didn't like. Standing there with her chin held high as she did what she thought was right.
Tomorrow her friends would be home, and Hermione would be going back to work. Lucius hoped to talk to her and get her to see why her staying at his home would be better for her. He knew he would enjoy her presence as well.
Talking to her was pleasant, Lucius liked hearing her opinions on whatever they were discussing. Enjoyed her tales of things from her past or simply a story about something at work, like when they spoke over their meals.
Lucius knew he wouldn't mind going into his library to find her curled up reading already. He could picture her on his sofa, engrossed in a book. He could picture finding his own book, and after settling down beside her, both of them reading in contented silence. Maybe him rubbing one of her feet as they did so.
Lucius sighed quietly when he realized where his thoughts had drifted. This little witch had managed to get under his skin in a short period of time. He hadn't even realized how efficiently she had done so either until now. None of the things he pictured was him.
Even while married to Narcissa, he had never read in the library with her, never rubbed her feet as she read a book. Narcissa didn't read books in his library, she read magazines, or short sentimental fiction while in her sitting room. She read the gossip columns over breakfast and told him things about what she read that he had no interest in.
He would never have rubbed her feet either, Narcissa had hated being touched by him. She would do her 'wifely duties' occasionally, but there had been no passion with the woman, not with him anyway. Her lovers were apparently a different story.
However, they hadn't had what most would call a love filled marriage. Their marriage had been arranged by both of their fathers, bringing together a good bloodline and to join both wealthy families.
Lucius had grown to care about his wife, but he never loved her, and Narcissa had never loved him either. She had been cold and the only thing she'd enjoyed in their marriage had been his family name and the ranking it brought her. Plus, she'd enjoyed his money, his heavily filled bank vault that allowed her to buy anything she'd desired.
Lucius knew Hermione didn't actually care about his money. Hermione wouldn't spend her days arranging charity events that she didn't really care about, just to make herself look important. Nor would she spend her days shopping simply to have designer clothes to lord over other people.
If Hermione arranged a charity event, it would be because she believed in what or who she was helping. If she shopped, she'd probably do it to buy something for someone else or out of necessity. She wouldn't drape herself in hand tailored clothing for people to admire, she'd probably run around in her muggle jeans to be comfortable. If the jeans looked as good on her as her worn out pair had hugging her curves, he'd enjoy the sight, possibly even encourage it. Assuming she was able to wear them longer than a few minutes before he was peeling them from her.
Lucius being attracted to Hermione while she and Narcissa were complete opposites wasn't that surprising. Where Narcissa had been pale skinned and blonde, Hermione was a brunette with a golden complexion. Instead of crystal blue eyes, Hermione's were a warm honey color.
However, it wasn't her looks being different that he liked. Narcissa had been cold and distant whereas Hermione was warm and friendly. Both women were smart, but Narcissa had used her intelligence to scheme and Hermione used it for good and practical things.
Lucius sighed, resting his arm on Hermione's belly as she slept. The movement making the witch shift a tiny bit closer to him in her sleep and causing him to smile slightly.
Lucius didn't regret Narcissa being gone from his life, but he knew he would regret it if Hermione was no longer in it. So, the question was, how did he keep her in it?
A/N: Aww…Lucius has feelings for Hermione. Not just lusty ones either. I love fluffy stories. I can't help myself. Anyway, more coming soon, and it won't be nearly as long, I promise. Take care and please leave me your thoughts.