A/N: I never expected to finish this before Monday, but I couldn't stop writing and here we are :)
There's some smut again and it doesn't involve Draco and Hermione ...
Further notes at the end, I don't want to spoil anything!
Thanks to Sue for beta reading!
Chapter 17
With a sigh, Narcissa sat down next to her husband on the sofa and rested her head on his shoulder. Zeus, who had been napping in his lap, looked up and gave her a look that spoke of pure jealousy.
Wonderful, after hours of last-minute wedding planning together with her soon to be daughter-in-law she was now competing with a cat.
Lucius put his book aside and wrapped one arm around her. "Everything settled?"
"Yes, surprisingly. Why do all problems always come up a few days before the actual event? And how is it that neither you or your son are anywhere in sight when they do?"
"I was very busy at the Ministry and I believe Draco was working on a potion. And don't think I haven't noticed that he's always my son when he displeases you." There was an amused tone in his voice.
"Of course. I'm glad he wasn't too busy to go to dinner with her now." She left it at that, she knew it was no use, and Hermione was a far greater help than either of these two anyway.
Kissing her and drawing her into a proper embrace did make up for some of it, but she had just started to reciprocate when Bimsy suddenly turned up. "Bimsy is sorry for interrupting, but the Minister is downstairs." Then she vanished again.
"Oh, what does he want now?"
Lucius chuckled. "Easy, my love. I'm sure it won't take long and then we'll continue what we started."
He got up and an annoyed Zeus was forced to jump off his lap. Narcissa smirked and waved her wand to remove all the light grey cat hair from his black clothes.
He nodded his thanks and together they went downstairs, where Kingsley stood next to the fireplace.
Lucius shook his hand. "Good evening, Minister. What can I do for you? It's rather late."
"Well, I believe you will forgive the inconvenience, Lord Malfoy, considering the circumstances. Good evening, Lady Malfoy."
"Good evening, Minister."
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to sit? Have a tea?"
"No, I won't be long." He reached for a long, thin box he had previously placed on the mantlepiece. "Hermione came to my office the Monday after the engagement was announced."
Narcissa perked up. She had known about Hermione's plan to talk to Kingsley again, but since they hadn't heard from him since, she hadn't expected anything to come of it. It had been a disappointment, of course. Since Draco's stay in St. Mungo's, Lucius had pulled himself together, had learned to live without magic and her, Draco and now even Hermione had learned to read him well enough or pick up on his hints to realise when he needed something done by magic and just did it without any fuss and minimal humiliation, but it was hard for him. Who would know that better than his wife?
Kingsley continued in a calm voice. "She brought the invitation for the wedding and informed me about what she wanted as a wedding gift." He looked Lucius in the eyes. "I really care about her, you know, and she doesn't get enough credit for what she did and sacrificed during the War."
Lucius held his gaze. "I agree with you there."
"Good. You may have noticed already that she's fiercely loyal to the people she cares about and she's more likely to ask for something for them instead of herself."
He slowly opened the box and revealed a familiar wand with a silver snake handle. It also contained the temporarily withdrawn apparition license.
Narcissa saw Lucius straighten ever so slightly and she herself almost held her breath.
"I couldn't deny her that. Not a second time. She wasn't even together with Draco when she asked me for the first time."
Her usually so well controlled husband actually looked faintly surprised. "She did?"
"Yes. Back then I was sure you were just manipulating her, trying to use her, and when you had what you wanted, you would cast her aside. But when she came the second time, she wore an engagement ring, so I figured you wouldn't go as far as letting her marry your only son just to get your wand back."
"Most certainly not. There was a time when we didn't think we would ever see Draco so happy again. He loves her." Even Narcissa hadn't expected him to be so honest.
Kingsley nodded. "Very well." He didn't hand Lucius his wand yet, but put the box back on the mantlepiece. Then he pulled out his own wand and performed a complicated spell, which she knew would remove the tracking charm that would have informed the Ministry immediately, if Lucius had used magic or directly ordered someone to do it for him. He put away his wand again and took the box. "Lord Malfoy, the probation is officially over, your magic will no longer be limited or tracked, your apparition license is restored and all travelling restrictions are removed. Please take your wand."
With a slow movement, as if he couldn't quite believe it yet, Lucius reached out and took out his wand and the license, which he pocketed. Not the wand, though. That he continued to hold firmly in his hand. "Thank you, Minister," he said after a moment.
"It's not me you should thank. You better be the best father-in-law she could wish for."
"That is my intention."
Narcissa smiled slightly and hoped that Kingsley heard the sincerity in Lucius' voice.
Whether he did or not, the Minister nodded. "I'll see you at the wedding then."
As soon as he had vanished in the flames, Narcissa was caught up in her husband's embrace and laughed in delight as she was lifted up from the ground and kissed fiercely.
"I believe I promised you that we'd continue what we started."
"That you did." They smiled at each other and then hurried up the stairs. Before Narcissa could reach the top, a very strong gust of wind lifted her up, swirled her around and let her down again with her back against the wall. Her long hair had become lose and Lucius was there with a few long strides, kissing her firmly. His magic, unused for too long, was crackling in the air around her and then she felt a still familiar sensation of magical stimulation around and in her vagina, on her clit, and she moaned into the kiss, her hips twitching against his solid form that was pressing her against the wall.
A portrait let out a scandalised huff. Lucius' great-great-great-grandfather always had a somewhat sour look on his face and it was Narcissa's firm believe that he never had experienced any kind of pleasure in his entire life. "Shut up, Aldous." The portraits were more or less forbidden to speak now anyway. When Draco had told them that he had invited Hermione to the Manor for the first time, Narcissa had overheard Lucius announcing to all of them that any portrait which would be offensive towards her in any way, would be burned immediately.
There were more pressing matters now than the portraits, though. Like Lucius' hard penis pressing against her.
"You said Draco and Hermione are out for dinner?" He asked in a rough voice and she nodded. The next moment her dress had vanished, leaving her in nothing but her silken underwear. She leaned against the wall, felt one firm hand on her hip and then the snake handle of her husband's wand slipped into her knickers, magically warmed, and circled around her clit. She gasped and one hand grasped Lucius' hair. That snake could do wonders that only she had ever known.
Her bra vanished and his free hand moved from her hip up to her breast, his thump rubbing roughly against her hard nipple and then the snake was gone from her knickers and she let out an undignified whimper while her hand buried deeper into his hair.
"Patience, love. Hands up." She knew what was coming and eagerly obeyed. He removed his silken black cravat, threw it into the air and it swiftly wrapped around her wrists and bound them to a silver wall lamp, while both of his hands gently kneaded her breasts. Even after six years of not performing any kind of magic, he didn't even have to focus on the complicated spell that made the cravat perform such precise movement. She was pulled up a little before it fastened around the lamp, so that she had to stand on the balls of her feet. The deliberate prickling sensation that had earlier stimulated her private area returned as his lips sucked on her right breast, his hands still caressing along the sides of her body, the snake's teeth gently scratching over her skin without breaking it. She would never, ever have told him, but she had missed him using magic during sex. He was always an attentive lover and he had always left her satisfied, but this was just another level.
He casually made her knickers vanish and knelt before her, his skilled tongue joining the stimulating magic, playing with her clit, making her moan. She didn't even notice that most portraits were empty now as their inhabitants had decided to move to frames in other parts of the Manor for the time being.
Then he placed his wand on the floor and got up. The magic stopped once more and left her wet, throbbing pussy begging for release. "Lucius …"
"Yes." She opened her eyes and saw him remove his trousers, not with magic, but deliberate slowness. Her hips twitched, but he had stepped back and there was nothing to press against. She whimpered once more. His eyes were on her the entire time and he looked at her the same way he had when they had first made love. Merlin, she loved that man!
Then, his hands were on her upper thighs, lifting them up, her back pressed hard against the wall, her arms straining in their bonds and then finally, finally, he entered her and immediately started pumping into her, all the while holding onto her legs, so that the strain in her arms wouldn't become too much. But he wasn't gentle now. In every day life, Lucius was always attentive and gentle with her, but in those private moments they both enjoyed it … well, a little more rough. He thrust into her hard and her legs wrapped around his waist as her hips moved to meet his thrusts again and again and when she came with his name on her lips, he thrust into her a few more times as she rode out her orgasm and came in her.
Both were breathing heavily and Narcissa vaguely admired him for still being able to stand there, holding onto her legs. But hold her he did, until they had both somewhat recovered and he carefully put her back onto the ground, the bond around her wrists released her and her arms lazily fell around Lucius' still clothed shoulders.
"We should continue this in the bedroom," he whispered into her ear. "Before the other two come home."
Narcissa laughed. "They would never let us live that down."
He gathered his wand and trousers from the floor – since he had made her clothes vanish he definitely owed her a shopping trip – and they made their way to their bedroom.
Narcissa had a feeling that this would be a long night and she was perfectly alright with that.
"You're acting like your parents never slept in."
"That's because they haven't! For all we know, they could have been murdered in their sleep." Draco took a sip of his tea.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "By whom exactly? Nobody gets in here without permission."
"I know, but there hasn't been a day in my life that I was awake earlier than them. Not a regular day anyway, after the War there was no real regularity in our days for a while, but apart from that, I have never been at the breakfast table before them. I would have thought I'm physically unable to."
Hermione swallowed the rest of her croissant before laughing quietly. "That's a good point now."
They had been sitting on the table for fifteen minutes and she had to admit it was unusual for Draco's parents to not be there yet when they arrived. She knew Draco was mostly joking, but it was a little disconcerting.
"Maybe they were abducted by aliens."
"Or maybe your mother murdered your father in his sleep because he always manages to be somewhere else when there is a lot of work with the wedding preparation and now she's on the run."
"Good theory, but wouldn't she have murdered me, too, then? She gave me a pretty scourging look yesterday. I really had to finish up that potion, by the way, or I would have had to start all over again."
"She probably thinks that's my job now."
He looked at her in mock mortification and they both burst out laughing.
Then the double door to the sun room flung open as if by a burst of magic. Both Draco and Hermione turned to the door, startled. It wasn't Narcissa's way to do something so flashy and as long as Hermione had been a regular visitor and then an inhabitant of the Manor, doors had just been opened the regular way.
Then they both saw what Lucius held in his hand. Hermione had never realised how much even she, who had had far more interaction with Lucius after his wand had been taken than before, had felt like something was missing. Most witches and wizards either carried their wands in their pockets, handbags or in special halters, but Lucius had always carried it openly, like an accessory, sometimes even with a removable extension to make it look like an elegant walking stick. Before and during the war Hermione had never seen Lucius Malfoy without wand in hand. And she had to admit that if someone could pull it off, and Lucius definitely could, it was an elegant, if a little pretentious solution to the where-to-put-your-wand-problem.
"You got your wand back?" Draco asked in disbelief, a broad smile forming on his face. "How? It isn't time for another board decision yet." Hermione hadn't told him that she had spoken to Kingsley again. She had told Narcissa when she had removed one of the invitations from the pile which was to be sent by owls, but no one else.
"The Minister lifted the probation yesterday. Someone seems to have told him that that's what they want as a wedding gift." He stopped next to Hermione's chair.
She looked up at him with a smile. "You said Malfoys don't fight losing battles. So I waited until I was pretty sure he wouldn't say no."
Lucius let out a soft chuckle before pulling her to her feet and into a firm hug. "Thank you."
~tbc~
