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Hidden in Plain Sight	By : Katay Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 17098 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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A/N: I forgot to post this chapter first time round, so I apologize to all of you who have read it through so far - this chapter does help a little in understanding the relationship between Hermione and Andromeda too!

Chapter 4:

August 7, 1999

�Oi, Ron! Over here mate!� A hand
stuck out of a far cubicle and waved at the red head in the entryway of the Auror Department. He maneuvered his way over to the dark
haired man and sat in a spare chair at his desk.

�Hey
mate.� He grinned at the bespectacled man in front of him. �How�s your Monday?�

The
darker man rolled his eyes, �It�s Monday Ron � that�s
practically a definition of horrible. Bloody stupid is what the world is.� He
waved his hand at the stacks of paper teetering on his desk, �All this from
people who can�t quite grasp simple laws.�

Ron
snorted, �The great Harry Potter, slain by paperwork � who�d
of thought it?�

Harry
mock-glared at him, �Oi, I�d like to see you try and
deal with all this.�

Ron�s
smile faltered and he said softly, �I�d love to mate � but you know the thing
with George. He, well he needs my help right now.�

Harry
ran his hand through his already mussed hair, �Ah, that was low of me, mate.
Sorry.�

�Nah
don�t worry about it. Someday it�ll all work out. Hermione and I were talking
about it on Friday actually.� His eyes shifted around the room slightly.

Harry
felt his eyebrows raise a bit, �Really? So she took it well then?�

Ron
snorted, �I wouldn�t say well, but she did seem to like my ideas and the goal
of me working at the Ministry.�

Harry
rolled his eyes, �Of course she did, you dolt. She loves you! She�s going to be
happy for you no matter what. What were you expecting?�

Ron
shrugged and looked a little sheepish.

Harry
gaped at him, �Mate � you didn�t.� He stared at his red-headed friend hard,
�You did! You idiot! Ron what were you
thinking?!� He said exasperatedly.

Ron
whined a little, �Harry, come on! She doesn�t need to work � she�s bloody smart
as it is. Everyone knows that! I
still have to prove myself. She didn�t desert you � I ..
well I did. I still feel like that side of me is going
to come back � I need to fight that Harry.�

Harry
clapped his hand on the other man�s shoulder, �Ron, mate, you came back when I
needed you most. No one, least of all me, blames you for thinking about going
towards death before you charged ahead. But, you can still work while Hermione
does, can�t you? I don�t really see the problem.�

Ron
sighed exasperatedly, �Of course we can�t both
work. Who�d look after the kids or the house? Or cook? Or clean? I mean come on Harry. It�s just how it is. Plus
I�d be miserable as a stay-at-home Dad. Merlin Harry, I�d probably lose one!�

�Ron
� if you think you�re going to be a bad father � shouldn�t you hold off?� Harry
tried to ignore the rest of the earlier statement, giving Ron up as a lost
cause.

�Well,
yeah. I�m just saying even after a few years, I�m not sure how handy I�ll be. I
mean, you know me Harry, I love to
eat and I love Hermione; I�m just not all that good at houseworky
spells. Hell, I�m not good at a lot of spells. But at any rate Hermione and me have come to an agreement.�

Harry
raised his eyebrows, �Oh really?�

�She
is going to work the next month, while I do, and we�ll see where we are at the
end.� He nodded confidently.

Harry
looked at him, �and you agreed to that? What did you do?�

With
an askance look at him, Ron replied, �What d�you
mean? Why would I need to have done something?!�

Harry
sighed, �because you would never agree to that unless
you were trying to apologize for something. What did you do Ron?�

Ron
seemed to curl a little bit more into himself, �Well I might have gotten angry
at Hermione and left her at the restaurant.� He straightened a little, �but
it�s not like she didn�t deserve it! Gods, she was so stubborn; so I went to
the pub and had a drink � or five. And well Lavender Brown was there and we
started talking about everything after the war. You know she�s studying to be a
Healer? Well next thing I know we�re in my bed and going at it like rabbits.�

He
shook his head and murmured, �so damn complicated,�
glanced at Harry and rushed on trying to stave off the explosion. �It�s not
like she didn�t go out either! She walked in the next morning completely
rumpled and that's just not Hermione. I could tell, Harry. I wasn�t the only
one.� His voice was almost pleading in an attempt to make Harry understand.

Harry
merely crossed his arms.

�Well,
Hermione came in and said we needed to chat � which I agreed with. So we talked
and came up with that plan.�

�And?�
questioned Harry.

�And
we aren�t going to sleep together the whole month,� said Ron rather grumpily.

Harry
snorted, �I�m surprised you got off that well; especially considering that when
you were going out with Lavender in 6^th year, you got attacked by a
flock of birds � and you two weren�t even dating then.�

�Yeah,
well she�s grown up like the rest of us, thank Merlin.� Harry felt his head
reel slightly at Ron�s statement � out of anyone in their year, Hermione had
always been the most mature. Ron kept going though, �And she wants me to talk
to Lavender � which is a punishment on its own.�

�Why
would you sleep with her, if you don�t even want to talk to her?�

�Oh!
It�s not that, I just don�t want to have to explain why � well why everything
is the way it is.�

Harry
glared at him slightly, �You owe her at least that much Ron, hell you�re
getting off easily. If I�d done half of that to Ginny, I�d have my balls hexed
off by her and I�d be out on the seat of my pants in a heartbeat.�

Ron
growled, �You better not do anything to hurt my sister.�

Harry
merely looked at him for a minute. He shook his head, �Look Ron, all I�m saying
is you need to treat Hermione better, hell she was our best friend for seven
years and your girlfriend for one � you should at least respect her by now. But
I need to get back to work. I�ll talk to you later.� He stood up with Ron and
shook his hand firmly.

�Later
mate.� Ron nodded and walked briskly out of the department.

Harry
only hoped that he had knocked some sense into the stubborn red head.

**

At
about the same time, Hermione was preparing herself to enter Lucius Malfoy�s
office for their first of many meetings on ideation for the new laws. She
didn�t like to think that he had seen her in such an emotional state, when even
being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange she hadn�t cracked.

She
steeled herself to be cool and aloof, knowing that he would probably taunt her
and attempt to use her emotions against her. After all those years of fighting,
she was wary if nothing else.

She
threw her shoulders back and knocked on his closed door. She heard a muffled
�Enter� and turned the knob lightly. She strode in confidently and shut the
door behind her.

Lucius
was leaning back in his chair, legs crossed and hands on the upper thigh. He
looked as though he had nothing better to do than wait for her. She nodded at
him and sat across from him in the seat he indicated with a swipe of his hand.

�So,�
he drawled, �what are we to talk about today? Perhaps how we might go about maintaining
a relationship with the werewolves we
are trying to document. Or perhaps we might discuss methods of containing the fights that are sure to break out
against our new laws.�

Hermione
groaned inwardly at his intonations and knew that he was subtly taking digs at
her. She decided to ignore them for the moment and go after another tactic. �I
thought we might discuss the actual goal of the law and procedures, so that we
can, hopefully, avoid any conflict. I think that the laws are dreadfully
outdated concerning werewolves, so those are certainly the first things that
need to be adjusted, but that is decidedly on my end of things. I think perhaps
we need to look into how other societies view the werewolves and their laws concerning
them.�

�Dreadfully
outdated, you say,� he commented drily. �Those laws
were made merely twenty years ago � would you say you are outdated Ms. Granger?�

She
rolled her eyes, �Merlin, no. I merely mean that they fail to take into
consideration the new Wolfsbane potion or many other
revelations that have occurred in the recent years. And,� she added slightly
sneeringly, �might I add, that those laws were passed
targeting specific werewolves � they
hardly cover the entire disease.�

He
raised an eyebrow, �Prove it.�

She
grinned, �Oh I certainly can�t, but it�s easy enough to see how prejudiced
everyone has been against them. Especially those with certain allegiances who
held sway over the laws back then.�

�Strange,
how you talk about prejudice Miss Granger, yet you refer to the afflicted souls
as either �them� or �werewolves.� Does that denote a difference?�

She
nodded, �You have a point, Lucius.
However, I am a Muggleborn, or Mudblood, whichever
you prefer � it is merely a description of one part of me. Those people are
werewolves � merely another description. Remus Lupin was a kind and gentle man; however, he was a
werewolf. It makes no difference what adjective we use,
there will always be some that describe us.�

He
smirked slightly, �Well said. You do not flinch at such a vulgar term as you
used earlier � it leads one to question ��

She
drew herself up haughtily, �Your son endeared me to that term. I learned to
ignore it and accept it � he was hardly creative in his insults.�

He
flinched, almost imperceptibly, at her mention of his son. �I see.�

She
raised an eyebrow, mimicking his earlier expression, �Trouble in paradise?�

He
grew visibly stiffer, �I advise you to keep to your own affairs Miss Granger, and
perhaps they wouldn�t be so askew if you did.�

She
growled slightly, �I believe, sir,
that we should adjourn to another day � when we are not perhaps so
bloodthirsty.�

He
nodded, his face impassive and she envied him the control, �Of course, Miss
Granger � I would hate to rouse your temper.�

She
flounced out, shutting the door rather loudly behind her.

**

�Andy,
I just don�t know how anyone could ever deal with him! Gods � he�s just, just �
well I haven�t any idea of how I�m going to ever get through this.�

�Hermione
dear, you�ll get through it and you�ll do wonderfully. Just ignore the barbs as
if they aren�t there. The purebloods are raised on the belief that a good
offense is the best defense. I would know dear.� The older woman winked at the
brown haired witch seated across the table.

Hermione
bowed her head slightly and set her tea down with a sigh, �I know you�re right
Andy, but I�m just so frustrated in general. I simply can�t figure out how to
handle everything. I�m sorry for being such a baby, it�s just with Ron and
everything � it all seems to be coming down at once.�

Andromeda
nodded her head in acceptance, �It�s alright dear, and you�re embarking on a
whole new path. It�s not unusual to experience some stress, especially if other
factors are unsettled.�

Hermione
took another slow drink of her tea, �And I wish I could talk to Ron about all
this, but I know he would either blow his top at Lucius threatening me or he
would simply say I told you so. You don�t think I�m being selfish, do you?� She
looked at Andromeda with pleading eyes.

Andromeda
sat back in her chair and looked into the young hazel eyes so beseeching in
their stare. She saw the early maturity that the young woman had been forced
into and the almost haunted shadow, a result from months on the run and days in
capture during the war. She mused in her own mind on those facts, even as she
replied, �I think that everything will work out in its own time.�

She
pulled a hand up to stop Hermione�s retort, �tut, tut. I know that doesn�t help you now, but I think that you
need to do what is best for you, and if Ron is that, then that is what you will
work for. You�re a smart woman Hermione, you know what you want � don�t let
others dictate that for you. You�ll find your priorities, don�t let your pride
get in the way and you�ll do fine. Ron will either step up or step aside.� She
set her tea down to punctuate her comment. �Now, would you like to go play some
with Teddy? He�s been going on about �Niney� coming.�

Hermione
grinned; she loved playing with the young Lupin. She attempted
to see him at least three times a week, also enjoying the talks with the elder
Andromeda. It helped the young Muggleborn to have the
wiser witch to go and talk to, someone who wasn�t in her direct sphere of
friends.

As
they walked through Andromeda�s cottage, Hermione glanced at all of the beloved
photos and memoirs that lined the tables and walls of each room. A sad smile on
her face, she glanced at a picture of a beaming Tonks
and Remus just after their wedding and another,
older, next to it featuring a similarly happy couple, who Hermione assumed,
were Ted and Andromeda after their elopement. She sighed softly for the lovely
witch who had lost almost everything in the war.

As
they entered the nursery, Hermione rushed over to the pen containing the
trouble-making Teddy and grabbed him up in a huge bear hug. She swung him
around, making them both giggle through their dizziness.

Andromeda
smiled from the doorway and backed away from the room quietly, letting the
brunette play with the little boy for a while. She knew Hermione never
understood all that she did for them, but both Andromeda and Teddy owed her
quite a lot. After the war, Andromeda had taken over Teddy, citing that he was
the last of her family and her responsibility.

Hermione
had then shown up with Harry and Ron one day, saying that they were there to baby-sit
so that �Mrs. Tonks� could go have some alone time.
Andy had loved her from that moment on. Harry and Ron had stopped coming after
a few visits, and Andy understood, but Hermione just kept coming and Andy
slowly began to rely on her.

She
loved that the younger witch came to her for advice and she relied on the
recent news that Hermione was always sure to bring. Andy tried hard not to
think of Ted and Dora during the days, but it was hard, especially with Teddy
being the troublemaker he was. Hermione brought some relief with her, allowing
Andromeda to take a break from being brave for everyone and herself. Sometimes
she would go and have a good cry, and sometimes she would simply go for a walk.

Today
she went to spy. She wandered down Diagon Alley towards WWW, with of course no real objective. She knew that Hermione
had left some parts out of her story and she was determined to discover why the
poor witch was so down on herself after the row. Surely Ron just getting angry
wouldn�t have hurt her so much?
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