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What If.....?	By : valkyrie136 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 4465 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I Do not own the rights to Pillow Book or to Harry Potter or anything in that universe nor do I not make any profits from it. J.K. Rowling does. Please support the author by reading her books.

Chapter List
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Malfoy Manor.
It was three days before Hermione felt well enough to leave the small hotel room she was renting in London. This was her first real hangover and she hoped to never relive the experience again. Nor was she sure she could ever stomach the taste or smell of hangover soup without becoming violently ill.
During the three days of her recovery, between sleeping on the cold bathroom floor and waking up to drive heave because there was nothing left, she made peace with the fact that she was going to be taught by the Carrows. Her future was most definitely grimm, miserable did not really accurately describe her feelings but it was the only word she could think of, and unfortunately, she had no other alternatives. She was out of ideas.
The process of accepting the situation was a mental exercise all on its own. Much like the cycle of grief she went through a period of weeping, anger and acceptance. But it was not an easy process because in the middle of all of this emotional pain was the fact that she was still physically ill. This left her no time to worry about what had happened the night before, of which she had no recollection.
On the first day, she experienced severe nausea. The cold chill of the bathroom floor was somehow soothing against her overheated skin. Water was all she drank, and only in sips. With little ability to do much beyond laying still, she reflected that perhaps she could use this as an opportunity to finally hold the Carrows responsible. Worse case scenario she died, or worse, but at the very least there were at least a few people who might be angry enough at such news that they would avenge her.
The second day she drank hangover soup, regained some of her strength, and managed to read a little but mainly she slept because she had so little sleep the day before. The fear of winding up in the bathroom was partly to blame for her slow recovery; she was afraid to really eat much beyond crackers. Most of the time she stared at her bedroom ceiling and rubbed her naked wrist. It made her wonder not for the first time why, out of all the people around, she had to fall in love with Lucius all those years ago. She theorized that emotions like love were one of the few things she couldn’t fully understand, after all, even the government had a whole department just to understand that mystery.
Unfortunately, because she had so much free time to think she kept thinking in circles. In the end, she would always return to the Carrows, and her feeling of growing dread was awful. It was one thing to know that something bad was going to happen to you, but the wait until it happened was far worse. She was completely on edge, anxious, and that night she tossed and turned and barely slept, perhaps because her mind was conjuring up the many ways the Carrows would make her life hell.
The third day she packed, organized, and remained unable to sleep. When she did, it was in fits, and she always awoke suddenly, heart pounding, and in a panic that she was trapped. In short, looking back, these three days would go down in her memory as some of the worse times in recent memory. She arrived at the ministry early before it opened on the fourth day, trunk in tow, and hoped that she left before anyone had a chance to see and comment on how she looked.
One glance in the mirror before she left was enough to make her cringe: she had dark circles beneath her eyes, her skin had taken on a pale and unhealthy pallor and she had the kind of tired look that made one seem ragged or run down. Even her hair seemed limp. This corpse like Hermione lacked the motivation to look nice, she did not put on make up, and simply tied her hair back.
From her past experiences, she would wait at the Ministry and then someone would escort her over to where she was to stay. She waited. And waited. And waited. Minutes turned into hours and Hermione did not recall falling asleep but she did remember being jolted awake suddenly. Startled, she glanced up at Edmund Beach in confusion. He was frowning, and she struggled to make sense of what he was trying to tell her. She was still groggy and not entirely awake. Worse, her body, which was already sore form sleeping on the floor, felt even more worse as she dealt with the discomfort of sleeping sitting up on the hard floor of the ministry of magic.
‘…arrested…’
She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, yawning, ‘What did you say?’
He reached into his robe and pulled up a rolled newspaper which he dropped in her lap, ‘Read. I thought you would be celebrating. Now I have no idea what to do with you. Strange turnabout since Lord Malfoy suggested them in the first place.’
Irritated that he should be treating her like some sort of problem, she cast him an annoyed glance before snatching the paper up, and on the front page was a picture of the Carrows followed by the headline ‘RAID FINDS PROOF CARROW SIBLINGS DEATH EATERS EVIDENCE LINKS THEM TO MURDER.’
Hermione was now wide awake. Sitting up, her eyes quickly scanned the article, which went on to describe that the Office of Aurors was investigating the family for weeks. The raid occurred early this morning, around 2am.
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. She was not at one hundred percent, so it was taking her longer to process everything. The raid….and Malfoy’s recommendation….
As she put it all together, the feeling of pure, unadulterated rage blossomed, like a flower opening and she trembled with the power of the emotion. Through clenched teeth she heard herself whisper, ‘….where is Lucius Malfoy?’
Beach frowned, ‘I imagine he has retired to his home after being involved with such a lengthy investigation—‘
Hermione crushed the newspaper in her hand but did not throw it away. She immediately rose and without a thought for her belongings, which were abandoned on the steps of the ministry, she apparated away, just as Beach continued, ‘Wait, there’s more—‘
She never heard what Beach had to say because she was going to Wiltshire. She knew where he lived because she had tried to see him once after her return unfortunately no one was in residence. This time she landed outside of the gates and pushed them open. There did not seem to be any spells cast on the residence, but she wasn’t thinking about these kinds of things. The enormous estate—a castle over a thousand years old—loomed in front of her. The skies darkened and she felt that it was a very fitting kind of scenery for the day that she decided to exact retribution.
She apparated again to the massive front doors and without even knocking pushed them open. Someone like Lucius was cocky indeed if he didn’t think he needed any kind of spells to protect his home. Well it worked to her advantage. A house elf was waiting there and she demanded, ‘I want to see Malfoy.’
The elf was nervous. For a moment she felt that maybe this was all a little too much; breaking and entering was a big deal but his shamelessness truly knew no limits. Maybe he didn’t like her; maybe she had been rude and even put him in some uncomfortable situations these past few weeks, but hadn’t she suffered as well? Besides, most of those situations were all because of him. Was she a joke? There was eye for an eye and there was being outright cruel.

____
Lucius Malfoy sat across from the man who called himself Tallot. It was not his real name but it was what he preferred to be called. In between them was a chess game, clearly in an advanced stage of completion.
He and Tallot had an unspoken agreement to respect the privacy of one another since they frequently engaged in a kind of business relationship that required a certain level of delicacy; Tallot provided him access to many pieces of information as well as some of the more interesting cursed items in his collection. Lucius in turn provided him with gold. This relatioinship existed for years and over time it might be said that they had developed a certain kind of comfortable dialogue between one another; Tallot would not be wrong if he were to say he was the closest thing Lucius had to a friend, not that he ever would of course.
‘I heard you ridiculed Hermione Granger in front of everyone at the office of aurors. There were whispers that you might need to make some sort of amends for a decided lack of honor.’
Lucius gazed down at the chess board, ‘And what’s honor these days?’ He made his move.
‘I don’t want to trade words with you,’ He took a sip of tea, ‘But there is something else I wanted to tell you. I meant to bring it up earlier but went off topic.’ He tapped his fingers on the table, ‘It seems there has been some movement on the continent.’
Lucius kept his eyes on the game, ‘What happened.’
Tallot leaned back against his chair. His eyes twinkled as he slowly said, ‘Who else but one of the twelve Originals—Charles Martel. The one who came to duel with you because of your relationship with another Original, Madeline Fournier.’ Tallot went on to casually share this information, ‘He once blew your death eater cover and as a result you were arrested and endured a lengthy investigation—I think you even spent a month or two in Azkaban, making you suffer and lose face for a while, remember that too?’
With more delight he went on, ‘If not for the endorsement of that special witness and some evidence that appeared at the last minute, you have lost all the power you’ve carefully cultivated and even still be imprisoned.’
Then he summed it up with a tone that sounded regretful, ‘Of course you were released and gave Charles Martel such a brutal lesson even his parents couldn’t recognize him. But he’s still an Original pureblood; his family is nearly as old as yours. Such disgrace was too much for him to bear. He wants a rematch to wipe away this humiliation.’
Lucius’s eyes moved slightly as he indifferently said, ‘I’m waiting for his invitation.’
‘I’m surprised I thought you didn’t care about these kinds of things.’ Tallot was no longer paying attention to the game and staring at Lucius, ‘Or do you think he is somehow connected to the other business you’ve been looking into; this trap your enemies set up?’ He frowned, ‘But you’ve investigated so many families, including the Martel family.’ A moment passed, and his eyes widened as recognition hit him, ‘Aren’t that several persons of interest that you are still looking into? Harry Potter, naturally, but wouldn’t Hermione Granger fall into that category as well? She might have been ill, but she still disappeared. Don’t tell me for that reason you’re….’
Lucius leaned his cheek on his hand ‘They’re two entirely different matters.’ He turned his head slightly to face the door to the room, ‘Checkmate.’
Tallot glanced down in surprise, ‘When did you…?’ He started to laugh, and that was when Hermione entered, looking to Tallot as if she had not slept for days, her clothes were rumpled, and she seemed quite angry. He leaned forward slightly and whispered, ‘Tell me, what did you do this time to make her so angry?’
Lucius sighed, ‘Nothing. I merely underestimated her audacity.’

____
How should she make Lucius pay? Not surprisingly, wherever he was concerned her emotions seemed to trump reason no matter how well she planned. This time she reacted and came here but she arrived without a plan, hence, as she followed the elf she hastily through one together. First she would rage at him then maybe she would duel him, and perhaps during that duel she would cut him to ribbons. But if she really thought about it, in a duel, who would win? He was certainly more experienced in those things but how would she know unless she tried?

The newspaper was still clutched tightly in her hand. She realized that in addition to breaking and entering and perhaps a planned assault, she had also stolen the paper. She would think about these things later; she was certain she was not the first person who wanted to enact violence in Lucius she would surely find some people to speak up for her and if not, she would consider it worth it. Seeing him casually play chess was annoying on its own, but above where he sat was a family portrait of him and his wife. This made her even more furious—and worse, hurt.
She knew it was wrong, this scheme of hers. Violence never solved anything but seeing the portrait cemented her resolve and fueled her fury. She’d apologize to God later.
Armed with this resolve, she didn’t factor in the difference between power. She was a skilled witch in her own right, but he was older, and brilliant in his own right. Hermione entered the room and immediately came against a protective barrier. It knocked her back a few feet and caused her glamour to disappear (though she did not know this immediately)—a scar that ran the length of her forearm appeared, bright red as if it had just been carved in. Sitting on the floor, arm up protectively, she couldn’t help but feel that unleashing an angry tirade on Lucius from the floor was pathetic.
She lowered her arm slightly and saw him stand with natural grace and casually walk towards her. His calm and serene posture frustrated her. Any hesitation on her part was forgotten. With murderess intent she stood and stopped at the edge of the barrier, raised her left arm and held up the proof of his crime so he could see why she was here as if he didn’t already know.
Lucius seemed to freeze at her appearance.
She started. Maybe she had gone too far. She looked like a train wreck too—perhaps her appearance frightened or startled him? She immediately rejected that idea. She could be dead at his feet and he would probably react with the same casual indifference that was always reserved for her—and anyone else who crossed his path.
Something strange happened to the room then. Shadows grew longer, and the light became less. It engulfed everything slowly until the only things visible was herself and him; it was as if they were alone. The whole experience was standing in a dream, or a nightmare—it was extremely surreal, but in the middle of this strange experience she couldn’t help but think that shadows inherently suited the man standing across from her. His penetrating gaze was beginning to make her perspire in a cold sweat.
She was reminded that this person was once a death eater, but not just any random criminal, he was once the right hand man of the dark lord and a master of dark arts; he was the only person skilled enough to switch allegiances—at least he reported to have—and still come out on top and in power—how many powerful government officials were at his beck and call? He essentially had the office of aurors in his pocket and even the minister of magic was careful to not make him angry. No matter how he mistreated her, she still needed to be careful.
Now she hesitated. Now what? She had proof he not only toyed with her but made her suffer considerable psychological torment for days on end, letting her believe thata she was truly going to be at the mercy of the Carrows, and in fact even suggested that she be placed with them knowing the consequence. He knew.
That was the worse part about all of this. If she could see just a shred of remorse….but seeing him now, she didn’t have the right to really expect such things from him.
Lucius crossed his arms and murmured, ‘Did I…perhaps save you once when you were younger?’
Her eyes widened in surprise. How unexpected—if felt wonderful to hear he seemed to remember he saved her once, but then, where did that come from? Unconsciously she stroked her scar, and that was when she saw that the charm had been negated by his barrier.
It took her a long, long while to hide that scar. Powerful curses left scars, and those left by especially wicked spells were not supposed to be concealed but she managed to figure out a way to cover this one up.
She frowned, it didn’t mean that he remembered everything; he seemed like he wasn’t exactly sure, but she decided she was not obligated to say anything so she didn’t confirm anything but she didn’t exactly deny it either. Besides, what was there to remember beyond a vague memory of a mediocre student? It didn’t make sense that they should know one another; no one in their wildest dreams would ever believe she had time travelled.
Hermione took a step back and looked at him uncertainly. Who was it that said vengeance cooled if you didn’t act quickly? Her plans had gone out the window. Suddenly her own habit of letting things go was beginning to kick in, and combined with complicated feelings that were being stirred up, she realized she needed to rethink her plan.
Since she did not answer, Lucius quietly continued, ‘Is that it? Perhaps I saved you—you would owe me a favor, so accord me by forgiving me my deceit.’
This caught her off guard. She admitted under breath, ‘I paid you back already.’
‘What?’ Lucius asked in surprise.
Suddenly she glared at him, because she didn’t trust him, so she wadded the paper up and flung it away, ‘Do you enjoy this? Between you and your wife I don’t know who is more twisted.’
He crossed his arms and leaned forward slightly and nonchalantly replied with a shrug, ‘I’m crazy. What’s so terrible about a crazy person acting crazy?’
Stunned, she struggled to compose herself as her anger threatened to make her expire on the spot, ‘How can you be so petty?! So what if I said something rude but you’re older, aren’t you supposed to be more mature?! Do you know what I’ve been through? I shouldn’t have said it, fine, but this kind of thing, it’s really too much.’
For a long moment he simply stared at her. Finally he replied, ‘Very well, I apologize—‘
Hermione’s natural response was to respond in kind, and his words placated her a little because they were unexpected so calmed down and thought that maybe she could be more understanding and be the better person, ‘Fine. Maybe I can let it go—‘
‘….since I’ve already had my fun.’
Hermione felt something like a bomb detonate inside of her. Lucius watched her, and the faint smile only made her wrath grow tenfold. She abruptly raised her wand, with no thought of the barrier, no thought of the consequences really, and shouted, ‘Stupefy!’
Not many people know that Hermione could transform from ‘brightest witch of her age’ to ‘extremely impulsive and stupid’ when her emotions got the better of her. In an instant, the hex reflected back and hit her, causing her to drop immediately.
For several seconds, the room was silent. Tallot finally said from behind him, ‘I’m beginning to understand, but if you knew it would make her so angry, why go so far as to play this kind of game? She must have been feeling awful about going to the Carrows; why not simply tell her that what she said made you angry? Don’t you think this only creates more problems?’
Lucius frowned, staring at the girl in quiet consideration, ‘I needed a reason to justify the raid.’
Tallot nodded his head slowly, ‘….so she was the reason?’ Tallot watched the other man remove the barrier and bend to pick up the unconscious girl. He doubted anyone would so shamelessly use another individual and not even include them in on the plan.
‘When hunting you mustn’t expose your plan,’ He quietly said.
‘….You don’t feel that’s a little despicable?’
Lucius regarded him with genuine confusion, ‘No, I don’t.’
‘……’
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