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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.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Alrighty, so here goes nothing. All French translations are at the bottom, I apologize to anyone if it's mangled, I may have majored in French and lived there for two years, but my grammar is pathetic. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and also check out Ch.4 - apparently I forgot to put it up ... but it's up now!

Chapter 7:

September 1, 1999

Hermione
really didn�t want to be where she was at present. Really, anywhere else � anyone else would be preferable. Who on
the planet would want to be stuck indoors, underground in Paris, with
Lucius Malfoy of all people? Hermione snorted to herself. Had anyone told
her that was where she would end up, she would have laughed in their face. She
loved Paris,
and she loved libraries. She did not love Lucius Malfoy. She barely withstood
his presence.

Having
arrived in Paris that morning, they had been
enclosed in the Ministry for almost 5 hours attempting to scour the laws and
reactions against the werewolves in France. Deciding to start with the
other larger European powers, she and Malfoy had determined that a short day
trip to the French Ministry was in order, simply for surveillance and feeling
out the potential for change. Hermione had been surprised at Malfoy�s
connections within even the French Ministry; although, she knew she probably
shouldn�t have been. The man was a veritable walking diplomatic library.

Her
stomach grumbled slightly and Hermione blushed, hoping that Malfoy hadn�t heard
the indecent sound. She hadn�t realised
she was that hungry, but apparently her stomach was starting to override her
brain. She glanced up and noticed the smirk hovering over Malfoy�s mouth.
Grumbling she muttered, �Pardon.�

He
glanced up, eyes pretending to be surprised, �Hmm, did you say something?�

She
rolled her eyes, �Nevermind, have you found anything useful? I�ve found the
basic law code and the changes made in the last twenty years, but I�m stumped
on the general cultural feelings towards werewolves.�

He
rolled his eyes, �Of course you haven�t; that's hardly going to be in one of
your precious books. I�ve uncovered some of the earlier accounts of the
�loup-garou� or werewolf in France,
but the feelings and opinions towards them will only be found by actually
talking to sorci�rs fran�ais.� He smirked at her from across the table, �Which
could potentially be difficult for you Miss Granger, since I highly doubt
fluent French is within your repertoire.�

Hermione�s
eyebrows shot up and she was about to respond when her stomach gave another
loud rumble. She blushed and said bitingly, �Perhaps we could save this
discussion for lunch; it seems my stomach could use a sandwich at the very
least.�

The
austere blond man nodded his head condescendingly and replied, �Of course, why
don�t we go to a small caf� I know of in Le Chemin de Traverse,� he mock
blinked and said in a sneering tone, �the Diagon Alley of Paris that is.�

Hermione
gave him a scathing look, �Yes, Lucius
I realized that. I�m not completely ignorant of other cultures, as much as you
would like to believe it.�

He
snorted and pushed his chair away, grasped his cane in one hand and gestured
impatiently with the other, �Shall we Hermione?
The sooner we get that voracious appetite of yours appeased, the sooner we can
finish this project.�

Hermione
after throwing her cloak on over her favorite pale green work dress robes, huffed
passed him, outraged that he would blame her
for postponing their work. Well, I�m
sorry that I�m human enough to want food during the day, she thought
sarcastically. We can�t all be perfect
pureblooded vampires that feed at night. She almost growled in frustration
when she realised she had no clue which way Malfoy wanted to go, and so was
forced to wait for him to saunter up and take the lead � right eyebrow arched
as high as ever. I swear I�m going to
find him and shave that eyebrow off someday � just you wait Lucius Malfoy, just
you wait.

Lucius
Malfoy was rather enjoying the trip to Paris.
As he had been so many times before, he was pleased to simply be able to relax
and focus on work. Granted, the little muggleborn that the gods had decided to
punish him with was decidedly annoying and uncultured, but he figured that he
was a patient enough man to persevere. She was a feisty little thing, he had
decided, never willing to back down from a proper insult like cultured people,
and she gave as good as she got generally � something that normally threw
Lucius for a loop.

He
couldn�t quite make up his mind about her. He disliked her of course; being a
mud � muggleborn meant that she was quite below him in everything social.
However, she had proven herself adequate in the ways of intelligence, not that
he was surprised since the little bint had been ahead of his son every year at
Hogwarts. He disapproved of her poor social circle as well � obviously, but one must forgive what the ignorant do
not know to avoid. The puffy-haired, petite witch rather intrigued him. He
couldn�t fathom what drove the thing to continue on like a niffler, but he had
to respect the fact that she had never really broken under pressure.

He
flinched slightly and brought his thoughts away from the events of a year ago,
unready even still to examine the months of his final shame at the hands of his
former master. Marching down the cobbled streets, he maintained a sneer in
place, firmly striking the stones with his austere cane. He smirked as some of
the passing French witches followed his movements with their eyes, completely
casting over the petite frizzy-haired thing at his side. He glanced down at the
witch that was hurrying alongside his longer strides, and marveled that even in
walking she wouldn�t let him be other than an equal � even if she had to jog to
keep up.

Abruptly
he turned right into a larger alleyway and Hermione had to veer to avoid
knocking over a rather nasty-looking hag. He paused at the door and tapped his
foot lightly, intimating that she was making them late once more. She rolled
her eyes at him as she passed through the open door, but said nothing.

The
caf� was well lit and not highly populated, mostly the last vestiges of the
lunch crowd, milling over wine and cheese after their meals. The head waiter
led them to a small table at the back and provided them with menus. Lucius
grinned inwardly and wondered how long it would take the younger witch to ask
for help with the French.

He
wasn�t given the satisfaction as they both sat in silence for about five
minutes, �looking� over the menus until the waiter came back and took their
orders. Lucius, however, interceded before Hermione had the chance to answer
the waiter�s question of what she wanted with a reply of, �Deux de la royale et m�daillon de crabe au vinaigre balsamique, avec la cr�me de
haricots blancs. Aussi pour le dessert, nous voudrions un du chocolat souffl�, et un du
millefeuille, s�il vous pla�t.�

The waiter nodded, and Hermione gaped at
him, �What was that for?! I can order for myself thank you very much!�

Lucius held back another snort, �I did not
want to be embarrassed by your poor attempts at French, mademoiselle, I felt
that I should guide you towards the finer things on the menu.�

Hermione was truly beyond words. That man is so infuriating � �Well then,
I suppose I owe you thanks for taking care to relieve me of my embarrassment
potential,� she bit out, staving off her outrage. She glanced around the caf�
for anything to take her mind off turning the man�s hair in front of her green.
She saw a magazine left by an earlier luncheon group and grinned rather
maliciously, so that's why he�s so on
edge �Draco left with his mum � how pathetic for him. Even his family can�t
stand him.

Lucius saw the malevolent glint in the hazel
eyes of his counterpart and followed her eye line to the magazine showing
pictures of his ex-wife and son socializing in Rome. His face hardened perceptibly and his
grey eyes iced over. In an almost frost-bitten voice he asked, �Well, shall we
talk about the project? Perhaps outline how we could find the opinions of the
people at a larger scale, or do you have a better idea?�

Hermione glanced back, startled at the
change in the man�s tone and grimaced at how hard his visage looked, �Erm, well
I suppose we could start at the top, interacting with the Ministry workers who
deal with the werewolves. Do you perhaps have any contacts in France that
aren�t connected with the Ministry? Could we, or you, perhaps talk to them?�
She was biting her lower lip in concentration and he could see the wheels
turning under her mop of brown hair.

He sniffed, �You do realize that anyone in
either of those two groups is going to be Pureblooded?�

Hermione�s gaze shot back to his, �Of course
I realize that Lucius. I�m not an idiot, nor am I ignorant. I also realize that
their opinions are as important as anyone else�s. I comprehend the fact that
they will most likely be unwilling to speak with me, and I also grasp the fact
that you will probably have to do the most talking, for which I apologize.� She
pulled her hair back into a neat bun, securing it with angry motions, �However,
I don�t think you realize something.
I don�t hate purebloods, I don�t resent purebloods; I resent the fact that most
view me as below them. I even respect purebloods, they�ve grown up in a culture
entirely different from my own and I could stand to learn a lot from their
traditions and beliefs. The problem I find is that the respect is not returned
by many. Therefore, I do want to know and learn the opinions that French
purebloods have on werewolves; because, they can probably give me a lot of
information, not only about today�s society, but also about that of years
passed � where the prejudices have descended from,� she finished her rant by
piercing her crab cake with her fork; the waiter having brought the food in the
middle of her �discussion.�

Lucius looked slightly surprised, �I had no
idea Miss Granger.�

Hermione rolled her eyes once more and
stared piercingly at the senior Malfoy, �We are working together, and will be
working together for a rather long time; therefore, I think it would be more
appropriate to call me by my first name � Hermione, Lucius.�

He sighed and fingered his velvet black robe,
�I understand that, however, you must understand. You are one, much younger
than I; two, not seen generally in my social circle; and three, an unmarried
female. It is considered improper for me or you to address the other in such
informal terms. I gather that you were raised to believe it is not; however, I
have followed that rule for my lifetime and I shall find it hard to break
starting now.�

Hermione nodded, understanding finally
entering her mind, �Ah, of course. Then I apologize. I did not realize. Well,
why don�t we use our family names then? I only ask that you use �Ms.� versus
�Miss;� in the Muggle world, that denotes a younger, underage female.� Hermione
was more than willing to make a compromise that would ensure continued
semi-peace within their work.

Lucius nodded, �I see. That shall work fine
for me. I appreciate your understanding.�

Hermione nodded and bit into the steaming
hot chocolate souffl� that had just been set in front of her. She felt the
warm, soft texture of the cake melt on her tongue blend with the pistachio and
chocolate cr�me and moaned softly, closing her eyes at the wonderful cake in
her mouth.

Lucius� eyes shot up from his own desert of
millefeuille, a traditional French dish, to see the younger witch practically
swooning over the souffl�. Had he just heard her � moan? Sweet Circe, she did! Gods, that's not fair. Starved for attention and
company for five years and you decide now
to put in front of me a witch that is not only twenty-five years younger and
decidedly disliked by myself, but who is practically climaxing from a mere
taste of chocolate?!

Lucius screwed up his face and tried to
concentrate on finishing his meal. Clearly I need to get out more. Perhaps I will
attend that gala this weekend �he heard Hermione�s breathless, �Oh my
Merlin, that�s amazing. I wouldn�t mind having that in me every day for the
rest of my life!�

Lucius choked on the bite in his mouth and
while attempting to catch his breath thought desperately, Yes, definitely a go for the gala � merciful Merlin, get me out of
here!

**

Later that evening as the two were heading
out of the French Ministry�s library, they encountered the French Ministry also
leaving for the day.

Lucius smiled genially and shook the
outstretched hand, �Bonsoir Ministre, comment faits-vous? Avez-vous un jour
productif ? �

The portly, graying French minister nodded
jovially,
� Oui, oui. Tr�s long � mais c�est normal, n�est-ce pas? Et vous,
Mademoiselle, comment vous appelez-vous ? � he asked turning towards
Hermione.

Before Lucius could cut in to provide the
answer, Hermione responded in perfectly accented, fluent French, � Je
m�appelle Hermione. C�est un long nom, je sais,� she said laughing. �Nous sommes si heureux
d�avoir la chance de voir votre biblioth�que ! Merci, merci ! �

The
Minister replied happily, � Oui oui, c�est une chose petite. Je suis
content de montrer la biblioth�que de France ! Mais ma belle, vous parlez
comme une fran�aise, comment?�

Hermione
grinned and glanced at Lucius� shocked face for a
moment, � J�ai habit� � Dijon pendant trois ans avant de retourner �
Londres pour aller au Poudlard. Je retourne chaque �t� pour visiter mes
grands-parents en Lyon. D�o� venez-vous Ministre ? �

The Minister and Hermione continued on
happily for several minutes, while Lucius attempted to wrap his mind around the
fact that Hermione was not only speaking fluent French, but probably had a
better command of it than him as well. He couldn�t believe he had misjudged her
that poorly.

He shook his head slightly as the Minister
said his goodbyes and walked off, leaving the two Brits to make their own ways
home. Lucius walked silently next to Hermione for a few moments before saying
quietly, �Perhaps you would enjoy dinner before heading back to London? I believe I have
more to learn about mere muggleborns.�

Hermione turned at looked at him in shock
before grinning slightly, �Oh you do Mr. Malfoy, you certainly do. However, I
did not warn anyone that I would be gone so late, and so I find that I must
hurry back and face a flurry of questions as to why I was not present in the
English Ministry of Magic today. My own fault really, as I didn�t tell them I
was coming here with you, but really it was so much simpler to just avoid it.�
She rolled her eyes, and looked up at him, �I shall bid you adieu, Monsieur. �
demain!�

And with that, she popped out of sight,
leaving Lucius reeling and wondering what the hell had happened that day. He
shrugged, apparated home, took down his finest bottle of fire whiskey and
commenced his own all night party of inner-questioning and loathing.

A/N:
�Bonsoir Ministre, comment faits-vous? Avez-vous un jour productif ? � - Good Evening Minister, how are you? Did you have a productive day?

� Oui, oui. Tr�s long � mais c�est normal, n�est-ce pas? Et vous, Mademoiselle, comment vous appelez-vous ? � Yes, yes. Long, but that's normal, no? And you Miss. what is your name?

� Je m�appelle Hermione. C�est un long nom, je sais,� My name is Hermione. It's a long name, I know.

�Nous sommes si heureux d�avoir la chance de voir votre biblioth�que ! Merci, merci ! � We were so thankful to be able to look at your library! Thank you, thank you!

� Oui oui, c�est une chose petite. Je suis content de montrer la biblioth�que de France ! Mais ma belle, vous parlez comme une fran�aise, comment?� Yes, yes it's a small favor. I'm happy to show the French library! But my lovely lady, you speak like a Frenchwoman, how?

� J�ai habit� � Dijon pendant trois ans avant de retourner � Londres pour aller au Poudlard. Je retourne chaque �t� pour visiter mes grands-parents en Lyon. D�o� venez-vous Ministre ? � I lived in Dijon for three years before returning to London a year before going to Hogwarts. I return each summer to visit my grandparents in Lyon. Where are you from Minister?

"A demain" Until tomorrow.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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