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The Senior Project	By : Lizski Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 37490 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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
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Chapter 8

Hermione would remember this as the first time she had ever seen Severus Snape at a loss for words. His mouth opened several times before he was actually able to speak. "You, ah, thought he was, ah, me?" His tone was incredulous.

"Yes, sir. The first time, at least."

Hermione would remember this as the second time she had ever seen Severus Snape at a loss for words.

"There - there was a, er, more than one time?" he finally stammered.

"Yes, sir." She blushed painfully, aware that her next words might insult Severus, no matter how hard she tried. "The second time I knew it was him - Lucius - and not you."

"Indeed." Hermione couldn't help but smirk. In spite of everything else, she didn't regret the opportunity to see Severus as something other than aloof. "Please explain."

Circe's wand. Still, she knew she's have to do this. "Three weeks ago on Saturday we had a meeting scheduled to, uh, talk about my senior project." She glanced around the room - anywhere but at her professor, the sweat trickling down her back, her body uncomfortably hot. "I, uh, had a crush on you, uh, sir."

"You were different that night - different than you usually were." The wizard snorted derisively. Hermione tried to ignore his response. "I had tried talking to you about something other than potions before, but you never did." She glanced back to his face quickly and saw a dawning realization on his face. Thor's balls! He hadn't even known that she was hitting on him. Gods. Maybe she should have paid more attention to Ginny's stories of seductive practices.

"Uh. That night you were different - friendlier -." She stopped speaking, again aware of how her words sounded. Gods this was doubly humiliating - not only did she have to admit her crush on him, but she also had to admit that she turned to Lucius. She clenched and unclenched her fists, embarrassed that she was so inexperienced that he didn't even know that she was interested. She forced herself to look back at her professor, her face burning.

"I thought that maybe you'd finally taken an interest in me," Hermione continued painfully.

"I would have never taken an inappropriate interest in a student. At least not while she was still a student," he added, and Hermione felt a rush of appreciation for him not taking the opportunity to completely humiliate her. At least he was willing to lie, and pretend that he might have been interested in her if she hadn't been a student.

"I know that. Now." She shrugged deprecatingly. "But I didn't realize it at the time. I, uh, had admired you for years," Severus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "And I wanted you. For a long time," she added deliberately. "I didn't stop to think that it might not actually be you that night. I mean, he looked like you, and I didn't think. I guess I was just hoping that you might actually have changed your mind."

She paused, her cottony mouth making swallowing uncomfortable. "Anyway, I didn't realize that it was Lucius until much later," she added ruefully.

"When, exactly, did you realize that it wasn't me?"

"Uh, he changed back." Again, the eyebrow was raised in a silent question.

"Er, while we were still, uh, joined." Hermione looked away, her face burning.

A choked cough came from Severus. "I had really hoped that it was you," Hermione added softly.

"And the second time," Severus pressed.

"It was the next Saturday. You had scheduled to meet with me the next week, and so I went to the dungeons again. I went to your office again, since you weren't in the classroom." Her voice became duller. "I went in, and I knew. I knew that it was Lucius. He has this blue bottle that he kept the polyjuice in - I recognized it from last time." She looked at Severus questioningly. "Did you know he was here?"

"Not exactly. The Dark Lord had requested my presence on both of those Saturdays. I should have realized that things were not exactly as they seemed." He peered at Hermione. "Did Lucius give you any indication as to why he was here?"

Hermione's stomach sunk. "He gave me two lines. Neither of which was believable." She blushed. "But I wasn't really in a position to be concerned about how believable he was." Severus frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. "He told me that your birthday was coming up - your fortieth, I think he said-"

"The man's a liar.' His voice was surprisingly vehement. 'I'm going to be 37 next month. Lucius knows that, as he is almost exactly 11 months older than I am."

Damn. Lucius was 38? 20 years older than her. Not that it was all that shocking, but still, it was a little disconcerting to actually put a number to it.

"I told him I thought it was a pretty flimsy lie. He then told me that it was somewhere between finding you a birthday present, and - and I quote - 'If I told you, I'd have to kill you.'"

Severus smirked. "Indeed? He actually said that? What else did Lucius say to you?" Hermione blushed, and Severus immediately spoke again, "What else did he say that would be of interest to me. Words spoken in flagrante are not of interest to me."

"He gave me some crap about how he missed me, and how he had thought about me. I bought it." Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea where my brain was at the time."

Severus smirked. "That can happen when one is under the influence of, ah, other feelings." Hermione nodded, suddenly understanding why her professor might have been keeping his own feelings about everything guarded for so long; if he were to give in to emotions, he might lose his wits, and therefore his life.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded knowingly. "I believed him though. He gave me this whole promise about how he wouldn't lie to me, and for some reason, I believed him. I thought he really did want to see me again."

The wizard looked at her questioningly. "He actually said that he had wanted to see you again?"

Hermione nodded, somewhat irritated. Was it so hard to believe?

Severus' voice was still somewhat surprised. "Miss Granger. I would like to help you with your dilemma. Have you spoken to Lucius about your, ah, situation?"

Hermione shook her head, again looking away. "No. I tried to owl him at the beginning of the week, but he didn't respond." She looked back at the wizard. "I didn't mention the pregnancy. I just said that I wanted to see him again. But I never heard back. So I waited for him outside the board of governors' meeting earlier today, but he didn't want to have anything to do with me. He wouldn't even talk to me." Her voice broke, and her face flushed, embarrassed to display any emotion to her Potions' Master. This had gone on long enough. She had to get to the real heart of the matter.

"I was hoping that you might know of some abortifacients that didn't require any contributions from the father, and didn't involve the ingestion of any distilled moonbeam. I'm allergic to ingested moonbeam," she added.

Severus looked at her, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "See me tomorrow after class, Miss Granger. I will have something for you."

She looked at him with gratitude. "Thank you, sir. I have to meet with the Headmaster tomorrow evening - Madame Pomfrey demanded it. I really appreciate your help."

The older man didn't move. "Let me look in to the matter. And I will go with you to the meeting with the Headmaster. I believe I will be able to help you."

Not wanting to question her luck, she thanked him again, and left the classroom.

She didn't notice that her Potions' Master swallowed hard as he watched her leave. Nor did she see the figure creeping down the hallway as she left the dungeons.

****

Severus took a swallow of scotch while he mused over his conversation with Miss Granger. Hermione, he smiled to himself, thinking of her revelation that she was interested in him, in a physical sense. She certainly presented an interesting dilemma. He chuckled wickedly thinking of Lucius' likely reaction to the knowledge that she was carrying his child. Of course, his old friend would certainly make the necessary contribution without any further thought. He had always taken care in the past to ensure that any possible Malfoy bastards were eliminated quickly.

There was also the other issue of why Lucius had been there in the first place to consider. No doubt the Dark Lord had asked the blonde to 'investigate' his loyalty. That would explain why he had been summoned on those two evenings. Perhaps it was time to give Lucius a visit, and see exactly what the randy bastard had been doing at Hogwarts.

****

'Hermione. Look. I know that you said you needed some time to sort things out, but I accidentally overheard you talking to Snape'' Draco's voice trailed off as he looked around the library. She had retreated to the stacks to do a little more research on abortifacients.

Hermione froze. 'How- how much did you hear? And what the hell were you doing, Malfoy? Spying on me?'

'I heard enough. Enough to know that my father got you pregnant. And no, Granger, I wasn't spying on you. I had to go talk to Snape ' house stuff ' and I accidentally overheard the conversation.' He paused, the pit in Hermione's stomach growing larger with each word he uttered.

'It was a mistake. I screwed up. Are you happy?' The menace in her voice was poorly concealed.

'Damn it, Granger. Just listen to me for a minute. I think I can help you.' He kept his voice deliberately quiet as he looked around the library again. 'This isn't the place to talk. Meet me in the kitchens in ten minutes. The house elves won't say anything, and we'll be able to talk without people wondering what the two of us are doing together.'

Hermione sighed. Damn it. Maybe Draco really could help her. If nothing else, maybe he could get her something from Lucius ' a hair or something ' that could be used in the potion. Circe help her, she'd have to trust him. 'Alright. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. This whole thing has been really hard on me.'

Several minutes later, Hermione and Draco were in the warmth of the kitchens. The elves had brought them some butter beer and some food before leaving them alone.

'Everything you heard is true. I slept with your father. Twice. The first time I thought he was Se-Snape, the second time I knew it was him.' She spoke the words quickly, uncertain as to how Draco would react.

His laughter was the last response she would have expected. 'I've got to hand it to you, Hermione. When you screw something up, you go all the way. You don't half-ass it.' Draco giggled, and Hermione was struck with the thought that Draco could actually almost be human when he tried. 'Snape and my father? That's an impressive feat!I haven't been giving you near enough credit!'

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, smiling nervously. 'Well, er',' she started, not certain as to how to respond to the young blonde sipping his butter beer across the table from her.

'Look. Don't get me wrong. I'm impressed. Very impressed. I wouldn't have ever thought that you would have had the, uh, balls to break the rules. Especially not like that! But you exceeded my wildest expectations.' Hermione was glad that the room was poorly lit, and Draco couldn't see her blush. She then joined him in a few giggles; it seemed like the best response, and Draco was right.

'Yeah. I did screw up pretty good, didn't I?'

'That's okay. We all screw up. Some of us just manage to do it on a grander scale than others of us.' Draco paused, chewing on a few cashews before talking again. 'Look, I'm not trying to berate you. Although ' forgive me ' it's encouraging to see that you're actually human.'

Hermione smiled. 'The same could be said of you.'

Draco looked around the kitchen theatrically before leaning across the table. 'I promise not to say anything about you being human if you promise to not say anything about me.'

Hermione giggled. 'Deal.'

'I'm guessing that Potty and the Weasel don't know about this?'

Hermione nodded. 'Nope. Professor Snape was the first one ' other than Madam Pomfrey ' that knows, and she doesn't know who the father is. I'd just as soon that Harry and Ron don't hear about this at all, actually.'

The blonde nodded. 'Understandable. And a wise decision, I think. Anyway, have you ever thought about keeping the baby?'

Hermione glared at Draco. 'No. I screwed up, but I don't want a constant reminder of a bad mistake.'

'C'mon. It couldn't have been all bad if you went back to him a second time.' Draco grinned knowingly.

'Bastard.' Even if he was right.

'Naw. Just acknowledging my father's fabled prowess.' Draco paused, the planes of his face alternately lit and in shadows from the flickering light of the fire. 'Look, I want to help you.'

'Why? I mean, I'm curious,' Hermione started. 'Why are you all of a sudden interested in helping me?'

'Like I said earlier. I hate my father. I have ever since I learned that I was nothing more than a reproductive organ for him.' Hermione looked at him quizzically. 'According to my father, the only thing I'm good for in life is to turn out little Malfoys. He doesn't give a damn for me ' just for the damned bloodline. Believe me. Knowing that you're really not expected to be anything more than walking sperm doesn't do a lot for your self-esteem. Especially,' he stopped, his voice breaking.

Instinctively, Hermione reached her hand out to his, resting her fingers on top of his. 'Especially, what?'

'Especially since I can't have kids,' he whispered, his eyes finding the fireplace.

'Are you sure? I mean, sometimes that's just a temporary thing'' Her voice died out as the enormity of his statement dawned on her.

'I'm sure. I've been to a couple of specialists, and I'm, uh, shooting blanks,' his face twisted into a wry grimace. 'He doesn't know. My mother does, but my father doesn't. And I'm not going to tell him. You're the only other person that knows.'

'Gods, Draco. I'm so sorry.' Hermione wasn't sure what to say next; Draco's revelation had to be painful for him.

He nodded his thanks, his voice still little more than a whisper when he spoke next. 'Look, Hermione. I could claim the child was mine ' we could get married ' they wouldn't kick us out of school, since we'd be all legal and everything. I'd take full responsibility. You wouldn't even have to live with me once we graduated or anything, if you didn't want to. I could give you enough money to live on for the rest of your life ' you could do whatever you wanted. After a suitable amount of time, we could get divorced, if you wanted, or, ah, not.' He toyed with a few nuts he had left on the table in front of him. 'I know it's a big thing to throw at you all at once ' but think about it, please? It would work out for both of us. I could go to Dumbledore with you, tell him that it was mine, and you'd be off the hook ' people could just assume that we got carried away one night on rounds or something. And it would help me out. More than you can imagine.'

Hermione was stunned. This was the last thing she had ever expected. It took her a few moments to take the thoughts bouncing around in her brain and form coherent thoughts. 'Would you really want that? I mean, could you really live with raising your father's child? Aren't you just giving in to his views that you are nothing more than a reproductive tool if you do that?'

Draco shook his head slowly. 'I have to have a child. I know that. Your child would be a Malfoy. The Malfoy line cannot be broken. That doesn't have anything to do with my father. Not much, at least. I mean, yeah, he's the head of the family now, but he won't be forever. I don't deny my responsibility to my ancestors' I just would never treat any child that I raised as my own to believe that the only thing they are good for is producing more Malfoys. I ' we- could raise this child with every advantage ' money, position, intelligence, and even if we don't love each other- at least not right now - we'd both love the child, and that would be more than I ever got.'

Hermione swallowed hard. She shouldn't even be considering this possibility. This option was so wrong, on so very many levels. And yet Draco made it seem almost possible. 'I'm, uh, I'm Muggle-born, in case you forgot. Doesn't that cause some problems for you?'

Draco smirked, and instantly Hermione felt better; this was the Draco that she knew. 'Some, sure. But if I don't have any other children ' and I won't ' it won't matter. The child would still have the Malfoy bloodlines, and despite all my father's insistence on 'blood purity' I can assure you that there have been more than a couple of non-purebloods in my family tree.' He paused for a moment, 'It doesn't matter to me. Really.'

Hermione looked at the blonde in disbelief, and he raised his hand in mock defense, 'Years ago I was just parroting what my father said. But I've since learned how wrong that attitude is ' blood purity is just a myth. It's not something I believe in.'

Hermione closed her eyes. Thor's hammer. 'Draco ' this is a lot for me to think about. I just assumed that I would be ending the pregnancy. I never ' not even for a little bit ' considered having the baby. And marrying you, well,' she laughed uncomfortably.

Draco smiled. 'Yeah, you probably didn't think about that, either.' He pulled up his left sleeve. 'I'm not a Death Eater, and I won't become one ' no matter how much my father pushes. I'm not him. Really, I'm not. And I know it's a lot to take in. Just think about it. Please.' He took a few more sips of his butter beer. 'We could make this work, you know.'

Hermione looked at the blond. 'If ' if I can't do it. Can you still help me? I mean, if I decided to end the pregnancy?'

Slowly, Draco nodded. 'If you absolutely think the other option is unbearable, I can help you. But please, think about it. And after that, if you don't want to be with me, we can figure something -'

'It's not that, Draco. Really. I'm just trying to explore all my options. And I really appreciate your offer. I mean, I really do. I can't think of a Slytherin that would even hesitate. I just ' it's just a lot to take in. I mean, now I don't know what I want to do.'

'Just think about it. That's all I can ask you to do.' Suddenly, Draco leered at her, 'And I'd love to have you as my wife, regardless, Hermione. We're two of a kind, we are.'

Hermione smiled sadly. He probably wasn't far wrong on that. 'Thanks Draco. Really. I'd better get up to Gryffindor, but I'll talk to you tomorrow. And thanks again. I really can't tell you how much it means to me that you'd offer to help me out.'

Draco grinned. 'Of course. And remember ' I'll go to Dumbledore tomorrow, if you'd like. Just let me know. But think about it, please. Even if you decide later on to, ah, do something else.'

~~~~

A/N: Yes, the plot continues to thicken. (Heehee!)
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The Senior Project