A Question of Loyalty

Hermione woke up again for the third time in twenty-four hours. Rubbing her neck, she wondered whether any textbooks talked about the judicious use of Stupefy giving people unwanted headaches. Probably not.

Looking around, she was somewhat surprised that she seemed to be in a sitting-room of sorts. She was laid out across a hard, overstuffed settee. The entire room reminded her somewhat of the old movies her mum enjoyed watching. All brocade and velvet. Sitting up, Hermione noticed that although Lucius seemed to have warded the door at the other end of the room, he hadn't bothered with strong wards. She was almost positive that she could break these even without her wand. So much for the comments about my powerful magic, she thought dryly.

Standing, she walked over to the door. "Why am I in here?" she said loudly through the keyhole. She didn't really expect anybody to answer, but somehow it made her feel better speaking out loud. There was something creepy about this room despite its opulent beauty.

She debated whether to try to break through the wards. If she did manage to get rid of them, her magic would be severely weakened. Breaking wards wasn't an easy task, especially for a teenage witch with no real training in that area. Besides, it was doubtless that she was in Malfoy Manor and from what she had read, that particular wizarding home was lethal for any unwary visitor. There were stories about decapitated sales wizards who had ventured onto the grounds. But then again, Hermione didn't really want to be sitting here just waiting. She had no idea what Lucius wanted to do with her, but she suspected that it wasn't going to be pretty.

As the minutes mentally ticked by in Hermione's head, she found that Azkaban was beginning to sound like an appealing place. At least there she wouldn't be left with this?terrified anticipation.

A sharp knock on the door jerked her out of these depressing musings. The door opened and Lucius strode in. He was carrying his snake staff - apparently even a younger Lucius Malfoy was given into those pretensions - and a black cape was draped over his shoulders, flowing behind him. "I see that you are awake."

Hermione nodded. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Better not say anything, she thought. Especially anything I might regret.

"I suppose you are wondering why I took it upon myself to Stupefy you once you arrived here on my portkey," Lucius began, obviously needing no preliminaries.

"I was wondering that," Hermione said. "Somehow I had not expected to be treated like that considering what you told me at the Ministry."

A brief sneer passed over Lucius's face. "You, Miss Granger, would do well to remember that you are a fugitive on the run from the Ministry. If they caught you now? he let his voice trail off, leaving her to fill in the blanks.

Hermione blanched. "Why'd you help me then?"

He raised an eyebrow, obviously one of his more common gestures as Hermione was beginning to realise. "What made you think that I was helping you?" There was the slightest emphasis on the final word.

"Well, then," Hermione said through gritted teeth, while her mental caution voice was waving red flags in her mind. "Who were you planning to help then?"

"That," Lucius told her smoothly, "will be revealed to you in due time."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"As I said," he answered, a note of impatience in his voice, "you will know soon. You will not be harmed, provided that you co-operate."

"But what am I going to do?"

"Whatever you are ordered to do," Lucius answered. He looked around the room. "You will no doubt be relatively comfortable in here. It is nicer than Azkaban. I will come for you tomorrow for your lessons." He spun around on his heel, causing the cloak to sweep around him. Hermione bit back an inappropriate giggle. That motion reminded her too much of Snape. With a sharp click, the door closed behind Lucius and the wards resealed themselves with a hiss.

She walked back to the settee and slumped down onto it. Hermione had no doubt that whatever Lucius had planned was both going to be embarrassing and difficult.

---

"You want me to learn the Dark Arts?" Hermione repeated incredulously.

Lucius simply gave her a steady look. "Did I not tell you that you were a strong, powerful witch?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "And yet you put wards on the room that even a child could break."

He gave, what on anybody else she would have termed a snort of amusement, but somehow that phrase didn't suit. "Why then did you not break them?" he asked.

She gave a double-take. "You wanted me to break the wards? Why did you have them up in the first place?"

He gave a slight smile that was more of a curl of the lips. "Let's call it a test of sorts."

Hermione was silent. He wanted her to break the wards? At a loss of what to say, she simply looked around the room that Lucius had led her to. It was a plain room with only one table and chair. The walls were white-washed and the floor was made of simple wooden floorboards. "What am I doing here then? Shouldn't I be torturing house elves or something?"

Her sarcasm was lost on Lucius. "My, my, Miss Granger, I would have never thought that you would be such an eager learner. But I'm afraid that lesson will come later." He gave a humourless smile. "After all, we wouldn't want you to do something unwise with your wand, would we?"

"But what am I doing here?" Hermione knew that she was being deliberately provoking but realised that she had reached the stage where she simply didn't care. She had slept very badly the night before and was furious at herself for being in this situation in the first place. She should have never accepted that stupid Time Turner!

Lucius didn't respond but took out a book from a pocket within his robes and placed it on the table. "You will read this. I will be back later."

He had turned around and was about to leave when Hermione muttered, "Why couldn't I do that in the other room? It was far more comfortable!"

With a swirl of black robes, Lucius spun around. "The precise reason why you are here," he said quietly. "People learn better without distractions."

With that strangely philosophical statement, he left, leaving Hermione staring after him. She shivered as she realised her similar words only a few months ago to Ron and Harry. I am nothing like Lucius Malfoy! Her firm words echoed in her mind. She bit her lip. But will I become like him? Her eyes strayed to the book sitting on the table. Surely it wouldn't hurt just to take one look? After all, knowledge wasn't evil.

Hermione picked up the book and began to read.