The Price of Glory

Chapter 4

Hermione held the jar of lotion in her hand, pondering it. Two nights ago, she had used the lotion and had the most sensual dream. Last night, she had not, and she could not even recall having dreamt at all. The analytical part of her mind wondered if the lotion had somehow caused the dreams. She knew of no potion that had such properties, but then again, her interest in erotic potions was limited.

Placing the jar on the nightstand, she decided to ignore it. For the first five minutes, she was successful. After that, she reasoned that she should test the lotion to see if it had indeed been the source of her dreams. But what if it was? What would that change? Why would Lucius do something like that?

She did not really know the answers, but knowing how important her child was to Lucius, she knew that he would not do anything to harm her or the baby. Surely, there wouldn't be any harm in using the lotion again.

Picking up the jar, she applied the lotion, and quickly felt sleep overtaking her.

When her awareness returned, she could feel his arms wrapped around her, his warm touch exciting her. "I've missed you," she whispered huskily, gazing up at him with lust-filled eyes.

"And I you," he replied tenderly before giving her a passionate kiss.

It wasn't long before he was bringing her to the edge of release and holding her there. She moaned and writhed at his touch. "Harder. Please." But he maintained his slow steady pace. From her current position, she could do little to encourage him. He had held her on the edge of orgasm before, but never for this long. When she tried to pull away, he held her hips tightly, keeping her on her hands and knees. "Lucius, please!"

"Patience, darling," he whispered.

She wanted to beg for him to hurry, but the dream was fading.

Hermione slept fitfully the rest of the night. She had tried applying more lotion, but it had not made the dream return. Chiding herself for her foolishness, she mused that perhaps it was not the lotion, but merely her vivid imagination. It disgusted her that she would fixate on Lucius like this, but she had to admit that he was the most satisfying lover she had ever had. During the war and its aftermath, Hermione had occasionally found herself taking comfort in the arms of her co-workers, but she had never had a partner or lover who compared to Lucius.

When she finally woke again the next morning, she could tell that it was late enough that Harry should have left for work. She had to talk about her dreams with someone. For a few moments, she thought about discussing them with her mother, but she knew that a Muggle would never understand her situation. She knew that Ginny would be most likely to understand, but their conversation wouldn't make sense unless Ginny knew the whole story. Could she trust Ginny with it? Harry would never understand if he found out. Determining she really didn't really have much of a choice, she decided to talk to Ginny.

Wrapping her dressing gown around herself, she headed downstairs. "Good morning, Ginny," she said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen.

"Hermione, good morning," Ginny shouted over the sound of Sarah screaming as Jimmy stole one of her toys. Ginny summoned the toy and handed it back to Sarah. "Jimmy! What have I told you about taking your sister's toys?"

"Not to do it," he replied as he looked at his feet.

"Right." Ginny returned her attention to Hermione and greeted her with a hug. "It's good to see you. Sorry about the racket. They've just started this phase. Goodness knows how I'll handle three of them, but if Mum could keep seven of us in line, I'm sure I'll find a way to manage three."

"I'm sure you will," Hermione replied wistfully. Like Harry, she had envied the Weasleys' large family. For years, she had dreamed of having a large family of her own, but now, she wasn't sure that would happen.

"Can I feel the baby kick?" Jimmy asked.

Hermione took a seat at the kitchen table while Ginny prepared tea. "The baby's asleep right now, but if he wakes up, I'll let you feel him." She had no idea if it was a boy or a girl, but for some reason, she thought of her child as a boy.

Jimmy looked slightly disappointed, but finally smiled. "Okay."

Ginny brought the tea to the table. "Jimmy, go play with your toys now, so I can talk to Aunt Hermione."

"Yes, Mum," he replied sullenly.

Once Ginny made sure he really was going to play with his toys, she asked, "Something on your mind?"

Hermione was taken aback that Ginny had so easily read her expression. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Jimmy was far enough away that he wouldn't overhear. "I have to talk to you about Lucius."

Ginny leaned closer and whispered in reply, "He's forcing you to honour the marriage, isn't he?"

"It's more complicated than that. I need you to swear to me that you won't tell Harry what I'm about to tell you. If he were to find out..."

"This isn't something that's putting you in danger, is it? Because if it is, I'm going to have to tell him."

Hermione reassured, "No, it's nothing like that. I just need you to promise."

"All right," Ginny replied reluctantly. "I won't tell him."

"Remember, I'm telling you this in the strictest confidence. I hadn't planned on telling anyone, but the rest of it doesn't make any sense if I don't, and you're the only one I can talk to." She paused and took a deep breath. Even after having planned what she was going to say, she found it difficult to continue. "You know that Draco and I were having problems. Even though I didn't really want to admit it to myself, I suspected he was having an affair, just as you did. You weren't the only one to notice. Lucius realized that I was not getting shown much attention. Over the years, the two of us have formed a bit of a friendship; I think we actually have quite a bit in common. I turned to him as a source of comfort...both emotional and...physical," Hermione finished quietly.

Ginny sat in stunned silence for several long seconds. "You and Lucius?"

Hermione nodded. "The first time was... Well, this is his baby."

"Are you sure?"

"Very." Trying to build off the momentum of making the big revelation she continued, "Had Draco's affair come to light differently, I probably would have accepted his solution to the problem without question."

"Do you love him?" Ginny interrupted.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it like that. We're good together. I just... The way he treated me, it was like he saw me as property. It made me reconsider everything he told me or did for me in the past. Now, I just don't know what to think about him." She told Ginny about his thinly veiled threat to take the baby, the apology, the house-elf, and his seeming change of heart. "I just don't know, anymore."

Ginny leaned forward and gave Hermione a hug. "What does your heart tell you?"

Hermione sighed. "I know that life as a Malfoy will probably be best for the baby. But what about me? I'll always wonder if he sees me as something to be given away as he pleases. And now I've started having these dreams. He gave me a jar of lotion a few days ago, and the two times that I've used it, I've had very vivid, erotic dreams."

"How vivid?"

"The first night, he brought me to orgasm. The second, I was so very close, but then the dream faded away. I thought it was the lotion, but when I reapplied it, nothing happened. When I woke up from my dream last night, I seriously considered going back to him. Hell, I'm still thinking about it. Do you think it's some sort of potion?"

Ginny shrugged. "I've never heard of any like that, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. I also know that I have much better sex dreams when I'm pregnant then when I'm not. It might just be your subconscious trying to tell you something."

"But what do I do about that something? My parents would never understand. Hell, no one else seems to understand. I've heard the whispers. And if word were to ever get out that Lucius really is the father..." She shuddered at that thought.

"Don't worry. I'm not telling anyone that, no matter what you decide."

"Thanks. This is supposed to be a happy time, but now I'm left with nothing but questions. I don't fit in with the Muggle world, I'm not sure the wizarding world wants anything to do with me, and Lucius could easily make my life miserable. It's almost like I have no choice but to go back to him."

Ginny placed her hand on Hermione's. "We were serious when we said that you are welcome here for as long as you like. Being here will keep Lucius away. He won't be willing to cross wands with Harry. Even if the wizarding world doesn't want anything to do with you, we'd be happy to have you here. Harry sees you as a sister anyway, and so do I."

Hermione smiled. She was grateful to have such wonderful friends. She knew that staying here would keep Lucius away, allow her to sort out her feelings. Even if she did return to her parents' house, she realized that they would continue to let Lucius see her, since she could never tell them the entire truth. And she thought that Ginny could definitely use a house-elf. "Thank you."

**********

Hermione found life at Godric's Hollow quite pleasant. For once, Harry wasn't asking questions, but merely providing emotional support. Of course, bad-mouthing Draco was something Harry had probably wanted to do for years. He had not been at all happy when she had decided to marry the younger Malfoy. But he also took every opportunity slander Lucius, and there was still a part of her that wanted to defend the man who was technically her husband and the father of her child.

During the day, she and Ginny would do things with the children, whom Hermione thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. While playing with Jimmy and Sarah, she realized that her prospects of having a large family without Lucius were practically non-existent. Under wizarding divorce laws, both parties had to agree to terminate the marriage, and she didn't see him doing that. For better or for worse, she was trapped with him.

At the end of her second week at Godric's Hollow, Hermione was getting ready for bed and picked up the jar of lotion. Looking into it, she saw that it was nearly empty. She considered putting it down and saving the rest, but she had been so very close last night. She just had to hurry her dream up. Deciding that she would make a trip to Diagon Alley in the morning to purchase more, she scooped around the edges of the jar. Besides, she told herself, she and Ginny had agreed that there was not likely to be anything harmful about it.

As she applied the lotion, she hoped she would finish the dream tonight. So far, it had only happened once. She didn't think she was doing anything different from what she had done that first night. After all, she was only applying lotion. It wasn't as though she were testing a complicated potion.

The following morning, she was quite frustrated when she woke. Even more frustrating was the fact that she still couldn't get Lucius out of her mind. She had tried concentrating on the latest celebrity news from Witch Weekly and had even taken to going to the Muggle movie theatre during the day, but every night, it was Lucius in her dreams.

After helping Ginny and Pipsy with breakfast and getting the children dressed, she made her way to Diagon Alley to see if she could find the store that sold the lotion. She didn't tell Ginny exactly why she was making the trip, but she suspected that Ginny knew.

None of the first three shops she visited carried lotion in jars of the proper shape. She knew there were only two more shops in Diagon Alley that carried that sort of product. Once again, she began to wonder if Dark Magic was associated with the lotion. Throughout her association after the war with Lucius, she had never had the impression that his renunciation of the Dark Lord and the Dark Arts had been anything other than sincere. Now, she began to doubt that. If she did not find the lotion in Diagon Alley, she would have to consider the possibility that he was manipulating her.

Her stomach began to rumble more insistently, and she was beginning to wish she had packed a snack. She would check Madame Babette's Beauty Boutique and then get something to eat at one of the cafés. As she walked by Sampson's Scriveners Shop, an attractive quill caught her attention. The next thing she knew, someone had placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Darling, you really should watch where you are going so you don't injure yourself," Lucius said softly as he smiled warmly at her.

Shrugging out of his grip, she replied haughtily, "Perhaps you are the one who should watch where you are going. I should think I would be quite difficult to miss."

"Indeed, it is impossible to not notice one as lovely as you," he said smoothly.

Listening to his flattery, she could hardly believe that she had once fallen for his hollow words. Yet, even believing his words to be hollow, another part of her still reacted to his presence. The dreams she had been having were affecting her judgement, and she knew she had to get away from him. "If you will excuse me, I have places to be."

"Do you have plans for lunch?" he asked innocently.

"What?"

"I was on my way to my club for lunch, and I thought that perhaps you would like to join me, unless you have already eaten."

He smiled at her in a way that she found irresistible. It sounded so harmless. After all, his club was still a fairly public setting. What harm would there be in eating lunch with him? And perhaps she could casually find out where he had purchased the lotion he had given her. "Just lunch," she said firmly.

"Of course, my dear." He offered her his elbow to escort her.

Realizing that not taking his arm might draw undue attention, she accepted. Touching him and inhaling his scent made her pulse race. Discretely, she tried to take a couple of deep breaths to calm herself.

"Are you all right? You look flushed."

She blushed even more now that he had noticed. "I'm fine. It's been a long morning," she replied, hoping he would believe her lie.

"Of course. I daresay a few moments rest will have you feeling back to normal. Is everything going well at your parents' house?"

"Yes, just fine." She really didn't want to have any sort of conversation with him. When they arrived at the club, the staff fawned all over them, and she was a bit surprised, but secretly pleased, that they were escorted to a private room. Her first instinct was to think that he had set this up in advance, but how could he have managed that? The maitre' d indicated that this arrangement would be quieter and more soothing for them.

After they were seated and had ordered, Lucius said, "I must say that you look marvellous, whether you choose believe me or not. Pregnancy really does suit you."

Once again, she found herself blushing. Thankfully, she was saved from having to respond as their food arrived. During the course of the meal, he engaged her in a conversation about the latest legislation on house-elves he was planning to submit to the Ministry. It was not the freedom she had hoped for, but it was far more protection than they had now.

She had forgotten how much she enjoyed getting into debates with him. After finishing their meal, he led her to a small sofa where they continued chatting. She didn't notice that his touches became more frequent and lasted longer, or that he was slowly moving closer to her. The fact that she was supposed to be angry with him for manipulating her was also forgotten.

He reached down and picked up her feet, placing them on his lap and slipping her shoes off, and he began rubbing her ankles. "You should try to stay off your feet."

After she had shifted to sit sideways on the sofa, she leaned back and closed her eyes. She hadn't realized how sore they had been. "I do try. That feels wonderful." As his hands moved up her calves, she began to relax more, relishing his touch. Memories of her dreams came to the surface, and she found herself wishing his hands would drift further up her leg. She was disappointed when he released her left leg and started on her right. She giggled and flinched as he began rubbing her right foot. "That tickles."

As he rubbed harder, he asked, "Is that better?"

"Much." Once again, she relaxed against the sofa. This time, when his hands reached her knee, she reached down and gently guided his hand onto her thigh. She was throbbing in anticipation of his touch. As his hand moved further up her leg, her breaths began to come in little panting gasps. This was much better than any of the dreams she had been having.

When he removed his hand, she opened her eyes and found she was gazing into his grey ones. "Lucius," she whispered, unsure of what else to say.

He let his hand gently brush her hair. "I need you..." he began.

"I need you, too," she interrupted and laced her fingers in his flowing locks.

Placing his finger on her lips, he continued, "There is a reception Friday evening for the French Minister of Magic, and I would like you to attend."

This abrupt introduction of a new subject caught her completely off guard. "What?" She was having a hard time thinking of anything other than finally fulfilling her dreams.

"There is a reception on Friday, and I am obviously required to attend as a prominent member of the business community. As our...arrangement has been much publicized, this would be the perfect opportunity to put all of that unfortunate gossip to rest, especially since we have not been seen together in public much." He nibbled at her neck.

"I can't go to a reception like this." The fog in her mind was starting to clear.

"Darling, I will have the best seamstress brought in from Paris or Milan to ready a suitable gown for you. You will shine above any other witch in attendance; no one will be able to take their eyes off of you."

She gasped as he buried his face in her cleavage. Pushing his head away, she tried to force herself to think clearly. "I am not doing anything to help you, not after what you did to me."

Gently caressing her stomach, he replied, "This would not just be helping me, you would be helping yourself as well. You well know the power of the Malfoy name. Look at all the projects you accomplished as Mrs. Draco Malfoy; as Mrs. Lucius Malfoy, you could accomplish so much more. You hold your future in your hands...Hermione, dearest. You know what you have to do," he whispered.

His hand had drifted under her skirt and between her legs, and she found it incredibly difficult to concentrate on anything other than her sexual desires. How could he speak about anything so mundane? "Lucius, I need you," she begged.

Teasing her through her knickers, he responded, "And I need you. I'm sure we can make this arrangement mutually beneficial."

"Anything," she replied desperately. She wanted - no, needed - to be with him.

Pulling away from her, he rose and helped her to her feet. Before Apparating them home, he gave her a deep kiss that took her breath away.

******

A/N: Okay, folks, I have the first draft completely back from my lovely beta nota. There are a few minor things to change, but the story is, in essence, done, and I hope to post a new chapter every few days.

Many thanks to all that have taken the time to review. Your reviews really motivate my muses. Now that they are free of this story, I can turn them loose on something new.