Redemption

Chapter 5

Lucius was trying to sleep, but it was eluding him. He couldn't stop thinking of her and how close they had come. If only Weasley hadn't shown up. After tossing and turning for quite some time, he began to think that he would need another round of manual stimulation.

He heard a soft knock on his door, and rose from bed to investigate.

The door cracked, and he heard, "Lucius, are you awake?"

He smiled. "Please, come in, Hermione." With a wave of his hand, he lit the lamps by the fireplace. "What brings you here this late?"

"I wanted to apologize for Ron. I'm sure you heard us arguing. He's immature and never really liked Draco. I just wanted you to know that I stopped him from going into Draco's room."

"Thank you. I had no idea that Narcissa had preserved his room." He tried to sound sentimental.

She slowly moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I wish he hadn't come. He's making everything more difficult." She kissed his neck and stood on tiptoes as she tried to kiss his lips.

"Hermione, we shouldn't," he protested.

"But I want to."

"As do I. But remember, Weasley is here."

"He's in his room."

He found it increasingly difficult to control his urges. He knew that she had to be aware of how he felt; his pajamas did not provide much support. "But he might not stay there. I don't want it to be like this. I want it to be special."

She pulled herself against him. "Lucius, please. I've dreamt about this. I know you want the same thing."

He was painfully aware of how obvious that fact was and found himself kissing her. Once he realized he was leading her towards the bed, he pulled away. "No. We can't do this now."

"But why not?"

He paced, forcing himself to stay away from her. "Do you want to risk him knowing what we are doing?"

"I know a charm that would keep him from hearing us."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She was not making this easy. Most of him wanted to throw her onto the bed and fulfill his fantasies. "It's not that simple. I know that you claim you can keep it hidden, but I guarantee that you cannot. You will be different after we are together and he will be able to tell."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, trying to decide how best to explain this. "Surely, you have seen one of your dorm-mates after her first encounter. Something like that energizes a person in a way that is hard to explain, but is obvious to outside observers. I know some of them still don't trust me. If something were to upset them, it could adversely affect me."

"Are you saying you want to wait until this is over?"

He could tell that she was very disappointed and pulled her into his arms. "What I want is to pleasure you all night. What is practical is that we wait. It doesn't have to be until this is over, just until we are alone. I want you so badly it hurts." He brushed her hair and stared into her eyes. "Now, you should go before I lose control," he said softly.

She hugged him tightly. "I don't know how long he will stay. I was pretty rough on him. I think I can convince him to leave."

"Hermione, please go," he whispered hoarsely. After she left, he began to question his sanity. He had a beautiful, young woman throwing herself at him and he had done nothing. He had insisted she leave. But he did know that Weasley would immediately know something had happened. Now he was certain he would have to take care of himself.

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Hermione had stopped by Lucius' room, but he had refused to come down to breakfast, hoping that she could use his absence to convince Ron to leave. She froze just inside the dining room when she saw Ron sitting at the table, shoveling food into his mouth. She began to wonder how she ever could have been attracted to him. He was the complete opposite of Lucius.

"Mornin' 'Mione," he said around a large bite of food.

"Ugh. Ron, don't talk with your mouth full," she chastised.

He swallowed. "Sorry. Where is he?"

"He is refusing to come down. You were incredibly rude yesterday."

"You expect me to apologize to him?" he asked incredulously.

"I would prefer you leave. You aren't really here to help. You're here because you don't trust him. Believe me when I tell you that he has been very helpful. I'm learning a lot from the books and it will help us in our fight, but I need his help. There are a lot of contradictions and I need him to help me sort through it. And he won't help while you are here."

"I'm not leaving and he'll just have to deal with it," Ron insisted.

Hermione sighed. "Ron, this is important research."

"Then if it's so important, he has to help whether I'm here or not, doesn't he? The others may think that he has changed, but I'm not sure. Harry and I have agreed that I should stay here as long as you are here."

She could tell that she wasn't going to win this one. "Fine. I'll talk to him and see if I can get him to come down, but you are going to have to be civil. Do you think you can do that?"

Ron conceded, "As long as he behaves, I can be civil."

Hermione finished her breakfast and headed back upstairs. Ron started to follow her. "Ron, please. Let me do this. You've already caused enough trouble. Wait in the library. I'll be down shortly."

He watched her disappear upstairs before going to the library to wait. No matter what the others had said, he couldn't trust Malfoy. After all, they had all trusted Snape and look at what that greasy git had done.

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Hermione slipped into Lucius' room and fell into his arms. "He's refusing to leave. It seems he and Harry have decided you can't be trusted. What are we going to do?"

He comforted her. This was not as he had planned. "We will wait. I don't want to risk your friends' wrath." He leaned down and kissed her. "I want you and I will wait."

She held him tighter. "It's just so hard. I told him that I would convince you to come down to the library."

"Of course I'll come downstairs. And yes, it is difficult, but that does not cause me to change my mind. We knew that we would have to be careful around the others." He released her and gently pushed her away. "Come, we don't want to keep Weasley waiting."

"Kiss me once more?" she asked.

"Tonight. I don't want you flustered when we go downstairs."

She looked disappointed, but could understand his reasoning.

*****************

Ron was reasonably well behaved. Hermione was pleased that he and Lucius had reached a status quo of ignoring each other. She and Lucius continued to share discreet glances when Ron wasn't looking. She was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on the books knowing that he was nearby.

Every time she had to consult with Lucius, she noticed that Ron kept a very close eye on them. She was amazed at the amount of self-control Lucius exhibited. Whenever he sat next to her, all she wanted was to crawl onto his lap.

One thing she did miss was eating in the conservatory. They took all their meals at the main dining room table. Lucius generally drove conversation, keeping it innocuous. She began to think that he purposefully chose subjects that Ron knew very little about. She could tell that Ron was getting frustrated, but she kept giving him warning looks and he remained polite.

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Lucius was getting very frustrated. Weasley had been at the manor for three days now, and showed no sign of wanting to leave. Hermione had come to his room last night, but he had sent her away, not trusting himself to be with her. After she had left, it had taken several stiff drinks to allow him to fall asleep. He hoped to avoid that this evening as he had woken up with quite a hangover and learned that his stock of potions was quite low.

His time was running short and he was considering inviting Hermione to his room. She had gone through most of the books that were useful. It would be difficult to justify her returning after Christmas. Besides, he was positive that Weasley would insist on accompanying them.

A large part of his plan had entailed consummating their relationship before the Christmas holidays were over. He had planned on making their lovemaking unforgettable. Once she knew what it was like with him, she would surely return for more. He couldn't risk her finding satisfaction with another when school returned to session.

Returning to his desk, he penned another letter. Weasley had already announced they would be leaving Christmas Eve, tomorrow. The romantic dinner Christmas Eve where he had planned to give her the gift was gone.

He needed a new plan since the one to have Hermione by Christmas seemed to have failed. As he felt the quill tip snap, he focused back on the desk. Without his wand to correct the ink spill, he was forced to crumple the parchment and start over.

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It had taken Lucius most of the day to find the opportunity to give the note to Gupper. Weasley was loath to let him go anywhere unaccompanied. He was beginning to suspect the young man had seen the looks he and Hermione were sharing.

When he announced he was ready to turn in, Weasley insisted he be the one to lock Lucius in his room. They ascended the stairs in silence. Lucius was about to close the door when Weasley shoved his hand against it. "Hold on."

"Mr. Weasley, you have searched this room and found nothing. I have hardly been out of your sight since your arrival. I assure you, there is still nothing dangerous in this room."

"Then you won't mind if I search it again."

"If you insist," Lucius replied imperiously. He looked bored as he stood by the fireplace and watched Weasley conduct a rather ineffective search. When Weasley appeared to be finished, he asked, "Are you satisfied?"

"Yeah, you don't have anything. Just know that I am keeping an eye on you," Ron said suspiciously.

"I am afraid it will be rather boring for you. The only interest I have now is in defeating the Dark Lord."

"You won't mind if I don't believe that, eh?"

Lucius refused to get into an argument. He wanted to be left alone. Once he was alone, he hoped the next part of his plan would work. He did not like acting with haste, but he had been forced to in this situation. Gupper would give Weasley and Hermione drinks. Weasley's would have a sleeping potion that would leave him with a quite a hangover in the morning. That should dull his senses enough that he wouldn't notice Hermione acting strange.

He entered the bath to prepare himself for the evening and get the lotions he would need. Since this would be her first time, he knew there would be pain if he did nothing to help her. He examined a nearly empty bottle. There was enough, barely. After arranging various massage oils on the counter, he returned to the bedroom to prepare for her arrival.

He froze when he saw someone in his room. "What the devil are you doing here?"

The dark shape emerged from the shadows. "I could ask you the same thing."