Adventurous Hearts: The Temple

Canon may be part of fanfiction,
And the lack of it will sometimes cause friction.
In this fic you’ll see,
Cannon cannot be,
The plot brings canon contradiction!

This tale is alternate universe,
And that could be seen as perverse!
This plot won’t adhere
To those books we hold dear,
And thus, if you don’t like, don’t curse!

This plot is one that’s unique,
And cannon has gone up s**t creek!
The story is new,
Neuvo universe too,
Canon is just not my technique!

by Utopia, a gift for Snape_Goddess
18/04/2008



Once again I welcome you all to yet another tale of the Luscious Lucius Malfoy and my favorite bookworm. This is part one of a three part series that will follow our hero and heroine through adventures filled with erotic delights and the excitement of burgeoning romance…please sit back and enjoy this first installment. The other two will follow, but I will be working on other fics between them…I hope you enjoy reading as much as I have enjoyed writing.

CHAPTER 1: The Temple


Dr. Hermione Granger, Magical Archaeologist and professor at Merlin University, stood quietly, hands on her hips, feet planted shoulder width apart with a scowl on her face as she pondered the ruins of Morgana’s temple. She wasn’t sure you could actually call it a ruin because it remained in perfect condition, structurally. It was the magic that had been tampered with, ruined, by Voldemort and the death eaters over a decade prior.

She still couldn’t believe that they had found the temple before the ministry archaeology team, that all along they had known of this incredible find and not one of the many death eaters now residing in Azkaban had thought to reveal its location.


The dark magic was entwined with Morgana’s, which wasn’t exactly of the purest quality itself. Morgana Le Fey was a witch of legend. Half sister to Arthur Pendragon and a student of Merlin she was destined to be powerful in more ways than one. Legend told that she had been beautiful, seductive and had been known for her ability to manipulate sex magic and to use the powers of seduction in her favor. Her temple was said to embody all things erotic, a place where every hedonistic pleasure could be pursued in comfort.

Hermione could feel the waves of sexual energy emanating from the stone facade carved into the side of the mountain. Foliage from the surrounding forest had grown over the stone front, covering the stairs and doorway, hiding the entrance of the temple from the world. She wanted inside so badly she could taste it. Unfortunately for her she could not seem to unravel the wards surrounding the entryway.

She had tried every spell she knew to get beyond the temple’s protection to no avail. She had consulted ward breakers and every specialist known to wizard kind and none of them had been able to get through. She was at her wit’s end, she was one of the brightest minds ever to grace the wizarding world yet she could not get past a little dark magic. Okay, so it was a lot of dark magic but she wasn’t exactly a novice or ignorant of the dark arts, she should be able to figure it out and it ate at her that she couldn’t.

“Dr.Granger?” Hermione looked over at her young assistant Claire and raised one eyebrow in annoyance.

“Yes, Claire?” She asked with a weary sigh.


“Have you any more ideas?” The girl asked. Hermione closed her eyes and counted slowly inside her head. She had so little tolerance for undergraduates, for anyone really. The war had jaded her in so many ways. The repressed bookworm had found herself at University. She had become a woman who reveled in her strength, her intelligence and her passions. She knew what she wanted and she got it, always.


“I need an expert in the dark arts.” Hermione said quietly, looking away from the blonde waif blinking up at her through glasses with thick lenses that made her eyes look abnormally large.


“But, Dr. Granger, you have already had several experts on the Dark Arts consult with no luck…” Claire said, looking hopelessly at the temple’s entrance.


“An academic knowledge of the dark arts will not help me here, Claire. What I need is someone with practical knowledge. Someone who knows the ins and outs of dark magic from experience wielding it.” Hermione said thoughtfully.


“I could contact Professor Snape.” Claire said, shuddering a bit as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.


“No, the current school year is in session and he takes his position as Headmaster very seriously.” Hermione tossed the long braided rope of her hair over her shoulder and pursed her lips. “Claire, could you please send an owl to Minister Shacklebolt and tell him I need to speak with him as soon as he can manage?”

“Yes, Dr. Granger.” Claire said nodding her head. “Should I tell him what it is in regards to?”

“Just tell him I need a boon, in honor of old times.” Hermione said. She looked over at the girl who was still standing there staring at her through her obscenely magnifying lenses. “Now, Claire.” She said, shaking her head when the ditzy girl hurried off with a slight squeak to do her bidding. “I will get in that temple, even if I have to make a deal with the devil himself to do it.”

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kingsley Shacklebolt had never been more aware of the passage of time than he was as he watched Hermione walk through the waiting room outside his office. When he had first met her she was just a girl with a gangly body, bushy hair and an intellect that astounded everyone who knew her. Her caramel eyes reflected a soul as old as time, a wisdom too vast for one so young.

He chuckled softly as he noted the differences in the woman striding his way. A form that once boasted arms and legs too scrawny to be graceful was now petite, curvy and moving with a slow, gliding sensuality that caught the eye of every wizard in the office. Her impossibly long hair was tamed into a long braid that was slung forward over her shoulder. She was dressed simply in a set of cream robes and heels and Kingsley figured he should be grateful that she hadn’t come to the meeting in her work clothes with mud on her shoes.


She smiled instantly when she saw him, her step picking up a little bounce as she made her way across the room to him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and laughed as she embraced him, happy to see him after so long.

“Kings!” She laughed, hugging him tight. “It is so good to see you.”


“It is good to see you as well, Hermione.” He chuckled, hugging her back while the people waiting watched with curiosity as the Minister of Magic wrapped the younger woman into his arms. He drew back from her and ushered her into his office, closing the door behind them. “So I hear you are excavating Morgana’s Temple.” Kingsley said as he took a seat behind his desk.

“Not exactly, I have located it….I want to excavate it.” She said, removing her outer robes, leaving her dressed in a sleeveless, cream colored sheathe that hung to her knees and brown heels. She took a seat in front of his desk and crossed her legs, letting her folded hands fall into her lap. “That’s why I came to see you.” She smiled.


“I am no archaeologist, Hermione, I don’t see how I can be of any help to you.” Kinglsey said, folding his hands atop his desk as he stared at her.


“The temple, it seems, was discovered long before I found it. In fact, it appears to have been used by Voldemort’s minions. The magical signature on the temple has been corrupted. Morgana’s magic is still very much a part of the find; however, there is also the corruption of dark magic, death eater magic.” Hermione explained. “I have consulted the top ward breakers and academics in their respective fields and I still can not get beyond the wards protecting the entrance.”


“I am not sure what it is you think I can do to help you, my dear.” He said.


“I need someone with not only an academic knowledge of the dark arts, but a practical knowledge as well. Essentially, I need a death eater.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Kingsley nearly choked, his jaw literally dropped at the witch’s request. She asked him for a death eater with the same nonchalance as one might request a cup of tea.


“You need a death eater?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly. “Why?”

“These wards were woven by death eaters, the temple reeks of their magic, spells and curses, traps invented by them and used solely for their purposes. Only a death eater will be able to assist me.” She said.

“Fine, I am sure Severus…”

“School has begun and he will not wish to leave, besides, he is angry with me.” She said with a frown.

“Why would he be angry with you?” Kingsley asked.


“Personal reasons.” Hermione said, making it clear to the wizard that the topic was not open for discussion.


“The majority of the death eaters were killed in the war, Hermione, and there is maybe a handful in Azkaban who have retained their wits.” Kingsley said.

“Anyone powerful enough, with enough knowledge and experience that can help me?” She asked.

“Fenrir Greyback perhaps.” Kingsley said, his brow furrowing. “Though he is kept under very tight supervision with no human contact allowed….he bites. He is too dangerous to be allowed to assist you.” Kinglsey tapped his index finger against his chin as he thought about the prisoners currently held in Azkaban. “I could perhaps get an interview with Malfoy for you.”


“Lucius Malfoy?” She asked. She began laughing hysterically. “There is no way he will help me, Kingsley, he hates mudbloods.” She said. “Especially me.”


“I think he may be your best bet other than Severus.” Kingsley said.

Hermione frowned and exhaled slowly. Severus would deliberately make her wait until the school year was over just for spite and she didn’t want to wait that long to get into the temple. She supposed she could try to convince him to help her, but he was still really angry with her.


“Can’t we put a muzzle on Greyback?” She asked.


“You would rather consult a psychotic werewolf than Lucius Malfoy?” Kingsley asked amused.


“He seems the lesser of the two evils.” Hermione muttered.



“Malfoy has actually been an exemplary inmate.” Kingsley said, leaning back in his chair. “He sits in his cell reading the majority of the time. The only person who comes to see him is his son, once a week.”


“What about his wife?” Hermione asked.


“You didn’t hear? Because of his sentencing and his criminal activities she was allowed to dissolve their binding. He didn’t fight it, he settled a rather large amount of money on her and she moved to Italy where she recently wed some nobleman, a Count I believe.” Kinglsey said.


“I can not say that the dissolution of Pureblood marriages is of any interest to me.” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.


“He still has ten years left on his sentence.” Kingsley said thoughtfully. “Perhaps, due to his good behavior, we might come to an arrangement. Parole in exchange for his help with your little project.”


“I needed a consult, Kings, not a criminal released from prison!” She said, her eyes round with shock.


“His file came across my desk, along with several others….Azkaban is over crowded and the decision has been made to select several of our less dangerous prisoners for parole.” Kingsley said. “As I have said, he has been a perfect inmate these past ten years.”


“Less dangerous? Lucius Malfoy? I have never met a wizard more dangerous in my life aside from Voldemort! The man could challenge the devil himself for who is more evil and he might win!” Hermione twisted the end of the braid anxiously.

“Maybe that was true once.” Kingsley said. “I think you will find him somewhat changed, though not entirely.”


“What is to keep him from killing me instead of assisting me?” She asked.


“As with all parolees his wand will be stripped of its ability to cast unforgivables….”


“That won’t help me; I need him to be able to use dark magic to unravel the wards.” She said as she interrupted him.



“Well…we can work something out for the duration of your project.”


“What makes you think that he will help me? What if parole isn’t enough of a temptation for him to assist a mudblood?” She asked.


“Well, you will have a meeting with him at ten tomorrow, make the offer and we will see what happens. I know you will take great pleasure being able to dangle freedom in front of him on the condition he assist you.” Kingsley laughed when he saw the smirk spread across her lips.


~@*~*@*~*@*~*@*~*@**@*~*@*~*@*~

A special thanks to Utopia for the gift of her anti-canon warning. Thank you darlin'!