The Snake and The Lioness

Adrienne popped into the library fireplace. Hopefully, everyone was asleep. But she knew she would never be that lucky, and the person she expected to see wasn\'t there. Sitting in the chair was Nina.
\"What is Nina doing here in the library?\" Adrienne wondered to herself.

As if as reading her mind Nina jumped up. She just smiled at Adrienne and nodded towards the door. Christian was right outside the door. Adrienne thought fast. What could she do? But before she even had a chance to think, Christian walked into the room.
\"Adrienne, what are you doing down here?\" Christian asked.
\"I came down here for a....glass of milk?\" Adrienne tried to lie.
\"You needed your shoes and a purse to get some milk. Then you have on that dress Lucius sent you. I highly doubt that you were coming down here for milk. I thought I told you that you couldn\'t see him tonight?\"
\"Chris, I needed to see him tonight. Look what he gave me!\" Adrienne said, turning on the lamp next to her.

Christian and Nina both gasped when they saw the necklace on Adrienne\'s neck. Nina came up and fingered it like it was fragile glass. Chris just stood there with his mouth hanging open. Adrienne wanted to laugh at that.
\"So, you went over there so he could try and buy his way into your knickers?\" Christian said. There was an evident anger in his voice.
\"He didn\'t have to buy anything to get me to sleep with him.\" Adrienne answered, not realising how that sounded.
\"So, you did sleep with him? I knew it. That\'s the only reason you went over there. He probably sent you an owl saying, \"Adrienne, I want to shag you. If you come over and let me, I will give you something nice.\" Is that what he did?\"
\"No! He didn\'t even know that I planned to sleep with him. No offense, Nina, but I don\'t want to talk about this now.\" Adrienne said, stalking off up to her room.
\"What the bloody hell am I going to do with her? Doesn\'t she realise that she is only eighteen? She doesn\'t need to be tied down with a man twenty years older than her.\" Christian said, forgeting that Nina was in the room.
\"Chris, you need to let her live her own life. Maybe she really does love this man.\" Nina tried to defend Adrienne. The girl who would soon be her sister-in-law.
\"She doesn\'t love him. She\'s just in love with all the things he buys her and the fact that he is so much like Draco. Otherwise, she probably wouldn\'t even be spending her time with him.\"
\"But try and see it from her angle, Chris. There have been loves at first sight, falling in love with your enemy, and even falling in love with a member of your family. I think she really loves this man. Even if they were enemies. I also think that he loves her. I mean, he showers her with gifts and tries to spend every available moment with her. He\'s a Malfoy, that\'s the way they show love.\"

Adrienne was in her room, crying and fingering the necklace Lucius had given her. She heard everything they were saying. Lucius may be older than her, but so what. And how did Chris know if she loved him or not? He never actually saw her and Lucius together to see if they acted like a loving couple.

She was glad that Nina was trying to understand her love for Lucius. It wasn\'t just all about the gifts. They were nice and all, but Adrienne could do without them. She didn\'t want to refuse anything from Lucius.

The first time she did that, Lucius didn\'t talk to her for weeks afterward. He had thought that she was, in a way, rejecting him by rejecting his gift. She didn\'t want that to happen again, so she just accepted whatever Lucius gave her. Even if she didn\'t feel she needed or deserved it.

There was a knock on the door a few minutes later. She really didn\'t want to answer it, but whomever it was would just come in anyway. She lifted herself out of the bed and opened the door. Who was behind it made her scream.

Lucius put his hand over her mouth before Adrienne could get a sound out. He asked her to be quiet. She nodded her head and took a moment to calm down. Lucius put a locking charm on the door and then helped Adrienne to her bed.
\"What are you doing here? How did you get pass my brother? Did my brother send for you? I am going to kill him if he did. I am so--\" She was cut off when Lucius kissed her. \"What was that for?\"
\"Your not letting me get a word in edgewise. I needed you to listen.\"
Adrienne nodded her head and brought Lucius down for another kiss. \"Now, you can answer my questions.\"
\"Well, I wanted to know why you had to leave so early. Your brother wasn\'t anywhere to be seen when I came in, and no, he has no idea I\'m here.\"
\"Oh, well, Lucius, the reason I had to leave was because I am on a sort of home detention. For my carelessness and lack of judgement. At least that\'s what I\'m told.\"
\"Why would your brother do that? Does he realise you are old enough to live your own life?\" Lucius said, more to himself than to her.
\"I don\'t know Lucius. But until I move out, I am under his care. Those were the wishes of my parents and I will not go against them. Sorry.\" Adrienne said with her head down low.
\"Sorry? Sorry for what?\"
\"I\'m sorry that I can\'t be with you how you want me to be.\" Adrienne said, tears finding their way back to her eyes.
\"Don\'t be sorry. I understand. I even understand why your brother is so protective of you. If you were my sister, I would be protective of you, too. That\'s just his way of showing that he loves you.\" Lucius said. That was the truth, but he still was a bit angry that she couldn\'t spend time with him.

There was another knock on the door. Adrienne and Lucius looked at each other with confused faces. Lucius couldn\'t be here, Adrienne thought to herself. He couldn\'t apparate nor take the floo without her brother noticing. So, she pushed him into the closet and told him to wait.
\"Adrienne, can we talk?\" Christian called through the door.
\"Just a moment. I\'m...not dressed.\" Adrienne said, helping Lucius into the closet. She layed down on the bed. \"Come in!\"
Christian and Nina walked into the room and looked around. \"Are you the only one in here?\" Christian asked.
Adrienne looked around. \"Yes. Why?\"
\"No reason. Adrienne, at Nina\'s request I am going to try and understand why you like Lucius so much.\"
\"I don\'t like him, Chris. I love him.\"
Christian continued on as if he had not heard her. \"And I want you to describe to me what you find so wonderful about this man whom is twenty years your senior.\"

Adrienne suddenly went red. She would have to tell Christian everything she liked about Lucius, while Lucius was listening from the closet. \"Well, I love him because....he is....really nice. He\'s kind and gentle. He\'s knows so much about life, things I\'ll never know, never have a chance to learn. He shows me sides of him that I am sure others don\'t get to see. He treats me like the queen of the world. He doesn\'t see me as some little girl, he sees me as a grown woman who can take care of herself. I don\'t know...he\'s just wonderful.\"
Christian still looked pretty unmoved by that. So Nina spoke up. \"Adrienne why don\'t you tell Christian how Lucius makes you feel. Maybe he\'ll understand then.\"
\"Well, when I\'m with Lucius...\" Adrienne started. She had forgotten that Lucius was there while she was talking before. \"...He makes me feel beautiful. He makes me feel that if I died any moment when I am with him, I\'ll be as happy as a dove in spring. He just makes me feel so...so...alive. I feel like I\'m floating on a cloud of air and I won\'t ever come down. When he holds me, I feel like nothing could ever harm me. When we made love, I felt--\"
\"Whoa! Too much information.\" Christian repremanded her.
\"Okay, anyway. Afterwards when I layed in the bed, I felt as if we really had become one whole being. That nothing could ever separate us. When he\'s not around I feel like I\'m going out of my mind. His invisible hands caress my shoulders. His scent fills all my senses. His hair tickles my neck. His arms wrap around me and I feel safe. And that\'s when he is not around me. Don\'t you understand, Christian. I\'m in love.\" Adrienne said the last sentence as she fell over into the bed. Lucius\' invisible hands cradling her waist and holding her close to him.

Lucius had been listening in the closet and he wanted nothing more than to run out to Adrienne and make love to her right now. Show her just how much she meant to him. He admired how she could express what she felt, even if she couldn\'t really find the words, exactly. He could never do that. But he tried to show his love by showering her in gifts. That the way he had been taught.

Christian still looked unmoved by what Adrienne was saying. \"Okay, that\'s all wonderful and good. I still don\'t approve, but I will let you see what happens on your own. Just don\'t come crying to me, when your heart is broken.\" With that, Christian walked out of the room.

Nina stood by the door watching Adrienne. She reminded her of herself when she was Adrienne\'s age. Nina just hoped she was right to do what she did.

\"Adrienne, you might want to let Lucius out of the closet.\" Nina said, walking out of the room, with a grin on her face.

Adrienne climbed off the bed. Now she knew. Nina had let Lucius in. Adrienne shook her head and went over to the closet. Lucius came out and gave Adrienne a kiss.

\"Nina let you in?\" Adrienne asked.

\"Yes. Nina is very nice not to tell your brother about that and for trying to support you.\" Lucius said.

\"Yeah, she is. Anyway, you better go. I have to go to work tomorrow, but I will be over afterwards. Try not to miss me too much.\" Adrienne said, giving Lucius another kiss. Lucius strode over to the fireplace and was gone in an instant.


A/N: Snorky50, like I said, I don\'t know the French language very well and what I could figure out from your comment wasn\'t enough to actually know what you said. Sorry.

Anyway, I know it has been a long time since I updated. I just got back and am still dumb. I don\'t think I\'m picking up on the French language very well. Everyone says I have a beautiful French accent, but if I don\'t know how to speak French. It\'s really not that great of a blessing if I sound French, but can\'t speak the language and someone is always asking me to say something in French. The most I can say in French is: Le drapeau francais est bleu, blanc et rouge. And: Au revoir! Nous partons en voyage! I\'m still studying, so maybe I\'ll get better later.

Anyway, I hope everyone likes this chapter. After this chapter, Adrienne will have to tell Lucius about the spying she was doing. Can\'t you just not wait for what Lucius\' reaction will be?