Only Time

Lovely Reviewers:

Voracious Reader - Ronald has many shortcomings. I know I am rather hard on him. I just don't care for him in the books. There is a dark humor to it. Lucius is far from accepting the situation.

Heidi191976 - Poor Lucius. He needs a lot of hugs to make up for this treatment! Don't expect things to be good as soon as she wakes up.

HermioneMalfoyFan - It is quite cute! OUR sweet, dear little Lucius. He doesn't want to lose her again.

Ron is not stupid. He just says things without thinking them through.

Draco was intentional, and his love for Hermione wasn't. He wanted her to love him, but didn't know that earning it would cost his own heart. Poor blonde angel!

Draco was told about all the story while his father drank. He confessed everything.
Still not ready for updating the other story, but it should hopefully be this weekend.

cherripepsiisgod - "There may be something there that wasn't there before." Just thought, I would do a little singing too!

Aaliyah Starnight - Oh! I'm blushing! I'm glad you like them. I try to always update soon.

meankitty69 - You're not used to disappointment; well, don't worry! Hermione shall awaken soon! I'm back now!

Ashley - Exactly. Lucius needs to be sure that she won't leave him again.

I don't think that people ever stop loving the person that they first fall in love with. I certainly hadn't stopped loving my first true love. I know how it is to dream of the person you love rather than the one you're with.

Citten - Who can say for certain what will occur in the future of the fic? I couldn't let Draco hurt his father. He obviously adores and idolizes the man.

blufalcon - I'm glad you like them! Well, you will no doubt continue to wonder. I am not near the end, that I can forsee for this.

Jessie - He might. He might not! He secretly wants to though! We all know it! I hope this chapter is just as lovely!

jracklesfan77 - If you give me an email address, I could send something to you telling you that it is updated. I'm glad that you like them.

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I hope y'all enjoy this, but to let you know. My health seems to be deteriorating. Not good. I got to have an MRI today. On my head! To look for a tumor! Because I've been having non-epileptic seizures. I don't recommend trying those. I probably have nothing amiss as delightful as a tumor. But I probably do have some icky neurological crud going on upstairs.

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Severus stared at Lucius.

“Why?”

“None of your business,” Lucius said, placing his hands down on the ledge and sighing as a breeze blew through his hair.

“Why?” Severus asked, crossing his arms and glaring at Lucius as if he was a naughty little first year that had just blown up a cauldron.

Lucius didn’t answer as he walked into the room and over to the bed to sit on the edge. He took Hermione’s hand and raised it to his face pressing it over his cheek.

“What if I’m not the man who can wake her from her enchanted slumber?” Lucius asked, running his hand up and down her arm.

“You fit the entire description,” Severus said, gesturing to Hermione as Lucius leaned one hand down on the opposite side of her waist.

“What if I’m not?”

“Fine, if that’s what you want to hear. It’s entirely possible that you’re not the man she is destined to be with. It’s entirely possible that she will remain asleep after you kiss her. Maybe she doesn’t love you. Maybe it is her normal practice to push people she cares nothing about out of the way of potentially deadly spells,” Severus said, rolling his eyes at the older blonde who’d taken care of him when he joined the death eaters looking for a little acceptance and camaraderie.

“Severus,” Lucius said, turning and frowning at the man.

“I tried to encourage you, and you were all too willing to disregard it,” Severus said, turning around to hide the disgust on his face.

“I couldn’t stand it if she didn’t,” Lucius said, petting her cheek and staring at her lips.

“Are you content to dream of her?”

“She’ll leave me again; I can’t lose her again, Severus. Do you remember what happened after I got her note that she had left and not been killed?”

“Yes, I made you liters and liters of Anti-infractio animi potion because cheering charms didn’t work. And I had to stop you from stabbing yourself once. I think that you are more mature now. You are not an emotional teenager anymore.”

Lucius didn’t answer. He didn’t know that he wouldn’t react just as powerfully. He remembered taking that Merlin-awful potion. It had been revolting, but it had at least curbed the suicidal feelings he’d had.

“YOU ARE GOING TO TRY FERRET FACE!” Ron’s angry voice shouted.

Lucius leapt up from the bed at the shouting.

BANG!

“PUCKER UP!” Ron said, pinching Draco’s arm more tightly as Harry and he carried the struggling boy into the room.

“HELL NO!”

Lucius stooped and picked up his wand.

“Just one little kiss!” Ron said, “and then you’re dead if she wakes up. No one will miss you.”

“FUCK NO! I won’t put my lips anywhere on her!”

“I would miss my son,” Lucius said, cutting his eyes toward Severus as Harry and Ron gripped his son in an almost painful looking way, “quite deeply.”

Harry gripped the back of Draco’s neck and forced the older boy’s head close to Hermione.

“Father, Godfather, HELP ME!” Draco cried as he had his arms held back and his legs lifted off the floor and shoved closer to Hermione.

Severus swished and flicked his wand at Draco as Lucius sent the ‘relashio’ spell at the other two young wizards. Harry and Ron were blasted back into the wall.

“HE NEEDS TO TRY!”

“He doesn’t want to,” Severus said, levitating his godson over to the other side of the bed.

“Thank you,” Draco said, glaring at the two Gryffindors with the bed as a barrier.

Lucius glared at Harry and Ron.

“Get out!” Draco yelled. “Get out of this house!”

“Enough,” Lucius said, looking at the boys who’d tried to force his son to kiss his Hermione. “If you really think that that is the way to break the spell, forcing people to kiss her, then you are unwanted here. I won’t have Hermione treated that way. Nor will I allow people who will treat her that way in this house.”

“He should kiss her!” Ron said, making a threatening move toward Draco.

Draco frowned and took a step back. The boy-who-hadn’t-had-the-courtesy-to-die-after-defeating-the-Dark-Lord had disarmed him in the hallway.

“Draco will not be forced to kiss anyone especially Miss Granger. He will be allowed if he wants to try,” Lucius said, looking at the Gryffindors on the other side of his bed. “Please leave.”

Harry and Ron both looked at the Slytherins on the other side; two wizard spies had wands aimed at them.

“I think that Hermione should be moved to St. Mungos that way she is easy to locate for those who would wish to kiss her and try to wake her,” Harry said.

“Amazing Mr. Potter, even with the short amount time spent with you over this past year, I still want to vomit on you when you voice your idiotic ideas. Being that you were raised by muggles, one would think you would be familiar with the stories. After all the Grimm brothers published the stories for both worlds, given that muggles believe them to be faerie tales. You are surely familiar with the fact that Prince Philip battles his way through a thicket of thorns to rescue one Princess Aurora. Great trials must be gone through to get to the maiden. A day trip to the wizarding hospital hardly qualifies as ‘a kiss by one who loves the damsel and has gone through great suffering and adversity, perhaps even a re-evaluation of personal beliefs (i.e. a prince choosing to marry a milkmaid that he loves as opposed to a princess that would increase his wealth and kingdom), to be with her.’” Severus rolled his eyes.

“Oh, and staying here is so much better,” Harry said, rolling his eyes back.

“With the enchantments that could easily be put in place, it would be simple to be sure that the suitors were properly tested and only those of the highest caliber were able to get her to make the attempt.”

Lucius frowned.

NO! Other wizards should not come and kiss his beloved Hermione. It was bad enough those bloody little monsters that she called friends had tried. He didn’t want bunches of people traipsing through his garden and house and bedroom to kiss his woman.

“That will be enough,” Lucius said, looking at Harry and Ron wanting to scream and curse them to their graves. “Will you two just leave?”

He turned from them and walked back out onto the balcony.

“Mr. Malfoy,” Harry asked.

“Just leave.”

“I just wanted to ask why you always look so upset when someone tries to kiss Hermione and wake her or even when it is just discussed. I thought—”

“That’s your problem,” Lucius snarled, turning to the boy and looking down his nose at him. “Get out, and don’t come back. Oh, and by the way, the ministry will allow her to stay here. They will respect the obligation that I have to Miss Granger and not interfere. So I wouldn’t recommend trying to have her removed.”

Lucius turned from the boy-who-refused-to-die-no-matter-the-number-of-times-the-killing-curse-was-applied. He sighed and looked out over all the property he owned as he heard the door click shut.

“Father, are you going to try to kiss her? You certainly have the qualifications to break the spell,” Draco said, looking at his father.

“No,” Lucius answered. “If she didn’t wake up, I just couldn’t take it.”

Draco put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

“She’d just run away and leave me anyway. Just like last time,” Lucius said, allowing his son to squeeze his shoulder briefly before he stepped away.

“She would have had to return to the proper time anyway, Father,” Draco said, stepping up next to his sire. “Who’s to say that she wouldn’t want to be with you now?”

Lucius didn’t answer. She did.

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I hope y'all liked it. I hope you leave a review. Apologies, I know I need to update "Lights of Questionable Faith" but I am not wholly happy with it. Everyone seemed to be requesting the same thing which took some doing to figure out exactly how I wanted to write it, and I'm still perfecting it. Hope that y'all will like it when it comes out!

Anti-infractio animi = Basically Anti-depression. It translates literally to broken spirit.

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