In Love and War

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter series. All characters,events and places belong to J K Rowling. I make no profit whatsoever from the writing of this fanfiction.

When you come to the edge
of all light that you know
and are about to drop off
into the deep darkness of the unknown,
faith is believing that one of two things will happen:
There will be somewhere safe to land
or you will be taught to fly.
-Patrick Overton-

In Love and War

Chapter 12

Hermione didn't even think as she relaxed further into his arms and into his kiss. She felt Lucius' hand twine into her curls to bring her mouth closer to his own. A groan that had been held contained in her throat the moment his lips landed on hers, finally broke through. Unable to stop herself, she stood on the tips of her toes to bring her body up further. She placed her hands on each side of his face, delighting in his slight stubble as it rubbed against her palms.

The kiss, which had started out chaste was pushed further as his tongue lightly traced over her lips, seeking entrance. As soon as she parted her mouth, she was pulled closer to his body.

There wasn't any line to show where his body ended and hers started. Pressed so close to him, Hermione could feel every muscle in his larger body. The heat that he generated eventually made it's way to her core as she felt his erection press against her.

She felt herself go slightly dizzy at the passion of his kiss. Lucius tasted like fruit and honey, despite the eggs and coffee he had consumed during breakfast.

He pulled back quickly after, leaving her gasping for breath and her body thrumming with unfulfilled desire.

With a courage that she had never known before, she grasped for him again, bringing his lips down to hers once more, pouring every emotion she had ever felt into the kiss.

Hermione smiled to herself when she heard Lucius' own groan of pleasure and slowly ended the kiss.

She didn't speak, just leaned into his embrace and looked out the window over the sweeping grounds of the Manor.


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"I need to go back to my house, Lucius." She said as he sat at his massive desk in the library.

After going into the kitchen to thank the elves for the amazing breakfast they had served, Hermione had asked them if there were any female garments in the house.

An hour later the elves brought to the Blue room an assortment of robes. They were all over the top and must have been Narcissa's before she died. She had thanked them and donned a lavender sun dress that was acceptable for wearing around the manor.

"It's out of the question." Lucius replied, not even looking up from his paperwork. "You need to rest and take the potions that the healer left for you."

"I will, but I can't stay here." Hermione argued.

She watched as he sat down his thin reading glasses and leaned back in his leather chair, his hands clasped in front of him.

"I don't see why it's a problem." He shrugged.

"What if someone was to find out I was here, Lucius?" She asked. "Do you know what that would do to my reputation?"

"Since when have you cared what other's say about you?"

"I don't." Hermione stated firmly. "What I do care about is what people say to my daughter. You know as well as I do that people would talk and they definitely wouldn't have anything nice to say."

Lucius stood up gracefully from his chair and walked around it to face her.

"I will escort you there myself, but you won't be staying there." He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing Hermione to relax under his touch. "I have other properties that you can stay at until you resolve the matter."

"Why does this matter so much to you?" She asked quietly, but as soon as the question was out there, she wanted to kick herself.

Hermione's eyes observed the difference in him immediately. Where his body had been calm a second ago, it was now tense. His face had hardened, setting his mouth into a thin line and his silver eyes flashed dangerously.

"It matters because you matter to me." He ground out and to Hermione, the admission seemed to make him angrier.

"But why?"

"You just do. There is something about you..." Lucius started before he changed his mind. "It just does."

"I don't condone abuse Hermione. Even with everything I have done, my conscience is clear when it comes to brutalizing women. I'm not about to stand aside and watch it happen to you."

Hermione was speechless.

"I will escort you to your home to gather your belongings, but you won't be staying." He stated, moving back around to his chair and sliding the glasses back onto his face. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," she whispered softly. "When would you like to leave?"

"As soon as possible." He requested as he picked up his quill.

Hermione shut the door quietly behind her and made her way up the marble stairway to her room.

Her mind was a confused mess. She almost felt like she didn't know which way was up and which way was down. She had felt that way for a long time. It wasn't just Ron's attack or Lucius gentle kiss, it was everything thrown together, the war, her actions and the future that she had once dreamed of.

She sank down to the bed and ran her fingers over the soft silk and pondered Lucius' request, no, demand that she stay. It was a good idea, considering the situation with Ron, but she didn't want to think of the consequences that came along with staying with Lucius.

A soft knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Are you ready?" Lucius' voice asked through the door.

She swallowed thickly before she spoke. "Yes. I will be down in just a moment."

"Very well, I will wait for you in the foyer."

Hermione heard the slight click of his shoes as he retreated down the hall and then went into the bathroom to freshen up. She turned the water on cold and splashed it over her face. When she dried off, she took in her looks in the mirror.

Bringing her hand to her lips, she imagined the kiss that had been shared over breakfast. There hadn't been words to describe how it had felt. It was a rush of pure excitement and unbridled passion mixed with a slow burn and honey. Yes, definitely honey. She could only imagine what intercourse with Lucius would be like.

"Probably fantastic." She said to her reflection.

Deciding that she had waited long enough she grabbed her wand and made her way downstairs to where Lucius was waiting for her patiently.

When she reached the last step, he brought over a soft cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"We can't stay long." He reminded her. "You need to take those potions before dinner."

"Ok," she agreed and stepped into his embrace.

They landed with a pop outside of the home that her and Ron had shared for the entirety of their marriage.

Hermione pulled out her wand and lowered the wards to allow them entrance.

As she got to the front of the house, Lucius stepped in front of her and opened the door, peeking his head in before stepping fully into the home.

She smiled slightly at his caution.

"He isn't home Lucius." Hermione pointed out. "He won't be home until Thursday to get his suit."

She laughed slightly as Lucius raised a pale eyebrow.

"Ron's with Lavender." She reminded him as she made her way up the stairs, avoiding the kitchen completely.

She was surprised to hear his heavy footsteps following her.

"Is this your daughter?" He asked, pausing to look at a picture frame hanging on the wall.

Hermione backed down a step so that she was next to him.

"Yes," she said proudly, "this is my Rosalie, but Rose for short."

"She was a beautiful baby." Lucius replied with a tender look on his face.

To Hermione it seemed odd that with only the briefest expression or phrase that he could almost appear to be a different person.

"Rose was definitely interesting as a baby." Hermione laughed, stepping around him to touch the picture of her daughter sleeping on the ottoman in front of the Christmas tree. "She's a hand full now though."

"How is she enjoying Hogwarts?" He asked as they again made their way up the stairs.

"She loves it. Rose loves to learn so she is greatly enjoying the opportunity."

"I wonder where she gets that from." Hermione heard him say under his breath.

"I heard that," she said over her shoulder only to see a face of full on innocence. She rolled her eyes at him and opened the door to her bedroom.

They stepped into the room and Hermione immediately felt uncomfortable.

The room that she was staying at in the manor was amazing compared to this, not saying that it wasn't lacking in amenities, it just seemed rather plain compared to the elegance of the Blue room. The walls of her and Ron's bedroom were a plain white with only one painting of a rose above their bed. To the left of the room, there was a somewhat spacious walk in closet and to the right was an en suite bathroom. The sleigh bed was made of dark wood that gleamed slightly in the light. A white down comforter covered the bed and on top of it rested pillows in varying shades of gray that matched the sheer curtains on the windows.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione sneaked a peek at Lucius. She expected him to look down his nose at her quaint home, but the look in h is eye was something entirely different. If she didn't know better, she would have called it longing.

"Well, I better pack up a bag." She said, breaking the quiet of the room.

"Yes. The sooner we leave, the more comfortable I will feel." Lucius stated before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Hermione trudged through her closet and pulled pieces down off the hangers and stashed them down into her trunk, using her wand to magically fold the clothes so that they wouldn't wrinkle. When all of her hangers were bare she packed up her shoes and then emptied her drawers.

It dawned on her as she made her way into the bathroom that she was essentially leaving her husband. As the realization set in, she sank down to the floor and felt burn of a tear as it slid slowly down her cheek.

She sensed him before she saw him. Lucius didn't say anything. He simply sat down next to her and gathered her up into his arms.

Hermione leaned into his chest and breathed in deep his scent, allowing it to calm her as his fingers separated her curls.

"I'm leaving my husband." She said, barely whispering.

"Yes." Lucius admitted.

"It's time."

"Yes," he repeated.

"What will I do about Rose?" Hermione asked, more to herself than to him.

"You will get custody of her and move on with your life." He stated as if he knew the future.

"How can you be sure? The courts will put into play all of my actions from childhood until now."

"The side with the better lawyer always wins, my darling and I will ensure that you have the best." Lucius said quietly. "Not everyone thinks of you the way you think of yourself. To many in our world, you are still a hero, even if you don't see it."

"You are too, Lucius." She reminded him.

"I hardly think that's true." He chuckled.

"Well, it is, to me anyway." She stressed. "You saved me," she said truthfully.

"Have you ever regretted it?" She asked after a moment.

"No," Lucius answered harshly. "Despite the outcome, it was probably the least selfish thing I've ever done."

"But you lost your family." She said softly, thinking that if it hadn't been for her, Lucius would be able to talk to his son and not a portrait. "You gave them up for me."

"It wasn't an easy decision to make. Fuck, it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but I don't regret it. It was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord took our lives and at least I am comforted with the knowledge that the deaths of my family meant that the war could finally be over. That mine and their sacrifices hadn't been in vain."

Hermione thought on his words for a moment before pulling her face up from his chest and running her finger over her mark that was just peeping out of the sleeve of his robes. She smiled at the shiver that ran through his body.

"Should I pack everything?" She asked, looking around the bathroom.

"That's up to you, although I think that for now, you should only pack your things as well as some of your daughters."

Hermione nodded at him and stood up from his lap. She held her hand out to him and smiled when he took it.

"What?" He asked, looking at her with his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Nothing," she giggled. "I just never thought that I would live to see the day that the great Lucius Malfoy actually sat on the floor."

He sneered at her which only caused her to laugh harder. It was only a matter of moments before he joined her.

It was good to smile, good to laugh. It had been too long since she had done it.

"We really need to hurry up here. I want to get a floo call into my solicitor." Lucius said in that deep, slow voice that she had come to enjoy hearing.

"Just give me five minutes. I'm going to pack up some of Rose's things."

She waited for him to nod his agreement before she sent her trunk down the stairs to wait for them at the door.

As she cleared out her daughter's room, she knew that she was making the right decision. Lucius had been correct when he told her the night before that her rings didn't have a place for her anymore. He had also been right when he said that they never did. Her marriage was based on all the wrong things and she wasn't going to sit on the side lines any longer and watch her life play out in front of her, dictated by someone else.

With Rose's room packed she meet Lucius at the bottom of the stairs.

He shrank her trunk as well as Rose's and placed weightless charms on them before slipping them into the pocket of his robes. She smiled and breathed deep the smell of fresh air as she stepped into Lucius' arms for him to apparate them back to the manor. She had decisions to make, but she was comfortable with the knowledge that she didn't have to do it alone. He would be beside her, watching out for her every step of the way.

As they disappeared from the house, Hermione exhaled slowly and finally breathed again when they landed outside of the manor. The air was fresh, clean and new, just like her, she vowed.

With her hand grasped in Lucius' much larger one, she kissed him quickly on the cheek before pulling him behind her to run up to the massive doors, a smile on her face the entire way.