Adventurous Hearts Part III: Merlin's Tomb

Chapter 13: Unreasonable









Lucius returned to the manor after a meeting with his probation officer to find his study in complete disarray. Hermione was reclining on the sofa rifling through documents while Claire sat on the floor beside her making notes. Several small crates sat in the center, their tops pried off to reveal small artifacts nestled inside among the straw packing.







“What is all this?” He asked as he entered the room, removing his gloves and cloak, tossing them over the back of a chair. He stepped around the items and bent down to kiss Hermione lightly on the lips.







“I’m looking over the manifests compiled so far from the Merlin site. Claire brought some of the smaller items with her.” She said, gesturing towards her assistant and the myriad crates littering the room.





“Hello, Mr. Malfoy.” Claire said, staring up at him with her obnoxious eyes.







“Hello.” He said, frowning as he turned his attention back to Hermione. “You are supposed to be resting.”







“I am resting, Lucius.” She said. “However, I need to get up to date so that I know what is going on when I go back to the site later this week.”







“Back to the site? You aren’t going back to that tomb, Hermione.” He said flatly.







“I beg your pardon?” She sat up straight, her brows lifted in shock. “Surely I misunderstood and you did not just tell me I wasn’t going back to my job.”







“No, you heard me quite clearly.” He said calmly as he seated himself behind his desk.







“Claire, would you excuse us please? We can finish this up tomorrow.” Hermione said through clenched teeth, her glare aimed directly at Lucius.







“Of course, Dr. Granger.” Claire said as she hurried to gather her things and slip out the door without bothering to say goodbye. The tension in the air was so thick she could barely breathe and she wanted no part of the impending fireworks she sensed were coming.







When the door was closed and Hermione was sure that Claire had left she let her temper fly.





“How dare you! Who in the fuck do you think you are that you can dictate to me about my job?” She yelled, getting to her feet and storming over to his desk.







“I am the man who loves you. You don’t need to work; I can take care of you.” He said. “And watch your language.”







“No, I don’t need to work, I have more than enough money to sustain me without yours, Midas! I like to work, it fulfills me.” She said. “And fuck my language!”







“So find something else to fulfill you, something safe.” He was so cool and collected, so self righteous as he sat there in his overlarge chair and tried to change her life.





“Something else to fulfill me? Like what? You want me to lay about this drafty manor all day doing nothing? Pop out a kid or two?” She couldn’t believe him; she was truly shocked and completely enraged.







“I’m sure you could find something to do, we can discuss the children though I think it a little early in our relationship to be thinking about reproducing.” He said.







“You are something else! I can’t believe you think that you have any say whatsoever in my career!”







“I am in love with you, I am your….whatever…the person intending to spend his life with you…and I don’t want you working in such a dangerous field!” His calm, cool façade was beginning to crack.







“Dangerous? My job isn’t dangerous!” She snapped.







“Not dangerous? Since I have become reacquainted with you, you have been locked in a temple, trapped on an island of zombies and nearly crushed to death!” He snapped, lunging from his chair and running his fingers through his hair in agitation. “And that was in the first few months!”







“Coincidences! I have done projects in between that had no incident whatsoever! It was just an odd run of bad luck that you happened to be present for the projects where something went wrong.” She found herself pinned to his desk, framed within his arms.







“You are a walking catastrophe! Trouble finds you like a bloody magnet!” He said. “Severus was right when he said you needed a keeper.”







“Severus has been saying that for years, Lucius, he doesn’t mean it.” She said. “Why can’t you understand how important my job is to me?”







“Why can’t you understand how important you are to me?” He yelled his nose a scant inch from hers. “Do you have any idea what it did to me to watch that chamber cave in on you? How horrible it felt to drag your limp and bleeding body from the rubble and hold you in my arms, feeling your pulse slowly fade away? It was horrifying! To spend days at your bedside listening to a machine breathe for you, to see your body covered in cuts and bruises not knowing if you would wake up, if I would ever get to tell you how much I loved you or hear those words from your lips again. Almost losing you nearly killed me.”







“Lucius.” She whispered his name, her hands cupping his face. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to cause you pain. I love you.”







“I can’t sit here every day wondering what sort of danger you have put your self in, what kind of trouble has found you. It’s too much to ask.” He said.







“I won’t quit my job for you, Lucius, please don’t ask it of me.”







“Perhaps you can work in the ministry? Or the museum? Somewhere safe.”







“Safe? Do you not recall the battle that took place in the ministry that we both happened to be involved in? Accidents and trouble can happen anywhere, don’t you know that?” She asked. “You are being unreasonable.”







“It is not unreasonable to expect you to love me enough to keep yourself safe from harm.” He said, shoving himself away from her. “Why is it so unpleasant for you to consider settling down? Why not have a child or two, raise a family instead of digging in the dirt for things long forgotten?”







“Because it isn’t who I am.” She cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.







“You can change, I did.”







“Lucius…I can’t.” Her voice cracked.





“You can but you won’t.” He snapped. “Tell me, if I were still a death eater, going out every night on missions, putting myself in danger, subjecting myself to Voldemort’s wrath night after night, would you want me to quit?”







“It isn’t the same thing!”







“Would you want me to quit so that you would know I was safe, so that you would know I was coming home to you healthy and whole?”







“Yes, I would ask you to quit.” She said softly.







“And if I refused?”







“Then I would walk away.” She sobbed, her heart breaking.







“Gods damn it, Hermione, don’t push me.” He said, his voice vibrating with anger.







“I thought you knew me. I thought you loved me enough to accept me for who I am.” She was crying, fat tears sliding over her cheeks and dropping onto her blouse.







“It’s because I love you that I want you safe.” He said.







“No, you want me where you can control me!” She snapped, running towards his fireplace. “Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office!” She cried as she stepped into the flames.







“Damn you, Hermione!” Lucius called, following her into the flames.







Hermione stepped out into Severus’s office, sobbing. He was standing in front of two students who were seated in uncomfortable looking chairs; no doubt they were in trouble. He looked up, a scowl on his lips that fell the moment he saw her tear streaked face.





“Minute?” She threw herself into his arms, her face buried in his shoulder as she cried. He looked at the boys he was chastising over her shoulder. “Get out, now! Go see Filch.” He snapped. The boys were confused seeing their strict headmaster cuddling a crying witch, but it didn’t dampen their fear of him so they hurried from his office, closing the door behind them.







“I should have known she would run straight to you.” Lucius said as he stepped from the hearth to find her wrapped up in Severus’s arms.





“What in the hell is going on here?” Severus asked Lucius, confused.





“Lucius is being an unreasonable prick!” She said, her voice muffled by his shoulder.





“And she is being a petulant brat.” Lucius said through clenched teeth as he stared at her in the arms of another. Severus felt her small body shuddering in his embrace and tore at him. She wasn’t an overly emotional woman, whatever had happened must have been pretty serious to have her crying so.







“Lucius, I think maybe you should go back home.” Severus said softly, his hand running up and down her back.







“Of course, what was I thinking following her here?” He said sarcastically. “Gods forbid she take my feelings on the subject in to account before she runs to you.”







“Wait here a moment, Lucius.” Severus said coolly as he led the crying witch through the doors that led to his private quarters. He settled her on the sofa in his study and called for a servant to tend to her before returning to his office. Lucius was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, muttering to himself under his breath.







“Is she alright?” He asked upon seeing Severus return.







“She is resting on the sofa; the house-elves are getting her some tea and a soothing potion.” Severus said as he leaned back against his desk. “What is going on, Lucius, why is she so upset?”







“Because I told her to quit her job.” He said.







“Why in Merlin’s name would you do a thing like that?” Severus couldn’t believe Lucius would have the nerve to try and interfere in Hermione’s work. Anyone who knew her knew how important her career was to her.







“Because I don’t want to lose her!”







“Well you’re doing a poor job of showing it.” Severus shook his head and walked to a cabinet beneath the window. He pulled open the drawer and withdrew a bottle of fire-whiskey and two glasses hidden between the files. He poured two healthy glasses and passed one to Lucius. “Exactly why do you want her to quit?”





“It’s dangerous, that’s why. She gets into trouble constantly! You know that, you have saved her who knows how many times now, once from a snakebite, on that bloody island and then after the cave in. How can you stand it? Knowing the danger she is in all the time?” Lucius downed the whiskey in a single shot, complete exasperation showing in his eyes.





“She isn’t always in danger, Lucius. You just happen to have born witness to an anomaly, a run of bad luck. She is brilliant at what she does and she loves it. Sure, I worry about her, but I know she would never be happy doing anything else.” Severus said quietly. “I deal with my fears for her because I love her, and I want her to be happy.”







“Well I just can’t do it.” Lucius said, shaking his head. “I can’t sit back and wait knowing she is lord knows where, possibly, probably knowing her, in danger. I just can’t do it.”





“Then you are not the man for her.” Severus said sadly. “I think you should go back home, Lucius. I promise I will take care of her.”







Lucius set his empty glass on the desk and sighed as he stared at the closed door leading to Severus’s quarters.







“You think me unreasonable too?”







“I think that you love her very much and that almost losing her was a lot for you to deal with.” Severus said. “I also think that maybe you should take some time to think about what you have done, what you have asked of her and figure out if there is a compromise somewhere in there. Until then, give her some space.”







“You will make certain she rests?” He asked, edging towards the hearth.







“I have been taking care of her for a long time, Lucius, don’t worry.” Severus said.







“Very well, I will talk to you soon.” He said with a last longing look towards the door before he stepped into the flames and back to Malfoy Manor.







Severus sighed and hung his head for a moment. This was the reason he didn’t get involved in relationships, this was the reason he had kept things so simple between himself and Hermione. Relationships came with drama, they came with angst and moments that were out of control, he wanted no part of that. He liked things simple, care free and completely within his control.







He returned to his rooms and found Hermione sitting on the sofa where he had left her, her head bowed over the cup of tea clutched in her hands. Several balled up tissues lay on the coffee table, the box itself sitting on the sofa beside her. He moved the tissues and sat down beside her, not at all surprised when she curled up against him, her head resting on his shoulder.







“Is he gone?” She sniffed.







“Yes, he went back home.” Severus said, running his hand down the braid draped over her shoulder. “He was very upset.”







“He was upset? He was a bloody prick is what he was! Can you believe he tried to force me to leave my job? To abandon the Merlin project?” She reached for another tissue and blew her nose, tossing the balled up mess onto the table.







“He is worried.” Severus said. “You have to understand that in Lucius’s world, women do not work. Narcissa has never worked a day in her life. Women in his circle are pampered bits of fluff who are concerned about nothing more than the latest frock.”







“He knew what I did when he met me, it is because of what I did that we ever crossed paths again to begin with! It is because of what I did that he and I ended up together, now suddenly he expects me to change who I am?” Hermione frowned, her eyes were burning and she could feel fatigue beginning to settle over her.







“Minute, it isn’t about you working or even what you do; it is about what could happen to you while you are doing it.” Severus let his cheek rest on the top of her head. “It isn’t easy seeing someone you love almost die because of their job. It was devastating, it has been painful every single time I have ever seen you in danger or injured. ”







“But you never asked me to quit.” She said softly.







“Oh the thought crossed my mind a time or two.” He admitted. “I dreamed of setting you up here at the school, developing a class for you to teach so that I knew you were tucked up nice and safe right here with me.”







“Why didn’t you?” She asked.







“Because I have the benefit of knowing you for years, Minute, I know it wouldn’t do me any good, your job is part of who you are.” He closed his eyes and tightened his arm around her. “Lucius doesn’t know that, he doesn’t understand why you won’t let him pamper you and tend to your every need.”





“He’s a control freak.” Hermione sniffed. “I won’t give up my life for him.”







Severus said nothing, she was angry and hurt and he knew she would need time to realize that Lucius was doing it out of love; his unreasonable behavior was well intentioned. He didn’t figure it would go over well if he began defending his friend.







“Do you want to sleep here with me tonight?” She nodded her head and Severus smiled. He toed off his shoes and propped his sock clad feet onto the coffee table in front of them, relaxing back into the sofa as he held her.









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Oh Lucius….so arrogant, so blind….so in love its making him stupid……..