The Death Eater's Valentine

EPILOGUE









February 13 – Two years later







Hermione sighed as she apparated into her living room with Lucius and Severus following close behind. She shook her head and tossed her purse and cloak onto the coffee table before she flopped back onto the sofa and stared up at the two wizards.







“I can not wait until tomorrow when we can finally rid you of this….hovel.” Lucius said, looking around him with his lip curled in disgust.







“I don’t understand why you have bothered keeping it; the two of you spend nearly every night together at the Manor.” Severus said, sitting on the sofa beside Hermione and draping his arm over the back behind her.







“I tried to get her to move in, but she refused, said it wasn’t proper.” Lucius said, reaching out to brush off the arm chair before seating himself. “She didn’t care so much about propriety as she was screaming her head off in my bed every night.”







“Every night?” Severus asked his brows quirked in disbelief. The corner of Lucius’s mouth lifted in a grin.







“Most mornings too.” He said.









“Will you two shut up?” Hermione snapped, staring between the two of them. “I can not believe you are going to sit here going on and on as though nothing happened!”









“Well what would you have us do, little one? What is done is done.” Lucius said, leaning his cane against the side of his chair and removing his gloves.







“You two ruined the pre-wedding dinner!” Hermione yelled, leaping to her feet and pacing the room for a moment before kicking off her shoes and pacing some more as the horrible evening replayed in her head.







”Mr. Granger, it is customary in our world for a wizard to present an offering to the father of his intended witch.” Lucius had said, bowing politely and removing three tiny packages from his pocket. He reached for his wand and enlarged the gifts, they nearly covered the table. “This is a bottle of wine from the Malfoy Vineyards in Tuscany, sweet with a slightly smoky aftertaste.” Hermione watched her father examine the bottle as Lucius reached out for the next package. “I present you and your wife with a set of robes, sir. I know that you are not a wizard, “Lucius’s brows furrowed only slightly with distaste as he said it. “But I thought perhaps you and your wife would like something more comfortable to wear while within the magical world.”







“Well this is very nice of you, Lucius, but you didn’t have to, it isn’t customary in muggle families to gift the bride’s parents.” Her father said smiling. “And you don’t have to call me sir; we are nearly the same age after all.”







“Not really sir, your life is more than half over while mine has barely begun.” Hermione shook her head and laughed softly. Only Lucius would say something like that to the man whose daughter he was about to wed. “This is a very special gift, sir.” Lucius tapped his wand on the top of the large box and it began to move.







“Lucius, what on earth is in that box?” Hermione asked, staring at the bouncing box with a mix of curiosity and fear.







“A miniature horntail.” Lucius smiled, lifting the lid. A tiny dragon the size of a small dog leapt from the box and onto the table.







“Oh dear gods, Lucius! You can’t give a muggle family a pet dragon! The muggle world believes they are myths!” Hermione said, watching the tiny creature trying to gain purchase on the slick surface of the table.







“I thought Dragons were huge?” Her father said, staring curiously at the little creature.







“Well, full grown dragons are offered only for virgin brides.” Lucius said simply.







“Merlin’s beard.” Hermione muttered, her face flushing as her father’s eyes widened and he began to cough. No one had a chance to comment further because the little dragon hiccupped and set the flower arrangement afire.











“I apologized already, little one. I had no idea your parents weren’t expecting me to make the traditional offerings.” Lucius said. “I didn’t mean for their table to burn down…I transfigured them another one, a nicer one.”







“You should have consulted either me or Hermione first, Lucius, we would have told you it was not necessary.” Severus piped in. Hermione turned around and glared down at Severus who had the grace to flush slightly.







“You weren’t any better, Severus.” Hermione snapped.







Hermione was sitting at the table listening to Severus chatting with her grandmother.







“I just don’t know what to do! Everything I have tried has failed; it still just falls over like a cooked noodle.” Her grandmother said exasperated.







Hermione knew Severus wasn’t really paying attention; he was busy putting away the wine, uncomfortable being surrounded by her family. They had come to join them for dinner, believing that Hermione and Lucius were jetting off to wed in some exotic location for only the two of them. They had no idea that in the magical world, the wedding of Lucius Malfoy to Hermione Granger was THE event of the year, perhaps the decade.







Severus set his wine down and looked over at Hermione’s grandmother, a bit glassy eyed as the wine began to take effect.





“I could potentially brew you something to help with that.” Severus said, trying to smile. Hermione reached under the table for his leg, digging her nails in to curtail his wayward tongue.







“Oh really? You have a natural remedy for it then?” Grandmother Granger asked.







“Virility potion isn’t that difficult to brew…..” Severus winced and frowned at Hermione who had dug her claws painfully into his thigh.







“Virility potion?” Her grandmother blinked in confusion.







“Yes, once he drinks it, it should take effect within a half hour and he should be good all night.” Severus said, reaching for his glass, but Hermione got to it first and moved it from his reach.







“How does having my husband drink it keep my tomato plants from falling over?”















“I’m sorry, I don’t socialize with muggles often anymore, and I didn’t recall how difficult it was to dine without magic.” Severus said, shrugging.







“You offered to brew Viagra for my grandfather!” Hermione said, throwing her hands into the air.







“I thought that was what she was talking about; I didn’t know she was talking about limp tomatoes!” Severus defended.







“What makes you think my grandmother would tell you, a complete stranger about her bedroom troubles?” Hermione asked her hands on her hips.







“I don’t know…like I said, I don’t socialize with muggles often anymore, I have no idea what is socially acceptable now.” Severus frowned.







“I give up…the two of you are hopeless.” Hermione said shaking her head. Lucius snagged her hand and tugged her into his lap.









“Stop fretting; nothing happened that was that horrible.” He said, stroking her hair and kissing her cheek.









“I’m tired, you two need to go back to the manor.” Hermione said, yawning.









“You aren’t coming home with me?” Lucius asked.







“No, I’m staying here tonight.” Hermione said.









“But I can’t sleep in that awful little bed of yours and Severus is too tall to sleep on your couch.” Lucius frowned and looked around the little flat, he hated her place.









“You two aren’t staying with me tonight, Lucius. It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.” Hermione laughed when his expression became an almost pout.







“Well what if I leave early and promise not to look at you?” He asked.









“No, because I know you too well, as soon as you wake up your wand will be knocking at my bottom for a morning wake up call.” Hermione said. She threaded her fingers in his hair and kissed his brow. “It’s only one night, Lucius. Never again will I sleep anywhere but right beside you.” She said softly. “I love you.”







“And I you, little one.” He said quietly. “Fine, I’ll go spend the night with the bat.” Lucius said, looking around his fiancée to the wizard now giving him the finger. “Tomorrow can not get here quickly enough.” He growled.









“For me either, my love. Tomorrow I become the Death Eater’s Forever Valentine.”







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And my short little tale is complete......but there are more to come…..one featuring Lucius and Hermione in an adventure ala Indiana Jones.







I want to thank you all for your kind words…..it really did cheer me up to see such support from people who only know me through writing…..so thank you all so very much.





Utopia - couldn’t see wizards giving out cows or goats as offerings to the father…..but a Dragon I could easily see LOL