Love Songs

A/N: I have to say the change in the rules is perfect timing. I figured out after I wrote this response that I was off by a year from the original rules. Enjoy.



Song: Breathless

Artist: The Corrs

Year: 2000





Go on go on

Leave me breathless

Come on [echo...]

Hey... yeah...



It started with a joke. Personally Hermione Granger thought Lucius Malfoy had no sense of humor what so ever. She had never seen the man smile much less crack a joke. So when he slipped the latest Minister of Magic a Tortoise Tart (the latest product in the line of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes) during a fund raiser, she couldn’t help but start to see him in a different light.



Oh everyone who got the Prophet knew the latest in the Malfoy family drama. Narcissa had filed for divorce as soon as the war was over, stating that she had only stayed because she feared for her life. Apparently the Dark Lord frowned mightily on divorce and for the last three years the Malfoy marriage was in name only. The scandal of the year was the size of the party Lucius threw to celebrate the dissolution of the marriage bonds. The fact that Narcissa didn’t even have the name Malfoy or Black when she moved to the Black family home in France was almost an after thought.



But even the fact that she had been invited to the bash didn’t make her see how much the Malfoy men had changed. But that stupid adolescent prank did. When he caught her eye afterward and winked it was then she was certain that he was not the same man that almost killed Ginny with Riddle’s diary and fought against them in the Department of Mysteries.



Shortly after the fundraiser Hermione got an owl at work inviting her out to lunch. Even though it wasn’t signed she knew exactly who it was from. Draco Malfoy had started as a coworker in the Department of Muggle Relations and over the year that they had worked together they became friends. She had received more then a few invitations to Malfoy parties and they always had the same scent of mint and citrus. She had come to associate it with Lucius.





The daylight\'s fading slowly

The time with you is standing still

I\'m waiting for you only

The slightest touch and I feel weak

I cannot lie, from you I cannot hide

And I\'m losing the will to try

Can\'t hide it (can\'t hide it), can\'t fight it (can\'t fight it)





Hermione tried to stifle a giggle and failed. Lucius looked over his plate covered with a mound of chips and smirked at her.



“Oh indeed Miss Granger, your esteemed colleague dragged that damn pink unicorn with him every where he went. In fact it even made its way into his trunk his first year of Hogwarts.”



Hermione couldn’t help herself and threw her head back. Lucius was not used to women who were not ashamed to belly laugh in public. It was contagious and soon the entire pub was looking at them. With a lingering snort, Hermione looked at the time and panicked.



“Oh Merlin I was supposed to be back at work an hour ago!” She fumbled with her purse and slapped some Galleons on the table. As she headed out the door she called over her shoulder. “I had a wonderful time Lucius. Next time my place.”





So go on, go on, come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling)

Make me long for your kiss

Go on (go on), go on (go on)

Yeah...

Come on

Yeah...





Lucius Malfoy was stunned. In the span of less then a minute he had few things happen to him for the first time. A woman had paid for his lunch, the same woman invited him over to her place for lunch and all that was wrapped up the neat little package that was Hermione Granger. A woman who as a child he had loathed simply because she had the audacity to be born to muggle parents, he had tried to seriously injure in a battle in the Department of Mysteries, had been tortured under his roof and to top it off he had encouraged his son to torment her when they were students. He was out of his element and he couldn’t be happier.



Hermione went skidding back into her office and nearly slammed into her boss’ back. She slowly backed up. If she was lucky she could leave and say that something came up. She froze as she backed into a rock solid broad male chest. With a muttered “Fie” she turned around to find herself face to chest with Lucius.



She looked up and he winked at her. In a loud voice he proclaimed “Thank you so much Miss Granger for helping me find a suitable electrician to wire the Manor. I’ve become rather fond of the rugby games on the television. And as Arthur Weasley has found out muggle technology doesn’t run on magic alone.”



Hermione’s boss turned at Lucius’ voice and simpered. She offered him coffee which he accepted. As he disappeared into her office he turned to her and mouthed “Saturday?” and grinned. Hermione nodded and went into her office.



Draco sat at her desk with his feet propped up and his arms crossed behind his head. His grin reminded her of the cat in Alice in Wonderland. It took up his entire face and his eyes twinkled. For a second she thought he was channeling Dumbledore. Shaking her head she knocked his feet out of her inbox.



Saturday couldn’t come fast enough for Lucius. His son was driving him nuts with questions about his last lunch outing with Miss Granger and whether or not it was an official date this time. With how nervous he was it might as well have been.



He had changed his clothes no less the seven times and brushed his teeth twice. With that thought he headed back into his bathroom to brush again “just in case”. He had finally settled on a simple pair of black trousers with a red silk shirt. He didn’t think it would be appropriate to walk into a Gryffindor’s den wearing Slytherin colors. He made a mental note to pick up some more reds and some neutral colors. He walked over to his mirror and smiled into it.



“Miss Granger, how wonderful to see you again.” No, that would never do. That’s what he said to the women who just wanted to hop into his bed. Mustering up his courage he let a smirk cross his face. “Looking lovely as ever Hermione.”





And if there\'s no tomorrow

And all we have is here and now

I\'m happy just to have you

You\'re all the love I need somehow

It\'s like a dream

Although I\'m not asleep

And I never want to wake up

Don\'t lose it (don\'t lose it), don\'t leave it (don\'t leave it)





Hermione put the finishing touches on the picnic basket. She had no clue what Lucius liked and when she asked Draco what she should feed his father he just grinned at her and let his gaze rest in her lap. With a sharp smack in the back of his head and a muttered “Pervert” she decided to make it a picnic and just bring some sandwiches. She smoothed down her green sundress as she went to answer the knock at the door.



“If lunch is half of attractively packaged as you, I would think that you ordered take out from The Dragon’s Den.” Lucius mentally kicked himself. This was a simple lunch damn it! Not some meeting between two lovers! With a sigh he smiled at her hoping that she hadn’t picked up all of what he said. No such luck.



“I’m glad you like the dress Lucius but it’s just a simple picnic. No take out. Plus lunch at the Dragon’s Den would put me back a month’s salary.” With a giggle she led him into her flat and went into the kitchen to grab the basket. “I hope you don’t mind sandwiches. I asked your son what you liked but he was no help.”



Lucius took the basket from her as hit the sidewalk. There was a small wizarding park across from her flat and it was filled with playing kids. He missed the sounds of children playing. There had been precious little of it when the Dark Lord was in power as parents were too scared to let their kids play outdoors and it had been so long since Draco was young enough that pushing him on a swing brought squeals of delight. He put the basket down in the shade of a large oak.



Lunch progressed mostly in silence. Neither of them knew were to start. By this point they both realized that this was indeed a date and the mothers of the playing children were staring at them. He wasn’t sure if they were waiting for him to poison Hermione or kiss her. He looked at her and noticed the same thing in her eyes. With a smirk he leaned in.



With a look into his eyes she knew exactly what he was thinking. With a mischievous grin of her own she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his. She wasn’t prepared for the softness of his lips or for the electric tingles that raced down her spine. Lucius wasn’t either and let out a barely audible whimper. He reached up and lightly tangled his fingers in her hair.





So go on, go on, come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling)

Make me long for your kiss

Go on (go on), go on (go on)

Yeah...

Come on





He told himself it was for the benefit of the gawking mothers, not the fact he didn’t want the kiss to end just yet. When she broke the kiss a few seconds later he came crashing back down to earth. “Dessert was perfect. Maybe you can make it next time as well?” He wasn’t expecting the laughter and his heart sank. She was laughing at him!



“Oh Lucius, I would love to make you that dessert again.”



The two of them walked hand in hand back to her flat, the wagging tongues fading into the distance behind them. He gave her another kiss at her door and apparated back to the Manor. He had invited her to dinner that Friday and he needed everything to be perfect. It was time to pick Draco’s brain as to what women wanted these days.





Malfoy Senior was ready to throttle his son. Every time he saw Draco his son would give him a knowing smirk. This wouldn’t bother him half as much if he knew what the smirk was for and it bothered Lucius to no end. He tried to remember if he was as bad as Draco at the age twenty and admitted to himself that he was much worse.



As far he was concerned though Friday night couldn’t come fast enough. He had broken down after his son gave him rather lewd suggestions for dinner with Hermione and sought out Harry Potter. He had thought about bothering the youngest Weasley male but poor Ron was so sleep deprived from being the father of twins that he was known to come to work in his wife’s blouses.



After getting the door slammed in his face twice (once by Molly Weasley, once by Ginny) he finally pried the all important information out of Harry. Granted it took a bit of un-Malfoy like begging, but a stunned Harry finally told him what Hermione’s favorite dinner was and the fact that she hated flowers. With a promise to look into the possible bribery problem in the Ministry he left the shocked Weasley family and laughing Harry Potter behind.



Hermione’s knees knocked together. The last time she had been at Malfoy Manor was for Lucius’ divorce party and the time before that she was quite nicely getting over with a bit of help from a therapy wizard. It helped that Draco let her know that his father had that room completely redesigned and it no longer actually existed as a drawing room but as a storage closet. With a deep breath she brought her hand up to knock on the door.



Her hand didn’t make contact with wood but with someone’s nose. Her jaw dropped when she saw Draco rubbing his sore nose.



“Granger, I think you’re supposed to start beating me after you become my stepmother not before. Though with that left hook in our third year you have one hell of a head start.”



Hermione’s nervousness got the better of her and she started crying. Draco immediately started trying to soothe her.



“I’m sorry Hermione I was just teasing, it didn’t hurt at all. I swear it.” His nose throbbed painfully at remembrance of both third year and thirty seconds earlier. He drew her into an uneasy hug and patted her hair. “Shh, shh little one. Everything is going to be OK.”





And I can\'t lie

From you I cannot hide

And I\'ve lost my will to try

Can\'t hide it (can\'t hide it), can\'t fight it, (can\'t fight it)





Lucius stood in the doorway and looked at his son trying to comfort Hermione. Maybe inviting her to dinner was a bad idea. He caught Hermione’s eye and she leapt out of Draco’s arms and into his nearly knocking him over. Draco took the opportunity and made a hasty exit. Lucius picked Hermione up and carried her into the library. He didn’t know too much about her but knew that she loved books.



Hermione sniffed into Lucius’ shoulder. She had hit his son, broke down crying and he saw her in the arms of Draco. She thought that he was about to say that he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. She had done nothing but daydream about this dinner all week and even her boss had noticed something was off. She didn’t think that she could stand it if he booted her to the curb so soon after they had found out that they might have something.



Lucius had no clue how to comfort her. He knew she was nervous. Hell he had to take four showers because he kept sweating through his shirts he was so paranoid about something going wrong. He tipped her face up so that they were looking at each other. He didn’t say anything just laid a gentle kiss on her lips. Hermione felt all her tension melt. He deepened the kiss and swept his tongue over her bottom lip.



They never did get to dinner. The house elves didn’t care though because they could feel that the master was happy right where he was. Even Draco was giddy when he opened the library door to announce dinner to find his father and Hermione just sitting on a love seat debating potions theories. They would argue for a few minutes then Lucius would kiss Hermione quickly and declare himself the winner.





So go on, (go on) go on, (go on), come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling) Make me long for your kiss





The routine went on for weeks. Lunch in the park on nice Saturdays, dinner at the Manor on Fridays, sometimes a play during the week. Hermione corned Lucius out on the patio after dinner three months into their relationship.



“What are we doing Lucius?”



“I thought we were looking at the last of the summer roses. What do you want to do.”



Hermione laughed. He had gotten used to the fact that she wasn’t laughing to be mean but because she was amused.



“I mean us Lucius. We seem to be walking the line between friends and something more. We go out to plays on and what most would see as dates but the rest of the time we debate theories, play chess and…” Lucius walked over to her and whispered in her ear.



“When you not with me I dream of when we next see each other. When we are together I want to just pull you into my arms and kiss you senseless. I can’t breathe properly when you’re near. A single kiss from you is enough to make me forget everything bad that I’ve had done to me. When we eat lunch in the park I imagine that our kids are the ones acting like little imps and squealing in joy. I don’t know what we are doing Hermione. All I know is that I don’t want it to stop.”



Hermione just smiled and leaned into him.



“Me too Lucius, me too.”





Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on... go on!











Song: Breathless

Artist: The Corrs

Album: In Blue

Year: 2000





Go on go on

Leave me breathless

Come on [echo...]



Hey... yeah...



The daylight\'s fading slowly

The time with you is standing still

I\'m waiting for you only

The slightest touch and I feel weak

I cannot lie, from you I cannot hide

And I\'m losing the will to try

Can\'t hide it (can\'t hide it), can\'t fight it (can\'t fight it)



So go on, go on, come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling)

Make me long for your kiss

Go on (go on), go on (go on)

Yeah...

Come on

Yeah...



And if there\'s no tomorrow

And all we have is here and now

I\'m happy just to have you

You\'re all the love I need somehow

It\'s like a dream

Although I\'m not asleep

And I never want to wake up

Don\'t lose it (don\'t lose it), don\'t leave it (don\'t leave it)



So go on, go on, come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling)

Make me long for your kiss

Go on (go on), go on (go on)

Yeah...

Come on [echo...]



[Guitar\'s solo] Yeah-ie, yeah, yeah-ie, yeah...



And I can\'t lie

From you I cannot hide

And I\'ve lost my will to try

Can\'t hide it (can\'t hide it), can\'t fight it, (can\'t fight it)



So go on, (go on) go on, (go on), come on, leave me breathless

Tempt me, tease me, until I can\'t deny

This loving feeling (loving feeling) Make me long for your kiss



Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on, (go on) go on, (go on) come on, leave... me breathless

Go on... go on!