The Masked Lady

Chapter 14: Poor Harry











Harry Potter sat in an uncomfortable chair staring at the closed door of Hermione’s office. Had anyone entered they might mistakenly assume that he was petrified given his wide eyed stare and complete immobility. Anyone who looked into his thoughts would be stunned by the things running through his mind. He and Hermione were close, very close; they talked about everything without shame or judgment. However, talking about things and seeing them were two very different things.







Ron had mentioned once that Hermione had a thing for unusual locales, she liked the danger of getting caught, he had also said that she liked for him to talk dirty to her. It wasn’t that Harry wanted to know these things about Hermione, but she was his friend and Ron was his friend so whether he liked it or not he heard things. And now he had seen them. Granted he had only caught a glimpse of what was happening before the door closed in his face but there was no denying it, Lucius Malfoy was giving it to Hermione good and proper in her office in the middle of the afternoon.





And if by any chance he could have misinterpreted what he saw there was no misinterpreting the sounds that emanated from behind that door. He supposed Lucius was too busy to cast a silencing spell, Harry was probably lucky that he bothered to close the door. Lucius didn’t seem the type to be bothered by others watching. If he didn’t know what they were doing he would think she was being tortured. She wasn’t exactly quiet was she? He clearly had underestimated the older wizard, Lucius had no trouble keeping up with Hermione, and in fact Harry was concerned it would be Hermione who found it difficult to keep up.







He was still staring at the door when it swung open and a flushed and slightly disheveled Lucius smirked at him. The man defined arrogance and Harry had to admit he had earned it; the man had plenty to be arrogant about.







“Still here I see.” Lucius turned and went back into the office. Harry assumed he was to follow. Inside he found Hermione sitting in her chair behind her desk and Lucius was rubbing her shoulders.









“Hello, Harry.” Hermione wanted to laugh. She hadn’t seen Harry’s face that red in ages.







“Mione, Lucius…sorry about…erm…well….uh...” He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and tried to ignore their sadistic grinning. “Anyhow, I need to talk to you.”







“What about?” She asked, though she was pretty certain she already knew the answer.







“She’s back, Mione; The Masked Lady hit a country club last night. I need to know if you received a donation this morning.”







“No, Harry. I didn’t.” She had been so distracted by Lucius she had forgotten about the newspaper. “It’s true then, someone robbed several wizards last night.”







“Not someone, it was her, the eye witnesses identified her from previous robberies. Seems she’s come out of retirement and she’s ticked off about something.” He flopped into the chair in front of her desk and gave and exasperated sigh.







“Did you investigate the scene?” Lucius asked, his fingers biting into Hermione’s shoulders.







“Yes, and I wish I knew why her M.O. changed so dramatically. She was never violent before and she never used magic.” He was clearly baffled by the case and now so was Hermione and Lucius.





“Did you trace the magical signature?” Lucius asked.





“That’s the strange thing. When we traced it, it traced back to the wand of a woman who died twenty years ago. Nigel Ollivander is our Magical Tracking Agent so there is no doubt about the wand. The question is where did she get it?” Harry raked his hand through his hair, causing the perpetually messy locks to stand up even more.







“Stolen and lost wands are easy enough to come by if you know the right sorts of people.” Lucius said. Hermione looked up at him over her shoulder with a quirked brow. He shrugged; it wasn’t like they didn’t know he danced in and out of the grey area.







“Harry, have you considered that it isn’t the same woman?” Hermione asked as she turned back around.







“The descriptions are exact. The only thing changed is her attitude. I swear, I thought this was over, I had shoved this case into the “cold” files and now it’s rearing its ugly head again and it’s even more frustrating than before!” Harry actually growled in frustration. “I need to solve this case and put an end to this once and for all, I just don’t know how.”









~@~









“You need to tell him, Pet.” Lucius said after Harry left them alone.







“No I don’t.” She said stubbornly, shaking her head in refusal.









“Yes, you do.” He replied, leaning back against her desk with his arms crossed over his chest. “You need to tell him because whoever it is who has assumed your alias is dangerous, he needs to understand that he isn’t dealing with a witch whose motives were philanthropic but one whose motives are selfish and driven by greed.”







“But, Lucius, while my intentions were…noble…I still broke the law.” Her voice cracked slightly and he realized that she was afraid. His bold, brave witch was afraid of what Harry would do.







“It will be alright. I’ve broken the law many, many times.” She slapped his arm and frowned at him. He couldn’t help but smile as he reached down to brush his knuckles against her cheek. “Potter won’t arrest you, Pet, he loves you and knows you didn’t do it for criminal reasons. Besides, I would never let you see the inside of Azkaban, I promise you that.”





She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, turning her head and kissing his hand tenderly. His eyes were heavy lidded as he watched, his heart stuttering at such a soft, loving gesture. He was always surprised when she offered him such tenderness, when she would reach for his hand or kiss him just because. When she would curl into his body in her sleep and snuggle in, nuzzling him and kissing him without ever waking, as though even in her subconscious she longed to be close to him. It wasn’t common behavior in pureblood marriages. Affection and love matches were for the common folk, but he couldn’t deny the warmth that flowed through him with every kiss, every touch.





“I believe you.” She said, opening her eyes and meeting his gaze. “But it’s not just prison that scares me. Harry is my best friend, I tell him everything, I don’t keep secrets from him, ever. This will hurt him in more ways than one, because I committed a crime and because I kept it from him.”







“Then make it up to him by helping him catch this person. So you took a few baubles and galleons from people who won’t miss them and gave them to charity, you never hurt anyone.” He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers, cupping the side of her face and stroking the skin beneath her ear with his thumb. “He will forgive you, Hermione. Potter loves you, I can see that.”







“I don’t know how to tell him.” There was sadness in her eyes as she said it.







“I’ll help you. I’ll send an invite to Potter for dinner; I’ll tell him that I have information that might help him. Don’t worry, Pet, it will be alright.” He kissed the end of her nose and let himself out of her office so she could get some work done.











~@~











Harry wasn’t exactly thrilled to be returning to Malfoy Manor. The place held several not so pleasant memories for him but if Hermione could get beyond them so could he, he hoped. The house had changed some, no doubt sustaining damage during the war and the deatheater occupation required some reconstruction. He was met at the front door by an aging house elf that greeted him in a surly manner and instructed him to follow. He followed the creature through the maze of halls to a large, elaborate dining room with a lavishly set table.







He rolled his eyes when he saw Lucius and Hermione kissing in the corner. Not just kissing, they were, in vulgar terms, sucking face rather enthusiastically. Lucius had one hand curved around her breast and Hermione had both hands full of tight male buttocks.







“Is that all you do?” Harry asked, shaking his head and grinning as the couple pulled apart. They didn’t look at all abashed as Lucius’s hand slid down to her waist and Hermione gave his backside an affectionate pat.







“Hello, Potter, welcome to Malfoy Manor.” Lucius smiled and wiped his hand across his lips to remove the fine coating of Hermione’s lip gloss.







“Harry, I’m glad you could make it.” Hermione said nervously. She looked quite lovely in a short emerald green dress and heels.







“Ginny is in Glasgow for a match, I couldn’t turn down a good meal or the promise of information.” He said. “You look like Lady of the Manor, Mione.”







“She is. She agreed to move in with me this afternoon; we will move her things this weekend.” Lucius looked thrilled with the situation and hugged her affectionately.







“I had no idea things had gotten so serious between the two of you.” Harry was stunned; he never thought Hermione would involve herself any deeper than sex, at least not with Malfoy.







“We were a bit surprised ourselves. Have a seat, Harry, dinner is ready.” Hermione was seated first, Lucius holding her chair for her. They kept the conversation light during the meal, chatting about work and family, dipping lightly into politics and a little into the new relationship between Hermione and Lucius. By the time they finished dessert and retired to the lounge for a drink they had run the gambit of polite conversation and the moment of truth was upon them.







“So, Lucius, you have information for me?” Harry crossed his legs and waited.







“I’m actually surprised you held off asking for this long.” Lucius carried his glass to his favorite chair and sat down, pulling Hermione onto his knee as he did. “You are not dealing with the same woman, Potter. What you have is a copycat thief.”







“Every eye witness account matches the Masked Lady’s description exactly, how could you possibly know that it isn’t the same woman?” Lucius had contacts deep inside the criminal world, everyone knew that but it wasn’t a crime to know a criminal.







“Because I know who the real Masked Lady is.” The look of shocked anger on Harry’s face was understandable.







“You know who she is and you withheld that information! I could have you arrested for interfering with an official investigation and withholding information!” Harry leapt from his seat and slammed his glass down on the side table. “Who is she, Malfoy?”





“Me.” Hermione said softly. “I am the Masked Lady.”







Harry narrowed his eyes and his face flushed crimson. She could see the muscle twitching in his jaw and she knew he was grinding his teeth.







“That isn’t funny, Hermione.” He said through clenched teeth.







“It wasn’t meant to be. It was me, Harry, I was the one stealing from the wealthy and donating the funds.” Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and Harry knew she was telling the truth. Hermione wasn’t the type to cry for no reason; she wasn’t that good an actress.





“Mione…why?” He sat back down on the sofa, his stomach churning as nausea and shock warred within him.







“Frustration, desperation.” She shrugged her shoulders, at a loss for an explanation. “I couldn’t stand it anymore. I couldn’t stand seeing the wealthy flaunting their flashy clothes and jewels while the poor starved. Do you know my annual budget to help thousands of families in magical Britain is less than what Lucius makes every quarter on his investments alone? His annual income from investments, businesses and inheritance dividends is over five times my budget!”







“But….Mione, you robbed people…you committed a crime and you are now confessing it to me! What am I supposed to do? You are my best friend but I swore to uphold the law…I don’t know what to do!” He raked his hands through his hair, the familiar gesture made her want to cry.







“I’m sorry, Harry.” She choked on the words and felt Lucius’s hand stroking her back comfortingly.







“I don’t know what bothers me more; that you committed the crimes or that you didn’t tell me.” He said.







“I won’t allow her to go to prison, Potter.” Lucius drew his attention and Harry actually jolted a bit at what he saw. The man’s blue eyes were dark and Harry could see that he meant it. In his eyes Harry could read the facts clearly, Lucius would kill for Hermione if he had to. How very interesting.







“I don’t want her to go to prison either, Malfoy. I can’t put her in prison yet she committed a crime, I’m torn here by what I should do and what I want to do.” He sat back and rubbed his forehead, stroking over the scar, a habit from his childhood when he was severely stressed.







“If it helps she was primarily stealing from me and I don’t really mind.” Lucius said, tickling her ribs slightly and making her laugh softly through her tears.







“That’s why you were so obsessed with her!” Harry’s eyes widened and he smiled, momentarily forgetting that his best friend just confessed to a crime.







“Partially, she did more than just steal my diamonds; it was worth every moment of it which is why I never filed a complaint.” He was stroking Hermione’s arm with his fingertips and the looks being exchanged between them were a bit disconcerting.







“I don’t think I want to know, I already know far too much about your intimate activities.” He exhaled forcefully and stared at Hermione for several long minutes. “I can’t do it; I can’t arrest you even though I know I should.”







“I’m sorry, Harry, I know what a difficult position I have put you in.” She said.







“Do you, Mione? I could lose my job if anyone ever finds out, I could go to jail for conspiracy, contempt, aiding and abetting, and who knows what else.” Harry knew he was going against everything he believed in, every auror code in the book but he just couldn’t arrest her.







“I know, Harry, believe me, I know and I am so sorry. No one is going to find out, Lucius only figured it out because….well, never mind how he figured it out.” Her cheeks actually flushed slightly.







“I hope so, Mione. For both our sakes.” Harry turned his attention back to Lucius. “Alright, so I have a copycat. Now I have to figure out why, who and how.”







“Now that I don’t know, but, I am willing to offer my resources to help you in any way I can.” Lucius offered.







“Thank you.” Harry got to his feet and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “Well, I guess I can take some comfort in having the initial mystery solved.”







Hermione slid from Lucius’s lap and wrapped her arms around Harry, squeezing him tight and kissing his cheek.







“I love you, Harry, I really do.” She said, squeezing harder. He embraced her back, lifting her off the floor for a moment.







“I love you too.” He said just before he set her back. “You know this means you owe me, big time.”







“I know. I will never be able to repay you for not putting me in prison.” She smiled.







“I’m afraid of what he might have done to me had I tried.” Harry gestured towards Lucius. “He must really care for you to move you in here and to be willing to do who knows what to keep you safe.”







“He does, I care about him too.” She said softly. “Funny how things work out.”







“Yeah, hilarious.” He kissed her cheek. “I better go.” He extended his hand to Lucius shook the other wizard’s hand firmly. “Lucius, thank you for dinner, it was…enlightening…to say the least.”







“Glad to have helped, Potter, we will have you over again, perhaps next time your lovely bride could join us.” Lucius said politely.





“She’d like that.”







“Feel free to use the floo.” Lucius said. With a last goodbye Harry stepped through the hearth and vanished into the swirling green flames.







“Well, that was rather pleasant.” He wrapped his arms around Hermione and pulled her close. “I told you he wouldn’t arrest you.”







“Did you see the disappointment in his face? It was like a knife in my gut.” She laid her head against his chest and tried not to remember the look on Harry’s face when she confessed.





“He will deal with it, Hermione, it will all be alright, I promise you.” He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back.







“I hope so.” She sighed. “Lucius, take me upstairs so we can have a swim in your tub.”







“Our tub. And your wish is my command.” With a loud pop Lucius disapparated them to the master chambers for a long night of slippery bath time games.











Sigh….working on a Sunday….dont wanna…here is your update my friends….enjoy!!!