Refashioning Affection

Chapter 15: Time Goes By


Hermione woke the next morning happy to feel the weight of Lucius’s arm draped across her waist. Even dead asleep, sprawled out on his stomach, he still held on to her.

She glanced at her alarm clock, 6:58- beat the alarm by two minutes, as always. She turned off the sound so it would not wake up her wizard, then slowly rose and headed to the bathroom across the hall.

She stripped off the oversize t-shirt, borrowed- without intent of return- from Harry years ago, and turned on the shower. The old plumbing gurgled to life and soon hot, steamy water began to cascade into the large, claw foot tub. She had two hours before she needed to be to work, so a nice long shower was possible.

Just as she was about to step into the tub, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and long fingers splayed low on her stomach. She felt his warm chest and arousal against her back.

“Good morning, love,” he whispered, his lips trailing around the shell of her ear.

“Good morning to you, too,” she said, wiggling in his grasp causing him to groan.

“Are you going to invite me into your shower, my witch?” he asked, his fingers sliding lower, caressing her.

“But, of course,” she answered in a husky tone. She was still overwhelmed by how much his touch could affect her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long shower and a good breakfast Lucius took his leave of Hermione’s cottage to return home before heading to work.

He dressed and left for work, all the while listening to Draco snicker as his father all but skipped out of the house.

When Hermione arrived at her office, there was a bouquet of wild flowers on her desk. She was surprised to see they were from Draco, apologizing for bringing back any bad memories and that he was glad that his father had found someone to keep him on his toes.

She smiled at the flowers as she placed them on her mantel. She would have to have Ron and Draco over for dinner one night.

Lucius popped in around four by request of Hermione.

“You sent for me, my dear.” He walked in dressed to the nines, cane in hand.

“Yes, I have some very exciting news. I, well, we rather, are making a little trip to southern England.” She smiled.

“I take it that those are Minister’s orders,” he said giving her a grin.

“Indeed, it appears that whatever is down there has been there long before the former Dark Lord, and he wants those who have a bit more experience to go and look at it,” she explained as she walked closer and ran her finger playfully down the buttons of his waistcoat.

“So, that means we should take a closer look at those legends and see if we can piece some things together.”

“I have some ideas. We can research them later, and we have plenty of time.”

“When do we leave?’

“January 5th”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weeks went by quickly. November gave way to December and the holiday season. Hermione had contacted some distant relative, a third cousin named Jessica, who had her grandmother’s hope chest. Jessica had promised to dig it out and send it to her as soon as possible.

Once the old oak chest arrived two weeks later, the most important find was her grandmother’s and her great-grandmother’s diaries, because they had grown up so close to the old Riddle house.

It seems that darkness radiated from the house and no one had ever lived there longer than a few months. Hermione and Lucius had done some research, but the only conclusion they could come to was it was some sort of elemental haunting the vaults. A demon of sorts, created from the use of Dark Magic.

Over the weeks of work and research, Hermione had also let Lucius closer as a lover than anyone in a long time. They agreed it was time to come out of hiding so they could start enjoying more time together.

Lucius and Hermione had decided to make their great debut as a couple for the Ministry Christmas party. The only thing more shocking to the other employees of the Ministry was the fact that Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy had been found snogging in the cloakroom.

Christmas day was an intimate, quiet gathering at the Manor. Dinner consisted of Draco, Ron, Severus, and, of course, Lucius and Hermione. After a Christmas Eve at the Burrow it was nice to have some calm.

Lucius had given Hermione two gifts. One was a white gold necklace in the shape of a compass. The center was a red rose made of rubies and the compass points were marked with emeralds and sapphires. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually worked.

The other, the one she loved the most, was a framed picture of the two of them at the Ministry ball to add to her collection. Lucius was staring down at his little witch and smiling as they danced.

She had launched herself into his lap after opening the delicately wrapped box that held their photo. It took a less than subtle throat clearing on Severus’s part and gagging noises from Draco to finally pull the pair apart.

Hermione had given Lucius a first edition of an ancient spell book written in Welsh. He was overwhelmed by it.

“Wherever did you find this?” he asked as he gently thumbed through the ancient pages.

“A market in Morocco, actually. I couldn’t believe it, but I checked it out and it is authentic. I figured it would fit in well with the rest of your collection.” He kissed her sweetly on the cheek and nuzzled his nose against hers.

“This one,” she whispered, slipping a shrunken box into his pocket of his jacket, “is for later on tonight.” She smirked at him as he growled low in his chest.

Hermione merely winked at him before she danced off to refill her wineglass.

~~~~~~~~~~

With Severus finally gone back to the school and with Draco and the Weasley boy off Merlin only knew where, doing Merlin only knows what, Lucius swept his witch up into his arms and made his way to his bedchamber.

He set her down and kissed her lips. “May I open my gift now?” he asked.

“By all means, Lucius.” She smiled but he noticed she seemed a bit nervous.

He pulled the box from his pocket and enlarged it. He removed the lid and was shocked at the contents.

Lying in the box, there were long, thick, green satin ribbons and a black blindfold. Underneath those, there was a book entitled 'Wicked Games: A Wizard’s Guide to Dominance and Submission.'

His silver eyes lifted to look at his amazing little witch. She was sitting demurely on the couch but her whiskey eyes shone with lust.

“I have always had a fascination with the idea of dominance and submission, but I have never had a partner whom I trusted enough to hand over complete power to. I was hoping you would indulge my little fantasies.”

Her confidence had grown since they had entered the bedchamber. The tented front of Lucius’s trousers and the way his molten eyes roamed over her made her feel sexy and wanted.

In two strides he was directly in front of her and deftly undoing the little buttons at the back of her dress. She reached forward to undress him when his low voice commanded that she stop.

“I did not give you permission to touch me, my beauty,” he said as he slipped the dress from her body. He found her sans knickers, sporting a lacy bra and thigh highs.

“You are such a naughty, little witch, and nobody knows it but me,” he said appreciatively, running his hand down her plump, bare bottom. She shivered as he pulled her flush against him.

“Do you trust me to take care of you?” he asked, removing her bra.

“I do trust you, Lucius.”

He kissed her softly as he cupped her soft, round breasts, flicking his thumbs over the tight peaks.

He noticed she was clenching her fists to keep her hands to herself; she was such a hands-on person, always touching and feeling.

He smiled, “Alright, my love, climb up on the bed while I make myself comfortable.”

Lucius enjoyed the soft sway of her hips as she walked to the large bed. He stood at the foot as she lay down in the center.

“Feet flat, knees wide, my darling. I want to see you.” She moaned as she obeyed.

He began to slowly undress at the foot of the bed. He loved the way her eyes followed his movements and the little whimpers she made.

It was going to be a fantastic night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N So Hermione begins to open herself up, and trust again.

Dont worry, their night isnt over yet :-)

Thanks to all my reviewers! and of course my Beta.

Cheers!
*Sarah*