The Masked Lady

Chapter 16: Situation Out of Control















Hermione was busier than she had been in a long, long while and finally, finally she had the budget to do what needed to be done. She was able to approve three times the number of families for financial aid from last quarter and a dozen more students now had the funds to attend the magical school of their choice. For the first time in longer than she could remember she was content with what she was able to accomplish. Although, it still rubbed her the wrong way that an apparent image change was all it took.







Along that vein she had to admit that since being with Lucius she looked remarkably better, he helped with that, his taste in clothing, both women’s and men’s couldn’t be faulted and she could admit that she liked looking good for him, liked the way he looked at her when she was ‘done up’. In fact she barely made it to work on time that morning when he caught sight of her in her new dress and shoes. He had walked into the bathroom, a pair of gray knit pajama bottoms slung low on his hips, and stopped in his tracks when he saw her. The soft jersey fabric of the simple black dress hugged her curves lovingly from shoulders to knees. The low slung cowl neckline dipped to show a tasteful amount of cleavage, the three quarter sleeves the perfect length to show off the new bracelet Lucius had given her for Valentine’s Day. She had pulled her hair back into a long curling ponytail at the back of her head, the softly curling ends pulled forward over her shoulder.







He had reached for her almost immediately, his fingertips tugging on a curl as his eyes raked over her. She loved watching the way his eyes, normally a silvery blue shade would darken to an almost cobalt color when he desired her. Just thinking about it and him brought on that familiar ache low in her belly. The smile on her face was uncontrollable, impossible to fight back, she was happy in every aspect of her life. With her smile still in place she bumped the file drawer with her hip and headed back to her desk to pen yet another letter to a needy family approving them for aid. Just as she settled into her chair Harry appeared in her doorway.







“Harry! What brings you by so early?” She asked, looking at the clock on her desk to see if she had once again lost track of the time and missed lunch.







“Mione, there has been an accident.” Harry said as he stepped into her office. “Last night the copycat struck again outside of a prestigious restaurant, she used an unforgivable, the cruiciatus, and she used it repeatedly.”







“Oh my god, Harry!” She gasped, pressing her fingertips against her lips. “Is the victim alright?”







“He’s unconscious and in fairly bad shape at the moment, his eyes and face are swollen and his body took a serious beating while he thrashed on the ground, he’s at Saint Mungo’s now and they are caring for him.” Harry rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Mione…the victim is Draco.”







“Oh god, no! Lucius!” Harry was shocked at how quickly she was out of her chair and gathering her things.







“He’s already been notified, he’s at the hospital now.” He said, amazed by her concern for him. She grabbed her purse and her cloak from a hook on the wall and headed towards the door. “What are you doing?”







“I’m going to the hospital to be with Lucius. He might not have been the best father, Harry, but he loves Draco more than just about anything, he has to be a wreck and no doubt he is royally pissed off.” Hermione gave Harry a knowing look. “You don’t want a pissed off Lucius on your hands, trust me. Besides, I want to be there for him, he needs me.”







Harry watched her walk away from him heading for the main entry and exit hall. She was moving at a brisk pace, weaving her way in and out of the people walking the halls. She didn’t bother with the lifts, instead she headed straight for the stairwell and down, Harry following behind her. The main thought in his head as they walked: She’s in love with him. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest as she activated the floo and disappeared into it without a word.







They stepped out in the main lobby of the hospital where she actually slowed her pace to wait for Harry so he could show her to Draco’s room. She wasn’t surprised when she was led to a private elevator that led to a separate VIP wing of the hospital. Instead of cold, sterile tile there were self cleaning hardwood floors and priceless art on the walls. Only the wealthiest patients, the ones who didn’t rely on the ministry to pay their expenses, recovered in style. If she wasn’t so concerned for Lucius and Draco, Hermione may have been sorely offended.







As it was she followed Harry to the end of the hall and through a large wooden door into Draco’s room. Lucius was sitting beside his son’s bed, his face drawn and his brows tight with worry. When he looked up and saw her his shoulders relaxed and she could see that he was relieved to see her. She rushed to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, leaning over him and holding him in her embrace.







”How is he?” She asked softly, pressing kisses meant to comfort and reassure against his temple.







“Still unconscious but all of the tests indicate that there will be no brain damage. It’s miraculous really, I am told that the tracing indicated no less than six direct hits. Whoever she is she is ruthless. He was out cold by the end of the second curse and she still hit him three more times, holding it for nearly a minute with each casting. What could he have done that was so terrible to deserve that? You only slapped him.” Lucius said quietly, still staring at his son lying in the bed bloodied and bruised.







“I slapped him because he offered me everything in his trousers. Plus he had it coming for some incidences in school, he didn’t say or do anything that warranted this. He didn’t resist me, he was smart enough to know that a few galleons and trinkets weren’t worth his life or serious injury. I don’t understand this.” Hermione was confused as she came closer to the side of the bed. “He looks awful.”







“He looks better now, the healing potions and spells are working, though not as quickly as I would like. I can’t believe I almost lost my child, again.” Lucius rubbed the spot between his eyes. It tore at her heart to see him so worried and she felt guilty because she was the reason that Draco was injured. If she hadn’t created the Masked Lady, if she hadn’t gone on her one witch save the poor mission then there wouldn’t have been a sadistic copycat out there tormenting the public.







“I’m sorry, Lucius.” She said softly. He looked up and immediately he knew what she was thinking. He reached for her hand and pulled her onto his knee.







“This isn’t your fault, Pet. You don’t need to apologize.” He said, resting his chin on her shoulder and sighing as he held her, comforted by her warmth and her presence.







“It is my fault, Lucius, this…psycho…is copying me.”







“No, she isn’t, she stole your…alternate identity… but she isn’t copying you, you never hurt anyone. Don’t feel bad.” He kissed her cheek and then turned his head to where Harry stood near the window, not wishing to intrude on a private moment. “Have you found her?”







“No, Lucius, I haven’t found her. The wand, as we expected, belonged to a dead man.” Harry said, shaking his head wearily. “She is sloppy though, not like Hermione, we will catch her.”







“You had better hope it is soon, Potter. She harmed my son, I have no qualms about sending my own investigators after her. She had better hope you find her before I do.” Lucius said darkly. The tone of his voice and the glacial expression on his face was enough to have Hermione shivering and Harry nervous. “No one harms those I claim as mine, Potter. I will protect Draco and Hermione any way that I can even if that means dipping into the life I left behind me.”







“It won’t come to that, I’ll find her and I will see her punished for her crimes, I swear it.” Harry saw the man’s curt nod and prayed he could come through.







“Lucius, where is Astoria?” Hermione asked, looking around the room for Draco’s wife.







“She was hysterical and driving me crazy so I sent her home to rest, told her to come back tomorrow.” Lucius rolled his eyes. “She could care less about Draco, she just enjoyed the attention she received from the nurses and doctors.”







“Mindless bit of fluff.” Hermione muttered. “Have you eaten?” She asked.







“No, I’ve been talking with his doctors. They are keeping him sedated overnight while the potions do their work. He should wake tomorrow and maybe he can tell us what happened, give us something to go on.” Lucius looked back at Harry. “You should be able to question him then.”







“I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon, give him a chance to wake up and clear his head.” He laid his hand on Lucius’s shoulder, squeezing gently before embracing Hermione and kissing her cheek on his way out the door.







“You should go home and get something to eat.” She said, running her fingers through his hair.







“No, I will stay here until he wakes. I have let him down too many times, not been there for him as I should have in the past, I wont leave him now.” He said, his attention back on his son.







“Alright then, I’ll arrange to have something brought here.” She kissed the top of his head, determined to stay with him and take care of him for as long as he needed her. She could do no less, her heart wouldn’t let her.









~@~









It was pain that pulled Draco slowly from the darkness. His entire body ached as though he had swum for miles. His head felt heavy, as though he couldn’t even lift it and his mouth felt lined with cotton wool. The scent of antiseptic filled his nostrils and he struggled to open his eyes. He couldn’t open them very far, only small slits thanks to the swelling. It didn’t take too long for him to figure out that he was in the hospital.







The memories of what brought him there began to surge through his mind. He had left the club with the intent of slipping into bed with Elizabeth, curling around the soft warmth of her body and drifting off to sleep. But he hadn’t gotten far, he hadn’t even cleared the building on his way to a public apparation point when he felt the first spell hit him. It had been a weak one, more uncomfortable than actually painful. When he turned around he was shocked to see her standing there with her wand trained on him. He had only been in contact with her once, but he knew something was wrong.







There was malice in her eyes, something the other lady thief had lacked. The other had a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous lift to her lips that invited teasing, that made you unafraid, it was the reason he had felt confident enough to tease her. Of course she had slapped him, but not hard, it was more like she wanted to get his attention, not actually hurt him. This woman, however, was something different. She wanted to hurt him. There was something familiar in the hate he felt radiating off of her but he couldn’t quite place it before she began throwing the crucios.







He was unconscious before the second spell ended but given the way his body felt he was almost certain that it hadn’t been the end of his torture. The light in his room was dim and hid vision slowly adjusted so that he was able to focus. He saw a tray beside his bed with a pitcher of water and a glass along with some flowers in a vase. He shifted his head and looked further across the room to the long sofa against the wall beneath the window. His father lay stretched out, his head resting on a pillow and his feet on the arm of the sofa. Hermione lay pressed all along his side, her thigh draped over his hips and her head resting on his chest. His dad’s hand curled around her butt cheek possessively.







He wanted to laugh but it would no doubt hurt. His father always seemed to have his hands on Granger, even in his sleep he was groping her. It was no longer disturbing to watch like it had been in the beginning. He had gotten beyond the age difference and the complete irony of the blood politics involved and he saw that his father was happy. He was smiling and joking, clearly happy with his new relationship. Hermione was good for him and he suspected that their feelings ran deeper than either of them realized.







He watched Hermione shift against his father, lifting her head and brushing her lips against his brow before she moved away from him and sat up. His father was reluctant to let her go, frowning and protesting in his sleep when she stood up and stretched, yawning wide. She looked towards the bed and saw him, a smile stretching her lips as she walked towards him.







“You look like shit.” She said with a grin.







“Thanks, I feel like shit.” His voice was raspy and his throat scratchy. She poured a glass of water and held the straw to his lips so he could drink.







“You got your arse kicked by a girl.” She teased.







“It isn’t the first time.” He said, falling back onto the pillow, grateful for the soothing coolness of the water on this throat.







“Probably won’t be the last either.” She said, sitting on the side of his bed. “You alright?”







“Yes, I’m alright. I can’t believe he stayed.” Draco said, looking over at his father still sleeping on the sofa.







“He wouldn’t leave.”







“And you?” Draco queried.







“I couldn’t leave him.” She said softly, a confused look on her face as though she didn’t quite understand it herself.







“My father’s girlfriend sleeps at my bedside but my wife is no where to be seen.” He said thoughtfully. “Interesting twist on things.”







“Your father sent Astoria home, Draco.”







“She was annoying him I bet.” He chuckled, groaning as the pain wracked his torso.







“He said she was driving him crazy and had to fight the urge to slap her.” She met his gaze and they shared a smile.







“Can you do me a favor?” He asked.







“I can try.”







“Send an owl to Elizabeth, she will worry.” He winced as he shifted and propped himself up against the pillows, his head spinning slightly.







“I don’t understand, Draco. You clearly love this woman, why are you living in misery with Astoria?”







“It isn’t as easy as that, Granger, not in my world. Believe me, I would love nothing more than to have a life with Elizabeth, but it is what it is, what it always has been.” He sounded so resigned to his fate and she just didn’t understand it.







“I still don’t understand it. Why don’t you fight for her? Change the way things are?”







“It’s the way they have always been, Granger. You don’t understand because you aren’t a pureblood, you weren’t raised in the wizarding aristocracy, this is just how it is.” He saw her look back to his father, her eyes softening. “Do you love him?”







“I don’t know.” She answered honestly, unable to tear her eyes away from his face. He had a long night worrying over Draco. His concern for his son had pulled at her heart, making it ache in her chest and long to be closer to him.







“I think you do, you just don’t want to acknowledge it.” Draco’s stomach growled and Hermione looked back at him with her eyes lit with laughter.







“I guess we should get you something to eat. You didn’t eat at all yesterday.” She said.









“I could handle a bite or two…but, Granger…you won’t always be able to change the subject, you are going to have to face it at some point.” He said.







“Shut up, Draco, I like you better as an idiot, wisdom doesn’t suit you.”













AN: HI!!!! I remembered without needing to be reminded!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! You all rock!