A Crown of Thorns

**DISCLAIMER** All characters etc. belong to J.K. Rowling and I am making no money from this. Don’t sue because I’m sure that I don’t have anything that you’d want anyway. The basic plot for the story was a challenge presented by ArienAstera.

Chapter Sixteen - So Close…


Lucius Malfoy stormed through the door of his home, muttering angrily under his breath, “Incompetent bunch of imbeciles, the whole lot of them. How they have managed to keep the Ministry together this long is beyond all reason to me.”

Earlier that morning he had received an owl from the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, stating that there was a “pressing matter of the utmost importance that must be discussed at once“. However, when Lucius had arrived at the Ministry - already annoyed by the interruption of his morning- he found that Fudge had only just left, minutes beforehand. And to his further dismay, none of Fudge’s feeble-minded assistants seemed to know anything about the owl Lucius had received. Needless to say, this only added fuel to his already boiling temper.

“MISS GRANGER!” he bellowed, making his way down the hall to the study where he expected to find her, with her nose no doubt buried in one of his books. Reaching the doorway, he attempted to turn the knob, only to find it locked.

Gritting his teeth in irritation, Lucius pulled out his wand and pointed it at the lock, “Alohamora.”

Nothing happened.

Quickly losing his pace, ce, Lucius pounded his large fist on the door, “MISS GRANGER! OPEN THIS DOOR AT ONCE, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO PARTAKE IN ONE OF YOUR CHILDISH GAMES!”

Silence.

“THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!” He snarled.

The door was opened and Lucius found himself face to face with a rather flushed looking Draco.

Lucius hesitated, momentarily surprised by the sight of his son, “Well, this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you home today.”

Noticing the color in his Draco’s cheeks, Lucius cast a curious glance over his son’s shoulder, but Draco, who now matched his fatin hin height, shifted his stance to block his father’s view. Lucius’ gaze swept over his son, taking in the unbuttoned collar of his shirt, the loosened tie and the un-tucked shirttails…and it dawned on him. He raised one eyebrow questioningly.

Draco grinned mischievously, “Father, it’s a pleasure to see you, but if you don’t mind, I’m a bit…preoccupied right now.”

Lucsmirsmirked at the younger Malfoy, thinking proudly, ‘Just like his father after all’.

He cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his amusement, “Of course, we’ll talk later.”
He turned to leave but stopped, realizing that he still hadn’t found Hermione. “Draco, Lord Voldemort has allowed Miss Granger to accompany me on an errand and she will be staying here for a few days. You haven’t seen her lurking about, have you?”

Draco looked sheepishly at his father and nudged the door with his foot, causing it to swipen pen fully. Lucius gaped in horror. Sitting on the couch, clutching her discarded shirt across her chest, was Hermione.

~~~~

Draco stumbled from the blow his father delivered while screaming, “A FILTHY MUDBLOOD. YOU ARE A MALFOY! HAVEN’T I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THIS?”

There was a sick crunching noise as Lucius’ hand made contact with Draco’s jaw. He was knocked to the floor and lay there, prostrate, at his father’s feet. He crumpled in pain as a leather boot slammed mercilessly into his ribs. Not daring to move, Draco kept his eyes tightly shut, his entire body tensed, anticipating the next wave of blows.

A voice close to his ear spoke quietly, almost tenderly, “Draco, my son. My heir. The only heir to the Malfoy name.” He pleaded with his son, “Please, try to make me understand, why? Why would you want to sully yourself with the likes of her?” racoraco felt his father’s leather clad hand on his shoulder, cool and smooth. He painfully turned his headthatthat he was looking up at the man he had grown to hate.

He spoke quietly, “Father, you must understand, I did it for you, for us.”

Lucius looked into the battered and bloody face staring up at him.

Draco continued, “For so long, you have held the most honored position among the Dark Lord’s followers. You have been his most loyal servant for years and I know that you had desired for me to someday be his chosen one. But he chose her instead.”

Struggling to sit up, Draco winced at the pain that was pulsing through his body, “That is why, when I saw her here today, I knew…” he turned to face his father, “I knew what I had to do.”

Lucius looked confused, “I don’t understand.”

Draco looked at his father, grinning mischievously once again despite the intense pain it caused, “Don’t you see Father, it’s really all quite simple. I win the affections of Miss Granger, after a short courtship we marry quickly -with your blessing of course. And when the time comes for her to step up and take Lord Voldemort’s place, who do you think his followers will obey? A mudblood such as Hermione Granger - or the son of Lucius Malfoy?”

~~~~

Hermione paced the study floor, hoping that Draco was alright, but mentally preparing herself for the worst. With unmistakable rage in his eyes, Lucius had grabbed Draco by the arm and before she could respond, they had disapparated, leaving her alone in the study.

She had known that this wasn’t going to work. When Draco had first explained Dumbledore’s plan, Hermione had been skeptical. The Malfoy’s hatred of all who were not pureblood was common knowledge throughout the Wizarding community and the idea that Draco and Hermione could fancy one another in that way, well, that was entirely unbelievable. Unless of course Hermione had something that Lucius desired, then perhaps his thinking might be swayed. However, contrary to popular belief, Lucius Malfoy was not a stupid man and Hermione knew that he would not be fooled easily. Logically there were just too many opportunities for things to go wrong, yet here they were, banking it all on one thing - Lucius’ insatiable lust for power.

Hermione held her breath when she heard the click of the doorknob and looked up to see Lucius enter the room, followed by Draco. She looked at Draco, who was standing a few feet behind his father, and caught the quick wink he gave her. She suppressed a sigh of relief. It had worked.

Lucius stepped forward, taking Hermione’s hand and bowing slightly, “Miss Granger, please accept my most sincere apology. My behavior was completely unacceptable. You must realize though, that finding you here…with my son… caught me a bit off guard.”

He leered at her and she glared at him, knowing that he wasn’t sorry at all.

Lucius ignored her hateful stare, “You see, Draco’s mother and I have already begun to make arrangements for Draco to marry Pansy Parkinson - a classmate of yours I believe.” Hermione nodded, thinking back on several nasty encounters with the ugly girl.

He continued, “Quite a bit of effort and money have already been spent planning their wedding, so naturally you can understand why I was so angry,” he looked at her thoughtfully before speaking again, “However, I have never been able to deny my son what he desires, and you, my dear, are what he desires. Therefore, I am sure that for the right p, th, the Parkinson’s will find a more suitable groom for their daughter.”

Lucius lifted Hermione’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently before smiling at her, “I would like nothing more than to see my son with a powerful witch such as yourself. And I believe it safe to say that Lord Voldemort will smile upon this union as well.”

Hermione forced a smile and fought the urge to wipe the back of her hand on her robes.

Sensing her discomfort, Draco stepped forward and took her hand, holding it tightly, “If it’s alright with you Father, I would like to show Hermione around the gardens.”

“Of course,” Lucius propelled them towards the door, “Go, enjoy yourselves. Miss Granger and I will go in the morning to collect the rest of the supplies before she returns home.”

Draco and Hermione spent the rest of the morning exploring the expansive gardens, taking every opportunity to make sure that Lucius saw them together; holding hands, stealing quick kisses and snuggling on the bench. Much to Hermione’s surprise, she wasn’t completely revolted when she kissed Draco, he was actually quite a good kisser. Not that she really had anything to compare it to. The extent of her sexual experience amounted to a few clumsy encounters with Viktor Krum behind the Quidditch pitch. She was also surprised, but quite pleased, when Draco confessed to her about his and Ginny‘s relationship. Hermione watched in fascination at the way his entire face lit up when he spoke of Ginny. Apparently, the youngest of the Weasley clan had inher her her mother’s uncanny ability to tame even the unruliest of wizards. She joked with him that at least something good had come of her being abducted.

Draco caught the wistful look in Hermione’s eyes as they spoke of home and reached out to take her hand, squeezing it gently. But this time it was a true act of friendship and support, not just and empty gesture for his father’s prying eyes. Together, they sat like that for the rest of the afternoon, both lost in their own thoughts.

~~~~

“The list says dried snap-beetle wings, not sun-dried. Can’t you read?” Hermione rolled her eyes in irritation and snatched the small vial from Lucius’ hand, making her way back into the crowded apothecary to exchange them for the correct item. Lucius watched her retreating back and felt a wave of annoyance consume him. How on earth Draco was going to be able to put up with that girl and her bossy ways, was beyond his grasp. All Lucius knew was that he was grateful it wasn’t him.

Hermione re-appeared, carrying what was presumably a vial of dried snap-beetle wings, “I think that we have gotten everything that was on the list.” She scanned the parchment to see if they had forgotten anything, they hadn’t. She looked up at him expectantly, “Are you ready to go?”

“Actually Miss Granger, if you don’t mind, I need to drop into Gringott’s briefly. I have some personal business that needs attending to, I shouldn’t be long.” Without waiting for her response, Lucius swept past her and made his way down Knockturn Alley, leaving her glaring at his back. She quickly stuffed the parchment into her cloak and hurried to catch up to him, taking two steps to match each one of his long strides.

“Malfoy, you know that this is not a personal trip, we need to return to the Manor as soon as possible. Voldemort is expecting us no later than six o’clock this evening and I still need to pack my things.”

He glanced at her scurrying alongside him and quickened his pace just a bit. She noticed what he was doing to her and in that instant all of her frustrations suddenly came to a head. Unable to suppress a childish urge, she swung her foot out catching him in mid-stride. Almost as if in slow motion, Hermione watched as Lucius Malfoy lurched forward, arms flailing wildly in an unsuccessful attempt to regain his balance. His eyes widened with surprise as his snake-topped cane flew out of his hands and his knees met the hard cobblestones. Letting out a strangled yelp of pain, Lucius toppled over, nearly smashing his face into the ground. To add insult to injury, there had been a fairly heavy downpour the previous night and Lucius had the unfortunate luck of landing precisely in the middle of a rather large mud puddle.

Hermione backed up a few paces and covered her mouthh boh both of her hands in a futile attempt to smother her giggles. Lucius lifted his head to look at Hermione and when she saw his mud streaked face and his mussed up hair, she couldn’t contain herself any longer and doubled over with laughter, reaching out for the wall to steady herself. Lucius rose to his feet and looked down at the front of his soiled robes, only then realizing that a small crowd of onlookers had gathered to see the cause of the commotion. They too were unable to suppress their laughter and this angered Lucius even more than he already was, if that was at all possible.

“Accio cane.” He caught it in mid-air and unsheathed his wand. Hermione instantly straightened up and fell silent, her hand instinctively gripping her own wand.

Without so much as a glance in her direction, he pointed his wand at himself and spoke quietly, “Scourgify.”

The mud instantly disappeared and he straightened his cloak and smoothed down his long hair. With a few steps he easily covered the distance between himself and Hermione and quickly pinned her against the wall with her arms tightly against her side. Sum Summoning all of his willpower not to choke the life out of her, Lucius leaned down uncomfortably close to her ear and hissed quietly, “I hope you enjoyed yourself you worthless cunt because that will be the last time you laugh at my expense. You will come to regret your actions today, mark my words.” With one final shove, he slammed her against the hard wall before releasing his grip.

Rubbing the back of her head, Hermione watched in amusement as Lucius stalked off. Knowing that he would never disobey Voldemort by leaving her here unescorted, she made her way to Diagon Alley and sat on the steps of Gringott’s to wait for him. Scanning the busy street her eyes stopped when something caught her eye. Although the woman had her back to Hermione, the hair was unmistakable - it had to be Molly Weasley.

Hermione jumped to her feet and started down the steps, when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. For the second time that day she felt Lucius’ mouth uncomfortably close to her ear as he whispered, “Going somewhere Miss Granger? Or perhaps you have seen something - or someone- that interests you?” His voice was as sweet as poisoned honey as his eyes followed her gaze across the crowd, but thankfully, just as quickly as Molly had been there, she was now gone.

Hermione stepped away from him and spoke over her shoulder, “I merely thought that since we were turning this into a personal shopping trip then perhaps I would take a look in Flourish and Blotts while I was waiting for you. But since you’re finished already we should probably be getting back.”

When they got back to Malfoy Manor, Hermione rushed about, throwing her belongings into her tote. She and Draco put on a spectacular performance when saying their goodbyes as Lucius watched in disgu Wit With minutes to spare they apparated back to the castle where Voldemort greeted them enthusiastically. After a brief discussion, Hermione yawned openly and excused herself to go to bed. Once wae was a good distance from Voldemort’s wing of the castle, Hermione sprinted the rest of the way to her quarters, searching for Professor Snape. Becoming increasingly concerned when she couldn’t find him, Hermione noticed a faint light coming from under the door of one of the several spare bedrooms. Turning the knob she found that it was locked so she knocked quietly and heard rustling on the other side. The lock clicked, the knob turned and the door opened just enough to allow Severus to exit before locking and warding the door behind him.

“What were you doing in there?” She asked him suspiciously.

He fixed her with his most intimidating glare, “Never you mind what I was doing in there, how did things go at the Manor?”

Not feeling like an argument as she had had a very trying past few days, Hermione took one last look over his shoulder at the door and turned, “Come on, I’ll tell you all about it.”

They sat on the couch in her library for nearly three hours talking. Hermione filled Severus in on all of the details of Dumbledore’s plan and much like her, he was skeptical, proceeding to rattle off a list of all the things that could go wrong. She told him about her trips into Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley and finally, she told him about Lucius’ tumble in the mud. Severus watched as she tried to talk and laugh at the same time, noticing how her eyes crinkled up at the corners. He laughed along with her and Hermione noted that despite a few slightly crooked and yellowing teeth, he had a very pleasant smile. Too bad he didn’t share it more often.

Much to her chagrin, Hermione was finding herself very glad to be back with Professor Snape. The anxiety that she had been feeling while with Lucius had finally subsided and she felt safe once again. Likewise, Severus was relieved to have Hermione safely back with him. Of course, he would have preferred for her to have simply taken this opportunity to dispose of Malfoy and flee to the safety of Hogwarts. But sadly, he knew that her loyalty would never allow her leave him behind.

“So, were you alright while I was gone?” She asked quietly.

He smirked at her, “I managed to keep myself occupied. I began turning one of the spare rooms into a teaching laboratory. Would you like to see it?”

Surprised by the hint of pride she detected in his voice she nodded, “Yes, very much.”

Severus led her back to the spare bedroom where she had found him earlier and unlocked the door, but before opening it he whispered, “Close your eyes.”

Finding his excitement a bit unnerving, she looked at him strangely before shutting her eyes. He took her by the hand and led her into the room. Severus stood back a bit so that he could watch her reaction.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

When Hermione opened her eyes, she was completely dumbfounded.

What was once a very large spare bedroom was now an exact replica of the Potion’s classroom at Hogwarts.