Hidden Meanings

Disclaimer: Not mine! sigh... Lucius doesn't mind me playing with him though...

Mary: Nope I doubt anyone was going to expect that! Even me. And who do you think the voices belongs to?

angel: Snape doesn't work like that, and yes it is great isn't it.

ShilohDarke: Hmm, not sure about the boy and girl thing yet... watch this space. Yes, it was a rather odd place to stop but I said all what I wanted to say in that chapter.

BuckyKattGirl: Thank you so much, I am glad you loved that chapter, and I like Lily Thompson to. I'll try. BTW, I like my new nickname.

JW: I agree with you about Herbert. Maria is thinking with her heart, and Herbert is thinking with his head... hmm, remind you of another couple? Severus has to take his time, as he's still fairly fond of Hermione...

Dee Dee: Twins, not triplets. My Hermione would soon stalk out on me if I did THAT to her. We'll see about Severliscious won't we.

Megan Consoer: Thanks. Here's more.

Oh, and just a note, I want LOTS of guesses as to the voices in her dreams...

Surprises Galore

Maria and Herbert had settled into the Manor for a month. Lucius made sure to get rid of all the manacles and chains in his dungeons, which Hermione secretly stole away and placed in a secret corner of her room. Some of those chains held some memories for her. She remembered their role-playing night brilliantly. He was the part of the big bad Death Eater, and she the unwilling Mudblood victim.

She didn’t want to lose those. She was hoping that after she had the babies; they might be able to indulge themselves in their fantasies. She liked to be adventurous. And was amazed at Lucius repertoire in this sort of thing. She was even more amazed by the fact that she ENJOYED his repertoire. She smirked, as she held a row of long silver chains. She knew she could not indulge herself in that yet. Lucius would go spare if she even timidly suggested it. No, she sighed, later my dark pleasures.

She picked up the handcuffs. Hmm, surely one last night of these wouldn’t hurt. If it was Lucius chained? No, she sighed again, he would not consider it. He was treating her like she was an invalid. It irritated her rather, as she knew she was sick or disabled. She was pregnant. Hundreds of women the world over were pregnant.

She tucked them neatly in a box and shoved it in the corner of her wardrobe. Lucius fairly rarely snooped in her wardrobe. She giggled as she looked inside the wardrobe. Like many children she always crawled inside wardrobes hoping to enter Narnia. She felt lucky to be one of the few children in the world to actually enter a magical gateway to another world.

Lucius strode into the bedroom. He tilted his head to one side as he spotted his wife crawling into the wardrobe. Her bum sticking in the air! He noted with pleasure. It would be so good just to take her then and there.

“What are you doing, my dear?” Lucius asked.

Hermione crawled back out and got onto her feet. She was blushing.

“I wasn’t doing anything you might understand,” she replied.

“Try me,” Lucius said.

“Oh, all right, I was um crawling inside the wardrobe to see if Narnia was there.”

Lucius laughed. His shoulders shaking and his eyes were sparkling and twinkling with pure mirth.

“I might have known,” he said with tears streaming down his face. “So, who is your favourite?”

“You like Narnia?” Hermione gasped, an incredulous look sparkled in her eyes.

“Yes, I was always partial to the White Witch myself.”

“You would be. I was always partial to Edmund Pevensie.”

Lucius stepped up to his wife and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“Come on, it’s time to lunch.”

Hermione nodded. He offered her his arm and she took it gracefully. They walked down the stairs regally. Lucius led her towards the Dining Room and he sat her down.

“Lucius,” Hermione said. “We haven’t ventured more on Operation: Mate the Wolf.”

Lucius sighed and rolled his eyes. He had hoped she’d forgotten all about that. But no! Not Hermione, not stubborn meddling Hermione.

“Hermione,” Lucius said in a slow patient voice. “Why can’t you just leave them be? If they want to end up together then let them work it out for themselves.”

“If I didn’t meddle with your release would we be happy and married now?”

“That was different,” Lucius said. The food appeared on the table and he began eating. Hermione picked at her salad and rice with disinterest. For some strange reason she began to crave something else. She couldn’t put her finger on it. She pierced her fork into a buttered asparagus and ate it. Oh, that was heaven.

“How different?” Hermione asked, as she dragged the serving dish of buttered asparagus towards her.

“What are you doing?” Lucius asked. “You don’t care for asparagus.”

Hermione stopped crunching into one and looked at her husband.

“I don’t do I? That’s weird.”

She shrugged her shoulders and carried on eating the asparagus. Lucius continued eating the salad and when he was finished he smiled.

“Well, it looks like Dobby will have to think of a lot of asparagus dishes.”

Hermione gulped down the last asparagus. “Sorry, darling, did you want some?”

“No,” Lucius sighed. “It’s perfectly all right. You eat as much asparagus as you like.”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and got up off the chair. “I have estate business to attend to. Why don’t you go and visit your parents?”

“I will,” Hermione said. She waited until Lucius was out of the room and then her chocolate ice cream popped up. She hid one of the asparagus underneath a napkin. She twirled it around in her fingers and wondered what it tasted like dipped in chocolate ice cream. She dipped it in the ice cream tentatively, and bit into it. “WOW!”

~*~*~

Herbert and Maria were sitting in their parlour. Lucius was as good as his word and kept himself to himself. Hermione popped by from time to time and both couples didn’t feel troubled about the arrangement.

“I still think you should make more of an effort to talk to Lucius, Herbert.”

“TALK to that cradle snatching bastard!” Herbert exclaimed indignantly.

“Okay, for the umpteenth time, Herb, he is NOT a cradle snatcher. And Hermione is happy with him, can you not see that?”

“The only thing I see with my own two eyes is a man old enough to know better fooling around with a piece of skirt that he would soon get bored with!”

Maria shook her head. She sighed. It was best to leave her husband be. He was snappy and irritable because he had nothing to do. They had sold the practice to some friends and Herbert now felt useless.

“I DON’T want to hear you talking like that about my husband again, father!” Hermione’s voice rang.

Herbert turned around and walked up to his daughter and took her in his arms.

“Look, Hermione, I don’t trust him.”

“That’s because you won’t get to know him,” Hermione said. “He’s busy at the moment, but I am sure that he could make time to get to know you. He likes you dad.”

“Hermione, if you were going to marry someone old enough to be your father, why on earth didn’t you marry someone like Severus? Now THERE’S a man that is worthy of you.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at her father.

“Well, Severus did want to marry me, but I didn’t want him.”

Herbert frowned and shook his head. He wished he had more time with his daughter. If he had, then maybe this wouldn’t happen.

Maria sipped her coffee and wiped her mouth. She looked at Herbert and then she looked at her daughter.

“Leave it, Herb, you can’t talk her out of this now. It’s far too late.”

Herbert walked away and muttered some things under his breath that Hermione chose to ignore.

“So, what do you two have planned for this afternoon?” Hermione asked.

“Oh Molly is coming over,” Maria said. “Along with Lucius ex-wife.”

“You like Narcissa?” Hermione asked.

“She’s all right, once you get past the frosty exterior,” Maria said.

Hermione blinked. “Oh, okay. I’ll just grab some knitting and be with you in a minute.”

“Actually,” Maria said slowly, “you can’t join in the conversation.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes, but let them be. She shrugged her shoulders and decided to leave her parents be.

“All right then,” she said. “I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll just be in the library if you need me.”

She kissed her mum on the cheek and then hugged her father. She walked out of the room and walked down to the library. She wanted to eavesdrop but knew that, that would be wrong.

~*~*~

“What are you planning?” Herbert asked his wife.

“It’s Hermione’s birthday soon,” Maria sighed. “It’s a big one. She’s going to be twenty-one. We have to throw a party for her.”

Herbert groaned. He hated it when his wife was planning things behind his back. Some of the things that she planned were a little over the top, and he wasn’t sure whether this Lucius chap would approve of his wife’s imagination. He decided to grab his fishing gear and try fishing out in the lake.

~*~*~

Lucius was in his study. He heard the door open, but decided to not look up.

“Lucius,” it was his wife.

“I thought you were with your parents.”

“My mothers invited some friends over,” Hermione said. “And she doesn’t want me in the room. I don’t like it when she doesn’t want me in the room, it means she’s planning something.”

“Suspicious?” Lucius asked incredulously.
“You want to know where I get it from?” Hermione snapped.

Lucius chuckled. “Okay, darling, calm down.”

Hermione flopped onto a sofa and picked up her knitting. She was trying to knit some baby clothes. Lucius let her, although he was sorting out the baby’s clothes as they speak. He wasn’t going to let his children be paraded publicly with matching knitted sets with bunnies and clowns on the front!

Herbert, who then opened the door and shyly peeped around the corner, interrupted their solitude.

“Is it all right if I do a spot of fishing?” he asked.

“Of course,” Lucius said. “Wait there for a bit, and I’ll show you the best spot in the lake.”

Hermione looked up at Lucius and her eyes shined with warm appreciation. Lucius noticed and grinned back. He knew he was going to be amply rewarded for this show of kindness.

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

Lucius opened the door wider and walked out of it, gesturing for Herbert to follow him. Herbert did. Lucius noted the odd muggle fishing gear and for the first time he truly felt sorry for them. If this was how they fished then it must be really boring! All he had to do was a simple seeking charm, and then levitating charm.

Lucius opened the front door and led the way out of the house. They walked down the staircase in silence, and when they reached the bottom Lucius turned around and asked what the various things were.

“This is a fishing rod. This box is full of bait: worms and such. These are just other odd pieces of equipment.”

“So, why are you prepared to fish when you have a charming wife to talk to?”

“My charming wife is planning a party for Hermione’s 21st birthday with your ex-wife and Molly Weasley.”

Lucius froze in his tracks. How did Narcissa worm her way into Maria Granger’s heart? Then he realised something else, he didn’t know when his own wife’s birthday actually was. He knew it must be about this time of year but he didn’t know the date.

“This might sound stupid,” Lucius said. “But when is Hermione’s birthday?”

“You’re right it does sound stupid? Not asked her that yet, then?”

“We have had other things on our minds,” Lucius said.

“The nineteenth of this month if you must know,” Herbert replied sharply.

They turned the corner of the Mansion and were right in front of the lake. Lucius sighed. He used to love this lake as a child, and fished here all the time. Then the Dark Lord came along and spoiled it all by demanding time. He knew the Dark Lord had ruined his life but he didn’t know to what extent until he stood in front of the lake.

The sky outside was overcast and this reflected in the waters still surface. There was a light mist covering the lake giving it a mythical essence that Lucius loved as a child. The lake was a portrayal of exquisite calmness that Lucius now felt within himself. He loved it when the lake was showing this atmosphere. It encouraged melancholic and happy thoughts at the same time. The grass was still dripping with morning dew. Little pearlescent drops clung onto the stems; the overall effect calmed both Lucius and Herbert.

Herbert looked at Lucius with a crease of concern across his brow. Lucius shook his head.

“Dreadfully sorry. The best fishing spot is over there, the fish love it there.” Lucius said pointing to the farthest shore of the lake. Herbert nodded and trudged his way round the lake.

Lucius walked back into his house and to his study. He stepped up to Hermione and looked down at her. She looked up and smiled. He picked her up in his arms causing her to drop her knitting, and possibly a few stitches as well.

He leant his head down and kissed her hungrily and passionately. Hermione loved him when he was spontaneous and fiery with it.

“Wow,” Hermione breathed. “That was sweet.” Lucius dropped her gently to her feet. “What brought that on?”

“I don’t know,” Lucius answered with a smirk. “But it was nice wasn’t it?”

Hermione giggled, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her lips on his. “Very nice,” she whispered.

~*~*~

Ever since that day, Hermione had this strange suspicion that her mother AND her husband were up to something. She couldn’t shake this feeling that they were trying to hide from her.

As the week drew to a close the more strangely they acted. She couldn’t really begin to imagine what they were up to, as she was busy with the nursery and knitting clothes, and looking through the Malfoy family tree for suitable children’s names.

She woke up Saturday morning thinking that SOMETHING was happening today, but she couldn’t think what. She twisted in her bed and wrapped her husband up in her arms. Only it wasn’t her husband she was hugging, it was a box. A big box! Her eyes snapped wide open and then it dawned on her as to what today was. It was her twenty-first birthday!

She shot straight up as she noted the box. On top of it was a card in Lucius handwriting.

“Dearest

Happy birthday to you, my love! I hope that you’ll like what is in the box.

Your Lucius forevermore.”

Hermione choked. She smiled as she tackled the silver bow, and she opened the box.

She gasped as she looked at the beautiful robes that her husband had bought for her. A smaller box fell out of the big box, it was wrapped lovingly to, Hermione opened the smaller box and inside was a silver chain with a large emerald tear drop at the end; it was matched by a pair of silver earrings with smaller emerald teardrops and a ring just the right size.

She looked at the robes. It was almost like her wedding robes but this time the whole dress was emerald green with twirling silver stitching in swirling Celtic design.

Her eyes glistened with tears.

“Happy birthday, darling,” Lucius said as he walked out of the bathroom. He was holding one hand behind his back.

“You haven’t got more?” Hermione gasped.

Lucius smirked as he stepped forward. He stroked his chin. “Might have. The question is… do you deserve it?”

Hermione narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She looked at him with hard eyes.

“Lucius,” she sighed.

“All right,” he laughed. “Here you are.”

He deposited a box of chocolates in her lap. Hermione stared at the box. It was white mice. Her favourite muggle sweet!

“YOU brought something muggle?” she asked with surprise evident on her face.

“I did,” Lucius said. “Why do Muggles have corners on their coins? Isn’t that rather dangerous?”

Hermione laughed. She hoped that she didn’t marry an Arthur Weasley wannabe.

“No,” she said. “They’re not that sharp. I take it you were talking about the twenty and fifty pence pieces?”

Lucius nodded. “And those pound coins aren’t made of real gold are they?” he asked.

“No,” Hermione said. “Muggles do have real gold bullion but not very many of them get to spend it, as it’s reserved in banks and whatnot.”

Lucius frowned; he couldn’t comprehend the fact that there was a race of people that didn’t have real gold as spending money.

“Strange,” he muttered. He didn’t even want to touch paper money, to him that was just cheap.

Hermione got out of bed and kissed her husband on the lips. “Someone is going to be a very lucky boy.”

“Oh really,” Lucius said.

“Uh-huh.”

Lucius smirked. He knew that these gifts would cause this. All young women loved clothes, jewellery, and chocolate. He hoped that her happy expression would FINALLY show Herbert that he, Lucius, was actually in love with Hermione.

Hermione took her husbands big, caring hands, and raised one to her lips and kissed the palm. Lucius loved that. His palm tingled at the touch of her soft silky lips on his rough coarse hands.

“Come, dear,” Hermione said huskily as she led him towards the bed. “I want to unwrap you now.”

Lucius followed. He wanted to be unwrapped.

A/N This chapter did not go as planned. But I hoped you liked it. And yes some lemons ahead.