Lucius\' Bookshelves

A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I appreciate it, and I am working on a little longer build up between Hermione and Lucius - longer than I had originally planned for, because I think it will make it more interesting, and a little more fun.

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Lucius\' Bookshelves


gretaski@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Not my people, not making money. You know the drill.
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Chapter 2

Lucius smiled in what he hoped would be a warm and non-predatory manner, “Welcome, Ms. Granger. It is a pleasure to have you in my house.” Or it will be, he added silently. “Dawkins here can show you to your rooms,” he pointed to the house elf cowering in the doorway, “But if I may have the pleasure of your company in, shall we say half an hour? Dawkins can show you to the library. I’d like to give you a tour of the Manor, as I expect that you will need to have free reign throughout the place.”

“That would be fine, thank you, Mr. Malfoy.”

Lucius watched her follow the house elf, her luggage having already been taken to her rooms. Granger. That name sounded familiar. Very familiar. Oh yes. She was at school with Draco – the same year, actually. That’s it. The mudblood. Smart, too, but still a mudblood. Lucius smirked; what? Did the Ministry send a mudblood, because they thought he’d keep his hands off her? Not bloody likely. Mudbloods most definitely had their entertaining uses – and were typically quite a bit more skilled than the aristocratic women he’d encountered.

Hermione followed the house elf Dawkins. He seemed to be much more relaxed now that he was out of Lucius’ range. Not surprising, after the way Lucius used to treat Dobby. She found herself going down several sets of steps, and through a winding hallway before Dawkins stopped and opened a door for Hermione. “Here you are, miss. If you need anything, just ask. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take you to the library.”

Hermione nodded as she walked in the room. Merlin. Was this the best Lucius could do? He’s got probably 50,000 square feet of house, and yet he’s got to find the darkest, dingiest rooms in the place? She walked into the bedroom, and her lips curled unconsciously at the sight of the Malfoy crest on the bedspread. Like she’d forget where she was.

The Ministry had sent her because she was the only one with enough knowledge to evaluate the Malfoy Dark Arts items who wasn’t actively involved in rebuilding after the war. From intelligence souces, it appeared as though most of the Malfoy Dark Arts items were texts, and that was her field of specialization. She had had to laugh; Hermione Granger, Defense Against the Dark Arts consultant. It didn\'t even sound right! But she couldn’t really say no – that was her job, and she was bound and determined to be successful. Even if it did mean being housed in rooms slightly better than a dungeon, and having to deal with Lucius Malfoy.

She sat on the edge of the bed, noticing that the house elves alr already unpacked her luggage. Alright, Granger. Get a hold of yourself. You’re going to have to keep your wits about you here – because, really, do you think Lucius has really seen the light? C’mon, this is Lucius Malfoy we are talking about her.

Buoyed by her inner pep-talk, Hermione waited for Dawkins to come back and lead her to the library. The library. Hmph. That would be interesting. No doubt she would be spending a fair amount of time there. And, she did have to admit to a fair amount of personal curiosity; the Malfoy family had been in existence for over 700 years. The possibilities when developing a library over that period of time were, well, overwhelming. And therefore, could be very interesting - from a scholarly point of view, she reminded herself.

Dawkins took her to the library and immediately disappeared. Hermione was a little surprised at what she saw; Lucius had taken off his jacket, had actually rolled his sleeves to his elbows, and had half-moon reading glasses on. Reading glasses! Who would’ve thought! They did make him a bit more human looking. She paused. Maybe that’s why he had them on. Maybe he was just going for effect.

Stop it, Granger. Don’t start second guessing the guy now. Just get the job done.

“Miss Granger. Welcome. How did you find your rooms?” The half-smile settled on his face. He was curious as to how she would respond.

They are utter crap, you bastard. Could you have found anything that would be more dungeon-like without having manacles chained to the walls? “The lighting in them is insufficient for my needs. The room is too dark for me to make notes and write reports. I need rooms with more light.”

Lucius inclined his head slightly. The hint of a smile still on his lips. Good. The girl didn’t like them, but rather than simply saying they were fine, or alternatively, telling him in no uncertain terms what was wrong with them, she had chosen to neatly diffuse the issue. “I am sure that I can find something suitable for you. Most of the Manor had been closed off for some time, and I have been slow in opening it up again, as I am the only one in residence, but I’ll talk to the elves about it.”

Hermione nodded. Interesting. Lucius already seemed to be testing her. How very predictable. “Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”

Frosty bitch. In time, he’d teach her a few things about appreciation. Still, it was better to start off trying to make it appear as though he was willing to work with her. Standing up, Lucius took off his reading glasses. “Please allow me to give you a tour of my home, Miss Granger. As you can see, this is the library. You may actually find this a comfortable place to take notes and write reports,” he waved airily at the large mahogany desk. Gods. He hated giving up his desk, but it seemed like the gesture had the desired effect; Hermione was running her fingers lightly over the desktop, with a facial expression slightly akin to lust.

A brief image flitted into his brain of the girl bent over his desk, her skirt flipped up onto her back, her legs open, her cleft glistening as she begged him to fuck her. Lucius cleared the picture from his head. Plenty of time for that later.

He motioned to the door and pushed it open in front of her. “Let’s start with the Great Hall.” And so the tour began, through the more formal areas of the house. He paused briefly in the entrance to the dining room. “Miss Granger, it would be my pleasure if you were to join me for dinner in the evenings.”

Hermione’s heart sunk to her knees. They had told her that he might suggest this. And, unfortunately, they had also said that she should accept, because if he felt more comfortable with her around, he might be more likely to divulge information that he might otherwise not. In fact, the Ministry had subsidized a shopping spree for her to purchase several dresses, in case the opportunity arose. “That would be very nice, thank you.” She tried to sound awed that he would ask her, rather than just scared. She wasn’t quite certain how it actually sounded when it came out.

Lucius’ lips curled back, in a half-sneer, half-smile. “Good. Dinner is served at 8, drinks at 7:45-ish, dress is formal.”

Hermione nodded. Formal dress? For two people? Merlin, but you think a lot of yourself, don’t you, Mr. Malfoy?

Lucius then began to walk to the private parts of the manor. “You are welcome to enter all of these rooms. However,“ he paused in front of a heavy wooden door. “This is my suite of rooms. I would appreciate it if you would let me know if you want access to my rooms.” He smirked, although she didn’t seem to respond. “I would hate for you to walk in and find me in the middle of getting dressed,” because I’d only find myself having to undress again, he added silently.

“I can understand that,” came the strangled reply from Hermione. “I’ll let you know when I need access to your rooms,” she added more formally.

They continued to walk through the private wing of the Manor. “This is – was – Draco’s bedroom,” he muttered, trying to keep the feelings of dismay out of his voice. “Do whatever you have to here.”

Hermione nodded again. Interesting. So he wasn’t quite as pleased with his son as he let on to be. Of course, that wasn’t all that surprising; most of the people in the Ministry had questioned Lucius’ professed acceptance of his son, especially when Draco didn’t appear to reciprocate.

Lucius led Hermione outside. “The greenhouse is over there,” he pointed to a glass structure glinting in the late afternoon sun, several hundred yards from the main house. “And, if you follow me, you’ll see my favorite area of the house.” Hermione followed Lucius curiously. They walked around a corner of the house, and Hermione was greeted with what struck her as a completely incongruous part of the manor. In a stone-paved grotto setting was a pool – what actually almost looked like a lap pool – and a smaller pool, no doubt a hot tub, from the wisps of steam that were coming off the water. “I come here to relax. You are, of course, more than welcome to use this. Although,” he paused, “I like to swim in the early morning, and, I like to swim alone,” he looked at Hermione, “If at all possible, of course. The changing rooms are over there,” he added belatedly, pointing to a stone doorway.

Hermione nodded. A pool. A hot tub. And the famed Malfoy library. She could see why Lucius had chosen to be confined to the Manor, rather than at any of his other properties. “I’ll remember that. This looks really, er, nice.”

Lucius smiled. “Just a few more spots on the tour.” He actually hadn’t been completely honest with the girl concerning the pool and hot tub. That was his second favorite place in the manor. The dungeons had always been his first love. Cool, and quiet. And yet with the potential to be exhilarating. As a child, he had gone to the dungeons for the silence, and to be alone, to relax. As an adolescent, he had gone to the dungeons for pleasure. As an adult, he had learned how to fully appreciate the opportunities that the dungeons offered him. The chance to learn to combine pleasure, relaxation, as well as his other visceral needs had been the Dark Lord’s greatest gift to him.

Hermione followed Lucius back inside, and down several sets of stone stairs. She paused as Lucius opened a heavy wooden door. Oh. It suddenly dawned on her where Lucius was taking her. Well, of course she’d need to know where the dungeons were, because she’d probably have to investigate them, as well. Still, the Malfoy dungeons and Lucius’ accomplishments in them were almost legendary, and quite disconcerting.

Lucius led her down a wide hallway. “This,” he said, standing in front of a heavily reinforced wooden door, “is the entrance to the dungeons. They are not in use now, other than for personal pleasures – when I find someone with like interests, of course.” He grinned wolfishly.

Merlin’s knuckles. Knowing anything about Lucius’ private ‘pleasures’ was more than she wanted to know. Still, this was her job. She took a deep breath. “Lead on, Mr. Malfoy.”

Lucius smirked. Sending a relative innocent like Hermione to him. Oh yes. This would be fun. Maybe he’d give her the ‘extended’ tour – so she could get a better idea of what the rooms contained. He walked down the hallway until he came to one of a series of wooden doors along the length of the hallway. He opened the door and gestured to Hermione to enter. Hermione drew in her breath quickly. The center of the fairly large room was occupied by a steel surgical table. Cupboards and cabinets lined the perimeter of the room. She was fairly certain that Lucius Malfoy was not a practicing physician. Which would mean only one thing. Oh gods. Trying to keep from displaying any emotion, Hermione nodded at Lucius, hoping that he would take it as a sign to move on.

Hiding his pleasure in the panic-stricken look that briefly crossed her face, Lucius walked further down the hallway and opened another door. Eyebolts on the floor, the walls and the ceilings, as well as the wooden table on one side of the room and wall rack of torture implements made it clear what this room was used for. The lack of dust indicated that this room was still used occasionally. Hermione eyed the rack of metal and leather objects on the wall. “Family heirlooms,” Lucius commented.

Hermione tried to stifle a nervous giggle. Who else but the Malfoys would pass objects of torture down to their descendants? She followed Lucius further down the hall as he pointed out various cells, until he reached one of the last two doors on the hallway.

He opened the first door, and Hermione peered into the low light. Oh gods. This was clearly another of Lucius’ ‘pleasure’ rooms - wooden stocks, a suspended large metal cage, a large table with eyebolts on the corners of the tabletop, and a large wooden cabinet occupied the room. This room, too, had obviously been cleaned recently. She turned to leave the room and almost ran into Lucius. “No need to rush out, Ms. Granger. This is my personal addition to the dungeons. One of my favorite rooms.” He smirked. Hermione stepped past Lucius to leave the room.

Trying hard not to think about the contents of that last room, Hermione stood in front of the only door that Lucius had not yet opened. Lucius open the door, and reached for his wand to light the way. He entered the room first, and descended the stairs that were set several feet away from the entrance of the room.

Nervously, Hermione followed Lucius down a flight of stairs, trying to not let her imagination get the better of her. Going anywhere in almost complete darkness with Lucius Malfoy was not a good idea. Especially not after what he had shown her in the previous rooms. But there was nothing she could do about it; she was on her own on this. Trying to squelch her runaway thoughts, she gripped her wand, just in case.

Finally, Hermione felt herself step onto an earthen floor, and she was led down a long passageway. Lucius held his wand close to his face, and the only thing Hermione could see in the darkness was his surreally lit face. The smirk on his face, and the dangerous glittering of his slate-grey eyes concerned her deeply. She could feel – and almost hear – her heart pounding madly. He smiled at the look of confusion and trepidation on her face, before holding out his wand, so that the area around them was better lit.

Hermione looked around. The walls were lined with hundreds and hundreds of bottles. Lucius smiled proudly. “My wine cellar.”