Battle of Dark vs. Light

            Author’s note: Here it is! I finally got the
second chapter, though it is a little on the short side. Sorry about that.

Hermione sighed and wearily
rubbed her eyes. It was only the second week of school and already she felt
bogged down. Right now, she was trying to grade second year essays while nursing
Alex. The other two girls were sleeping at the moment. A knock came at the door,
interrupting her grading. Sighing, she got up and stretched as much as she could
with a baby latched onto her and walked to the door.

            “Lucius!” she said in surprise. “What are you
doing here?” she asked. Then her eyes narrowed when she saw a familiar red-head
walking down the hall towards her door. Without thinking, she pulled Lucius into
her room and shut the door, locking it. She turned to face Lucius. “So? What are
you doing here?” There was a loud knock on the door. She quickly silenced the
children’s room and hefted Alex on her shoulder, burping her. The knocking
continued. “Go away, Ronald!”

            “Well, I came on behalf of Dumbledore,” Lucius
told her. She nodded but it was hard to hold a conversation when someone was
knocking non-stop on the door. Hermione sighed in frustration and practically
shoved Alex into Lucius’s shocked arms. She then whirled around and whipped open
the door, causing Ron to stumble backwards a little bit.

            “What the hell do you want, Ron?!” she shouted
at him. He gulped, finally realizing this had been a bad idea.

            “If…if you don’t take me back, I’ll fight you
for custody,” Ron told her. Hermione eyes widened slightly.

            “You wouldn’t,” she said, trying to keep her
voice from betraying her fear. But obviously he saw it because suddenly he
looked very smug.

            “I will,” he said, suddenly sounding a lot more
confident. “Maybe you’re not familiar with how this type of thing works in the
wizarding world, Hermione.” He paused for a moment to watch her reaction. “You
see, in the wizarding world, if a pureblood fights a muggle born for custody,
the pureblood usually wins. So why don’t we save all the hassle and you just let
me move back in?” Hermione slammed the door in his face and spun to face Lucius.

            “He…he’s not right, is he?” she whispered. “I…I
mean…” she didn’t finish her sentence as she fought to keep the tears at bay.
Lucius didn’t say a word, just took Alex into the next room and gently lay her
in her crib. Then he came out and looked at Hermione, who was looking at Lucius
with hopeful eyes.

            “He’s right,” Lucius finally said quietly,
keeping his eyes locked on hers. “I’ve never heard of the ministry ever granting
custody to a muggle born parent if the other parent is a pureblood.” Hermione
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, she walked to the doorway and
watched her beautiful children sleep.

            “I can’t lose them, Lucius,” she whispered.
“They’re all I have left now.” The knocking came again and with a sigh, Hermione
opened it and almost slammed it again if his foot hadn’t been in the way. “What
do you want this time, Ron?” she asked, trying to sound angry but only coming
out sounding worn out and weary. He didn’t say anything, instead just held out
some papers. Hermione grabbed them, her heart speeding up as she looked them
over. She raised her eyes to meet Ron’s. “That soon?” He nodded with a smug look
on his face. Her eyes narrowed.

            “Get out of my sight,” she hissed. “I don’t
want you anywhere near my children until…” she quickly scanned the top
sheet, “….until the 19^th of October, the date of the trial. And if
you think for one moment that you are going to get custody of them, you are
severely mistaken. I’m not the smartest witch to come out of Hogwarts in a
century for nothing. I’ve fought Voldemort himself, I’ve gotten you and Harry
out of loads of trouble, I’ve done things no teenager should ever have to do, so
I think I am more then capable of being the first muggle born to ever gain
custody of her children.” Ron gulped at the fire blazing in her eyes and he
turned tail and ran. Hermione turned to face Lucius.

            “I’m sure you can find your own way out the
door,” was all she said before she entered her bedroom, locked the door, and
collapsed on her bed in tears.

            Meanwhile, in a very secluded cave many miles
away from Hogwarts, a man sat in silence, contemplating something. Another man
sat next to him, watching.

            “Once you have the children, bring them to me,”
the first man suddenly demanded, startling the second man. The second man nodded
his head and quickly left the cave. “It will much easier once I have the
children,” he whispered to himself, “much easier indeed.”

            Hermione awoke with the sunlight streaming
across her face. Stretching, she smiled. She had finally had a full night’s
sleep, the first in over four years. Slowly the previous night’s events entered
her mind, and she jumped from the bed, hurriedly pulling on her dressing gown.
Before she could tie it though, she heard…laughter? She quietly opened her
bedroom door and stared in shock at the sight before her.

            Lucius was tickling Alana and Tiffany, actually
rolling around on the floor with them. He was laughing. Laughing! She didn’t
think she had ever heard Lucius Malfoy laugh before and it was suddenly
disconcerting how nice it sounding. She studied him for a moment, noticing how
handsome he was when he wasn’t always scowling. Sighing at this sudden unwanted
thought, Hermione cleared her throat. Lucius immediately froze as he slowly met
her eyes. He quickly got to his feet and started towards the door.

            “I thought I’d let you sleep,” he informed her.
“You seemed extremely exhausted.” And he was gone before she could utter a word.

Author’s note: I know this was extremely short compared to
the last chapter, but I honestly have no idea what else to write here. What do
you guys want to see happen in the next few chapters? Review and let me know!