Stealing The Prize

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. Being a stay at home mom definitely keeps me on my toes, especially when two fo my three children are 10 month old twins. This story is not going to be all light and fluff, similar to Until You (which will be updated soon) it will have flashbacks of how their relationship began and also some future issues our favorite couple will have to deal with. Enjoy...please leave a review it helps to know what i could be doing better!!


CHAPTER TWO


Lucius kicked off with his broom and circled the massive white stoned hotel twice, all the while contemplating the best way to distract the rent-a-aurors that guarded his witch’s floor. The cool night air served to keep him alert to his surroundings and on his second trip around the hotel he noticed that Draco had joined Severus on the ground. Slowing the broom a bit, a devilish grin curled his lips as he saw his plan was about to take shape.

The tall wizard flew to the side of the hotel where he noticed Potter himself standing outside with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Ronald Weasley. Amazingly, none of the crowd in front of the hotel noticed The-Boy-Who-Lived outside yet. Lowering the broom to the ground, Lucius dismounted and walked up to the trio. He kept his hands raised in front of his chest so that they knew he wasn’t going to try anything to get past them.

“Malfoy,” Ron growled, “She won’t be seeing you. Not after the condition you left her in.”

“Mr. Weasley, I can assure you that you have your facts wrong, as usual. It was she who left me,” Lucius calmly returned. “What of the condition she left me in?” When the brunette had left him he had felt oddly bereft as though a piece of him was missing. He had gone to Snape to find out what was wrong with her. He complained to Severus that it wasn’t like he didn’t give her beautiful things and it certainly wasn’t because they were having trouble with their bedroom activities. The physical attraction between them burned hotter than any attraction he had ever felt before. So the question was put to his old friend about what could possibly be wrong. Severus’ answer had surprised him. He had simply told Lucius that while Hermione enjoyed being spoiled by him and seemed content with their ‘other’ activities (here he stumbled a little as there had been a few occasions where he had walked in on the lusty couple), she needed more than that. Lucius had spent the last few days figuring out what seemed to be obvious to everyone else.

“I doubt she left you in the same condition, Malfoy! After all it is practically impossible for a man…oomph! Bloody hell, Harry that hurt!” Ron’s tirade had been cut off by Harry quickly and efficiently and perhaps a bit roughly, elbowing Ron in the side.

“What Ron means to say is that Hermione told us she didn’t want to speak with you for a while,” Harry explained.

With a nod, Lucius turned to walk away and all three men watched as he left. There was no warning when, suddenly, there was a flash of blue light and the words ‘Petrificus Totalus’ where heard. Lucius turned around and sauntered back to where Harry Potter had petrified his two friends. “You’ve only got a few moments before all the aurors are down here. They won’t leave her alone for long.” Lucius nodded to Harry and gave a barely audible ‘thanks’. He was about to step through the doorway when he heard Harry speak again, “And, Malfoy? Fuck this up and I’ll make sure you never find them again.”

Harry turned to Kingsley and released him from the spell. Ron’s eyes were moving frantically but Harry quickly explained why he had helped Lucius before he cast ‘Finite Incantatem’ Ron’s way. He knew that if he had released Ron right away it might have prevented Lucius from making his way up to Hermione.

Lucius quietly made his way up the staircase. As he walked he gave a brief thought to Harry’s use of the word ‘they’. Deciding it must have just been a Freudian slip (and wouldn’t his witch be proud of him for using a muggle catch phrase!) he dismissed it and continued on his way. Reaching the third floor he peeked out the window in the stairwell and saw his son and friend still waiting in the park. ‘Interfering gits’, he thought to himself. Telling her to just pack up and leave the Manor without so much as a note. And then to make matters worse, Snape had even helped her bring her belongings to Potter’s house.

On top of that, Draco had even blamed him for Hermione leaving. The two had become good friends and could be found at any given time debating a number of various topics. Lucius would also get involved, often playing devil’s advocate by bringing up points to help both sides or by injecting a third party opinion to the debate. Because of this, dinner at the Manor was loud, boisterous, and a good deal less “proper” than it had been while he was still married to Narcissa. Snape also frequently came to these dinners as well, as Potter, the Weasley girl, and Luna Lovegood.

It hadn’t been easy for him to admit his attraction. The first time he had seen her after the war was in the Potions classroom at Hogwarts. Classes were finished for the day and Hermione and Severus were seated at a lab table discussing a new potion. Severus was laughing and Hermione had a light blush on her cheeks. Lucius had just walked in and paused in the doorway at the sound of his friend laughing. It was unusual for Snape to find anything about teaching ‘dunderheads’ funny. The girl’s profile was to him and he saw an attractive young woman, brown hair tumbling softly down her back. She seemed well developed and from what he could tell her body was softly rounded in all the places a woman should be.

Once he had realized Lucius was there, Severus had introduced him to Hermione as though the history between the two didn’t exist. Hermione had read between the lines and knew that the Potions Master was subtly trying to tell her to give the elder Malfoy a chance. There was a lot about the Malfoy family she didn’t yet know, he had once told her. She respected that and had offered her hand in greeting to Lucius. He too had also been spoken to by Severus about Hermione Granger. He had been shocked to find out that she was apprenticing under Snape and had made a few disparaging remarks about her character. That is until Severus had basically told him that he didn’t know the young witch at all and to refrain from any more comments regarding his apprentice.

The introduction had been awkward at best, made even more so by Severus alluding to the nature of the potion they had been discussing previously and causing Hermione to issue a reply calling Snape a dirty old man even as she blushed profusely. Lucius finally caught on to the fact that it was a pleasure enhancement potion and released a deep chuckle at Hermione’s response. Perhaps there was more to her than he knew, and wouldn’t it be interesting to find out.

Shaking his head at the memory, Lucius continued on his way down the hall towards her room. Hermione Granger had turned his life around and he intended to see that it stayed that way.