Adventurous Hearts Part III: Merlin's Tomb

Chapter 2: A Little Push







“You were out late last night, Draco.” Lucius said, over breakfast.







“I didn’t know you were waiting up for me. Do I have a curfew still?” Draco laughed.







“I’m not sleeping too well. I was awake when you came home. I trust the meeting went well?” He asked.







“It did, things are on schedule for the acquisition.” He said, buttering a scone. “I ended up bumping into Granger.”







“Oh really?” Lucius tried not to sound interested. It was a lie of course, he was interested, desperate to know how she was, aching to see her himself.







“She was completely pissed. I ended up having to carry her home.” He said. “Only I didn’t know where she lived and when I asked her all I got was nonsense.”







“Why would Severus let her get into that condition? Were they celebrating?” He asked.







“She was alone actually. Sitting at the bar knocking back firewhiskey like it was spring water.” He said. “When I said that I had to carry her home I mean I literally had to carry her home, well not home since she couldn’t tell me where that is, I took her to Severus’s house.”







“Well, that was a good choice; he no doubt took excellent care of her.” Lucius said, his tone rather flat.







“Funny though, I thought you told me that they were a couple.” Draco said.







“They are.” Lucius practically growled.







“No, actually, they ended that part of their relationship a while ago. Seems she was under the impression that she was becoming involved with you.” Draco said. He was watching his father in his peripherals. Lucius set his fork on the edge of his plate, slowly wiped his mouth with his napkin and stared at his son.







“Pardon?” Lucius asked, as calmly as he could manage.







“According to her drunken ramblings she broke off their intimate relationship for you and you chucked her.” Draco smirked. “Something about kinky sex and Severus, but I didn’t catch the details.”





Lucius cleared his throat and flushed slightly.







“I saw them with my own eyes, Draco. What they have is very strong.” He said.







“Maybe what you saw wasn’t what you thought?” Draco looked up, amused by the confused expression on his father’s face. “Not that it matters, you made your decision and that’s that.”







“Right, that’s that.” Lucius muttered, his mind replaying the events on the island. Had he been mistaken?











~*@*~*@*~*@*~*@





Severus stood beside his bed and stared down at the witch hanging off of the edge. She had had a rough night, tossing and turning, waking up at around four when he had to carry her to the bathroom where she spent the next twenty minutes retching. He cleaned her up and carried her back to bed, cursing Lucius all the while for driving her to that point.







She had been rather maudlin since their return. Things seemed to go downhill quickly in her personal life. Lucius rejected her, Harry insulted her and shunned her, along with the Weasley family, only Severus remained and it would take death to make him leave her completely.







She had tried distraction, throwing herself into lobbying for the rights to open Merlin’s Tomb. It had been found over a century prior near Stonehenge but had been restricted and excavation forbidden. It had taken a lot of time and effort on her part to convince the council to allow her access. But she managed, as she always did, to get her way.







He hadn’t expected Draco to show up on his doorstep. He especially hadn’t expected him to come bearing the intoxicated, unconscious witch in his arms. She wasn’t much of a drinker and she rarely had more than one when she did. So to see her in such a state was a little bit of a surprise.







He never thought to see her like that, pining for someone, especially when that someone was Lucius Malfoy. A part of him still wished it were him. He knelt down and pushed her hair back from her face, the shook her shoulder gently.





“Time to get up, Minute.” He said. She groaned and rolled over onto her back, her arms flopping back onto the bed in an awkward sprawl. “Come on, sit up.” He said, pushing himself upright and helping her sit, shoving the pillows behind her back.





“I feel like hell.” She said, her eyes still closed.





“You look like hell.” He said, shoving a glass of water into her hands. “It’s what happens when you try to drink your bodyweight in firewhiskey.” When she had drunk half of the water he gave her a pain potion for her head.





“I wasn’t intending to drink so much.” She said. “I have cotton mouth.” She quickly drank the remainder of the water.





“You also have dragon breath. Get up and get in the shower.” He said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her from the bed.







“Ugh…why can’t I just sleep today?” She moaned, letting him drag her into the tiny, outdated bathroom.







“Because you have plans to make.” He said, closing the clear plastic curtain and turning on the water.







“Plans for what?” She asked as she undressed and stepped beneath the tepid spray. She hated showering in his house, the water pressure was awful and it never got warm enough.





“To fix this mess you find yourself in.” He said, stepping out to get her something clean to wear.







“There is no mess, Severus. I was pursued when I didn’t want to be then chucked when I gave in and fell for him. I just have to get over it.” She called over the noisy plumbing. She shut off the water and jumped when he jerked open the curtain and tossed her a towel. “How did I get here anyway?”





She wrapped the towel around her, tucking it between her breasts as she got out and found her spare toothbrush in his medicine chest, happy to clean away the horrid taste in her mouth and the sensation of fuzzy teeth.







“Draco carried you here last night; he doesn’t know where you live.” She closed her eyes and groaned in mortification before bending over the sink to spit and rinse.







“Great, now he’s going to go back and tell Lucius how pathetic I am.” She said, snatching up the clean shirt and sweatpants Severus had set on the counter and dressing.







“Apparently he isn’t much better than you. Seems he thought you had chosen me.” Severus said softly. “He stepped back because he thinks you are in love with me.”







“Why didn’t he say anything? He never even gave me the chance to talk to him about it.” She said, her voice soft and her eyes wide.







“A man has his pride, Hermione. He probably figured it was better to let you go than to be rejected himself.” He said. “You still love him don’t you?”







“Yes.” She said, sighing tiredly. “I do.”







“You asked me last night what a Slytherin would do….well; a Slytherin would get off of her arse, fix herself up and go hunting.” He gave her a rather feral grin that had her laughing.







“And if he doesn’t wish to be hunted?” She asked, using his comb to detangle her hair.







“Then he is an idiot.” Severus said. “And then you get over him and you and I can pick up where we left off.” He said, waggling his brows.







“You are a very bad wizard, Severus.” She laughed. “But I love you anyhow.” She reached up and gave him a quick kiss then smiled. “So…are you taking me to breakfast?”







“Merlin, woman! I took care of you all night and now you want breakfast too? Greedy wench!” He smacked her backside as she walked past him laughing, and then followed her out. He floo’d her back to her house long enough to get proper shoes and then took her out for breakfast

~*@*~*@*~*@*~*@





Draco walked into his father’s study just after tea and found his sire pacing in front of the window, his hands crossed behind his back. He had been a bit on edge since Draco talked to him at breakfast and he knew that his father was thinking about her, about the situation.







“I have the Zonko Inc. contracts for you to sign.” Draco said, setting a stack of parchment on the desk. “Ended up getting the shares for thirty galleons less than the original offer but Malfoy Industries now has controlling interest.”







“Yes, fine, leave them there and I will look over them later.” Lucius said distractedly as he stared out the window.







“You could go see her you know. I’m sure Sev would give you her address.” Draco said.







“I’m afraid I can’t, I told Antoine Diamatti that I would escort his daughter Amelia to dinner this evening. He is the Ministry Ambassador to Italy, I can not cancel.” He said.







“Isn’t she younger than I am?” Draco said, trying to recall the girl in question. “Why does he want you escorting her? No offense father, but you are on parole and are old enough to be her father.”







“I have money and that is enough to overshadow a criminal past apparently. He is an important political ally and it is just dinner, not a betrothal.” He said.









“What are you going to do about Granger?” Draco asked.

















“I haven’t a clue.” Lucius said, running his finger over the glass where snowflakes clung to it outside.







“Well then, I’ll just leave you to your thoughts.” Draco said, slipping from the office, leaving his father to ponder what he wanted.