Deja Voodoo

Thought I\'d go ahead and post this with the first chapter since they sort of go together. This part was for the Xmas challenge.



***



Lucius Malfoy stood on the balcony of the wide double staircase watching his guests come and go at the annual Yule ball. He had volunteered to hold it in his home this year since the Ministry was having issues with a nasty pixie infestation they couldn’t seem to get rid of in one of the larger ballrooms. Ice sculptures sat in various places around the grounds, the stage was set for the Oak and Holly King battle to take place close to the stroke of midnight, ghostly carolers wandered about singing for whoever stopped to listen. The trees were hung with holly and mistletoe and enchanted to glow whenever anyone passed them. He had gone to great lengths to see that this Yule ball was a success.



He looked into the depths of his glass of Lafite Rothschild then swirled the wine around before lifting it slightly to inhale the subtle aromas of black currant and mint. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know the wave of cold at his back was the ghost of Severus Snape.



“Do you really believe she’ll come?” said the sneering voice behind him.



“In more ways than one,” Lucius smirked over his shoulder. “She really has no choice in the matter. All Ministry employees are required to attend the Yule ball and the Midsummer ball. You know that, Severus.”



“I seem to recall that. However, who is to say she’ll not walk through the doors then turn and walk out again. There are no stipulations stating one has to stay once they’ve technically attended.”



“True,” Lucius said thoughtfully. “I’ve taken extra measures to make certain she remains here for a good portion of the ball.”



“Lucius, please do not tell me you have that ridiculous little doll of her in your pocket.”



“Don’t be as asinine, Severus. Of course not. I had the house elves sew it into my under robes.”



“Are you insane?” Severus said, loud enough that several people heard him over the music playing and looked up at him and Lucius.



Lucius stared down his nose at the onlookers long enough to make them uncomfortable and turn away before answering the spirit of his friend.



“You are too easy since your death, my friend. All I have of her is a single strand of her hair.”



“And precisely how did you manage to get a strand of her hair?”



“Quite easily actually. I managed to procure it when kissing her at New Year’s five years ago. It isn’t as though she’d miss it with all the hair she has.”



“Do you mean to tell me you’ve kept a strand of her hair for the past five years? That’s absurd.”



“Says the man who kept a bit of clover Lily Evans pressed into a book for him when they were nine.”



Severus made a rude noise before saying, “I was not attempting to make use of muggle magick to woo a woman I’d tried to kill previously. You are obsessed and insane. I’ll have no part of this nonsense.”



“I wasn’t aware I’d asked you to take part in it. As it happens she is more interested in me than she would like to admit, even to herself.”



“I wish you luck with this mad venture, Lucius.” Severus glided off, going through several people in the process just because he could do so.



Lucius smiled over the rim of his wineglass. “Oh, I’ll not require luck. I have a plan,” he murmured, looking down into the crowd to the lovely woman who had just entered the ballroom behind the Potters.



***



Hermione sighed and rolled her shoulders a bit, the dress she was wearing felt too tight and uncomfortable though she had to admit is was stunning. Ginny had been with her to witness her moment of disbelief when the box had been delivered to her flat in muggle London. She’d opened the box looking for some sort of clue to whom the rightful owner might be, figuring it had to be a mistake and had been mesmerized by the dress inside. She’d nearly fainted when she read the label. Armani, dear gods, an Armani original of stunning sapphire blue silk. She knew that it just had to be a mistake. There only been a note with the dress stating it was for Hermione Granger and she was to wear it for the Yule ball with no indication of who’d sent it. The box arriving the next day was just as bad in the fact it contained a pair of beautiful silver strap Christian Louboutin shoes. The box on her doorstep the day after that had nearly made her faint dead away simply by looking at the top of the box which read: Cartier.



So now she stood nervously in Lucius Malfoy’s ballroom dressed in some of the best muggle finery money could buy and she had no idea who’d sent it to her. Ginny had jokingly suggested a secret admirer and Hermione had pondered that for all of five seconds. She was not the sort of woman men fawned over and bought expensive gifts for. Every nerve in her body went instantly tense when she saw the host of the party himself approaching them.



“Ah, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, so glad you could come,” Lucius said smoothly, shaking hands with both of them then glancing at Hermione from the corner of his eye while completing the initial pleasantries with Harry and Ginny. He turned to her and instead of shaking her hand brought it to his lips and brushed a soft kiss across her knuckles. “Exquisite, Miss Granger, is the only word to describe you in that gown.”



Hermione paused for a moment as her mind flew back five years to the night when his lips had been moving against hers in a kiss so earth shattering that she’d never felt anything like before or since. She took a step backward to get some distance between them only to realize he was still holding on to her hand.



“Mr. Malfoy,” she began but he stopped her.



“Really, now, do you think you have it in you to call me Lucius? All things considered, I think it only appropriate we be on first name terms, don’t you?” he said, tucking her hand into the bend of his arm as he began to escort her around the room.



Her eyes narrowed and Lucius smiled slightly. The spark in her eyes promised a wealth of fireworks to be had later on, probably at some point in time during the evening when they were alone enough for her to give him a piece of her mind. He could hardly wait.



Harry’s eyebrows went up and he glanced at his wife, who merely shrugged as they proceeded to follow Lucius and Hermione around the room. Ginny grinned as something connected in her head and she knew it was a fact as soon as it crossed her mind. Lucius Malfoy was the one who had bought Hermione the dress and accessories that went with it. She knew it as well as she knew her own name. Now this could get interesting, she thought. Hermione needed an older man, one who could keep up with her on a maturity and intelligence level and Lucius Malfoy certainly fit the bill.



“Why are you smiling like that, Ginny?” Harry asked nervously. “You aren’t planning on hexing anyone, are you?”



“Don’t be so silly, Harry. I’d never dream of it,” she said, smiling at Lucius and Hermione’s backs.





After about an hour of being led around by Lucius and being introduced to she swore every dignitary, politician and pureblood in the wizarding world Hermione had most certainly had enough.



“Is this the library?” she asked as they paused near a set of carved oak doors.



“One of them, yes. I’ve four in the house. Whyyyyyy?” Lucius stammered as he was shoved sideways through the doors.



Like the rest of the house and grounds, the library had been decorated for the party. Though it had a slightly different tone to it than the rest of the house. Red, green and gold candles burned in various places throughout the room, casting flickering shadows across the books, a large desk and chaise lounge. Massive marble statues of the Oak and Holly king flanked either side of the doors and he found himself backed against the one of the Holly king with Hermione’s wand pointed threateningly at him.



“Really, Hermione, if you’d wanted me alone all you had to do was say so.”



“What are you playing at, Malfoy?”



“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he said, feigning innocence.



“You know very well what I mean. Dragging me around the party like I was some kind of show dog. Won’t that hurt your reputation, being seen with someone like me?”



“Hardly. As you should know, muggleborns are now a bit of a . . . project amongst the purebloods.”



“It was you, wasn’t it? You bought me the gown I’m wearing just so you could dress me up and parade me around to your friends,” she said, her voice shaking with anger.



“You are half right. I did buy you the gown and everything that goes with it. I had no intention, however, to “parade you around” to my friends. It was solely for selfish reasons.”



“Why? And for that matter why did you kiss me on New Years five years ago?” she asked. She had wanted to know all these years. Wondered why and hoped that perhaps the answer would purge the feeling of his lips against hers from her dreams.



Lucius rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “Dear gods above and below, witch, do you not have a mirror? You are stunning. You’ve grown into one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, pureblood, muggle born or whatever. Kissing you seemed the only way I could get your attention away from that swaggering imbecile of a Weasley boy.”



“You’re trying to confuse me.”



“Is it working?” he asked, glancing overhead again as he noticed something.



“Of course not. I’m not some fluff brained idiot who’ll just . . . mmpf?” The last bit of her tirade was cut short by him taking full advantage of the mistletoe above them.