INSATIABLE

Im ready for the angry mob of reviews and flames after this chapter, I simply ask you all to be gentle and
don't bruise my muse too much. PLUS a prize is only worth winning if you truly earned it :) not to be cryptic and about
Lucius&Hermione :) they will have their day... btw : Pandora has recently been updated hint hint :) - Love, Esme
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Lucius’s voice was raspy and weak but brought her such
joy at hearing it. Her eyes found his and she blinked
back the tears that were clouding her vision. “I
thought you were…” she trailed off. “a goner?” he said
with a weak smile. “don’t ever leave me again” she
said.

Lucius was unsure how much longer he could remain
conscious for. “look in the office, my desk – top
drawer– see what we are dealing with… listen to
Oberon, he will protect you” his eye lids felt like
lead and he was slipping away quickly. “I’m sorry for
trying to interfere in your affairs, your such a
brilliant witch… I trust you know what’s best for you…
Hermione, I’m fighting this as hard as I can, if only
to see you again, I love you”. His eyes closed but he
was still conscious, his breaths were stronger and his
grip on her was weak but resolute. “I love you more”
she whispered back to him.

Hermione watched him slip back into a deep sleep and
stayed by his side, just enjoying the warmth of his
body against hers. She visited his rooms mostly at
night, and always avoided his room when Narcissa was
there, which she usually came to visit early every
morning. Though Hermione could not fully understand
their relationship, she did understand that they did
love each other in a dysfunctional way and a great
deal of Narcissa’s happiness rested on her husband’s
shoulders.

Hermione quietly untangled herself from his grip and
moved to get off his bed. He gripped her hand, which
made her heart rate suddenly spike. “don’t leave me”
he rasped out. She squeezed his hand and smiled down
at him. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew what he was
really asking. She knew by the look in his eyes, the
urgency of his voice and the shake of his hand in hers
was telling her that he needed her to stand by him,
not for the night, but for the rest of their lives.

“never” she whispered into the darkness of the room.
She leaned into him and claimed his lips, never before
had she felt his lips be so gentle and earnest. His
kiss held no lust or greed, but was full of
desperation, longing and love that she could not help
but melt into his lips. She knew they were both
warriors till the end, but in the battle between
themselves they had both surrendered to each other in
that kiss. She pledged herself to him that night, her
heart would always be his as his heart would forever
belong to her.

Lucius drifted back into the depths of an unconscious
sleep as Hermione quietly slipped out of his hospital
room. She found Oberon waiting to escort her back to
her flat and he filled her in on the details of
Lucius’s attacker. According to Oberon it was a young
man who they had yet to identify, his fingerprints as
well as his magical signature seemed to be burned or
marred so badly that he was without an identity. The
Healers speculated that he was under the Imperius
curse but still had not been able to prove it.

Oberon searched Hermione’s apartment, like he had done
previous nights, before allowing her to go to bed. “It
is not my intention to be so obtrusive ma chère, but
Lucius would never forgive me for taking too many
risks when it came to you and his unborn child’s
safety” he drawled as he pulled the covers up over
her. She felt so absurd being tucked in like a child,
but found it comforting and reassuring. For all
Oberon’s beauty and youthful appearance he seemed to
emanate a fatherly quality that Hermione missed since
her own father’s untimely death.

“rêves doux” Oberon said as he left her room. She was
uncertain she would sleep at all, let alone have sweet
dreams as Oberon bade her, after everything that had happened.

As soon as she woke up that morning she grabbed her
wand and performed a pregnancy detection charm, and
she wasn’t surprised to find she was indeed pregnant,
she had to take Oberon’s word for it that it was
Lucius’s. She got ready for work in a daze, so
uncertain of what she was going to do from here. She
hadn’t expected her life to turn out like this, she
was the responsible book worm who lived a sheltered
and painstakingly planned out existence.

She wasn’t the type to have an affair with rich
handsome wizards, or her own boss and she most
definitely didn’t plan on getting knocked up by said
employer. Sybil Trelawny’s voice echoed in her head,
her soul was not dried and withered and damn she
would prove it. She stared at her own reflection in
the mirror “your going to be one hell of a mother” she
said to her reflection.

Hermione prided herself on being well prepared for
any situation in life, but her current situation
stumped her completely. She had decided she really
only needed to do one thing, and that was to follow
her heart. Her heart was lying in St. Mungo’s
hospital, and if she did anything she was bound and
determined to stand by him.

Draco kept her updated on Lucius’s condition
throughout the day and when he sent her her 5th owl
from him that day she decided to take him up on his
lunch date offer. She studied Draco’s handsome face as
she pretended to read her menu. He had changed so much
over the years, he was not the spoiled prat anymore,
but a hard working and more than considerate and
caring young man. Lucius’s voice echoed in her head as
the sight of Draco’s platinum hair and silver eyes
mirrored Lucius’s gorgeous features. “it’s all I can
give you, the only way I can bind myself to you” his
silky baritone echoed through her mind.

Draco was a catch, intelligent, rich, attractive,
funny, he was the whole package and if this was all
Lucius could give her, why should she decline such an
appealing ‘gift’. She knew her more deep seated and
pressing reason was she needed to find a father for
her baby, and Draco just happened to fit the bill
perfectly. The pair chatted idly about their jobs, and
other mundane topics over lunch until Hermione gave
him a piercing stare. She hadn’t seriously considered
Draco before, he was always too well armed with snide
remarks and sneers that she couldn’t look past it all.
Now that he was devoid of all that petty bullshit, she
realized she had never saw him for who he was. One
question in particular floated to the surface of her
mind, if he wasn’t who she thought he was, than who
was he?

“Draco… why or… how even… did you change so much? Why
the change of heart?” Hermione asked abruptly. Draco
took a sip of his white wine and seemed to be
gathering his thoughts. “what did my father say to
that question?”. “Lucius is Slytherin to the very
core, he gave me some line about ‘if you can’t beat them join them’
bollocks, but I know he suffered under Voldemort… your harder to
read than you father though” she explained.

“Well I joined the ‘light’ when my father did, but I
guess it all started to sink in when I saw the Dark
Lord kill Crabbe and Goyle before my own eyes. I know
you thought their heads were filled with sawdust, but
they were my best friends after all. It happened just
like that too, they failed on a simple mission, and
when they returned Voldemort aimed his wand and their
hearts stopped. No torture, no ceremony, he didn’t
even make them an example or raise his voice, he just
snuffed out their lives like swatting a fly. It made
everything feel so trivial and pointless, after the
pain and shock wore off I felt more numb towards life
than ever. I saw my chance to get out and took it, I
haven’t looked back and I chose to fight against the
mad man that had no respect for human life at all…it
didn’t matter anymore about pure blood or muggle
born…everyone has a right to their own happiness… and
so here I am sitting with the brightest witch of our
age and regretting everything I’ve said or done to her
in the past”. Draco looked up at her and gave her a
weak smile, she could easily see the pain etching
around his eyes.

Hermione felt like crying, but kept her head about
her. “Draco… we all have regrets, I’ve forgiven and
forgotten. I’m done looking back and I’m done with
regrets, we all have to do what we have to do to get
by. All we can do is look forward, right?”


Draco’s eyes betrayed the cool and collected
expression with a glint of wild hope in his eyes.
Hermione decided to lay all her cards down and be
honest with Draco… honesty was always the best policy
she told herself.

“We do have a future together Draco, though I’m unsure
of what it will entail” she heaved a heavy sigh and
looked as if she was marching off to the gallows. “all
right here it is… you deserve the truth and we need to
be on the same page here, agreed?”

Draco slowly nodded his head with a curious expression
across his handsome face. “why are you ok with this
marriage agreement?” she blurted out without thinking.
Draco’s eyes filled with laughter “Well, it would be a smart match, beneficial to both our careers, I’m attracted to you and I think… we could work out well” he explained casually.

Hermione‘s mouth dropped open slightly and Draco patted her
hand from across the table. “I’ve never expected to
marry for love Hermione… I knew it would always come
down to who my father paired me off with” he said
quietly.

“y-you would just accept that? Who your father saddled
you with?” she asked briskly. “you wanted to know why…
and I told you, it would be a marriage of convenience…
true, but it’s not like we don’t have a spark
together, nor does it mean we couldn’t grow to care
for each other”. He said gently.

“Draco, here is the truth. I am in love with your
father, I am pregnant with his child. I need a father
for this baby… my friends would probably shun me if
they found out I’m having a married wizards child.. so
I’m utterly alone in this world aside from my baby. I
do agree with your reasons for getting married too,
its just that you could fix a lot of my problems right
now… but I wanted to tell you the truth first”. She
looked into Draco’s grey eyes with a tearful yet
determine look.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, and Hermione
noticed he did it in exactly the same way his father
did. “so he’s knocked you up… oh Hermione…” he said
with a low sigh. She couldn’t help it, the tears came
flooding, damn hormones she thought darkly. Draco
rushed over to her and gave her one of his silk
handkerchiefs. “shhh, it’s all right… I’m just a
little surprised is all, I knew he fancied you I just
didn’t think you’d fall for it”. Hermione began to sob
and Draco tossed a handful of galleons onto the table
and ushered her back to his private office in
Gringotts.

She dabbed at the tears flooding her eyes and sobbed
into Draco’s shoulder. “p-please don’t tell him it’s
his baby!” she sobbed loudly. Draco froze “he doesn’t
know?” he breathed. “N-no! I just found out last
night…I don’t want to be a home wrecker Draco… he
can’t know it’s his, I don’t know what he’d do! Hell I
don’t know what I’m going to do!” she said as she
trembled in Draco’s arms.

Draco got down on one knee and studied her tear
streaked face. “Hermione, will you marry me?”. Her
breath hitched and she stared down at him with red
rimmed eyes. “y-yes” she sobbed as she wrapped her
arms around his neck. He smiled at how her silken
curls tickled his neck as she clung to him and
breathed in her warm inviting scent.

He stood up and pushed a few stray curls from her
eyes. “I can’t promise to understand or condone your
affair with my father once were married… but this
child is my child now, and I’ll promise to always be
there for the both of you”.

“what about your mother? She must hate me, I mean I
don’t hold anything against her..” “what are you
talking about?” Draco cut her off. “your mother knew
about Lucius and I… and we caught her… with Viktor’.
She confided shyly. “Welcome to the Malfoy family
love… unfortunately were are as dysfunctional as it
gets… mother will be fine… trust me, you’ll find out
soon enough” he said with a sly grin.