Matched

CHAPTER 20: Confusion



Hermione fled like a coward. She raced to her room and showered in record time. She threw on some jeans and a plain white t-shirt, plaited her hair into a messy braid and floo’d to the Potter’s as quickly as she could manage.



“Hermione, what on earth?” Ginny had never seen her look so frazzled. She had been somewhat shocked when Hermione had called down the floo network and told her she needed to see her as soon as possible. It wasn’t a common occurrence for her to have an emotional crisis.



“Why are you here so early?” Harry asked, walking in from the kitchen in his pajamas.



“I needed to talk to someone.” Hermione said as she fell back into a chair. Harry looked at his friend and instantly knew she was distressed.



“Mione, what’s wrong? What did he do?” He asked, rushing over to sit on the ottoman in front of her. Ginny was busy tying her shoelace, but listening intently. She knew that Harry needed to fuss over Hermione for a few moments before he would get uncomfortable with the situation and run away.



“He didn’t do anything Harry, he’s perfect.” Hermione said, smiling softly at him. He was so sweet, and so clueless.



“Why are you so upset?” He asked. Ginny put her hand on her husband’s shoulder and nodded at Hermione. It was the signal to go ahead, let it out so that Harry would get flustered and scuttle off so they could have their girl talk in peace.



“I think I’m in love with Lucius.” She said, her eyes beginning to get teary. She hadn’t said it aloud before and hearing the words gave them more power than just thinking about them. Harry gave her an odd look and began nervously scratching the side of his neck.



“Um…well he is your husband; I don’t understand why it’s a problem.” Harry said.



“It wasn’t a love match Harry, Lucius and I both agreed to this so we wouldn’t have to leave the magical world behind. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”



“He doesn’t seem like such a bad guy these days, I mean if you can overlook his past, he’s actually kind of fun. And um….he’s obviously…er…you know…in to you.” Harry said blushing.



“That isn’t the problem, that part is fantastic, I just…..I can’t love him!” Hermione felt the tears welling and was trying to keep herself from crying.



“Oh, Hermione, honey don’t fret so much, it can be intense when you fall in love for the first time, especially with your first lover.” Ginny said as she made to leave the room to gather her purse.



“He’s not the first, I was in love once before but not like this, this hurts.” Hermione said. Harry winced slightly as he looked at her. “I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t say that to hurt you.” She whispered.



“It’s alright Mione. It was a long time ago.” He said. “It’s just….Ginny doesn’t know…”



“It’s okay, our secret, remember? No one else will ever know.” She said. Ginny came back into the room carrying her purse.



“Well, I think you need to get to work Harry. Hermione, let’s floo to the Leaky Cauldron for some brunch and a chat shall we?” Ginny kissed Harry goodbye and led Hermione into the fireplace and out into the dining room of the Leaky Cauldron. They took a seat in the back and ordered tea. “Ok, now that he’s not fussing over you like a little mother hen, what the hell is going on Hermione?”



“He’s sweet Ginny, he just worries about me.” Hermione said, smiling as she thought about poor Harry. He did try.



“I know, if I didn’t know he loved me I would probably be jealous as hell over how much he adores you.” Ginny said. “Now, I don’t understand what the problem is, why are you so upset about falling in love with Lucius?”



“Ginny, he will never love me back. I’m a muggle-born remember? Lucius hates muggles, I still can’t believe his best friend is a half blood. How can you love someone for the rest of your life and know that they will never love you back?”



“So, make him love you.” Ginny said. Hermione wished it were only that easy.



“Not going to happen. Lucius is so sweet, he’s attentive and thoughtful, he’s romantic and oh god Ginny the sex is bloody amazing. But he keeps a certain amount of distance. I can feel it, I can see this door close in his eyes.” Hermione looked down into her tea cup, seriously thinking about ordering a shot of whiskey to put in it.



“Hermione, he’s probably just worried about putting himself out there. Guys are weird like that, I mean look at Harry. How long did he push me away because he didn’t want me getting hurt. I just kept on until I got my man.” Ginny smiled brightly.



“Do you think so?”



“Think about it Hermione. The man had a wife, and from all I heard, he did care for her and Voldemort killed her in front of him. Let’s not forget that his only child was also used as a weapon to control him.”



“So you think I should just…how do you make a wizard fall in love with you?”



“Well, now that is the fun part….”







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Lucius sat in a beat up old chair in Severus’s living room and tapped his cane on the floor. He looked around and wondered why Sev didn’t fix the hell hole up a bit. He had money; Lucius himself had invested his salary for him over the years and earned him quite a little fortune.



“Now what brings your sour face to my doorstep this morning Lucius?” Severus asked as he passed Lucius a cup of tea.



“I think I offended my wife.” Lucius said.



“What did you do?”



“I don’t have a clue.” Lucius spread his hands in confusion. “I am completely at a loss.”



“What happened exactly?” Severus asked, watching his friend carefully.



“We were…taking a bath, and suddenly she jumped up and ran away.” Lucius had a look on his face that told Severus he really had no idea what was wrong.



“Maybe it’s a woman thing Lucius; you know how hormonal they get. Get her some jewelry and apologize for being an ass…even though you don’t know why you were an ass, and call it done.” Severus crossed his legs and sipped his tea.



“Won’t work with Hermione. It was fine for Narcissa, but Hermione is not so shallow, and she’s not prone to being emotionally unstable either, that is why it has me concerned.” Lucius said with a frown.



“Were you arguing?”



“No, we were….” Lucius said no more, it wasn’t polite to discuss your wife with your friends.



“Ah, well maybe you’ve lost your touch.” Severus said, smiling into his cup.



“No, that wasn’t an issue you ass.” Lucius snapped.



“Why do you care so much Lucius? You married her so you wouldn’t lose your wand, she’s a muggleborn witch you were saddled with, remember?” Severus focused on Lucius for a moment. “Are you in love with her?”



“Damn it Sev, stay out of my head!” Lucius shouted, glaring at Severus.



“Well, are you?”



“I don’t know. I care for her, I want to make her happy though I have no idea how.”



“That’s easy, buy her things, take her to fancy restaurants…”



“Hermione doesn’t care for lots of things, and I don’t think she likes going to nice places all the time, she told me she would rather have a Happy Meal, whatever the fuck that is.” Lucius said, his frustration starting to wear on him.



“Oh, well if a Happy Meal will make her happy, I can help you out with that one.” Severus smiled. He couldn’t wait to see Lucius strolling through London carrying the brightly colored box of the kid’s meal.