Line Between Nightmare and Dream

Hermione barely had the strength to sob anymore and the tears had lost their saltiness. She looked at the wall and let her vision blur. All she could see was him, and the worst part was it wasn’t even him with that woman on his lap. No! it was him smiling down at her with that look in his eyes that made her swoon. She didn’t dare sleep because she knew nothing better waited for her there. So she stayed awake, crying.

Every few minutes another vase full of flowers would pop-up in her room. At first she sent them back, but twice as many would pop-up in their place. Then she threw them out the window or sent them to Siberia, but now she was just too tired to do anything. The surfaces in her room were covered in flowers, and now they started appearing on the floor.

She felt like she was going to puke from the sorrow in the pit of her stomach. After trying to convince herself she didn’t have to puke she hauled herself out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

“OH MY GOD!!! Hermione what is wrong with you?!?!” Harry gasped when he met her in the hall.

Hermione looked at Harry then ran into the bathroom to puke. Harry followed her in and pulled back her mangled mess of hair.

“Hermione, how long have you been home?” Harry asked.

“Since last night” Hermione said through heaves.

“You get food poisoning or something?” Harry asked.

“Something” Hermione managed.

“Well…um…if there’s anything I can do….” Harry said handing her a washcloth.

“Don’t let Lucius in” Hermione replied.

“Fuck!! This has to do with that Bloody asshole!! Hermione I told you…” Harry yelled

“Just stop!!!” Hermione interrupted him and ran back into her room slamming the door.

Harry stomped downstairs with half a mind to call a Dementor to pay Lucius a visit. He banged around in the kitchen cussing when there was a knock at the door.

“If that’s that bloody bastard I’ll Kedavra him before he can make up any bloody excuse” Harry mumbled as he walked to the door. He saw Lucius on the other side and grabbed his wand out of his pocket.

“Don’t even think of speaking!! In fact don’t even think of thinking!!! Just leave!!!” Harry screamed with his wand inches from Lucius’ nose.

Lucius looked just as awful as Hermione. Purple circles framed his eyes, his nose was raw red, and his cloak was buttoned one button off.

“Please it’s not…” Lucius began

“What I think? It doesn’t matter what I think! Hermione told me to keep you away, and if she had told me to kill you this conversation would have ended after your first knock!” Harry yelled at him.

“Can I….” Lucius tried again

“NO!!!!!!” Harry pushed the wand under Lucius’ chin.

“Potter! You have no clue what you are getting into!” Lucius pulled all his strength.

“Doesn’t Matter” Harry harshly and slowly pronouncing each word.

“She needs to know the truth!” Lucius nearly begged.

“She doesn’t want to know anything and if you don’t step off this stoop, I will put you in Azkaban!” Harry hissed.

Lucius’ brow fell as he stepped back Harry still pointing his wand threateningly at him. He turned and walked away. He knew it was a long shot to come her in person but he had to try, he was hurting to his core.

Harry slammed the door and locked every bolt. He had never seen Lucius like that. He tried to tell himself it was all part of the show, but there was something in his eyes that made him think twice. You can’t fake that walk; Lucius looked broken.

There was a loud crash at the door behind him. His first thought was that Lucius was trying to bust the door down but then he heard keys turning the locks. Harry turned and helped open the bolts.

“Harry!!! Harry!!! You have to come down to the Ministry!” Ron huffed.

“Ron are you Okay?” Harry asked.

“Yeah!! Just… Ran… Here” Ron doubled over.

“Why didn’t you use the fireplace?” Harry asked.

“Didn’t think of that” Ron looked up at him with disgust.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked.

“A buyer came to your office. He said he has the items Amycus got rid of” Ron said excitedly.

Harry’s heart sank. He was hitting dead ends everywhere with the investigation; this was HUGE.

“Fuck!” Harry yelled.

“Well that’s a fine reaction after I ran all the way here to tell you” Ron said offended.

“No Hermione! Lucius did something to her and she asked me to keep him away. I can’t leave her like this” Harry said.

“Go” Hermione sniffed from the hallway.

“Bloody Hell!!” Ron gasped at the sight of Hermione.

“Harry, Amycus going to jail would really cheer me up right now” Hermione sighed.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can! If you need anything!” Harry said as Hermione slipped back into her room.

Harry put a few protective charms on the house before he stepped into the fireplace. In his office sat a pitiful looking man. His clothes were torn and dirty and he had an old mailbag sitting next to him.

“Jon Balten?” Harry asked as he stepped out of the fireplace in his office.

“Mr. Potter” Jon replied awkwardly bowing.

“You’re the buyer?” Harry asked as he sat at his desk.

“Yes sir. I have the items in my bag” Jon reached for the mailbag.

“NO! No leave them in there” Harry wasn’t sure what he was dealing with yet and wanted to ask questions first.

They talked for awhile. Harry asking him questions about the sale, when Jon was there, what he took, how he heard Amycus might be selling. The story matched up with what Harry had found. Even down to the time Jon said he left the house and the time Harry arrived. It matched with the traces Harry found that day and the state Amycus was in that day.

Finally Harry asked about the artifacts. He went cold when he heard what was sitting in his office. He tried not to cry thinking about the trapped souls and what they must have been forced to do over the years.

“I wanted to free the souls myself, but when I heard about all the trouble Amycus was in I thought they might be helpful to you” Jon said.

“I’m thankful you brought them to us. I can guarantee they will be released as soon as the investigation is over” Harry’s voice broke.

There was a knock on his office door and a young intern peeked his head inside.

“I found were Amycus will be this evening” He said.

“Alan! Shut the door before you say something like that!” Harry snapped and Alan timidly shut the door behind him.

“I found were Amycus will be this evening” Alan repeated timidly

“Are you going to tell me?” Harry pushed.

“There’s a party. Social elite types…starts at 8 tonight” Alan quickly replied.

“Good get me a group of ten or more agents tell them to meet me here at 7” Harry said.

He said good day to Jon and locked up the mailbag. He wanted to check on Hermione before he started the mission.

~~~~~~~~~

Lucius sat in Draco’s living room and waited for his son to get back with a glass of water.

“And you tell me not to work too hard” Draco laughed.

“It’s not work, it’s Hermione” Lucius groaned.

“Yeah she can be kinda….uh….a handful…..I’ve heard…from others” Draco stumbled.

“No she’s fine” Lucius sighed.

“You just said” Draco started.

“I screwed up” Lucius moaned.

“Fuck Dad I told you!” Draco yelled.

“It’s not my fault!! Samantha…” Lucius steamed back.

“Samantha!! Samantha!!! Please NO!!!” Draco paced the floor.

“She forced herself on me!” Lucius yelled at his son.

“Dad don’t play that with me. I know the game better than you I’ll bet” Draco pointed.

Lucius couldn’t believe his ears; his son wasn’t on his side. His own son didn’t believe he could be true to one woman.

“I’m not playing any games. You can believe me or not, I don’t care what you think; all that matters is what she thinks.” Lucius said.

“Then why are you here?” Draco snapped back.

“She won’t see me. I was hoping you would talk to her for me” Lucius pleaded.

“No way, Pops. I am not getting involved” Draco turned his back.

Lucius sighed and left without another word. Draco watched the spot where his father last was. He had never heard his father give up that easily. He wondered if there might be some truth to the story or maybe his father felt genuinely bad about cheating. It would be a change for his father but he had changed in so many other ways, why not this too.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Rendezvous

“Lana, what do you think of mudbloods?” Samantha said stirring her drink with a straw.

“Times have changed; we have to get over the prejudice. Plus I hear that Granger girl is a genius when it comes to magic. Maybe mudbloods aren’t as inferior as we first thought” Lana said matter of factly.

Samantha looked around the bar. She had to admit she couldn’t tell mudblood from pureblood, unless she knew their family personally. She also had to admit she had met some hot mudblood men which convinced her ore than anything that maybe they weren’t all that bad.

She felt slighted that Lucius would choose that girl over her. His reaction made her jealous; she wished a man would give that much of a damn about her, and all the plotting he had done to avenge her dignity. Hermione was down right lucky.

The ring on her finger turned green, which was the signal that the bottle of wine had been opened at the party.

“Oh!!! I need to get back to the party soon!” Samantha yelled and quickly got up from her seat.

“But we would have been in the show right now” Lana pointed out.

“Well we can turn the cancelation into a convenience. Lets go” Samantha rushed Lana to a nearby fireplace so they could get back as soon as possible.

“Didn’t I see your husbands name on the guest list? I wonder where he is” Samantha said.

“Probably home already he said he wouldn’t stay long” Lana replied.

“Well you’re going to stay aren’t you? Let’s go put our coats in the back room” Samantha suggested leading Lana into the trap.

Samantha had to walk ahead of Lana so she wouldn’t see her smiling. As she got closer she straightened her face out the best she could and threw open the doors in a theatrical manner.

There in the bed where the coats should have been was Amycus and Beth with nothing more than sweat on them. Lana stood in the doorway horrified, Samantha gasped so dramatically she started choking on her spit. The coughing alerted the cheaters they had company and they both pulled at the sheets to try and cover themselves.

“Lana!!!” Amycus cried out “You’re not at the theater”

“No I AM NOT” Lana spat at him.

“I thought” Amycus stuttered.

“You thought you could FUCK another woman as long as I was at the theater. What if I had been at the SPA, would that have made the difference?” Lana lashed back at him.

“Dear, Darling…It’s …Not” Amycus pleaded.

“Fuck you ‘It’s Not’ and we’re NOT. Not anymore” Lana snapped at him and ran out of the room.

“Oops wrong room” Samantha smirked at Amycus.

“You bitch!! Do you know who you are dealing with? I’ll have you thrown in Azkaban!!!” Amycus yelled at her.

“You’ll have a hard time of it being there yourself and all” Harry said walking into the room.

“What!!” Amycus sucked in a breath and pulled harder on the sheets. Hordes of Aurors were filling the room all pointing their wands at him.

“You’re under arrest for owning illegal dark arts artifacts.” Harry said calmly and signaled his team to arrest him.

They bound his arms behind him, snapped his wand in his face, and placed a few protective charms on him.

“I’ll take this” Harry said pulling the sheet away from Amycus “courtesy of Hermione Granger”.

Harry knew he would enjoy telling Hermione that Amycus not only had to walk out of the party under arrest but he had to do it butt naked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah finals are over!!! I know this had a lot of conversation but I have been thinking about this chapter for so long it sorta took on a life of its own.

Heidi191976~ He is going to have to get creative to get to talk to her. Or maybe he’ll get lucky.

Sinbad~ I think Lucius is well over his Slytherin days, at least the annoying qualities.

The Eloquent Quill~ Thanks for the review. I hope you liked this chapter.