The Taming of the Shrew - Wizard Style - COMPLETE

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10-23-09 F

Hugs to all my wonderful reviewers! Thank you for the great comments. Here are my responses...

Rini – Yes, Lucius has an immense amount of money, but he also has obligations to meet. His empire could fall like a house of cards if he can’t find out what is causing the mysterious disruption of his many contacts throughout his stratum of the wizarding world. (It’s about 24.5 C (76 F) here in California, very nice weather.)

jw – Hermione and Lucius have to come to terms; it cannot continue without some level of resolution. There will be plenty of Hogwarts and the plan. What Lucius thinks of as pinching pennies may not be ours. He has a great many investments, properties, and other financial calls on his money, not to mention his extensive estate. He’s trying to stem the bleeding of his financial empire.

Voracious Reader – Lucius and Hermione as canon... I suppose their differences (or unpleasant similarities) are just as cross-grained and obstinate as the combination of Hermione and Snape as a couple. Lucius just has a layer of charm to cover his essential similarity to Snape. It is the strong will of each character that provides the entertaining conflict, that and the underlying, understood ability of these characters to love.

HarryGinny4eva – Too true, Lucius can’t see past his own needs and interests quite yet to focus on Hermione’s. Snape has Lucius’ blind, self-interest nailed, but of course, he’s known the blond wizard for many years. Part of Hermione’s problem is that she ‘uses her words’. Just not nice ones LOL. At this point she’s afraid to see Lucius as more than a Death Eater because she senses what he could do to her feelings. She’s fighting to steer clear of him emotionally, but can’t help her jealousy of Narcissa.

lemonade8 – Clever of you! No, Lucius didn’t catch Snape’s advice at all. And his advice is central to Lucius’ problem. | At this point Lucius is getting angry at Hermione’s continual baiting and his retaliation is escalating. He has tried to give her some slack due to the forced marriage, but his patience (never good) is fading fast. He likes her spirit, just not aimed at him.

Magalena – You are correct. Lucius is slowly reaching the end of his limited patience in trying to find a way to attract his wife. Hermione’s self-esteem is normally quite healthy; it is only her comparing herself to Narcissa that is getting her down. She is angry more than downtrodden over the Pureblood etiquette that she rather despises. Lucius doesn’t know how to prove he doesn’t care about Narcissa. He’s said as much to Hermione, but it isn’t sinking in. Hermione can’t get past Narcissa’s beauty and thinks Lucius MUST still want such a lovely woman. Snape actually teased Lucius, upsetting his world even more. Poor man.

blue artemis – This Lucius does seem to have a wide, snobby, self-centered streak, doesn’t he? Remember he is modeled some on the original Petruchio in Shakespeare’s play, caring only for his own advancement. And Hermione models Kate. The analogy veers off the play in a few chapters, progressing to the plan and Hogwarts, etc. I get a kick out of Snape and Lucius together.

sirsevchick – Oh, yes, that last spanking was Lucius boiling over at being treated meanly. Oddly, when Hermione boiled over, too, Lucius was cheered and began to see some positive aspects for their future. He got a glimmer of a different kind of marriage, one that attracted him. Aw, I’m sorry about the lack of garden scenes, but I do have quite a selection of good ‘scenes’, so all is not lost. I hope you continue to be entertained by this story. I very much like your reviews.

Draco_Lover – Ah, now I see your LJ name (winks). Snape as marriage counselor – is that the blind leading the blind? Perhaps it makes sense to Lucius, who thinks Snape is doing better than he did as a husband, thus should have some knowledge to impart. Unfortunately, all Lucius got was a sip of sangria. Hermione will push Lucius until she reaches the end of the blond wizard’s rope. And he does have one.

Angeles – Left to my own devices, I’m afraid I do usually run to humor rather than straight drama. I know I can confidently leave the drama to other writers.

BeaBibliophile – Woot, that’s a sleek, stylish, stiletto weapon to be sure. Good thing I ducked. | LOL Lucius and Hermione ARE like children who have never found a situation they couldn’t ultimately control or rise above. Now they’ve met each other. | I distinctly remember your seedy description of Snape in your story and I decided to keep my fantasy of him instead of your description. I will magnanimously offer you the same. Keep your soft-bellied, smoking, semi-alcoholic Snape and I’ll keep my suntanned one. I do love Snape and Lucius together. Those characters are so compatible to write. Snape’s acidic acceptance of snobby Lucius because the blond sincerely cares about him, and Lucius’ vulnerable need for Severus who tells him unvarnished truths instead of toadying him. The trust between them is absolute. BESTIALITY? HUNH??

mrequecky – Severus just fits so well with Lucius. I love writing them!

Linstock – Oh, funny! Your idea that Lucius wants fire in his bed and entertains ideas of being submissive, but might be shocked at the reality. LOLOL! Hermione really doesn’t want to face her attraction to a Death Eater. She is willing to face her increasing interest in adventurous sex, just not with such a supercilious, snobby, elitist man, but his sexual allure is wearing her down. Her voyage into dominant sex will take awhile. And I adore Snape and Lucius together – they are so cute, bouncing off each other. My computer corrected Lucius to luscious, too, until I finally told it to Add ‘Lucius’. Your reviews are always welcome whenever they appear. 8-)

Serin Blackmoon - Lucius is slowly figuring out he has to let go of his Pureblood, formulaic, marital pattern to get what he wants with his new wife. If you tie Lucius and Severus up, may I watch? Ooh, I don’t know what Hermione and Lucius would call each other at this point, if Veritaserum were administered. Lucius could use Legilimency on Hermione, but whatever he finds would instantly be negated by her reaction to his invasion (I know this was merely you joking).

Aliciana – Are you telling me that Lucius visits your sheep pasture and leaves those satisfied ovine faces? I would believe anything of that sex fiend, LOL. I don’t mean to get you into trouble with your family, though. Suggestions: 1) Read when they aren’t around, or 2) Tell them about it; your daughters may be closet readers, too. My son is working on an advanced degree in screenwriting, so he knows of my hobby. He won’t read any of it, because… ewww, Mum writing smut, when he prefers to think he was found under the proverbial cabbage leaf. But he thinks it’s fine. His girlfriend does read it and she likes it – snicker. I like writing humor the best; I can’t keep it out of my writing in any case. It just shows up on its own.

Fanfic_addict – Hello!! I’m happy you like the story and Hermione’s firm will. She is no one’s doormat and certainly not a candidate for meek, Pureblood-style wifehood. Lucius is figuring that out – all it took was a jarring slap LOL.

Scary Bear Hair – Woo hoo! I inspired your “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” story. Poor Maid Hermione, though. I imagine she isn’t so happy about your inspiration LOL. Yes, it has been a struggle to make Hermione and Lucius at all compatible; that is why it is taking so many chapters. But we’re coming to the plan soon. It’s easy to make Snape sexy and I had to work to keep him from taking over the story and making it the Severus and Lucius Show. Guffaw – you got that right; Hermione is at least enamored of Lucius’ junk, if not the rest of him. Snape just likes spanking Narcissa and she likes it, too. She’s used to it from Lucius, so win-win for both the Snapes.

Aleysiasnape – I do like to write Severus and Lucius together as snarky, longtime friends. They match personalities so well. Next chapter up now!

Moregoth – Re Hermione’s lack of experience in sex – to my mind she had what she thought was a forever romance with Ron and she was basically ‘off the market’ to anyone else while in school. But as often happens with the very young, reality set in and they discovered they weren’t suited. Also, Hermione’s one shining experience with sex at Ron’s hands (and wimpy weenie) did not go well. She drew what to her was a manifest conclusion, that sex was entirely overrated if it was that boring and unpleasant even with a person she was in love with. So she shut the door on more experimenting, while she focused all of her immense intellect in creating and promoting her successful research company. She was satisfied with that life – until Lucius got in her shorts. Except for Ron, her knowledge of sex was book-clinical, only knowing what went where; I imagine she’s never cracked open a porn novel, thinking them vulgar. Luckily she wound up married to a man who could have written one and she’s slowly understanding that her own nature has kink to spare. Hermione is beginning to wallow in her own salacious garden of Eden; she just still wishes it weren’t Lucius’ serpent tempting her. And yes, in general, I think the wizarding world, on the surface, is projected as conservative. Does that make sense to you? Thank you for asking. It always helps my writing to think more thoroughly about my characters. (Sheesh, this answer could be a whole chapter!) 8-)

T Stevenson – Lucius will indeed figure out Hermione is yanking his chain on her etiquette mistakes. Um, yes, the spanking has become nearly a regular occurrence, due to Hermione. As usual, your reviews tend to predate my chapters LOL. A short-lived truce happened in the bathwater, but neither of them has the other one figured out yet. No use holding your breath, T. A détente isn’t quite yet.

T Stevenson Part 2: - See? You do anticipate my events. That Hermione is emerging as a little devil in a petite, sweet young woman’s body. Well, that much was sort of apparent in the books. She is still trying to fit her new proclivities into her old, staid personality and they aren’t fitting. But worse, she’s losing her perspective as she succumbs to her jealousy. Hermione doesn’t do anything by halves. Lucius has had a small epiphany and gains some insight into who he now has in his bed. “A wicked, naughty little bint” – yes, that describes Lucius’ vision of a perfect wife. Part of Snape would love to see Lucius hogtied emotionally by Hermione, but part of Snape is protective of Lucius. His first loyalty is to Lucius – and, of course, Narcissa.

Wherein the plan is further discussed...

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Chapter Twenty-One


Insights and the Plan



Dinner that evening at Malfoy Manor was a quiet affair. Lucius made no effort at corrections, merely watched as Hermione asked an elf to fill her large water goblet with wine. The timid elf looked quickly at Lucius, but getting no countermand, went ahead and filled the big goblet with the expensive liquid, its deep burgundy gleam reflecting the multi-orbed chandelier hanging over the table as well as the tall, scentless tapers flickering in their heavy silver, snake-themed candlesticks.

Lucius had belatedly come to realize that such an intelligent witch should long since have mastered the etiquette he had been spouting. Tonight’s faux pas by his little deceiver was entirely deliberate, designed purely to bait him into losing his temper. He had apologized for correcting her in front of the Snapes, but apparently she was still digging at his sangfroid.

The elegant Pureblood was mentally kicking himself at being so effortlessly gulled by the young, pretty little Muggleborn. He’d been blinded by the fact she was a Muggleborn, expecting nothing genteel from her without strenuous retrenching. How long would it take for her to understand her nasty trick was at an end? Lucius settled in to enjoy the evening.

Hermione peeked at her husband from under her lashes, waiting for him to point out her flagrant lapse and was soon disappointed when he took a brief look at the maligned goblet and continued buttering his roll. She thought she saw a tiny shiver of revulsion, but no other response was forthcoming. She had put wine in her water goblet on purpose to make a point, but also because the atmosphere was so tense she felt she needed some oenologic courage to get through it and the water goblet was twice the size of the wine one. The goblet was soon drained and a signal to refill the glass likewise had no effect on her husband.

How many times had she heard him say in that patronizing tone of his, “a lady only drinks one glass of wine with her meal”? She didn’t even like wine that well and only swallowed the stuff to follow Lucius’ lead. But her awkward attempts to learn his convoluted and archaic etiquette rules were always shot down in flames by his acid rejoinders. The etiquette book she had consulted didn’t cover all the esoteric minutia of the Pureblood table and social manners so her dinner table research had been successful only to a point.

Even so, his lessons were fewer and fewer as she absorbed the rules of his social world; they had stopped altogether after his handsome apology in the bathtub. She knew he only ever said anything now because she expertly baited him from time to time with her purposeful blunders just to watch him explode. She enjoyed that very much, getting him to spank her… all except for this last one at lunch. She’d had to apply the numbing ointment liberally to her derriere before sitting down to dinner.

How could Narcissa not get a thrill out of watching Lucius light up with anger like an oil-soaked torch? Truly, the elegant, Pureblood witch was a different species to Hermione.

“Lucius,” Hermione queried, after getting no response to her wine misstep, “may I ask when I will be allowed off this estate? Or am I only to be transferred from here to Hogwarts when the time comes, like a package tied to an owl’s leg?”

Lucius looked up from his asparagus, his mood turning dour, “You may leave whenever you wish. I removed the restraint this afternoon. I apologize, I should have mentioned it. I forgot.”

Lucius had removed the spell after returning from Snape’s, realizing that his wife had to want to stay of her own volition or their marriage was merely a farce. His and Snape’s plan could limp along without Hermione – somehow. The morose wizard returned to slicing a bite-sized piece of asparagus spear and ate it. The next piece was surgically separated from the stalk as though little dotted lines were inscribed on the vegetable for him to follow; it too was eaten.

So precise, so high-toned – Lucius’ Pureblood mannerisms made Hermione want to scream. She thought maybe the second glass of wine that was fast disappearing into her blood stream hadn’t been the best idea. Her head felt a little fuzzy. Her own asparagus was cut into messy pieces and lay there on the plate in mute accusation.

So! Her husband was tired of her already. Perhaps it was better this way. His icy, Pureblood, snobbish courtesy – was it truly courtesy or was it merely a thin cover for his distaste for her antecedents – made her uncomfortable at the best of times. At worst she felt humiliated by his exaggerated, polished gallantry which, until recently, had been daily leavened by his little suggestions on her behavior. The fact that he had slowed down even on the tidbits not attached to formal dinners was making Hermione ironically frightened. It seemed she was right. He wanted to get rid of her.

A slightly soused Hermione began to feel sorry for herself, the pitiful victim of her husband’s unfair sexual expertise. None of his snotty, elitist behavior could snap her out of the physical spell he wove. She knew she was halfway to falling under the spell of this man’s sinful carnality; she wasn’t strong enough to resist the almost palpable aura of erotic sensuality that he exuded without trying. She had thought her morals were unassailable, yet here she was, saddened that she wasn’t going to receive any more of his lewd advances, especially that ‘come and lickus’ stuff. No wonder Narcissa had stayed with him for over twenty years. His tongue alone was dynamite.

Her handsome, stylish husband was snobby, arrogant, superciliously cosmopolitan and jaded – everything she should disdain, but her body wanted more of the purely lascivious treatment it was getting from this wizard. The man had a mouth that could make angels weep with joy. St. Merlin knew she had sobbed with desire as he played on her overwrought nerve endings.

She was even becoming more curious and less worried about her collar, but apparently she wasn’t even good enough for the collar now. She was truly a hopeless case from both their points of view. “I can be packed and gone by tomorrow,” she said dispiritedly, her overindulgent bravado with the wine making her feel downright maudlin.

Lucius’ knife was arrested mid-cut, “I beg your pardon? You are leaving the moment I release the spell binding you to our home?” He put down his knife and sat for a minute, staring unnervingly at her, his pale, piercing gaze dissecting her as she squirmed in her chair. “Is that what you want?” he finally asked. “Is your life with me so miserable that you can’t bear to stay?”

Hermione stared at him in confusion, “I…I thought you wanted me to leave. You’re freeing me, aren’t you?”

Lucius lifted his chin and looked down his nose at the woman whose vicious tongue had torn so many holes in his pride it looked like his great-grandmother’s tatting. Well, what was one more hole?

“No,” he said slowly, “I’m freeing you to stay if you wish.” Lucius had had enough of coercing Hermione. His and Snape’s plan depended on her staying, but he was damned if he was going to have another witch feel she was stuck with him.

Listening to Narcissa’s view of their marriage had given him a deep distaste for what he and Snape had put into effect with his new wife. Hermione could stay or she could go. The marriage would have to stand, but she didn’t need to live with him if that was her decision.

Hermione’s view of him was obviously still colored by his ruthless Death Eater days before he abandoned the Dark Lord’s cause and chose to save his family instead. All she saw was a cold, determined man whose values and decisions reflected his privileged position and heritage unmitigated by any other more pleasant qualities.

Inwardly Lucius slumped. Any hint of humanity or humor or other agreeable attribute she happened to see in him she continued to write off as his devious way of getting his way in some manner, giving him no credit for any selfless goodwill toward his fellow man – or woman. In some respects she had him pegged to a nicety, but in others she didn’t give him his due. Lucius was slowly becoming more and more despondent and more angry at his treatment by a wife who should be his mate, his helper and support. Narcissa had been his helper and support even when she hadn’t agreed with him. But maybe what he expected was too old-fashioned now, and his traditional Pureblood marriage customs and protocols had no application in a marriage to a Muggleborn.

Lucius pondered that thought. Perhaps his staunch, traditional ideals were one of the ways his first marriage had soured. Perhaps Hermione, who wouldn’t give him any benefit of doubt, but always ascribed his intentions to murky, underhanded designs, was going too far in the other direction, but he realized he preferred her interpretation of his personality and actions to Narcissa’s total, blind acceptance of his decisions.

He knew he was motivated greatly by his own agendas and always tried his best to make his wishes come true, however, he needed someone who didn’t lie down and allow him free rein. He knew that. It was just difficult to have a wife withstand his will. He had learned his superior place as husband at his father’s knee and his grandfather’s.

So how did Snape do it, when Lucius knew Snape didn’t allow any independence from his will by Narcissa? Yet she was happy with the dark-haired man and had been miserable with him, Lucius. How did Snape make his wife happy while Lucius was losing his battle with his own wife?

Lucius sucked in a shocked breath. Why did he think of it as a battle? Shouldn’t he be protecting and providing everything for Hermione as his wife? Merlin knew he was trying, but she wouldn’t let him perform the role he’d been taught was his in a marriage. She could perfectly happily support herself and easily live without him and his money. She used her own money to buy herself that horrid automobile. She didn’t even squander his money to make him angry. Probably she couldn’t bring herself to spend his Galleons, seeing it as steeping herself in his evil. She hadn’t worn his wedding gift of jewels either, although she had apologized about them. How was he to get past her animosity?

He suddenly felt all the years of age difference between them. He was from a different era and set of societal morés. Maybe he had been terribly wrong to marry someone so much younger, not from a sense of physical intimacy, which he knew he could offer, but from a wildly different set of values and expectations.

Lucius had never felt so helpless and hopeless about his future. He wanted a woman who could stand up to him and bring that confidence and yes, temper, into their bedchamber. Hermione had all of that, but she would never truly love him as he wanted. And he did want that. He wanted it almost desperately, had wanted it but never found it all through his previous marriage, and wanted it now, more painfully than ever. What was the secret? He heard the clock ticking on his mortality and shivered at the bleak future he envisioned for himself if he couldn’t make Hermione realize he was more than a black robe and pointy hat and mask. And maybe a big dick.

Hermione gulped at her husband’s uncomfortable silence. He was waiting for her to answer him. What did she say? She was being given the choice to continue living with the intimidating wizard or abandoning him. Her wine-soaked mind still worked well enough for her to see that if she left, it would be merely a little awkward for her. It would be devastating to him to have to face his coterie with another failed marriage, even though she understood that he wouldn’t dissolve the union.

Hermione wondered if he cared about her at all? Was it all about saving his precious Galleons and Snape’s project or was she as a person important to him, even a little? Was he as a person important to her? They both liked the sex, and he’d introduced her to a couple of spectacular variations. She reluctantly admitted to herself that she would hate to lose that; even more, she now invited spankings by applying her sharp tongue to his ego to get them. She seemed to have a hidden slutty streak that he had tapped into on a grand scale.

But she worried that it could slowly turn into more for her. That scared the little witch. If she became a discarded plaything stored in some remote location as his unwanted wife when Lucius’ and Snape’s plan was finished, she wanted that to be a desirable end; Death Eaters weren’t known for their kindness.

Hermione chewed on her lip. She could leave, find a place to live, and be comfortable doing her research. She didn’t need the Malfoy money. She searched the wizard’s face for any emotion that would tell her how to choose. Her deviant mind whispered Where are you going to find another tongue like that? How do you tell a new lover you like spanking?

Suddenly, Hermione sucked in a startled breath. Was that a bruise on his cheek? Had she done that to him at lunch? Ouch. Then why was she still sitting here at the dinner table with him and not rotting in some subterranean dungeon? Hermione’s heart thumped; a frisson of fear began to skate along her spine, raising goose bumps on her arms. Then her goose bumps slowly dissipated with the information her mind was trying to tell her. The very stillness of Lucius’ face and his rigid posture was revealing reams of information if she were only smart enough to read it. He wanted her to stay. Well, of course he did.

Stupid, stupid. She was so stupid. He had taken up her marriage contract, tying himself to her forever just so he could have better access to the Ministry investment projects? And the Slytherins or Purebloods, or whoever, was experiencing some adverse publicity? Impossible! Ridiculous! She had swallowed that piece of idiocy whole.

Hermione shook her head, amazed that she could have missed that glaring falsehood. The stress of the forced marriage must have fried her brain cells. The man was a billionaire. His money would make money even if he never made another investment in his entire life. And he had quite blatantly told her that it was each Slytherin for himself. So where was the catch?

Hermione sifted through the new intelligence and her eyes narrowed. He wanted her to stay because…why? He had been married to one of the most beautiful witches of their time. What on earth could he see in plain, short Hermione? So if it wasn’t for money and it wasn’t for his bloody plan, and it certainly wasn’t for undying love for her, what could cause a billionaire Slytherin to marry a Muggleborn of no antecedents?

Lucius’ aggravating eyebrow rose as he said snidely, “If you’re having so much trouble deciding whether to stay or not, I imagine that’s an answer for you. No further heartburning needed.”

Hermione frowned, “Don’t be so quick to interpret my thoughts for me. Perhaps I am just puzzled by you. You said I may leave whenever I wish. Now you’ve said I should stay. I’m confused.” Seeing the bruise more plainly, now that she’d noticed it, she felt badly about marring the handsome face staring at her so frigidly. She wasn’t like that; truly she wasn’t. Was she?

“I phrased it poorly. When I said you may leave whenever you wish, I meant you may come and go as you please,” Lucius replied. “I am not throwing you out. Where do you get these asinine ideas? Did I not make it clear that I will not be party to a second divorce? Your home is with me if you wish, wherever that turns out to be, Hogwarts or anywhere else.” Lucius held his breath, waiting.

“Yes, you did make that clear. So now I have to wonder why.”

Lucius glared at her, but she thought he wasn’t really seeing her so much as something internal he was reluctant to divulge. She could almost see the crafty wheels turning in his mind and it amused her soggy, wine-soaked mind that she was quickly learning to see past his stone face to his personal quirks and behaviors. The little wrinkle between his eyebrows and their various elevations told her his moods, while the way he held his lips signified his thinking processes. Even the dilation of his pupils revealed something of his inner thoughts. He not only had the ‘Sly Eye,’ his whole face was a roadmap to his internal thoughts and emotions. His stiff posture had been her first clue, but now she was seeing more.



She knew Lucius wouldn’t like it at all if he understood he was broadcasting more to her than he would wish, but something inside her relaxed at his expressed wish for her to stay. Hermione was in no hurry to enlighten him about his facial self-tattling so she waited, trying to appear clueless as she allowed him to search for some specious reason with which to satisfy her question.

Hermione was correct that Lucius was deciding what to tell her, but she wasn’t giving him credit for merely wondering how to tell her the truth in a way that didn’t enrage him again. He hated being labeled a pervert not trustworthy around children. The next part of why he’d married her was as potentially damaging – he wanted her to be a match for his wide-ranging sexual interests, but she would think he truly was a pervert if he explained that reason. Better to keep that part to himself.

The last part was one he would also keep to himself – he wanted a wife who loved him. He didn’t expect that to happen, as he had never been capable of the emotion himself, so he tucked that far away in the back of his mind. It was a foreign concept to him anyway, and since he didn’t love her, wanting it from her was rather unfair. Of course, trying to be fair about anything was so often such an irritating encumbrance that Lucius didn’t practice the principle much.

Lucius began by remarking, “You may know that my social life has been plastered all over the Daily Prophet for the past couple of years.”

“Yes, it was as good as a play reading about all your forays under the skirts of every witch over the age of…” Suddenly Hermione had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going and it blindsided her with a sharp pain to her heart. NO! Absolutely not! If he had married her only to further a hidden agenda, it shouldn’t hurt her at all. Not at all! She thought of him only as an irredeemable troll…with a body and sexual technique to die for. The entire legal exercise had been against her will, but she had known all along he wasn’t dying for love of her.

She was horrorstruck that any tiny sliver of caring for this horrible man had slipped under her skin. It shouldn’t matter one jot why he had married her. Oh, but it did. It did! Hermione deadened her expression and tried to appear slightly bored by her conclusion that their marriage was a merely means to an end plus a little contemptuous of his playboy past.

Lucius saw Hermione draw what was essentially the correct conclusion as far as it went. He had married her partly because of the Ministry’s concern at appointing a Hogwarts Headmaster with Lucius’ profligate reputation in the Daily Prophet. But he was committed to helping find why the Purebloods were being blacklisted and worse.

He drooped internally at her disinterest; perhaps he had fooled himself that she was starting to see him in any light other than the monster she called him. He felt a little soiled at her obvious unconcern at his reasons for marrying her. So, a thorn buried itself in his psyche, she is using me only for sex, then. A voice whispered that he was using her, too, but he pushed it away. He preferred to label his motives as almost benevolent while hers were purely selfish.

It was also ironic, he thought with a pang, that nearly none of the Daily Prophet reports had been true, but he’d been tarred with the scurrilous print not only in the wary minds of the Ministry, but now with his own wife. His optimistic dream of a hellcat wife who also came to care for him disappeared; it had been as substantial as woodsmoke in autumn.

Lucius mentally withdrew from his previous hope for a normal marriage and decided to deliver the unpalatable truth. “Snape couldn’t get the School Governors to appoint me because they were all convinced I had the morals of your Muggle Casaba. It didn’t matter that I explained -” he trailed away when Hermione began to laugh. It was not funny and her laughter hurt.

“We seem to have trouble with food,” she shrugged seeing his umbrage at her laughter. “First cucumbers, now this. I think you mean Casanova, not Casaba, which is a melon.”

“Ah, yes, Casanova, then.” Lucius was relieved she wasn’t laughing at the unpleasant slander of the School Governors. Both of the Malfoys relaxed some and Lucius continued, “They drew the conclusion that I was untrustworthy around the young females I would be guiding at Hogwarts as its Headmaster and demanded that if I wanted to be appointed, I needed to be married.” There. He’d laid out the worst of the background and he watched to see what Hermione would do.

She smiled mirthlessly, “I never thought for a moment it was because you found me irresistible. This explains a lot. So the Ministry prats were worried they were sending a wolf among their sweet little lambs?”

“I suppose that was the majority of the problem as they saw it, but they only approved my appointment when they were told I was marrying you in particular.”

“And the Ministry thinks if you’re married to me you will be under my thumb, plus getting laid enough not to need the attentions of the girl students? I didn’t have much of an opinion of the intelligence of the Ministry before. I have less now. They have no sense. A sexual predator isn’t converted when he’s married.”

“Are you intimating that I’m a -”

Hermione hurriedly interrupted the storm gathering on Lucius’ telltale brow, “Of course not. It is merely my opinion that if they have classified you as untrustworthy around young girls, but send you in anyway, toting a wife, and expect my influence to solve the problem, they’re too stupid to be in positions of power.”

As she spoke she realized that was precisely what the Ministry gits had thought and it made her angry on Lucius’ behalf. And on hers. The stories in the Daily Prophet had never hinted at anything like what they were accusing him of. If he liked women, so what? He’d never been written up as liking little girls. That was preposterous.

“Why didn’t Snape stand up for you? He’s the Head of the School Governors.” Hermione was incensed. The wisps of wine fog were beginning to clear from her head with her anger.

Lucius relaxed slightly at the obvious championing Hermione’s words implied, “He wanted me in as Headmaster. Defending me would have put his decisions at risk. It was simpler to acquiesce and find me a wife.”

“You mean he is responsible for locating my marriage contract and using it?”

Lucius saw the pit opening at his feet and deftly avoided it. It would never do for her to know he hadn’t picked out her contract personally. He had agreed to go along with Snape’s sudden springing of her name on him at the School Governors meeting, after all. That was almost the same.

With the ease of long practice, Lucius facilely lied, “Snape had nothing to do with that. I was the one who sifted through marriage contracts as one avenue for finding a bride quickly. I had originally thought to locate a Pureblood wife whose nuptials had been arrested due to some problem, like an unfortunate accident or something of that nature. I was shocked to see your contract was open. But immediately it all seemed fated. A Gryffindor, one of the Golden Trio, unsurpassed intelligence – it was perfect. You had connections I couldn’t have dreamed of otherwise. All the rest of what we’ve discovered in the bedroom was purely kismet.” He smiled, “I was very lucky.” Well, he thought, it was all true except for who had sifted through the marriage contracts and the timing, which she would have no way of ever discerning.

Hermione left the subject of her marriage contract strictly alone. That was old news, only confirming how she had been trapped. But she was obscurely glad that it had been Lucius who had chosen her, not Snape. Neither did she want to broach Lucius’ ‘luck’ in the bedroom. “And now you’re set to guide all those awkward, rambunctious little boys and sweet, innocent little girls in their educations. I think you haven’t thought this through.”

She laughed derisively at his startled expression, “I was one of those sweet, little girls once. It’s much more likely you will be mobbed with teen females suddenly needing personal tutoring or counseling or some other dodgy excuse to spend time mooning after you in your office.”

Lucius raised a cynical eyebrow and gave Hermione a sardonic sneer, “How can I possibly deny myself the availability of all those boobless, hipless, pre-nubile, giggly young things if they insist on parading their nonexistent wares?”

“Are you certain you want to put yourself into this situation, Lucius? With all those young girls vying for your attention, there is bound to be trouble. You’re not exactly loathsome to look at, you know. This has all the earmarks of a very bad idea.” She leaned over and said earnestly, “Young girls with crushes often do outrageous things. I suspect even you, with your Slytherin view of the world, would be shocked at their bold behavior.”

He blinked at Hermione’s view of the plan, suddenly seeing pitfalls to himself he hadn’t thought of before, and dammit, he should have. He belatedly remembered Snape’s scurrilous comments about the teen girls and their salacious thoughts in Potions class.

The girl students might become a problem. Could or would Hermione protect him from the teens? Her assertion that he wasn’t exactly loathsome-looking was a slight balm to the sad fact that she had no true affection for him. Again it was all about his looks. Perhaps she liked what they had done sexually, but there was no true connection between them.

He was the first to admit he took advantage of his assets and used them ruthlessly, but having his wife only interested in his body somehow chafed. Hoist with your own petard, you fool he snarled to his ego.

The blond wizard changed the subject slightly, “Severus came up with the idea. Obviously, I was not enamored of it, but I do see his point. If this persecution is happening all over, it will be easier to study and trace its origins in a microcosm, rather than trying to track down all the myriad wisps of it throughout wizarding society. And the students should be a bit easier to drill for information, plus being easier to control.

“You asked about my tenure at Hogwarts,” Lucius elaborated. “Severus and I decided if I couldn’t find out anything by the end of the school year, it wouldn’t be worth pursuing there any more. I would hope to have an answer long before then, though. If you’re there investigating with me, we might be able to discover some answers far sooner. It will be a motivator for you if you hate being there. It certainly is for me.”

“So,” Hermione asked, piqued by the challenge if not by the venue, “do the Ministry officials know why you wanted this position?”

After a few seconds of weighing the necessity of telling Hermione any more, Lucius decided to offer up the truth there, too. “No,” he said, his indifferent shrug betrayed by the slight tightening of his lips, “As the Ministry is overrun right now with non-Purebloods anyway, Severus and I thought it wouldn’t be in our best interests to divulge that minor point. Severus merely suggested me for the interim position; McGonagall wants to retire and no one else on staff stepped forward except for a few teachers that the School Governors felt lacked experience.” He speared her with his icy eyes, “I expect that knowledge to stay within this family.”

“And you were accepted? You don’t have any experience.” Hermione interpreted Lucius’ facial language to mean he was giving her more information than he was comfortable doing and she hid a grim smile of her own. She wasn’t a partner here. She was a tool. She should remember that. She was not really family no matter what the elegant Pureblood called her.

“Perhaps you forgot I was a school governor for many years. For now, that’s the closest they have come to any viable candidates. And they still wanted me married first. That and I was willing to take a smaller salary. Parsimonious arses.” He then groused half to himself, but aiming a narrow-eyed look in her direction, “Sometimes having an attractive surface isn’t an advantage.”

Lucius rose, ending the meal, “I hope you will be of some help with the workload. I’ll do most of it, but there may be some tangles and tasks that you can take care of better than I. For example, if there are any of those little girls who want to peek under my robes, you can dissuade them for me. Tell them you’ve been there and it wasn’t that exciting. You’ll be lying of course -”

“Well -” Hermione started, but was hastily interrupted before she could aim one of her barbs at his unexciting tackle.

“These little girls are a difficulty I hadn’t thought of,” he cut in, “and now I’m tempted to leave the mess with Severus, but if he took over, I suspect he’d have much the same problem,” Lucius chuckled dourly.

Lucius saw a slight blush pinken Hermione’s cheeks. “Ah, so you did have a schoolgirl crush on Severus.” His pale eyes went to slits, “That had better be a dead and buried crush. I’m not much for sharing.”

Hermione thought his choice of word for his looks was odd. His ‘surface’. What did that mean? She shivered at the possibilities. What did he ‘look like’ below the surface? And what did he mean he wasn’t much for sharing? Hermione decided not to ask. She didn’t want to know after his scary description at their first dinner of sharing her on the dining table with his cronies. She truly hoped he had been joking.

“One other thing,” Lucius added. “If you go anywhere, please take an elf with you. I don’t like the atmosphere at Diagon Alley or in the Ministry. It’s been more volatile lately and I don’t want you accosted. This unrest worries me. It’s beginning to feel more and more physical.”

“You think your difficulties are changing into physical danger? Have you seen any signs of that? I thought you were merely being shorted on financial matters, more because of who you are and because of lingering resentment from the war.”

“At first Snape and I thought so, too, but we don’t any more. It’s more insidious than that. Promise me, please.”

“All right.” Hermione shivered as she, too, rose from the table.

tbc...


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Do you think the plan will work? Reviews and ratings happily accepted!


Don’t forget this chapter’s pics -

http://labibliographe.livejournal.com/52784.html

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