Not All that Glitters is Gold

========================================================================================
Do You Like it?
========================================================================================


He woke in a daze. The room was spinning and his head was killing him. He inhaled the sweet scent of strawberries and moaned. Untangling his arms from a warm body, Lucius rolled onto his back and brought his wrists to his eyes. Rubbing the crust from his lids, he smacked his lips. This throat felt like cotton, dry and just plain nasty. There was an odd acid-like taste in his mouth. Groaning again, Lucius slowly sat up, bringing his legs up slightly to rest his elbows on his knees.

His eyes fluttered open and landed on his desk where he promptly groaned. Alcohol bottles were spread far and wide along with various cups, glasses, and shots. His nose twitched as he tried to recall the events of the previous night. Shifting his eyes to the side, they landed on a very naked soft supple form. Hermione.

Instantly, he gazed at his cane and saw that it was still there, his wand sheathed tightly inside it. She hadn’t escaped, murdered or tortured him, why? Lucius pried the knit blanket from him and rose. His feet touched the cool wooden floor and as he stood, he felt the full weight of the world on his shoulders. His leg was asleep. Gods damnit!

Holding onto the bed post, Lucius waddled to the bathroom and closed the door tightly behind him. Leaning a hand against the wall, he flipped the lid to his toilet up and groaned as a much needed piss finally came from him. He sniffed and brought his free hand to his nose, scratching it as the events of the past night flooded his thoughts.

He was wasted, no argument there, and instead of reveling in the drunkenness of her master, Hermione helped him. She helped him. Why? There was something prickling at the back of his neck, signaling something was off. Groaning as he relieved himself, or finished, Lucius gave his little Malfoy a few shakes and stumbled to the sink as the toilet flushed. Washing his hands meticulously before splashing several hand full of water onto his face, Lucius stared at his reflection.

His face looked as if it were stone. No wrinkles, well there were wrinkles but none too much for a man his age. He sniffed and patted his face dry as he sauntered into his bedroom. His eyes locked onto a pair of golden whiskey colored orbs, those of Hermione. She was sitting with her hands between her legs, clasped together, knees drawn up. The picture of innocence. She was hardly innocent.

“What are you playing at, girl?” Lucius rasped, his throat throbbing a little, “You could have escaped…or killed me…”

“Yet, I didn’t,” Hermione replied, tilting her head to the side as if she were looking him over.

He quirked an eyebrow and moved toward the hearth where his cane sat against the wall. Pulling his wand out, Lucius flicked it at his desk and watched as everything moved on its own, appearing in its rightful place. He brought his silver eyes to hers and sneered. She was still watching him.

“Why?” he finally asked, still standing by the heart with his wand in his hand.

“You were going to drown yourself in your own vomit,” Hermione replied, still sitting in that gods damned position. “And I’m not a stupid girl.”

“What do you mean?” he continued, moving closer to the bed, his eyes trained on the sweet curve of her collar bone.

“If you die, I die,” she said quietly, “I hate you, Malfoy, but I’m not about to let you kill yourself so I can have revenge. I would only be moved to another room with another…master.”

He watched her lip twitch at the last word, which caused his lips to curve up into a smirk. She was sticking out for her own neck, how Slytherin of her.

“Really, now,” Lucius said, trying to hide his grin, “So, you choose…”

“I don’t have a choice,” Hermione was quick to interrupt, folding her legs out, “I am stuck here, aren’t I? My friends don’t know where I am but I’m alive. I should be grateful but I’m not. I hate it here and I hate you. No, hate is too small of a word. I loath you. But, if I had a choice…you or the other Death Eaters…I’d pick you.”

He grinned widely and moved closer to her, “You are a smart girl…”

His hand moved over her soft curls and for once, she didn’t flinch. Lucius brought his knees to the bed and leaned down. His lips descended over hers, pressing lightly against her soft pillows. Hermione stiffened but that was as expected. Lucius, on the other hand, was feeling a million times better. He pulled from her with a small pop of their lips and tilted her chin up to look at him with his hand.

“I would like to thank you for taking care of me the night before,” Lucius said quietly, rising from the bed, “Stay put.”

He moved over to his closet and pushed the door open. The lights flickered on and he disappeared inside the labyrinth of clothing. Lucius’ fingers skimmed various robes and stain clothing he had purchased during his youth. If it were one thing, Lucius was quite the pack rat. He found his own clothing and dressed quickly, grabbing a soft black robe from the hanger and carried it out with him.

When he exited, Hermione was still sitting on the bed but had twisted her legs tightly under hers. Her long wave of hair covered her breasts and dipped down over her thighs. He inwardly groaned at the sight between her supple thighs, a snatch of soft brown curls. He sniffed and waved at her.

“Come.”

Hermione hesitated, or so she seemed to hesitate, but eventually moved from the bed. He watched her breasts droop as she crawled across the bed and bit his inner cheek. Hermione stood in front of him with her hands hanging limply at her sides. Lucius brought up his robe and held it out.

“Try it on,” he encouraged, nodding for her to step forward.

She slipped her arms into the long sleeves of the robe and whimpered with delight, causing his neck to heat up. He grinned and brought his hands over her shoulders, feeling the satin cover her soft form. Lucius stepped in front of her and brought the sash out, tying it loosely over her petite waist. He watched, a bit taken aback, by the way her hands traced over the designs of serpents etched into the robe with golden thread. Her fingers slipped over the pockets and then behind her.

“Do you like it?” he asked, watching her brown eyes meet his.

“Yes,” she simply said, what he thought was a small smile curving into the corner of her mouth.

He wanted to see more of that smile, because he had done something for her and not because he had done something stupid. Lucius’ eyes widened when she leaned up and pecked his cheek, falling to her heels. Grunting softly at the wetness of the kiss, he tore his eyes from her and pushed her out of the way. He needed to get out before something bad happened.


========================================================================================
So Close
========================================================================================


Hermione watched him leave out of the corner of her eye and grinned once the door shut. She rushed to the bed and jumped, landing on the middle. Sprawling out on her back, the curly-haired witch looked at the ceiling and brought her hands to the newly acquired robe. Her hands danced along the soft fabric and she smiled, she actually smiled. Not only had she gotten into his head, but she made him flustered. It flustered her the way he was flustered and that was not about to happen.

No matter how good looking he was, Lucius Malfoy was still evil and a git. She rolled onto her side and brought a pillow under her head, propping her head onto it lightly. Her eyes drooped and she slipped into a very much needed sleep. Sleeping with a drunken Lucius had not been a pleasant thing. He had the tendency to snore in her ear and inhale her hair. It annoyed her.

She woke to the aroma of pancakes and syrup. Her stomach grumbled loudly, causing her to bring her hand to her stomach to silence it. Opening her eyes, Hermione was greeted with a tray of home made pancakes, sausages and eggs sitting on the side of the bed. Orange juice sat on the side with what appeared to be a contraceptive potion. He was planning on getting frisky with her tonight, that was for sure.

With Lucius, no good deed went unnoticed and he was certain that he would collect from her. This time, she’d be ready. Hermione sat at the edge of the bed with her legs tucked under her body and sipped at the orange juice, moaning at how fresh it was. Her meal disappeared quickly and before she finished her last bite of sausage, she found a small basket of soaps sitting on the opposite end of the bed.

He was overly compensating for his night of intoxication that was for sure. Hermione licked her fingers of syrup and crawled over the bed to go through the bath salts. She brought each product to her nose and sniffed the contents. Her eyes glimmered over to Lucius’ desk and with a quirked eyebrow, she moved from the bed. Padding over quietly to his desk, her eyes scanned the top of the desk.

Random pieces of parchment were strewn in a pile, but with a little bit of snooping hopefully she could find something. She got to her knees and looked around the desk. She may not have her wand, and wandless magic was something she never really mastered, Hermione used a more Muggle way of testing boundaries. Her fingers felt around the drawers, feeling the magic bend just a little but before the wards went off she pulled her fingers away.

As she leaned over to look under the desk, something glimmering caught her eye. Her head popped up from behind his desk as she eyed a small envelope that sat amidst the pile of missives. Hermione looked around and slowly brought a hand out, snatching the envelope from the pile. She sniffed and moved to her feet, slowly prying the letter from the envelope.

Hermione’s eyes widened and she let out a small gleeful cry. The door to the room opened at that moment, causing Hermione to wrap her hands behind her back, fingers clenching onto the letter behind her. Two small ears popped out and Wilky walked in carrying a tray of fruit. Lucius was really going overboard with all this food.

“Wilky!” Hermione said quietly, moving around the desk.

“Mistress,” Wilky replied, a little down trodden.

Hermione dropped to her knees and unfolded the missive, “Look. It’s the whereabouts of all the captured prisoners. We can save…what’s wrong?”

The elf bit her bottom lip and shook her head, “Wilky is fine, Mistress. Master Lucius wishes Wilky to bring Mistress fruit….”

“Sod the fruit,” Hermione knocked the tray from her, “Wha’ts wrong? Is everyone alright? Is..Draco…”

“The Orders is all well but…but…Master Draco and Wheezy disappeared,” Wilky’s bottom lip quivered.

“W-What?” Hermione fell back against the heels of her feet, “What do you mean they disappeared?”

“M-Master Draco and Wheezy didn’t like Mistress staying here,” Wilky explained, moving to the fallen tray to pick it up.

Hermione batted her hands away and turned the elf to look at her, “But, I found where our friends are…surely…”

“Master Draco is…he is afraid that Mistress will get c-caught,” the elf said averting her eyes, “Wilky doesn’t want Master Draco to be sad.”

“Can you find them? Tell them that I’m safe?” Hermione asked, completely forgetting about the letter now, “Tell them I’m alright and…I know it’s unorthodox but I can protect myself without a wand or brute strength. I can…”

Wilky’s eyes widened as she stammered back, “Wilky must go! Master is coming! Wilky must…”

“Wait, wait!” Hermione lunged after the elf, grasping onto her wrist, “Can you memorize this? We need to find them…our friends….”

The elf looked down at the crumpled letter and nodded. She took the letter and snapped her fingers as a duplicate shifted from the original. Wilky bowed and rushed out of the room without another glance.

Hermione could hear the footsteps coming her way and moved quickly, shoving the letter back into the envelope and putting it back where she found it. She heard the door twist open and literally jumped over the desk, padding into the bathroom with one hand grasping onto the bath salts.

As she reached the bathroom, having nearly slipped on the floor, Hermione heard the door close and slipped into a warm bath. She sank low, her eyes staring at the doorway as Lucius walked past and moved straight to his desk. She watched him rummage through his missives and shove that letter she held into a drawer. Lucius sat in his chair, causing Hermione to sigh with relief. So close.