Just Around the Riverbend

angeles
Heidi191976
Anathema
amd2175

Well guys, I have a new chapter up. This one strays away from Hermione and Lucius after the first bit, but will return to them in the next chapter. I just felt this part was important to the story's development. ANd seeing as I'm the author, I get to decide what goes in which chapter. ^w^ Yay authority!!

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Hermione padded to the library late that night, unable to sleep. She had been thinking all day about Lucius’ intentions towards her, and to be honest it made her nervous. And sticky. She was drawn to this man for many reasons. He was handsome, of course, but that was an aesthetic quality to him that wasn’t necessarily the most important thing.

He was extremely intelligent. She’d had a few good arguments with him during her stay there, and found him a virtual fount of knowledge. He was almost as smart as she was. Almost.

He smelled fantastic. And that was a plus.

She was almost startled when she found him lounging on the sofa with a book, his reading glasses perched on his patrician nose.

“Lucius.” She breathed. He looked up from his book.

“Hello, Hermione. What brings you to the library this late?” he asked pleasantly.

“I couldn’t sleep.” She said softly. He closed his book on his finger, using it to mark the page he was on.

“Is something on your mind?” he asked. “Are you worried for Mr. Potter?”

Hermione smiled, and her cheeks tinged a bit. “No. I’ll only start worrying about him if he starts having nightmares. I was just thinking about your intentions with me.” She said, and plopped on the other side of the sofa.

“Are you worried about what I’m going to do to you, Hermione? Because I assure you that you will enjoy it fully.” He said, his voice dropping slightly. Hermione’s breath caught in her throat.

“No…” she choked. “That’s n-not it. I j-just wondered about why you want to pursue me.”

He tilted his head slightly at her, his ghostly blue eyes resting on her, as if seeing her in a new light.
“Because I like you, Hermione. You are not like any other woman I have ever met. You are not shallow. In fact, you are very magnanimous. You are not vain. You value intelligence over physical beauty, though you possess great amounts of both.” Here Hermione blushed, flattered by his statement. “You are not demure, and will not allow me or any other man to step on your toes. You would rather hex bits off than take abuse of any kind. And last, but definitely not least, you are complex. You are all of the things I have mentioned and more. You are a breath of fresh air, and it has been so long since I truly breathed.” He said. Hermione was silent for a few long moments.

“That makes me feel so much better. For a moment I thought you were going to say you just wanted me for my body.” She teased. But inside she truly felt much better about whatever it was they had. Or would have, eventually..

~~

Over the next few days Lucius was very aware of Hermione. He found perfect times to brush against her, even if it was only a ghostly touch with his fingers. He smiled at her a lot, which made her happy because his smiles transformed his entire face. A few times she had even sworn he winked at her! But Lucius Malfoy surely wasn’t a winking type of person, so she ignored that.

Daisy and Harry watched the exchanges between the two with knowing looks, though Harry was careful about walking into rooms that were known to have the two alone. He might not have died from hearing Malfoy talk dirty, but he definitely didn’t want to see the man naked. Or Hermione, for that matter.

Daisy mostly stayed to herself, now that most of Hermione’s time was being monopolized by her cousin. She spent most of her time in the library in the company of, strangely enough, Harry. She had taken to observing him. He had apologized about what he’d said about her cousin the first day they met, and had become a friend to her.

But he always looked so tired. He had dark circles around his eyes, making him appear almost ghostly. Hermione had told her it was because Harry suffered from terrible nightmares, a leftover torture from his terrible childhood and his participation in the war. Daisy knew his pain well, and was determined to help him.

~~

She went out to the gardens, her bone-handled knife at her waist, and a small item clutched in her palm. The particular area of the garden she was in was very old, and filled with heirloom plants and lined with trees. But the heavy flowers and large buds weren’t her main concern this day. She was after the tree in the far right corner. It was a very old, very sturdy Holly tree. She quickly shimmied up the trunk, her deerskin moccasins gripping the bark easily. She carefully balanced herself on a limb, and examined the small item in her palm. She’d taken one of Harry’s cigarettes. But instead of lighting and smoking it as Harry did, she ripped the butt from the cigarette, and emptied the dried tobacco into her palm.

Then she closed her eyes and said a prayer, sprinkling the tobacco as an offering over the tree limb. Then she brought out her knife and cut two supple young branch-lings, and then shimmied down. She looked around the base of the tree, grinning when a few tufts of gray and white caught her attention. She plucked a few of the stray feathers from the ground, and then quickly made her way back inside. It was bedtime before anyone saw her again.

~~

Harry sat on the terrace, having just escaped witnessing Lucius kiss Hermione rather fervently. He supposed he should probably be more upset about those two than he really was. After all…it was Lucius Malfoy, the epitome of pureblood maliciousness, and general arse-holish behavior. But Harry really couldn’t bring himself to care too much…about the situation, that is. Of course he cared for Hermione. And he would personally gut Malfoy like a fish if he hurt her. But Hermione seemed so happy with someone who could keep up with her intellectually.

He picked his packet up cigarettes up from where he’d left them, and fished one out.

“Hmm….I thought I had more than that…” he said, and shrugged. He lit the cigarette with the tip of his wand, and inhaled deeply. He’d taken up smoking not too long after the war. It was calming to him. It soothed his nerves, and it had become as much a habit as a comfort.

A small knock at the doorway to the terrace caught his attention, and he looked up to see Daisy standing at the door, a small box in her hands.

“Room for one more out here?” she asked. Harry gestured to the seat across from him wordlessly, and Daisy took the offered seat. They sat in silence as Harry smoked, watching the sun start to fade behind the forest.

“I made something for you today.” Daisy said without preamble.

“Oh?” Harry asked, taking one last drag from his cigarette, before putting out the butt in the ashtray he’d left sitting on the banister. He let out the smoke slowly, watching as Daisy fiddled with the box in her hand.

“Yeah. Here.” She said, and handed it to him. Harry took the box from her, his curiosity piqued. He normally didn’t like gifts and such, but in this instance he made an exception. Daisy was a friend, and it would be rude not to accept her gift.

He opened the box, and raised a dark eyebrow at the content. It appeared to be a smallish hoop made of supple branches twisted together and bound in four places with leather string. The inside of the hoop was filled with string in a complex and very tight web pattern. There were feathers hanging from excess leather string hanging from the bonds of the hoop, and even a shell hanging down from the top. There were four beads at each bond site: a red one, a white one, a black one, and a yellow one.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a dream catcher, Harry. A piece of my heritage. Would you like to hear the story?” she asked. Harry looked at the rustic looking charm, and then nodded. “Long ago, when the spirits and man still lived alongside each other, man asked the Great Spirit for a favor. Bad spirits were attacking them in their sleep, and causing their dreams to turn to nightmares. The nightmares plagued man terribly, and could not be fought off by strength or cunning. So the spirits of the earth got together and created the dream catcher. The tree spirits gave up their branches, and twined them together in a sacred hoop, and the animal spirits gave up their skin to bind the hoop closed. The spider gave up her web to catch all dream spirits, and keep the bad ones locked away until the sun hit them and destroyed them. The birds gave up their feathers, so that the dream catcher would fly true in the four winds, and when the good dream spirits found their way through the web, they could tricked down through the feather into man’s head. Even the water spirit gave up a shell to represent water and life. The beads on the webbing represent the four colors of man: red man, black man, white man, and yellow man. The dream catcher was a gift to man to ease his suffering.” She said. Harry looked at the delicate thing, and gave a watered smile.

“I thank you for the effort, Daisy…but you wouldn’t believe how many charms and talismans I’ve tried to keep the nightmares at bay. I can’t help but be skeptic that this little piece of wood and string will be any different.” He said softly. But Daisy just smiled brightly at him.

“Well then you have nothing to lose by hanging it over your bed, then. Well, I’ll leave you to it. Pleasant dreams, my pale-faced friend.” She said, and walked from the terrace. Harry walked inside, carrying the dream catcher, and went straight to his room. He sighed softly, and placed the trinket on his dressed while he showered for bed.

He emerged a bit later, and slipped on his sleeping pants. It was hard to believe that he had been staying over at Malfoy Manor. But he just didn’t want to be alone. And Hermione had assured him Lucius didn’t mind the extra company, so long as he didn’t make a nuisance of himself. And Harry didn’t. He was a clean house guest, and a quiet one to boot. Except maybe at night, but he kept a Silencing spell over his room at all times, so they didn’t know too much about that.

He slipped under the covers with a sigh. Here went nothing…

~~

He woke himself up screaming, and sat bolt upright. He was covered in a film of sweat, and his sheets and pajama pants were sticking to him. He ran his hand over his face, his breath coming in ragged sobs. Tonight it had been the Graveyard in his fourth year. He saw Cedric, and the ritual… He saw those glowing red eyes; haunting him, torturing him.

A gleam from the moonlight flowing through his window caught his attention. He put on his glasses, and looked over at his dresser. The unnaturally bright light from the crescent moon lit up the white bead on Daisy’s dream catcher. He sighed.

“Fuck it. I really don’t have anything to lose.” He said, and threw back his covers, padding tiredly over to the dresser and picking the item up. The web glowed eerily in the moonlight as he held it up, and the feathers rustled with his breath. He went back to his bed, and Stuck the hanging loop of the dream catcher to the wall above his bed. After a light cleaning spell on him and his sheets, he crawled back into bed, and closed his eyes wearily.

And for the first time in years, he slept through the night.

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Oh Harry....*huggles* I'm glad he's found some comfort.

Hermione is so insecure, is she not? SHe's positive he doesn't want her for her. It comes from being an awkward nerd as a child. She didn't have physical beauty until later, and now she's positive all men want to use her for her body, and can't possibly want a combo of both body and brains. But I'm sure Lucius will bring her out of that shell....very soon, in fact.

You've read the chapter, now review! Or ELSE!!! J/K..... ;3