Legacy

I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF ITS COMPONENTS. J.K. ROWLING HAS THAT PRIVELEGE. JUST BORROWING THEM FOR SOME MORBID FUN.




Legacy




Chapter 3



Severus watched his old friend carefully. While outwardly Lucius maintained a perfectly composed, haughty appearance, the Potion Master was certain that inside the blond man was bursting with impatience.

They were standing in the dimly lit entrance hall of Eredita’s new head quarters waiting the arrival of Hermione. Severus smirked. No one could accuse Lucius of being a stupid man, something that the elder Malfoy’s partner would do well to remember. But then again, he very much enjoyed the entertainment their little encounters provided.

He knew that underneath their bickering and hostility, they shared a genuine fondness and cared deeply for each other. He also knew from his time spent with Hermione that she was frustrated and confused with the feelings Lucius evoked in her. He snorted inwardly. She really was oblivious to matters of the heart. He had watched her grow from a bushy haired, buck toothed, know-it-all, to a coolheaded, brilliant, stunning woman. For Merlin’s sake, she literally had men panting after her! And yet, she still remained clueless.

Lucius was no better, although, he obviously knew his worth. After all, there’s no such thing as an ugly Malfoy. Severus did not have enough digits on his body to count the number of times his old friend had complained to him over the past couple of years about Hermione. She challenged the Malfoy patriarch like no other person has ever done.

Lucius was used to Narcissa, cold, unfeeling and with an impeccable pedigree, she gave a new meaning to the phrase ‘ice queen’. Actually, Severus always thought she was a first class bitch. The Malfoy’s had a loveless marriage, and both of them turned to others for pleasures of the flesh. Of course, they did so discreetly. It would not do for them to show the world anything but how perfect and superior they were. Last he heard Narcissa had been warming Dolohov’s bed.

Narcissa supported the Dark Lord whole-heartedly, even through his most recent bouts of insanity. She had no idea that almost seven years ago her husband had turned against the Dark Lord. For all intents and purposes, Lucius remained Voldemort’s right-hand man, but he became possibly one of the Order of the Phoenix’s most important spies.

Luckily, Draco had ‘seen the light’ and used his cunning to ingratiate himself to the Dark Lord becoming a major asset as well.

The sound of a motorcycle snapped him out of his thoughts. He once again turned his attention to Lucius and mentally grinned at the look that briefly crossed his friend’s face. His regal form quickly melted into the shadows under the stairwell.

Feeling a blast of cool air, Severus turned to see Hermione entering through the door, her helmet in hand. Her cheeks were rosy, and her amber eyes seemed to glow. She smiled brightly at her research companion.

“Severus! You really must come with me for a ride sometime. It is truly invigorating!”

He snorted. “I can assure you, not in this lifetime.” He shook his head. “I do not see how you can enjoy such a contraption.”

She shrugged. “Muggles have invented some very fun things. Not to mention useful. Why else are we devoting an entire floor of this building for muggle electronics? Telephones, computers, copy machines, fax machines, television, internet access will be a significant help with keeping tabs on the muggles.”

Hearing her rattle on with unfamiliar muggle terms made his head spin. He interrupted her.

“The others have started on the top three floors. I myself am heading down to the basement to begin expanding and creating a proper laboratory for our research.”

She nodded. “I think I’ll begin here. I assume you know that Harry, Ron and I placed the proper wards to prevent any muggles from being able to see inside. Never mind, of course you know.”

She shrugged out of her coat, eager to get started. She slowly turned around, eyes scanning the walls. She did not notice when Severus left her without a word. She drew her wand and started swishing it about, cleaning the grime off of the walls.

Lucius stepped out of the shadows and allowed his eyes to trail over her petite form. Her black muggle jeans hugged her arse and rode surprisingly low on her hips. He saw a bit of smooth flesh as she reached upwards in a complicated wand movement. Her crimson shirt tightened enticingly over well-rounded breasts, leaving his mouth dry.

“Well, well, well. You seem to be feeling better.”

Hermione froze as the cool tones of her partner washed over her.

“Damn.” She muttered before turning to face him. She gave him a sweet smile. “Why Lucius, it is so kind of you to notice.”

“Indeed. The night air must have done you some good. Not to mention the dose of Pepper-Up potion you took. The dose that was in your pocket.”

Her face fell as realization crashed down on her. Crap. How could she have forgotten that he would know what potions she kept on her person in case of an emergency?

Stupid, Hermione. Real Stupid.

She must really be more tired than usual. She felt like she had been off her game all day.

“Point to you, Lucius.”

“I do think that makes the tally so far this year, eleven points in my favor, while you only have four.”

Hermione scowled. Leave it to him to bring up how many times he succeeded in wrecking her little harmless jokes at his expense. Oh well, if anything she was tenacious. She would get him again soon enough. She turned her back on him and resumed her spell work.

Silently, Lucius drew his wand and assisted her. They worked together for the next couple of hours enlarging and enhancing the rooms on the bottom floor. This floor had been selected as guest rooms that could accommodate fifty of Eredita’s members. Of course, these rooms would be shared, as they were not for Inner Circle members. There was a large communal bath and kitchen as well as a designated sitting area towards the back.

They were working on the bathroom when Hermione felt a sudden burning pain on her left forearm. Lucius was being called. She looked at him, absently noticing how he kept the pain of the burning mark off of his handsome features. He only clutched his left arm briefly.

“Be careful.” She said softly.

His eyes softened for a split second before icing over. “I am quite capable of looking after myself.”

Hermione threw up her hands as he disappeared from sight with a CRACK. Damn their bond! As much as they have fought against it, the bond had continually grown. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago she had started to feel burning on her left forearm when Lucius was being called.

She could only imagine what pain she would feel if he was cursed or seriously injured. Not a pleasant thought, considering she was tempted to curse the man herself half of the time.

“Mione!”

She turned her head swiftly at Ron’s call. She saw her two best friends rushing towards her with Remus and Ginny trailing behind.

“Alright there Hermione?” Harry asked.

She smiled. “Of course.”

He sighed. “What’s the current score now?”

Her smile disappeared. “Eleven to four…His favor”.

Ron burst out laughing. “I don’t know how you expect to pull the wool over his eyes Hermione. He was a Slytherin you know. Once a Slytherin always a Slytherin.”

She tapped her foot in annoyance. Remus seeing her rising anger quickly intervened. ”You have done a marvelous job with this floor so far.”

“Thanks Remus. Lucuis helped me.” She said warmly to the werewolf.

“You do know that the reason Harry and Ron came running to you was to inform you of a Death Eater meeting. They did not know whether or not you succeeded in giving Lucius the slip.”

“Yes Ginny. I managed to figure that out for myself.” The brunette witch said coolly.

The younger witch tossed her hair. “Well, there’s no reason for you to be so rude.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes. “I prefer to call it tolerance.”

“How dare you insinuate that I need to be tolerated?" Ginny moved closer to the shorter witch.

“Because you do. You are a vindictive, jealous, immature liar and I have promised to not retaliate for your stupidity.”

“Brave words Hermione. I would love for you to just try something.” The volatile red head sneered, stepping even closer.

“Ginny….” Remus began.

“No, Remus! I have listened to your council for the past two years! Enough is enough! Someone needs to put little Miss Perfect in her place.”

“Is that so?” Hermione asked icily.

Ron looked at Harry, the message clear in his eyes. Should we stop this? Harry shook his head slightly at his friend. This face-off has been brewing for a long time now. Hermione kept her word to them. Ginny was the one who started this.

“Yes! Everyone is thinking it, but no one will step up and say what we really think of you! But I know the truth.”

Hermione quirked a brow. “Please enlighten me. I just can’t wait to hear what you have to say.”

Remus stepped back at the sarcasm dripping from the petite witch’s tone. This could get real ugly, real fast.

“You are a glory hog, always having to be petted and praised over. You don’t deserve it! You took Harry from me! He was mine, and all he wanted was to spend time with you or my dumb brother!”

“Maybe he preferred our company over yours.”

Surprisingly, Ginny didn’t lash out. She had an odd look in her eyes and a nasty smile spread over her face.

“Right. As if he would prefer the company of a murderer over mine!”

Hermione went very still. Ron stepped forward but was held back by Harry, whose green eyes flashed in anger.

Seeing the reaction her statement caused, Ginny continued. She leaned in close to the older witch and hissed in her face.

“It is your fault Dean Thomas is dead. You caused his death. But the real show stopper is that you are responsible for your own parents death.”

“Oh shit!” Ron said the exact instant Hermione lunged planting her fist in the grinning face of Ginny Weasley.

She followed up with a roundhouse kick that caused the younger witch to stumble. She waited, her stance in a fighting position. Ginny was all to happy to oblige.

With a scream of pure rage, she launched her self at the brunette and attacked with a flurry of hits and kicks that were expertly blocked. Their bodies were a blur of movement as they spun a macabre dance of violence.

Ginny’s screams of rage alerted the other members of the council that something was going down. As if one mass body, they ran down the stairs to see what was happening, their wands at the ready.

Neville’s jaw dropped as he saw the scene that greeted them. He stopped dead in his tracks. George and Fred nearly plowed him over.

“What in the world Neville…” Fred’s voice died out in disbelief.

Hermione had just executed an impressive back flip to avoid one of Ginny’s high kicks aimed at her head.

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Neville asked.

“No. This has been coming for a long time.” George said in a serious tone, rare for the prankster.

Remus joined the group watching from the sidelines.

“What happened Remus?” Lavender asked confusion etched on her pretty face.

The two combatants circled each other. “It is your fault Hermione that your parents died. If you hadn’t been a witch, then the muggle military’s attention wouldn’t have been drawn to you and they would still be alive. You led those men straight to your poor defenseless parents. When you were shot at by those men, Dean pushed you away, resulting in his brains being blown to bits. So you see it is your fault. You might as well have pulled the trigger on those muggle guns yourself. You are a murderer!”

In an impressive move, Hermione launched herself in the air, legs wrapped around Ginny’s neck. Knocked off balance, Ginny fell heavily to the floor. Before she could regain her senses, Hermione’s heel came smashing down in a devastating blow knocking the youngest Weasley unconscious and breaking her nose.

Hermione slowly rose to her feet, her face impassive as she stared down at her former friend. She spat on the red head’s prone figure, before turning and making her way to her helmet and coat. She ignored everyone, and without a backwards glance was out the door.

Remus sighed and ran his hand through his graying hair.

“That’s what happened.”

Harry stepped forward. “Something must be done with Ginny. She has become increasingly unstable. I’m calling a council meeting to discuss this issue. Due to schedules and the other Order meetings, this will have to wait until next week.”

He looked down at the still form of the youngest Weasley before looking at Fred and George.

“Take her to your place. Heal her nose and Obliviate her when she wakes up.”

The twins nodded in understanding, still shocked over what they had witnessed and the hatred that had spewed from their sister.

“Not a word of this to anyone, other than the Inner Circle.” Ron said sternly.

“Should we go after her?” Lavender asked quietly.

Harry stared at the front doors. “No. She needs time.”



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Hermione wiped the burning tears from her eyes as she parked her motorcycle outside of the flat she shared with Ron and Harry.

Numbly, she entered and seated herself on the sofa, not bothering with the lights. She felt comforted by the darkness. She sat in the silence of the room for a long while. The taint of Ginny’s harsh words were still fresh and she felt the sudden need to scrub herself clean. Stumbling, she made her way to her private bathroom, stripping her clothes off on the way.

She ran the tap so that the water was scalding. She stood there naked as she watched the tub begin to fill. A noise from the next room drew her attention. She grabbed her satin robe and quickly put it on tying the belt as she left the bathroom. She had left her wand by the couch and stealthily made her way towards it, observing her surroundings. Halfway to her goal, Crookshanks ran in front of her startling her. He turned and faced her, hissing.

“What Crooks? Did you get into my dried herbs again?” She bent down to pick up her agitated familiar, when she felt a sting in her neck. As if she was in slow motion, her hand reached up and felt a dart protruding from her neck. She removed it and it dropped from her hand as her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the floor.

A dark figure easily lifted the unconscious woman in his arms before carrying her through the window to the fire escape below.

The mournful howl of a cat was heard over the noise of running water, the only sounds in the now empty apartment.




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A/N: Hermione sure isn’t having a very good night, is she? The next chapter will have some disturbing content, so beware.