Harvest Moon

Voracious Reader: Don\'t worry, Harry will regain his sense of adventure later. Maybe. If I decide to be nice to him.

Bluezazua: No worries. I understand life gets in the way.

mrequecky: Happy you\'re enjoying.

Zets: Glad you\'re still enjoying as always.



***

Luna frowned at the paperwork in front of her. It made no sense at all. Arabella\'s DNA had been excluded so there shouldn\'t be any ambivalent sample portions. There was of course the possibility the sample had been corrupted but she didn\'t think that was the case. It was possibly a reaction to a spell component but she wasn\'t certain which spell it could be to alter something so solid as DNA that wildly. She\'d have to have it retested to be certain before taking anything to Draco and Hermione or to Harry. She sighed and raked her hands through her hair, pulling it out of the messy bun she\'d had it in.



“So much for having the evidence before the party,” she grumbled to herself as she filed away the report and made arrangements to have another sample from the mask tested.



***

Lucius was pacing his library from one end to the other. He hated this whole scenario. He could manage putting himself in harm\'s way, that was hardly anything unusual in his life, but he absolutely loathed the thought of either Hermione or Ara being there. Especially when there was the very real probability they were in danger because of their association with him. He frowned deeper at the thought because a question had come into his mind he\'d never really considered before. Why would Hermione be a logical target? They hadn’t even been seen in public together until very recently and there were perhaps two or three people who were aware of his interest in her.



Of course, the article appearing in the Prophet not long after the Samhain fiasco had probably increased that number exponentially. He couldn\'t threaten the society column because it was usually good press and they rarely annoyed him beyond reason. The article had been tasteful and only mildly questioned his escorting a muggle born around the party. The accompanying photograph had been lovely. Hermione had her hand on his arm and was smiling up at something he\'d said to her. The expression on his own face had been vastly softer than his usual glare for the cameras. He pondered that notion for a moment before going to his desk and digging out the paper. He chose not to consider why he\'d kept the article as he scanned the photograph.



His eyebrows went up in mild surprise as he perused the picture a bit more clinically. The look he was giving Hermione in the photo was not one of an escort or even that of a friend. It was tender and intimate, the look of a man staring at the most important thing in his life. He hadn\'t seen that in himself since Draco had been born and he wasn\'t certain if he should be bothered by it or elated. He did know one thing. If he could see Hermione was important to him via the picture, so could anyone else in the wizarding world. That could make things even more dangerous to her going into the party in two night’s time.



Lucius got up and went to the window, staring out over the grounds. It was certainly odd though, that his house elf had seen Hermione in danger as well as Arabella long before he had come to the conclusion he truly cared for either of them. Bubble had yet to be wrong about a prediction. Even from the days when he could barely string sentences together his visions had been frighteningly accurate. The other house elves looked on him with a healthy dose of fear due to that. There were some things anyone, house elf or human, just did not want to know about their life. He wondered what else Bubble had seen and if it could be deciphered in time to prove useful.



“Tweak!” he called without bothering to turn around. He heard her shuffle into the room. “Can you find your brother for me, Tweak? I need to speak to him,” Lucius said, turning to look at her.



Tweak looked confused by her Master’s request for a moment before shivering a little then nodding. “Tweak will tries to find him, Master. He’s been . . . thinking a lots lately, Sir. But Tweak will do her best.”



“That’s all I can ask, Tweak,” Lucius said, turning back to the window. He heard her shuffle out and let his shoulders sag a little. Even if she did find Bubble there was no guarantee he would answer the summons. As a general rule the seers and healers in the house elf community weren’t necessarily bound to serve the house they were born into, even though most did. Nor were they tied to the servitude rules as all the others were.



He was startled from his reverie by a knock at the door. Turning he found one of the older house elves standing in the library doorway with Hermione behind him.



“Master, the police miss is here to sees you,” the little elf said.



“Thank you, Wubbly. Show her in,” Lucius said, crossing from the window to the divan near the fireplace. He waved Hermione to sit beside him. As she came in and Wubbly left, he sighed and put his head in his hands.



“Are you all right, Lucius?” Hermione asked, sitting next to him.



He sighed again and looked at her askance. “Dear Mine, I am far from being all right.”



***



Oh, the little bitch was going to pay dearly for this. There was no doubt about it. Things had suddenly shifted slightly to the side. Lucius still needed to pay for his crimes but so did the muggle whore. Blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully and a malicious smile decorated the now perfectly normal lips.



“Perhaps the old adage of killing two birds with one stone is in order here,” the blonde murmured.