Lucius\' Bookshelves

Chapter 4

Hermione got up early the next morning, and had a small breakfast in her rooms before heading to the library. She had told Lucius that she had wanted to meet with him at 9am to start going through his Dark Arts materials, but she wanted a chance to peruse the library on her own, before he arrived.

It would be interesting to see what Lucius decided to willingly turn over, she mused. She had no doubts that he would try to hide some things; it just wasn’t in the Malfoy genes to be 100% honest from the very start. She had to admit a certain thrill to the challenge of what Lucius was hiding; she had always had the impression that he was an intelligent, albeit unscrupulous man, and last night’s conversations over dinner, and in the library had only reinforced that opinion.

Damn it. Why was intelligence such an aphrodisiac for her? His comment about Severus had unnerved her, for much the same reason – she had had a crush on Severus ever since she had been in her fifth year at Hogwarts. And yet the man had never even looked her direction other than to deduct house points. She had even worked with him – on him, actually – when she was a medi-witch with the Order; as a field operative, Severus usually returned with an assortment of injuries. And yet, he had never paid her more than a passing glance.

Eventually, her unreciprocated feelings for Severus waned. She had moved on, and had even dated a few Quidditch players-turned soldiers, but deep down, she knew that intelligence was so much more of an attraction for her than a pair of strong shoulders. The danger would be if she ever came across an intelligent pair of strong shoulders. She smiled sadly as an image of Severus flashed through her mind; another intelligent pair of strong shoulders, she amended.

She picked a book off on of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the walls and sat down in one of the leather wing chairs.

Lucius came in a while later, and Hermione put aside the book she had been reading. He greeted Hermione warmly, and then pulled a key out of his pocket. “I have some items that I think the Ministry would like me to turn over to them,” he started as he unlocked a glass-doored book case. He looked at the titles before picking up his reading glasses from a side table.

Hermione couldn’t help but study Lucius. Dressed similarly to yesterday, his hair was loose again, but he looked softer. What did the glasses do to him? They made him look, well, almost human? Yes, almost human.

Stop it, Granger. Lucius Malfoy is a barely-to-be-tolerated enemy – don’t think of him as anything other than that. She bit back a sigh. She could understand why Draco had been so hesitant to embrace his father after the war; to accept Lucius as anything more than a bested foe was to accept Lucius and all his past deeds. And thinking of the number of patients she had seen who had suffered at the hands of Lucius and his minions, it would be hard to accept his past deeds.

Lucius knew she was staring at him. He couldn’t help but be a little pleased. It really had been a long time since someone had looked at him that way. And if the Ministry had its way, it would be a very long time before anyone else regarded him with that sort of interest again, he thought wryly.

And really, Hermione wasn’t bad at all. Draco hadn’t had anything positive to say about her during his early days at school. In fact, Draco had always written her off as a mudblood who had somehow managed to sneak by with better grades than he did. But that was Draco; the boy always had seen things in black and white – Draco had never leaned to appreciate the gradations of grey that existed in the real world. And clearly, Draco had never been able to appreciate the girl in a swimsuit.

But it wasn’t even how she looked in a swimsuit that really interested him – he had been with some of the most statuesque women in the world, and Hermione couldn’t compete with them on that level, even though she filled out her suit nicely. No, it was last night’s conversation that had really caught his attention – it had been one of the most enjoyable conversations he had had in years.

In fact, he couldn’t even remember the last real conversation he’d had – one that consisted of an actual exchange and debate of opinions, and not just an affirmation of ideology among like-minded followers. Admittedly, it had been a pointless debate on the works of Avicenna – a reknowned wizard who had also managed to achieve status in the Muggle world. Not only had Hermione been able to debate the merits of the author’s ideas, but she had read many of his works in the original Arabic. The discussion had almost been like flexing long-dormant muscles – it was a bit of a challenge, but it felt good. And it really had been a long time since he’d had a discussion with someone who was more than happy to stand up to him. And that was amazingly appealing.

Lucius selected a few texts from the shelves – the most obvious, and most derivative – Dark Arts texts in the library. No doubt she would recognize these as relatively worthless works – and if she had any understanding of the Malfoy family history, she would know that these were inconsequential holdings in the family library. It would be an interesting exercise to see if she knew as much about the Darks Arts as she did Avicenna.

He handed her the books, “What will happen to these texts? They have been in family for generations, and are historical works. Not to mention, part of Draco’s legacy,” he added innocently.

“Well, truthfully, I don’t think you’ll ever get them back,” Hermione started. “I\'ve recommended to the Ministry that they warehouse the books I send to them until they are no longer a direct threat to anyone. The Ministry has assured me that it will be possible to preserve the works without destroying them.”

“Those books will always be a direct threat, in the right hands,” Lucius smirked. “Still, no doubt the Ministry will know best how to deal with these… Of course, I sincerely hope that they will make every effort to ensure that these remain intact – strictly as history and educational material – I think it would be a great benefit to the wizarding world.”

Slowly, Hermione smiled. Apparently, Lucius did have a heart, even if it was focused on the protection of Dark Arts texts and the Malfoy lineage. That was more than she had anticipated. “I believe that the Ministry will see the need to preserve them.” And they had assured her that that would be the case. It would be a shame to see these books completely destroyed. Kept under strict lock and key, certainly, but to annihilate this collection would be sacrilegious.

Hermione spent the rest of the day leafing through the texts with the growing realization that Lucius had identified some very basic, almost worthless Dark Arts material. Hogwarts had more dangerous stuff in the Restricted Section, by far. Which obviously meant that Lucius had a lot of other things that he wasn’t readily turning over. Which, in turn, meant that she was going to have to go through every single book in the Manor. She sighed. She’d had a feeling that she was going to have to do that, but this confirmed it.

She spent a few moments writing a report to be owled to the Ministry describing her estimated timeline for examining the Malfoy holdings. She closed with a note saying that she would have some basic works to send soon.

Sighing, she decided to swim again before dinner. It was a good way to relax, and clear her mind of her work.

Lucius watched churning out her laps in the pool. He had debated briefly going down to join her in the hot tub, but he decided that he would be better off biding his time. Instead, he unzipped his trousers again, this time bringing himself to a quick release while watching her. Gods. Once she got to know him a little better, he would ‘accidentally’ join her while she was swimming. He grinned wickedly. And that would be entertaining. He counseled himself to be patient.

********

“So tell me, Lucius, did you plan on turning over anything useful? Or were these books just an attempt to see if I had any idea what I was doing?” Hermione asked conversationally, as Lucius poured her a scotch before dinner.

Lucius smiled. Damn. The girl appeared to know a little something about the Dark Arts, after all. Ah well. It would just make it all the more interesting. And, he thought, she would be able to appreciate some of his finer holdings. “I, ah, haven’t had much time to sort through things, and those were the first things I came across. I am sure that if I look, I can find other things. Nobody’s ever bothered to catalogue the library, so even I’m not sure what’s in there.”

Uh huh, Hermione thought disbelievingly. Still, she smiled. “Well then, that means that you’ll be stuck with me longer, as now I’ll have to go through everything here.”

A slight smirk crossed Lucius’ lips, and Hermione couldn’t help but wonder if that had been his plan all along. Maybe the guy really was lonely here. Or maybe he had something else in mind. It was hard to tell with him. “That would be my pleasure,” he grinned coyly.

Damn. There was definitely something unsettling about him. Still, she smiled back and sipped her scotch.

After dinner, Hermione found herself in the library again. Lucius asked her if she had ever read much Boethius, and when she said that yes she had, he handed her a very early edition of The Consolation of Philosophy, smirking at her astonished gasps. They then started discussing how many of the famous wizards of the early middle ages managed to ‘hide’ themselves in the Muggle world. Several hours later, when Hermione couldn’t stifle her exhausted yawns, she excused herself.

Lucius poured himself another brandy. He couldn’t remember when he’d actually enjoyed someone’s company like this without the other person being naked, or under the influence of a curse. Hmph. Must be getting soft, old man, he told himself, shaking his head.


~~~~
A/N: Again, thanks for the wonderful reviews. There will be some smut, but it is a little slow in coming. (Bad pun. Sorry!) I have a hard time picturing Hermione just jumping straight into bed with Lucius (at this point, Lucius would jump into bed with anything, but he’s not the limiting factor here!) – I think that she has to see him as more human, and less demon-like before she hooks up with him. Oh, and she has to realize that she really wants him…. Besides, Lucius is way too much fun a character to write to rush things. Thanks again for all the wonderful encouragement, too!