Just Around the Riverbend

*Angels singing* I have another chapter!!!

MsPersephone
HarryGinny4Eva
Voracious Reader
margaritama(x2)
angeles
April
Anathema
-CryInTheRain-
Alina
JadeLucky
HannahBanana
Serin Blackmoon
Morgan
Ash

And as a personal favor to one of my reviewers in another story, I would like to say that all of my stories except for this one, The Unseen, and The Malfoy Chronicles: A Witch in Time are complete. Six out of nine. So there.

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They stood on platform 9¾, their nervousness almost palpable. There were other students everywhere, and ever so often one of them would point to Daisy or Phelan. Both were recognizable from their forays into the press.

Daisy was clinging to Phelan as a drowning man might cling to floating wreckage. He was stroking her hair soothingly, and the repetitive motions were calming him as well. They were both dressed in impeccable new school robes, with Daisy already wearing the school uniform underneath. She had been given one pre-Sorting tie to wear until she was placed in her true House.

Phelan was in fitted black slacks, and was wearing a plain white button-up under his robes. In his trunk he had an unSorted school sweater and a black scarf should the weather call for it, but Headmaster Denebola had told him on one of their return visits that as long as he looked presentable he could wear whatever he wanted.
Hermione stood very close to Lucius, watching the children proudly. She felt the light presence of his hand on her lower back.

The Hogwarts Express gave a loud whistle, signaling the students that it was almost time to go.

“All right, dearies.” Hermione said. “Time to get your trunks on the train and find somewhere to sit.” She said, gently urging them forward. Phelan pulled his trunk behind him, and Daisy levitated hers in queue. They tucked them away safely in the luggage compartment of the train, and then stepped carefully onto the train, keen on looking for somewhere to sit. A few of the students stared at Phelan, and he could smell fear and a little hate. He snorted at one Second-Year that sneered at him, causing the boy to jump and duck into a compartment.

Daisy and Phelan glanced into each of the little rooms, vetoing most of them with one look at the inhabitants. There was one near the end of the hallway with only one person inside. He appeared to be Third or Fourth year, and he was in Slytherin colors. His hair was bleached nearly white, and his skin was nearly the same color. His eyes were lined heavily in khol, and his lips were stained dark. His nails were painted black, and there was a small striped serpent wrapped around his neck with its body resting atop his head, making him appear like some sort of gothic Pharaoh.

Phelan saw the snake’s tongue flicker, and then the boy looked up, revealing eyes so light blue that they were almost white. Daisy poked her head into the compartment.

“Mind if we sit here?” she asked. The boy blinked, but said nothing. Daisy raised a dark eyebrow, and then pulled Phelan into the room with her, and sat across from the boy. Phelan watched the serpent wearily. He didn’t like snakes. The snake seemed to stare right back at him, and even had the audacity to hiss at him, showing its fangs. But Phelan hissed right back, revealing his own sharp teeth.

“Getting into an argument with a snake isn’t really the best way to impress people.” The boy said. He had a quiet voice, but there was something underneath it that made Phelan think that low volume didn’t necessarily mean weakness.

“I’m not here to impress people. I’m here to learn.” Phelan returned evenly. The boy’s dark eyebrows twitched.

“Name’s Tom. Tom Rowan.” The boy said.

“Phelan Greyback, and this is Daisy Melfy.”

Tom looked them both over with interest. “This year might not be so boring after all.” He said. The serpent around his neck lowered its head to his ear, and hissed softly. Then Tom tilted his head and hissed something back.

The hair on the back of Phelan’s neck rose immediately, and he showed his teeth.

“You’re a Parselmouth.” Phelan growled.

“And you’re a werewolf. Lucy can taste it all over you. She doesn’t like you.” Tom said evenly.

“The feeling’s mutual.” Phelan replied. Daisy was silent, watching the snake with wary eyes. The snake turned its head to her, and tilted slightly as if considering her. It flicked its tongue, before returning to its spot on the top of Tom’s head. "So wait. Let me get this straight: your name is Tom R, you're in Slytherin, and you're a parselmouth?" he asked skeptically.

Tom regarded him with pale eyes. "I assure you it's merely great bit cosmic coincidence." he said, before falling silent.

The train lurched as it took off, and Daisy grabbed hold of Phelan to keep from falling over. Tom immediately reached into his bag, and pulled out a sketch book and a graphite pencil. The trip to Hogwarts was going to be a quiet one.

~~

Hermione watched them go into the train, and turned back to Lucius, her eyes tingling suspiciously.

“Oh, I hope she has fun.” Hermione said.

“I’m sure she will. I just hope they don’t get in too much trouble.” Lucius said.

“It’s going to be quiet at home.” Hermione commented softly. Lucius raised an eyebrow.

“Not if I can help it. I’ve been meaning to test your octaves.” He returned mischievously.

“Let’s get lunch first. I’m starving.” She said, and as if on cue her stomach growled. Lucius chuckled at her.

“Very well.”

It didn’t take them long at all to find a nice restaurant in London. They ate quietly, each reflecting exactly what it would mean to have the children out of the house. Hermione was eagerly thinking of tackling the library without the responsibility of looking after Daisy, and Lucius was thinking about bending Hermione over his desk and fucking her brains out.

As their meal came to a close, Hermione finally looked up at Lucius, who had a dark look in his eyes that Hermione had seen before. He was thinking about her. The thought sent a jolt straight to her center, and she shivered slightly.

“This was nice, Lucius. Thank you for taking me out.” She said.

“It was no problem at all, pet. I like taking you to nice places. I would spoil you much more if you’d let me.” He replied. Hermione finished her last bite with a sigh of pleasure, and put down her napkin as Lucius stood up. She felt light and content from the good meal.

She stood up and followed Lucius out the door, and as she walked she could feel her world getting lighter and lighter. She felt almost dizzy, her world getting lighter and lighter. She more or less felt as if she were about to start flying, but the ground didn’t move away from her. It wasn’t actually a pleasant experience.

“Lucius…” she murmured weakly. He turned his head slightly to look behind him, and whirled when he saw Hermione going forward. Only years of living with ‘let’s not die’ reflexes, even though they’d been a bit out of use these past two years, allowed him to catch her before she hit the ground. He righted her in his arms, but did not loosen his hold.

“Hermione?” he asked gently.

“Dizzy.” She said, her eyes shut tight. Once she felt a little more stable, she opened her eyes. “I’m sorry.” There were several people looking at her. “Let’s go home.” She mumbled.

“Would you like to see a healer?” he asked, still at-the-ready as she found her footing.

“No. I just need to lie down.” She assured him. He kept a hand on her arm and walked beside her to the nearest Apparition point, promptly taking them to the foyer of Malfoy Manor.

The swift compacting sensation of Apparition didn’t do anything to make Hermione feel better. In fact, it made her feel ten times worse, and added queasiness to the equation. She put her hand to her mouth and swallowed hard.

“Bathroom.” Her words were muffled by her fingers. Lucius took them both to his bedroom, just outside the door to his bathroom. Hermione pulled out of his grasp like he had burned her, and dashed into the bathroom. The second dose of Apparating almost kept her from getting to the toilet and pushing up the seat in time to completely empty her stomach.

“I’m going to call a healer, Hermione.” Lucius said from the doorway. He wanted to help her, but he wasn’t the type to kneel beside her and pull her hair away. That just wasn’t the type of support he could give. He could however, call a healer that could fix her right up.

Hermione was clutching the rim of the toilet tightly, her knuckles white. She took a great gasping breath in between retching.

“It’s probably nothing.” She said shakily. Though she couldn’t see it, Lucius made a strange face at her. Good lord…and he thought Slytherins were too proud to admit illness. He’d seen classmates suffer for weeks before finally caving and going to the infirmary.

“It may well be nothing, but the healer will have to tell me that for me to relax. Besides, you nearly passed out and are throwing up a kidney in there. The least a healer can do is give you something to calm your stomach.” He said snippily. Hermione had a sharp reply on the tip of her tongue before she was reacquainted with dessert. She wasn’t aware of Lucius leaving, or even when he came back, a powder-blue robed Healer in tow.

“Not feeling well, eh, dear?” the Healer asked. He was an older fellow, and a good friend to the Malfoy family. He had been their family Healer since Lucius was a small boy, and held many of the family’s secrets as if they were his own. He hadn’t had too many suspicions when Lucius alerted him that a friend of his was sick, but the kindly old wizard withheld a knowing smile when he’d been led to Lucius’ private bathroom. ‘Friend’ his wrinkly left buttock.

Hermione merely whimpered in response. The old healer knelt next to her, his joints popping and groaning in protest. Hermione looked up with bleary eyes as the Healer drew his wand, and ignited a pale light on the tip.

“Follow the light.” He said softly, and Hermione did so as he traveled the wand tip back and forth several times. He put his wand away and pulled out a stethoscope, checking her heart beat. Both of those things had been an unnecessary distraction for his next question.

“You two use protection during sex?” he asked. Lucius spluttered in surprise, and Hermione’s eyes widened comically.

“Bloody hell, Horton!” Lucius exclaimed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m on the patch.” Hermione said, pulling up her shirt a little and tapping her side with her finger. A small rectangular blue patch appeared on the skin.

“Do any abnormally strong magic lately?” Horton asked, his rheumy eyes catching hers. Hermione was wracking her brain. Let’s see…she’d done a few advanced Levitations in the library, but that would be enough to-

“Bloody hell.” She said suddenly. “The Ball. Lucius and I combined our magic to blast through a magical dome.” She said. Horton nodded.

“That’ll do it. Those patches are bloody useful, but they fail if the wearer casts powerful magic. If I had seen you in any other room than Lucius’ private bathroom I might have said you got yourself a bug in your system, but knowing him the way I do, I daresay you have a bun in the oven there, dear.” Horton said, looking quite amused. “I can, of course, double-check with a quick charm, but I’ve never been wrong before.”

“Do the charm, Horton.” Lucius said, an unreadable expression on his face. Horton drew his wand again, mumbled a few words, and poked Hermione in the tummy with the wand. A light at the tip flared green.

“Congratulations.” Horton said, and stood slowly on old legs. He started by a silent Lucius, and stopped when he was at his side. “I recommend starting to see a Healer versed well in obstetrics. And do remember, dear boy that it takes two people to create life.” Horton said, and patted Lucius on the arm before seeing himself out.

Hermione had not moved from her position on the floor. She suddenly looked up at Lucius, looking like a deer in headlights.

“Lucius…I…I didn’t know the patch had failed. We’ve…we’ve been unprotected…” she saw no change of expression on his face, and assumed the worse. Her lower lip began to tremble, and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry…I…never meant…” she began to cry. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, quite frankly afraid of what his reaction might be.

She was surprised when she felt strong arms under her, and she was lifted into his grasp. He carried her out of the bathroom, and nestled her onto his bed. Her sobs had melted immediately into quiet whimpers. She watched him retreat back into the bathroom, and heard the toilet flush, and when he reemerged, he was carrying a glass of water. He handed the glass to Hermione, and she took a grateful sip.

“This is a surprise.” He said, moving to sit at the edge of the bed, just below Hermione’s feet. Hermione started to speak, but Lucius held up a hand to silence her. “I didn’t say it was an unpleasant surprise. Do allow me to speak a bit.” He said. Hermione wilted a little. “I didn’t think I’d be in this predicament again. I…Draco wasn’t the first attempt Narcissa and I made to have a child.” Lucius confessed. Hermione’s eyebrows rose slightly. What exactly did this have to do with the current situation?

“Narcissa wasn’t a very strong woman. Having Draco almost killed them both. And I regretted that. I also was upset over it. I was an only child, and I remember the loneliness. I didn’t want that for Draco. But it’s just as well it happened that way, I suppose.” He continued on, and gave a short mirthless snort. “I wanted to have a big family, but that was pulled firmly out from under my feet. I wouldn’t risk my wife for my selfish little want. But had I been able to pursue my dream, the Malfoy family may well have dwarfed even Arthur’s full brood.”

“So…you’re not…upset?” Hermione said, almost going boneless with strange relief. Lucius turned to look at her, his pale blue eyes on her face.

“No. But I must ask…how do you feel about this revelation?” he asked. Hermione swallowed. Oh. Well…she hadn’t thought about that. She had immediately been afraid Lucius would be…well…angry. She didn’t know what she felt right at that moment. There was a strange numb feeling.

“I…I don’t know, Lucius. I’m not…I’m not angry. But…I’m not…excited either. Does that make me…a bad person?” she asked. Lucius looked ahead for a few moments, before shaking his head slightly, his blonde mane shifting.

“I shouldn’t think so. It’s quite a bit to take in at one time.” He said. Hermione nodded. She placed the glass of water on the table beside the bed, suddenly very tired.

“Up now, Hermione, and I’ll pull back the covers for you. It appears this revelation has worn you out.” He said. Hermione slid off of the bed, and true to his word Lucius pulled back the covers. Hermione climbed wearily back up, and fell face first into the soft pillows. She felt Lucius tug off her small slip-on shoes, and then he tucked her legs under the cover, and then tucked the covers around her shoulders.

“Lucius?” Hermione inquired. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, kitten. Like Horton said. It takes two to create life. We’ll speak more later. Rest now.” He said, and Hermione felt him brush aside her hair, and press his lips soothingly to her head.

And she fell off into a deep sleep, her dreams filled with visions of nappies and tiny babies crawling about in Death Eater robes.

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OMGWTFBBQ!!!! Sometimes I do wonder what goes on in my head, but then I realize, if I told myself, I'd have to kill me, so it's a drastic circle of psychotic rambling. Hmm...less caffeine next time, I do believe.

Anyways, you've read my chapter, so I should hope you'll leave a nice long review to cheer me and warm my soul and feed my plot bunnies. Cheerz.