Lucius\' Bookshelves
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Lucius/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
23
Views:
36,209
Reviews:
310
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Lucius/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
23
Views:
36,209
Reviews:
310
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Over the next two weeks, Hermione became more and more frustrated. Lucius had been outwardly helpful, but privately she sensed that he was trying to thwart her work. The first indication was when she had had to ask him three times for the key to open one of his locked bookshelves; it had taken him almost two days to get it to her. Oh yes, he was pleasant enough about it: “I must have left it in my other pants,” followed by, “Oh, the house elves seem to have taken them to wash, I’ll get it back tomorrow,” and added “I hope this doesn’t inconvenience you any.” But he was stalling. She could tell.
And he still hadn’t done anything about her rooms. He had assured her that he would find her better accommodations, but problems had always come up there, too. He was having difficulties finding a set of rooms that would be apprate ate for her, and then he was short on house elves to make the rooms ready, and then it turned out that the rooms wouldn’t be appropriate anyway. On and on it had gone. Again, Lucius was courteously unhelpful. And each response from him was delivered with a cocky half-smile.
She had considered telling him that she was going to appropriate his rooms, but she had a feeling he would take a slightly different interpretation of that than what she had intended. Finally, she decided to approach the house elves directly. Admittedly, it went against all her principles, but she was determined to show Lucius that he couldn’t toy with a representative from the Ministry.
The house elves had been particularly enthusiastic; anything to subtly strike at their master without causing any real harm was of extreme interest to them. Within 24 hours of approaching the house elves, Hermione found herself in a new suite of rooms. The rooms were significantly larger, had a great deal of natural lighting, and, bestall,all, the Malfoy family crest was nowhere to be found. They also had the added advantage of still being in the same wing of the house her old rooms were in – which meant that they were far enough away from Lucius to keep her feeling comfortable.
Hermione decided to not tell Lucius about her move. No doubt he’d figure it out himself, one way or another. Not surprisingly, Lucius asked her about it over drinks, the very evening that she had moved. They were sitting in two wing chairs, turned to face each other in front of the fire. “I hear that you were able to persuade the house elves to find you some new rooms. I just hope – for their sakes – that they didn’t neglect any of their other duties to attend our our requests,” his voice was dangerously silky. She needed to realize that he was still the master of this house.
Hermione stared back at Lucius. He though he was going to intimidate her? Not likely. “You can rest assured that they have neglected none of their assigned tasks. They helped me in their free time, and of their own free will.” Her tone was steely, and she leaned toward him, her body rigid as she warmed up for a fight.
Instead, Lucius laughed. “A gold star for you. You are clearly better able to motivate my house elves than I am.”
“If you were a little nicer to them, they might be more willing to do things for you.”
“Nice?” Lucius laughed again, and got up, walking over to get a framed parchment off the wall before returning. He stood next to Hermione’s chair. “My dear, take a look at the Malfoy family motto.”
Hermione stifled a giggle as she looked at the family coat of arms. Interestingly, the Latin translation of the motto was roughly, “Out of Darkness Comes Enlightenment.” She had always assumed that the Malfoy family motto would be something along the lines of “When all else fails, sneer,” or “Often wrong, but never in doubt.” Still the actual motto was decidedly appropriate.
“Do you see the words ‘nice’ anywhere near the name ‘Malfoy’? I thought not.” His voice was cold, but his lips curved into a hint of a smile.
Damn it. He was teasing her again. Damn him. “You’re right. Silly me. How could I have ever made a mistake like that?” She smiled, trying unsuccessfully to look repentant. “I promise, I won’t ever make the mistake of attempting to use the word ‘nice’ in any Malfoy-related context.”
Lucius smiled. He had to give her credit for taking the initiative and going directly to the elves. That showed a little imagination, and even a slight degree of deviousness. Which didn’t seem to be the typical profile of a Ministry employee…. Yes, she certainly had a backbone to her, and that was appealing. Gods. He had to have this woman, one way or another.
“Tell me,” Lucius started, over dinner, “What possessed you to go work for the Ministry? If I may ask.”
“Er, well. I was with the Order during the war, but afterwards, well, the Ministry offered me this position, and it seemed interesting. And, I have to say, the opportunity to browse the renowned Malfoy library was one that would have been hard to turn down.”
“And you’re happy working for them?” The note of surprise was hard to keep out of his voice. She certainly didn’t seem like a Ministry automaton.
“Well, they have been good to me, and have promised me carte blanche on this project, so, yes, I’m quite please with working for them.”
Lucius steered the conversation to other topics, but pondered her statements. Was she so naïve as to believe that the Ministry was going to give her full control? Or any control, for that matter? No, in an attempt to show that they had purged themselves of the evil within, they had become zealots, destroying anything that hinted of the Dark Arts.
What, he wondered, would happen when she discovered that the Ministry had duped her? That would be very interesting to see. Certainly someone would have to pick up the pieces…. Yes, he decided with satisfaction. That would be his opportunity.
~~~~
A/N: A short chapter here. I should have the next - and decidedly more, er, interesting - one up this afternoon if work doesn\'t interfere here. I appreciate all the wonderful reviews - thanks very much - they have motivated me to keep cranking this out quickly.
Just a quick note on mciuscius: he\'s bored and this is all a game to him. Yes, he wants to win, but he\'s definitely interested in the process as much as the end result. He has nothing else to occupy his time, and he\'s enjoying the anticipation... although he\'s going to be trying to push things forward in the next chapter...
Over the next two weeks, Hermione became more and more frustrated. Lucius had been outwardly helpful, but privately she sensed that he was trying to thwart her work. The first indication was when she had had to ask him three times for the key to open one of his locked bookshelves; it had taken him almost two days to get it to her. Oh yes, he was pleasant enough about it: “I must have left it in my other pants,” followed by, “Oh, the house elves seem to have taken them to wash, I’ll get it back tomorrow,” and added “I hope this doesn’t inconvenience you any.” But he was stalling. She could tell.
And he still hadn’t done anything about her rooms. He had assured her that he would find her better accommodations, but problems had always come up there, too. He was having difficulties finding a set of rooms that would be apprate ate for her, and then he was short on house elves to make the rooms ready, and then it turned out that the rooms wouldn’t be appropriate anyway. On and on it had gone. Again, Lucius was courteously unhelpful. And each response from him was delivered with a cocky half-smile.
She had considered telling him that she was going to appropriate his rooms, but she had a feeling he would take a slightly different interpretation of that than what she had intended. Finally, she decided to approach the house elves directly. Admittedly, it went against all her principles, but she was determined to show Lucius that he couldn’t toy with a representative from the Ministry.
The house elves had been particularly enthusiastic; anything to subtly strike at their master without causing any real harm was of extreme interest to them. Within 24 hours of approaching the house elves, Hermione found herself in a new suite of rooms. The rooms were significantly larger, had a great deal of natural lighting, and, bestall,all, the Malfoy family crest was nowhere to be found. They also had the added advantage of still being in the same wing of the house her old rooms were in – which meant that they were far enough away from Lucius to keep her feeling comfortable.
Hermione decided to not tell Lucius about her move. No doubt he’d figure it out himself, one way or another. Not surprisingly, Lucius asked her about it over drinks, the very evening that she had moved. They were sitting in two wing chairs, turned to face each other in front of the fire. “I hear that you were able to persuade the house elves to find you some new rooms. I just hope – for their sakes – that they didn’t neglect any of their other duties to attend our our requests,” his voice was dangerously silky. She needed to realize that he was still the master of this house.
Hermione stared back at Lucius. He though he was going to intimidate her? Not likely. “You can rest assured that they have neglected none of their assigned tasks. They helped me in their free time, and of their own free will.” Her tone was steely, and she leaned toward him, her body rigid as she warmed up for a fight.
Instead, Lucius laughed. “A gold star for you. You are clearly better able to motivate my house elves than I am.”
“If you were a little nicer to them, they might be more willing to do things for you.”
“Nice?” Lucius laughed again, and got up, walking over to get a framed parchment off the wall before returning. He stood next to Hermione’s chair. “My dear, take a look at the Malfoy family motto.”
Hermione stifled a giggle as she looked at the family coat of arms. Interestingly, the Latin translation of the motto was roughly, “Out of Darkness Comes Enlightenment.” She had always assumed that the Malfoy family motto would be something along the lines of “When all else fails, sneer,” or “Often wrong, but never in doubt.” Still the actual motto was decidedly appropriate.
“Do you see the words ‘nice’ anywhere near the name ‘Malfoy’? I thought not.” His voice was cold, but his lips curved into a hint of a smile.
Damn it. He was teasing her again. Damn him. “You’re right. Silly me. How could I have ever made a mistake like that?” She smiled, trying unsuccessfully to look repentant. “I promise, I won’t ever make the mistake of attempting to use the word ‘nice’ in any Malfoy-related context.”
Lucius smiled. He had to give her credit for taking the initiative and going directly to the elves. That showed a little imagination, and even a slight degree of deviousness. Which didn’t seem to be the typical profile of a Ministry employee…. Yes, she certainly had a backbone to her, and that was appealing. Gods. He had to have this woman, one way or another.
“Tell me,” Lucius started, over dinner, “What possessed you to go work for the Ministry? If I may ask.”
“Er, well. I was with the Order during the war, but afterwards, well, the Ministry offered me this position, and it seemed interesting. And, I have to say, the opportunity to browse the renowned Malfoy library was one that would have been hard to turn down.”
“And you’re happy working for them?” The note of surprise was hard to keep out of his voice. She certainly didn’t seem like a Ministry automaton.
“Well, they have been good to me, and have promised me carte blanche on this project, so, yes, I’m quite please with working for them.”
Lucius steered the conversation to other topics, but pondered her statements. Was she so naïve as to believe that the Ministry was going to give her full control? Or any control, for that matter? No, in an attempt to show that they had purged themselves of the evil within, they had become zealots, destroying anything that hinted of the Dark Arts.
What, he wondered, would happen when she discovered that the Ministry had duped her? That would be very interesting to see. Certainly someone would have to pick up the pieces…. Yes, he decided with satisfaction. That would be his opportunity.
~~~~
A/N: A short chapter here. I should have the next - and decidedly more, er, interesting - one up this afternoon if work doesn\'t interfere here. I appreciate all the wonderful reviews - thanks very much - they have motivated me to keep cranking this out quickly.
Just a quick note on mciuscius: he\'s bored and this is all a game to him. Yes, he wants to win, but he\'s definitely interested in the process as much as the end result. He has nothing else to occupy his time, and he\'s enjoying the anticipation... although he\'s going to be trying to push things forward in the next chapter...