Last Exit to Eden

Title:  Last Exit to Eden- Chapter 4
Author:  lucretziathevagabond
Pairing:  Lucius/Hermione
Rating:  R for this chapter, NC-17 for a few chapters sprinkled in.
Summary:  Hermione proves she is a bossy know it all.  Lucius reminds us he may be older but still sexy as hell, and Draco decides Hermione’s not so bad for the most part.
Author’s Note:  A thousand thank you’s for your reviews-I’ve been checking my email several times a day and am so thrilled when I am told I have a new review.  This is my first full length fic where I have all the chapters figured out, so I am enjoying it even more.  Amazing what a lot of planning can do, eh?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Chapter 4: The Thallium Theory
 
Lucius awoke to a quiet house.  Well, quiet except for Draco’s soft snores.  He grinned softly as he saw his only son turn over in his sleep, successfully taking most of the blankets with him.  Narcissa used to do that as well.  He would never have told his late wife, but part of the reason he was known as such an early riser had to do with the fact that she had taken over most of the bed and blankets in her sleep.  She would have been mortified, but it was one of the little things he loved about her.
 
It was moments like this when he realized how much he missed her.  During their marriage, he hadn’t always been there; caught up in service to a madman, he was gone, leaving the most important things in his life to fend for themselves.  In the past five years since her death, he had tried to forgive himself and vowed to do better in the future.  Draco had grown into a strong and powerful wizard, and it no longer felt like a betrayal to his blonde queen to think of the wild haired genius who consumed so much of his thoughts.
 
Hermione was vibrant and intelligent, with a zest for living he rarely saw displayed in the society wives and their hangers on. Despite her bluster and talk about not caring about returning to the magical world, he knew her exile had hurt her deeply.  She had an insecure streak, almost as though she wasn’t sure she deserved nice things and always seemed like she wasn’t quite sure she was going to be accepted.  He knew that his old attitudes had probably contributed to that insecurity, and silently promised himself to help her move past that.
The magical world needed Hermione Granger.  It needed her ideals unfettered by long time prejudice and fear.  It needed to have her lone voice crying out and exposing the lies and corruption of the government, bolstered by facts and cold, hard logic.  Hermione Granger’s defection had been the turning point in the Marriage Law, and she needed to understand that the same political savvy could put the final nail in the coffin of all kinds of prejudice.  Harry Potter had been hailed as a hero, but then became an auror and sent to do the Ministry’s bidding, pulled back in when Shacklebolt needed a vision of unity and strength for his latest campaign.  Potter was a hero, but he would never be the agent for change his onetime best friend could be.
 
In the darkness of early morning, he was able to admit how deeply his feelings ran for the muggleborn.  It had started as a political game, but he now realized that in its place was a deep and enduring affection, that might soon be called love.  She had forgiven his past and his irritability without batting an eyelash, but his selfish and poorly thought out attempt at invading her mind might be more than she could take.  He needed her forgiveness, needed another chance to prove himself to her.  It was an odd feeling; he had never really had to prove himself to anyone before.  His place in society had been guaranteed by his name and his bloodlines.  None of that mattered to her, and he felt desperate to prove himself to her.  But how?
 
Climbing out of bed, he visited the bathroom, smiling at the toothbrushes she had left out for them.  He used one, then walked silently toward the kitchen.  Fresh coffee was laid out on the counter, and he frowned to see sausages and pancake mix by the stove.  Had she not gone to bed yet?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
He found her on the front porch, wrapped in two quilts and watching the sun struggling to reclaim the sky from the grasp of the nearly full moon.  He approached, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the sky.  As he neared he could see tear tracks, and knew without being told that he was the cause of them.  Shame flooded him, and he thought how he had once again let someone he cared about down.  He pulled her hair back and pressed kisses into her neck, silently promising her he would do better in the future.  He felt fresh tears drop onto his skin as her crying renewed.
 
“I’m sorry.”  He wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb, and when she reached out to him pulled her into an tight embrace.  She sniffled, and lay her head against his chest.
 
“You can’t keep doing this to me, Lucius.  I won’t have it.”  She loosened the quilts, wrapping them around him as well and warmth flooded him.  He could feel her heart beating, and knew she could feel his as well.
 
“Lucius,  I am growing to…care for you, but every time I try to let you in, you hurt me.  I can’t take it anymore.  I would rather walk away now then let you break my heart.”  His arms tightened around her, and he was once again taken aback by her ability to forgive.  He was not going to waste this moment.  He tilted her head gently toward him, so she looked into his eyes, seeing his sincerity.
 
“Hermione, I have never meant to hurt you.  In the past, I have done a dismal job at trying to protect those I…care for.  Realize that I am a selfish fool, but I have your best interests at heart and I only wanted to protect you.  My attempted intrusion into your mind was wrong, and I would give anything to prove to you how ashamed I am.   I cannot promise you I will never hurt you again, but I will give you my oath that I will never again deliberately cause you pain.”
 
She looked at him, the early morning light showing him as he really was.  She could see the small lines on his face, almost invisible in daylight but now etched onto his face.  She saw the tiny bit of silver starting at the hairline of his temples and then was caught by eyes that had seen too much.  He wasn’t trying to manipulate her, but she could see the sincerity , and was that a trace of fear? .  She saw his need for reassurance that arrogance covered up..  She took a breath, and did the one thing that would convince him.
 
She kissed him.
 
It started gently, just a touch of lips, but quickly deepened into something else.  Within moments, his hands were in her hair and he was clinging to her like she was the only thing preventing him from drowning.  It had been years since he had let go like this, maybe he never had.  He fought back the urge to lay her down and mark every inch of her with nips and kisses and claim her in the most primal way possible.  He needed to regain control of himself; he needed to not screw this up and lose the woman he needed like oxygen.  She straddled him, intending to get closer to him and he groaned as she slid her most private place over his aching member.  He could feel himself throbbing, and realized she wanted this too.  No, it was all too new and he was not going to give in to his instincts right now.  His teeth grazed the juncture of her neck and collarbone and she mewed in pleasure.  Drawing the flesh into his mouth, he suckled, feeling her warm breath against his hair as she panted and fought herself for control.  He knew the skin would bruise, leaving an unmistakable sign of possession.  His mark, out there for the world to see.
 
His hands slid down her body, and she writhed in pleasure.  Her hands had slid to his zipper and he growled, pushing her hand away.  She licked his collarbone, and raked her nails over his thin undershirt.  He cried out and she grinned against his skin.  Pulling her back from her, he rested his forehead against hers.  He had never felt the need to claim anyone this strongly before. 
 
“Lucius, please…”
 
“We aren’t ready for this yet”, he whispered.
 
She slid her hand along his length and smiled wickedly.
 
“I beg to differ.”
 
He lowered her head, and slid the v-neck of the dress down to expose one lovely breast.  She groaned as he suckled, and tightened her grasp on his hair.  Apparently, his witch liked a little pain with her pleasure.  Excellent.  He moved to the other breast, grinning with triumph as his witch attempted more friction against the place she most needed it.  He slid his hands under her buttocks and lifted her, standing and resting her against a low wall with a narrow protrusion for her to sit on.
 
“Lucius, what in the…oh!”  she cried as he pushed up her skirt, propped her feet on his shoulder and slid her tiny thong panties to one side. He lowered his head, and she cried out in pleasure.  All higher thought left her mind; she was on her front porch where any early morning car or pedestrian could see her, with a man’s head between her legs and she didn’t even care.  A few cat calls and honks by passing cars  proved she was just as exposed as she thought.  Surprisingly, she didn’t care.  She spread her legs further apart, giving him access to every bit of her.
 
Her climax caught her off guard, and she bucked against him, nearly falling off the porch ledge.  When he finally stood, he helped her off the ledge on shaky legs.  Pulling her to him, he kissed her gently.
 
“I want you to think of that every time you look at me”, he demanded.  She nodded, smoothing his hair back as she tried to catch  her breath.
 
The front glass door opened and a tousled blonde head appeared.
 
“Finally.  I thought you would never be done.  Granger, you promised me breakfast.  Where are my pancakes?   All I’ve had in the past day is pie.  Do you want me to starve? “
 
He grinned as she walked by him, face flaming.
 
“Exhibitionist.”
 
“Voyeur.”
 
He chuckled as his father passed by, unaffected by the scene.  He had just started to turn when a sharp pinch to his butt made him yelp.  He turned to see Hermione, arms crossed in front of him.
 
“If you plan on eating, you need to set the table.  Your father has already done his part.”
 
“This is elf work!”  he said, half seriously.  He looked down at the plates and cutlery now in his hands like it was something really vile.
 
“There is no elf here, so now it’s your job.  I can get you a tea towel to wear if it would help you get into the spirit of things.”. She walked back into the kitchen while he gaped at her.
 
He wondered if his father had any idea what he had gotten himself into.

________________________________________________________
 
Draco was on his fourth pancake when he finally slowed down.
 
“Granger, you are an excellent cook.  Better even than Izzy, and she has been our elf for years.”
 
Hermione glared at him, which made his smile widen.
 
“Hermione”, Lucius said quickly, cutting off an impending rant, “please tell us about the rest of your research.  I would like it if you would start with what I so thoughtlessly tried to extract from you last night- you implied that magical ablity was, or could be suppressed in children, despite parents actively trying to bring about magical expression.  I think you have figured out how it was done.”
 
“You’ll lose your appetite.”
“Granger, this is his third pancake.  He’s doing fine.  Do you have any more of those sausages, by the way?”
 
“I can make more.  I didn’t cook them all.”  He declined with a wave.
 
“No, that’s fine.  I’d like to hear this story too.”
 
She groaned, and massaged her temples.  Lucius was going to come absolutely unhinged.
 
“Sometime today would be nice.”
“Draco.”
“Sorry father.”
“Okay.  Draco, how much do you know abut thallium?
 
“It’s a metal.  Very poisonous.  Not used much anymore.”
“Yes.  All that is true.”
 
“Thank you, Granger.  Nice to know my certificate as a potions master’s apprentice was worthwhile.”
 
“Draco!  I would like to hear this story, with no interruptions if possible.  If you continue to bait Miss Granger, I will ask you to leave the room.”
 
“Sorry, father.  Continue, Granger.   Please.”
 
“Have you heard of the thalidomus potion?”
 
“Yes, of course.  It was used to prevent morning sickness in early pregnancy.  No one has created the potion in years.”
 
“Well, in muggle medicine, there was a virtually identical medicine used for the same reasons.  It was called thalidomide, but was pulled from the markets in the 1970’s.  It has returned for use, but only to women who are unable to have children.  It is used to treat cancer.”
 
“Why did they stop selling it?”
 
“In the muggle population, it caused gross physical deformities:  shortened arms and legs, mental retardation, and other problems. “
“And the effect on witches?”  Lucius prompted.
 
“If taken in early pregnancy,  it caused the inability to develop moral conscience or empathy.  It also had a tendency to cause difficult pregnancies and miscarriage.”
 
He regarded her for a minute, trying to assess what she wasn’t saying.  Draco beat him to the punch.
 
“Was it ever used in later stages of pregnancy?”
She bit her lip.
“Why was it used?”  Lucius could see the defeat in her eyes.  She threw up her hands in surrender.
 
“Fine.  In the 1940’s and 1950’s, it was used to induce labor in pureblooded women who wanted to deliver early and have smaller babies, which had become more desirable.  Larger babies were something peasant women had.  The reason it was taken off the market was because they found that it delayed magical emergence until the late teenage years.  The problem was, it was so expensive it was only taken by the wealthy…”
 
“Who got rid of their children for lack of magical ability in early to mid childhood and then pretended they never existed.  How did someone finally make the connection?”
 
“Juno McGonagall discovered it when she researched the orphanages and cross checked it with healer’s records.  She then went to visit surviving “squibs” who eventually did develop diminished talents.  They used their gift to read tarot cards, do folk healings or as psychics.  After the potion was removed from the market, the amount of squib births plummeted, making the orphanages like this one unnecessary.”
 
“Because the number of squib births was artificially high to begin with.”  Draco finished.
 
Lucius looked furious.  “So let me see if I understand this correctly.  My mother likely took a dangerous potion to have a fashionably small baby, the effect of which was to delay her magical development.  When they were unable to force magical manifestation at an unreasonably young age, they sent her to a filthy orphanage with people who didn’t understand her and a week later she was dead from a muggle disease.  In fact, she may well have been magical all along, but the potion delayed the emergence.”
“Yes.”  She reached for his hand, and he clutched it as he was obviously fighting back strong emotion.  Draco put his arm around his father, trying to comfort him.  They sat that way for a long while.
“Granger, you said that only a few healers used this poison late in pregnancy.  Were you able to find out who did use it?”  She shook her head.
“No.  And, interestingly, I was unable to find the doctor who evaluated and treated the children here.  I was only able to find excerpts from the book, not the whole volume.  I had thought to call Professor McGonagall to ask her if she had one, but hadn’t yet gotten around to it.  I’m not sure if Juno McGonagall is still alive either.  She was older than the professor.”
 
“If you can call the professor, I will work on finding potions masters who may have kept records of their sales that far back.  Thallium is a restricted substance, there should be a registry or something I can tap into.  I can ask Severus at dinner tonight if he’ll help.” Draco offered.
 
She nodded.
 
“Just out of curiosity, how did you come to even research thallium.  It’s pretty obscure in potions making, and no modern potions contain it.”
 
“I was trying to answer a theoretical question, and ended up going to muggle chemistry for the answers.”
 
“What was the question?”  She looked at Lucius and shook her head.
 
“No way.  You two are armed with wands and I’m not, and this is not going to make you happy.”
 
“Stop being melodramatic, Granger.  It can’t possibly be that bad.”
 
She gave him a look that made him pause.
 
Lucius handed her his snake topped walking stick without a word.  With a solemn nod, Draco handed his over as well, and the pair stared at her.
 
“We’re listening.”
She sat down at the table, then stood and walked to the liquor cabinet.  Pulling out the scotch, she brought three glasses to the table and sat back down.
 
“Granger, it’s 9:30 in the morning.  I think it is a little early for scotch.”
“I was researching Death Eaters.”
 
Lucius took the bottle from her and poured them each a healthy amount, taking   a large swallow.
 
“You were researching pureblooded families?” Lucius clarified.
 
“No.  I was researching the name Death Eater.  I mean, why were you called that?  There was no evidence that you were cannibals and it just made no sense.  I mean, why not Purebloods United, or the Fellowship of the Masks or the We Hate Mudbloods campaign?  I couldn’t find a historical reference for it either, and I knew Voldemort was a collector of obscure knowledge.  So I knew that it had to mean something, otherwise why not choose another name?  So I asked myself the theoretical question:  How does one eat death?  Or at least, how does one ingest it?”
 
Draco smiled slightly.  Typical Granger question.  Made absolutely no sense at all.
Lucius murmured “I’ve never thought of that.”
 
I couldn’t see Voldemort having a nice dinner where you all sat down to eat some sort of cake, and heating can alter a potion’s effect. So, I started to research obscure potions and ran into problems.   I was limited by my inability to move freely in the wizarding world, and wasn’t wealthy enough to have a collection of ancient volumes at home.   I managed to talk Remus Lupin into looking at what documents he could find and access from Grimmauld Place without drawing attention to it.  He couldn’t find anything either.  I was really, really frustrated.  Then two things happened almost simultaneously.  I had put aside my research on Death Eaters to focus on the orphanage study and Remus was able to get unedited copies of Death Eater interrogations.  The interrogation information changed everything.”
 
Draco and his father looked fascinated.
 
“Several people stated that during a Dark Revel, they were forced to drink a metallic tasting potion that they were told was poison in order to be reborn, and that they had ingested it on  several occasions after that.”
 
“On the Dark Lord’s first rise to power, we ingested it only once on initiation and I had to drink again once Draco was born.  On the second rise no one did, the Dark Lord used Legilimency instead, he clarified.  “I know Draco never drank it, I don’t believe any of the younger ones were required to.  I always wondered about that, it’s not impossible to occlude ones mind.  I assumed the potion was some sort of veritaserum.”
 
“I believe each of Voldemort’s rises to power reflected different aims and he learned from his mistakes.”  Lucius looked at her, incredulous.
 
“I was the Dark Lords confidant for many years.  His aims remained the same: purity of blood and preeminence of the wizarding world.”
 
“Granger, finish with the loyalty potion first, then you and father can fight about Voldemort’s goals.  I don’t want to get off track.”  Draco interrupted when he saw her face flush.
“Fine.  I researched muggle chemistry and found few metals that could be dissolved in liquid beforehand and ingested without having to be remixed just prior to ingestion.  The list is rather short, as you might imagine.  Thallium was one of the few.”
 
“Thallium seems to work on the brain chemistry of those who ingest it.  It appears to attack the part of the brain that is considered the “unused” part in muggles, and the part magical researchers believe is related to magical development.  As a witch or wizard ages, the part of the brain linked to brain development begins to shrink, and the area is then used to enhance magical EXPRESSION.  This is why muggle women who drank thallium could still use magic, but it affected the offspring.”
 
“By delaying their magical manifestation.”
 
“Exactly.”
 
“I’m still not clear on why this is a problem.  Or why you demanded my wand.”
 
“My next question was:  How would a pureblood ingesting thallium be able to drink it and survive, while a muggle could not?  Thallium is a nasty poison, and the antidote is not widely known.  Then I remembered Molly Weasley complaining about Ginny’s accidental magic episodes.  When Ginny got upset and accidentally exploded Mr. Weasley’s toolshed, Molly had summoned the same healer who had given a potion to Bill Weasley when he was a child.  He had set the top floor of the Burrow on fire in his sleep by accident whilst being punished, and Molly was afraid he’d do it again.  The healer said that it was no longer being made, because the ingredients were too volatile.  Molly was furious, because it used to be widely used
.
“Thallium.”  Draco said, following her line of reasoning.
 
“Yes, so a pureblood or even a half-blood would be able to tolerate ingestion of a small dose.  Younger members of the DE weren’t required to drink, because they probably would have died.  Thallium was off the market by then, and they would likely have responded just like a muggle.  An adult could tolerate repeated ingestions because of a developed tolerance.”
 
“So in essence, a Death Eater does ingest death; a deadly poison.  Yet their prior exposure, not their magic is what actually saves them.  As for the name, I suppose Death Eater sounds better than death drinker; when I say death drinker I think of Bellatrix being whirred up in a blender.”She finished her tale distractedly, in her mind’s eye seeing the crazy woman and her wild hair spinning around in a giant blender, as she shrieked in terror and was pelted with margarita mix and ice cubes.
 
“Fascinating,” Lucius said, although he had no idea what a blender was.
 
“All right, so we know what this poison does to the unborn and children.  We also know why adult purebloods can tolerate it, and others can’t.”  Draco said, gesturing.  What long term effects were there for people who ingested thallium repeatedly?”
 
“It hasn’t been thoroughly studied.”  Hermione was looking at the table again and gripped the wands in her hand so tightly Draco thought they were going to break.  This is what she didn’t want Lucius to know; this is why she currently held his wand.
 
“What about short term effects?  I know you know this Granger; you’re a terrible liar.”
 
“Tell me!” Lucius barked, his voice that clipped accent he used whilst in the Dark Lord’s service to command troops..  He saw Hermione tremble, and her glazed eyes told him she was remembering something terrible in her past.  He reached for her to comfort her, but she jerked away, still lost in memories.  Only Buttercream jumping onto her lap seemed to bring her back to the present.  The cat mewed and climbed up her dress, batting at stray curls with a paw.  She smiled sadly, as she ran her fingers through the soft fur.  He tried again.
 
“Hermione, why don’t we all take showers and then come back here to discuss it.  I will summon an elf to bring clothes for Draco and myself.  May I use your fireplace?”  She nodded mutely, and he walked into the living room.  Moments later, she could hear the whoosh of flames.
 
“Granger, my father is not a fool.  He is not going to shoot the messenger, so to speak.  I have a feeling I know where you’re going, and you’re right; he’s going to freak out.  But he is going to be angry with his oldest friend, the one who brewed the nasty stuff, not at you for finally telling him the truth.  Severus owed him that much at least.”  She nodded in agreement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Lucius appeared with a pile of clothing, and she stood, telling them how to turn on the shower.  Hurrying to her own room, she turned on her own shower and stepped in.
 
This was all moving too fast for her.  She was growing to really like the man who was once her enemy; and he was so stubborn he would find a way to drag her back into the magical world.  Draco was even acting as an ally, which made her wonder if the world had tipped off its axis.  She shampooed her hair automatically, and reached for her “Karma” soap from her favorite bath shop.
 
The door to the shower opened and a very naked Lucius Malfoy stepped in.  Unconsciously, she glanced down, then immediately blushed.  She turned her back to him.
 
“This shower’s taken.”  She heard him laugh softly.
 
“I would think that you would be in favor of water conservation.  Plus, you need someone to wash your back, don’t you?”  His fingers grazed her waist and he pulled her under the spray.
 
“You may of course wash my front if you so choose” he said playfully and leaned over to kiss her.  He had to bend over slightly and she was on her tiptoes; he wrapped his arms around her tightly.  Her hands slid over his buttocks, and around to his front.  He stilled, but didn’t let go of her.
 
“You can wash that last dearest, or we’ll use up all the water.”  He took the soap from her and began to wash her arms.  She purred with delight as his hands moved lower and lower.
 
Ten minutes later, Lucius was pushed against a wall, and thanking whatever god he believed in that he had fallen for such a beautiful and wanton woman who enjoyed all kinds of games.  His hands slid into her hair as he lost himself in sensation.
 
Draco was sitting at the table, showered and dressed, waiting for his father and Hermione to emerge.  He had to admit, she seemed good for his father.  She brought out his playful side, and he could temper her bossy tendencies; in many ways they were perfect complements.  Draco knew better than most, though how vicious the society women could be, and knew that if Granger left him because of not fitting in, Lucius would be devastated.  He heard his father moan, and snickered at the thought that Hermione was probably pleasuring him with the goal that he would be too relaxed to respond to her account of what that snake faced bastard had done to him.  Not bloody likely.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Minutes later, they appeared.  His father did indeed seem more relaxed than previously, and Hermione seemed determined.
 
“Let’s go to the living room”, she suggested as they walked by.  Once they were sitting on plump sofas, her bare legs propped in Lucius’ lap as she started the story again.
 
“Where were we?” she asked, distracted by the foot massage she was getting.
 
“Short term effects of thallium potion.”  Draco supplied.
 
“Right.  Okay, so another question I had about Death Eaters was why they had so few children.  I mean, how can you repopulate the wizarding world with purebloods if each family only has one?  Every known Death Eater whose children I attended Hogwarts with were only children: you, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini.  It seemed very strange and against the very principles of the Death Eaters who were engaged in a war where people from both sides were dying.  You would want larger families, not smaller ones.  Someone had to survive to carry on the family name.”
 
“Many of us tried to have more children, we were unable to.  It was frequently spoken of; that blood traitors like the Weasleys could pop out a never ending supply of them, yet we struggled to have one.”  Lucius’ voice was quiet, but resigned.
 
“Mum had several miscarriages, she told me.” Draco offered, leading the way for her to unload the secret.  She glared at him.
 
“Yes, and all of the children were about the same age.  I imagine it  must have been baby fever when there started to be children born.”
 
Lucius grinned at the memory.  “I swear, Narcissa had the nursery painted a dozen times.  We had so many baby clothes and blankets the elves had to create a new closet. Plus, she wouldn’t take a single potion no matter how sick she was.  She was terrified of something going wrong. We’d planned to have three or four, so Draco would have siblings to look up to him.”
 
“Didn’t you ever wonder why all of you got pregnant at the same time?  And why after that, you couldn’t have any more?”
 
“No, he said simply.  We were just so grateful to have children at all.”  He looked at his son fondly. 
 
“Tell him why they couldn’t have them, Granger.” Draco looked ill.
 
“It was the thallium in the loyalty potion.” She blurted out.
 
“What!?” The silence in the room was deafening. Hermione took a breath before continuing.
 
“Lucius, this is why I wanted your wand.  I gave it back to you, so please hear me out before you go in search of someone to hex.”  He nodded, and gritted his teeth.
 
“Thalidomide had a nearly 40% miscarriage rate in muggles.  That’s why it was pulled from the market. Your mother had several miscarriages, meaning she could actually get pregnant, but not stay that way.  Thalidomide stays in the system for years, and is found in seminal fluid.  During Voldemort’s first rise, you only drank loyalty potion twice.  You drank at the same time as your wife, the Goyles, Crabbes and Parkinsons, right?  So it wore off about the same time and finally the DE wives could carry a child to term.  When the babies were born, everyone had to drink again, right?  Effectively making you sterile once again.  The Death Eater wives dropped out of the movement to raise their children, but they still had to drink.  The thallium was passed on in the breast milk, delaying magical expression.  Crabbe and Goyle were practically squibs in school, but they were much more powerful later on, meaning that their magical expression was delayed not absent.”
 
“Pansy and I were powerful”, Draco protested.  “Even in school, we were top in our class.”
 
“Neither of you were breastfed.  Narcissa and Patricia employed wet nurses.” Lucius said finally. Finally, the pieces were starting to fit together, and the magnitude of his decisions were starting to become clear.  Hermione kept going, desperate to get this over with.
 
“So, during Voldemort’s first rise, he lost active members due to childbirth.  I don’t believe he understood the delayed magic part fully, but he definitely knew about the miscarriages.  When he realized his mistake, the war had turned and he was defeated.
 
“During his next rise, he learned from his mistakes.  Older member were assumed to possibly be already sterile, since none of you had further children. He couldn’t risk the younger generation, though.  This was about survival.  The younger DE’s didn’t have to drink potion to prove their loyalty, but according to the reports were encouraged to take muggleborn witches and wizards and half-bloods as lovers.  Voldemort knew that he couldn’t be sure what the risk of two purebloods with thallium exposure would be, but non-purebloods were okay, as long as they were already magical.  That was key.  They had to be already magical.”
 
Sounds like the Marriage Law” said Lucius mildly
 
“That was the point I made about him having different goals.  If he gave a damn about bloodlines, he wouldn’t want them corrupted by dirty blooded people.  He wasn’t looking for blood purity, though.  He was looking for power.  He himself was a half-blood.  What a coup for him to bring the pureblooded aristocracy down to his level by having them parent children with those they felt were inferior.”
 
 “His plan didn’t work though, Draco said.  Young DE’s were not keen to slum it with muggleborns, no offense Granger.  The older generation had no interest.  It may have been different if they knew they may have been able to actually have children, though.”
 
“I have never cheated on your mother.  I never had any desire to do so.  If we were only able to have one child, that was fine with us.  Your mother and I loved each other, passionately.  We had been through hell together.  The Dark Lord giving us permission to stray changed nothing.  It was the same with the rest of the Death Eaters we knew.  Even crazy Bellatrix wouldn’t stray.”
 
“YES!” Hermione said jumping to her feet.  “That was why Voldemort was defeated.  That is why Dumbledore, for all the mistakes he made, was the one wizard Voldemort feared.  Dumbledore understood that Harry’s ability to love was his greatest weapon.”
 
“I don’t get it.”  Draco said.
 
“Voldemort wanted your parents to cheat on their spouses and undermine their relationships with their families for his benefit, to build his army.  He tried to control their fertility, and their lives but failed.  It was probably beyond belief to him that keeping marriage vows was more important to his followers than by his decree that they had the right to shag anyone they wanted. He couldn’t understand, Draco, that your mother loved you so much she would walk away from whatever power she was promised to keep you safe.  He couldn’t fathom why your father would turn his back on power that he was sure Lucius would think was in his grasp.  When Bellatrix killed your mother, your father walked away despite the risk to his personal safety and his reputation to keep you from making the same poor choices he did.  Voldemort never understood a love that was so powerful that someone would risk anything, do anything to keep it alive.  Because he didn’t understand it,  he couldn’t manipulate or exploit it.  People began to defect, and he went further and further into madness.  Dumbledore, and through him Harry, understood that loving someone can cause you to suffer through hell to keep them safe.  It is the greatest and most powerful weapon against hatred and prejudice in existence.”  She sat down and glanced at Lucius.  He was looking at her with an intensity that unnerved her.
 
“Love will defeat even the most powerful Dark Lord.”
________________________________________________________
 
I just love Hermione’s monologues.  I needed to explain the manipulations of Voldemort to answer a lot of questions in my head, and I wanted to use canon to do it; or at least as much canon as I could.

From here on out, I will weave the mystery back into the story, but focus more on Lucius and Hermione’s budding relationship.  For those of you who think they are moving too fast, I can only say that sometimes when deep emotions are involved, things happen and sex can be a language all its own.  Hermione and Lucius are both rather vulnerable right now, and they reach for comfort how they can get it.  In the next chapter, both will be back to the strong willed people we know and love.


Here is my disclaimer:  Thallium is poison, deadly poison.  Do not ingest it, or give it to someone else to ingest.  It is dangerous.  It is also not some sort of birth control; I made part of that up.  I am not a chemist, so if I made any major mistakes, I’m sorry.
Thalidomide is a real drug, and was removed from the market because of the deformities I mentioned.  It is now back on the market for treatment of breast cancer.
Hermione’s Karma soap is from www.lush.com and is one of my favorites.
Coming up next:  Lucius tricks (kind of) Hermione into coming back to the wizarding world, and Hermione makes a new, unlikely friend.  The next post won’t be up until Sunday or Monday.