Harvest Moon

HM53



Lucius smiled a little as he watched Hermione flit from one scene to another. The scenes that were a bit more tame were set up in the front foyer of the Gilded Lily while the more brutal ones were reserved for the various specialty rooms. She was wearing silk and brocade, the bustier pushing her charms up and together. He had seen many a man, along with a few women cast admiring glances in her direction. That was until they realized whom she had on the other end of a very short leash. Eyes instantly darted away from her after that and Lucius found himself very pleased.



Draco had pointed out that he was possibly going soft. In the head. He couldn\'t manage to convince himself.”



“Are you certain you\'ll not be bothered by my scene with Ara?” Lucius asked, as Hermione watched one of the scenes carefully.



“Why would I mind, Lucius?” she asked. “You\'ve been doing this sort of thing together for years now.”



“True. However, being with you does change that dynamic drastically. I\'d not want to upset you over something that can be foregone.”



“It\'s fine, Lucius,” she said. “You know, that was one of the reasons Ron said he\'d cheated. He said it bothered him that I never seemed to be jealous of all the women who fawned over him.”



Lucius eyebrows went up. “Were there many of those?” he questioned. The youngest Weasely son did not strike him as a suave lady killer.



Hermione shrugged. “A fair few,” she said. “Most of them were interested by the chance to get close to Harry. It\'s kind of sad actually now that I think back on it.”



“It is indeed,” Lucius said, steering her to one of the side seats where she could have a full view of the proceedings. “I believe I see Taz coming now.”



“I\'m not sure how you could miss her unless you were blind,” Hermione remarked.



Lucius chuckled. “True indeed, Mine.” He watched as four stout men carried Taz\'s chair into the room and to the raised dais near the staircase.



“She does know how to make an entrance,” a voice from beside Hermione said.



Hermione looked up at Harry, who didn\'t seem at all happy to be there. “I take it you\'re still annoyed.”



“I\'m getting over it. Luna had a few choice words for me after the hospital incident. I do hope you know that if I see anything I deem threatening, I\'m taking her and anyone else involved into protective custody whether they like it or not.”



“Duly noted, Mr. Potter,” Lucius said, sounding amused.



Hermione could tell Harry was practically chewing his tongue to avoid saying something that would lead to wands being drawn. She smiled a little because she also knew it had to be killing him to even remotely think about offering Lucius that concession.



“I think I need a drink,” Hermione said, starting to rise from her seat.



“What would you like,” Lucius asked.



“Don\'t trouble yourself, Lucius. I\'m perfectly capable of getting my own drink,” Hermione said, waving him back down into the seat before walking off. It would be interesting to see if they managed to avoid drawing wands on one another while she was gone.



“Hurt her and I\'ll kill you slowly, Mr. Malfoy,” Harry ground out between clenched teeth.



Lucius didn\'t bother to turn and look at Harry but kept his gaze steadily on Hermione as she wound her way through the crowd. “Why would I ever hurt her, Mr. Potter? She is my world.” Lucius frowned a bit, pondering his own statement. Interesting how the truth had a tendency to be blurted out before one even knew it was the truth.



Harry stared at him with his mouth open for a moment before he moved to follow Hermione all the while puzzling over what the elder Malfoy had said. He caught her by the elbow just as she started to make her way back over to Lucius.



“I\'d like to talk to you for a minute in private, if you don\'t mind,” Harry said.



Hermione nodded and caught Lucius\' eye, indicating she was going with Harry for a moment. Lucius nodded and sat relaxing and waiting for her to return. A few moments after Hermione had left, Arabella swept into the room as though she owned it, breezing lightly past admirers and directly to Lucius.



“Well?” Anything interesting as of yet?” she asked, sitting next to him.



“Not that I\'ve noticed,” Lucius said with a heavy sigh.



“It\'s aggravating. I would sincerely like to see the bastard\'s head on a pike somewhere,” she said.



“As much as that would probably disturb my sleep indefinitely, I would be most happy to see that too. I doubt he\'d allow himself to be taken alive if we do manage to corner him,” Lucius said thoughtfully.



“You think he\'ll kill himself if we do manage to get to him?”



“Not before taking as many as he can with him in the process,” Lucius said.



Ara shrugged. “Well, we didn\'t expect him to go quietly, did we?”



“Not on a bet,” Lucius said.



“Come on,” Ara said, tugging him up by the arm. “We need to get a few things lined out before our scene.”



“Providing we can find a moment of quiet. I believe one of the lower dungeon rooms isn\'t being used. We can discuss a few things there,” he said, starting toward the stairs.



“Suits,” she said, following him.





Hermione frowned as she watched Arabella walk in the front door for the second time. “Did you forget something outside?” she asked.



Ara looked at her oddly. “No. I just arrived. Why?”



Hermione took off for the last room she\'d seen Lucius in, shouting over her shoulder, “He\'s you tonight.”



“Bloody hell!” Ara swore, running behind Hermione, Harry following the two women.



“I don\'t see him,” Hermione said, looking around the room as Ara and Harry skidded to a halt next to her.



“Split up,” Harry said. “He has to be here somewhere. We only saw the other Arabella a few minutes ago.”



“Ara has to go with one of us. Otherwise we won\'t know if it\'s the real her or not,” Hermione said.



“She\'s right, Harry,” Ara said.



“Go with Hermione. You take the top floors, I\'ll take this one and the lower levels,” Harry said, already moving away from them.





Lucius flinched a little as he felt the small jab of the needle into his lower back. “Bastard,” he grumbled but was already falling.



“Sadly, our parents were married, dear brother,” the person wearing Arabella\'s face said, smiling nastily. “Welcome to hell.”