If You Go Down To The Woods Today

Dee Dee: Hmm, now that first sentence I’ll definitely use; but I have something more... er... phallic in mind than a quill. As for Zabini well that would be impossible and you’ll see why when you read this chapter. Lucius has already taken steps regarding Zabini; again read the following chapter. As for Pansy well... there is something in mind I have for her. Same with Won Won and Lavender! Don’t worry I do have plans in store.



Michiko: Sorry, this may not have been as quick as you wanted but I do have lots of other stories to tend to. Well, yeah, I base my Dumbledore more on Michael Gambon rather than Richard Harris, as I prefer M G’s portrayal of the character. Well I think Dumbledore is rather sneaky and Slytherin in his own way.



Angelnomiko: Sorry it’s been so long; well yeah, who wouldn’t? I think Hermione is a wonderful character... and I’ve always thought she was beautiful and nice and warm.



Strangerdanger89: Thank you for liking all my stories and I am sorry but I am stumped for ideas as far as Hungry Like The Wolf is concerned. I really don’t know how to continue the story; there’s a plot thing I’m still undecided on. Just read the ones that I do update rather more regularly in the meantime, eh?



BuffyXO: Yeah, Lucius is a forty something year old who knows precisely what he wants in life and goes all out in life to get it, I tend to stop reading stories when Lucius and Severus are quite childish rather than adults. I agree, seeing an old couple in love is probably more romantic than seeing a young couple in love. Especially when they’ve been together all their lives... I knew a man who met his wife at ten and she was eight and he said to his father that he was going to marry her, and he did. She’s dead but he’s still alive and nearing his hundredth year of life. So, that’s sort of the reason why I love Minerva and Albus.



Labibliographe: Yeah, it’s the only thing I’m fast at; I bet you could beat me running? I liked the update by the way, and the cough is still there; some LEMONS might do it good. Yeah, I loved writing that line as I can imagine him saying that. The name is Albus Wulfric PercivalBrian Dumbledore. Yep, Minnie is short for Minerva. Well, come on, he is forty four or five; he must be going through a bit of a crisis. I am an optimist and think that Lucius does love his son but doesn’t know how to show it; Draco does boast about his dad a lot and I think that means that Lucius can’t be that bad a father. LOL! She’s acting like a seventeen year old! she’s only just eighteen in this story so she has a bit of a right there. I like bad Hermione.



DB1: Who do you wish to be together? Hmm, don’t worry, update here.



Luciana Malfoy83: Dumbledore has his reasons. They will come in fruition but not yet. Thanks for thinking it is awesome; I hope you continue to do so after this chapter.



Criosdan: Hmm, I’m trying to think of a girl for Blaise... not sure what to do with him... perhaps I can show him what an older woman can do.



Sapphire: Thanks. Here’s more.



Luna: Perhaps you ought to go into the challenges/requests section to find inspiration. I have one in there; I hope you take a look at it; it’s called Blind Date Challenge. Thank you for giving me the best review a writer can receive; any writer likes to hear that they have inspired others to write... so thank you. I am looking forward to reading whatever it is you write.



Gaps of Misery: Yep he is an adorable baby. Will YOU ever leave a flamer? I don’t know... perhaps you might after this chapter... perhaps not. Your review made me laugh.



Megan: Here’s more.



Kirabates: Sorry, sweety, but hey here’s the update. I hope it’s worth the wait.



Departures and Consequences



Hermione woke up the next day groaning as she felt a little sick. She had detention today. She didn’t look forward to it. Lucius had laid his intentions clear to her the previous night. She crawled out of bed and walked up to the mirror and bunched her hair up in her hands and tried to make some sense from it all. She didn’t believe for one minute that she was attractive despite having two sex gods chasing after her. She slumped on the stool and turned her face to view various profiles and she still didn’t understand. She sighed and turned around. Crooks was curled up on the bed; his ears twitching like crazy and his tail flicked up and down unconsciously; he had a satisfied smile on his face. Hermione guessed he must have been dreaming about catching Pettigrew.



She got up and opened up her wardrobes to try and decide what she should wear. She picked out the summer blue robes that Ginny suggested she wear the day before. She nodded as she laid them against her body. She walked to the bathroom and turned the shower on. She undressed and stepped in to the shower picking up her sweet scented shower gel. She picked up her loofah and rubbed her body with it. She watched as the soapsuds fell off her body and dissolved into the plug hole; Hermione likened it to how quickly she had dissolved into adulthood and realised from here on in her life was more likely going to go down the plug hole.



She smiled a little at that thought and as soon as she had finished cleaning herself in the shower she grabbed her diary and wrote this down:



It’s amazing how fast my childhood has gone; I was thinking that childhood is like soap suds from Shower gel... easy to make and just as easy to destroy. After you reach a certain age that’s it; you might as well get used to being sucked into the vortex otherwise known as the plughole.



She sucked on her quill and nodded. She then flicked through the diary to check her dates; she counted them and she froze immediately. She was supposed to have started her period yesterday and she hadn’t. It was strange for her to be out of sync; but she wouldn’t worry about it for the time being. Her mother; who was regular, sometimes was a day or two late; it could be that.



She wouldn’t start worrying until this time next week. She scrambled off the bed and rubbed moisturiser on her body and sprayed her wrists, neck and hair with perfume and put on a blue bra and knickers set with the blue robes. She looked at the over all effect before going to her timetable. She was somewhat relieved it was a Friday; she only had two lessons today and they were Transfiguration and Charms.



She was just about to walk out of her room when there was a knock on her door; she narrowed her eyes and went to the door.



“Who is it?” she asked.



“It’s me,” a suave voice said the other side of the door. She bunched her hands into fists and took several deep breaths and counted to fifty in her head. She walked up to the door when she felt calm and opened it up by pushing down the handle. He was standing there smirking. He walked in the room and she turned around. He closed the door with a flick of his wrist with his back still turned. Hermione’s heart was in her throat. She turned to Crookshanks and hoped that her cat/Kneazle would jump on the intruder. Crookshanks looked up; his eyes narrowed as he regarded Lucius with a cool green glare and he yawned; stretched; and turned around and plumped himself back in a curling position. Hermione was going to have a word with Crookshanks about that.



“What do you want?” she asked.



He turned around and regarded her with a glint in his eyes she did not like.



“Can’t a man visit his lover in the morning before he goes to work to give her a good morning kiss?”



She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t like you!” she hissed.



“Hermione, that is starting to sound old;” he said. “We’ve been through this. I love you. Why do you have a problem with that?”



“I don’t have time to discuss this with you right this moment in time, Lucius. I have to go downstairs to have some breakfast. For some reason I’m feeling really hungry.”



He walked up to her there was certainly something different about her. He tilted her chin up with his middle finger and he wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her within his embrace.



“Lucius, what if you get caught?”



“Oh, don’t worry. I have friends in very high places that actually approve,” he murmured silkily before placing his lips on hers. She dropped her resolve to remain aloof to him and drowned in his kiss. She even kissed him back; she wrapped her tongue around his. He was delighted that she wanted to use some initiative. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. “What about Pansy?”



“She was only a device to make you jealous... did it work?”



“No,” Hermione said. “I have Blaise.”



“Had Blaise,” Lucius corrected.



“Have Blaise,” Hermione replied. “I’m not like you I can’t use people, and Blaise does care about me. He even asked me if I wanted children; and he wouldn’t make me if I didn’t.”



Lucius smirked. Fool. “Do you want children?” Lucius asked.



“As it so happens, yes,” she replied. “I am not sure how many children but I want more than one.”



“Admirable,” he purred swiping her hair aside. “Hermione, Blaise Zabini would say anything to keep you happy, but I am more truthful than that. If you didn’t want children I would seduce you to the idea.”



“Then you wouldn’t truly love me if you forced something on me that I didn’t want.”



He smiled and leant down to whisper this in her ear:



“If I hadn’t have kissed you, you might never have entertained the idea of us becoming lovers.”



“Are you always this arrogant?” she asked with an edge to her voice. Lucius loved it when she started getting a little catty.



“Can I help it that, like Poobah, I was born sneering?”



Hermione snorted and tried not to laugh. “You certainly could trace your ancestry back to primeval, primordial globules, couldn’t you? Sometimes it shows!”



“Speak more my little pussy cat,” he murmured running his hands up her sides and nestling his lips in the crook of her neck. “Show me your claws.”



Hermione sighed when she felt his hot breath on her skin; she leant in slightly when she heard him inhaling her scent. She knew she should pull away. Ginny was bound to burst in soon; and it was one thing for her to say that she would stay by Hermione’s side in theory; but Hermione wasn’t so sure if the redhead would if she saw it happen in reality.



He smiled against her neck and grazed his lips against her skin. She was trying so hard not to touch him even though his hands were everywhere on her. He pressed her closer to his body. She turned her face around and pressed her lips against his rough cheek. She inhaled his aftershave and sighed; he smelt so good.



He pressed his lips further up her neck and nibbled slightly on her earlobe.



“I love you, Hermione Granger,” he breathed. “I truly love you. Please don’t play with me.”



Hermione drew as far back as she possibly could. She was trembling.



“Please leave before someone catches us,” she said. Why did he have to ruin it by saying that to her? He would only make her feel guilty. She hated feeling guilty.



“Why are you so afraid of this, Hermione?”



Hermione’s eyes blazed. “Why am I so afraid? Well for a start Lucius Malfoy Death Eater extraordinaire says he loves me a Mudblood; but I am not just any ordinary Mudblood I happen to be Harry Potters best friend; and you ask why I’m afraid. Do you blame me for not being able to trust your motives? How do I know you won’t take me to your Lord and Master? How do I know you’re not lulling me in a false sense of security? Believe me, Lucius, I have more reason to be afraid of you than I do of Voldemort!”



Lucius heard her with perfect calmness. “You can believe what you like of me, but please give me a chance. You will see that I love you.”



“Stop saying that, Lucius. How can you love me?”



Her door opened and as Hermione predicted Ginny had made her morning visit. She saw Lucius standing in the room and immediately rushed in front of Hermione holding her wand in front of her with her lips curled in a snarl.



“I’m warning you, Malfoy, if you’ve hurt Hermione then I will visit it upon you tenfold.”



“As usual the Gryffindors have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Hermione’s the one hurting me with a look of her beautiful brown eyes,” he whispered before walking out of the room. Hermione sank on her knees and looked into Ginny’s eyes.



“He say’s he loves me, Ginny, how can I believe that?”



Ginny was nibbling her lower lip and thought about what she saw in the older mans eyes.



“I hate to say this, sweety, but he might be telling the truth.”



Hermione looked up into Ginny’s chocolate brown eyes. “Are you insane?”



“Probably,” Ginny said shrugging her shoulders. “There was something in his eyes. I think he’s telling the truth. I’d still be wary of him, though. But if he is telling the truth and you are playing him along by using Blaise Zabini then he might just flip and that could be extremely dangerous.”



Hermione groaned. “So what do you suggest I do?”



“I suggest you make a choice.”



“Who would you choose?” Hermione asked.



“Oh no you don’t,” Ginny said. “This is your choice not mine, but I bet my last Galleon that Lucius might go to desperate lengths to keep you if you chose Blaise. Malfoy’s do get what they want; damn the consequences.”



Hermione got back to her feet. She looked at her friend and nodded. She was about to walk out of her room when Harry came in. He looked awfully upset about something.



“I’m glad the both of you are in here,” he said.



“Why?” Ginny asked in a soft voice walking up to him and stroking his face.



“I have to leave Hogwarts. I have to find Snape and I have to apologise to the git!”



“Why? What’s brought on this sudden change of heart?” Hermione asked.



“I’ve looked into a few memories of Dumbledore’s. Remember that argument they had that Hagrid overheard?” the girls both nodded. “Well, it turns out they were arguing over healing Dumbledore. Snape wanted to continue doing it but Dumbledore didn’t. Apparently, if Snape had won the argument Dumbledore might have died that very night!” The girls both gasped with surprise. “So, looking at that evidence and hearing the words from Snape’s mouth I have to go and make peace with him as it turns out he is on our side.”



“Can I say it?” Hermione said bouncing on her heels and smiling.



“I suppose you’re going to aren’t you?”



“Yep, I told you so!”



Both Harry and Ginny groaned, as she was almost as certain as Harry that Snape was evil.



“So, when are you leaving?” Ginny asked with a shy voice.



“Now. I am taking someone else with me. Both Minerva and Albus have talked me into taking Blaise Zabini with me. So, I went to tell Blaise the situation and he’s agreed. He’s going to help me for you Hermione.”



Ginny and Hermione swapped gazes. Now Hermione felt even more wretched. How could she break up with Blaise now? She’d be labelled as a bitch and she wasn’t. She stormed out of the room to search for a certain blond man that in one week had completely turned her world upside down. She walked into the classroom and up the small winding stairway to the office and flung the door open to find Lucius was writing something. He looked up and smiled; his eyes sparkling silver.



“Hello, my dear.”



“How many times do I have to tell you, I am not your dear!”



“What’s the matter, Hermione?”



“I’ve just found out that Blaise and Harry are off on a fools errand together. I’m wondering if you might have suggested Blaise to go with Harry?”



“Blaise and Draco were very good friends,” Lucius said. “And Draco has got to see that Slytherin and Gryffindors can be friends without cursing each other to pieces.”



“I doubt Blaise is thinking of it like that; he thinks he’s doing it for me.”



“How sweet,” Lucius said sitting back in his seat. Hermione noticed he’d relaxed and taken his cloak and jacket off. He was sitting in the chair with half his waistcoat undone and the first few shirt buttons in the same state. He had his hair trailing down his back. Hermione was trying not to think of him as attractive.



“It’s not sweet,” Hermione hissed. “You knew this, didn’t you?”



“I am not ashamed to admit that I might have had a hand in it,” Lucius replied urbanely spreading his hands casually in the air. “However, it is clearly his decision to go. If he wants to go what can you do to stop him?”



“I will!” Hermione exclaimed fiercely. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the office. Lucius chuckled.



“Very clever, my dear,” he mumbled before turning his attention back to his letter.



Hermione found Blaise sitting in the Great Hall alone. He looked up his eyes lit up when he saw her walk into the room. He was glad he had a chance to see her before he left.



“Hello,” he said.



“I don’t want you to go!” she blurted out before he had a chance of explaining himself.



“I want to go,” Blaise said.



“It’s a fools errand!”



“No, it isn’t,” Blaise whispered brushing aside her hair and stroking her face. “I have to do this.”



“Why?” she gulped. “What if you never come back?”



“There’s something about me that you should know,” Blaise said in his deep voice. He took her hands in his and led her to the table and sat her down on the edge. “You see, Mia, I need to go for a personal reason. Snape is my father!”



“What?” she breathed.



“It’s true,” he nodded. “I should be called Blaise Snape but my mother slept with two fellows at the time and didn’t know which one was my true father. Severus had a lucky escape.”



“How do you know that he’s your father?”



“He told me to take a paternity test in our first year. My mother’s maiden name is Zabini that’s why he asked. I did, and it turns out that we’re father and son. We kept it secret.”



“I don’t believe it,” Hermione breathed.



“It’s true,” he said. “I can prove it.”



He picked up his bag and dug out a bottle and there was blue liquid in it. It had written inside the liquid; MATCH. He twirled the vial in his hand and she read the names on there.



“But, you still can’t!” she murmured. “Please, Blaise, stay here where you’re safe. I care for you.”



“You have all your friends; I am not stupid, Mia. I know that your heart lies elsewhere. I have to go to find my family. And possibly try and make myself worthy of you, my dolce Mia.”



Hermione leant in and placed her lips on his. She kissed him fiercely and passionately. She leant on her back and he followed:



“Shame, shame, know your name!” someone jeered. Blaise turned around and everyone else was beginning to come into the Great Hall.



“I love you, Mia. I hope that it means something to you one day.”



Hermione had a lump in her throat and ran out of the Great Hall allowing everyone to see her tears fall down her face.



“What’s got her knickers in a twist?” Pansy sneered.



“Shut up, bitch!” Blaise exclaimed. He picked up his bag and walked to the front door where Harry was standing with his own bag. Ginny was hanging onto him not allowing Harry to leave until he gave her his most heartfelt assurance that he’d be all right.



Harry squeezed Ginny’s hand tightly before laying a kiss on her lips wondering when he was ever going to see her pretty face again. Both he and Blaise hoiked their bags up and walked out of the gates of Hogwarts; Ginny watched them leave as the autumnal light caught on her hair Harry ran back to her and hugged her fiercely allowing the tears to roll down his face.



“I will write to you everyday three times to let you know I am all right,” he whispered in her ear.



“I’ll hold you to that, Harry.”



He let her go and looked into her eyes. The eyes of the first Witch he had ever met.



“I love you Ginevra,” he gulped. “And – and if this mission is successful – well, please marry me?”



Ginny sniffed stroking his face and moving the glasses she laid kisses on his eyes. “I will, my love.”



He reluctantly let go off her and turned and ran down the hill, Blaise waved at her and followed his new friend. Ginny turned around and walked back to the castle with a heart heavy.



Hermione and Ginny were given permission by McGonnagall not to attend classes that day, as she knew they had a lot on their minds; so much that even Hermione couldn’t concentrate.



She received a note from Lucius at around four in the afternoon telling her that detention wasn’t necessary. Hermione felt that was Minerva’s doing. She wiped her eyes as she was still crying. She hadn’t eaten anything all day; she was sick with worry.



She heard a light tap on her door and sighed. She opened the door and found Lucius standing there looking concerned. He could save it! she thought savagely.



He walked in after she stepped aside and she looked up, it was like the morning. Except then she was certain of her plan. She also felt certain that maybe she could make a go of it with Blaise. He was nice; he treated her with respect; he thought about her.



“How are you?” he asked.



“Miserable as sin,” she stiffly replied. She walked up to her bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. He walked up to her and went down on his knees and took her hands in his.



“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought that you were just using him to get at me.”



“It started out that way but then I came to care for him over the past few days; and he isn’t evil.”



“I know; if I had a daughter I’d welcome him as a son in law.”



“Huh! At this rate it might just happen,” she said sarcastically.



“What do you mean?” Lucius asked.



“I’m a day late, Lucius, you know what that could mean don’t you? It’d be just my luck to get pregnant after the first attempt; it’s not the only thing I got right at the first attempt either!” she said sourly.



Lucius was slightly stunned. He cursed inside himself. Yes he was in love with her; and yes he wanted to be a father again, but not until he was absolutely certain of her feelings for him.



“I think you should go Lucius; you’re definitely the last man I want to see at the moment.”



“No, Hermione, I won’t go. I’ve been running and hiding away from true responsibility all my life. We need to talk about this and now!”



She looked up at him and then turned her face away. “All right,” she sighed. She knew that she was in for a VERY long night.



A/N – So, Blaise is Snape’s son and he’s off with Harry to try and persuade his dad to come back to Hogwarts; he also knows that he doesn’t stand a chance in hell with Hermione even though he’ll probably die trying to make himself worthy of her. Lucius is still sexy, and she has just told him that she could be pregnant... what’s going to happen next? I don’t know, maybe you lot know!