Love Thy Enemy

CHAPTER 8:The Show After The Show







Lucius spent the majority of the performance watching the witch beside him. Her excitement and pure delight in the music and action was mesmerizing. When was the last time he had enjoyed anything so much? His eyes followed the path of a single tear that slipped free to roll down her cheek. Lucius reached into his pocket for a silk handkerchief with his initials embroidered on the edge and passed it to her. She smiled and mouthed a thank you before dabbing her eyes and returning her attention to the performance.







When the show was over and the lights came up, Lucius was still watching his wife. What an odd little creature she was.





“Did you enjoy the show?” He didn’t need to ask, her reactions said it all, but he wanted to hear it from her lips. Her amber eyes were bright and her cheeks glowing when she looked over at him.





“I did, it was amazing! I’ve always wanted to come to the theatre.” She told him.







“I hadn’t realized that this was your first visit.” Lucius stood and reached his hand out to help her from her seat.





“You didn’t ask.” She peered over the balcony rail at the crowd shuffling out below and then turned back to Lucius. “Thank you by the way.”







“You’re welcome, I’m glad you enjoy it because we will be here a lot over the years.” He took her by the elbow and escorted her from their box and into the throng of people outside. “Stay close; I don’t want you to get lost in the crowd.” He whispered in her ear, sliding his arm around her waist to keep her close by.





“Lucius Malfoy?” A female voice purred. Lucius stiffened slightly and then offered a tight smile to the woman he had seen eyeing his wife earlier. He remembered her now; she was a shameless flirt and married to a much, much older business associate of his.





“Lilith, how nice to see you again.” Lucius said, his fingers biting into Hermione’s waist conveyed how untrue the sentiment actually was.





“So the rumors are true then?” She asked, staring at Hermione.







“This is my wife, Hermione.” Lucius smiled. “Hermione, this is Lilith Ambrose. I do business with her husband.”





“Oh, now I thought we were friends Lucius.” She pouted as she placed her hand on his chest. “It is sad that Minister Shacklebolt made you marry a dirty little muggleborn.”





“Oh, did you hear that the ministry forced us to wed?” Hermione asked, cocking her head to the side. Lucius tightened his grip on his wife, not sure what she was about, but he could guess it wasn’t going to be pretty. “It wasn’t like that at all.” Hermione stepped in front of Lucius, pulling the hand at her waist around to her stomach. They were pretty much alone aside from Lilith, so Hermione had no qualms about putting the pureblood bitch in her place.





“Oh? The way I heard it told the two of you were forced into a marriage as a punishment.” Lilith said with a superior smile on her face that lit Hermione’s short fuse.





“Oh, that’s just a nasty rumor.” Hermione smiled slyly and leaned forward. “You see, I have known Lucius since I was very young and I’ve always had a thing for him, you understand.” Lucius’s hand tightened against her stomach. “When I came of age I went after him relentlessly until I landed the man I wanted.”





“Hermione…” Lucius said her name low into her ear, a warning to be careful what she said.





“Truth is I can’t get enough of him.” She leaned in conspiratorially towards Lilith. “The man is an animal.”





Lilith’s hand fluttered to her chest, her expression a mix of amazement and envy. Lucius almost laughed, the naughty little witch had a mean streak. Normally it was aimed at him, and Lilith was overstepping.



“I…um…I think I hear Luther calling me.” With a nervous smile she excused herself and fled.





“That wasn’t very nice.” Lucius said from behind her.





“Lucius, I will try very hard to fit in amongst your crowd, but I will tolerate disrespect from no one. You should know that by now, it’s the reason we are in this to begin with.” She teetered once again on her heels, grabbing Lucius by the shoulders to keep from falling.





“You’ve done well tonight. She was out of line. I’m not criticizing.” He said gently, putting his arm back around her waist and escorting her down the stairs.





“I wish I understood why they are all staring at us, are they expecting us to do tricks?” She grumbled. Her feet hurt and she was getting grumpy.





“I think they are waiting for us to get into it again and draw our wands.” He said as he guided her towards the coat check.







“Were we that bad Lucius? I mean really?” She asked as he put her cloak around her shoulders.







“We must have been, else the ministry wouldn’t have taken such drastic action.” Lucius donned his own cloak and gloves and then they made their way to outside to their car waiting at the curb.





“I wish I knew why you rub me the wrong way.” Hermione said as she ducked into the back seat of the classic rolls. Lucius climbed in beside her, watching as she kicked off her shoes and moaned in relief.





“I can’t say I am overly fond of you either. You have no respect for a man’s authority.” Lucius almost grinned at her glare.





“You never had any authority over me Lucius, therefore I needn’t show you any respect. Besides, what did you expect? You were a deatheater, and pretty damned proud of it at that!” She snapped, rubbing her sore instep.







“I can not live my entire life constantly apologizing for my past. I was what I was, and I paid for it, more dearly than you will ever know.” Lucius said quietly.







“Do you think we will reach a point where we don’t argue?” She asked, leaning back against the seat and closing her eyes as the car lifted into the air.







“I doubt it.” Lucius said, looking out the window at the night sky as the driver turned on the invisibility shield as they flew over London towards home. “But as you told the papers, it will never be a dull marriage.”





Hermione looked over at him as he tugged the ribbon from his hair, his fingers rubbing the back of his head. She understood the gesture; she frequently got sore spots when she tied her hair back too.





He really was attractive, if you could look beyond his attitude. She couldn’t figure it out, how could she be attracted to a man, and still long to tie that ribbon around his throat and squeeze. Hermione slid across the seat quickly and found herself almost in Lucius’s lap. He laughed softly and lifted his silver brows.





“Too long without being close to me?” He asked.





“No, I was thinking that you were kind of handsome, even though I want to wrap that ribbon around your neck.” Hermione replied.





“Never tried it personally, I hear it’s deadly.” He said with a grin.





“Are you talking dirty again?” She asked, frowning at the smiling wizard to whom she was now attached at the hip.



“That was not dirty talk that was innuendo.” Lucius put his arm around her shoulders to make their current position more comfortable.





“Is there a difference?” She asked, letting her head fall back against his arm and closing her eyes. She was tired. The shopping and the excitement from the theater had worn her out completely.





“A very big difference, someday maybe I’ll teach you how to recognize it.” He said, stifling a yawn as he looked down at her. She was half asleep and still bound to his side.





“Don’t count on it.” She mumbled.





“We are almost home do you want me to kiss you?” He asked, surprised that he actually wanted to feel her lips beneath his.





“Yes.” She whispered, her eyes still closed. Lucius lowered his head and pressed his lips gently to hers. She opened immediately, allowing his tongue to foray into her mouth. She whimpered softly and he wondered if her easy acceptance of his kiss was a result of being so tired or if she enjoyed it. Her hand came up to rest lightly against the side of his neck, her fingers stroking almost absentmindedly. The kiss was no longer necessary, the spell had released already but he was enjoying her soft response too much to pull away just yet. He kissed her for several more minutes, his hand resting on her stomach lightly as he tasted her lips.





When he pulled away and settled back against the seat, she snuggled into his side and drifted off to sleep. Lucius stared out the window, watching the lights of the city twinkle out of sight as they flew over his estate. When the car came to a soft landing in front of the house Lucius attempted to rouse his sleeping wife to no avail. With a sigh he lifted her into his arms, instructing the driver to set her bag and shoes on top of her, and carried her into the house and up to bed.