Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Returning to the manor, she learned from the house-elf that he was not there, attending to whatever business. The longer she waited, the more irate she became, chiding herself for blindly putting her faith into someone she had long considered untrustworthy, chiding herself for succumbing to his charm.

When he walked into the office, he had a broad smile on his face. "Hermione, darling, I thought you would be at the store ensuring everything is ready for tomorrow's opening."

The smile evaporated, replaced by confusion, as she turned on him. "Don't darling me. I have a bone to pick with you."

"Courtesy of Mr. Potter, I presume," he said in a tone that was carefully neutral.

"In part. It's something I should have seen long before now, but I allowed you to divert my attention from what is really important."

Careful not to provoke her ire any more, he asked, "And what might that be?"

"Our partnership. What assurances do I have that you won't just steal my ideas and sell them on your own? You admitted that you aren't great at Potions and that you were looking for a good business idea. Was your idea to get me to trust you enough that you can make off with my hard work?"

"Steal?" he asked, the sting of being insulted in his voice. "My dear, I would not steal from you. When I enter a partnership, I honor that partnership."

"But I only have your word and I know how little that can be worth," she interrupted, as much upset with herself as she was with him. Memories of the Lucius from her childhood were coloring her view of him.

It was his turn to lose control. "My word is my bond," he said through gritted teeth. "If you thought so little of my word, why would you have agreed to partner with me?"

"Because of your damned silver tongue. You could sell water to merpeople and I fell for it, utterly and completely." She was on a roll now, ready to counter every argument he could give her.

He pulled an envelope from his inside pocket. "Perhaps this will cause you to reconsider and remember that Potter is little more than an emotional teenager." For a moment it seemed as though he was going to say something else, but instead he dropped the envelope on the desk and spun on his heel before storming out of the room.

After he was gone, she snatched the envelope from the desk and pulled out the parchment inside it. On the parchment was a business contract, the very thing that she was upset over not having. It clearly stated that they would split the profits evenly, that she had control and ownership of the product line – it was everything she had expected when she had agreed to the partnership with him.

Now she berated herself for blindly listening to Harry and Ginny and letting them get her worked up. First Harry had wanted her to trust that Malfoy had changed, but then he had warned her not to trust him too much. And now because of her behavior, she might be losing this chance at something great.

Rather than rushing around the manor to try to find Lucius, she called for Tiggy.

"Yes, miss? How may Tiggy be of service?" the house-elf asked obsequiously.

"Can you tell me where Mr. Malfoy is?"

"Tiggy is sorry, miss, but she cannot. Mr. Malfoy is not in the manor." The elf sounded very disappointed at being unable to fulfill her request.

"Thank you. If you could please let me know when he returns," she replied.

"Yes, miss. Tiggy can do that," the elf replied happily and nodded vigorously before vanishing.

After Tiggy left, she began pacing, trying to determine where he might have gone so that she might apologize. Unfortunately, she did not know enough about him to have an answer. She could only hope that he would accept her apology.

*****************

Dinnertime came and went and still Lucius had not returned home. Hermione was starting to get a slightly concerned. Deciding she had nothing more to lose, she left the manor to search for him, leaving a note with Tiggy that had a brief apology and that she was looking for him to apologize in person.

After checking Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and even Knockturn Alley, Hermione realized a blind search was futile. There were any number of wizarding enclaves spread across all of Britain. And she had no proof that he was actually still in Britain. Besides, it was nearly midnight.

She dropped her cloak off with Tiggy and decided to return to the office. Her heart sank when she saw her note was still on the desk.

"So you finally decided to return?" Lucius said from the shadows.

Hermione jumped in surprise. "Lucius, you came back!"

He rose from his chair, a glass of whisky in his hand that clearly was not his first drink of the night. "This is my house, of course I came back. The question is, why did you come back?"

He loomed over her menacingly and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I-I want to apologize," she replied nervously.

"I read your... apology. I had thought you were above the small-mindedness that people like Potter display. It seems I was wrong." He finished off his glass of whisky and refilled it from the decanter. "I think you should go."

She placed her hand on his arm. "Lucius, please. I'm sorry. I overreacted. I should have known better, should have asked you about an agreement rather than accusing you of being dishonest."

"Yes, you should have," he said bitterly, taking a long draught from his glass. "I had thought that you might be more sensible than the others, but I was wrong about you," he said quietly.

She was on the verge of tears, never wanting to have hurt him so badly. "No, you weren't," she pleaded.

He looked into her eyes. "Your accusations, your behavior..."

She felt very small and it was all she could do not to look away from his piercing gaze.

A lone tear trailed down his cheek and he turned away from her.

She placed her hand on his upper arm and leaned against his shoulder. She didn't know what else to say.

"It hurt," he said quietly, fighting for control over his emotions.

"I'm sorry," she replied quietly, fighting back her own tears. "I know how Harry feels and shouldn't have let him influence me. I want this partnership. I want to work with you." She bit her lip and hoped that she hadn't destroyed her future.

Slowly he turned and wrapped his arms around her, resting his forehead against hers. She returned his embrace, relieved that she had not ruined their partnership. For several minutes, she took comfort in his embrace. When she felt him lift his head, she looked up at him.

Impulsively, she reached up and gently pulled him closer for a kiss. At the same time she rubbed her thigh against his leg. "I'm sorry," she said breathlessly when they parted.

"That was quite the apology." They looked into each other's eyes for several long moments. "I think we should both get a good night's sleep so that we can prepare for tomorrow's opening." He gently brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Deep down she knew his suggestion was for the best, but she still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and rejected.

He said softly, "If all goes well, we can celebrate tomorrow evening."

***************

Hermione could barely sleep since she was so nervous about the store opening. She was up well before dawn. Rather than waiting around the manor, she headed for the shop to take care of the few things she had not gotten to the day before and to get the signs ready for placing outside.

Shortly before seven Lucius joined her, looking as dapper as ever. "Good morning," he said brightly as he scanned the store. "Is there anything I can do to assist?"

"There are just a few decorations left. I like the displays the way they are." She was feeling giddy about the upcoming opening. The store looked beautiful and inviting.

It wasn't long before they finished the preparations and decided to return to the manor for breakfast before opening. Both of them picked at their food and said very little, eager to start the day.

When they returned to the store, they arrived shortly before their shop assistants did. Hermione wasn't up to giving a motivational speech so she left that to Lucius. While he did a decent job, she could tell that he was also nervous.

They placed the final signs outside and prepared for their customers. Hermione wasn't sure what she expected, but she had hoped they would have had their first customers right when they opened rather than having to wait for half an hour.

Fortunately as the day went on, the number of customers picked up. Of course, she had also sent Alice, the counter girl, outside to drum up business as well. By the end of the day they had several appointments lined up for the rest of the week and Hermione was feeling quite relieved.

After the staff was dismissed, Hermione fell into Lucius's arms. "We did it," she said, sounding utterly exhausted.

He laughed softly. "And we will do it again tomorrow, and the next day."

She laughed along with him. "That we will."

"Regrets?" he asked.

Finally pulling away from him, she replied, "None whatsoever. I'm tired, but it's a good tired."

"Very good. And once business really takes off, we can hire more help and then finally begin to enjoy the fruits of our labor."

"Mmm... That'll be nice." For a moment she let her mind drift to that day in the future.

"Well, before you begin planning the future, let's return to the present. Now, I think this day warrants a celebration. I expect that tomorrow will be busier since word of mouth will begin to take effect. A nice dinner at home is in order, wouldn't you say?"

"That sounds wonderful." A part of her would have liked to have gone dancing again, but she knew that once again they had to be up early and it would be far too frivolous. Instead she decided that might be a good way to celebrate one month in business if all went well.

***********************

After they had been open a couple of months, Hermione found the time to have dinner with Ginny and Harry.

"Well, congratulations. You seem to be doing quite well," said Ginny.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see I was wrong," added Harry a little sheepishly.

"You aren't the only one," Hermione replied, accepting his apology. "It really is going quite well. I'm actually surprised at how well everything is going. I hadn't expected Hermione's Herbal Beauty to become so popular." They all laughed together.

"Maybe now that things are settling down we can get together more often? We've both missed you," Ginny said.

"Yeah, maybe next time we can meet at your place?" Harry asked.

Hermione tried not to appear nervous about that idea. "Maybe." She didn't want to admit to them that she hadn't had time to look for a place to live and was staying at the manor. Her living arrangements just hadn't come up. "Thought I'm not sure when I can find the time what with business picking up and final wedding preparations for you two."

"After talking with George, I do know it can take a while to settle into everything, but I'm sure we can come up with something," Ginny said. She swirled her wine. "I've been thinking it would be nice to have a pre-bridal spa day at your place, but I wasn't sure how you would feel about that."

"I have to admit that might be a little odd," Hermione replied as she laughed. "But I think it could be a lot of fun." She realized that she had never indulged in one of her businesses spa treatments.

"Uh-oh," Harry said. "You two are getting into wedding planning, so if you'll excuse me." He pushed himself away from table and kissed Ginny on the cheek before leaving the room.

Hermione and Ginny talked late into the night. At one point Hermione thought about confiding to Ginny her feelings towards Lucius. The two of them were flirting with each, but it had never progressed past the occasional kiss. She longed to ask for relationship advice, but feared how she would be judged, so she kept it to herself.

**********************

The following evening she was dining with Lucius at the manor and they were discussing their business. It was booming and she had been forced to accept that fact that she could no longer keep up with product orders by herself, so they had recently hired an older witch, whose children were all at Hogwarts, to assist her. The woman was a surprisingly quick study and even offered some advice on the products that Hermione had to admit was quite valuable.

The spa side of the business was more popular than she could have ever imagined. The upstairs rooms were being converted, and they were looking for others to hire so they could offer more appointments. She had thought that they would do well, but this was far exceeding her expectations.

"Hermione, I have been thinking that we should look into laboratory space outside of the manor so that we have room to expand," Lucius said one evening over dinner.

"Expand?"

"I have been reviewing our numbers and our product line is very popular. If we can expand our production, we can open a second shop. The wizarding community in Edinburgh has been growing rather quickly, and I have looked into property there. The rates are not yet inflated, so this would be a good time to buy there."

Her head was spinning. She was just getting her head around the success they were having in Diagon Alley and now Lucius was talking expansion. "That sounds reasonable. Though we would lose production setting up a new lab."

"Mrs. Trumble seems to have matters well in hand right now. I'm sure she could manage while you saw to the arrangements for a new lab. This is a good time to expand before we become overwhelmed and find that we cannot meet demand. And it would allow you time to train additional lab staff without having to worry about the pressure of meeting orders," he explained.

"Well, I must say that you really do seem to have considered all aspects of this." His business prowess never ceased to amaze her. Every problem she could foresee, he had already considered and developed a solution.

He smiled confidently. "That is why you agreed to partner with me, was it not?"

She found that she had a very hard time denying him anything when he smiled like that. "And I suppose that you have already made enquiries and placed bids?"

He arched an eyebrow and asked innocently, "Would I do that?"

She smiled back at him, purposefully not answering that question. "Expansion it is, then."

They had not even been in business for four months and already they were expanding. She had presumed there would be demand for their product, but this had exceeded her highest expectations. Clearly Harry had been wrong about Lucius, and for this she was incredibly glad. He had been the perfect business partner, expertly handling finances and an excellent collaborator. He had been completely transparent about how they were doing and where the money was going when she asked. She had absolutely no reason to doubt him.

As conversation wound down, she saw a chance to bring up living arrangements. It was something she had been planning since last night, but she was still nervous to question that which had become comfortable. "I've been thinking..." She paused a little while, but not long enough for him to interrupt. "Now that the business is stable it might be a good time for me to find my own place."

"Your own place?" He was caught off guard and the shock was clear in his voice. "Is there something wrong with living here?"

"Well... I do appreciate you letting me stay here and it has been very convenient, but I think it's time I get out on my own."

He did not try to conceal the pain in his voice. "I see."

She hadn't thought it would bother him this much. Reaching across the table, she placed her hand on his. "It has nothing to do with you. It's about appearances. If people ask where I live and I answer here, well... It's an awkward answer."

"You are my partner," he replied, little emotion in his voice.

"Your business partner, yes, but you have to admit that it does seem odd for business partners to be living together. And if I want a social life..." She realized there was no way to end that sentence that wasn't awkward.

"I am terribly sorry that I have impeded your social life. I was under the impression that you enjoyed living here." He had put his silverware down and his hands were in his lap.

He was pulling away from her emotionally. This was not at all how she expected him to react. She had hoped that he would fight for her to stay here. "I do enjoy it here. I enjoy the meals we share together. I..." She didn't want to cry or appear to be begging.

"Yet you feel that needs to change," he replied in a near whisper.

"Something needs to change," she replied just as quietly, pleading with her eyes. For several long seconds they started into each other's eyes – each waiting for the other to speak.

Finally he broke the silence. "I don't want you to go. I want you in my life."

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

Reaching across the table, he squeezed her hand. "We make excellent partners. How you make me feel... I don't know that I have ever felt this way." He paused. "I want us to be more than business partners – if you feel the same way."

She returned his smile, relieved at his admission. "I do feel the same way. I just wasn't sure that you felt that way."

He chuckled softly. "I think that perhaps we have both been a bit nervous about admitting how we feel. After all, there is quite a significant age difference."

"It doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you," she replied confidently and more relaxed than she had in a long time.