Can't Buy Me Love

Chapter 14: Can’t Buy Me Love

The music built to a spirited crescendo and then faded as the dance ended. Hermione broke away from Lucius and stood beside him on the dance floor, applauding the orchestra. She turned to leave when the next song began, but he reached for her hand again. “One more dance, Miss Granger.”

“I’d rather not,” she said. Her tone was more honest than harsh.

“Please,” he said, grey eyes imploring. “I have a proposition for you.”

She wasn’t sure if it was his plea or her own curiosity, but she returned to his arms before her brain had fully approved. He swept her across the floor, moving in perfect rhythm to the strains of a Khachaturian waltz.

"How much?" His voice was suddenly business-like.

"Pardon me?"

“How much will it take before you are convinced of my sincerity?”

“How much of what?" she asked. "I'm afraid I don’t follow.”

He spoke each word slowly, as if he were addressing a child. “I’m asking you to forgive me.”

“Yes, I got that part.” She rolled her eyes.

“And I’m willing to compensate you handsomely for this one simple act of absolution.”

Severus would have been proud of the scowl she produced. “Money is irrelevant in this situation, Mr Malfoy.” He looked scandalised by the very thought, but she continued, “Forgiveness must be earned: it cannot be bought and sold like common property.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” He sighed, and although their bodies remained at a respectable distance, she could feel the weight of his shoulders as they dropped.

“That was your proposition?” she asked. “Did you really think you could buy my forgiveness?”

He offered a slight shrug. “I have achieved an adequate level of success with similar methods in the past.”

“So you’ve bribed others into exonerating your actions?”

“That’s a rather ugly way of saying it,” he chastised. “I was merely offering a value exchange. What you insist on calling bribery, I consider nothing more than a fair payment for services rendered.”

“Please. Spare me the lesson in semantics.”

“Very well,” he said tersely.

They danced in silence for several moments, twirling around the floor without thought to their surroundings.

“Are you aware that Malfoy Industries own the building in which you live?” he asked.

She paled. “Are you threatening to evict me if I don’t accept your apology?”

His overly dramatic sigh stirred her hair, while his gaze rose to the ceiling. “You are determined to believe the worst of me, aren’t you?”

“I have yet to be convinced I should believe otherwise.”

“That is because you are an incredibly stubborn woman who chooses to wilfully misunderstand me.”

“Mr Malfoy, if complimenting me didn’t convince me to forgive you, I hardly think insulting me is a better approach.”

“Then enlighten me, Miss Granger. What approach would work?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, feeling the heat of frustration colour her cheeks. “How about the truth?”

“I’ve been honest with you tonight!”

“Perhaps,” she offered. “But tell me… Why now? It’s been several years since Voldemort’s demise—why the sudden need to apologise after all this time?”

“Should an apology be given less credence simply because it is long overdue?” he asked.

“Of course not,” she replied. “But that still doesn’t answer my question. Why now?”

“Miss Granger, it sounds as if you are questioning my motivation.”

“I should think so, Mr Malfoy, as that is precisely what I am doing. Now, are you going to answer my question, or shall we end the dance here?” She gave him the space of four heartbeats to respond, then came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the floor.

He tried to guide her back into the dance, but she wouldn’t budge. “Oh, very well,” he said when their lack of motion began to draw attention. “You win.”

She returned to his arms and resumed dancing, watching him expectantly.

After a moment of silence, he said, “Since it’s so terribly important to you, I will admit the reason I sought your forgiveness tonight, rather than several years ago, is because of Severus and, to a greater extent, because of Draco.”

She waited for him to explain, but he seemed reluctant. “Please elaborate,” she said.

He pursed his lips together. “I was recently informed of the events taking place inside Hogwarts during that last battle—how you and your friends saved Draco from fiendfyre.”

“In the Room of Requirement,” she said, nodding absently.

“Yes. Narcissa and I are indebted to you.”

“Not at all,” she replied instantly. “To leave him there would have been unconscionable.”

He ignored her protests. “We owe Severus a great deal, as well. He risked his life—and his soul—to protect Draco.”

“He’s a good man,” she whispered.

“The best.”

She frowned as his words sunk in. “But why would Severus’s actions have anything to do with me?” she asked. She struggled to connect these long-ago events to Lucius’s abrupt desire for forgiveness.

“I value Severus’s friendship,” he explained. “I have no wish to jeopardise it by having unresolved issues with someone he appears to care about.”

For the second time that evening, the room seemed to fade from view. “That’s very admirable of you,” she intoned without thinking. Her mind was far too busy processing this new information, wondering if Lucius was correct in his assessment.

“Am I forgiven, then?” He raised his eyebrows hopefully.

She forced her brain away from thoughts of Severus’s feelings for her and focused on their conversation. “I was merely confessing my admiration for your sentiments, Mr Malfoy. Nothing more.”

“I believe you will find Gryffindors are not the only ones capable of loyalty, Miss Granger.”

And Slytherins haven’t cornered the market on cunning, she thought. She pasted a sweet smile on her face while a wicked idea formed in her mind.

Karelia + beta = awesome. Just sayin’.

A/N: I’m posting the chapters with Lucius in rapid succession, so don’t despair if you’re not a Malfoy fan—Severus will soon return. Believe me, I was quite surprised when Lucius showed up in this story, and if you’re familiar with my writing, you’ll know this is a fairly different take on his character for me. I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow I’m sure it’s all Karelia’s fault.