IV

Warning: This chapter contains a scene of sexual assault. It isn't terribly graphic, but if you are sensitive about that sort of thing, please don't read. If that's the case, email me (through the [contact] link) and I will send you a friendlier version (this chapter is kind of vital to the plot).

IV.

Hermione reached the stairway out of the dungeons before she realized she didn't know where to go. All she knew was that she wasn't going back to Snape. Not only was she afraid of him, but she was also afraid of what she would do to him.

She quickly ran through her options, realizing with a grimace there weren't many that were viable. She could go to the Great Hall to meet up with Harry and Ginny, but most likely they had already left for the common room.

The common room was an option, but she didn't trust herself to stay quiet if questioned. As angry as she was with Severus, she didn't really want to badmouth him to the student body. He was her husband, after all, for better and for worse. The other bad thing about the common room was that come bedtime she would have no place to go, unless she wanted to explain her situation to all and sundry.

The library was attractive, but, again, where would she go when it closed? She went through her mental inventory of all her favorite nooks and crannies in the castle, and kept coming up with the cold, hard fact that there wasn't a single place for her to sleep, other than her marriage bed.

Hearing someone coming down the stairs, Hermione retreated to the nearest door and, fortunately, found it unlocked. Quickly and quietly, she looked around and, finding nothing but a dark, barren room, closed the door to the corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the footsteps fade without pausing at her door.

She waited until the footsteps were no longer audible, then reached for the handle and pulled. And pulled again. The third time she pulled on the handle, she put all her weight into it, but the door stubbornly remained where it was.

Panting slightly, she let go, then withdrew her wand and cast an Alohomora without any results. She tried again, this time using a stronger unlocking spell she'd come across the previous year, but it didn't work either. Growing concerned, she wracked her brains for some spell that might get her out of the room.

Casting a Lumos, she looked at the hinges, but they seemed to be in good order; they hadn't squeaked when she'd entered the room. She then peered at the latch, but couldn't see any problems there either. Extinguishing the light, she cast an unsticking charm, a greasing charm, a release charm, and finally a purging hex, all to no avail. Cringing at the destruction she was about to wreak, she backed up a few feet and said, "Reducto," but nothing happened.

She cast the Lumos spell again and studied the door, trying to discern the problem. The longer she looked at the door, however, the more it looked like a perfectly ordinary wooden door, which should open when prodded.

Shrugging, she stepped up and tried the handle again. It didn't budge. Crossing her arms in frustration, she turned around to lean on the door, hoping that she had just imagined it opening into the room. Unfortunately, the door offered her back sturdy support.

Letting her shoulders droop, she gave up and slid to the floor. All she could hope was that someone would walk by fairly soon and that they would hear her.

After taking five minutes to sulk fruitlessly, she raised her wand to illuminate the room a little better. It was fairly odd to find a windowless room that didn't have torches lining the walls, but it seemed like every other dungeon room otherwise: dank, dark and moldy.

Sighing, she got up to examine the door once again but, finding nothing, she returned her attention to the room itself. There was a pile of straight-backed chairs on one side of the room, and on the other side there was a bulky form covered with a dingy cloth. Edging forward, she examined the cloth-covered object, noting the years of dust that had accumulated.

Lifting the dust jacket slightly, she peeked underneath to see... nothing. Whatever the cloth was covering seemed to be invisible. She tentatively reached out to touch whatever she couldn't see, but by the time her shoulder was even with the edge of the cloth, she still couldn't feel anything. Invisible and intangible. Interesting.

Intent on examining the non-object closer, she was lifting the cover when she heard voices from the corridor. Not caring who was on the other side, she ran over and started pounding on the door, yelling for help.

Pausing for a moment, she waited to see if the people had noticed her, but all she heard were indistinct voices getting fainter.

"No!" she yelled, pounding on the door again. "Don't go! I'm in here! Please, help me get out!" She kept pounding on the door for a minute more, but she knew, even before she stopped making noise, that the people were gone.

Frustrated, she kicked the door as hard as she could and promptly yelped, sitting down gracelessly to hold her damaged foot. Tears of pain filled the corners of her eyes, and as she tried to soothe her toes, images came to mind of slowly dying -- withering away in the horrible, cold, damp, stuffy room. She tried to shake those thoughts away, but a quiet voice inside her head pointed out that at least she'd be reunited with Ron if she were never rescued from the room.

Shoulders slumping, she gave in to her tears, crying as if it would heal her soul, as if it would give her the strength to continue living. She cried as if her life depended on it. And, in a way, it did. After several minutes of shameless self-pity, the sobs quieted to sniffles, and the sniffles gave way to sighs. Slowly, Hermione came back to reality, and her mind started working on solving her problem.

"Okay," she muttered to herself. "I'm in a locked room without a window and no obvious way out. It would seem hopeless, except that there aren't any skeletons in here. I really doubt I'm the first person to find myself trapped in here..." She stood up, wincing when she tried to put weight on her foot, but started exploring the room again, this time more methodically.

"There has to be an exit somewhere," she murmured, inspecting the walls carefully. She went over the walls, feeling for any inconsistencies or abnormalities in the rough stone surface. She felt along the cracks, painstakingly looking for junctions that might open under pressure revealing the hidden exit she knew had to be there somewhere.

Thirty minutes later, she had reached the cloth-covered non-object again. By this time her foot was hurting so fiercely that she was nearly dizzy, so she sat down beside the object.

Carefully, so as not to cause any more pain, she unlaced her shoe and gently pried it off, wincing as her swollen toes nudged the tongue of her shoe open a little further. Making a face, she took a breath and gently eased off her sock, rolling it down her calf and stretching it open to allow her heel through. Her breath hitched slightly when her swollen red and purple toes were revealed. She reached out to touch her big toe tenderly, whimpering when her toenail rocked independent of her toe, lancing her entire foot with pain.

Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate on the spell to fix the damage, but was interrupted by a slight click. Eyes shooting open, she looked immediately to the door, which was, by some wonderful miracle, opening to reveal the dimly lit corridor beyond.

Tossing aside her sock, she made a joyful noise and scrabbled to her feet, trying to ignore the fresh wave of pain and nausea as she put weight on her injured foot. Staggering slightly as she took a few steps forward, she was looking down at her feet as the person at the door became visible. When she looked up, she staggered again, but this time backwards.

"Malfoy!" she gasped, fear stabbing her in the gut at the animalistic way he was smiling. He was watching her carefully, and she knew he was prepared for any movement; he would not be caught off guard this time.

She stayed as still as she could, forcing herself not to step back as he started moving forward. She kept her eyes on Lucius, particularly on his wand hand, but she also kept an eye on the door as he moved into the room.

"My dear Hermione, you have no idea how pleased I am to find you were the one tapping upon the door."

"Tapping?" Hermione twitched forward when Lucius turned back toward the door, though somehow never taking his eyes off her. "That's all you heard was tapping? I was pounding, and don't close the door!" She tried to run forward as she saw the door swing back to the threshold under Lucius' guidance, but stumbled when her bare foot hit the hard floor. Not able to catch herself, she fell to her knees and looked up just in time to see the door click shut, enclosing the room in darkness once more.

Anger surging through her, Hermione quickly raised her wand, prepared to cast a protection charm should Malfoy throw a hex.

"That was incredibly stupid, Malfoy, even for you." She listened intently as he started moving, his shoes making small clicks on the stone floor. She had hoped he would cast a Lumos or conjure a light of some sort, but it seemed he preferred the darkness.

"My dear, is that any way to talk to your rescuer?"

"Rescuer, my foot! Try opening that door now that it's closed."

She heard faint taps as Malfoy walked toward the door, then stillness. She then heard him mumbling some spell, and she surreptitiously cast a Shield Charm just in case he wasn't directing his wand at the door. When she heard him emit a slightly frustrated sound, she knew he had found she was right.

"See?" she said, knowing how childish she sounded, but well beyond caring.

"Well, this is not exactly the way I envisioned this evening turning out, however, I don't see it as the travesty you do. After all, I'm locked in a room with Mrs. Severus Snape. My dear friend's new wife. Now I have ample opportunity to get to know you, to understand why he was so intent on persuading me you would be a bad match for me."

"Severus had to persuade you that we'd be a bad match? I'm flabbergasted you thought otherwise," Hermione said, gritting her teeth painfully before adding, "Oh, and it's Ms. Granger."

He chuckled. "Oh, you underestimate your charms, my dear. I'll admit that I haven't always viewed you as so... delectable, but since poor Narcissa died, and this awful law went into effect... Well, I've had to keep my eye open for someone suitable, now haven't I?"

"Oh, Lucius, I'm afraid you misinterpreted my astonishment. I have no doubts about my desirability," Hermione lied, adopting a sickly sweet tone. "I was astonished you thought yourself worthy of me."

Hermione's retort was met with five seconds of dead silence. Then Lucius laughed politely from a different part of the room.

"Yes, Severus was right, wasn't he, when he called you 'spirited.' It is a shame you chose him. It would have been a delight to find out exactly how feisty you are."

Hermione shivered slightly at the underlying tone in Malfoy's voice. She continued to be vigilant. "Trust me, Lucius, dear, when I tell you there's no way I would have chosen you. Ever."

"Hmm. Tell me, my dear," Lucius continued after a few moments of silence, "how are you and Severus getting along? Did you resolve that lover's quarrel? I would hate to think the marriage is suffering so soon. But of course, choosing unwisely--"

"I'm surprised you are being so solicitous about our marriage, Malfoy. I suppose I should be touched that you're so interested in a match you forced."

Silence once more, then, from a bit further away: "A match I forced, you say? You give me too much credit. It was all Severus' idea."

Hermione frowned at what he was implying. "How so?"

"Why, he was the one who pointed out how lonely life would be without a partner to share it with. He sent me a rather moving condolence letter after Narcissa died, you see. He emphasized how a life not shared was a life wasted.

"At first I thought he was simply being a bit unpleasant, you know, his usual self, but that night as I lay in my empty bed I realized how true his words were. Narcissa had been my light. Not only had she been there for me through the dark years, but she had also bore me a beautiful and loving son to continue our line.

"I realized how fortunate I had been and how unfortunate Severus was. Here I was selfishly mourning the loss of my wife when Severus was pining away in the dungeons, not even aware of how miserable he was. I realized I had to help him. I had to help all the lonely souls who didn't know what joys they were missing."

"So you came up with the idea of forcing marriage on us all?" Hermione said, trying to decide whether she should be impressed by his story or appalled by the idea that there might be some truth to what he was saying. If Severus' maliciousness had started the entire mess, she thought homicide might be justifiable.

Lucius laughed. "No, no, no. I merely suggested to a few friends that what this world needed was a bit more love. That all we needed was to find a way to help everyone get along a little better."

Hermione huffed, galled by the man who was wandering around in the darkness. "And forcing us into marriage and having children is a very good way to do that. I don't see any disagreements or resentments occurring because of it."

She heard Malfoy snort quietly. "Just because you were hasty in your decision and are unhappy as a result doesn't mean that everyone will suffer horribly. After all, there's only one Severus Snape in this world."

"How true," Hermione said. "After all, if there was more than one of Severus, then there would probably be other doppelgangers as well, and not everyone is as good as Severus is."

Malfoy laughed. "I don't know that I have ever heard anyone describe Severus as 'good' before. It is refreshing to know that not everyone reviles my friend."

"No, not everyone reviles your friend, Malfoy. After all, he's proved his worth time and again, unlike other people we know."

Lucius snickered. "Your attempts at subtlety are really atrocious, my dear. If you plan on living amicably with Severus, you will have to work on that."

"Thank you so much for the advice, Lucius. I'm so glad to know you care."

"Of course I care, my dear. After all, my friend may have bested me at my own game, but I would hate to see anything happen to you. You are much too... dear to let wither away."

"You're too kind," Hermione said, her voice flat. She was vaguely surprised when Lucius didn't continue the conversation but let the silence fall upon them like a blanket. Hermione received no comfort from it, though. A silent devil was somehow much more threatening than a talkative one.

The silence continued for what seemed an eternity, though it was probably only a few minutes. Hermione felt herself getting drowsy, although her foot was throbbing fiercely and her bum was nearly frozen. When her head started falling as she drifted off to sleep, she realized that talking with Lucius was her only option because falling asleep around him would be unforgivably stupid.

"Why is there that ridiculous clause in the law forcing Muggle-borns to give up their powers?"

"Forcing Muggle-borns to give up their powers? Where did you get that ridiculous idea?"

"The... I have it on good authority." She mentally chastised herself, wondering if it was indeed safer to keep talking to Malfoy when she was so tired. She had almost let it slip that Dumbledore had been leaking information.

"Well, that 'good authority' is exaggerating wildly," Lucius drawled.

"Oh? How so? What does the clause actually say?"

"I believe the clause you are thinking of is the one that educates our society on the finer points of Muggle culture and heritage. What better way to educate everyone than by example? And who is better qualified to give such an example but those who were raised in Muggle society? It's all to foster better understanding and cooperation."

"Wouldn't it be better to force those who have never been exposed to the Muggle lifestyle to live by example, as they're the ones who would benefit the most?"

Malfoy laughed again. "That may be so, but I know from experience that very few purebloods would agree with such reasoning, and it would put us back to square one."

"Ah, and those of us with Muggle backgrounds will be more than happy to show all of you purebloods how noble it is living without magic. We'll be thrilled, I know."

"I don't see why not. It gives you the opportunity to show us a different view, change our prejudiced ways. What could be more exciting and noble than that?"

"Coaching and helping you figure out the complexities of Muggle life through your own experience comes to mind."

"But we purebloods would wither away without our magic. We would be fish out of water, floundering around in desperation and drowning in the experience."

"Better than drowning by dunking," Hermione muttered under her breath. Audibly, she said, "If it were voluntary, and anyone could choose to live without their powers, then it might be rewarding. As it is, it is just another way to subjugate the scapegoats of society. After all, without Muggle-borns, all purebloods would be able to live in perfect harmony, right?"

Lucius gave another overly polite laugh. "Ah, to have the clear sight of youth again."

"I was being facetious," Hermione spat, knowing he was goading her, but losing control of her temper. Pain always made her cranky.

"Really?" he said in mock disbelief, his voice coming from the direction of the door as he continued moving around. "Hmm. I'll have to remember that children are capable of rudimentary forms of sarcasm."

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy," Hermione snapped.

She was surprised, but relieved, when he complied, until a few seconds later when he spoke from only a few feet away. She hadn't heard him moving.

"Now, now. That isn't very polite. Maybe I was wrong about you and Severus being so poorly matched. Maybe you do have some common traits."

Shivers went down her spine knowing he was close to her, too close.

After a few seconds, Hermione quietly asked, "Why me?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand your question, my dear." Lucius said, a hint of humor underneath his drawl.

"Why did you target me?"

"You have a rather high opinion of yourself, don't you?" Lucius drawled, no longer concealing his amusement.

"Well, I don't believe your story about wanting to spread love throughout the world, and all evidence seemed to be pointing at you focusing your attentions on me."

He chuckled. "Yes, to the egocentric, all things seem to point toward themselves, don't they?"

Hermione bit her tongue, trying to keep her temper. He chuckled ominously. "I'll take your silence as assent," he said quietly, still too close for Hermione's comfort.

"I remember Severus when he was near your age -- so full of himself and his power," he said, confusing Hermione for a moment by the change of topic. "As I remember, he enjoyed showing off how dangerous he could be; he had no subtlety at all. Clever? Yes. Powerful? Yes. Versatile? No. His manner and technique was so crude it advertised his humble origins more than his ratty clothing did.

"Ah, but he was a fast learner when he came under my tutelage. I opened the world up to him by teaching him, refining him."

Great job you did, too, Hermione thought bitterly. Suddenly her breath caught in her throat as she felt something brush her arm. She nearly jumped when she felt his breath on her ear.

"I gave him the world," he whispered menacingly, tickling her ear lobe. She cringed, trying to retreat away from his mouth, but found herself leaning into his hand, and then, all of a sudden, she was unable to move at all.

"Ah, ah, ah..." he admonished darkly. "I'm not finished yet." She felt him leaning toward her, plucking the wand from her immobile hand, and she mentally shuddered as his hand cupped her shoulder, his fingers caressing it idly. "Allow me to explain thoroughly.

"I gave Severus an education in manners and introduced him to all the right people. I made sure he had the tools necessary so he wouldn't have to struggle once he was beyond the confines of Hogwarts. I gave him a bright future, and what did he do?" Lucius had found her ear again and was nuzzling it with his nose as he whispered more and more softly. "He threw it all back in my face. He took everything I taught him and used it against me.

"At first I thought I was just being bested by my apprentice; he's a very ambitious fellow after all. I decided to enjoy the competition; nothing keeps one on one's toes like a rival. He and I vied for the Dark Lord's attention and approval with increasing ferocity. I never took the game seriously as I was confident of our Lord's favor. Intelligent, powerful and skilled Severus may be, but even under my tutelage he was unable to grasp the finer points of socializing. He has always had an uncanny knack for... annoying people. I was confident the Dark Lord would continue to view me as more valuable as I was far more adept at maneuvering in society's more important circles."

Hermione wondered if he was even aware of her presence. His explanation was becoming more involved than she ever would have expected. Lucius' fingers were traveling down her arm, constantly drawing mindless circles with his nails. Suddenly he stopped.

"Then the Dark Lord was felled by Potter. The game we played became a matter of freedom. As you probably know, I came forward immediately as I was guilt stricken by what I had done under the Imperius Curse. I know some people doubted the validity of that claim, but I was a devoted father and seemed an upstanding member of society, so they gave me the benefit of the doubt. Several others followed my lead and with my corroboration were freed as well."

The circling fingers resumed, meandering up and down her upper arm carelessly.

"I thought Severus would follow my lead as well, so imagine my surprise at finding that Severus had been Dumbledore's spy! He had played his role so well that even Dumbledore believed him innocent. Severus outmaneuvered me quite thoroughly. I was impressed. As soon as it was agreeable to do so, I called upon him as a friend rather than a protégé. Our meetings were infrequent, but we kept regular contact by owl.

"Then the Dark Lord returned. Suddenly, Severus and I were thrown back into our friendly competition, but the dynamics had changed. We were now playing as equals."

Hermione was listening raptly, though she was wondering why he was being so careless with what he told her. His confession would be very damning when they were rescued. Then it hit her: He had no intention of letting her live. This was his evil overlord speech. She had to figure out how to get away before he finished.

"At first it was fun. We both had to prove our loyalty all over again, and the game became who could be the most creative in currying favor. I must say I was once again impressed with Severus' displays of ingenuity. He had, in the course of his teaching, honed his talent for annoying people into an art of manipulation."

Though still listening to every word, Hermione had started going through every nonverbal spell she knew that might release her, but without her wand nothing worked. Suddenly Lucius stopped and smoothly wrapped his hands around her arms. He leaned forward, and she could feel his breath tickling her ear again.

"You should have seen him, Hermione. Smooth as ice, he would guide people into his traps, none of them noticing until the damage was done. The Dark Lord took immense pleasure in watching Severus, as did I. There was no trace of the awkwardness he had as a teenager. He had honed his malevolence into a weapon and a powerful weapon at that. He had become a master of undermining confidence, and the Dark Lord saw that it was good."

She was momentarily distracted from her meditations when his movements started again, only now his entire hand stayed in contact with her flesh. Her stomach started roiling as his motions became more intimate, not confined to her arms, but roaming over her shoulders, neck and collarbone. She immediately worked to control her nausea as she didn't know what would happen if she threw-up while under a Petrificus Totalus.

"It was fun until two years ago when the Ministry fiasco occurred. I was imprisoned, and soon I found from correspondents that the Dark Lord was vastly displeased with me. My correspondents told me how Severus had used his considerable talents to undermine my position with the Dark Lord.

"Severus effectively made that cold, miserable rock my safe haven. If I escaped back to the fold, the Dark Lord would have killed me. Meanwhile, Narcissa was writing telling me how Severus was keeping the majority of the Dark Lord's wrath away from her and Draco. She praised Severus for his nobility and loyalty. She told me how much we owed him. How much she owed him."

Lucius' voice had turned very bitter, and he almost spat the last phrase. Hermione briefly wondered whether Narcissa was yet another witch Severus had bedded, but quickly pushed that thought away.

"It was a very long year and a half before Potter killed the Dark Lord again. I spent that time carefully reconstructing everything Severus had said and done over the course of our brotherhood and came to a most startling conclusion: The Dark Lord had been deceived. Severus had successfully lied to the Dark Lord and was betraying us all to Dumbledore."

Lucius paused again, both his hands and speech, as if figuring where to go from there.

"When I figured out Severus' true allegiance, I realized the only way for me to hope for freedom was to betray the Dark Lord and my brethren. I wrote to Dumbledore requesting an interview, which, by some miracle, he granted.

"When he came, I told him my decision and answered every question he asked. I told him everything I knew. Everything."

He squeezed her shoulders almost painfully to emphasize the word.

"I even told him of Draco." If his mouth hadn't been so close to her ear, she wouldn't have been able to hear that confession. She was startled at how much pain there was behind it.

"The meeting went well, but I was to be disappointed. I expected immediate leniency. I had hoped to be freed from Azkaban, even if only to be put under house arrest, but there was no such outcome. I was told that if my information proved useful, my case would be reevaluated after Voldemort was defeated.

"I took the news with my usual grace. I told Dumbledore that it didn't matter whether I was free or not, I just wanted to help rid the world of the Dark Lord. I don't know whether he believed me, but in the end it didn't matter.

"That meeting took place two months before the end. The day after Potter saved the day, I received a letter from Draco.

"He wrote to tell me how Narcissa had been gravely injured. It seems that news of the interview with Dumbledore was somehow revealed, and so when things started going wrong for the Dark Lord all the blame was placed upon my shoulders. He decided the best way to take his anger out on me was to attack Narcissa. I'm sure he would have enjoyed killing Draco more, but unknown to me, my son had defected and was well protected.

"Dumbledore had refused to place Narcissa in a safe house because she was still an active Death Eater, but he had assured me she would be watched. By the time Dumbledore's men had figured out Narcissa was being attacked, she was in a very bad way.

"Draco placed all the blame of his mother's torture at my feet. It seems that Severus thought it his duty to tell my son about my conversation with Dumbledore. He told Draco how I valued my own freedom more than the life of him or Narcissa, never mind that Draco had turned from the Dark Lord before my confession. In Severus and Draco's mind, I had knowingly condemned Draco since I didn't know he had turned.

Draco told me, in no uncertain terms, how he no longer considered himself my son. I had betrayed him and killed Narcissa. That letter was the last communication between us."

Lucius was silent, and Hermione was mildly torn. There was no mistaking the pain behind the words, but at that moment Lucius' hand was resting perilously close to her breast. If he had been sitting across the room and hadn't literally made her a captive audience, she might have felt sorry for him.

Lucius sighed and seemed to shake off his melancholy, for his next words were devoid of emotion.

"I hadn't been sure until then, but I could not see any other motivation for Severus telling Draco about my betraying him than because Narcissa was attacked. My faithful correspondent had told me how Severus and Narcissa were frequently seen together. She was known to visit his residence at all hours of the day or night. She was always vocal about defending him if someone dared to besmirch his honor. Before Draco's letter, I had excused all of that as Severus maintaining his station and placing himself where he could collect the most information.

"Draco's letter cleared my illusions, and I saw it for what it was.

"I must admit that I would have gladly torn Severus limb from limb at that moment, but seeing as I was still incarcerated, that would have been difficult. As it was, my case went up for review a week later and by then my jealousy had waned. I realized I was being frightfully disloyal to think Narcissa would betray me like that."

Hermione guessed from his tone that was not his real conclusion.

"Happily, the review found my sentence drastically reduced and nothing more serious than a rather large fine imposed." Hermione mentally snorted, knowing that all of Lucius' belongings and wealth had been confiscated. "My information had turned out to be vital." Hermione inwardly snorted again, knowing his information had led to two arrests, nothing more. "I was released a week later.

"I was very excited to be free, and my first thought was to visit Narcissa. She was still alive at that point, though only barely hanging on. Sadly, I was only able to visit with her twice. She died the night after my second visit.

"I was completely grief stricken. I had lost everything in the world. My wife was dead, my son had disowned me, my friends, with the exception of Severus, were either behind bars or dead, and all my respect and social standing had been stripped away.

"I seriously considered killing myself at that point. I don't know what stayed my hand besides my foolish pride, but I decided to sleep on it. That night I had a dream. I dreamt that Narcissa came down as an angel and whispered words of love and devotion. She... Well, I needn't tell you all of the dream, but I woke up convinced of her faithfulness. It was that morning that I realized how much I owed Severus for his constant friendship.

"That morning I met with some friends and discovered the wizarding world was in a bit of an uproar. My friends were bemoaning the fact that the Mud--ggle-borns were blaming the purebloods for the entire war while the purebloods were blaming the Muggle-borns and how the birthrate was down and this and that. That's when the idea struck me. Not only would a law enforcing marriage and procreation help unify the Wizarding world, but it would also help Severus out of his lonely lifestyle. My friends thought the idea brilliant.

"So you see, my dear, dear Hermione, you had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of the law. No, you were merely the cherry on top."

Hermione somehow repressed an urge to gag as Lucius flicked her nipple deliberately.

"I hadn't even thought about you until that detention I witnessed. You remember that, surely? I didn't know Severus had a detention to oversee, and I had stopped by to chat with him, reminisce and such. When our chat was interrupted by your detention, I decided that was no reason to cut our visit short."

A weight lifted off Hermione's shoulder at that revelation. She'd thought Snape had deliberately invited Lucius to the detention as part of her punishment. She thought it had been his sick joke to let Lucius ogle her and not do a ruddy thing. She was extremely relieved to know Severus wasn't that sadistic.

Her relief was short lived, however, when Lucius' voice dropped an octave as he wrapped his arms around her, grabbed her breasts, and said, "And I was very glad he agreed.

"Once I had seen you, I remembered you. I recalled you from the Department of Mysteries. You were the clever one. Vivacious. Spirited. During that detention, I couldn't help but stare at you. I noticed, however, that my staring made Severus uncomfortable. I assumed it was because of my recent loss, so I thought to reassure him Narcissa was still in the forefront of my mind."

Lucius brushed her ear again with his lips and whispered, "It didn't hurt that talking about her might get me a little sympathy from you."

Hermione wished she was able to move, if only to shudder. Any sympathy she might have felt for him in the past had fled when he started touching her without permission. Fondling her while she was under the Full Body Bind encouraged only antipathy. She knew she needed to break free of the spell. She didn't know how she'd do it without her wand, but there had to be a way, somehow.

His hands were moving around her front again, abandoning her breasts as he headed lower. Hermione wracked her brain for something that could help her, trying to think hard enough to block out the feeling of his hands as they crept past her navel. But when he started speaking again, nothing could block out his words.

"I decided to ask after you a short while later, see what his reaction was. If he had been interested in you, then I would have happily backed away. After all, my main goal was to relieve him of his solitude, and if he had a witch in mind already, well, that would make everything so much easier, wouldn't it?

"But when I inquired, he was disdainful. I was left with the distinct impression that he thought you were the most obnoxious person on the planet."

Tears of disappointment joined the tears of humiliation as his fingers reached her pubis and started curling under while his other hand slid back up her torso. She cursed Lucius again and again in her head for putting her through this and for good measure cursed Severus as well. If he hadn't been such a git, she wouldn't have run off, making it unlikely she'd be in her current position.

"Seeing as he wasn't interested in you, I felt free to consider you mine," Lucius continued. "I imagined what I would do with you, the lovely Hermione Granger, once the law was passed and you accepted my proposal. I imagined how you would feel against my skin, how you would react to my touches and caresses. I wondered how long it would take before you became devoted to me." He stroked her through her robe, and she pushed the bile back down once again. She was afraid he would just tip her over and rape her right there, but then his hand stilled.

"I became enamored with you. It was silly, irrational and unlike me, but I wanted to feel you around me. I wanted to make you scream."

Hermione desperately wanted to point out she was screaming. She was screaming for him to stop, screaming for someone to help, screaming at herself for being so stupid as to lock herself into a room, and she was screaming for not hexing Malfoy on sight when he opened the door.

"But then Snape kept bringing you up in conversation. He kept trying to dissuade me from pursuing you, which made me think I had misread him yet again. When I pushed him for a solid reason to abandon you, he told me you were the one who cursed Draco." His voice was no longer a seductive drawl, but had turned into an ugly growl. "You, who helped foil our simple plans and sent me to prison; you, who helped make me pond scum in society's eyes; you were the one who cursed my only son into a gibbering wreck. It was only then, my dear, that you captured all of my attention."

Hermione winced, knowing it would do her no good to explain, even if she were able to, how sorry she was for cursing Draco. She'd had no escuse to lose her temper over a mere insult, even if it had been in poor taste on Draco's part to criticize Ron in such a way after his untimely death.

He removed his hands from her, and backed away, lighting his wand as he did. Hermione wasn't sure whether she should be worried or relieved by his retreat, but was answered soon enough when he pushed her rigid form over so that she lay there awkwardly, one leg standing straight up while the other was bent close to her chest, leaving her rear completely vulnerable. She would have rolled onto her side due to gravity, but he gripped her upright leg and held her steady. He then leaned over her bent leg so she could see his cold eyes glinting in the dim light.

"The fact that you're Harry Potter's friend is delectable. The fact that you're a Mudblood is delightful. And while giving Severus a dose of his own potion is most gratifying, what makes taking you absolutely perfect is that you thought yourself powerful when you tore my son apart, but you can do nothing at all to stop me now, proving, once and for all, that you are nothing. You are a nonentity. You are a mere pawn in the game Severus and I play. You, my dear, are nothing more than a Mudblood."

He retreated out of her sight once again as she struggled futilely with the bonds of the curse. She exerted her leg muscles, trying to kick out, trying to flail against his oncoming attack, but she remained frozen. Not about to give up, though hopeless that she could escape, she continued trying to coax her muscles into moving. She was surprised when his light went out, and suddenly the curse was gone.

Her tensed leg shot out connecting with his thigh and forced him back a step or two. It wasn't much, but it was all she needed to roll over and scramble to her feet. The adrenaline was coursing through her system at such a rate that she didn't even feel her injured foot screaming in protest.

She moved away as quickly as possible and nearly panicked when she felt a tug on her robe, fearing he was going to yank her back into his grasp. Inspired by the fervent wish to escape, she quickly plucked at the buttons holding her robe together, and slipped out of it just as he tugged forcefully. Hermione sped forward until she met the wall, then turned and held herself ready.

She waited for his next attack, listening with all her might for some indication where he'd be coming from. After a few seconds of dead silence, she began to wonder what he was planning and shivered accordingly. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and she kept them peeled for any sign of movement. When he still hadn't made a move or a sound after half a minute, she wondered if something was wrong. When nothing happened for a full minute after that, she became aware of the breeze on her bare arms.

A breeze?

Deciding to risk the vulnerability, she turned around and blinked. She wasn't in the room anymore. From what she could tell, she was in a very cramped, rough, cave-like corridor. At least, she hoped it was a corridor. There seemed to be a very dim light coming from around a corner, and she hoped that the space continued beyond that.

Stumbling in the near darkness, she limped forward cautiously. She nearly fell over when she scraped the side of her injured foot on a rocky outcropping and wished she had her wand so she could heal the poor appendage.

Forging onward, she cursed silently as her head scraped a jutting rock. Soon, she was around the corner and sighed in relief. In the distance she could see a small torch. It illuminated the corridor just enough for her to navigate around the rocks.

Unfortunately, the corridor seemed to be getting smaller, though the path was wider and had become quite smooth. She crept forward, worried less about scraping her foot than dodging the jutting rocks by her head every other step. She was so busy avoiding hitting her head that she didn't see the cliff's edge until she'd already stepped over it.

Avery's Notes: First off, let's all give Southern a huge round of applause for putting up with my inability to use commas properly. She deserves a medal for that. Or chocolate. Chocolate might be appreciated more. ;-)

Secondly, I have revised chapter 2 slightly. Poppy's attitude makes a little more sense with the subtle changes I made. Sorry for the goof!

Thirdly, I posed a question on my LJ that I'll repeat here. I originally said this would be a "short-ish" sequel, and it still has some hope of being "short-ish" if I wrap it up in a couple of chapters. (It is possible.) Or I could be a complete and utter liar and make this 10+ chapters longer.

So far the responses I've received have been for "longer," but I'll put it to you, dear readers, as well. Longer (more angst, character development, tension and general pigheadedness) or shorter? Same end result either way. Thanks!

Southern's Notes: Yikes! I "love" this Lucius...if you know what I mean. Wow. Very nice.