Chapter 11

I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters; J. K. Rowling does. In addition, I do not make any profit from this fanfiction. Huge thank you to my beta...AmyLouise.

Chapter 11

"Potter will be here any minute," murmured a soft baritone from somewhere above.

Hermione opened her eyes, only to discover that Lucius' bare chest was completely blocking her view, and his lucid, silver-grey eyes were gazing at her intently. Lucius hovered over her, supporting the upper part of his body by leaning on his elbow. Her hips were still pinned firmly under his, and their legs were still intertwined. His soft, warm palm rested on her collarbone. A stifling hot wave engulfed her, and she blushed deeply and fiercely. Embarrassed by her own reaction, Hermione closed her eyes again.

Slowly, Lucius' palm moved from Hermione's collarbone and ventured lower, accompanied by the low, satisfied humming of its owner. It covered her breast and applied light pressure, fondling it gently. Lucius uttered a low purr, and the earth swayed under Hermione. Thank Merlin she was in a horizontal position. The mischievous, warm palm continued its torturously slow exploration, forcing Hermione to gasp for air.

At some point, Lucius rolled on his side. Then, somewhat cautiously, he glided his palm to Hermione's already slightly bowed stomach. When nothing happened, he gently caressed the roundness and murmured, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Does it matter? Would it have changed anything?"

"Answering a question with a question...tsk, tsk, tsk, such a naughty girl."

His palm crept over her breasts again. Hermione had lost her train of thought and sunk hopelessly into the grey, stormy depth of his eyes. There were important questions she was supposed to ask. Hermione made an effort and focused. "You gave up your chance for revenge, Lucius. Why did you let Dolohov go? I thought it was your first priority."

Abruptly, he untangled himself from her, rose and walked to the window. The room was immersed in unresolved silence. Concerned, Hermione gazed at him, and... lost her train of thought again.

Oh, how could she possibly focus, when an entirely nude Lucius stood a few feet from her in all his magnificent glory? It was impossible, simply impossible. Hermione couldn't perceive anything else except him. In awe, she watched how his body softly glowed in the diffused light of morning. Her gaze caressed his long, muscular calves; smooth, toned thighs and buttocks; well-defined back and shoulders. He was still beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful.

Lucius was leaning on the windowsill in silence. Hermione stood up and walked to him. Now, standing near him, she could see the marks...angry red scratches from her nails on his back. First, she touched them with her fingertips. Then, balancing on the tips of her toes, she covered them with fluttering kisses. Lucius shivered and turned to face her.

"My priorities changed," he said and traced her lips with his thumb. "Moreover, I did not let him go. I handed him over to Potter."

"What do you mean 'handed him over'? How?"

"I am sure Potter will explain it to you soon enough. If I understood correctly, he was going to use a Muggle device to trace this bastard like a stray mongrel with rabies."

Hermione huffed in disbelief. "What? What Muggle device?"

Watching Lucius closely, Hermione noticed raw wounds on his knuckles.

"What is this? Where did you get these, Lucius?"

"It's nothing, absolutely nothing worth talking about," he muttered.

She took his hands in her smaller ones and brought them to her lips. She kissed every knuckle carefully, gently. The squall of emotions, which threatened to overwhelm her at that moment, seeped through each little kiss. Lucius moaned. It was his turn to gasp for air. Fighting his laboured breathing, Lucius rasped, "witch", and kissed Hermione with renewed fiery passion. His body was yearning and eager for an encore. The wizard's fingertips began their dance all over Hermione's bare skin again. And once again, she lost herself to him. Once again, she gave in to his masterful hands. Once again, she succumbed to his desire for her.

Right at this moment, a little, wrinkled creature appeared with a virtually soundless snap and squeaked, "Master, Master, Mr. Potter is being at the door."

Poor creature, it had taken him three attempts before the lovers noticed that they were not alone. Hermione squealed and hid behind Lucius.

"Let him in, ask him to wait," bade Lucius, and nodding repeatedly, the elf hurriedly disappeared.

Hermione blushed and glanced at Lucius shyly.

"Lucius, I have nothing to wear," she whispered, looking at the pieces of light-blue silk on the floor.

Lucius found his wand in the pile of discarded clothes on the rug and conjured a grey silk robe. He held it open, and Hermione dived into its soft folds. With one wave of Lucius' wand, the robe was adjusted to Hermione's size.

The wizard then opened the wardrobe and took a pair of black trousers and a white shirt for himself. A few minutes later, he was fully clothed. Lucius offered his arm to Hermione, and she took it. For a long moment, they simply gazed into each other's eyes. And then, hand in hand, they went to meet Harry Potter.

Just before they entered the room where Harry was waiting, Hermione stopped. She gave Lucius an apologetic glance and took her hand from him. He chuckled bitterly and whispered in her ear, "Where is your Gryffindor bravery, Hermione?"

Hermione closed her eyes as if she couldn't bear to look at him, shook her head and whispered, "It has abandoned me."

Lucius drew a deep sigh and opened the door for her. Hermione gave him a wistful smile and stepped into the room. A second later, her dishevelled and tired-looking friend warmly embraced her.

"Hermione, thank God! I went bonkers with worry; are you all right? This mental bastard Dolohov, did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Harry; a bit tired, but fine. Honestly, Harry, everything is okay. Don't worry."

"Hermione, I should be angry with you, you know! And I will be! Just not right now." And happy Harry's laughter filled the room. "Right now, I'm too happy to be angry."

At this moment, Hermione's attire caught Harry's attention. He gazed at her for a few minutes and then asked, "What are you wearing?" He frowned, and turned his questioning and suspicious stare on Lucius.

"I..." Hermione began her explanations, but was interrupted by Lucius.

"Mrs. Weasley's belongings were destroyed during her ordeal, and I offered her some of mine, Potter. She gratefully accepted."

Surprised by the hostile coldness of Lucius' voice, Harry muttered, "Oh."

Using the pause in the proceedings, Lucius asked, "Do you have Dolohov, Potter? Did your plan work this time?"

"Yes, Malfoy, it worked. We know where he is; in fact, my people are already there. I am sure we will have him in less than two hours. What, can you not wait to have your money back, Malfoy?" Harry's green eyes lit up with a challenge.

"I am not that concerned about money, Potter. I have plenty of it left. I want my negotiated rendezvous with Dolohov as soon as you get him."

"You will have it. I promised it to you, Malfoy, and you will have it."

"Very well, Potter. Let me know when."

Hermione did not like it. She could almost see her breath, the atmosphere in the room was so icy. She did not understand what the two wizards were talking about, but, she most definitely did not appreciate the tone in which they were talking. Being Hermione, she decided to interfere.

"Stop it, both of you!" she shouted.

The two men stopped their bickering and looked at her. Lucius arched his eyebrows in surprise.

"Now, one of you will explain to me, calmly and thoroughly, what is going on."

Harry fished out Dolohov's letter to Lucius from his pocket and silently gave it to Hermione. She read it quickly and looked at them questioningly, obviously waiting for further explanations. At this, Lucius waved dismissively to Harry and said, "Be my guest, Potter."

Harry sighed, nodded, and began his clipped and hurried explanations.

"Last night, Malfoy came to me with the letter. He already had the money with him. We decided on a plan; his only condition was to have a tête-à-tête with Dolohov, and I promised it to him. I was at my wit's end, Hermione. First Ron and then you, it's just..." and Harry trailed off, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

After a deep calming breath, he continued, "Then, you know, I had had this idea for a long time...to use a Muggle Global Pet Finder GPS system for tracing criminals in our world. It is the twenty-first-century, after all. I had the chip; we planted it in the sack with Dolohov's money, and Malfoy gave it to him. I activated the chip, and after one phone call, we knew exactly where he was. Easy." A smug smile appeared on Harry's face.

"Brilliant," breathed Hermione, and the next thing she heard was Lucius' annoyed growl. She looked at him. He looked lonely, and for a moment, Hermione forgot herself. She walked to him and placed her hands on his chest.

"Lucius, that's brilliant. You and Harry actually worked out the plan together. You agreed to use Muggle technology. You believed in it." Hermione's fingers began gently to caress his neck along the edge of his shirt. Their eyes met once again, and the surroundings disappeared for Hermione. There were only his grey eyes, only him.

Harry's artificially loud cough broke the magic between them, and Hermione reluctantly returned to Harry's side. She hugged her friend and said, "I am so proud of you, Harry."

The confused expression on Harry's face changed to a smile again. He hugged her back and said, "Let's go home, Hermione. I am sure you are dead tired. Actually, we're all tired, and I still have one bloody maniac to catch."

"Yes, let's go. I have to see Ginny. I missed Ginny and James so much."

The two friends walked towards the fireplace. Lucius muttered, "Accio Wand " quietly, and a second later Hermione's wand was in his hand.

"I believe this is yours, Hermione."

She turned to him again and took her wand from his hand. His eyes were locked on hers. And that was the moment when she saw something in Lucius' gaze. Something that made her heart ache; something that would not let her find peace at night, she was sure. There was longing...his pavement-grey eyes were shimmering with longing, longing for her.

With a heavy heart and watery eyes, she returned to the fireplace, where her friend was waiting for her. Harry gave her a wary look.

"My Floo and library are always open for you, Hermione," she heard before they left.