Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Many people had envied Lucius Malfoy's life. They thought he had it easy, inheriting the Malfoy fortunes. But they had been wrong. Being a Malfoy had never been easy. His father had been a cold, demanding man, expecting excellence from his son. And Lucius had delivered and then later gone on to raise his son the same way.

Like his own mother had coddled him, Narcissa had coddled Draco somewhat, though never enough to do any damage and probably enough to develop his humanity. After all, it was Narcissa who had saved them all from the madman, Lord Voldemort, when Lucius had given up all hope.

He was sure that most in the wizarding world did not see her as he had. Between her family history and the way she carried herself in public, they surely thought her as cold and heartless as they had thought him. In truth, she had been the keystone of their family, holding them together through even the darkest days.

His dear Narcissa, gone now nearly three years, a victim of dragon pox. How cruel that the same disease would rob him of both father and wife. He had been devastated by her death and still missed her immensely, thinking of her often. Once again he was reminded of one of her final wishes: she wanted him to find happiness again.

That thought made him laugh. There had been very little happiness in his life – especially lately.

The wizarding world had changed much since the end of the war. First there was the damage control with the Muggles to ensure the existence of their world remained hidden. That had required a great deal of attention from the Ministry. After all, one could not Obliviate the entire world. It had been much simpler in the days before Muggles invented television. Incidents that would expose the wizarding world were isolated and could be easily controlled. That was no longer the case.

Plausible explanations had been devised by both the Muggle and wizarding Ministers. Once the weather returned to normal and strange incidents of destruction stopped happening, the Muggles moved on to other, more immediate issues. Thankfully Muggles seemed to have developed short attention spans.

On the other hand, wizards tended to have very long ones. Many had been skeptical about his claiming his initial devotion to the Dark Lord during the first war had been because of the Imperius curse. This time he had known that the same excuse would not be believed – especially since he had been captured at the Ministry of Magic doing Voldemort's bidding.

Unwittingly, the Dark Lord had given him exactly what he needed to gain sympathy from the wizarding world. By forcing Draco to not only become a Death Eater, but to take on the surely impossible task of killing Albus Dumbledore, he had proven how he could compel his followers with the threat of force.

It had not been easy, but Lucius had managed to convince the Wizengamot that he had only supported Lord Voldemort because he feared for the safety of his family. It had been a long trial and not all of them had seemed truly convinced, but when he had offered to make restitution, both monetary and using his vast holdings to improve the wizarding world, they had finally relented and agreed to place him on probation, realizing he had greater value as a contributing member of society.

The hardest part about his plea had been watching the Aurors descend on his home and search it for Dark Artifacts. Actually ransacked would be a more accurate description. They had shown no regard for any of his possessions. The only saving grace was that he could blame anything that was found on the Dark Lord and his followers since his home had been their headquarters for the final year of the war.

The Dark Lord's followers. Those... there were few words that could be used to describe them. They were most definitely not the sort that Lucius would have ever deigned invite into his house, save Severus. There were werewolves, thieves, murderers and various other criminals and scum who made up the dregs of society, who only flocked to the Dark Lord because he sanctioned mayhem. To see them lounging in his furniture, eating his food, drinking his libations, soiling his home with their very presence had outraged Lucius, but he had been forced to hide that outrage and abide their presence. Their status as guests had only cemented in his mind that the resurrected Dark Lord was but a shadow of his former self, someone who had lost his sanity when his physical body had been destroyed, someone who had to be stopped, and Narcissa had agreed. Thankfully those hooligans had never touched his dear wife.

During the searches, Narcissa had gone to spend time with her sister, Andromeda, to make amends for their years of estrangement. The thought of watching strangers ransacking her home had been too much for her, and Lucius could not blame her. He had only been there because it was required. Watching them destroy his home had felt like they were ripping him apart piece by piece, but he had somehow found the strength to maintain his composure.

But it was all over. His home had been returned to its normal immaculate condition in short order, remodeled and redecorated to cleanse both the taint of the Dark Lord and the filth of his followers. After that he had focused on the rebuilding efforts. Fortunately his holdings were such that he was in a prime position to provide assistance. Of course, it was all done pro bono as a part of his probation, but after little more than a year, his businesses had returned to profitability and his reputation was being rehabilitated.

He was thankful that Narcissa had lived to that day. As Malfoy Industries grew in the boom following the war, they held a ball to celebrate their return to profitability. That was one of the last times most people saw her since she had fallen ill only a few days later.

Realizing that he was thinking of Narcissa again, he recognized that he had to get out of this big, empty house. He missed Draco, but his son was married with his own family now. And after Narcissa's untimely death, he had vowed that he would not impose himself on his son.

When he felt like this, there was only one place he could find solace: The Great Library.

It was late, and he knew that he would only have an hour at most, but it got him away from the manor and thoughts of the past. There were times that he had considered temporarily closing his family home and living in one of his other, smaller properties, but he felt he could not do that. He owed it to Narcissa to not abandon their home.

Once at the library, he wandered aimlessly as he did most nights. Typically, he would wait until he was drawn down one of the stacks and would select a book seemingly at random to enjoy until he left. Tonight he was walking in the history section when someone inexplicably ran into him.

He looked down to see a mess of bushy, brown hair and robes sitting on her backside.

"I beg your pardon, my dear," he said in a very apologetic voice, knowing that he had been lost in his thoughts as he waited for a book to choose him. He offered his hand to the young woman to aid her in getting to her feet.

"No, really, it's my fault," said the young woman as she made sure that her robes were covering everything that should be covered. She then took his hand, but avoided his gaze, clearly embarrassed about the whole situation.

"Well, whoever's fault it is, I hope that you are alright." The last thing he needed was for someone to claim that he had purposefully injured her now that his probation was nearly over.

"I'm fine. Thank you and I'm sorry," she replied dismissively as she straightened her robes and brushed off any dust.

He had to be positive. "Are you sure? That was rather a hard hit. I would hate to leave you injured."

Finally she looked into his eyes and replied. "I'm... fine," she finished in a whisper as she recognized him.

His eyes went wide as he realized who she was. "Miss Granger? Or I should say Mrs. Weasley." She was very much changed from when he had seen her at his trial. She had been polished and energetic. Now... she had let herself go. Her hair was an unruly mess, and it looked as though she was not getting enough to eat. She was clearly harried, as evidenced by the fact that she had not seen him walking down the aisle.

"Mr. Malfoy, how unexpected to see you here," she finally replied.

He smiled weakly at her, trying not to dwell on why he was here. "I like to spend my evenings here," he replied simply.

After an uncomfortable silence, she said, "I find it soothing here."

He could tell that she did not really want to be here speaking with him. Rather than give her an easy out from the conversation, hoping to prolong their encounter, he said, "Yes, it is very soothing. You can have solitude, yet you are not alone." His eyes took on a wistful, distant look before focusing back on hers. When she did not reply, he said reluctantly, "But forgive me, I have detained you long enough. Clearly you are in a hurry, presumably to get home." He was not sure why he was trying to strike up a conversation with her, but there was something about her that drew his attention. Of course, given his degree of loneliness, it could just be because she also loved books.

She could not help blushing. "Yes, I am. And again, my apologies. I should have been looking where I was going." As he moved to the side, she slipped by him. "Good evening," she said simply.

He watched her as she departed. She should have been so young, so full of life, but something was clearly taking its toll on her. Curiosity caused him to ponder what it might be. As she neared the main desk, she turned around, and he did not hide that he was watching her with a wistful smile on his face. It had not been much of a conversation, but it had sparked something in him he had not felt in some time.

Once he realized what he was doing, he forced himself back to reality. That was Hermione Weasley née Granger. Of all the women in the wizarding world, she was the last one he should be concerning himself with, but that was exactly what he was doing. Not only was she young enough to be his daughter, but they had been on different sides of the war. Not to mention that he had actually made it a point to insult her in the past and in that past he had never hidden his disdain for those not of pureblooded lineage. Though that had changed, there were many who did not believe his views were sincere.

No, he was just a mature wizard fantasizing about the first young witch he had run across after he had been thinking about finding a new partner. But...

He wondered what she had been up to in the wizarding world since the war. Most of his attention had been focused on restoring his name and reputation along with his fortune. He would be the first to admit that he had not followed the fates of the war heroes. It was not that he did not care, it was just that he had more important things to be doing than to follow the latest gossip about Harry Potter and company.

Deciding he would pursue modern history rather than ancient history, he headed to the section of the library that housed the Daily Prophet archives. It would be tedious, but he had little else to occupy his free time. This sort of research project would span several days would give him something to look forward to each evening.

Researching a chronicle history on Hermione consumed Lucius' free time over the next several weeks. Going through back issues of the Daily Prophet was tedious, but in the months following the war, her name was in the news quite a bit.

What surprised him was how often she had been in the news without Potter or Weasley as the months passed. Initially articles were about the three of them. As he read her account of how they evaded capture for so long while searching for the Horcruxes, he gained new respect for her. There were very few fully qualified wizards who had managed to elude the Death Eaters, but for partially trained young adults to do so while searching for something was quite impressive. Yes, they had almost been caught in Godric's Hallow, but even then they had managed to escape.

As the most famous of the Muggle-born witches or wizards, there had been numerous interviews in the Prophet asking her about what sort of role she thought the Muggle-borns would have and if there was a way to improve the way they were brought into wizarding society. Her interviews were very insightful, and he could not believe that he had not read them before.

Like his former master, he had clearly underestimated her.

After her wedding to Weasley, the number of articles dropped off. Once every couple of weeks or so there would be something about some project or another that she was working on for the Ministry, but little else. She obviously preferred to live her life out of the limelight.

Knowing the Prophet, he knew that it would not contain all the facts about her work for the Ministry. If he wanted to know more about what she was doing for her job, he would have to go to the Ministry and research their records.

The only problem with him researching Ministry records is that he was sure someone would want to know why. And at this point he did not have a good answer. And that bothered him. Normally when he took an interest in someone, he could pinpoint the reason he found them interesting.

After several days of not being able to get her out of his mind, he determined that a visit to the Ministry archives was in order. But he decided that rather than just investigate Hermione, he would tell the record keeper that he was searching for underappreciated talent for his business. That would be a request that should draw no undue attention and still allow him to investigate Hermione. He was almost positive that she was one of the underappreciated employees. After all, she had been very driven at Hogwarts to be the best in her year, much to Draco's chagrin, and currently held a very minor post in Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Feeling confident in his plan, Lucius strode into the Ministry's records department. He flashed his most charming smile at the middle-aged witch sitting at the desk. "Good day, madam. I was wondering if I could have access to the last three years or so of records."

She gave him an imperious look. "And what in particular are you looking for?" she asked in a brusque and businesslike tone.

He poured on the charm. "Nothing specific, at least nothing that I know the details to. Malfoy Industries is hiring, and I was looking for some underappreciated talent here at the Ministry who might be interested in a change of scenery." He flashed her his most winsome grin.

"Well, normally we do ask that inquiries are for specific information," she said, but her voice had lost its earlier sternness.

He pulled a small box of chocolate out of his pocket and placed it on her desk. "Unfortunately, I do not know which information to ask for as I am not privy to the young Ministry staffers."

Her eyes widened when she saw the chocolate, a very expensive and coveted Swiss brand of chocolate. Carefully she slid the box into her drawer. "Well, I suppose I could show you some of the more interesting paperwork from the last couple of years." She rose from her desk and led him into the archives.

He allowed himself a victorious grin as he walked behind her. Manipulating people was something he had always been good at, and this proved that he had not lost any of his prowess. He patiently waited while she waved her wand and magically summoned various records, which stacked themselves neatly on a nearby table.

"That should keep you busy for a while," she offered as she put her wand away.

"I am extremely grateful to you, Madam Watson," he said with a small bow.

She giggled and blushed. "Let me know if you need anything else, Mr. Malfoy," she said before leaving him with his paperwork.

Sitting at the table, he began skimming through the paperwork she had given him, looking for work by Hermione and a few others who might seem interesting. He had thought of picking names at random, but he reconsidered in case she had given him something by someone who would not be a fit for his holdings.

He set aside everything regarding Hermione and after about an hour of skimming the other documents, he managed to pick two other individuals whom he would ask Madam Watson about. He then devoted his attention to learning what Hermione had been doing at the Ministry.

After three days of research, he thought he understood Hermione a little better. He could tell that her intellect was woefully being underutilized. She had so much potential, and she was wasting it in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Civil service at the lower levels was something for the adequate witch or wizard. She was exceptional and belonged in the private sector.

Now all he had to do was convince her of that. And he knew that would be quite difficult since he would have to first find a way to convince her to spend time with him. Of course, she had not immediately fled from him upon discovering whom she had run into at the library, so there was hope.

All he had to do was to devise ways to surreptitiously meet her, find opportunities to talk about her future and to convince her that it was not with the Ministry. Given the stress she seemed to be under, he did not think it would be too difficult to convince her that she needed a change. While working for one of his companies would not be stress free, her intellect would be appreciated and compensated accordingly, something the Ministry just could not do.

Of course, based on what he knew about Hermione, the money would not be what would convince her to leave her Ministry job. It had to be something job related that drew her away from the drudgery of the Ministry and her current work with the goblins.