Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Severus paced the blank white confines of his cell. Every time he sat down on the barely padded pallet, he soon sprang up again. At least it gave him something to do, even if it made him look like a caged tiger to those doubtless monitoring the cell...it wouldn't surprise him if the walls were transparent from outside.

They had confiscated his watch as well as his wand, so his only idea of the passage of time was the growing hollow pang of hunger. A refilling cup of water was provided, but no food. Severus drank his fill after he ascertained that it wasn't tainted by anything. Of course, that meant that he'd needed to use the ever-emptying bucket sooner rather than later.

For him to feel so hungry, it must be long past dinner time. If only there was some way to let Hermione know!

He dragged a hand through his hair distractedly, his thoughts on Hermione as he'd left her that morning. Distraught. Helpless.

The door to the cell abruptly appeared, a dark outline against the white. Severus staggered to a halt in his pacing as it was flung open by none other than Hermione.

Not so helpless, then.

Then she was in his arms, standing on tiptoe to slant her lips across his own. He pulled her closer, his lips parting to allow her tongue to slide across his.

Someone cleared their throat. For an insane moment, Severus thought that Lucius was acting the voyeur again... but he wouldn't have announced his presence. Whoever it was watching, Severus refused to give them a show of what was sacred to him.

Or would do, if Hermione would let him draw away. When he tried to lower her back to the floor, she lifted one of her legs to wrap around him. Severus groaned at the increased contact that brought warmth and friction right where he didn't need it. His cock twitched in disagreement, and his hand...now on her knee...held her leg in place rather than gently lower it as he'd intended.

Her hands had shifted to hold his head, which he no longer tried to pull away. His hips seemed to move of their own accord, grinding his growing hardness into her softness.

"Unless you want to spend a night in this cosy establishment, save it for when you're at home, okay?" a familiar voice, deeper than his own, spoke up.

Hermione reluctantly drew away from their kiss, an act that only served to cantilever her more firmly against his erection. He stifled a whimper, his eyes slightly crossed as she shifted her leg, rubbing against him even more.

"Severus, let go," she hissed, her cheeks stained scarlet.

He blinked. She was the one rubbing herself against...oh. Severus glanced down at his hand, still grasping her knee. He let go as if it was red hot. Hermione stepped back, leaving him thankful for his robes concealing the bulge in his trousers. Especially when he caught sight of who stood in the doorway.

It was Kingsley, the sheepish look on his face at odds with the amused glint in his eyes. He beckoned to them. "Come on, let's leave before we're locked in for the night."

* * *

"Oh, you should have seen her, Severus. She barged into my office and a closed session of the Wizengamot in order to spring you." Kingsley paused, groaned and slapped his forehead. "I'm an idiot. You can." He Conjured a flask, raised his wand to his temple and removed two glowing silver strands of memory.

Kingsley sealed the flask and held it out for Severus to take. "Here. A belated wedding present. Show it to Malfoy, too. It's about time he realised what he's got himself into...ow!"

"Hermione, it's not advisable to attack the Minister in the Ministry," Severus murmured, slipping between Kingsley and Hermione. "Particularly not in the Atrium when it's this crowded." He glared at the dumbstruck onlookers.

"No, it's okay. Andromeda's slapped me on the back of the head before without a demotion, so I'm not about to have your lovely wife arrested for elbowing me. She got off scot free for blasting her way into my office, after all."

"She what?"

Severus stared at Hermione, who shrugged nonchalantly. As if it was no big deal. He'd been under the impression that Potter had been responsible for most of their school and wartime escapades. Either she'd picked up some very bad habits from the boy, or she was the real culprit. Whichever was the case, the next time he was incarcerated, he'd be sure to worry more about Hermione doing something to end up in a cell right next to his.

"You'll see," Kingsley chuckled, indicating the flask of his memories, and stepped aside to let them go through the Floo first.

"Thank you, Kingsley," Hermione said, while Severus shook his hand.

"Anytime. I look forward to seeing you in action again." Kingsley's ear-to-ear grin accompanying those words made Severus eye the flask in his hand apprehensively. What had Hermione done to amuse an adrenaline junky like Kingsley?

* * *

Lucius shoved his plate away, the half-eaten steak and kidney pie stone cold. A Warming Charm would take care of that, but it would ruin the tender meat. Besides, he'd never been one for comfort eating.

For every step of progress made with reconciling with Draco, at least two steps back followed, if not a tumble down an entire flight of them. A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but his hopes had been so cruelly dashed. Hopes that when Draco pursued marriage, he would feel the familial bonds that tied father and son. Apparently not. At this rate, Lucius would be a grandfather before Draco decided to act as a son should.

It was enough to turn any self-respecting man to drink. But even that comfort was taken from him as Severus had not replenished the supply of Sober-Up and had the cheek to cloister himself away so that more could not be begged, borrowed or stolen. While Lucius could have gone to Diagon Alley and bought some more, the thought of that leaking out into the Prophet and the resulting public disgrace was enough to keep him sober.

What really added insult to injury was that on top of their avoidance of him, neither Severus nor Hermione had had the courtesy to let him know when they were leaving Malfoy Manor. That they had done so separately and after an interval of some hours did not soften the blow. If not for the wards notifying him, Lucius would have been left in the dark. And that was not done.

As St Mungo's seemed to cover one alphabetical group of surnames per day, Lucius would be a fool not to be able to hazard a guess where Severus might have gone six days after Lucius's own appointment. And for Severus to be this delayed, he must have been arrested.

'He'd better have been...' The thought of Severus in a cell was far more soothing for Lucius than the thought of him sending for Hermione and celebrating with a romantic meal out. Of course, that was hardly likely. Hermione had left an hour or two before dinner time.

On second thoughts, it was cause for concern if Severus was under arrest. Lucius would be next, and far worse, he had yet to extract the antidote for the sterility potion from his slippery friend. How embarrassing; he was losing his touch... A true Slytherin would have obtained such vital knowledge before even taking the potion. Now it might be too late, and he would be emasculated for the remainder of his miserable life.

"Master not liking his dinner? Should Tricksy tell Hotty and Toddy to boil their feet?" The house-elf's squeaks took a while to penetrate the gloomy cloud clinging to Lucius.

"Hmm?" She was on the verge of clicking her fingers to vanish off to oversee the punishment of the kitchen elves by the time Lucius focused on her. "No, the food was fine."

"Master wanted company? Bad Master Snape and Missy Mu...new Mistress, deserting my poor Master."

'Missy Mudblood?' Lucius gave Tricksy a sharp glance. Perhaps it had been a mistake to assign Narcissa's personal elf to Hermione... Where had the elf picked up that sort of language, anyway? Narcissa had never used such uncouth language, even if Lucius did himself...oh. Well, at least the elf apparently did know better than to actually say the word.

"Master wants pudding?" At Lucius's distracted shake of the head, Tricksy cleared the table and cracked away, with a last mutter of 'poor Master'.

How much lower could he go? Lucius Malfoy, reduced to being the object of pity from a deranged, grieving house-elf. The humiliation! He dropped his head into his hands and dragged a hand through his hair. A horrified gasp escaped him as he fingered his pride and joy. Split ends!

An estranged son, a Muggle-born bride he was far too attracted to for his own good, a jealous fellow husband, all of whom saw fit to ignore him, leave him in the dark when he might be about to lose them and now this?! It was the absolute limit.

The wards twinged as a wizard and a witch Apparated just inside the front door. So, Severus and Hermione thought they could nonchalantly return for a late dinner? They had another thing coming...

Lucius spelled the dining room door open with a resounding bang as they reached it. "Finally back, are you? You have a lot of nerve swanning back as if you owed me no explanations. I am the master of this house, how dare you..." He was just getting into his stride when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, prickling at some unconsciously perceived threat.

Severus had his arm around Hermione's waist and was poised to shield her. As if Lucius would do anything to hurt her! What sort of monster did Severus think he was? Both of them were glaring at Lucius. If looks could kill...

Severus took a threatening step forwards, face twisted with rage. Lucius braced himself for the oncoming clash of horns, only to have the wind cut out of his sails when Hermione darted between them.

"Who do you think you are?" Her shrill outburst was almost drowned out by the tortured scream of shattering glass. Lucius winced; those priceless family silver cabinets would resist a simple Reparo.

Hermione clenched her fists, breathing raggedly, her jaw tight as she clamped down on her uncontrolled outburst of wandless magic. She spoke with forced calm between clenched teeth. "I admit it might have been polite to let you know I was leaving, even why, obvious as that reason was. But that you had a right to know?"

Lucius opened his mouth to object at the implied insult in her words and tone: that he should have known, that he was a fool not to have known.

Before he could say a word, she cut him off. "I couldn't care less after this last week. Courtesy be hanged. You need to remember that you're only bound to me in name only, by your own word, before you demand anything. Or is a Malfoy's word really worth nothing after all?"

Lucius closed his mouth at the realisation that he was gaping at her. The cheek! How dare she?! Although it had to be said that her anger had really brought out some fetching colour on her cheeks. And the way those deep, unsteady breaths moved her breasts... Spitfire did not do her justice. Imagine that unleashed in the bedroom...

Lucius looked over at Severus, who stood next to Hermione, a smug smirk on his ugly mug. 'Lucky bastard.'

"Oh, I see. Because I 'avoided' you in the run up to Severus's check up, you're ignoring me now. How very mature of you," Hermione snarled.

Lucius blinked, and shifted his gaze back to goggle at her. He'd only taken his eyes off her for a moment, and she accused him of ignoring her? Women!

"I wasn't...I...you..." he spluttered.

"Is it really any surprise that I spent every minute I could with Severus? For all I knew, the Ministry were going to tear us apart."

Lucius opened his mouth to protest that she would have been torn asunder from him too, but after her reminder of his established place in their marriage, he suspected that saying as much would result in a hex.

"I was worried too, you know. You might be my wife in name only..." Severus snorted, a disbelieving sneer on his face. At least that had wiped off that infuriating smug smirk... "...but I'd like to think we are friends."

"Stellar job of showing it over the past few days," Hermione retorted, her tone so chilly that Lucius swore his breath misted the air. Her eyes shifted away, though, a tell-tale guilty twitch. Before Lucius could pursue this advantage, she carried on, the ice gone from her voice. "I suppose if this is a friendship, I haven't done too well in being true to that either."

"That goes for all of us," Severus agreed, his eyes fixed on Lucius. He was undoubtedly referring to Lucius's attempts to encroach on his territory, but Lucius didn't even twitch. It would take far more than that for his guilty conscience to stir.

"The proverbial werewolf was howling at the door," Lucius allowed, as magnanimous as only a Malfoy could be. "Now that whole nasty business is over, things can be different, perhaps?"

Severus opened his mouth, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Concerned about what Lucius meant by 'different', no doubt. Lucius suppressed a smile. Severus was much too fun to bait to stop doing that, even if due to Hermione's request he would have to be more subtle about it. Only... Lucius swallowed hard. Any urge to smile was obliterated by the bitter realisation that toying with Severus would have to be halted until that blasted antidote for the sterility potion was safely in Lucius's keeping.

Unless he could indirectly appeal to Hermione by requesting it in her presence? The smile tugged again at the corners of Lucius's mouth. That would have the added bonus of infuriating Severus...

"That reminds me, I would appreciate it if you could provide the antidote to that potion of yours, Severus."

Severus's jaw dropped. The comical slack expression didn't last long, though, and a deep scowl replaced it. "No. There are sure to be other check ups. You need to remain sterile until the law is repealed."

"Obviously!" Lucius spat before he could rein in his temper. He shot a glance at Hermione. A slight disapproving frown creased her forehead, but hopefully he hadn't scuppered his chances of gaining her sympathy. "I meant for me to have it available in the event that something happens to you. I don't want to be stuck like this forever!"

'Oops.' Judging by her pained grimace, it had not been a good idea to remind Hermione of however close she had come to losing Severus. And, indirectly, of her own infertility. That made his guilty conscience twinge. A married man should be more sensitive than that, after all.

Severus's glare was incendiary as he stepped up next to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her. "Then it would be in your best interests to stay in my good books, as the antidote has a limited shelf life and can only be brewed by someone with sufficient potions skills: not you. I'm not about to provide instructions for you to get someone else to make it for security reasons. A few hours in Ministry custody was enough; I have no desire to end up in Azkaban."

"But what if something happens to you?" Lucius winced as he saw Hermione blanch at his words. Again, insensitive of him, but that couldn't be helped. He had to get his point across!

"Tough luck," Severus sneered.

Lucius grimaced at the finality in Severus's voice. Oh yes, it had definitely been a bad idea to alienate his pet potions Master. 'But...' He looked wistfully at Hermione. 'But worth it.'

Severus grunted. Lucius's eyes were drawn to the movement of Hermione's arm as she retracted her elbow from his ribs. Lucius gave her a quizzical look. Much as he thought Severus deserved it, he was under the impression that was the minority opinion in their household.

"Behave," she muttered on the edge of Lucius's hearing, before raising her voice to a more audible level. "Just in case anything..." Hermione paused, finding Severus's hand and gripping it tightly. "In case anything happened to you, perhaps you could teach me. I know it's not ideal...something could just as easily happen to me, but it would give Lucius some peace of mind."

"Perhaps. Unlike Lucius, you had some aptitude for Potions at Hogwarts."

Well, that was better than nothing. His eggs were still in one basket, but now there was actually a chance that he'd be able to charm the information out of Hermione. And on the bright side, he would be at liberty to antagonise Severus... so long as Hermione was unaware. Hufflepuff tendencies Severus was developing aside, he wouldn't snitch: it would upset her.

'Win-win.'

* * *

Severus levered himself up out of the Pensieve, Lucius close behind him. Potter was definitely more innocent in their absurd escapades than Severus had thought.

Sitting down to a late dinner, the bottled memory in his pocket had poked him. An uncomfortable reminder, but it had served to ensure that he didn't forget Kingsley's gift. Hermione ducked their questions about it and ate her meal in silence before she escaped to wash her hair. The flush in her cheeks made him eye the glowing silver bottle with even more apprehension. With good reason, as it turned out.

Scratch worrying about her ending up under arrest next time. After seeing her literally breaking into Kingsley's office and threatening Fudge, she might be safer if she was locked up. It'd keep her out of making more trouble for herself, that was for sure. True, other than his place in the Wizengamot, Fudge was not much of a power these days. His recent marriage to the disgraced Umbridge only cemented that. But some of his friends were more dangerous: Hermione had made some powerful enemies that she'd really be better off without.

"Magnificent." Lucius's whisper drew Severus's attention.

'Fuck.' Severus's mood darkened further at witnessing the all-too-familiar expression on Lucius's face: lust-struck admiration. The same expression as when Narcissa had been playing hard-to-get at Hogwarts so long ago, and in more recent years when Lucius pursued his latest flavour of the month.

Kingsley had done Severus no favours with this 'gift'. Now that Lucius knew more of what Hermione was capable of, he would only want her even more: she was more of a challenge to him now. The only bonus was that Lucius should respect her more, perhaps finally as an equal.

And to think that he'd hoped that he would have less on his mind after his release from the Ministry cells. Now the fear that the powers that be would tear them apart was gone, he had Lucius-the-lusty to worry about more. There was also Hermione's reaction to Andromeda in the first Pensieve memory.

On second thoughts, perhaps that was actually a weight off his mind. While Hermione fainting was hardly something he liked to see, at least it allayed his unease. Those horrible suspicions he'd had...that Hermione had voice...after what the Dark atmosphere of Malfoy Manor had done to her, that it was something to do with the plague. That it was a sign that the plague was merely dormant, not cured. Jumping to conclusions, perhaps, but Hermione had been in places with Dark auras before the plague with no consequences. After the fall of the Dark L...Voldemort, it had taken curse breakers weeks to remove the taint of his malevolent presence from the great hall at Hogwarts.

That the sight of Andromeda was enough to trigger a flashback to Hermione's torture at the hands of Bellatrix, in the same way that the Dark atmosphere of Malfoy Manor had before the curse breaking, was a reassuring thing. It gave Severus hope that her reaction to the Dark atmosphere was merely a rare quirk accompanying the more usual post-Cruciatus trauma.

The door to Lucius's study creaked open, pulling Severus from his thoughts. Hermione padded inside, her fingers fiddling nervously with the tie of her dressing gown.

Severus drew breath to give her the admonishment she was undoubtedly expecting, that she needed to be more careful, that she'd made enemies and harmed her cause to overturn the law.

Only for him to nick his tongue as he ground his teeth in frustration at Lucius's flamboyant bow, and at the flattering words that followed.

"Most impressive, my dear. Your handling of Fudge was simply delightful."

Hermione grimaced. "I may have overreacted." Well, at least she seemed to know better, that she had messed up her future negotiations with at least Fudge's clique in the Wizengamot.

"Perhaps, but there are two ways to gain cooperation. To be loved and to be feared. All is not lost."

Surprisingly sage advice from Lucius. Fear had given Severus control over a classroom of incompetent children for twenty years, so it might also give Hermione a similar hold over certain overgrown children among the Wizengamot.

"Ron always did say I was scary," Hermione muttered.

Severus eyed the swirling silver memories in Lucius's Pensieve. 'For once, Weasley, I'm inclined to agree.' Yet what scared Severus more was Hermione's talent for getting into serious trouble. If he went prematurely grey, he would know why.

* * *

AN: Thanks to Kribu and Septentrion for betaing, and to JunoMagic for naming the kitchen elves.