Eight

Disclaimer: Not mine. What you recognise belongs to JKR and whoever she wants to share with. What you don't recognise likely belongs to me. No ice-shelves were melted in this adventure.

Hermione met Lucius's eyes, lost for words. Eventually, she nodded. The woman motioned for the couple to follow her. As they swept through the dining room into a corridor, Hermione muttered, "Lucius Malfoy, you better explain yourself."

Unperturbed by his lover's ire, he lightly caressed the small of her back and said in a conversational tone, "I will, love. Don't fret."

They had now reached a door. The woman opened it without entering herself and waited, nodding and smiling at Lucius and Hermione as they walked through into an obviously private dining room. Then she closed the door behind them, offering privacy.

Hermione followed Lucius to the only table, at which two handsome people...taller than anyone she'd ever seen...were sitting.

"Lucius!" Lola and Karl exclaimed as one and stood up to greet him in a manner somewhat too intimate for Hermione's liking.

Looking at the tall woman, Hermione felt suddenly inadequate. Her hair is so beautiful. She is so graceful, even though she must be near seven feet tall. Her robes are so exquisite... She resisted the urge to flee with all her might. Until Lola turned to her.

"You are Hermione." It was not a question, but Hermione nodded, completely tongue-tied as Lola's melodic voice entered her every pore. "I am Lola. This is Karl, my partner. We are dwellers of Agharta. But I am sure you know that already."

Hermione nodded again, still at a complete loss what to say, but the feeling of inadequacy turned to awe as Lola spoke, her musical voice washing over her like a symphonic masterpiece, her genuine smile never wavering.

She continued, "I have heard about you and have been looking forward to meeting you. How do you like Buenos Aires?"

Hermione smiled back, finally finding her voice. "I've not seen much, but so far, I like it very much."

Karl and Lucius had stopped conversing, and Karl approached Hermione now to gather her in what Hermione could only describe as a fierce hug, although considerably gentler than the bone-crushing ones Hagrid used to bestow on her. "It is so good to meet you, Hermione Granger," he said, and Hermione had to look up to meet his eyes. They were a deep greenish blue, reminding her of the ocean on a perfect summer day.

"I'm pleased to meet you, too," she said and, with a swift glare at Lucius, added, "even though it's entirely unexpected."

Her words elicited deep chuckles of amusement from both Lola and Karl. Lucius failed his attempt at an innocent expression in a most spectacular fashion.

They all sat down, Hermione and Lucius opposite Lola and Karl, and Karl filled the newcomers' glasses with a dark, red liquid. "Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza," Karl declared, sounding very content.

Lucius smirked. "Do I detect Sev's influence here?" he asked amusedly.

Lola laughed. "I think you might, Lucius!"

"How is he?" Lucius inquired. "I sent a message for him through Pedro earlier."

"He is doing well. I spoke to him this morning and asked him to join us. He might change his mind now that he has heard from you directly," Karl said and offered another smile that would make its recipient forget any woes, Hermione thought, her initial discontent entirely forgotten.

It was, all in all, a highly enjoyable evening. The company turned out to be excellent. Both Karl and Lola displayed fierce intelligence and, despite their isolated lives beneath the earth, were very much aware of the politics and control issues in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds.

"I suspect the Wilson Clan has been trying for a long, long time to find a way of controlling the wizarding world," Karl said.

Hermione readily agreed. "Considering how at least one Wilson in each generation married a witch or wizard over the past few hundred years, yes."

"And if you look at the genealogy of American presidents as well as the Royal families in Europe, you'll find plenty of evidence how the Wilsons are connected to those in power, even though they prefer to operate far behind the scenes," Lola added.

"That knowledge might be useful, but how are we going to stop them?" Lucius asked curiously.

Lola and Karl smiled. "We've been working on a plan with Severus. Our conclusion is that we beat them with their own weapons," Karl said.

Hermione felt lost. "How so?"

Karl grinned. "All people in power, be it in the wizarding or Muggle world, are corrupted and have something they don't want to become common knowledge. Essentially, we'll start by finding the dirt on them and... help make it public." He nodded in emphasis of his words.

Hermione drew a deep breath. "That is one huge task."

"Oh, it is, but it is doable," Lola said and, seeing Hermione's questioning glance, explained, "You see, power itself is neutral. However, power gained for personal greed is negative. And all negative energy will self-destroy. Sometimes within minutes of its creation, other times it'll take an aeon. But its self-destruction is inevitable."

"Our aim is to... accelerate this self-destruction of the negative. We do not like to interfere with your worlds, but your actions...or rather those of the ones in power...do not leave us much choice, as we are as keen to survive as they are," Karl added.

Lucius nodded slowly. "I understand your rivers and oceans are beginning to show signs of pollution."

"There is that," Karl said. "But also, from Galileo's discovery that the earth is not flat until a little over a hundred years ago, the existence of our race, living inside the hollow earth was fairly common knowledge amongst the more educated people. It is the reason why the Germans explored first Tibet and then Antarctica in the 1930s. They even found entrances to our lands, and some returned at the end of World War II. The American government suspected that and sent General Byrd out. The German survivors did not like being messed with, so Byrd's mission became an epic, if secret, failure, which led to the Americans installing McMurdo base. To the outside world, it is a science project to learn more about the least discovered continent. In reality, it exists to stop any human from finding the largest entrance to our world. The Muggle governments do not wish for the masses to know that life can be lived in perfect peace here on earth. Or rather, inside earth, as they make sure it is not possible to do so on the surface."

It was much for Hermione to take in, and she made no attempt to comprehend everything Karl had said immediately. "Are you saying Muggle history books lie?" she asked eventually.

Lucius snorted inelegantly, but Lola held her hand up to stop him speaking. "In the third dimension, where greed is so evident, history is always written by the victors. So you'll always have a one-sided account of events. Add to that the compartmentalisation of every governmental department, and you can imagine how history is written."

Hermione glared at Lucius. "You can snort all you want at Muggles, dear, but surely you're not so blind as to see that the same has been happening in the wizarding world." She quirked her eyebrow at him, entirely unaware of the resemblance of Lucius's own mannerisms.

Lucius smirked. "True enough. Twenty years ago, everyone would have laughed at the suggestion of new Death Eaters being around. Ten years ago, the idea was very slowly, gently almost, introduced, and now we need damn identification to travel by Portkey. All under the premise that it stops Death Eaters from causing havoc when in reality it's probably all fabricated in order to hold control over the population."

"Oh, that does carry a Wilson's signature! Doing everything in the most clandestine manner, and by the time people realise, it's too late, and they're trapped," Karl said, and Lola nodded in agreement.

A thought entered Hermione's mind. "And where does the sex magick come in?" she asked bluntly.

Lucius chuckled. "Ever the Gryffindor."

Hermione shrugged. "I was under the impression that it's important," she said defensively.

Lola smiled. "It is certainly a very valid question, Hermione. Sex magick does several things: First of all, it grounds the energy in this reality that is necessary for creating a peaceful world without anyone taking control."

Hermione nodded, and Lola continued. "Furthermore, a small group of Muggles uses sex magick for their own ends. We need to neutralise this effect, and the best way to do so is with the same method: sex magick. And then, finally, we'll utilise this form of magick to actually create a peaceful, control-free world."

Hermione took a deep breath. "That's... that's one huge undertaking," she said.

The tall couple smiled. "You are not alone, never forget that," Karl said softly, and Lucius put his hand on her arm.

"You have me, love." Then he smirked and added, "And I'd say practising sex magick is splendid fun, too!"

Hermione half-heartedly rolled her eyes at him, eliciting laughter from everyone present.

"But can we do this? How can one couple succeed? How can one couple save the world?"

"Oh, no, it won't be just the two of you!"

Hermione was horrified for a moment, her mind suddenly filled with images of massive orgies, until Karl continued. "We have 400 thousand couples who are not only willing to engage in this project but also know the energy involved...from a spiritual point of view...much better than either of you do. No disrespect."

Hermione smiled uncertainly. "It's all right." Just the assurance that she and Lucius weren't alone...and no expectation of engaging in mass orgies...in this project took a rather large weight off her.

"Keep in mind, though, that the two of you are the ones to ensure the energy is grounded in this reality," Karl said, making Hermione instantly doubt herself again.

"And just the two of us are sufficient for this?"

"Well, we'll just have to see." Lola sounded evasive, and Hermione had the distinct feeling the tall woman knew more than she let on. She looked at her, but Lola held her eyes until Hermione could not help but look elsewhere.

As the evening wore on, talk turned to less intense subjects and more idle until Hermione was unable to suppress a yawn.

"You must be tired. No wonder, I find new places are always tiring," Lola replied to her apology. "If it's fine with you, how about meeting for tomorrow's dinner?"

Karl wrote down the address of another restaurant for Lucius, and then all said their good-byes. Lucius and Hermione Apparated straight to their hotel room from the restaurant's front garden, the mural that had grabbed their attention upon arrival completely forgotten now.

Hermione fleetingly thought of taking Lucius to task over omitting to tell her about meeting the couple from Agharta beforehand, but she felt too tired and too content to argue. It had been a wonderful evening, after all, and she wanted to treasure the fond memories.

An owl scratching against the window woke Hermione up early in the morning. She watched lazily as Lucius got out of bed to open the window. A cold drop of rain hit her square in the face. "Oh, I love Buenos Aires! It even rains here!"

Lucius smirked and held out his hand briefly. "Here, love, have some rain." He splashed a few drops on her face, making her shriek, then untied the parchment as the owl flew out of the window. Lucius laughed, threw the parchment on the bed, and headed for the door.

If you're decent, kindly open the door! Hermione read, and her eyes followed Lucius's form.

He opened the door. "Have you ever known me to be decent?"

"Hello to you, too, old man!"

Hermione's eyes widened. Despite not having heard it in over twenty years, she would have recognised that voice anywhere. Her next thought dealt with the fact that Severus Snape did not look even one year older than she remembered him. Next, she realised that she was in bed, as stark-naked as Lucius, and as unembarrassed. That thought was quickly forgotten as she watched the two men uninhibitedly engaging in a snogging session.

The sight of her lover kissing a man mesmerised her, wiping any coherent thought from her mind. She never noticed the sparks flying from her fingertips or the fact that the blanket had slid off her naked form, nor did she realise that the men had stopped kissing now and, instead, regarded her with open curiosity and some satisfaction.

"Hermione..."

"Miss Granger. Your magic is working well. Or would that be magick?" Snape's smirk was very much like Lucius's, Hermione thought.

"What... what happened?" she asked when she finally found her voice.

"Your magic flared, love, is all," Lucius said lightly.

"Flared?"

Both men chuckled. "Yes, indeed. It's a rare sight these days, with so many restrictions in place," Snape said, still regarding her curiously, but without any typical male, predatory look, despite the fact that her body was exposed from her torso up.

Hermione hurried to cover herself, causing Lucius to laugh.

"Oh, love, no need to be modest," he said. "Severus and I share most secrets if not all, and he's had his fair share of my enthusiastic descriptions where your body is concerned. Your mind as well!"

Hermione felt herself blush. Before she could say something, Snape came to her rescue.

"I hear you're in need of someone to hack computers, Miss Granger."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Yes..."

"Always business before pleasure," Lucius grumbled.

"Why, yes, Lucius, old man. It makes the pleasure afterwards far more... pleasurable." Snape quirked his eyebrow at Lucius.

Hermione could not help but laugh. Snape sounded so like... Snape. Lucius was barely six years his senior, but only Snape would get away with calling him old.

"You can hack computers?" she asked incredulously. Not enough that he had risen from the dead, but he hacked computers, too.

Snape smirked. "I can. I even will, provided it's for a good cause."

She grinned and sought Lucius's eyes. "You knew, didn't you?"

Lucius smirked. "I did." Then his face turned serious. "But would you have believed me if I'd told you who I had in mind?"

"Probably not," Hermione admitted. "I'm game." Turning to Snape, she asked, "What information do you need?"

"Passwords would be a good start."

"Mine?" she asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

"No, I'm not interested in yours, dear. And I guess you don't have any of the Wilsons' passwords."

"No, I don't." She felt silly.

"No worries. I'll give you my computer's ISP and you can ping it when you get back to work. We'll take it from there. Oh, give me an idea what folder you keep the Wilson chronicles in."

She shared her information, and then, Lucius asked, "How about breakfast? I know it's still fairly early, but we're all up, and I'm hungry."

The prospect of breakfast somehow made Hermione forget that she would have to get to the bathroom within Snape's sight. I'm not a prude, and no doubt he's seen a naked woman before... she thought to herself, slid the blanket off and got up, avoiding both Lucius's and Snape's eyes as she headed for the bathroom.

A/N: For details of the prompt, please see chapter 1.

Grateful thanks go to southernwitch69 for making this more readable. For correct writing, thank her. For mistakes, blame me.