Eleven

Disclaimer: The ownership hasn't changed; if you recognise it, it belongs to JKR. If you don't, it likely belongs to me. Wild theories of the earth being hollow abound. Blame it on Admiral Byrd if you like. No paper was wasted, but the electrons in the computer are still mightily miffed.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks at the door to the living room. A lion-shaped, larger-than-life Patronus sprinted past her before dissolving as Lucius exclaimed, "Yes! I did it!"

Her eyes widened as he looked at her with an expression of smugness mixed with pride...and eyes that shone bright with accomplishment. Hermione's legs carried her to him out of their own accord. "You cast a Patronus? For the first time?" She walked readily into his open, inviting arms.

"I did." He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "Hermione. I'm not a Death Eater anymore. I really am not a Death Eater." His eyes conveyed triumph.

"Of course you're not. You haven't been in a long time, Lucius, and I doubt your heart was ever fully in it," she said softly, vividly remembering a much younger but far more worn Lucius at the end of Voldemort's reign.

His mouth crashed down on hers, and he kissed her greedily. Then he abruptly stopped. "Would you consider it bad form if I told you I'm madly in love with you?"

Hermione frowned. Then she failed to suppress a giggle. "I'd consider it... maybe not typical for you, love, but surely not bad form. Since I'm madly in love with you, I don't see anything whatsoever wrong with you feeling the same way." That he worried over his impeccable manners even when it came to matters of love amused her greatly.

"Oh, good!" He sounded relieved. "I don't see what's not typical for me, but as long as you don't think it's bad form..."

He lifted Hermione effortlessly and carried her to the bedroom. Then, placing her gently on the bed, he murmured, "Accio champagne," conjured two flutes, and opened the bottle in mid-air. "I think we have reason to celebrate..."

He joined her on the bed, handing one glass to her. They sipped champagne in silence until Lucius's hand cupped her chin. Then slowly, it moved downward, caressing her neck, her left shoulder, her right shoulder, then coming to rest on her breast for a moment.

He put his glass down, mumbling, "I bet this will taste even better," and flicked his tongue over her erect nipple. "Mmh, yes," he growled lowly before turning his attention back to tasting her skin.

Hermione barely managed to put her glass down and sighed in anticipation of more pleasure. The talent of his hands and mouth never ceased to amaze her, and she idly wondered if she'd still feel this way in ten or twenty years. His hair fell over his face, tickling the sensitive skin of her breasts. She tangled her hands in his hair and sighed again contentedly, revelling in the exquisite texture of his silken hair between her fingers.

"So beautiful," he breathed and lifted his head to capture her mouth in another kiss. Tongues savoured each other's taste, explored one another, stroked against each other.

Then, feathery kisses made their way back to her breast, first one, then the other, making her writhe with pleasure. His mouth slowly moved downward, placing more light flicks and kisses down her ribs, her stomach, until it came to a brief halt at her centre, his hands now busy flicking her nipples and rubbing his thumb over one, then the other.

The sensation of his tongue flicking lightly over the front of her centre broke loose the sensation of completion deep inside. Anticipating, her hips arched upward, causing him to growl.

"Yes..." Her body arched further toward him until his fingers delved into her, shattering her entirely, barely aware that her body was welcoming his quick entrance only moments before he spilled himself within her.

The shift in energy was subtle. So subtle, it nearly escaped both of them. As Hermione snuggled against Lucius, she realised it was the same perception she'd had after they'd made love on the beach weeks ago. "Lucius... did you feel it?"

"Hm... Now that you ask... it was like that time on the beach..." He turned to look at her. "I wonder what will happen now. Did you concentrate on any goal?"

Hermione looked away. "N...no. I didn't."

Lucius grinned. "It's okay, love. Sometimes it is necessary to focus on pleasure alone." Then his face turned serious. "I asked because the last time it happened, we were both making a conscious effort to concentrate on a goal, and this time, neither of us did, and yet, the shift in energy happened. At least that's what we both thought."

Hermione thought for a moment. "I wonder if it's my subconscious... our subconscious."

"What do you mean?" Lucius frowned.

"Well... I was rather worked up over Edwina visiting my office." Talking of the Wilson witch reminded her of a more important issue. "Oh! how did you find out?"

Lucius smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, you tease!"

Still smirking, Lucius said, "Draco informed me."

"Draco?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Well, you see... He's no longer Potter's enemy. In fact, they've become rather friendly, and when Potter complained about some new control measures the Ministry had imposed a couple of weeks ago, Draco offered to put a tracking charm on Edwina Wilson, who is presently the prime suspect of this entire control issue...we're not the only ones suspicious of her. Draco's business deals with both Muggle and wizarding security, so it was rather easy for him to put the tracking charm on her unnoticed."

"Oh... I see." Hermione had known that Harry and Draco had become quite friendly over the years, meeting occasionally for a pint at the Leaky Cauldron, but she'd had no idea that Draco would involve himself in politics. It suddenly dawned on her that he was, indeed, his father's son, and she couldn't help but grin at the realisation.

"What's funny?" Lucius promptly asked.

"Oh, it's just... Draco is far more like you than I realised."

"You must understand that having spent years as a follower of the Dark Lord has made us not only allergic to any form of outside control but also fine-tuned us to recognise it from miles away. That goes for Draco, who spent at least part of his teen years with the excessive control the Dark Lord exercised over us, my family more so than anyone else, as much as for myself, Hermione," Lucius said.

He had a point, Hermione admitted. "I understand," she said quietly.

Lucius locked eyes with her. "Now, do tell, what about your subconscious?"

Hermione blinked, and it took her a moment to realise what he was referring to. "I was wondering if a goal now naturally makes up a part of love-making. We practised so often, with so much intensity, with so much effort, that I'd not be surprised if having that goal of freedom...true freedom...somehow subconsciously in our minds whenever we make love. Hence the energy shift." She took a deep breath and admitted, "I don't know. It was just a thought, almost fleeting, but I seem to have learned to follow my instinct more." A sudden forbearing fear washed over her, only subtly, but nevertheless noticeable. "Damn..." she muttered and nearly blushed seeing Lucius's intense expression as he watched her.

"What is it, love?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing. I just had a weird feeling that something is going to happen..."

"File it away until it returns. Let's enjoy the rest of the day."

Hermione nodded. He was right; there was no point fretting over something unknown. "So, you sent your Patronus to Severus?" she asked.

"I did indeed. It is wise to keep him up to date on any developments, and besides, he needed the information to get into your computer."

Of course. She had completely forgotten about that. Then another thought occurred to her. "Say, what proof do you have that that woman invaded my office?"

Lucius smirked slightly. "I did warn you that you might not like it, yes?" Upon Hermione's curt nod, he said, "Come. Let's go to the living room." He got up, picked up her bathrobe and tossed it at her, then put on his own and took the still half-full glass of champagne and the bottle. "Bring your glass. We might as well enjoy the rest of it."

Hermione followed him into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Lucius went to retrieve what looked like an oversized, sophisticated calculator from one of the shelves and then sat down next to her. "This," he explained smugly as he flipped open the device, "is a computer. Connected to a camera." He suddenly looked somewhat shifty, Hermione observed.

"And pray tell, Lucius, dear, where is that camera located?" It had not taken her long to put two and two together. He might be Slytherin, but she read him well.

"Ah, yes, erm, that is the part you won't like," he said, sounding sheepish.

Hermione quirked her eyebrow. "Yes?"

Lucius uttered an exaggerated sigh. "Actually, to be perfectly truthful, it was not my idea. When I went to visit Sev last summer and shared my...our...suspicions with him, and then with Lola and Karl, we brainstormed for possible solutions. Karl especially insisted we'd put some safety and security devices around you because you would eventually come to the Wilsons' attention. And make no mistake, love, they are dangerous. They have family as well as friends in the highest places, and to cover up murder means nothing to them. They wouldn't fire you, Hermione...they'd get rid of you once and for all."

"And?" Hermione prompted, ignoring the dire warning for now.

"And... so... we Apparated back to Phoenix for a night and installed a hidden camera in your office. Well, Severus did. I... made sure he did it right." Lucius nodded in confirmation.

Hermione laughed. "I'm sure you did, love." She looked at him questioningly. "So? Are you going to show me what the camera recorded?" It was impossible to be angry with him for being concerned for her safety, even if it meant an invasion of her privacy. She would not even attempt it.

Lucius tapped a few keys on the small keyboard, and the screen showed her office. For the first few seconds, her office appeared empty. The camera was obviously installed high up in a corner, covering almost the entire room, with her desk and the computer screen prominently showing. Suddenly, a woman entered and swiftly made her way to the desk. She switched on the computer, curiously looking around while waiting. She carelessly opened one drawer after another, occasionally pulling out some parchment to read. Just as the computer jumped to life, she answered her cell phone.

Lucius increased the volume on the computer.

"What is it?" Edwina appeared to listen intently and said, "Oh, really? Let me try." She punched characters into the keyboard and paled. "Fuck it, you're right. I can't get in. Let me try again." Edwina punched more characters into the keyboard, more violently this time, but the screen remained blank. "Fuck this. The bitch obviously knows a thing about computer security. Damn! What are we going to do now?"

Hermione was wide-eyed. "Lucius! What is this about? I know just about enough to password-protect my stuff, and I don't trust anyone not to hack it!"

Lucius paused the video and grinned. "When we visited, Severus made sure nobody but you can get into your computer."

Hermione groaned. "Is there anything else you might want to tell me?" Such protective measures were great, only she wondered how far this protection would lead.

"Hermione, love, look at it from a practical point of view. You wouldn't want any Wilson to know about visiting all those genealogy sites, would you?"

"No. But if I'd known those idiots can't access it, I could have saved lots of notes!"

"I'm sorry, love. Maybe I should have told you earlier. On the other hand, I wasn't sure how you'd react to it. But I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, you know?" He sounded wistful.

"Don't be sorry," Hermione whispered. "It's just... I... This is a lot to take in."

"I understand. But please know that we only had your well-being in mind," Lucius urged her.

"Yes..." That foreboding hunch hit her again. "Damn..."

"What is it?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know... I've just had another hunch of something coming up..."

"Oh, love." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "Want to see the rest of the video?"

"Yes."

Lucius pressed the pause button again, and Hermione watched and listened as Edwina used more expletives and tried more combinations to gain access to her computer. None of them worked. Then she spoke into the phone again. "I'll see what more I can extract out of my retard shag buddy. Gimme a week or so."

Hermione was unable to suppress a shudder at that. "I have no feelings left for Ron. But seriously, retard shag buddy? Poor guy..."

"Potter put a spell tracking charm on him a few weeks ago. He thinks there is something amiss currently. Draco told me." Lucius sounded tired.

Hermione looked at him and noticed his worried features. "Lucius, love, please don't think I have any feelings whatsoever for Ron. Even when we broke up, it was more hurt pride than actual love for him, beyond him being the father of my children... Fuck. There's been no owl from Rose or Hugo!" Rose and Hugo had never failed to send an owl every Monday, no matter where they were. And they were at Hogwarts right now, even less reason to not send an owl to their mother.

Lucius started. "You're right. Oh, gods, I hope the owl is simply delayed."

"They were going to tell me today about which day I was to pick them up to spend the holidays here," she whispered as that feeling of foreboding disaster washed over her again, this time much more intensely, making her shudder violently. "Oh, Lucius..."

He pulled her even closer and hugged her tightly. "It'll be okay, love. I'm sure it was just owls getting held up by weather. You know what Britain is like in winter." He did not sound entirely convincing to her, but she welcomed the feel of him around her and snuggled up closer.

They sat there, together, for some time, each thinking idle thoughts, panicking internally, pondering food, when suddenly, there was a scratching at the window.

Lucius got up and headed to the window to let the owl in, which flew immediately to Hermione.

She untied the parchment from the unknown owl with shaking hands, realising with uncanny clarity that this was what she'd been subconsciously anticipating, dreading, and tore the parchment open.

"No... No no no no no!" She let herself fall onto the floor, unable to maintain control over her senses.

Lucius hurried to her and snatched the parchment out of her hand. Reading it, he paled.

Hermione,

Ron

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.