Lucius resisted the urge to snap at the auror across from him, taking notes in a small notebook. Instead, he took a long, deep breath through his nose. Losing his head wouldn’t do Hermione any favors, and Matteo Romero was a name he knew from years of Draco and Pansy’s excessively long conversations of how to best position herself to catch the Longbottom boy’s attention. Matteo had been his partner before he’d left to teach at Hogwarts.
“No. Undersecretary Granger has not used magic against me.” The auror arched his brow at him, and Lucius quickly amended. “Outside of war and justified uses. Nothing since being reintroduced over the last eighteen months. She has never to my knowledge even cast an Unforgivable Curse. I would be willing to swear as such under the effects of veratiserum if that’s what it takes,” Lucius ground out.
Auror Romero shot him a look. “That won’t be necessary, Mr Malfoy.”
“Then what else is there to say? I’m obviously not under the influence of the Imperious Curse, nor is there any evidence against Hermione.”
Auror Romero sighed, setting his notebook aside and swore softly in Spanish. “Mr Malfoy, may I be frank for a moment?”
Lucius again stifled his impatience and waved a hand, motioning for the younger man to continue.
“I have worked with Undersecretary Granger for several years now. Even if I hadn’t, I know her reputation. Chief Potter speaks more highly of her than anyone else on the planet, which is saying something since he tripped over Nott.”
Lucius allowed his lips to twitch at that. He’d seen it first hand, after all.
“Look. She wouldn’t be asleep in your study if she didn’t trust you.” Romero glanced back at the door separating them from the rest of the DMLE, and lowered his voice further. “Undersecretary Olgivy knows just as well and you and I do that he has nothing to stand on, but he’s trying to shake her confidence.”
“He underestimates her,” Lucius breathed, understanding dawning on him.
“Thank you for your time, Mr Malfoy,” Romero said, returning to his normal volume and standing. Lucius followed his lead, pasting a cool mask over his features. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll walk you out.” Lucius chose not to point out that he was intimately familiar with the DMLE after the last several years, and could have found his way out with his eyes closed. Instead he followed the auror, emerging into the lobby to find Severus and Potter locked in a near-silent argument in the corner.
Severus glanced up, making eye contact with Lucius briefly before continuing with Potter. They would speak privately. Which left him with a heart wrenching decision to leave and wait for one or both of them to return to the manor, or to hover and potentially make a scene where he shouldn’t. He was still deliberating when the doors were flung open, and the human equivalent of a wrecking ball stormed through.
“MATTEO ROMERO,” Pansy Longbottom nee Parkinson screeched. “DO NOT MAKE ME BRING MARIANA DOWN HERE—“
A taller figure scrambled in after her, but Lucius was closer. Stepping forward and locking his arms around her, Lucius kept her from lunging at the auror. She’d always been too hot headed for her own good, even as a child.
“Steady, Pansy.” She struggled against his hold, but Neville was only a step behind and knocked them both over in his haste to catch up with her. The three hit the floor with a sickening thud, and Lucius’s vision blurred.
Someone swore loudly, and colours blurred as he groaned, trying to gather his wits. He tried to roll, but someone was on his cloak and he could feel others moving around. Lucius was wrenched upwards, and he staggered, even as Severus set him on his feet. Potter had hauled Longbottom to his feet as well, and Romero was helping Pansy to her feet. Several other aurors were looking on nervously, but none of them drew closer.
“What are you thinking,” Pansy hissed at the auror helping her from the floor. “This is Hermione Fucking Granger!”
“Petal he’s just doing his job,” Longbottom gasped, the collision obviously leaving him as breathless as it had left Lucius. Though Longbottom was at least standing on his own, rather than leaning on Potter as Lucius was leaning on Severus.
“And this is the one woman in the fucking country that is more respected than the fucking queen,” she hissed back.
“How did you even—“ Potter was looking confusedly between them, until another auror escorted Draco through the same door that Pansy had just blown through.
Draco looked between Lucius, still clinging to Severus’s arm, and the others, Pansy ranting all the while and Longbottom failing spectacularly to rein her in. He sighed heavily.
“Potter, if you wanted us to wait until you weren’t working, you hardly had to cook up this crock of shite.” He crossed his arms in a distinctively petulant manner. “Bringing father and Severus into it was hardly necessary.”
“I didn’t—“
“What are you—“
“Draco, I swear—“
“SILENCE.” Severus glared at everyone that had begun to speak at once, though only Longbottom sank back as they went quiet. “Draco, this isn’t a fucking prank and has nothing to do with your little dinner party and everything to do with the worthless flobberworm that is Undersecretary Olgivy trying to discredit Hermione. If you are not here to help, get out.”
Lucius could practically feel the ice radiating from Severus, and several of the aurors, no doubt previous students of his, shuffled away from the waiting area.
Draco blinked rapidly, and then wheeled on Potter. “What the hell are you doing here? Why didn’t you call Theo—“
“I just got here!” Potter gestured to the clock on the wall behind him. “I was with the Minister—“
“Draco.” Lucius managed a cutting tone that silenced his son instantly. “Severus will handle it. If you’ve been asked for a statement, give it and get out.” Draco seethed at his tone, but finally nodded.
Lucius released Severus, and straightened his robes with a flick of his wrist. Taking a full breath ached, but he was determined not to show it. “Pansy, I’m sure you mean well, but pull it together.”
Longbottom bristled, but stayed quiet as Pansy huffed, but settled back onto her heels, glaring at Auror Romero as if he’d personally offended her for even being present.
“Severus, please let me know if I can any way assist in Miss Granger’s case.” He shot a pointed look at his son, who blushed slightly, realizing he’d nearly outed them to the whole DMLE. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Lucius did his best to sweep by them without another look, but he caught the expression on Potter’s face and wasn’t surprised when he caught up with him outside of the lifts. Lucius didn’t look at him, instead watching the numbers tick up as he watched the lift descend past them.
“Why are you trying to help her?” The question may have been insulting, but Lucius couldn’t show it. It was bad enough she’d been arrested after being woken up in his personal study.
He took a breath, ribs aching from where he’d hit the marble floor. “She means the world to Severus, and he is one of the few friends I have remaining in this world. She’s been nothing but kind when I do not deserve her grace.” The words were true enough, even if they lacked the main reason he’d protect her with his life.
He loved the witch. He loved her and he’d be damned if he let someone as slimy as Simon Olgivy use him to hurt her. If this was their trial by fire, Lucius would die before he let her burn.
Potter eyed him, but stepped back when the lift arrived. “Thank you, Mr Malfoy. I’ll do what I can.” The doors closed, though it still felt as if his eyes burned into Lucius’s soul.
By the time he was stepping back into his study, the anger and frustration in his chest had swelled to a crescendo. His hands shook as he poured a glass of Ogden’s Best and sank into the same spot Hermione had been asleep in just hours before. Downing the liquor in one, he set the glass aside and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes.
Logically, he knew that she had the whole of the wizarding community behind her, not least of which included heroes Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom. That wasn’t even to begin with the sway Severus himself held. She didn’t need him and what little power he possessed to save her. If anything, he’d be able to finance the best barrister gold could buy, but if he was honest with himself, that was Theodore Nott, and he’d sweep in at Potter’s request, not Lucius’s. He could see a thousand different ways that threatening the worm that was Olgivy could go wrong and land them all in a worse spot than they were already in. Blackmail was therefore out of the question.
If only she’d shared with her friends the nature of their relationship. Potter knew she trusted him, but how far did that really go, when it was Severus they all thought she was smitten by? Auror Romero had suspected, he had no doubt, but Lucius was grateful for his discrete efforts to reassure him regardless.
It was getting late, but the late summer sun still lingered, glowing through the high windows behind his desk. Maybe he should have been doing something useful, rather than sitting and letting his mind go wild, but he couldn’t force himself up, no matter how hard he tried. Even summoning the bottle of Ogden’s was a lesson in humility, and by the time Severus darkened the doorway, it was almost gone and Lucius was thoroughly numbed.
“You’re drunk.” It wasn’t a question or even an admonishment. It was simply a statement, to which Lucius raised the nearly empty bottle in confirmation. Severus took it from him, wrapping his lips around the neck of the bottle and finished it off, before tossing it in an empty chair and collapsing into the space of empty sofa beside Lucius.
“Did they let her go?” Lucius had long ago perfected the art of speaking coherently with enough alcohol in him to kill a small horse, though he didn’t know why he bothered with Severus.
The man beside him heaved a heavy sigh, the same weight Lucius felt apparent in the rush of breath. “Yes. It was painfully clear that the claims were unfounded.”
“But she didn’t come home.” Again, not a question or an admonishment.
“No.”
“Potter?”
“Longbottom, oddly enough. Even with Parkinson still seething.”
“Neither of them work for the Ministry any longer.”
Severus tipped his head back over the top of the sofa, eyes flicking across the ceiling as if trying to catch some unseen line of text just out of reach. “No, they don’t. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Also Longbottom would probably blast you to Australia rather than let you in his house.”
Severus, ever the bastard, snickered. “Probably true, though that I had already thought of.”
“Did you try?”
“Obviously not. Despite previous circumstances, I do not have a death wish.” “Because of Hermione” went unsaid, but Lucius could feel the words hovering in the air between them.
“Do you think she’ll come back this time?” Lucius let his head fall back as well, chasing the crown mouldings around the ceiling as they spun above him.
There was that sigh again. “I hope so.”
At some point after the sky had finally darkened completely, Severus hauled Lucius to his feet for the second time that night, but this time helped him to bed. He wanted to tell Severus to stay, but couldn’t get the words to come out, even as he disappeared like a shadow, leaving Lucius alone in bed for the first time in months.
Lucius woke with the sun, despite the late night and liquor. He lay in bed for a short time, before making up his mind and setting out.
It wasn’t until he was rapping on the door that he wondered if this was a terrible idea, but it was too late because he could hear movement behind the door, and a dog barked once. There was a muffled curse, and then the door was swinging open, a sleep-disheveled and shirtless Neville Longbottom holding a ruby coloured Calvelier King Charles Spaniel under one arm.
His look of confusion quickly morphed into one of irritation, and then resignation. “Hermione—“
“I’m here to speak to your wife.” Lucius cut him off, afraid that if he continued, Lucius would lose the tenuous hold he had on his still half-drunken emotions.
“It’s four in the bloody morning,” Longbottom cursed, but stepped aside regardless. “If she hexes you, it’s not my fault and don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Lucius stepped inside the cozy home, and spotted a large watercolour on one wall that had to have been done by Pansy. Longbottom motioned to a plush-looking sofa near the painting, and disappeared up the staircase.
Several long minutes later, Pansy appeared. Her normally sleek, ink black hair was ruffled, and she clutched what appeared to be one of Longbottom’s shirts around her. “What the fuck are you doing here at 4 am on a Saturday morning, Lucius?”
He had to resist the urge to correct her language, reminding himself that she was no longer the small child causing chaos and mayhem with Draco in the conservatory.
“I apologize I didn’t realize the hour,” he lied carefully, which based on the look she gave him, Pansy didn’t believe in the slightest. “But I have a delicate matter that I hope you’ll be willing to assist—“
“Cut the crap. We know you’re sleeping with Hermione and have been since nearly the time she got with Severus. Draco about had an aneurism about it. If you want to talk to her, stop pussyfooting around and say it.” Pansy was glaring at him, and Lucius let his shoulders slump.
“If you could just give this to her.” He extended a sealed envelope to her, but the witch just continued to glare at him.
“You did not wake Neville and me up at four in the bloody morning to have me play owl.” He slowly lowered the envelope, setting it carefully on the arm of the nearest chair.
“If you have something to say, I’d rather you just said it.” Lucius whirled, the room spinning around him, aided by the dregs of alcohol still in his blood. Hermione stood in the doorway, cradling the dog that Longbottom had been holding before.
“Hermione I—“
He stopped, noting the dark circles under her eyes, darkened further where her mascara had run. He hated knowing she’d been crying, and she hadn’t been at home where he and Severus could have cared for her.
“You….?” She prompted, remaining in the door, the dog nuzzling her hand insistently.
“Olgivy is trying to shake your confidence. Undermine you. He has nothing, but if you feel you need to distance yourself—“
“Fucking hell. I know Draco gets his inordinately thick skull from you, but can you please get with the fucking program before you do something stupid?” Pansy huffed, arms still crossed tightly across the oversized shirt she wore. “She thought you’d be furious that you got dragged in like a criminal, Lucius.”
Hermione’s eyes were downcast, and Lucius blinked several times, attempting to make sense of Pansy’s admonishment.
“Pansy,” Longbottom hissed from somewhere behind Hermione, but Pansy didn’t even blink. The dog in Hermione’s arms wriggled, whining softly, and Hermione placed it gently on the floor. It immediately came towards Lucius, sniffing curiously at his robes, until he dropped to one knee, allowing it to sniff his hand. “Ivy!” This time Longbottom came into view, peering over Hermione’s head.
“Oh she’s fine,” Pansy waved her husband off.
The dog, Ivy, nudged Lucius’s hand with her wet nose. Standing on her back legs to brace her front feet on his knee, she took the scratches Lucius offered happily.
“Good girl,” he said softly, and looked back to Hermione, but caught Longbottom’s look of bewilderment. Keeping one hand in Ivy’s silky fur, Lucius averted his eyes. He knew very well what Longbottom thought of him, but he was Hermione’s friend, and was obviously man enough to win Pansy over.
Hermione drew closer until her pink-painted toenails were almost close enough to brush Ivy’s tail.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
Lucius looked up from where he knelt on the rug just in time to see Pansy pushing Longbottom out of the room. He reached for Hermione’s hand, and she let him take it. Her cool fingers felt comfortably familiar, and he squeezed gently.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Princess.”
Her lip trembled and tears sparkled in her whiskey-coloured eyes. “I didn’t want—“
“I know.” Lucius stood, his knees burning. Ivy immediately wound around their feet, sniffing and nudging as she went. “But it’s not your fault, and I’d never blame you. If walking in there and sitting down with every single Auror is what it took, I’d do it for you. But I meant what I said. If you think it would be better to distance—
“I don’t want that!” Exasperation edged her voice, and she squeezed his hand almost painfully.
“Then come home. Come home and we can decide how to move forward.” Lucius drew her closer until she settled against his chest, wrapping an arm around him, their hands trapped between them. He could smell her hair and several muscles in his back and shoulders relaxed as she melted against him, where she belonged.