Lies, Buried and Bound - A Dramione Story

Part Twenty-Five

"Oh no..." Draco muttered.

Lucius Malfoy was positively fuming and a tiny human was clinging to his boot like a mini shadow.

Hermione gulped nervously, the tears springing up at the front of her vision.

Ron leaned into Harry. "If we play dead, do you think he might ignore us?"

"It's not worth all that movement. I think we've been spotted."

While the Gryffindors were not necessarily afraid of Lucius Malfoy, it was his unpredictable reaction that kept them rooted in their seats. The logic was as simple as understanding a wild creature. A beast, magical or otherwise, is only as dangerous as its unpredictable behaviour. Although little news had come from the Malfoy Manor in recent years, the Malfoy patriarch was reported to be docile and primarily passive. But this was entirely new territory.

Lucius's distaste for the situation was thick and palpable. "Granger, come. take. your. foolish. child. off. my. foot."

Narcissa came hustling in. "I'm so sorry, Miss Granger. Charlotte slipped my chaperonage and managed to locate my husband."

"I don't blame you, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione replied. "It seems to happen to everyone these days."

She acted and attempted to coax her daughter off the man's leg. "Charlotte, darling, we need to give Mr. Malfoy the mobility of his leg now."

"He's a master!" she cried happily.

"Yes, I know. He's the master of this house, and right now, the master needs his foot back."

"Did you know Master is not a lady?"

Everyone fell into unbridled laughter at Lucius' expense. Even Draco and Hermione had to stuff a hand over their mouths.

"Charlotte," she said, composing herself again, "I want to tell you something. But you have to release the master and sit with me nicely on the loveseat. Deal?"

"Okay!" Charlotte stood up from the floor, having been dragged across the tiled floor across the Manor for a "ride." Truthfully, Lucius Malfoy was impressed by her impeccable iron grip. He had no doubt in his mind she'd do well in Quidditch.

"Good day!" Spinning his short cloak behind him, he began to strut out of the library.

"Lucius, please!" Narcissa simply addressed the others. "I'll go talk to him."

After her departure, everyone sat in silence.

"So I take it Mr. Malfoy knows?" Hermione said carefully.

"It would seem that way."

Charlotte kicked her feet, boredom claiming her until someone remembered that she was clueless and deserved an explanation. But alas, no one came forward. "Mummy, what's going on?"

"Why don't you come sit on the loveseat with me, darling."

Harry sat back in undiluted observation. Charlotte seemed to have excellent instincts and could read people very well. So if she deemed Lucius Malfoy a teddy bear and already had pleasant regards for the other Malfoy, surely it meant that he had indeed changed for the better. Right?

"Wait, Mummy, can I sit between you and Mr. Draco?"

Hermione felt her heart stutter in a way it never had before. It was an odd combination of a near miss and a heavy pang, and it troubled her not to understand it for what it was: hope.

Charlotte wedged between her mum and Mr. Draco and waited patiently for someone to tell her what was happening. She bounced her leg. Two, three, four times.