The Marriage Decree

Chapter 49: Do I Frighten You?

Hermione enters Lucius Malfoy's surprisingly cold cell to find him hunched over a small desk with his back to the door, quill scribbling on a piece of parchment. He doesn't seem to have noticed that someone has entered his cell. She takes a look around the tiny room. Against the left wall is a single bed with one pillow, a duvet and a blanket. All the crisp, white, sheets are neatly folded back. Against the right wall is a small wooden door, which she assumes leads to his bathroom, and a small chest of drawers probably containing his spare black Azkaban robes.

"Mr Ahmed, I do hope that we're not having cottage pie for dinner again. I don't think I can handle beef on four consecutive nights." His voice has the same aristocratic accent but he speaks softer and calmer than she's ever heard him speak before.

"I'm afraid it's beef wellington for dinner, Mr Malfoy." She states, not moving away from the door and the light switch that will allow her to escape from the confined room.

Lucius sits up sharply, dropping his quill on his desk, probably making an inky mess. Deliberately slowly, he rises from his seat and smoothly spins around to face her with a smug smile on his face. He perches on the edge of his desk, leaning forward to lean on the back of his chair. Something sinister flashes in his eyes as his smile turns into an ominous smirk.

A breathy gasp escapes her as her back pressed firmly into the door. Her left-hand twitches at her side as she represses the urge to reach for the switch. She hasn't seen Lucius in person since the Battle of Hogwarts and hasn't spoken to him since she was held captive in the basement of his manor.

"My, my, Miss Granger," He purrs softly, pushing the chair carefully to the side as he stands up to his full height and strolls over towards her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having you grace my cell?" He asks, coming to a stop a foot away from her and glaring down his nose at her with an intimidating smile.

Hermione opens her mouth to speak but no words come to her. The only sound to leave is her raspy breath as her heartbeat quickens.

Lucius' tangled hair falls in front of his face as he inquisitively tilts his head. "Do I frighten you, Miss Granger?" He asks, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, grazing her cheek as he does.

The touch sends a shiver down her spine as she turns her face away from him, eternally thankful that it feels nothing like when Draco caresses her cheek.

"Are you scared, Miss Granger?" He leans forward to whisper in her ear and she can't take it anymore.

Her right-hand brandishes her wand, which she jabs into his jugular as her left-hand flicks the switch. Almost instantaneously, she hears the clicking, shifting and turning of the locks within the door. Lucius laughs a deep, low chuckle in her ear before taking a step backwards. She follows him with her wand.

"Goodbye, Miss Granger." His eyes twinkle with a smirk as the last lock clicks open and she lowers her wand and shuffles backwards, closer to the door. "I hope to see you soon." He winks at her making her feel physically sick and threatened.

As the door begins to open and a rush of warm air hits her back, Hermione whips her wand up, pointing it at Lucius' head as she whispers, "Obliviate."

Lucius' smirking face contorts into one of shock and then a blank canvas as his memories leave his mind. Hermione quickly spins on her heel, slipping through the gap in the door. She stumbles pass the ministry official, collapsing into the arms of Mr Ahmed.

"Ms Granger!" He calls her name in a panic as he lowers her carefully to the ground. "What happened in there?" He asks, kneeling down next to her.

She tries to regulate her breathing but all she can focus on is the thumping sound of her heart in her ears before everything goes black.