Mr. Malfoy's second chance

Haunted by the Past

Chapter 2: Haunted by the Past

"What are you doing here?" Lucius Malfoy looked at the woman who was striking in the elf's footsteps with loathing.

Hermione Granger. What the hell is she doing here? The man's facial muscles were strained, and only his good manners kept him from shutting the door in the face of the woman and the elf with a stick. The elf. How stupid is that?! What kind of servant is that? Instead of leaving it in the drawing room, the uninvited visitor is escorted to the door by the impudening! Instead of an outburst of anger, however, only his glance signalled his disapproval.

"Like I said, we need to talk," repeated Hermione. "If you'd be so kind as to invite me in...

"Command," grumbled Lucius dryly, lazily wailing toward the chair at his desk.

He still didn't understand the situation. It's been four years since it was all over, and since then, he's tried most decisively to stay away from Harry Potter and his friends. What's more, even his visits to the ministry have ceased so that he doesn't accidentally meet anyone who reminds him of the old days. Of course, regular rounds have become devoid of reason anyway: the management has been replaced, and Shacklebolt and his slepp have nothing to discuss with them. The Granger girl in her house... It's absurd.

He silently waved to the elf that he could go, closed the door with a stick, and slowly looked at her. Of course... Granger is an avid member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He should have thought so.

"Well, if Lobby's the reason you came here at such a late hour, I'll let you know that you arrived in vain. I keep my elves in accordance with regulations. I could not say a family of wizards who would treat their servants better than I do," said the man.

"I actually could," replicated Hermione. "But that's not what this is about. We're at risk of a much bigger problem."

"I'm not going to do that. What's with the royal multiple? Or do you mean me and you by us? I can assure you that the only danger you're in is being excused from being cursed for coming in here uninvited. And as far as I'm concerned, the only thing that scares me is the idea of a prison sentence for it. But maybe it's worth the risk," the man smiled sarcastically, then took a frosty look at the girl. "Just because you're on the preferred side now, you have no right to check on me."

"That's not exactly what this is about. Look, what I'm saying is obviously going to come as a shock, or at least I hope so, because otherwise you may actually go back to Azkaban." Hermione took a deep breath. She had long since been fearless of Lucius Malfoy, but was rather uncomfortable with the man's company. She decided to go with the original plan and quickly get over the formalities. "Kingsley Shacklebolt re-convened the Order of the Phoenix today. He had good reason for this, as he learned from reliable sources that Voldemort had not been completely destroyed."

At the mention of Voldemort's name, Malfoy twitched, but her words were followed by a chilling silence. Lucius looked at her like he'd never looked at her before. In his eyes, there was now no sign of evil or hatred: his gaze was simply a reflection of horror and puzzle.

Hermione decided to take advantage of the man's silence and continued.

"Apparently, he didn't make seven pieces of soul, he made at least one more. Anyway, what we saw, namely that he was going to die, was a mistake. A piece of his soul is still alive, allowing him to re-embody. Kingsley says it can happen at any time, it just needs a suitable servant, as it was eight years ago," she pointed out.

The man slowly stood up from his chair, and Hermione instinctively grabbed her wand. Malfoy, however, had no intention of cursing her. He stepped to a bar cabinet next to one of the windows and filled two glasses full of whisky, then stepped to the girl and stretched one of the glasses towards her. Hermione was surprised but accepted the drink and slowly sipped while the man again took a seat opposite to her. He watched Hermione in disbelief.