Nothing's Written in Stone

Old Hermione had been quiet for some time, it's difficult to do much when you have old memories in a very young body. Hermione Potter had had some very strange, very vivid dreams ever since her first year at Hogwarts. She knew way more about sex than your average fourteen year-old ought to know. She remembered her first kiss from an international quidditch player named Viktor Krum. She remembered a different boy, a boyfriend named Ron. She remembered having sex. It made for a lot of disturbing nights, and vivid dreams.

The summer before fourth year got really weird when she was laying in the grass making daisy chains. She realized that James and Sirius couldn't see her, and she hummed under her breath while the stems wound themselves into a chain. Her mother was calling her to the house. Hermione sighed and ignored her for a few minutes. The last thing she wanted to do was go to Malfoy Manor for tea. She'd rather do anything else. Even clean out James' school trunk without magic.

"Hermione! You get in here right now, young lady!" Her mother's voice was getting strident. Hermione sighed heavily. She popped up and waved at her mum.

"Coming mother!" She called. She picked up her skirts and ran.

"Hermione Canopia Potter! Look at your dress!" Her mother waved her wand and cleaned it.

"Sorry, mother," Hermione said with genuine regret.

"No matter dear, no matter. Going to Malfoy Manor always makes me a bit edgy. I don't really care for Abraxas Malfoy, he's not a very nice man," Dorea Potter said quietly. Hermione's eyes widened. Her mother never said anything impolite about anyone. She must really despise this Abraxas Malfoy.

Malfoy Manor was prettier in this time period, Hermione decided. It had beautiful, well-kept grounds and the house was light and airy. Old Hermione completely skipped out on her, chittering in fear. Hermione Potter was a little uneasy, but not too upset. Her mother was an amazing witch, and she would protect Hermione with her life. That and Hermione was a pureblood so why would she fear the Malfoy family? To be honest, her family was a little older, and a little more distinguished than the Malfoys. After all, her line went back to the Peverells. Even if the invisibility cloak would go to James because he was a stupid boy.

Hermione had been sent to walk the grounds while her mother spoke with Mrs. Malfoy. She rounded a corner and came upon a reflecting pool. There, swimming in its clear water was Lucius Malfoy. Hermione felt her throat go completely dry. He was well-muscled, lean, but he had fairly broad shoulders. He saw her and stopped at the edge of the pool, leaning on his forearms, which only served to heighten the view of his perfectly sculpted chest. Hermione heard a sort of roaring sound in her ears. He smirked at her and tossed his wet hair back.

"See something you like, Miss Potter?" He purred at her. She blushed furiously.

"No, I was just surprised. Your mother told me to talk a tour of the gardens. I wasn't expecting to see you at all, let alone…" Hermione waved a hand at him when she couldn't speak anymore. He grinned at her.

"You're going to be a fourth year this year, aren't you?" He drawled at her a teasing smile on his lips.

"Yes," she said simply. Her wide eyes still staring at the firm muscles of his biceps.

"Hey," His voice had gotten closer, and she realized his chest was in her face. He tilted her chin up with a finger. "My eyes are up here, Miss Potter."

"Sorry," she murmured as she stared into those silvery grey eyes. There was humor in them, but something else as well. She thought maybe Old Hermione would know what that look was, but she wasn't sure. He smirked at her again.

"I'll see you in school," he breathed in her ear and then he left her alone staring at the pool and blushing furiously.

HP/HG/HP

"Lily, what do you think of Lucius Malfoy," Hermione asked as casually as possible. Both girls were sitting on Lily's bed catching up on gossip. Lily sucked thoughtfully on a sugar quill.

"Well, he's nice to Severus," Lily said after a moment. "which is more than I can say for some gormless toe-rags I know. They're sort of friends, I think. He's pretty smart, isn't he? And he's a prefect."

"No, Lils, I mean…what do you think of him?" Hermione whispered and then blushed furiously. Lily shrieked so loudly that the students in the commons room looked toward the girl's dormitory in surprise.

"Merlin's Beard! Do you like him? He's Slytherin, your brother is going have a litter of hippogriffs!" Lily whispered furiously. A group of girls poked their heads into the dorm.

"Everything okay, girls?" The Gryffindor Prefect Iphigenia Bagshot asked curiously. Both girls blushed furiously and nodded.

"Sorry, Iphigenia," Lily said. The prefect looked curiously at both girls, nodded and then went back to the commons room, the other girls trailing after her.

"So?" Hermione asked once they were alone again. Lily cocked her head to one side and thought for a moment.

"Well, he is really handsome, I suppose. His hair is gorgeous, that's for sure. I don't know. I wonder what he looks like under his robes. No, don't look at me like that! I mean, is he really fit and trim, or is he sort of soft and languid. He's an aristo, right? He looks like he'd be sort of soft and languid to me." Lily was a thorough girl, and she had given Hermione's question serious consideration, rather than blowing her off because Lucius Malfoy happened to be Slytherin.

"What if," Hermione thought carefully for a moment and then looked at Lily, "what if I told you I knew a spell that would show us what he looks like?"

"Erm…what do you mean Hermione?" Lily asked with wide eyes. Hermione just sat there, staring at her friend. Lily swallowed and nodded once.

"At dinner then," Hermione said firmly.

James and Sirius were sitting with Remus and Peter eating dinner. James made sure that he was sitting sort of across from Lily Evans so he could watch her without looking like a completely psycho-stalker. He noticed something suspicious. His sister and Lily were sitting together and they were giggling like mad, and whispering behind their hands. Normally, Hermione and Lily sat there looking like 30 year-old matrons who couldn't figure out how they'd been trapped in a loony bin. They were not the sorts of girls that giggled. Lily leaned close to Hermione and whispered in her ear. James sighed. He wished Lily would lean close to him and breathe on his ear.

"Now?" Lily whispered in Hermione's ear.

Lucius had just stood up to leave the Great Hall, and he had paused briefly to speak to a fellow Slytherin. Hermione smiled at Lily. Revelio Lucius. She had decided to do the spell nonverbally because she didn't want anyone to know that it was her. Suddenly, Lucius Malfoy was standing in the middle of the Great Hall clad in nothing but green and silver boxers. His perfectly sculpted chest gave way to well-defined abdominal muscles. His arms were well-developed, and even his calves looked nice. He stared down at himself in shock for a moment and then looked up at the teacher's table. Professor McGonagall was blushing and she flicked her wand so that he had robes on again.

The girls' heads were tilted to one another again and there was a lot of giggling and sneaking glances at the Slytherin table. James watched all this with some concern. Lily didn't like Malfoy, did she? That would be awful. That would be worse than awful. He strained to listen and he didn't like anything that he overheard.

:giggle: "Absolutely luscious!" :giggle: "I can see what you meant…"

James watched the two girls get up from the table, still talking and leave the Great Hall. He frowned after them, and then turned to Sirius who was frowning after them, too.