Disclaimer: only written for entertainment, no profit being made. All recognizable characters belong to JK Rowling.

AN: This is going to be a short story in four chapters. It is all written and I plan to upload it in its entirety in the next couple of days. It was born out of exasperation that there aren't enough LM/HG stories to read and a plotbunny that turned out to have a voracious appetite and grew from 3.000 to some 13.000 words.

It is, of course, LM/HG and it is deliciously melodramatic and very romantic. The average male will probably get a spontaneous toothache from reading only a couple of paragraphs. What can I say? I was in a romantic/sappy mood.

So, if you like romantic LM/HG with an outrageously happy ending, this one's especially for you.

Enjoy.

The genuine article

The not so genuine ring

"It's fake, naive little girl," said Narcissa Malfoy maliciously as she looked down at the diamond and sapphire ring Hermione Granger wore.

Well, not diamonds and sapphire, if her lover's ex-wife was right, apparently.

Hermione clutched her right hand protectively underneath her left, staring down at her most precious piece of jewellery as well. It was a slim band of white-gold that held three sapphires in it's centre, flanked by three diamonds on either side. The band itself was very lightly engraved with a vine-like pattern. About three months ago Lucius had given it to her, in honour of their being a couple for half a year.

Whether with a deeper meaning behind it or not, he had slipped the ring onto her left hand and kissed it in its new spot, before Hermione had wrapped her arms around his neck to properly show her appreciation.

She wasn't one to want precious jewellery as a proof of affection from her partner, but now that she was dating a wizard who could afford it she had to admit that a little sparkly trinket every once in a while was very nice. Besides, she strongly suspected that the Malfoy family owned far more expensive pieces than the one he had bestowed on her; at the very least it was a convenient argument to convince herself she wasn't letting go of her morals.

It had never left her finger once, not even to bathe or shower since Lucius had placed it on there.

And now, here she was, dressed up to the nines for some Ministry function or other, her ring as always on her finger and then Narcissa had the gall to tell her it wasn't genuine.

"I'm afraid I am not very knowledgeable yet when it comes to precious stones," she said calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

"Well, that much is clear, my dear," said the other woman, delicately pulling up her nose. The three women that flanked her snickered politely behind their hands. Somehow Hermione was strongly reminded of Draco and Crabbe and Goyle. Even the Malfoy heir had outgrown his cronies by now though.

"I'm sure my current situation will see to it that my knowledge improves," Hermione said lightly.

"As long as you don't educate yourself on the subject and you can be pawned off with some pretty cut glass baubles, I doubt that very much," said Narcissa with a sneer.

"Well, I guess it is fortunate then, that I don't care about precious jewellery," Hermione countered with a sunny smile. Narcissa gave her a hard look and decided to change tacks.

"It must be difficult to acquaint yourself with our ways."

Hermione felt her anger rising. 'Our ways' She was being excluded once again. Narcissa had a way of reminding her that she and her ex-husband were purebloods, whereas she, Hermione, was not. For the sake of propriety she tried to reign in her temper though.

"I am sure I will manage in time," she declared with a small smile, "Lucius loves educating me."

'There, take that you conniving harpy, ' she thought as she saw Narcissa's eyes turn glacial at the mention of her once husband. She was the one who had insisted on a divorce, claiming she had a better chance of regaining a place in society without an ex- Death Eater for a husband.

Lucius had been kind to her, settled a substantial amount of money on her and made sure she had a nice home in a location of her choosing. The papers, of course had eaten it up. The haughty pureblood couple had made more than enough enemies in their day and the Prophet seemed to print nothing but the latest gossip with respect to the Malfoy divorce for six weeks straight.

It was nothing compared to the stir created when the first rumours of Lucius and Hermione being on a date together hit the papers though. After their first public dinner and subsequent media coverage, it had taken Lucius nearly two months to convince Hermione to let herself be seen in public with him again.

Narcissa at first ignored Lucius' escapades, convinced that it could only be a fling and that he would be alone and miserable again soon. When their relationship proved more durable than that though, she started to try and use her influence on her ex-partner and their part of society to convince him of the wrongs of dating a Muggleborn witch half his age. Hermione, of course had little to no influence with the old, pure-blooded crowd, Narcissa unfortunately all the more...

Lucius himself didn't listen to his ex-wife's poisonous barbs, dealing with the situation by ignoring it, as if there was no problem whatsoever. Hermione realised that not retaliating indicated clearly that he didn't deem the situation serious enough to do anything about it and she knew others must see it this way as well. Condemning Narcissa's efforts to the realm of the insignificant could work to their advantage. If nothing else, it certainly served to irritate the woman to no end, which in turn amused Hermione.

Apart from the media paying attention to their every move, which was a royal pain, and the less-than-amiable attitude of the former Mrs Malfoy however, Hermione had never been happier.

A year ago, she herself would have found the idea of the older Malfoy and herself being a couple the most ludicrous ever, but now that she was in a relationship with the man it made a surprising amount of sense. More so even than having a relationship with Ron Weasley, which everybody seemed to have expected of her.

However, at the time the conflict with Voldemort was finally at an end, she had already outgrown Ron. Academically she had always been his superior and when the war was over she found that she dealt with life more maturely as well. Ron had wanted nothing more from life than the chance to play Quidditch whenever he wanted and a leisurely year spent preparing for his NEWTs (not too many of course). Hermione on the other hand, felt the need to do something substantial with her life; she wanted to make sure that the last remnants of Voldemort's reign were obliterated and to help those victims of the Dark Lord that could still to be helped in some way or other. It had made Ron and her drift apart further.

Strangely enough, Lucius Malfoy had been gripped by a similar need. The Dark Lord putting his son's life on the line without a second thought, had really shaken him to the core and made him realise that there were things more important than money and power. At the end of the day, the Dark Lord lost his former right-hand man because he underestimated the man's capacity to love. Just like Lucius himself had done, by the way, but for him it had worked out rather for the best in the end.

Hermione had read in the Daily Prophet that Lucius Malfoy had plans to start a foundation for the victims of Voldemort as a form of restitution to society; without taking the time to consider, she had taken quill and parchment and sent him a letter, offering her services in whatever capacity he deemed appropriate.

She was somewhat surprised when she got a reply the same day from the man himself (she was half expecting to get a polite refusal by some employee or other) asking her to come to his apartment in London the next day at nine. 'oh and if she found that Gryffindor bravery required the existence of a triumvirate, he would be happy to accommodate.'

Unsure whether or not the humorous post-script was meant as a challenge, Hermione decided to go alone.

The house elf at the door had already been informed of her coming and didn't appear either malnourished or mistreated, which made a favourable impression on her. Then she had been taken to his study slash library, where she found the Malfoy patriarch sitting on a large, comfortable looking sofa, parchments scattered around his person on every available surface and wearing elegant yet simple black trousers and a sky-blue shirt, the sleeves of which had been rolled up to just below the elbow. Seeing that she had expected him to be sitting behind the impressive cherry-wood desk (well, behind any impressive desk, since she hadn't known his desk was cherry before she entered the study), no visible paper clutter anywhere and wearing more fabric layers than Professor Snape had buttons on his robe, she was rather favourably surprised.

He offered her tea and sandwiches, clearing a spot for her on the sofa and had started explaining his plans to her, without giving her the opportunity to elaborate on her own ideas or asking her what her motivation was. Curiously, he managed to do all this without giving her the impression that he didn't care about her opinion or that he regarded her as a second-rate citizen.

As she sipped her tea and nibbled on a bacon-and-egg sandwich, watching him pace and gesture wildly as an accompaniment to his story, she noticed that he forgot to drink his tea and didn't have time to take a bite of the sandwich he had selected, because he didn't stop talking long enough to accomplish that feat.

It took him a good half an hour to run out of steam; he then plopped himself down onto the sofa again, right on top of a stack of parchment, which he impatiently pulled out from under him and flung onto the low table with no discernible attempt at organising. He looked at her expectantly.

Hermione couldn't help herself: she was enchanted. Where Ron and Harry's less than organized tendencies did nothing but make her want to smack them upside their heads and start a monologue on The Importance Of Being Organized, seeing a wizard like Lucius Malfoy amidst this chaos of his own creation tickled her in ways hitherto unknown to her. Maybe it was just the fact that normally she only saw of him what he wanted her to see: the rich, elitist, aristocratic pureblood wizard, a Death Eater, a Dark Wizard, someone who could easily be categorized in her mind. But the man who was looking at her now.... Who would have guessed that the cool, collected head of the Malfoy family hid such passion beneath his frosty exterior?

So, they decided that Hermione would take care of the more administrative side of things, seeing that making sense of large amounts of information and doing so in a timely fashion was her particular forte. The first time she had shown the elder Malfoy her colour-coded charts, he had been absolutely horrified and declared that there was no way he was ever going to be that organised. Hermione had merely grinned and said that, since she would be working for him, he wouldn't have to be.

The first time she had kissed him had sort of been an accident. She had finished a report he had been wanting and had decided to treat herself to an afternoon off. Having already donned her coat, she took the scroll of parchment that had the expenses of the first month of the foundation's existence and walked over to where Lucius was standing, staring thoughtfully out into the garden.

Tugging on his sleeve to get his attention, she had handed him the scroll when he turned his head in her direction. "Well, I'm off for today. If you need anything, it will have to wait till tomorrow," she joked.

"You are without a doubt the laziest person in my employ," he had commented drily. She knew he wasn't serious.

"You know you love me anyway," she had countered cheekily and without a moment's thought had risen on the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

As soon as her lips met his cleanly-shaven skin, the reality of the situation hit her: this was not Ron or Harry she was bantering with, but Lucius sodding Malfoy! Her cheeks burning a bright red, she had turned abruptly, leaving the room without another word uttered.

The next day she was dreading going back to work, but the elder Malfoy proved a gentleman as he did not remind her of her rash actions. Well, not until it was time for her to leave anyway.

Hermione had already had one foot outside of the room, secretly congratulating herself on a clean getaway when he called her back.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes Mr Malfoy?" she asked warily.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Eh... I don't think so."

"What, don't I get a goodbye kiss today?" he asked impishly, devilish lights dancing in the depths of his silver eyes.

Oh the nerve of that man! He knew very well that she hadn't really meant to kiss him yesterday and now he was teasing her with it. If she didn't find a way to shut him up very soon, he was going to lord this over her for the next three months at least.

So she had calmly walked up to him, laid one hand on his shoulder for leverage (the man was rather tall after all) and kissed him unflinchingly and quite soundly on the mouth.

Before he had the time to register what was going on or possibly respond, she had broken it off and was leaving the room. "Goodbye Mr Malfoy."

She was already in the hallway when she heard him say: "If you plan on kissing me again, you'd better call me Lucius."

It was an odd start of a relationship, to be sure, but it worked for them. Hermione found she had never met someone who could keep up with her so easily, furthermore who stimulated her to be her best, just like she drew out the best of him. Together with Lucius, she found that she was a better person than she had ever been before; kinder, smarter, more fun to be around. He completed her in a way that he made her realise all her potential and enabled her to be more than she had ever dreamt of being.

His flat in London was slowly becoming their flat in London, Lucius spending most of his time there nowadays and even considering passing the Manor on to Draco

So why should she care that Narcissa Black left no opportunity unused for pointing out her flaws, for ridiculing what she saw as the inequality of the match; Lucius' attention more than made up for it.

"I'm sure he does like educating you," Narcissa replied with a sugary smile. "Lucius likes it when he's smarter than everybody else. But there are some things he won't be able to educate you in, my dear. Females ought to know some things without their spouses seeing to it."

"I'm enchanted to know that you think he will be my spouse one day," Hermione said, twisting Narcissa's statement to mean something the woman had certainly never wanted it to, "however, since we're not thinking along those lines just yet, I am merely a girl, who was given a ring by her lover." Finally having reached the end of her patience, she continued in the same breath: "If you'll excuse me."

She was in the process of turning away from the blonde, when the next statement froze her in her tracks.

"In future you should remember to check who has the genuine article."

There was cold amusement in Narcissa's voice and Hermione felt that the other witch had the upper hand for once. Slowly she turned back towards the woman who had held her lover's affections before her and who appeared to be unwilling to let him be happy with another woman.

There, on the outstretched hand of Narcissa Black, formerly Malfoy, was the ring Lucius had given her. Hermione unconsciously moved her own hand alongside; the rings were exactly similar in design.

Now that she saw them side by side though, she saw clearly that the ring on Narcissa's finger sparkled more luminously than hers and the heart of the sapphires looked like blue fire.

Shocked, unable to hide her emotions any longer, Hermione looked up into the cool blue gaze of her opponent. Narcissa smirked maliciously.

"Oh dear, it appears Lucius isn't so fond of you after all, is he?"

Unable to come up with a reply, Hermione turned on her heel and left the ballroom at as slow a pace as she could manage, seeing that she wanted to burst into a dead run. Her chest felt as if some constricting force was at work, denying her the ability to breathe normally.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucius making his way towards her, the expression on his face concerned.

"Hermione, love, are you alright?" he asked softly as he caught up with her in the lobby.

Hermione merely threw him a scathing look and moved on towards the exit. Seeing Lucius act as if he didn't know what was going on pushed her wounded heart to the background for the moment and caused a feeling of anger to start simmering inside her.

"Did Narcissa say something to upset you? You know you shouldn't take anything she says seriously," he cajoled her, a small smile playing around his mouth.

Hermione stopped her furious run towards the servant who had her coat ready for her, to round on the blond wizard following behind her.

"She is wearing MY ring Lucius!" she hissed.

The elder Malfoy didn't ask for further clarification of that rather cryptic statement, which told her all she needed to know about whether or not he had been aware of the situation.

It hurt even more than she would have thought.

"Thank you for telling me," she said sarcastically, before resuming her walk towards the exit.

His hand on her upper arm and a furious yank brought her back around to face him. His eyes looked cool on the surface, but she could see behind the facade and see the fire in them, the grip on her upper arm surely bruising her with his unconscious strength. Clearly he was getting agitated too. Maybe he cared more than she dared hope after what she just discovered.

"This is not the time nor the place to discuss these things," he murmured softly, dangerously. "If you insist, we can discuss this when we are back home." Yes, he was at least as angry as she was now. Unfortunately for him his words only served to enrage her further.

"It's comforting to know you care so much, Lucius," Hermione said, alluding to his fears for his reputation (which might take a blown if they were seen arguing like this), instead of apologizing for his faux pas. Well, it confirmed a few things at the very least.

Angrily, she tugged her ring from her finger, waving it in front of his face. Lucius for his part had gone very pale.

"You might want to give your next paramour a ring your ex-wife doesn't own a more expensive version of," she suggested sarcastically, throwing her most prized possession, until tree minutes ago, into the far corner of the lobby behind some large potted palm, with a dramatic flair she never realised she was capable of.

Lucius eyes turned cold at that gesture, the look in his eyes reminding her of the man he had once been, the man she had foolishly believed he no longer was. He was very angry, she could tell but in his eyes there was also something that looked rather a lot like contempt.

Jerking herself free from his grip and crossing the lobby to the reception area, she was already out of reach and out the door before he had reigned in his temper sufficiently for him to interfere, leaving him seething.

From her corner at the door of the ballroom, Narcissa Black smiled smugly, before rejoining her friends inside.

AN: reviews, as always, are much appreciated. Let me know what you think...it might make me upload the other chapters faster! (And yes, I know that's emotional blackmail ;-) ).