A/N: Alright, I'm marking this fic complete, however there will be an epilogue making an appearance in the next few weeks. ;) Promise! Thank you for all your reviews and support guys! Love You! I hope you enjoy the revenge! :P *Mel*

The characters and canon situations in the following story belong solely to JK Rowling, Scholastic and WB. I am not making any money from the publishing or writing of this story.

The Gentleman Bettor

Chapter 6 – He Seeks Out Revenge with the Glee of a Boy

"A Gentleman is a man who will pay his gambling debts even when he knows he has been cheated." Leo Tolstoy

~oOOOo~

Severus smirked as Lucius looked at him incredulously.

"You sincerely believe that I will drink that?" Lucius said with a sneer.

"I do," Severus drawled coolly. "You sincerely believed that I would adhere to the terms of the date you arranged all those months ago, if I recall. You will drink the potion. You have no choice, Lucius."

Lucius rolled his shoulders uncomfortably before looking at his friend harshly. "Damn it, Severus. What is it?"

"It does not matter what it is, Lucius," Severus ground out. "You know it will not harm you; the terms do not allow for that. Just drink the potion."

Lucius glared at his friend, gripping the phial before him with his well-manicured hand. "Fine, but if this harms me in any way...," he threatened as he picked up the potion in a swift movement and deftly pulled out the stopper.

Severus watched closely as Lucius tipped up the phial and the liquid disappeared down his throat. "Perfect," he murmured as a wicked smile spread across his face, eyes alight with delight. "Well, Lucius" he said, his tone suddenly business like, "I shall bid you goodnight."

As Severus turned and walked out the door, he heard his friend yell after him in a bewildered voice, "Wait, that's it? What does it do?"

~oOOOo~

Hermione worried her bottom lip as Severus once again explained his plan. He hadn't counted on her being reluctant to participate. Slytherin she was most certainly not.

"Are you sure about this, Severus?" she asked tentatively. "I mean, what if she has truly wanted such a thing to happen. I can't bear to do this to my friend if it will cause her pain."

"Not to worry, love," he said as his finger ran along her lip and released it from her nibbling. After kissing her gently, he pulled back and told her, "Narcissa no more wants this than you want a house-elf. She enjoys her freedom and would never wish to be tied down in such a way again. It would limit her meddling and access to high society. Trust me, she will be nothing but horrified, and that is to say nothing of Lucius' reaction."

"Well, okay," she said. "You're sure?" She did not want to do this, but he was insisting on her involvement. There was no denying that Narcissa had behaved in a rather high-handed manner. If Severus could assure her, then she would trust him.

"I am, Hermione," Severus purred to her as he pushed her curls back and kissed her neck.

"Positive?" she gasped out, collapsing against him in surrender.

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he felt her respond to his actions. She was always so pliant, so responsive. "Quite," he again purred, knowing it would only further serve to arouse her.

Hermione shuddered, but still focused on his words. "And you will only let her believe for two days? No more? And you will arrange for Draco to tell him them truth at the Victory Ball?"

"Yes and yes," he said with a small sigh. He pulled back from her and looked down into her eyes with a sly smile. "I cannot deny that I wish you to allow a longer time period, I do so enjoy watching Lucius squirm. However, I will concede to two days in return for your cooperation."

Hermione rolled her eyes. The joy he was finding at the prospect of tormenting his friends was almost child-like at times. "All right. Deal," she finally said. "Now, stop trying to distract me and show me the wand movement again. I will not hex my friend without being sure that I know what I'm doing."

~oOOOo~

Lucius reluctantly made ready to leave the Manor after Severus' departure, still unsure as to the effects of the potion. He hated to expose himself to any sort of ridicule, but he could not delay any longer, the meetings were longstanding and could not be rescheduled. He would have to grin and bear it, whatever it was.

"Lalep!" he called, summoning his valet.

With a small pop, an ancient house-elf appeared.

"Master," he said with a nod.

"I will be meeting with Sunak Irnheundel at Gringotts in a half hour," Lucius said as he tied his cravat. "Then, after lunch with Mr. Parkinson at the Green Quill, I will be meeting with Minister Kingsley. Please, have my portfolio ready and waiting in the Apparation foyer in ten minutes. I will also need the files marked Truffla Package and Malkin Initiatives that are laid out on my desk. Then, check with Mistress to see if there are any additional preparations she needs made for our attire for the Victory Ball tomorrow night."

Turning to pick up his outer robe that lay draped over a chair, he looked down at the elf.

Lucius startled slightly, and his hand froze in place. The deep, black orbs of the elf were peering in an eerily fond manner at him, its ears flapping forward in what appeared to be adoration.

"I is being doing as you ask, Master. Is there anything else that Master requires?" Lalep asked, bobbing up and down with excitement.

Lucius recoiled at the movement, his stomach churning and eyes wild. "No," he yelped. "That will be all."

"As you is saying, sir," the elf said before blinking out.

Lucius ran his hand through his hair as he worked to steady his breathing and heart rate.

"What the hell was that?" he mumbled. Once he had calmed himself and donned his robe, he looked down at the time. "Blast!" It was two minutes until his meeting at Gringotts and Sunak would take it as a personal insult if he was late. He would have to run, and Malfoys never run.

~oOOOo~

Narcissa was walking though the library of Nym's House, a stack of books in hand, when she felt a fluttering warmth move through her abdomen. Her steps faltered for a moment as the feeling grew within her and then faded suddenly. She stood, waiting anxiously for it to return. When it did not, she shook her head and continued about her task. It was probably nothing.

~oOOOo~

"Again, I apologize for my tardiness, Sunak. It was most rude of me to not honour my word and arrive promptly."

Sunak Irnheundel, the Gringotts Goblin who'd managed the financial portfolio of the Malfoy family for the last 125 years, let out a feral growl through his razor-sharp teeth and snapped his jaw in irritation. He'd never enjoyed working with Lucius Malfoy; the man was too self-centred and had no respect for Goblins.

"Come," Sunak said perfunctorily, before turning and leading the way to his office.

Lucius winced as his face flushed. Come? he thought. What does he mean by that?

Shaking his head in disbelief, Lucius hurried after the goblin, desperate to do no further damage to the relationship than what he'd already wrought.

~oOOOo~

Narcissa sat the cafe table, waiting for Hermione to arrive, deep in thought.

The warm glow moving through her abdomen had once again captured her attention. Dread had settled in her stomach as she contemplated what it could mean. It wasn't possible. They'd taken very careful and specific steps to ensure that it couldn't happen, but this warmth moving through her indicated otherwise.

"Narcissa?" a voiced called and she looked up in surprise.

"Oh! Hermione, you're here," Narcissa cried as she stood to greet Hermione. "Please. Sit. Sit."

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked curiously, knowing full well what was most likely troubling her friend. "You seem to be upset about something."

"Oh, no. It's nothing, dear. Let's order."

Hermione nodded and looked down at her menu with a small smile. The hex had seemed to do its job; Narcissa was suitably disturbed.

"I think I will have the seared halibut with fresh baby greens and feta," Hermione said to the waiter.

"And I will have... the..." Narcissa looked at the menu with a bewildered look upon her face. She always ordered the ginger glazed salmon with wild rice, but today it just didn't appeal. "I'll have the grilled filet mignon with parmesan garlic butter and fettuccine alfredo."

Hermione tried to push down the grin that was trying to spread across her face. Never in all their time as friends had Narcissa ever ordered something so heavy. Deciding to push her just a little and dearly hoping that Narcissa would respond as anticipated, Hermione asked with a smile, "Shall we share a bottle of the new Riesling you love, Narcissa?"

"Oh!" Narcissa said, "Actually, I think would rather have water today. But if you'd like a glass, by all means."

This time Hermione let her grin break free, "That all right, Narcissa. I'm fine with water today as well. Now, why don't you tell me about your gown for the Victory Ball tomorrow night?"

~oOOOo~

Lucius Malfoy looked down at his sauce splattered shirt as he waited to be shown into Minster Kingley. He couldn't believe that he'd actually got himself dirty. Holding his wand in his shaking hand, he moved to Evanesco the mess but nothing happened. His hand was too unsteady, and, given the odd day he was having, he could understand why.

When Lucius had sat down to lunch with Marcus Parkinson he'd already been sweating profusely. His meeting at Gringotts had not gone well, and by the time he'd made it to the Green Quill, three more people had come on to him. However, as he was sitting and quietly composing himself, his gregarious friend had insisted on greeting him with a hug and then proceeded to order a sausage sandwich for lunch. That alone had made Lucius squirm in his chair, but it wasn't until their meals had been delivered and they had ventured on to their business that Lucius had become truly alarmed.

"We will have to take care of the package, however," Marcus said as he took a large bite from his sandwich. Lucius blanched and looked down at his plate, picking up his fork with a shaking hand. Idly twirling the pasta onto the utensil, he had just started to raise it to his mouth when Marcus continued. "You explicitly said that it wouldn't have your name on it? But when it arrived today, there it was as clear as day, your name written all over my package." As Lucius fork clattered loudly onto his plate, sauce splattered against his shirt and a looked for complete horror crossed his face.

Marcus looked up at Lucius in surprise. He'd never seen the usually cool man behave so bizarrely. "Whatever is wrong, Lucius?" he asked looking at his friend seriously. Sighing loudly, Marcus conceded, "You know that if you really insist on it, I will allow you to keep your name on my package, but having it displayed so prominently is simply unacceptable. And I will expect payment for allowing such liberties, in the end."

As bile rose in his throat, the logical side of Lucius knew that something wasn't right about this. It wasn't normal. However, he couldn't fathom why everyone was coming on to him. With his self-preservation instinct kicking in, he leapt up from his chair and gathered his papers. "You will have to excuse me, Marcus. We will have to conclude this meeting at another time. I am suddenly feeling unwell. Good afternoon." And with that, he fled.

~oOOOo~

Narcissa was once again lost in distracted thought. She was sitting in her favourite chair in the study analysing the warmth in her and the odd symptoms that she'd experienced throughout the day. She knew what it meant, but still, the horrid reality of the situation was not fully solidified in her mind.

A loud slam shook the walls as a very dishevelled Lucius walked into the room, the door behind him still shaking.

"Good heavens," Narcissa exclaimed as she took in her husband's appearance.

He glared at her as he stalked across the room and poured himself a tumbler of whiskey. His hair was ruffled, as if he'd been running his hand through it rather often. His shirt was splattered in some kind of liquid, and, perhaps most alarming of all to his wife, it was partially untucked. Lucius never went anywhere without his clothing being impeccable. To have allowed his shirt to remain in such disarray, he must have been really upset.

"Lucius, what is it?" Narcissa asked as she stood and moved across the room to her husband with growing alarm.

"Severus," he hissed, downing the drink in one long swig.

"Severus? Is something wrong? Shall I floo him?" Narcissa asked in rapid succession.

"No! No!" Lucius cried as Narcissa jumped back from him with surprise. "No," he said more quietly. "Severus is fine, Cissy. In fact, I would venture to guess that Severus is more than fine," he spat bitterly.

"All right. Can you at least explain to me what happened today?" she asked.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not. It is between Severus and me."

Narcissa's eyes narrowed. Lucius and Severus and their games of one-upmanship had been known to get out of hand in that past, and she had no doubt that this was a case of that. "Fine," she said, her voice turning tight and prim, which immediately made clear to Lucius that she was in a snit, "let's go in to dinner. A glass of wine will do you good, and then, you can go up and change into something more comfortable for the evening."

"That sounds lovely, dear." he said with a relieved sigh, ignoring her obvious irritation. He was simply relieved that he was no longer hearing sexual advances in each word spoken and could finally allow himself to relax. It would be a relief to spend some quiet time with the love of his life, even if she was cross with him.

Lucius helped Narcissa into her seat as he always did and then moved to his normal place at the table. As he sat and began to pour the wine, Narcissa interrupted. "Actually, Lucius, none for me tonight. I've been feeling a bit off today."

Lucius nodded and instead poured Narcissa glass of water.

"Why don't you tell me about your meeting with Kingsley?"

Lucius' hands fumbled the pitcher of water as he sat it loudly onto the table, water sloshing out messily. The memory of Kingsley explaining how, now that the Malkin Initiative had been reviewed, all Lucius would need to do was convince the Wizengamot to let him put it in, played in his mind. Kingsley had stressed how rough things would be and had requested Lucius to come often to insure the best results. With a small shudder, he said in a weak voice, "If you don't mind, Cis, I'd rather not. Today was not a good day and I'd rather just forget it all."

Narcissa's eyes again narrowed as she studied him. She sipped her water, wondering what Severus had done this time. As her plate appeared, she looked down at her dinner. Instantly, nausea flooded her. "Oh, Merlin," she said as she rushed from the table and in the direction of the nearest loo.

Lucius ran after his wife, alarmed. "Narcissa, what is it? Are you unwell?" he asked as he trailed after the woman rushing down the hall, his prior problems all pushed to the back of his mind.

"Oh, Lucius," she cried as she stopped at a window and opened it. Letting the cool, fresh air rush over her, she took several deep breaths and waited for the nausea to fade. For a moment, she let the refreshing air surround her with eyes closed and thought about how her husband would react to her news. They were far too old for this. She did not want this. Lucius would not want this.

"Lucius," she whispered as she turned to face the man who was now embracing her from behind. Looking up at him with eyes that were quickly flooding with tears, she said, "I'm pregnant."

Lucius stood and looked at his wife in confusion. He'd thought he'd heard her say that she was... No. She couldn't have said that. They were too old. Not to mention that they'd taken precautions years ago, and those things didn't just happen. The spell was foolproof. "How?" he asked abstractly.

"I don't know," she whispered.

~oOOOo~

Mr and Mrs Lucius Malfoy made their way around the Victory Day Ball, mingling with the distinguished guests, and though they looked as regal as they always did, they were both still filled with horror at the realisation they had come to the evening before. Not only that, as Lucius made his way around the hall, he had twice had to avoid Marcus Parkinson and had rather rudely put off speaking to Minister Shacklebolt.

As Lucius took Narcissa's hand and led her to the ballroom floor, he quietly asked, "Do you think you can bear it, dear?"

With a sigh, Narcissa allowed him to spin her as the dance required, and when she was once again facing him, she said, "It is a frightening prospect. I find no joy in it at this time, but no doubt, with time, I will adjust to the idea. I am still at a loss as to how such a thing could happen."

Lucius simply nodded and said, "I, too, am curious," before spinning her into another twirl as they danced around the hall.

As the dance came to a close, a voice rang out across the hall. Both Narcissa and Lucius turned in surprise. Their son was making an announcement.

"Good evening, Gentle Witches and Wizards." Draco said formally. "Please forgive my interruption of tonight's festivities, but, it is traditional to make such an announcement at once, and as my wife has just had pleasure of enlightening me, I am very pleased to be able to share with all of you that we are expecting our first child. Please, if you would, raise your glasses to my wife, Astoria Malfoy."

"To Astoria," everyone said as they drank to the younger Mrs. Malfoy, and the two, very pale-faced, elder Malfoys fainted dead away.

"Thank you," Draco said before cancelling the Sonorous; the grin on his face making his joy apparent. Carefully he watched the house-elves, who had been prepared for such an eventuality, quickly Apparate his unconscious parents to a side room, where they could recover their composure. He had agreed to surprise and tease them, not publicly humiliate them.

"Congratulations, Draco," Severus said as he and Hermione approached. "Your parents made it safely to the room?" he asked quietly as he shook hands with Draco.

Draco nodded and then turned to greet Hermione. As he shook her hand, he noticed the sparkle of what appeared to be a wedding ring on her finger. With a raised eyebrow he said, "Good evening, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes and quickly pulled her hand away, covering her ring in the process. "Ferret," she replied in what had become their typical greeting. Smiling, she said, "Congratulations. Where is Astoria this evening?"

"Astoria is sitting with her sister. She is feeling rather off and didn't want to chance walking around the room too much. She can't keep anything down at all right now."

"I will send over some of the anti-nausea draught that I just had occasion to brew. If she takes a small sip each morning before she gets out of bed, she should feel better almost right away," Severus offered politely.

Draco looked at his godfather for a moment in confusion; a pregnancy-safe anti-nausea draught had to be especially brewed as it had a short shelf life. He couldn't fathom why his godfather would all of a sudden have it on hand. Then, he noticed the blush that was growing on Hermione cheeks. That, coupled with the ring on her finger, and he quickly realised what was going on. "Uncle, I believe I should be offering you congratulations and to you too, Mrs. Snape."

Hermione smiled sweetly, before replying with a saucy grin, "Thank you, but please, call me Auntie." A look of horror flooded Draco's face as Hermione barely stifled the chortle building inside her, and Severus barked out a laugh.

Draco stood stunned for a moment before his brain managed to wrap around the idea of a happy Severus Snape. "You are rather jolly tonight, Severus," Draco teased finally.

"Oh, shut it," Severus scolded gruffly. "For once in my life let me enjoy myself. I have exacted a fitting revenge on your meddling parents, and as I find myself suddenly married and expecting a child, I believe I should be allowed a single evening of peace?"

"Indeed you are, Uncle," Draco agreed. "Now, do you think that we should go and relieve my parents of their misery?"

"If you insist," Severus drawled as he drew his new wife to him and wrapped a protective arm around her. "Come, Hermione. Let us enlighten our meddling friends."

"As you say, love," she said, gently kissing her husband on the lips. Severus' arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close, deepening the kiss.

"Oy!" Draco snapped. "I really don't need to see this."

Pulling apart the couple turned to face Draco with contentedly smug looks upon their faces. Then, with Severus in the lead, the trio left the ball and went to relieve Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy from their misapprehension and misery.