Star Crossed Lovers Torn Apart
Summary: After the terrible events of the Battle of Hogwarts, the Malfoy family was torn apart when Lucius served his wife with divorce papers and started a new life with a woman named Mina Yaxley. But as Lucius quickly becomes engaged and Narcissa is left heartbroken, is all truly what it seems?
Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling, as I'm sure you know.
Chapter One
It was all over. After a great deal of time, and even more pain, the Second Wizarding War had finally ended, leaving its participants at a bit of a loss as to what to do; they had become so accustomed to hiding and fear that they no longer knew what else there was in the world.
For none was that truer than the Malfoy family, sat together on the end of one of the long wooden tables of the Great Hall. They had lived the last two years of their life under the constant shadow of the Dark Lord's rise to power, each waking moment filled with terror that one of them might do wrong and all might suffer. Even now, Narcissa huddled close to Draco, half-shielding him from the judgemental glares of those who had fought on the winning side all along.
Lucius sat a little further away, his vacant stare fixed on the window of the Great Hall, as if he wished he could take a running jump right through them. After all, of the few commendable actions his family had taken during the war, none of them had come from him. His son had concealed Harry Potter's identity at Malfoy Manor, Narcissa had saved the boy from certain death. What had he done, besides watch it all collapse around him? What right did he have to sit among the victors when he did not lift a finger to help them win?
"Lucius?" The soft questioning voice was all too familiar, and Lucius was quick to wave it away. He did not need to seem any more pitiful than he already did. His wife, intuitive as ever, left him be, turning her attentions back to their son, who was still trembling as badly now as he had been when Potter dealt the final blow.
Lucius turned to his wife just a moment later, to apologise for his attitude. She had done nothing to deserve being dismissed in that way, she had been a loyal and loving wife through the darkest times imaginable, and he knew that she was only trying to help. But the moment he saw the woman clutch their son's hand, running her hand over his hair as the boy rested his head on her shoulder, the words caught in his throat.
After a few seconds of watching the two together, the man could stand it no longer. He was on his feet and out of the Great Hall before a minute had gone by, leaving Narcissa and Draco huddled together, alone. Neither of them tried to protest or to call him back as they watched him walk away; they knew he would not listen even if they tried.
The wind was fearsome in the Hogwarts courtyard, whipping the hem of his robes around his ankles. It was hardly the calm, peacetime image he would have expected, the night after such a great battle, when everything ought to have resembled a scene from a poetic novel. But life was far more brutal than a book. Lucius knew that better than almost anyone.
"Lucius Malfoy?" The voice was so sudden that Lucius jumped in shock. It was a woman, he could hear that easily, but she somehow sounded a stranger and achingly familiar at the same time. Lucius turned to face her, and his mouth fell open in shock.
The woman's hair was ashen blonde, her eyes a stormy blue, as if someone had taken the image of a princess from a fairy tale and shaded it with pencil. Her figure was lithe as it had been when she was a girl, although three decades had passed since that was true, and she still smiled the same smile as she had done then.
"Mina." Lucius could not help the smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "I wouldn't have thought I would see you here. You weren't part of the battle, were you?"
"I came to identify a body." Mina's smile faded a little, tears creating a watery film over her eyes. "My brother, Corban. He was killed by a couple of teenagers, or so I've heard. All those years of training in the Dark Arts came to nothing."
Lucius nodded in sympathy. He had not gotten along too well with Corban Yaxley, if the truth be told. The man had found him pompous and smug, whilst Lucius considered him to have more pride than his talents merited. But most of all, Corban had always hated him, for abandoning his sister the way he had done.
"Is your wife here?" Mina asked, trying her best to feign interest whilst keeping the hatred from creeping into her tone. It was a title she had never imagined awarding to anyone but herself. Mina had been all set to become Mrs. Malfoy, but Abraxas had refused, claiming even a Yaxley was too low-born for the sole heir to the Malfoy line. No more than a week later, Mina was abandoned with a broken heart and Lucius had announced his engagement to Narcissa Black. They had barely spoken since.
"She's inside, with Draco." Lucius answered. It did occur to him that she would have little clue who Draco actually was, but somehow it did not feel right to clarify the one thing that bound him to Narcissa. "She is rather shaken, as we all are. It has been a rather hellish time."
"And what about you?" the woman asked, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on his arm. That was small gesture was too much for Lucius to take, and tears began to streak down his face, his whole body shuddering with the force of his sobs. All this time, he had been so worried, so guilty, panicking that his own wife and child would suffer for his mistakes, and once the battle was done, it was as if he had disappeared. Narcissa had rushed to Draco's side, her maternal instincts taking over, but she had not thought of him at all. Mina was the first person to ever ask how he was feeling about it all; perhaps she was the only person who cared.
From a window near the great entrance doors, Narcissa stood and watched as her husband collapsed into the embrace of another woman. She did not have to see her face to recognise his comforter, and her heart seemed to sink into her boots. For twenty years, the fear had lived at the back of her mind, and she had an awful feeling that it was finally coming true.
A/N: First new story in a little while, but the response to my poll was overwhelmingly in favour of a HP story, and I've returned to my OTP once more. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter, please review!
