A/N: We've wanted to an explore an AU in which Harry was raised by the Malfoys from a young age for a while, and so (spoiler alert), here it is. There's an instance of strong language in the first chapter, but PG-13 movies are allowed one use of the word, so we're planning to keep this rated T. We hope you enjoy. —L&N

∞ Chapter One ∞

It was a dark and eerie night in Godric's Hollow, and Lucius wanted to be anywhere but here. The Dark Lord was carrying out the last phase of his plan and had risen to so much power that after this night had ended, there would be little able to stand in the way of his reign of terror and bring it to an end. The Dark Lord's excitement had been more than evident, as of late. His followers, on the other hand—the ones like Lucius, who had been forced into life as a Death Eater at a young age and really had no say as to whether he wanted to serve the Dark Lord or not—were not so thrilled by the prospect of their master ruling forever. Because of his father's death and his responsibility to take over Abraxas's position in the Dark Lord's inner circle several years earlier, Lucius had now worked his way to the top of his master's ranks and was now the Dark Lord's most trusted and faithful servant. If there was a task that needed tending to, Lucius, along with his sister-in-law Bellatrix and her husband and his brother, were called on for the task.

Lucius, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan had all been summoned to Godric's Hollow just a few minutes prior. Lucius had kissed his wife and informed her that he would return as soon as possible before Disapparating from Malfoy Manor and arriving at the exact place he'd been called to meet them all. Upon his arrival, he was unpleasantly greeted by his in-laws.

"Too busy with your little sprog to join us, Lucius?" said Rabastan with a nasty chuckle.

"Did we disturb you while you were fucking your wife?" laughed Rodolphus.

Lucius produced his wand and pointed it toward the two of them, readying his hand to send a hex their way. Scowling, Bellatrix elbowed Rodolphus in the side, and Lucius supposed her irritation was less on his behalf and more due to the desire to avoid thinking of her sister in such a way.

"I'll thank you to keep my family out of your insults," said Lucius with disdain, lifting his wand higher.

"Ah, Lucius," said the Dark Lord, appearing from out of the shadows, causing Lucius to immediately return his wand to his pocket and turn to face his master.

"My Lord," he said with a bow.

"Glad you decided to join me. Although, I believe working on coming exactly when called will keep you and your family from any future pain I may be forced to inflict."

"Of course, My Lord." Lucius did his best to hide the anger he felt toward the Dark Lord's threats.

"Now, on to the important matter of the evening. Tonight is a very special night," said the Dark Lord, pacing in front of his four followers with determination in his steps. His excitement was clear in the crispness of his movements, but he still held a sense of calm that was quite unnerving to Lucius.

"Why is that, My Lord?" Bellatrix asked, her dark eyes focused with rapt attention on her master.

The Dark Lord smiled coolly. "Glad you should ask, Bellatrix. My mission is there," he said as he pointed toward one of the houses a few doors down from where they stood. Lights spilled from the windows, and shadows moved within. "That is the home of James and Lily Potter, along with their one-year-old son, Harry…"

Lucius tried to listen carefully to the Dark Lord as he spoke, not wanting to miss the part detailing his instructions. However, he felt his stomach turn in knots at the mention of a one-year-old child being involved in their mission, as Lucius knew that could not end well. No, Lucius wasn't fond of James Potter or Lily Evans. He'd been too old to know them well from school, but the stories of them and their work for the Order—and his occasional encounters with them because of it—were not pleasant and made him want nothing to do with the blood traitor or his Muggleborn wife and their half-breed of a son. But the thought of the one-year-old came circling back through his mind—the idea that a poor, defenseless child was to be harmed unsettled him. What if that child was Draco? What if one day it would be? Lucius inwardly kicked himself for entertaining such horrible thoughts, but he also began to consider what Narcissa would think if she found out that he'd been forced to harm a child or…

"Lucius, do you have better things to attend to?" asked the Dark Lord sternly.

Lucius immediately snapped back to reality, shaking his head. "No, My Lord," he replied. "Of course not. There is no place I'd rather be than here, at your service."

An amused smile spread over the Dark Lord's lips, and he stepped closer to Lucius.

"Right," he said in what sounded like disbelief. "Then you will have no problem in carrying out the task I've given you."

"No, of course not. It's just, My Lord, I—"

"Wasn't listening? That's what I thought. Crucio!"

Not entirely shocked by the Dark Lord's sudden choice to cast an Unforgivable, Lucius fell to his knees and held in his cry of agony to avoid drawing the attention of outsiders. He knew the Dark Lord wasn't worried about being caught—he was essentially all-powerful, at this point, but Lucius, on the other hand, was not. Rodolphus and Rabastan snickered.

"Silence!" demanded the Dark Lord as he lowered his wand. "Or you'll be next. Lucius, on your feet."

As the pain slowly ebbed away, Lucius did as he was told. As he stood, he lifted his chin and set his jaw firmly.

"Now, I will say this one more time: you're responsible for procuring the child, if something is to go wrong. Is that clear?" the Dark Lord hissed.

Lucius blinked a few times, mentally kicking himself for doing so and wishing he'd paid better attention when the Dark Lord had been informing them of his plan. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Of course, My Lord," he answered quickly. "Of course."

"Get it together," snapped Bellatrix quietly from beside him. "Do not ruin this."

He ignored her, watching as the Dark Lord made his way into the Potters' home. Lucius remained back, watching and waiting to see what might happen as his pulse pounded in his ears.

After several moments of quiet, there was a loud yell and a burst of green light coming from one of the downstairs windows, alerting Lucius and the others that one Potter was down and there were two more to go. Lucius's heart raced with anticipation, fear, and regret—becoming a father had softened him when it came to children. Everything about the mission made him absolutely ill. He kept seeing his little Draco in his crib asleep, waking to a scary-looking man and a green light and two screams from him and Narcissa before experiencing death himself.

No, Lucius told himself, working hard to silence his fears.

Another minute or two passed, and another flash of green light interrupted the blackness of the world outside the house, this time from the upstairs window in time with a second shout. And then only one Potter remained. Lucius gulped, knowing due to pitches of the sounds that the first to die had been Potter and the second had been Evans, which only left their son. Lucius fought hard to remove the image of little Draco in the crib from his mind; no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to rid himself of it. He knew it was what would come to pass if he was ever to defy the Dark Lord.

Another flash of green light emanated from the upstairs window.

Another shout followed, but it couldn't have belonged to an infant.

Lucius immediately snapped back to the present, looking to the others.

"Something's happened!" he exclaimed, producing his wand and pulling his hood more securely over his head. "Come on!"

Lucius ran toward the house, followed by Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan. When he reached the house, he ran in the front door, stepping over Potter's body without even a glance before making his way up the stairs.

"Lumos," he muttered, spurring his wand to light the darkened stairway and halls. He looked in all the rooms, searching for his master, but the Dark Lord was nowhere to be found. However, Lucius spotted a light on within a room at the end of one of the corridors, and he made his way toward it and entered. "Nox," he said, and the light of his wand extinguished. He kept his wand out and held it up, prepared to strike.

"Where is he?" asked Rodolphus, his voice panicked.

"Bloody hell," said Rabastan. His fear was evident in his eyes as he surveyed the room.

"Remain calm," replied Lucius, his gaze landing on the small child in the crib.

Bellatrix shoved past Lucius, her expression frantic and her breath rapid. "Where is he?" she demanded. She glanced from Lucius to the crib. "Why is the brat still breathing?" she snarled, stepping closer to the boy, who clung to the bars and watched them intently.

Lucius quickly held out his arm, blocking Bellatrix from stepping any closer to the child. "Don't you dare," he said sternly. He knew how angry Bellatrix could get and knew that if the Dark Lord was truly gone, she'd do everything in her power to harm anyone who'd had something to do with it—in this case, as he was the only one left to blame, she'd try to harm the child. "I had strict orders to procure the child if something was to go wrong, and I'm doing just that."

Lucius removed his mask and stepped forward slowly; his wand was still at the ready. When he reached the crib, however, he relaxed slightly, looking down at the little boy. He was about Draco's size and had bright-green eyes and bushy black hair and a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead. Lucius's furrowed his brow, wondering how in the world the boy had received such a precise wound—it looked fresh. Could the Dark Lord's Killing Curse have backfired, leaving that mark in its place? Lucius shook his head of the ridiculous thought. Harry was a child. There was no way he could destroy Lord Voldemort.

Lucius continued to stare at the boy, and Harry stared back up at him, his bright eyes looking right into Lucius's and his little arms stretching out for him to pick him up. Lucius screwed up his face for a moment, thinking of all the possible ways bringing home a child to Narcissa could go—not to mention, this one was a half-breed. Lucius shook his head and sighed, reaching down and picking up the babe. He'd been given orders by the Dark Lord, and just in case his master was still out there, he didn't want to disobey those orders and face the consequences.

Lucius turned around toward the others, tilting his head slightly as Harry began to pull on his hair like Draco so often did.

"You lot best return to your homes," he said. "Aurors will be showing up at any moment, and you wouldn't want to be caught. We're all headed to Azkaban if the Dark Lord is truly gone and they manage to catch us. I believe lying low for a while would be wise. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a family to return home to," he said.

He flicked his wrist as though he were going to leave, but instead, he sent a hex toward both Rodolphus and Rabastan, who each yelled in pain.

"That's for insulting my wife and son."

Harry giggled, and Lucius looked down at him, grinning slightly, before turning his face back toward the others.

"You'd best do your duty well," said Bellatrix coldly. "Do not disappoint him."

Lucius said nothing. He waved his wand once more, and in a moment, he'd appeared at Malfoy Manor's gates, behind the shield he'd cast right after Draco had been born. He stepped through the gates and made his way to the door, unlocking it before stepping inside and making his way toward his study to find his wife. Lucius felt as though an immense weight had been lifted from his shoulders—the Dark Lord was gone, and he was free. There was no better news with which he could've returned, and he knew that Narcissa would feel the same way. However, he was a little apprehensive as to how she would react to the baby.

He glanced down at Harry, who had returned to sleep, his head buried in Lucius's chest as he clung to the robes that would have to be hidden before the Ministry caught word of what had taken place.