Chapter 1 - The Gathering
It was a clear full moon at Malfoy mansion that night. A very happy Lucius pranced up and down the empty hall, humming an upbeat tune.
"Tah-ha! Tah-ha!" he sang. "Only half an hour 'till the Dark Lord's special meeting! Then I can finally see him again! I have to play it cool, though. If he knows I'm interested, then I'll positively DIE of embarrassment!"
Just then, Lucius's ears perked up. my peacock senses are tingling! Someones approaching the house, he thought. "HOMAIGAWD HOMAIGAWD!!! WHADA I DO??!! I HAVE TO ACT NATURAL!!"
"NARCISSA, YOU OLD COW!!!! ANSWER THE DOOR FOR CHRISTSAKE!!" he screamed.
"DAMNIT ALL, LUCIUS!!! I'M ENTERTAINING PEDRO TONIGHT!!" she yelled back.
"WELL TONIGHT IS THE DARK LORD'S WEEKLY MEETING AND I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL OF JUST BECAUSE THE POOL BOY IS CLEANING OUT YOUR BAT CAVE!!!! GET YOUR PRIORITIES IN ORDER, WOMAN!!"
She slowly waltzed to open the door and smiled at her husband's grumbles of disgust. "Lucci! Yaxleys here!" she said in mocking sweetness. "Evening Lucci!" Yaxley said with a sneer. "I imagine you were waiting for your loverboy?" "No! that's ridiculous! I'm happily married, in case you forgot." Narcissa let out a loud snort as she strode back to the sitting room. "see?" Lucius continued. "Happily married."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." he replied, walking up the stairs. "I'll just head on up and made sure the imbragable wackjob hasn't gotten himself stoned. Again."
That was TERRIBLE Lucius! Grow a backbone! The next time that doorbell rings, your going to be there to answer it and your going to show Severus how amazingly awesome you really are!! You can do it! Go Lucci! Go Lucci! Go Lucci!
Just then, someone approached the door and began knocking. Ho gawd! Ho gawd! I'm not ready for this! I've gotta relax. Just breathe, in and out, in and out.
He slowly made his way down the stairs and with a shaking hand reached for the door handle. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and swiftly pulled the door open.
"Well hello! Welcome! Come on in, you must be tired!" he exclaimed with the biggest smile he could muster.
"I'm a good bit tired, yea" Belatrix snorted "but why are you smiling like a bloody gay?"
Lucius staggered back and hid his face in his hands "Bloody hell, Belatrix. You smell like a muggle!"
"Well the Dark Lord demanded that I bring an empty wine bottle to the meeting. I can't imagine why though. I mean, wine bottles are a lot more interesting when they're full. More importantly, I didn't have any, so I had to go digging through the trash to find one."
"Charming" Lucius responded. couldn't have bothered to shower first, could you, he thought. "Yaxley is already here. They're in the room upstairs at the end of the hall"
"Evening, Lucius." a familiar voice said. Lucius quickly spun around to discover Severus Snape standing in his open doorway.
"Ah! Severus!" he gasped. "When did you get here?" "During your conversation about muggle trash with Belatrix and I must say, she smelt something foul!" he said with a smile.
"Ummm, well, the wackjob upstairs demanded for her to bring a wine bottle. Its positively mad, if you ask me."
"Its only a matter of time before he gets put in the crazy house. Oh! That reminds me." Severus said, reaching into his cloak and pulling out what looked like a bottle of swamp water. "A present for you! It does wonders for the skin!"
"Oh, Severus! How did you know?!" Lucius squealed. "Its just what I needed!" "that's not true. You have positively wonderful skin. I just thought it would make you shine even more"
Wha! I can't believe it! Its almost too good to be true! But I still have to play it cool. If he thinks I like it that much, then he'll probably think I'm an obsessive git!
"So Captain Crazy is upstairs?" Severus asked.
"Yes. Being entertained by Belatrix and Yaxley."
"I imagine this is going to be a long night."
I hope so. Lucius thought.