Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Samson

You are my sweetest downfall

I loved you first, I loved you first

"Shacklebolt, Aurelia."

It wasn't love at first sight, he was only eleven after all, but something about her intrigued him, even at that young age.

He watched the tall, slender girl walk carefully to the stool where the old battered hat sat expectantly. She walked the way he had seen his own mother teach his younger cousins to walk; chin up, eyes ahead, face composed into alluring neutrality. And her dark skin was most definitely alluring; under the lights of the Great Hall it seemed to radiate and her hazel eyes were piercing in contrast.

The hat was placed on her carefully coiffed bun, and he swore he saw a look of annoyance cross her features; he was sure that the girl would be Sorted into his own House. If he believed in such things as crossing ones fingers and expecting something, he would have done so under the table, wanting this Aurelia Shacklebolt to be his new acquaintance, perhaps even his friend, and later, he would ask her to be his wife.

After what seemed like ages, particularly in comparison to his own (the Hat had barely been in place before announcing SLYTHERIN!) the Hat finally spoke.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow and black House clapped cheerfully. The Shacklebolt name was known. The list concluded, the Headmaster muttered a few odd words, reminders about the Forbidden Forest and Filch's desires that went unheeded that he would come to repeat every year, but he never remembered the speeches. Like that first year, he would be too busy looking at Aurelia, fascinated by her movements, her expressionless face, and wonder where the hat had really wanted to put her.

"Quit gawking Malfoy."

And someone would always bring him out of his reverie.

Lucius Malfoy turned and glared at the fifth year sat across from him, though his glare withered under the scrupulous look of the dark haired boy.

"I wasn't...gawking."

He hadn't been, he was admiring.

"Stay away from them Shacklebolts," the boy continued, helping himself to the food that appeared on the gold plates before them. "Pleasant to look at, nice for conversation, but law-abiding fuckers if I ever saw any."

"Himesh Shacklebolt is Head of Magical Law Enforcement," someone expanded.

"Every single one to pass through here becomes a fuckin' Auror of sorts; always bloody Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors as well."

Lucius would come to learn that Aurors, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors brought distaste to many of his housemates, who's dabbling with illegal materials often bought them face-to-face with a Shacklebolt.

"Watch your language. And you firsty, will do yourself a favour if you stay away from the likes of Aurelia Shacklebolt."

By the time he'd found out what the likes of Aurelia Shacklebolt meant was later, listening to one of his father's rants that his mother had previously protected him from, he was already intrigued by her.

He'd watch her from far away.

There was something about her. Something about the way she spoke, the way she held herself. Lucius Malfoy was captivated. He would watch her whenever he could, find reasons to be in the library whenever he overheard a study session was coming up and watch her laughing with her group, resisting pangs of regret that he was not in another house.

Her walk radiated strength, confidence, determination. When her eyes fell upon him, he could feel their steely gaze and it took strength not to flinch. Her lips beckoned him, and her fierce loyalty was respectable as opposed to plain foolish.

All this, and she was nothing more than a Halfblood Hufflepuff.

The tradition was that the Shacklebolt males would all marry a Muggleborn or Halfblood to ensure that their blood never ran thin; it was a tradition that the rest of the established families sneered at, but from his research 'Blimey Malfoy, you're turning into a right stalker aren't you' the Shacklebolts were one of the oldest wizarding family in Britain, and the purest in the sense that their blood never mixed with one of their own.

He would never admit to anyone, not even to himself, that he thought they had the right idea.

A/N – A ficlet of sorts about Lucius Malfoy's true love based on Regina Spektor's beautiful song Samson. Enjoy and review!