A/N: Lucius comes home. Malfoy family fic. Set in the summer between HBP and DH. Lucissa as well.
Submission for:
Family Reunion Challenge: Malfoys - Lucius coming home
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Lucius exited of the fireplace, barely catching himself as he stepped out of the swirling green flames. He still couldn't believe he was here, breathing air that was untainted by the smell of human faeces and fear.
"Move, Malfoy, you're holding up the line," Dolohov barked from behind him, pushing the once elegant and regal master of the manor out of his way.
Lucius gasped, wanting to round on the man who had spoken to him like a commoner, but wasn't that what he had become? He was filth, scum, nothing more than a convict really. He had been tried, tested and had been broken free by a man who did it not out of love, care or obligation but out of spite. He had been forced back into the land of living but he didn't truly feel alive. Something died in him when he was placed in that place and all that remained of Lucius Malfoy was a hollow shell.
He had become dishevelled without proper care and maintenance. His hair had become frail, matted with dirt and started to fall out. His skin was sallow, the little fat on his bones wasted away months ago. His eyes were vacant, not seeing what was before him but his past mistakes flickering by like an aged photograph. How he wished he could go back in time and change things, to not go down this path.
"I'm sure you know your way around your own home, Malfoy," Dolohov sneered as he stepped out of the fireplace himself, dusting off the front of his robes and then moving out of the parlour.
Lucius blinked a few times. Home. Was this place ever really a home? This was the house he lived in all his life, the house he lived in with his father and mother (before she 'passed on'), the house he shared with his beloved wife and raised his son. It was never his home.
There was a faint sound and he spun towards it, his eyes wide and his hands held before him defensively. Two figures stood in the large entry way of the parlour. Her back was straight, her head held high, and her hair as beautiful as he remembered, however, he could tell she was not right, even from this distance. Her skin too had suffered, no longer as milky as before, her hair was dull and he could see her eyes swimming with tears. She could not tell if he were ghost or apparition and she was scared to find out.
Beside her, his son stood protectively in front of his mother, guarding her from whatever danger his return had caused. They all knew that he was not to return and this would have deeper, secret and potentially dire meanings. But Lucius saw through his mask to the young, scared boy who was happy he had returned to the Manor.
"Narcissa... Draco..." he breathed their names, lowering his hands, slightly fearful everything would evaporate into thin air if he spoke too loudly.
Then there was motion. In two quick steps, Narcissa crossed the parlour and fell into his open arms, sobbing loudly into his chest, all regality and elegance dashed aside in exchange for full expression and gratitude. To hell with anyone who thought she was 'unbecoming'. Her husband was back in her arms. Her love was back her side.
Draco approached his parents a bit slower and he pushed his way in between his parents, not enough to remove his mother, but to be enveloped by the two of them. He needed their presence, he needed their comfort.
"Lucius," Narcissa choked out, unable to say anything more without her sobs interrupting her.
Lucius just held his family close to him, squeezing them tightly. He was home, not in this house, but with those who loved him. He was home now.