A Note from the author: Hogwarts and all of the established characters attached to it belong to JK Rowling. The original characters and backstory, I would like to claim as my own (if it is legal to do so).
(This was once part of the much larger Traveller's Tale, in which Miranda fakes her death to recruit Lucius into Dumbledore's service. But I thought it made a nice little character sketch of a much misunderstood Malfoy . . . )
The story is set after the end of book four.
Please, don't take it so seriously. I just make this stuff up!
Enjoy!
Turning Lucius
By Greta Jameson
1: The Tyranny of History
Lucius sat alone in his room. His eyes swept over the cot in the corner, the large cobbles of the dungeon's wall and the heavy oak door and he wondered when they would come. He knew it must be morning because the torches had lit up a couple of hours ago and when he was in the bath someone had left a breakfast tray on the table for him.
He drank the bitter dregs in his cup, nibbled on the last of the toast and began to nervously paw through the drawers of the old roll-top desk. It was filled with sheets of parchment, but there were no quills and no razors for cutting them - nothing sharp.
He paused from his examination of the desk's contents and smiled. The air had become suddenly moist - a late summer shower. He listened as the steady patter of falling drops slowed and imagined the world above. After summer showers, steam always rose from the streets and sidewalks of London giving the city an eerie, swamp-like look.
The aurors had confiscated his wand, so instead, he stretched his arms and blue sparks crackled at his fingertips. He directed his energy and willed the chair to move but it remained at rest. Given the amount of power he projected at it, the chair should have flown across the room. But in this cell, he was unable to work any magic at all.
The lock on the door slid back and two wizards in dark wool robes entered and sat down at the table.
"Good Morning, Mr. Malfoy, I'm Jim Goldberg and this is Tony Costello," the younger of the two men said nodding to the white-haired auror to his left. "You're going to be seeing a lot of us over the next week or so. Sorry for having to keep you cooped-up in here. You'll be able to move around a bit more in a few days."
"I look forward to it," Lucius drawled to emphasize his discomfort. "The worst part of it all is that there aren't any windows. I can hardly tell night from day,"
"We're going to be talking a lot over the next few days," Jim continued. "There's a lot we need to know, and it'll go much quicker if you cooperate. If you need a break, or food or just want to stretch your legs, just let us know, OK?"
Lucius nodded.
As Tony opened his notebook and rolled up his sleeves, Jim took a long look at Lucius. He was tall and lean, had broad shoulders and looked very strong. Lucius smiled affably at Jim. He knew that Jim was sizing him up, so he tossed the careless waves of his blonde hair over his shoulder, leaned back in his chair, and let him look.
"Now then," Tony began, "When did you first meet Voldemort?"
"I was twenty-two, no twenty-three years old," Lucius began. "My parents had thrown me out the year before, after putting up with my disgraceful behavior for several years."
"Disgraceful behavior?"
"What you would expect from a troubled young man: fighting, drinking, the wrong sort of women. They finally asked me to leave when I steadfastly refused to do anything useful with myself. I wouldn't go in for advanced medical education or training of any sort, and I didn't have any respectable hobbies or interests to pursue. And frankly, I had begun to embarrass them - so they asked me to leave."
"And where did you go?"
"The wizarding section of Bayswater, not far from the Park. They would have preferred I live in a better area, of course, but the neighbors more or less tolerated my behavior, so it worked for me."
"And how did you support yourself?" Jim asked, although he already knew the answer.
"I got a check from my father's solicitor every month, Lucius smiled. "It was more than enough to live on. I squandered most of it."
"O.K., let's backtrack a bit. We've seen your school records. You weren't a bad student: average marks, no disciplinary issues. You did receive written reprimands for a couple of mischievous pranks, but nothing out of the ordinary. What caused all of these problems after you finished school?"
Lucius looked at the two aurors and then at the wall where the windows should have been and asked, "Do I have to talk about that?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so."
"Well, when I was at Hogwarts, I fell in love with a girl, Madeline Greenstone - a Slytherin the same age as me," Lucius began as he nervously started to pick at the skin around his fingernails. And after school, we got very serious about each other. Both of our families seemed pleased, so we started to talk about declaring, even though we were still quite young. Privately, of course, she had already chosen me, and I felt as if I were the luckiest young . . ." he stopped and bit his lip to keep from crying in front of his interrogators. "Look, I really don't want to go into this."
"We can stop for the moment, Mr. Malfoy. But we'll have to go back and cover it at some point. We need to understand your state of mind when you first encountered Him."
"Best to get it over with then, "Lucius said steeling himself to continue. "Everything was fine for a couple of years. And then Maddie came over one evening in a hysterical state. For the longest time, she just cried and kissed me as we sat in the garden. Then she told me that her parents had agreed to Sebastian Snape's request for her to marry his eldest son, Salazar. I could hardly believe it! By that time, arranged marriages had been out of fashion for over a century. I told her to ignore the whole thing. I told her that we could go live elsewhere, until the whole affair was forgotten. And then . . ." He shaded his face with his right hand and choked, "For as long as I live, I will never forget the way she stiffened in my arms. Right then and there, I knew that she had already decided to go along with their plans."
After a couple of minutes of silence, Tony said, "We're sorry to have to ask you this, Lucius, but could you please continue?"
"Right," he said, swallowing hard. "I begged her to reconsider, but she just kept on saying that she had to. She said that she would always love me, but that we shouldn't see each other anymore. And then she just got up and walked off home. My whole world had crumbled around me, and I was powerless to do anything about it. I was too numb to move, and I sat there in the garden half the night, breathing in those stinking wisteria. I've hated their sickly-sweet smell ever since."
"Did you do anything to try to change her mind?"
"Oh yes, I tried to see her the very next day, but wasn't allowed to. Her father threatened me, and I responded so forcefully, that I knocked him out. Maddie came running down the steps, but instead of coming to me, she fell to his aid, and told me to go away and never come back. I was devastated. For days or maybe weeks, I just lay in my room. Some time later, I started to go out at night. At first, I just walked around the grounds, and then I started to go into the city. I became a ghost to my family: sleeping all day and staying out all night, sometimes not coming back for days. I made a few friends. Fellows who were nothing like me, but who liked to do the same sorts of things."
"Did anyone try to stop you?"
"Yes. My parents both tried to consol me, but they just made it worse. They told me that I would find another girl. It was as if they likened my loss of Madeline to the disappearance of a favorite pair of boots. I realized that neither of them had ever loved like that, so they couldn't understand what she meant to me. When she was with me, I was whole, and without her, I was half a man - incomplete in every way."
"That explains the origins of the troubles. Now how exactly did you meet Voldemort?"
"Marcellus Kempe introduced me."
Jim looked at Tony, who nodded sagely as he asked, "And how did you encounter him?"
"Well, my friends and I had our handful of favorite places that we frequented, and at some point, I noticed that he was always there. Not obtrusively so, but present all the same. He would sit quietly with his drink, wrapped in a ratty old cloak and observe the people around him. I became suspicious that he was working for my father, and would glare at him from time to time, so that he knew that I was aware of him. Well one night, I was supposed to meet up with my friends and I went to the agreed spot. Not only were they not there, but almost no one was there other than Kempe, slumped down in his chair off in the shadows. The tavern keeper, who was usually quite friendly, seemed nervous, and hardly spoke to me at all. I just ignored him at first, but as I sat there, I got more and more angry. Eventually, I went over to his table and threw the remains of my drink in Kempe's face."
Tony coughed to disguise a laugh, and asked, "What in the world did he do?"
"The amazing thing, even to me at the time, was that he did nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Not a thing. He wiped his face, and said, 'why don't you have a seat Lucius. I think its time that we had a little chat. By the way, I don't work for anyone you know. At least not anyone you know - yet'."
"Why are you wasting your time with these boys, Lucius?" Kempe said as he ordered another round of drinks. "You could be and do so much more - and you know it. You're talented; you've had a good upbringing and a good education. The only thing you really need is an opportunity to prove yourself. I know of someone who could help you."
"I don't need anyone's help. I'm quite capable of . . ."
"No, you don't need help, do you?" he asked with a nasty edge to his voice. "This is what you've always dreamed of doing with your life. You're drunk more than you're awake these days. And I know you've tried drowning them, but your sorrows have learned to swim, haven't they? Now, don't even think about throwing that at me. You'll not get away with it a second time."
I got up and started back to the bar and Kempe whispered, "Lucius, I know what happened between you and the Greenstone girl."
I turned and saw those huge black eyes glittering in the tavern's half- light. "I know about the pain that she and Snape have caused you," he said. "I can't change the past, but I can help you get over it and get on with your life."
"How do you know all this about me?" I asked as I sat back down.
"This man I work for, he's a great man and very perceptive, and he would like to meet you. If you're willing, we can go right now."
I stared back at his care-lined face and that filthy, old cloak and wondered what he really wanted.
"Not money, Lucius. The only thing I want is to give you a chance to make something of yourself. Just come and see for yourself. If things are not to your liking, you are free to leave. There's not much a round-shouldered old fellow like me can do to stop a strapping young man like yourself."
"And I take it, you went with him?" Jim asked
"Yes."
"Can . . . you tell us about that night?" Tony prodded
"Sure. Kempe opened a pass in the usual way. First he pressed his palms together in the center of his body as he focused his mind, and then slowly spread his arms wide, opening a dark hole right in front of us. I stepped into the blankness right behind him and we jogged down the tunnel for a few minutes and then Marcus stopped and pulled the pass apart and stepped back into the world.
"It was a brilliantly clear night. I had never seen so many stars in all my life, not even on the Himalayan treks that my brother Damien and I used to go on with our father. We were on a high plain and it was very cold. It had snowed earlier in the evening, and the hills were nestled and silent. We walked around a bend and saw the old Druben fortress in the distance bustling with energy and life.
"Back then, Druben was more magnificent than any palace or private home I had ever seen. The hallways and rooms were decorated with precious objects from around the world and from many different eras. I remember that I felt an incredible sense of history as Kempe led me towards the main reception chamber. The rooms were filled with people of nearly every ethnicity, talking and laughing. I felt that something important must be going on here, to attract so many people from so far away.
"Before we crossed into the main hall, Kempe handed his rough woolen cloak to an attendant, revealing a perfectly tailored black jacket underneath. The gold buttons on the jacket were emblazoned with a circular design of snakes devouring their own tails. He stood straight and tall and instantly seemed younger and stronger than the old man in the tavern. A boy knelt at his feet to clean his boots, and he turned to me with a smirk on his face as our names were announced.
"When the doors opened a wave of scent from burning tobacco mixed with bay and sage met us. The walls of the reception chamber were plastered in ochre and amber tones, and frescoed with a procession of fantastic beasts encircling the room: golden lions and stags paraded against a bright cobalt ground and glistened in the firelight. Above and below the creatures - sunflowers bloomed.
"About twenty people sat on chairs or carpets in front of a large fireplace at the far end of the room. As we approached, they all fell silent and turned toward us. It was immediately clear to me that Voldemort was the leader because of his demeanor. His face was strong and still and he had intelligent, entrancing pale-blue eyes.
"Kempe bowed deeply before him as he said, "Master, this is Lucius Malfoy, the young man that you wanted to meet."
Voldemort looked me over slowly from head to toe and said after long consideration, "Your gifts are Healing and . . . you are also gifted with Persuasion - an unusual combination. And you're powerful, lots of raw, still untrained power, unfortunately being wasted - just frittered away." He paused for a moment, and then said, "Come closer, Lucius."
"I hesitated at first, but Marcellus pushed me forward. Voldemort laid his hand on my shoulder, and I felt a wave pass through me. It was so strong that it would have knocked me backwards but for his tight grip on my arm.
"Oh my poor broken-hearted one," Voldemort began. "You mustn't mourn so for you lost love. She hasn't died, you know."
"She has for me."
"No, you delude yourself. She lives, and she breathes and she has found love with her new husband. Yes, she does love him. But, such are women's changeable ways," he said as he shrugged. "But instead of love, you have found only misery, and self-pity. And you wallow in the past and neglect the present and the future for what might have been. It's a shame, really. For you have so much to offer the world."
Voldemort fell silent and waited for me to respond, but I just stood there, shaking. I remember that I felt fury over the revelations about Madeline, but also gratitude for having found someone who seemed to understand me. I felt another wave pass through me and then He smiled as he said, "Yes, change is in air, Lucius. You desire it, and we can help you achieve it. Together we can make things right. Stay with us for a while, Marcellus and I will help you."
"So I stayed on for several weeks, and at the end of that time, I was initiated as a novice."
"Thank you Lucius, you've been a big help," Jim said as he blotted his parchment, and placed it in the folder with the rest of his notes. "Let's take a break until tomorrow. We'll have lunch sent up, and some of those newspapers and books that you've been asking for."
"That was brilliant!," Jim exclaimed as they ascended the steps from the cell block to the Ministry's main cellar. "Thanks so much for choosing me as your second, Mr. Costello. I can't believe we've got Lucius Malfoy in there!"
"That'll do, Jim," Tony replied with a cautionary air. "You need to curb your enthusiasm, or we're done for."
"What do you mean, sir? From what I can see, he's cooperating nicely."
"So far, Jim. So far. But I tell you, he's a tricky one, ole Lucius is. I still can't believe he volunteered his services. They'll have us believe he just walked into Dumbledore's office after all these years and asked to help. There's more to it than that – there's got to be, and I aim to find out what it is."
(This was once part of the much larger Traveller's Tale, in which Miranda fakes her death to recruit Lucius into Dumbledore's service. But I thought it made a nice little character sketch of a much misunderstood Malfoy . . . )
The story is set after the end of book four.
Please, don't take it so seriously. I just make this stuff up!
Enjoy!
Turning Lucius
By Greta Jameson
1: The Tyranny of History
Lucius sat alone in his room. His eyes swept over the cot in the corner, the large cobbles of the dungeon's wall and the heavy oak door and he wondered when they would come. He knew it must be morning because the torches had lit up a couple of hours ago and when he was in the bath someone had left a breakfast tray on the table for him.
He drank the bitter dregs in his cup, nibbled on the last of the toast and began to nervously paw through the drawers of the old roll-top desk. It was filled with sheets of parchment, but there were no quills and no razors for cutting them - nothing sharp.
He paused from his examination of the desk's contents and smiled. The air had become suddenly moist - a late summer shower. He listened as the steady patter of falling drops slowed and imagined the world above. After summer showers, steam always rose from the streets and sidewalks of London giving the city an eerie, swamp-like look.
The aurors had confiscated his wand, so instead, he stretched his arms and blue sparks crackled at his fingertips. He directed his energy and willed the chair to move but it remained at rest. Given the amount of power he projected at it, the chair should have flown across the room. But in this cell, he was unable to work any magic at all.
The lock on the door slid back and two wizards in dark wool robes entered and sat down at the table.
"Good Morning, Mr. Malfoy, I'm Jim Goldberg and this is Tony Costello," the younger of the two men said nodding to the white-haired auror to his left. "You're going to be seeing a lot of us over the next week or so. Sorry for having to keep you cooped-up in here. You'll be able to move around a bit more in a few days."
"I look forward to it," Lucius drawled to emphasize his discomfort. "The worst part of it all is that there aren't any windows. I can hardly tell night from day,"
"We're going to be talking a lot over the next few days," Jim continued. "There's a lot we need to know, and it'll go much quicker if you cooperate. If you need a break, or food or just want to stretch your legs, just let us know, OK?"
Lucius nodded.
As Tony opened his notebook and rolled up his sleeves, Jim took a long look at Lucius. He was tall and lean, had broad shoulders and looked very strong. Lucius smiled affably at Jim. He knew that Jim was sizing him up, so he tossed the careless waves of his blonde hair over his shoulder, leaned back in his chair, and let him look.
"Now then," Tony began, "When did you first meet Voldemort?"
"I was twenty-two, no twenty-three years old," Lucius began. "My parents had thrown me out the year before, after putting up with my disgraceful behavior for several years."
"Disgraceful behavior?"
"What you would expect from a troubled young man: fighting, drinking, the wrong sort of women. They finally asked me to leave when I steadfastly refused to do anything useful with myself. I wouldn't go in for advanced medical education or training of any sort, and I didn't have any respectable hobbies or interests to pursue. And frankly, I had begun to embarrass them - so they asked me to leave."
"And where did you go?"
"The wizarding section of Bayswater, not far from the Park. They would have preferred I live in a better area, of course, but the neighbors more or less tolerated my behavior, so it worked for me."
"And how did you support yourself?" Jim asked, although he already knew the answer.
"I got a check from my father's solicitor every month, Lucius smiled. "It was more than enough to live on. I squandered most of it."
"O.K., let's backtrack a bit. We've seen your school records. You weren't a bad student: average marks, no disciplinary issues. You did receive written reprimands for a couple of mischievous pranks, but nothing out of the ordinary. What caused all of these problems after you finished school?"
Lucius looked at the two aurors and then at the wall where the windows should have been and asked, "Do I have to talk about that?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so."
"Well, when I was at Hogwarts, I fell in love with a girl, Madeline Greenstone - a Slytherin the same age as me," Lucius began as he nervously started to pick at the skin around his fingernails. And after school, we got very serious about each other. Both of our families seemed pleased, so we started to talk about declaring, even though we were still quite young. Privately, of course, she had already chosen me, and I felt as if I were the luckiest young . . ." he stopped and bit his lip to keep from crying in front of his interrogators. "Look, I really don't want to go into this."
"We can stop for the moment, Mr. Malfoy. But we'll have to go back and cover it at some point. We need to understand your state of mind when you first encountered Him."
"Best to get it over with then, "Lucius said steeling himself to continue. "Everything was fine for a couple of years. And then Maddie came over one evening in a hysterical state. For the longest time, she just cried and kissed me as we sat in the garden. Then she told me that her parents had agreed to Sebastian Snape's request for her to marry his eldest son, Salazar. I could hardly believe it! By that time, arranged marriages had been out of fashion for over a century. I told her to ignore the whole thing. I told her that we could go live elsewhere, until the whole affair was forgotten. And then . . ." He shaded his face with his right hand and choked, "For as long as I live, I will never forget the way she stiffened in my arms. Right then and there, I knew that she had already decided to go along with their plans."
After a couple of minutes of silence, Tony said, "We're sorry to have to ask you this, Lucius, but could you please continue?"
"Right," he said, swallowing hard. "I begged her to reconsider, but she just kept on saying that she had to. She said that she would always love me, but that we shouldn't see each other anymore. And then she just got up and walked off home. My whole world had crumbled around me, and I was powerless to do anything about it. I was too numb to move, and I sat there in the garden half the night, breathing in those stinking wisteria. I've hated their sickly-sweet smell ever since."
"Did you do anything to try to change her mind?"
"Oh yes, I tried to see her the very next day, but wasn't allowed to. Her father threatened me, and I responded so forcefully, that I knocked him out. Maddie came running down the steps, but instead of coming to me, she fell to his aid, and told me to go away and never come back. I was devastated. For days or maybe weeks, I just lay in my room. Some time later, I started to go out at night. At first, I just walked around the grounds, and then I started to go into the city. I became a ghost to my family: sleeping all day and staying out all night, sometimes not coming back for days. I made a few friends. Fellows who were nothing like me, but who liked to do the same sorts of things."
"Did anyone try to stop you?"
"Yes. My parents both tried to consol me, but they just made it worse. They told me that I would find another girl. It was as if they likened my loss of Madeline to the disappearance of a favorite pair of boots. I realized that neither of them had ever loved like that, so they couldn't understand what she meant to me. When she was with me, I was whole, and without her, I was half a man - incomplete in every way."
"That explains the origins of the troubles. Now how exactly did you meet Voldemort?"
"Marcellus Kempe introduced me."
Jim looked at Tony, who nodded sagely as he asked, "And how did you encounter him?"
"Well, my friends and I had our handful of favorite places that we frequented, and at some point, I noticed that he was always there. Not obtrusively so, but present all the same. He would sit quietly with his drink, wrapped in a ratty old cloak and observe the people around him. I became suspicious that he was working for my father, and would glare at him from time to time, so that he knew that I was aware of him. Well one night, I was supposed to meet up with my friends and I went to the agreed spot. Not only were they not there, but almost no one was there other than Kempe, slumped down in his chair off in the shadows. The tavern keeper, who was usually quite friendly, seemed nervous, and hardly spoke to me at all. I just ignored him at first, but as I sat there, I got more and more angry. Eventually, I went over to his table and threw the remains of my drink in Kempe's face."
Tony coughed to disguise a laugh, and asked, "What in the world did he do?"
"The amazing thing, even to me at the time, was that he did nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Not a thing. He wiped his face, and said, 'why don't you have a seat Lucius. I think its time that we had a little chat. By the way, I don't work for anyone you know. At least not anyone you know - yet'."
"Why are you wasting your time with these boys, Lucius?" Kempe said as he ordered another round of drinks. "You could be and do so much more - and you know it. You're talented; you've had a good upbringing and a good education. The only thing you really need is an opportunity to prove yourself. I know of someone who could help you."
"I don't need anyone's help. I'm quite capable of . . ."
"No, you don't need help, do you?" he asked with a nasty edge to his voice. "This is what you've always dreamed of doing with your life. You're drunk more than you're awake these days. And I know you've tried drowning them, but your sorrows have learned to swim, haven't they? Now, don't even think about throwing that at me. You'll not get away with it a second time."
I got up and started back to the bar and Kempe whispered, "Lucius, I know what happened between you and the Greenstone girl."
I turned and saw those huge black eyes glittering in the tavern's half- light. "I know about the pain that she and Snape have caused you," he said. "I can't change the past, but I can help you get over it and get on with your life."
"How do you know all this about me?" I asked as I sat back down.
"This man I work for, he's a great man and very perceptive, and he would like to meet you. If you're willing, we can go right now."
I stared back at his care-lined face and that filthy, old cloak and wondered what he really wanted.
"Not money, Lucius. The only thing I want is to give you a chance to make something of yourself. Just come and see for yourself. If things are not to your liking, you are free to leave. There's not much a round-shouldered old fellow like me can do to stop a strapping young man like yourself."
"And I take it, you went with him?" Jim asked
"Yes."
"Can . . . you tell us about that night?" Tony prodded
"Sure. Kempe opened a pass in the usual way. First he pressed his palms together in the center of his body as he focused his mind, and then slowly spread his arms wide, opening a dark hole right in front of us. I stepped into the blankness right behind him and we jogged down the tunnel for a few minutes and then Marcus stopped and pulled the pass apart and stepped back into the world.
"It was a brilliantly clear night. I had never seen so many stars in all my life, not even on the Himalayan treks that my brother Damien and I used to go on with our father. We were on a high plain and it was very cold. It had snowed earlier in the evening, and the hills were nestled and silent. We walked around a bend and saw the old Druben fortress in the distance bustling with energy and life.
"Back then, Druben was more magnificent than any palace or private home I had ever seen. The hallways and rooms were decorated with precious objects from around the world and from many different eras. I remember that I felt an incredible sense of history as Kempe led me towards the main reception chamber. The rooms were filled with people of nearly every ethnicity, talking and laughing. I felt that something important must be going on here, to attract so many people from so far away.
"Before we crossed into the main hall, Kempe handed his rough woolen cloak to an attendant, revealing a perfectly tailored black jacket underneath. The gold buttons on the jacket were emblazoned with a circular design of snakes devouring their own tails. He stood straight and tall and instantly seemed younger and stronger than the old man in the tavern. A boy knelt at his feet to clean his boots, and he turned to me with a smirk on his face as our names were announced.
"When the doors opened a wave of scent from burning tobacco mixed with bay and sage met us. The walls of the reception chamber were plastered in ochre and amber tones, and frescoed with a procession of fantastic beasts encircling the room: golden lions and stags paraded against a bright cobalt ground and glistened in the firelight. Above and below the creatures - sunflowers bloomed.
"About twenty people sat on chairs or carpets in front of a large fireplace at the far end of the room. As we approached, they all fell silent and turned toward us. It was immediately clear to me that Voldemort was the leader because of his demeanor. His face was strong and still and he had intelligent, entrancing pale-blue eyes.
"Kempe bowed deeply before him as he said, "Master, this is Lucius Malfoy, the young man that you wanted to meet."
Voldemort looked me over slowly from head to toe and said after long consideration, "Your gifts are Healing and . . . you are also gifted with Persuasion - an unusual combination. And you're powerful, lots of raw, still untrained power, unfortunately being wasted - just frittered away." He paused for a moment, and then said, "Come closer, Lucius."
"I hesitated at first, but Marcellus pushed me forward. Voldemort laid his hand on my shoulder, and I felt a wave pass through me. It was so strong that it would have knocked me backwards but for his tight grip on my arm.
"Oh my poor broken-hearted one," Voldemort began. "You mustn't mourn so for you lost love. She hasn't died, you know."
"She has for me."
"No, you delude yourself. She lives, and she breathes and she has found love with her new husband. Yes, she does love him. But, such are women's changeable ways," he said as he shrugged. "But instead of love, you have found only misery, and self-pity. And you wallow in the past and neglect the present and the future for what might have been. It's a shame, really. For you have so much to offer the world."
Voldemort fell silent and waited for me to respond, but I just stood there, shaking. I remember that I felt fury over the revelations about Madeline, but also gratitude for having found someone who seemed to understand me. I felt another wave pass through me and then He smiled as he said, "Yes, change is in air, Lucius. You desire it, and we can help you achieve it. Together we can make things right. Stay with us for a while, Marcellus and I will help you."
"So I stayed on for several weeks, and at the end of that time, I was initiated as a novice."
"Thank you Lucius, you've been a big help," Jim said as he blotted his parchment, and placed it in the folder with the rest of his notes. "Let's take a break until tomorrow. We'll have lunch sent up, and some of those newspapers and books that you've been asking for."
"That was brilliant!," Jim exclaimed as they ascended the steps from the cell block to the Ministry's main cellar. "Thanks so much for choosing me as your second, Mr. Costello. I can't believe we've got Lucius Malfoy in there!"
"That'll do, Jim," Tony replied with a cautionary air. "You need to curb your enthusiasm, or we're done for."
"What do you mean, sir? From what I can see, he's cooperating nicely."
"So far, Jim. So far. But I tell you, he's a tricky one, ole Lucius is. I still can't believe he volunteered his services. They'll have us believe he just walked into Dumbledore's office after all these years and asked to help. There's more to it than that – there's got to be, and I aim to find out what it is."