Lucius Malfoy was a changed man.
That he was.
He had set the family name to despicable heights.
And by despicable heights, it was not family glory.
He was a Death Eater.
And by being a Death Eater, people will respect you.
Lucius Malfoy used to love the smell of respect and
fear that would fill the room once he strutted by in
his suit and cane.
Although they all bowed in his presence, they were
all disgusted by him.
Unless you don't want to get by an Unforgivable
Curse, they'd have to worship, adore and admire the
all pure-blood family that was Malfoy. They were all too
eager to oblige as well, because flashing the Dark Mark was
already a threat enough.
What Lucius thought he knew was that they all talked
terribly of him (as well as his son and wife) behind his back
was because they were jealous he was a Death Eater
and he got respect just because of a tattoo of a skull
and snake entwined on his wrist.
On the contrary though, they talked ill of him
because they were all disgusted by him, and they
would rather be poor and "blood-betraying"
like the dear, sweet, happy Weasley family than be
rich and evil like the Malfoys.
Madame Malkin once said, during her gossiping
sessions with the wife of the owner of the Quidditch supply
shop, that a Muggle-born could earn more respect
than the entire Malfoy family combined.
And this was proven true by Hermione Granger and
Dennis Creevey. Both were great wizards that were
capable of protecting Hogwarts as much as they can.
Protecting their beloved school and the
entire wizarding world was a near-death experience,
and Dennis died with honour, to fight for love,
to fight for balance in the world.
Lucius.
Lucius was as foul, slick and sly
as his name. It was disgusting to hear it.
Oh, good Merlin, all their names were as evil
as the next: Abraxas, Lucius, Draco.
Disgusting. Even saying the name "Malfoy" would
earn shudders.
And it was all Lucius' fault.
And he did it just to earn respect. How much more
foul can he get?
Lucius Malfoy was not one to work. How did he get
rich, you ask? Oh, simple. It all came from Father.
He was a lazy bum. He wouldn't do anything to
help himself.
He got the Ministry bribed with a thousand galleons
to give him the highest post the Ministry to give
to a man like him. Just so to say that he was powerful,
rich and famous.
He was useless in the Ministry. But he was rich enough
to bribe everyone so that he can keep his post. He gets paid
for doing nothing.
What foul act. What terrible man. What corrupted
official. What dirty tactics.
The name "Malfoy" was at its downfall.
The pure-blood philosophy was already cruel enough.
Trying to take out the Muggle-borns was
beyond human thought. It was an insult to
Mother Nature to herself.
So when he sensed that Voldemort was at his
defeat, he rounded up his beloved Narcissa
and his young Draco to change sides, they were
both willing to do it.
And for the first time ever after he became a
Death Eater, he felt love.
So when he took Narcissa (and Draco) to safety in Hogwarts,
he fell in love with Narcissa the second time around.
He then vowed to himself that he will start listening to her,
since mothers know best.
He considered making this self-vow to an
Unbreakable Vow with Draco. 'I vow never
to make your mother cry', and he grinned
at this thought.
And again, for the first time ever after he became
a Death Eater, he felt innocently
happy like a child.
It was different, way too different from the
feeling he felt when he would verbally bully the
Weasleys. That was foul happiness. It was tainted,
evil.
He felt good about himself now.
Lucius Malfoy was a changed man.