"Crucio"
The words spilled across blood red lips like a whisper, a caress. But the pain went through his body like thousands of blazing hot knives poking his every nerve. But it was worth it. Draco would stay mark free, as innocent as he could be after the horror the boy had lived. He would be able to escape the terror that had consumed the Malfoy family. His death would mean nothing knowing that Draco would live to continue the legacy, would be able to continue the legacy without a dark stain across his soul. Narcissa was alive, somewhere, being protected by her estranged cousin and sister. The love of his life, the delicate flower turned to poison, might live, and heal.
Lucius Malfoy had woken up the night before Bellatrix and the others invaded the Department of Mysteries to lay a trap for Harry Potter. , Not in the sense of the REM cycle of sleeping and waking, but he woke up in the sense that he realized that things were different than they had been when he willingly took the mark of the Dark Lord in the name of blood purity. If it could be likened to waking up from a dream and realizing that you were living the nightmare, that would be the appropriate way to view Lucius' panicked epiphany upon returning to Malfoy Manor after kissing the blood-stained robes of his master. He happened to come across a letter from Draco as he planned the last of the details, and read about his son's carefree torment of a schoolyard rival. The Dark Lord had warned him very specifically what was at risk if the team was to fail, and Lucius had a sudden deep sense of dread that failure was exactly what was in store for him. Already other members of the Dark Lord's inner circle were taking refuge within the Manor, taking advantage of the stronger than average wards and relative isolation. Dungeons that had been unused since his grandfather's day were full of screams of tortured agony, or worse, from the wizards he used to be able to call compatriots. Lucius knew that if he failed, they would take Draco by force.
This bloodshed, the senseless planned killing of wizards with blood as pure (or purer, if Lucius was honest with himself) than his put questions in Lucius' mind. What was the point of trying to cleanse the world of filth if they also killed the ones they would need to help rebuild the world? Neutral purebloods did not attack their own. Opposing witches and wizards, regardless of blood, did naught but maim and capture, always believing in second chances. Bloodshed was not what he had signed up for, and he would not pass it along like a birthright the way his father had passed the Dark Mark onto him. When Lucius had taken the Mark, it was still a quiet movement, attempts to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic to implement pro-pureblood schemes and undermine Albus Dumbledore. Back then the fight had been against muggles and muggle-borns.
And now.
Lucius shuddered. Footsteps clicked around his prone body on the cold marble floor, temporarily waking him back up from remembering the reason he was huddled in rags on his own floor. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a great beast sliding across the floor. Nagini.
"No words? Crucio!" This time the curse was stronger, and he could tell that a different wand had cast it.
He sent Draco specific instructions via a very old family heirloom he had given the boy at Christmastime. "Run. Don't look back, do whatever you have to do to avoid my fate. Your mother is safe." There had been little time for conversation, but after a quick conversation an understanding was reached. Draco knew. He was no longer sheltered from the storm that was the Dark Lord.
Draco's final statement that night was simple. "I will act as normal. Save my belongings for me. Thank You..." A pause, which spoke volumes of itself, since the two Malfoy men had never spoken such words to each other in years.
Draco continued, whispering from the confines of a safe-room where his weakness could not be overheard. "I will miss you Father, I love you." The pain and anguish in those last few words he heard his son speak was heart-wrenching. But that his son was still capable of that level of emotion meant that it was something he needed to protect and preserve. Draco planned on going to Italy for the summer anyway, but now he would make permanent arrangements for his continued safety once he was safely ensconced in the Zabini villa. So Lucius packed. He packed quickly, and as much as he could get away with without arousing the suspicion of the Death Eaters who constantly swarmed the manor. Books, priceless artifacts, portriats, all were replaced with doubles in as many rooms as Lucius could reach. He figured many heirlooms would be destroyed, but many more had been saved. He sealed entire passages with blood runes, whatever he could get away with while being watched and without arousing suspicion. That morning he said goodbye to his wife for the last time, sharing a marital embrace for as long as he dared, before sending Narcissa away on a shopping trip she would never return from, at least no time in the near future.
Things had gone as badly as Lucius imagined, and more. His arrest was temporary. His son had been protected while he was in Azkaban, since it could be rightly claimed that Draco was out of reach while his father was in jail, hiding away 'in shame'. However, when he did not return after Lucius' 'release', trouble began.
"Sleeping with Lions" was the last message he had gotten from his son, via the heirloom, after his 'release'. It was enough. The Gryffindors had taken him in, and would protect him. Lucius had promptly destroyed the talisman.
"Toujours Pur" Was the last message he got from his dear wife: the motto of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, before he left for the raid. Again, it was enough. Arriving at the home of her ancestors caused a big enough stir to upset a balance Lucius had no inkling of, nor would he ever learn that simply by being at Grimmuald Place Narcissa Malfoy had saved the lives of people that night and beyond.
Lucius almost smiled as he felt sharp talon-like nails digging into his scalp as he was dragged to his feet and in front of the Dark Lord, dragging his mind back to his present predicament. The Dark Lord was not pleased that he had been deprived of the 'perfect' tool within Hogwarts walls, and more than upset because Lucius refused to summon his family from wherever he had sent them to hide.
'My family is safe. My family is safe'. Lucius kept the chant in his head, imagining all the blonde haired babies bouncing on his wife's knee, future generations of Malfoys ruling the Slytherin roost, a future full of promise for the one honest thing in his life he had managed to produce without somebody else suffering. The only two things that kept him from babbling his secrets like an idiot.
'My family is safe, my family is safe' Lucius whispered deep within the walls of his mind.
"Where are they, Lucius? Where is my sister? My nephew? Why have they run like blood-traitors rather than remaining here to serve our Lord?" The hot breath caressed his cheek as the Dark Lord's most faithful continued their 'treatment' of the traitor. The nails dug deep into his scalp, and Lucius could tell his demon-seed sister-in-law had drawn blood.
Lucius continued to keep his mouth closed. He barely heard the continued curses as they poured out of his sister-in-law's wand. His family was safe. Potter, the bane of his existence, was now the only thing that would ensure that the House of Malfoy continued on. Dumbledore, his political enemy, had given his family asylum.
In the end, that was all that mattered. His family was being protected by those he had once sworn to destroy. Draco would hopefully be able to finish his schooling, and Narcissa would live without the horror of seeing her only son conscripted into service for the Dark Lord, a Dark Lord who no longer thought twice about spilling the blood of even his most faithful servants. The hot fire that filled Lucius' body could attest to that.
"Enough, Bella." The hiss called from somewhere in the room. "It is clear that he will not speak tonight. But he will speak. Prepare his... accommodations."
Hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks, and still Lucius held his tongue, even as he felt the rest of his mind breaking. Once a proud man, the broken form of Lucius A. Malfoy lay in a pile of rags in the bottom of his own dungeon. The final act of the House of Malfoy, however, was to expel the invaders who had killed the Head of House. The set of ancient protections activated to protect the home from destruction and pillage and all occupants of the house were expelled, violently ejected from the wards the moment the master of the house took in his last breath, recognizing that the new true master was being kept away by force.
The war was won, by Harry Potter, who ended up with many more allies of the silver and green that followed in Malfoy's footsteps. Malfoy himself, however, remained haunted by the final conversation he had with his father, whom he idolized. He had the bundle his father had sent him but nothing else. The pain surrounding how he lost his father was too much, and he blamed anybody and everybody for allowing it to happen.
It was nearly five years afterward when Draco dared return to his childhood home to find it mostly in tact. The wards recognized him, and opened the house to him and his guests. It was then that the full extent of what Lucius Malfoy had done to protect his son, his family, was realized.
A/N. This was originally written for a LJ challenge, for those of you who recognize it from there. The original was written in about 30 minutes for a prompt challenge, and I have basically beefed up the original 500 word document for posting on here.
Also, Before you argue, originally Zabini was not in the Room of Hidden Things when Draco attacked Harry and company, it was his usual stooges of Crabbe and Goyle. This story follows Canon where that is concerned (never confirmed that Zabini was ever involved as a DE or supporter) It is also assumed in this story that Sirius never went to the DOM because of Narcissa's arrival, so he never died during OoTP. THis is a one-shot, but I might consider adding to it an epilogue.