Team: Puddlemere United

Position: Keeper

Word Count: 1, 406 on Google Doc

Lucius Malfoy is a calculating, cruel, and heartless man. He prides himself on being able to smile at dying orphans and homeless muggles begging and pulling on his robes.

So why was this infant brat tugging at his heartstrings?

The baby had small brown tufts of hair sticking up at odd angles and dark brown eyes that shone with an inner light as she clapped her hands in laughter. Her mouth opened in small giggles as she lay between the cooling bodies of her parents.

"HA! Look at that! The baby's laughing at the death of her parents! Do you think the Dark Lord will get a kick out of that?" Bellatrix cooed and turned to her husband.

"We should add a couple of slices here and there, don't you think? Make it realistic for the muggles? The Dark Lord said that we should avoid drawing attention to the magical world when we do this." The man tilted his head to the side as he looked at his wife with a grin. Raising his wand he cast a dark red spell at the mother's body. A light blue shield shimmered into place around the bodies as the infant let out another giggle.

"It's a Mudblood!" Bellatrix hissed out and then began to shoot curse after curse at the child. "You don't deserve to live filth! Crucio! Bombarda! Reducto! Avada Ke-"

"Bella," Lucius called out, his voice taking on a bored tone. "Do you remember what the Dark Lord told us?"

Bella glowered at him.

"That's right. We're to take all of the Mudbloods we find back to the Dark Lord." He paused here. "So what are you doing?" He strode forward, pushing Bellatrix out of the way with his cane. With a practiced move, his wand was free of the cane and pointed at the child.

Nothing happened.

"What was that supposed to do Lucius, make the child cry?" Rabastan mocked him. Lucius took a small, calming breath and put away his wand before kneeling in front of the child. Narcissa had told him many times that approaching a child without a smile and inner calm would only bring chaos and temper tantrums. Time to put his wife's dreaming information to the test. He knelt down and plastered a fake smile on his face, his arms outstretched.

"Come here child." The baby gave him a curious glance over before gurgling and crawling forward, her arms and knees pumping. When the child reached his arms he scooped her up, standing and turning around to face the two imbeciles he had to work with for the night.

"Lead the way."

They arrived at Malfoy Manor with a series of cracks. Lucius frowned; he had forgotten about the baby in his arms and the effects that apparition has. He looked down and raised an eyebrow. The child was clapping her hands and giggling! What was wrong with it?

"After you Lucius. You do have the child after all." Bella sneered and gave him a mock curtsy. Lucius ignored her and strode into his house and towards the parlor. When the doors opened he strode exactly four steps into the room and then knelt.

"My Lord, I have brought a Mudblood." He held the infant out and she giggled.

"Excellent Lucius. Step forward, bring her to me."

Lucius stood, the baby cradled back to his chest as he walked towards the chair by the fireplace. In the chair sat a man around the age of fifty. He had black hair with random gray streaks here and there. His eyes were a dark red and when he turned them on the infant in Lucius' hands, the child whimpered and curled back into Lucius' arms.

"She's a Mudblood?"

"Yes, my Lord. Bellatrix cast three curses at the child and she repelled all of them."

"Show me."

Lucius winced. He hated this part of reporting in. The Dark Lord was subtle as a bull in a china shop when it came to the art of minds. He looked up into the eyes of his Master and winced internally as he pulled the thought to the front of his mind. Immediately he felt the pressure of the Dark Lord in his mind, the cold fingers of the other man's grasping mind pulling and twisting his brain as it searched.

"Interesting..."

Lucius closed his eyes and resumed kneeling, thanking Merlin that it didn't last as long as normal. A small hand pressed itself to his nose and he opened his eyes. The baby was staring up at him with a toothless grin. His heart thumped and he found himself thinking that he wouldn't mind having a daughter.

"Lucius, you and Narcissa have been struggling to have a child, correct?" The Dark Lord sent him a smile. "I want you and Narcissa to adopt this little one here. I want to see what happens when a Mudblood is raised with Pureblood beliefs."

Lucius blinked and reached up to grasp the baby's hand. "Thank you, my Lord. Would you like to name her?" He looked up at the Dark Lord, hoping that he hadn't offended the man in any way.

"Tell me, Lucius, have you ever heard of William Shakespeare? He's a blood traitor that went to live in the muggle world and earn his living off of stories of old."

Ten minutes later found Lucius in his bedroom holding his new daughter, Hermione Malfoy.

"Welcome to the family, Mudblood." He let out a sigh and then sat on the bed, his gaze finding itself locked onto the infant once more. "Now what am I to do with you?"

She was sleeping now, her little hands curled into fists. She was still clothed in just a diaper, the same one that she was wearing when they had found her at the muggle home, and that wouldn't do at all. A handkerchief was plucked out of his pocket and transfigured into a small, ice blue dress. He looked between the cloth and the sleeping infant.

How was he going to do this?

This arm went in this hole, this arm in that hole, and the head went through that one! Lucius frowned and tilted his head to the side. It looked wrong somehow. He stared for a couple more minutes then it hit him. It was on backward! A groan escaped his mouth as he tugged the dress back off the child and then he froze when a loud cry pierced the air.

Shit.

"Stop crying! I'm getting you dressed you insufferable crying beast!" Lucius dumped the crying child on the bed next to him and dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his face. The crying got steadily louder and when it got to the point where his ears were almost bleeding, he dropped his hands and turned. Then that the most curious thing happened, she stopped crying.

It was only when she reached her hands up and tangled them in his hair that he realized what had happened. The way that he had turned to look at her, his hair had shifted to account for gravity and now lay hanging over his shoulder. The end of the blond tips stopped three inches before her nose and she was fascinated. Her brown eyes were wide with tears still glistening from where she had been crying only seconds before. Tiny fingers reached out and stroked the fine yellow strands; hands opening and closing as they drifted between her fingers.

Lucius found himself staring at her for minutes in silent appreciation as she amused herself with his hair. Why was she so astonished by his hair? It was just hair after all. She had her own hair, soft tufts of brown that poofed here and there, so why was she so fascinated? His brow furrowed as he thought, his hand coming up to pull more of his hair down for Hermione to play with.

The girl giggled as she pulled one fist from his hair and promptly stuck it in her mouth. Lucius felt a smile tug at his lips and he sat up, his hands lifting her into the air and back onto his lap. He quickly dressed her again, correctly this time as well, and then stood. Hermione was cradled in the crook of his arm, and as he walked slowly towards the door he whispered something to the yawning baby.

"Let's go introduce you to mummy."