Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Written for The Houses Competition, Round 9, Year 3
Written for Monthly Challenges for All Challenge 2018
Written for QLFC Season 6, Round 13
Term 9 - Assignment 8 - Ghost Hunting Task 5: Write about the death of a spouse.
House: Hufflepuff
Position: Head Student
Category: Short
Prompt: [Word] Indelicate (Definition) - Offensive to a sense of generally accepted propriety, modesty, or decency; improper, unrefined, or coarse. Having or showing a lack of sensitive understanding or tact. Synonyms: insensitive, tactless, inconsiderate, undiplomatic, impolitic
Representation: Lucius Malfoy; Funeral; Widowed; Mourning; Arrogantly Proud; Stripped and Broken; Bitter and Hateful; Government Throws The Tome At Him; Exile;
Bonus Challenge(s): These Boots; Second Verse (Middle Name; Some Beach; Unwanted Advice; Sitting Hummingbird; Uncivil Obedience; Casper's House; Creature Feature; Tied & Died)
Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Chaser 2
Position Prompt: Ghost: Write about someone who is unable to let go of a grudge or resentment.
Additional Prompts:
(action) getting down on one's knees
(song) Good Old Days by Macklemore feat. Kesha
(emotion) anger
Word Count: (Per Google Docs) 2,454
Beta(s): Jet
Summary: Consequences of one's actions will surface one way or another, Lucius learned that the hard way.
Rated: T
Genre: Family, Tragedy
Warning: Mentions of Character Death
'Cause someday soon, your whole life's gonna change
You'll miss the magic of the good old days
—Macklemore Ft. Kesha, "Good Old Days"
Lucius could see the flames lick the towers of the castle above the treeline as they waited for the boy that gave their cause so much grief. As he stood beside Narcissa, broken and defeated by the one he once proudly served without question, they waited for the next devastating stage of this war while they wondered if their son was among the casualties or the living inside the school. The minutes ticked by and the silence stretched on. It gave him time to mentally curse Potter for everything that had happened up to this point. Their lack of wielding wands, his fall from grace with the Dark Lord, the condemning of his own son to fulfill an impossible task, prolonging his imminent death from happening, and barring his chance to get Draco out of harms way before it got this far.
But then everything suddenly happened in a handful of seconds. Potter emerged from the trees alone shortly after Yaxley and Dolohov, his eyes never leaving Voldemort. Lucius wasn't sure if words were exchanged, but the terrifying flash of green light soon struck the boy without mercy, and his body crumpled to the ground before his onlookers. Yet Voldemort was indelicately thrown backwards, too.
Bellatrix was the first to spring to his aid. He pushed her helping hands away as he slowly regained his footing and looked at the body laying in front of him. Voldemort seemed unsure why he fell with Harry, but he glared at the body briefly before looking at the group behind him. Lucius wondered if he doubted the curse worked, after all it didn't work properly the first time. The commanding hiss that stretched out into the air made Lucius shudder.
"Is he dead?"
It was directed at no one, and yet it was asked of anyone who bore witness to the slaughter. No one moved or responded, unsure what their master wanted from them. The silence was mind numbing, the only thing breaking it was the cracking of the dying fire nearby.
"You!" Voldemort snarled, throwing a shocking spell right at Narcissa.
Her gasp of pain from the spell snapped Lucius to the present, wrapping his arms around her as she almost doubled over from the brief shock the spell inflicted. It wasn't quite as powerful as the Cruciatus Curse, but it mimicked it well.
"Confirm the boy is dead."
It took Narcissa a moment to regain her composure. Lucius felt her squeeze his hand tightly before squaring her shoulders and marching toward the body before her sister could seize the opportunity from her. Lucius watched on, breath held, as she knelt over the boy.
With a fluid movement several long seconds later, Narcissa rose to her feet and turned to face Voldemort. Her face revealed nothing to the onlookers, but Lucius saw the slight inclination of her head as she confronted the fierce red eyes glaring back at her. It meant that the Dark Lord was looking in her mind, and she was allowing it. It was the only way he wanted to confirm an answer anymore.
"Dead."
She declared to the masses, expression not faltering as she returned to Lucius' side, gripping his hand tightly in hers as she pressed herself into his side. Voldemort moved toward the body, arms spread as he turned his back on Potter's body and faced his followers. The gleeful uproar broke the thick air around them concealed the words Narcissa uttered in Lucius' ear when she embraced him.
"Draco's alive."
The words puzzled him before the realization almost broke his own passive mask. He knew she only learned about this because of Potter. He gripped her hand tighter as they fell into step with the others. Lying to the Dark Lord would certainly end in disaster, but he never doubted her ability as an Occlumens, or as a mother. It was done in defiance, it was made with the promise to find their son, and so he confidently walked with her knowing the great risk she had taken was the only they would be permitted to enter the castle.
Despite their efforts to steadily slip closer to the castle entrance between the other followers while Voldemort listened to the Longbottom boy's speech, the discovery that Potter was not dead at all upon his body's sudden disappearance drove his former master into a blind fury. Some cowards Apparated away as the arrows from the centaurs started cascading overhead, the remaining followers charged forward, throwing spells every which way. Lucius held Narcissa as firmly as he could, adrenaline guiding them toward the castle among the chaos as the crowd of people hiding them thinned out.
Narcissa's lie did not go unpunished after all.
He wasn't looking when the curse struck his wife's body, but her hand was suddenly wrenched out of his as she indelicately crumpled to the ground. Collapsing to his knees in the debris and rubble, the world around him blurred and faded as he hastily shook Narcissa's shoulders to no avail. She was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Leaving her to lie there in the courtyard was not an option, so Lucius did the only thing he could – he collected her in his arms and carried her into the castle where the other side had gathered their own dead and lay her carefully on the floor of the trophy room. He still needed to find Draco, but it didn't stop him from cursing Potter's name again through the choking sobs for something else to go wrong in his life. He placed a gentle kiss on Narcissa's forehead before returning to the madness outside.
The desperate search was soon overcome with relief when Lucius spotted Draco flee into a deserted restroom. He quickly followed, and the panic on being followed was etched deeply on his son's features that it took him a long second to realize who it was. Draco immediately ran to him, the iron gripping hug was unexpected, but Lucius gratefully pulled his son in and returned it. The pair slowly sank to the damp floor. As they knelt there, Lucius fought the sting of tears pricking at his eyes as he processed everything that has happened in the last several minutes – hours? – once more.
It was rare for this sort of affection to be exchanged between them, but it was accepted without a second thought or question regardless of the indelicate nature.
"Where's Mother?" Draco half-whispered into the quiet room several minutes later.
His head was bowed, but was not quite resting on Lucius' shoulder. The question rang loudly in his ears as the sharp stab in his chest struck him hard. He placed a gentle hand on Draco's shoulder, prompting him to meet Lucius' red-ringed eyes with his own.
"He... took her..."
The roars of victory seemed to have shook the castle, muffling the hard sob escaping Draco.
If only they both knew how much their world was going to shift with that one change alone.
"Why…"
"Because we don't live in a world that's fair anymore," Lucius said coarsely. "We live in this new one now."
"The court is now in session. We are continuing the prosecution of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's captured followers and their crimes against the wizarding world..."
Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke loudly to the crowd from the compendium, but Lucius had long since tuned out his opening speech. He already saw his fate once, and he knew that he would see the bars of Azkaban once more, never to see the light of day again. If anyone asked, he would say he didn't care about his imminent ruling from the Wizgonment, he only waited as they ran down the list of seized criminals to come to his name.
Today was that day.
As the endless list attached to his name was read, Lucius prepared for ultimate sentencing. If they gave him a chance, he would beg to have Draco's own crimes placed on him as well. It was the least he could do for his son after everything he went through the last few years. The loyalty he held within the Ministry was obsolete now, his silvertongue rendered useless, but he would try.
What wasn't expected was Potter coming to his aid. Potter, the cause of all his suffering, rose to his feet within the counsel, and interjected before the unanimous ruling.
"Wait," he said, and Lucius was met with stern emerald eyes. "I have a proposition for the Malfoys."
The court went quiet, and the haggard figures of both blond's stiffened at the suggestion that Potter was about to place his reputation at risk, but he was to be heard regardless.
"If it hadn't been for Narcissa Malfoy, I wouldn't be alive. Because of her, we are not facing a bleak future." Hearing her name struck Lucius hard, the stiffness of his shoulders slackened, and he slumped over like the ruined man that he was. "In honor of her death, I wish the court allow them to walk free."
The words blurred in Lucius' skull as the court grew restless at the request. He didn't hear the dismissal of the trial for the re-evaluation of the Malfoy's case.
They may have evaded prison, but the tome was still thrown at them. The Ministry knew where to hit them, and they hit it hard.
Lucius should have felt grateful for the undeserved amnesty granted to he and his son by the Ministry, but he almost wished to have gone to jail after being stripped of almost everything else that day. Potter didn't care what happened to them beyond having that one charge amended.
Lucius stood in the foyer of the now barren home, Draco stood nearby. Boxes and portraits littered the floors, waiting for it to be transported away to its new destination. The manor was no longer theirs, seized by the Ministry for being the Official Headquarters of the Death Eaters. He turned to face the tapestry Draco was looking at and saw over his shoulder the decayed branch bore Narcissa's name.
Draco touched it with a gentleness Lucius hadn't known he was capable of.
"Will they permit a funeral for her?"
"They wouldn't deny us the ritual," Lucius said with damaged confidence. "I will make sure that she will be honored properly."
He placed a hand on his son's shoulder, but it was shrugged off. "You've done enough damage, Father," Draco hissed sharply. "I'll handle my mother's burial myself."
"Draco…"
Draco's fist tightened at his side. "If it wasn't for you being so reckless with power none of this would've happened."
"Son, please—"
"Shouldn't you be moving this rubbish out of here?" the flash of anger was prominent in Draco's eyes as they shifted from the family tree tapestry to bore into Lucius'. "Enjoy your exile, Father."
He was gone before Lucius recovered from the bitter taste of truth his son fed him. His glassy grey eyes fell on Narcissa's name. He couldn't help but kneel beside it and place his hand over her name, closing his eyes to hold in the tears.
"No one can replace you in our lives. I'm so sorry, my love."
Lucius stood at Narcissa's head where she lay on the raised platform. Fresh picked narcissus and forget-me-nots were made into a bouquet and placed under her hands that rested on her stomach. Her blonde hair was carefully braided and draped over her shoulder, and the deep navy blue dress was partially wrapped with a dark, royal purple cloak among the cherrywood branches lining her body. Even in death, her beauty still glowed.
Draco stood nearby, but Lucius couldn't tear his hard-set passive gaze from the few who surrounded his wife's body as the ritual started. Potter had come, holding an infant with bright blue hair, and the woman beside him was Narcissa's estranged sister Andromeda. Though he never personally met her, he could recognize a Black from a mile away. She was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, and a bout of anger seared under Lucius' skin. How dare she mourn over someone she hadn't spoken to for years?
Their childhood and young adult years were long gone, swallowed by the darkness and buried from war just like his son's now were. Reminiscing about them now will do nothing, making silent amends to the dead will change nothing. Betrayal was never forgotten in the House of Black, nor was it in the Malfoy's. In a sense, the Ministry had done just the same to he and his family, and Lucius found himself hating the world a little bit more. It will be a betrayal that Lucius will never forget, and he will forever place the blame on Potter.
Lucius soon found himself remembering fonder memories of Narcissa and the life they shared. From their early child studies, lessons on dance, etiquette, and grooming, to their Hogwarts years when sneaking out after dark to walk along the trail around the Black Lake was the most devious thing they did. The best memories, he thought, were when he was officially courting her during her seventh year. A lot of good was happening around then, he had taken a job at the Ministry, and he had temporarily fallen out of contact with Tom Riddle and the little group he formed during school.
If only he knew what that group would've turned out to be then, he may have thought better of it and quietly followed rather than fall into the high ranks. He was a better manipulator while standing on the sidelines than a commander leading an army, but Draco was right, Lucius got drunk on the power given to him, on the influence he had in the Ministry to cater to them. It was a bottle he knew was dangerous to drink from, yet he'd done so anyway.
The fire was soon lit and the flames soon engulfed the remains of his wife. Draco didn't say a single word to him as the flames and scent of cherry smoke simmered out into ash. Carefully collected and offered to him, Lucius declined, he did not deserve to possess her remains in her death, not after what he put her through.
He was soon escorted by an Auror to the Portkey distribution center where he would take a Portkey to his exile from the British Isles. Living out the remainder of his days alone and stripped of what he was.
Too proud to place the burden of the blame on himself, Lucius forever cursed the name of the Boy-Who-Lived.
Writing Club
Character Appreciation - 27. (Status) Pureblood
Disney Challenge - 5. Te Fiti - Alt. Write about heartbreak.
Book Club - Starr: (plot point) watching a loved one die, (emotion) regret, (word) witness
Showtime - 11. Chava Ballet Sequence - (word) Affectionate
Count Your Buttons - 4. [Word] Adrenaline
Lyric Alley - 2. I'm not just one of your many toys
Ami's Audio Admirations - Magnus Burnsides - Alt: Write about a widow/er (bonus)
Sophie's Shelf - King James I: Write about someone intolerant.
Em's Emporium - 13. Bonfires - (object) fire
Angel's Arcade - Dr. N. Gin: (word) obsolete, (theme) loyalty, (action) kneeling
Lo's Lowdown - 3. [Quote] "We don't live in a world that's fair. We live in this one."
Autumn Event
Days of the Year - November 17th 2018 - World Peace Day: Write about the immediate aftermath of war.
Autumn Prompt - (word) break
Color Prompt - Dark Purple
Birthstones - Lapis Lazuli - (dialogue) "No one can replace you."
Flowers - (word) Gasp
Audrey's Dessert Challenge - Chocolate Chips: (genre) Family
Ravenclaw Prompt - (colour) Navy Blue
Astronomy - Taurids Meteor Shower: (word) Beauty
Fantastic Beast: 19. Thestral - (word) Death
Where To Find Them: 60. Maldives - (Prompt) Write about someone being exiled
Princess Lessons: 5. Melody: [Trait] Rebellious
Around the Board: Burrow: Write about family.
Marauder's Map Madness: 42. [Object] Tapestry
365 Days Challenge: 144. [Genre] Family
Insane House Challenge: 979. [Emotion] Proud