The following day, Lucius was ordered to the main hall to eat breakfast. Eating anything was the last thing on his mind; he was feeling terribly homesick and knew that the nightmares that had haunted his sleep were only going to stay. The bed had been hard and the sheets a cause grade of cotton that rubbed against his flawless skin.
Sending Lucius to the Department of Mysteries had been a punishment in itself, he had always managed to stay out of the actual raids. Taking the lead had meant planning and delegating, not actually taking part. However, since the Dark Lord's return it seemed as if the man had succumbed to absolute madness. Lucius feared greatly for Draco and Narcissa.
He didn't fail to see the other prisoners practically leering at him nor did he fail to hear the comments they were making and yet Lucius walked into the hall with as much confidence as one could muster in such a situation. He held his head high and sneered at the petty criminals below him, that was until he noticed someone that he had gone to Hogwarts with. Andrew Thomas.
Thomas was a tall and muscular man with dark shoulder length hair, not too dissimilar to Severus Snape's and piercing bright blue eyes. He was a Half-Blood Wizard with an unhealthy taste for blood. Lucius had lorded over him during their Hogwart's days when he was a prefect and Thomas was a forth year Hufflepuff student.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the great Lucius Malfoy." Thomas proceeded to walk towards Lucius sending the formerly bustling hall into silence. Thomas proceeded to poke Lucius hard in the chest. "I'd watch your back if I were you, Malfoy. There's nobody prepared to be your little minion in here. Mind you, I believe there is practically a war going on to see whose bitch you're going to be." Thomas smirked mocking Lucius' own mannerisms, before turning to the other inmates and revelling in their laughter.
Lucius managed to keep some composure, unlike when he was facing the guards. Many of the inmates were nothing but animals and animals could be trained. Managing to keep the sneer plastered on his face, Lucius responded "Thank you for the kind sentiment but as I'm sure you know, I'm nobody's bitch as you so eloquently put it."
At that moment the whole hall exploded. Not only did the guards want to degrade Lucius, the inmates wanted to humiliate him as well. They wanted the aristocrat that had always looked down on people like themselves to be on his knees begging them to be merciful. Three of the prisoners nearest to Lucius roughly grabbed his robes and shoved him up against the wall. Lucius hardly even saw it happening before he noticed he was backed in to the wall and some ugly bald man was peering down at Lucius with his hands around Lucius' neck, as if ready to strangle him. "You're going to wish that you were never even born, Malfoy."
Upon seeing that Lucius had been suitably threatened one of the guards whom had saw him yesterday stepped forwards and tapped the bald man on his shoulder " , that's enough, get back to your breakfast." The skinny guard was pointing his wand at 's chest as the bald man stepped away from Lucius turning back to the blonde, only to say "You have been warned."
The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully, with Lucius sitting down to eat with a table of inmates that looked a little less threatening, even if they weren't exactly welcoming. Forcing himself to eat a little of the food which was not nearly as bad as Lucius had imagined, he set about painting his mask of haughty disdain even though inside he wanted to do nothing more than hide.
After breakfast had finished, Lucius was called into the office in which he had faced the guards yesterday. They demanded to know his skills so they could set him to work with the other inmates. "No, I don't know how to do any of that. Where I come from laundry, cooking and cleaning is servants work." Lucius sneered at the guards stood in front of him. Eventually, after considering that training Lucius in so called servants work, would be a complete waste of energy they agreed to set him to work in the library.
Little did Lucius know, the prison library would become a sanctuary for his tortured body and mind. The first day was easy for him, as he had spent many years correctly cataloguing the Malfoy families library and he proved himself an asset to the other workers. One of them even spoke politely to him; it was a start if nothing else. At the end of the working day, Lucius turned towards the older grey haired man that he'd managed to speak to and asked if he could take some parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink from the library. The older man had gave Lucius permission and told him that the guards should have offered Lucius such supplies to write letters with.
That dinner had been a little more manageable with Lucius sitting with a table of older men who had been in Azkaban for a while, they weren't violent; one was a convicted fraudster, the others were Dark Wizard's with a penchant for sending poison items to Muggles. Of course, the more vocal inmates once again leered at the aristocratic blonde. However, with a few people to speak to Lucius' stomach had managed to stop churning and the waves of nausea had passed.
Upon returning to his cell, Lucius began to write to his wife and son, pouring his heart out over the letters. After reading them back, he decided it prudent not to alarm his family and instead wrote 'Friday 25th July, 1996' on the top of the parchment. This would form the first entry into his prison diary. It read:
"I don't know how I am going to survive the horrors of this harsh wilderness. It's appallingly horrendous, there are men whom seem to want revenge. Revenge for my accident of birth, the fact that I was born into the upper echelons of society and they were not. I have seen some of them before and they are not kind. Today, I was given the task of cataloguing the prison library, it is a thankless task and many of the inmates think I have gotten away lightly. The job is not so bad and I managed to find someone to talk to, a 91 year old fraudster called Cornelius. How apt.
Since I have arrived here my nerves have been so frayed, I have cried and trembled in absolute fear of what may happen to me, there is even talk of inmates sexually assaulting me and I've no idea whether what they said is true or not. I would not be surprised to find out that there words were not just idle threats.
My cell is grey and my bed is the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept in; it will play havoc with my neck. I'm not cut out for this wretched place. The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that soon I will be back home. Today, I prayed for the first time since I was a little boy, I prayed to God that nobody would hurt my family and that I would be able to survive this hell."
After putting his quill to one side, Lucius could hear the other prisoners shouting, many were again talking about him and it was then he realised he would not emerge from this experience the same man.