Author's Note: This chapter features a brutal murder towards the end. Nothing too graphic, but I still wanted to give that warning to readers. Also, there is a lot of insanity in this chapter. Basically, this chapter is nothing but insanity. Lucius isn't meant to make sense.
Lucius quickly lost track of the number of days he was locked inside his bedroom with the dead bodies of his wife and his son. The Dark Lord had made a flap in one of the doors, and food and water were shoved through that flap once a day. But other than that, Lucius's only human contact was with his dead Narcissa and his dead Draco.
Lucius had a window in his and Narcissa's bedroom through which he could watch the days and the nights pass, and he had the once a day delivery of food and water.
But Lucius had still lost track of time. Time had quickly become meaningless to him.
As meaningless as the knife that the Dark Lord had given him.
The knife lay forgotten on the floor, on the exact spot where the Dark Lord had tossed it on the day that he had murdered Narcissa and Draco.
Or had it been at night when they had died? Lucius really wasn't sure. Not that it really mattered.
Narcissa and Draco were dead, but the awful smell coming from their rotting corpses on the bed didn't seem to affect Lucius. It wasn't as if he couldn't open the window, after all.
And the smell of death didn't stop Lucius from talking with his wife and his son.
"We should redecorate our bedroom, Narcissa. I know you've been wanting to do that for a while."
"Have you been studying for your N.E.W.T.s, Draco? They will determine your future, so you really need to do well on them."
"I really need your opinion on what we are going to do with our bedroom, Narcissa. I don't want to make any changes until I know that you're okay with them."
"We haven't had much time to talk about what you want to do as a career, Draco. So, what do you want to do after Hogwarts?"
"If you're fine with our bedroom the way that it is right now, then that's fine with me. To be honest, I really don't like redecorating."
"You don't know what you want to do with your life? Well, what classes are you taking?"
"Do we really have to move the bed over there, Narcissa? I like it where it is at now."
"No, Draco, I don't know where you left your broomstick. Have you tried using a Summoning Charm? You're very good at charms, so it should be no problem for you."
"If you really want to move the bed, that's fine with me. Maybe it would look better over there."
"You summoned your broomstick. I'm so proud of you. But please, stop losing your things."
"What do you want to move next, Narcissa?"
"Based on the classes that you are taking, you have several different career options to choose from. See, Draco, the future isn't going to be as bad as you were making it out to be."
One night, the Dark Lord unlocked the doors and walked into the Malfoy bedroom, but Lucius didn't seem to notice him. To the Dark Lord's shock and surprise, Lucius was moving the furniture around.
"What are you doing, Lucius?" the Dark Lord breathed.
"Oh, hello," Lucius said cheerfully, waving his hand in greeting. "I hope you haven't been standing there for too long. I'm sorry I didn't notice you sooner. Would you like something to drink? What about something to eat?"
"Why are you moving your furniture, Lucius?"
"Narcissa thinks the bedroom will look better this way. It's important to keep the wife happy, you see. Please don't tell her I said that. I really do love her. But this would go a lot quicker if I had my wand. Do you by any chance know where I placed my wand? I always get on Draco's case for losing his things, and now I'm doing the same thing. I guess he gets that bad habit from him. I mean, he most definitely doesn't get it from his mother. Narcissa's perfect, you see."
The Dark Lord walked over to Lucius and grabbed the blond wizard by the throat. Lucius looked at the Dark Lord in recognition, but otherwise his eyes did not reflect anything.
"Just when I thought you couldn't fall any further," the Dark Lord sneered, "you do exactly that. At least you have finally done something right. What a pity, though, that the only thing you can do right is become more and more pathetic with each passing day." He released his hold on Lucius's throat, who acted as if nothing had happened.
"I must admit, however," the Dark Lord spoke, "I am surprised you haven't killed yourself yet. I truly did not think you would last this long. Perhaps you have finally learned your lesson."
"What do you require of me, my Lord?" Lucius asked in an emotionless voice. "How can I be of service?"
"We are going to Hogwarts tonight, Lucius," the Dark Lord said, "and if you don't disappoint me too much, perhaps I'll give you a wand."
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied, his voice completely void of expression.
The Dark Lord turned to leave. Lucius made to follow him. Then, the blond wizard noticed the knife on the floor. Almost in a daze, Lucius grabbed the knife and hid it in his robes.
Lucius stayed with the Dark Lord until he was ordered to go find Severus.
"The Dark Lord wants to see you," Lucius said simply when he had found the man in question.
"Lucius," Severus gasped, "I didn't know you were going to be here tonight."
"Narcissa and Draco are dead," Lucius said matter-of-factly.
Severus's mouth dropped in shock.
"The Dark Lord wants to see you," Lucius repeated. "You should go to him. You know how angry he gets when he isn't obeyed."
Severus, his face full of shock and disbelief, did as Lucius commanded. He was no longer acting just for Lily. He was now acting for Narcissa and Draco as well.
And he was also acting for Lucius.
Lucius did not follow Severus. The Dark Lord had not ordered him to return after completing his task. No, Lucius wanted to see how the battle was going.
He had to make sure that Draco was all right. Narcissa was beside her with worry.
"Don't worry, Narcissa," Lucius said. "We'll find Draco."
There were so many dead bodies. Lucius finally spotted two bodies that were familiar to him. The werewolf, Remus Lupin. He had been at the Department of Mysteries. Along with the Auror whose hand he was holding. It had to be his wife. It had to be Andromeda's daughter.
She had been his niece, Lucius suddenly realized. And now she was dead.
"Hello, niece," Lucius said. "How are you doing? Probably not that good, considering that you're dead. That's very unfortunate. You are family, after all. And hello Lupin. I guess you're my nephew-in-law, or something like that. Oh, forgive me, you were my nephew-in-law. You're dead too. I'm so sorry. Death is a horrible thing, isn't it?
"I would like to stay and talk, but we really have to find Draco. Yes, Narcissa, we're going now. I just thought you would like you say 'hello' to your family here. My apologies, niece, nephew-in-law. I promise we will talk more later. But we really need to find Draco."
With that, Lucius began again his search for Draco. He paused, though, when he spotted the dead body of a red-haired young man.
"You must be one of Arthur Weasley's children," Lucius said conversationally. "Forgive me, but I don't know your name. Does your father know that you are dead yet? Well, at least he has your other brothers. And that little sister of yours. I'm the one who gave her that diary, you know. Will you tell her that I'm very sorry about that? I really don't like hurting children, you see. I mean, I have a child of my own and all that.
"Your father is very fortunate that he has more than one child. Just imagine if you had been his only child. If that had been the case, he would no longer have any children. And that would have been truly sad. I lost my only child, you see. His name was Draco. Did you know him? He really was a good son. I wish I had told him that more often. When you see him, will you tell him that his father loved him? Thank you so much.
"I'm sorry that you're dead. I don't like your father, but you're still a child. I am ashamed to admit that there was a time when I would have gladly wished this fate upon Arthur, for him to lose a child. But I don't feel that way anymore. Not since I lost Draco. It is so painful to lose a child. And even worse, I lost my wife as well. I'm all alone in the world.
"I wonder if any of your other siblings have died as well. If they did, at least you wouldn't be alone. Not that I want any of them to die, of course. I just don't want you to be alone. It gets very lonely when you're alone. Okay, Narcissa. We can go now. We have to go now, Weasley boy. We have to go find Draco. Perhaps I'll talk to you more later. I'll keep an eye out for your father. He needs to know that you're dead. I would want to know if my child was dead."
At one point Lucius thought he felt his Mark burn, but he couldn't be sure. Besides, he really needed to find Draco. He would explain it to the Dark Lord later.
Lucius made his way into the Great Hall with his wife and his son. He watched as Arthur Weasley's wife killed Bellatrix.
Lucius merely blinked as the Dark Lord screamed in anger at Bellatrix's fall. Lucius, though, did pay attention to the conversation between Potter and the Dark Lord.
So, the Dark Lord had thought that he had finally killed Potter. He had even used the Cruciatus Curse to confirm this. And the boy had not reacted at all? The boy must be crazy, not to react to the Cruciatus Curse. That just wasn't normal.
So, there were no more Horcruxes. The Dark Lord was now mortal. The Dark Lord could now die.
Oh, apparently Severus was now dead as well.
"It looks like everyone is dying tonight," Lucius remarked to Narcissa and Draco. "I'm so glad that you two are all right."
Oh, what was this? Potter was now the Master of the Elder Wand. Of course it would have to be Potter.
"You're right, Draco, that Potter boy has to be the best at everything. He even has to have the best wand. And he's always stealing your glory. He just couldn't deal with you being the Master of the Elder Wand. Oh, no, he just had to take that from you. No wonder you don't like him. I don't think I would like him either."
Lucius watched as the Dark Lord fled from the Great Hall.
"I guess he was only capable of dueling when he was immortal," Lucius said casually. "It must be so painful, to be mortal. I better go check on him. No doubt he's angry, and he needs someone to take his anger out on. It's a good thing he has me, his faithful little Lucius. You two wait here. You're safe now."
Lucius finally caught up with the Dark Lord in the Forbidden Forest.
"My Lord," Lucius greeted happily.
The Dark Lord spun around so quickly that he almost tripped over his robes. Seeing that it was only Lucius, he lowered his wand.
"Oh, you don't have to do that, my Lord," Lucius said. "I know that you're probably angry. I would be angry too if I was suddenly mortal. But never fear. I'm here now. I'm here to take your anger. I'm your faithful little Lucius."
"No, Lucius," the Dark Lord said, "you're just crazy. You are of no more use to me." The Dark Lord pointed his wand at Lucius. Out of some forgotten instinct, Lucius dodged the curse.
The Dark Lord howled in anger.
"Tonight has been a really bad night for you," Lucius remarked conversationally. Then, he suddenly froze. There were two dead bodies behind the Dark Lord.
Narcissa and Draco.
"No," Lucius breathed. "They were alive when I last saw them. How can they be dead?"
"What are you talking about, Lucius?"
"Narcissa. Draco. They're dead."
"They've been dead for a while, Lucius."
Lucius looked at the Dark Lord for a long moment. Then, he suddenly had a moment of clarity.
"You killed them," Lucius hissed, his body shaking with uncontrollable anger. "You killed them."
Lucius lunged at the Dark Lord, who quickly pointed his wand at him. Lucius, however, managed to dodge all of his curses.
The Dark Lord had to pay for killing Narcissa and Draco.
As Lucius drew nearer to the Dark Lord, he drew the knife. The same knife that the Dark Lord had given him, so that he could kill himself. If Lucius had not been so angry, he would have laughed at the irony.
Lucius reached out with his hand and grabbed the Dark Lord's throat. Then, Lucius took the knife and began to stab the other man. Everywhere. Over and over again.
The Dark Lord cried out in pain. "Lucius, please," he gasped.
The Dark Lord's pleas enraged Lucius even more. How dare he ask for mercy. How dare he ask for mercy after he had shown none to Narcissa and Draco.
Lucius did not know for how long he stabbed the Dark Lord, but he eventually ran out of energy and strength. Only then did he finally collapse to the ground, beside the bloody, motionless body of the Dark Lord.
The bloody knife hung limply from Lucius's hand.
"My Lord," Lucius breathed, "I think I just killed you." Lucius paused for a moment. "I just killed the Dark Lord. What should I do? Narcissa, what should I do? I just killed the Dark Lord."
Trembling, Lucius cradled the Dark Lord's head in his lap, just like Narcissa had done with Draco when he had been little.
"I can see that you're not feeling well, my Lord," Lucius said. "But don't worry. Your faithful little Lucius is here to make you all better. Let me sing a lullaby to you. Narcissa used to sing to Draco when he was ill. I still remember the lyrics. It's a beautiful lullaby, my Lord. I think you will like it. At least I hope you will like it. After all, I live to serve you, my Lord."
And Lucius, still cradling the Dark Lord's head as if he was a small child, began to sing a lullaby that bought back memories of better times, of happier times.
Of times when Narcissa and Draco had still been alive.
Author's Note: Yeah, this was nothing but craziness. Why did I write this? Because for some strange reason, I just really wanted to write a very crazy Lucius. Don't forget, though, he was locked in his room with the rotting corpses of his dead wife and son for quite some time. Also, going insane was Lucius's way of dealing with his pain and agony over Narcissa's and Draco's murders. Basically, Lucius alternated from realizing that Narcissa and Draco had been murdered by Voldemort to him being in his fantasy world where Narcissa and Draco were alive and well. Yeah, Lucius just completely lost his mind. As for the end, Lucius cradled Voldemort's head in his lap because Lucius was in shock over the fact that he had actually killed his lord. After killing Voldemort, Lucius forgets in the next moment why he killed him in the first place. Lucius's mind is just completely screwed up in this chapter; that pretty much explains everything, LOL.
Additional Author's Note: To clarify the question anyone may have regarding Harry, in this AU Voldemort did not send anyone to confirm Harry's death. Voldemort just used the Cruciatus Curse, and when Harry (who had been expecting this, just like he had in the book) didn't react, Voldemort was convinced that Harry was indeed dead this time around.