Chapter Four: Emotions

Lucius and Narcissa were enjoying afternoon tea in the gardens while watching their son fly on his new Cleansweep Seven broom that he had received for his eighth birthday just one week prior.

Draco was ecstatic upon receiving his gift, as any little boy would. It was the newest model and both the speed and precision were unprecedented. It was a stark contrast to the training broom that he rode previously. The broom easily out performed any of the existing models in the market and it put his previous training broom to shame. In comparison, his old broom was a mere child's play thing...he was in the big leagues now.

Since receiving his present, Draco played a little game each afternoon that he personally devised. A dozen house elves were ordered to scramble about the gardens to act as targets. Draco would circle around in the sky, resembling a hawk eyeing its prey, before swooping down at the very last second to violently knock down the house elf to the ground and pulling back up into the sky. Ten points for Draco, he smirked. He took great pleasure in jeering and taunting the house elves from up above, before diving down again. This entertained Draco to no end, and he planned on inviting Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott next week to join him.

"I'm not sure you were in your right mind when you purchased that broom for him, darling." Narcissa commented and picked up her elegant china teacup delicately for a sip of tea. Her eyes were focused on the blond haired boy zipping around in the sky. She cringed when Draco did a particularly dangerous maneuver between the trees. "I thought we agreed that he was too young to be on a racing broom. What's wrong with the training broom?"

Lucius shrugged. "Nothing is wrong with the broom but likewise, nothing is right about it. Draco has clearly outgrown that broom and his skill will not improve with that thing. He needs to improve his technique before he plays for the Slytherin team. Besides-" he paused to capture Narcissa's full attention. "-good parents ought to decide what's right for their child when the child is clearly too young to make the correct decisions for themselves."

"Why do I get the feeling you're alluding to something that is not Quidditch related?"

Lucius pulled in closer to the table and spoke in a hushed tone. "There are whispers in the dark corners of Knockturn Alley that the Dark Lord is out in hiding. I haven't a clue where he is, but in any case, we need to be ready. The boy needs to be trained to be vigilant for any plan of ours to work."

"My opinion is that it is still a little too soon, Lucius."

"It's never too soon to start to prepare." he huffed. "Failures often occur with the lack of preparation, and we, my dear, don't have second chances. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Point taken. But Draco can't even have a wand yet. How is he going to train?"

"There are methods in which magic need not be involved. Haven't you noticed how Draco tends to wears his emotions on his sleeves? For Merlin's sake he's easier to read than a child's picture book!" He tutted. "Too young and naïve. With a helping hand, he'll learn to conceal his emotions in no time. My father started to train me just before my enrollment at Hogwarts, but with the impending threat, there's no time to wait. I've owled Severus to help. As I'm sure you know, Severus is quite skilled in Occlumency?"

Narcissa nodded.

"I can't imagine him having a problem with teaching his godson a few things or two... But first-" he paused to eye his son, "-let me snap some sense into Draco. It won't do to have a Malfoy with the backbone of a jellyfish."

With that, Lucius picked up the napkin that was perched on his lap and loosely tossed it on the table. He pushed his chair back and a few long strides down the stone steps brought him to the area where Draco was flying. With a firm tone, Lucius called for his son and signaled for him to come down. Narcissa was just a few paces behind and looked on with interest.

Draco landed a few yards away from his father and gracefully hopped off his broom. He was smiling ear to ear as he reached his father.

"Father, Mother." he greeted and smiled at Narcissa's direction. "I was pretty good up there, wasn't I?"

Lucius wordlessly held out his hand, palm side up, signaling for the broom and Draco placed it in his hand without hesitation.

With the broom in his hand, Lucius took a quick second to admire the craftsmanship of the broom. It had a highly polished handle made of birchwood and a wild head of bristles. Nicely constructed overall, he supposed.

Lucius made sure to watch his son's face as he did what he did next -

Lucius held the broom horizontally, and at a little bit higher than knee level, then without a second word, he raised his right foot and stomped down while pulling his fists up in the opposite direction. With the placement of his foot acting as a fulcrum and the amount of pressure he applied with his foot, the broom easily snapped in half. Narcissa was shocked, to say the least, but didn't comment on her husband's actions. What was a fully new and functional racing broom moments ago was now two useless pieces of wood.

Of course, Draco's reaction was more dramatic and theatrical. He went from being pompously elated (I'm a natural at flying, did you see me up there?), to horror (did Father just snapped my broom in half?), to confusion (why's my present snapped in half?), to melancholy (My broom really is broken isn't it?), to anger (why the BLOODY HELL did Father break my broom!?), all in the span of a few seconds.

"FATHER!" he yelled with angry tears beginning to form in his eyes. "What was that for? THAT'S MY BROOM!" His fists were tightly clenched by his side in hot rage and Lucius raised an eyebrow, certainly amused that his son would have the audacity to raise his voice at him.

He turned towards Narcissa and mouthed the words "See what I mean?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes and conceded to Lucius earlier point in their discussion. She sent him a pointed look that seemed to say, fine, my son is a little dramatic, but which respectable pureblood isn't?

Lucius flashed her a smirk.

He turned his attention back towards his son with a stoic face. "Might I remind you that it was I who purchased that broom of yours?" Lucius drawled.

Draco looked down at his leather boots and was silent besides for a few quiet sniffles.

Lucius sighed, tossed the two pieces of the now useless racing broom aside, and knelt down on one knee to be eye-level with his son. He reached forward to hold Draco's closed fists in his larger hands.

"And I can purchase ten more of those exact brooms for you in a heartbeat." he continued. Draco looked up, his grey eyes were still stormy with confused emotions.

"Draco, I want you to remember this, and let this be a lesson for you. Outside of the protection of this home, there will be many, many people that will try to hurt you... sometimes physically, sometimes mentally. They will kick you down when you're at your lowest, whether it be to you directly, or to your loved ones. They will berate you, scare you, anger you, make you jealous… but you must never show that on your face. Emotions don't necessarily make you weak, but only the foolish allow emotions to show unconcealed on their face, where enemies can use it as a bargaining chip against you. Separating your emotions and learning when to reveal them will make you stronger and a true Malfoy."

Draco swallowed and quickly wiped his tears, eyes showing clear determination. His features calmed and he gave a firm nodd in response, eager to prove that he was worthy of the Malfoy name.

Lucius reciprocated the nod and patted Draco's shoulder twice before standing up. That was as close to an acknowledgement that he was proud of Draco as he could get.

"Go back into the manor and get yourself washed up before supper. Your Godfather will be joining us tonight. He will introduce to you the basics of Occlumency." he said with a light push against Draco's back.

"Yes, Father." The boy replied before running back towards the manor, while wondering to himself what Occlumency was. He liked Uncle Severus though, so he was excited to learn from him, whatever it was. Uncle Severus also had really great stories to share about Hogwarts.

"Did Abraxas use the same method on you?" Narcissa quipped, with a playful smile on her face.

"Yes, actually." Lucius admitted and with a nostalgic tone he continued, "but it was with my eagle owl, not a broom."

Narcissa blanched slightly and watched as Draco's back disappeared off into the manor. "You went easy on him then."

Lucius chuckled and held and outstretched hand towards Narcissa, who accepted it, and Lucius gave her hand a few gentle pats in response. The couple then went hand in hand back into the manor to get ready for supper, and for the arrival of their guest.

A/N: Poor house elves! Hermione would very much disagree with their treatment. Anyway, do you believe in tough love? I always envisioned Lucius as the "tough love" kind of parent, thus my depiction of him in this chapter. Big thanks to Lavythecat, EssTheWriter, Nelly983, aeireis, Monnbeam, as well as several Guests for your kind reviews and for those who favorited and subscribed. Please continue to let me know what you think! I do love reading your ideas as to where you think this fic is going. Snape, and possibly Hermione, will join our story next! Have a wonderful and safe Halloween my friends.

Just a clarification based on the comments I've read, Lucius isn't with the "light side" per se, he's more interested in the survival of the Malfoy bloodline so his goal is to keep Draco alive at all costs. This fic is planned to run parallel to the books/movies up to a certain point (with some twists of course) before diverging. It should be interesting for you to see how things play out!