Narcissa held a strawberry in front of her open mouth, but she couldn't bring herself to eat it. Despite all of her husband's reassurances, she was still worried about the Aurors seizing him while he was at the Ministry and throwing him into Azkaban without a trial and without her ever again being allowed to see him.
Draco, who was sitting in his high chair, seemed to sense his mother's nervousness as he also wasn't eating his breakfast.
"Mama," he said, his voice sounding concerned (or as concerned as a one-year-old could sound). "Mama."
"Mama's okay, Draco," Narcissa replied, forcing herself to smile. "Mama's just worried about your daddy."
"Dada," Draco spoke happily.
"Yes, Dada," Narcissa smiled.
Draco giggled.
Narcissa had to look away. How she wish she could once again have her son's innocence.
Did she ever have Draco's innocence?
Narcissa placed the strawberry in her mouth and forced herself to chew.
Lucius had to be all right. He just had to be. Before he had left, he had promised Narcissa that he would return to the manor for lunch.
Lunchtime couldn't come soon enough.
The only topic of conversation in the Ministry was the Dark Lord and Harry Potter.
"I can't believe he's really gone," one man breathed. "I truly thought that we were going to have to live in fear for the rest of our lives."
"I don't care what they say," another man snapped. "I don't believe that You-Know-Who is truly gone. Someone as evil as him doesn't just die so easily, especially at the hands of a baby."
"Nevertheless," the first man responded, "Harry Potter is alive while You-Know-Who is nowhere to be found."
"Because he's not an idiot," the second man returned. "You-Know-Who knows that he's vulnerable right now. That's why he's hiding."
What a pity he's a Mudblood, Lucius thought as he hid under the Disillusionment Charm in a shadowy spot not far from where the two men were talking. He actually has some brains. Only a fool would truly believe that a baby could kill someone as great and as powerful as the Dark Lord.
The two men talked some more before finally parting ways.
As soon as he was sure that he was alone, Lucius undid the Disillusionment Charm around himself.
He had been eavesdropping on several people for several hours, but he had yet to hear anything useful. Some people believed that the Dark Lord was dead, while others weren't as sure.
But no one had a clue about where the Dark Lord could possibly be now.
Lucius began to make his way down the hallway. So far, there was no indication that the Dark Lord was strong enough to mount an attack anytime soon, which meant that Lucius needed to start taking steps to protect himself and his family from those that would dare to seek vengeance against them.
There were still several hours to go before it would be lunchtime, which meant that there were still several hours to go before Narcissa would know whether or not her husband was still all right.
Narcissa attempted to distract herself by reading "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" to her son.
Draco giggled as his mother read to him about how the wizard's pot captured and swallowed all the Muggles that approached his cottage.
Every time Narcissa paused for a significant amount of time, Draco turned the page so that his mother could continue reading.
"You're such a smart boy, Draco," Narcissa beamed.
Draco looked up at his mother with what could only be considered a smug expression on his face.
Narcissa continued to read, telling her son about how the Muggles finally promised the wizard that they would leave him alone in peace to practice his magic. As a result, the wizard released the Muggles (now slightly mangled) that had been imprisoned in his pot.
As she looked up from the book, Narcissa tried not to think about what could possibly happen to her husband if all those Muggle-loving fools in their world decided to go after him.
"Lucius is going to be all right," Narcissa kept on telling herself. "He knows how to take care of himself."
Narcissa, however, could not stop herself from glancing constantly at the clock above the fireplace. How much longer would it be before Lucius finally came back home?
Lucius approached several people at the Ministry, those that he knew were not Aurors or Order of the Phoenix members, and offered his opinions on the Dark Lord's fate. Lucius was careful the entire time to refer to the Dark Lord as "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"You truly believe that You-Know-Who is gone, Lucius?" one woman asked in disbelief. "I mean, from what I've heard about him, he's not exactly human."
"Well, nothing in life is ever certain," Lucius drawled. "But after all these years of war, we all are in need of some good news. I want to be able to go outside without fear that I might suddenly be attacked. I want Narcissa and Draco to be able to go outside without me having to constantly worry that something horrible might happen to them. And Narcissa and I really could use this one less worry on our plates."
"What do you mean by that, Lucius?" another woman asked in concern.
"I'm a Pureblood," Lucius explained, "a Pureblood that never expressed Muggle sympathies as openly as other Purebloods such as the Weasleys and the Longbottoms. And speaking of the Weasleys, well, it's no secret that they and my family have long been at odd with each other. Arthur Weasley in particular has more than once tried to spread nasty, terrible rumors about me. He has always been envious of me because of my family's wealth. I fear that I might be targeted in the days to come because I am seen as privileged and because I decided to remain neutral in this war. I never liked the things that You-Know-Who were doing, but I didn't express those thoughts as boldly as perhaps I should have. But I didn't want to get involved for fear that the Dark Lord or his Death Eaters might have decided to go after Narcissa or Draco in order to get even with me."
"Not everyone thinks as Arthur Weasley does," the woman sneered. "Even if he refuses to acknowledge it, I know of the many good things that you have done for the Ministry and for the entire Wizarding World as a whole. All your donations to St. Mungo's, for instance, helped to save many lives, including the lives of many Muggles and Muggle-borns that were injured in Death Eater attacks."
Lucius smiled at the woman and placed his hand on her arm as if in appreciation for her words.
"It is such a relief to know that I have friends here," Lucius spoke.
"Of course," a man spoke. "When my daughter was seriously ill, it was you, Lucius, who saved her life. And for that, I will be forever grateful to you."
"I consider you a good friend," Lucius responded. "I didn't want you to have to live with the pain of losing a child for the rest of your life."
Lucius then casually looked at his watch.
"Please excuse me," he said politely, "but I must be going. I have a few errands to do before I return home to eat lunch with my wife and son."
"How is little Draco doing?" a third woman asked.
"He's doing absolutely wonderful," Lucius smiled. "He still prefers to crawl, but he can walk very fast."
"He'll be on a broomstick before you and Narcissa know it," another man laughed.
"He already is," Lucius laughed back. "I got him a broomstick for his first birthday. It doesn't go that high up, of course, but Draco loves it."
Everyone beamed at the affection and pride in Lucius's voice as he spoke about his son.
Lucius then said goodbye to everyone before parting from their company.
It was now time for Lucius to talk with a few people that held just enough power and influence in the Ministry to be at the very least a slight threat to him. He needed to remind them of the fact that he knew about much of their "dirty laundry," some of which would be enough to land them in Azkaban if it ever got out to the public.
As Lucius was walking down the hallway, however, he suddenly caught sight of Barty Crouch Jr.
Lucius quickly went to the nearest shadow, casting the Disillusionment Charm on himself as he did so, before the younger man could spot him.
Lucius noted the direction that Barty was going.
It appeared as if the young man was on his way to his father's office.
Lucius quickly decided that it could prove very beneficial to him if he knew what Barty Crouch Sr. knew, especially considering that the man was one of the biggest threats to Lucius's continual freedom.
Plus, it also wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on Barty Jr. The young man was nearly as unstable as Bellatrix, and it wouldn't take much for that to prove to be dangerous to Lucius, especially considering how upset Barty had been when Lucius had not joined him, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan in their guest to find the Dark Lord.
Lucius, still under the cover of the Disillusionment Charm, began to stealthily follow Barty.
Author's Note: "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" is one of the tales that is included in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. There are two versions of this story, with the second version being more anti-Muggle and resulting from the Muggle persecution of wizard and witches. In this chapter, Narcissa reads to Draco the second version. More details on both versions can be found on Harry Potter Wiki.