Disclaimer: not in the mood to make up a good one... read the previous chapter!

AN: Midnight lilly: my, my you are a feisty one. I am glad Lucius' welfare is so close to your heart. I will take good care of him, I promise!

Lil kawaii doom: thank you for your generous review. Eloquent... I like that :-)

HoVis: I get the picture. Thanx for the wonderful compliment. I am not planning on quitting this story just yet. ;-)

Jay: thank you for reviewing, I am glad you liked it!

In general: please, please let me know if you like the story. If you read it and you like it, please hit the review button and drop me a line. If you have constructive criticism, or questions about the story, that's fine too! It only helps me to make it as good as I possibly can.

Anyway, this is probably going to be the last update in a little while, seeing that I have an exam coming up and a couple of projects to finish in the next two weeks. Don't worry though, I am not going to abandon this story; just put me on author alert!

So: I turned up the drama in this chapter, big time! Seeing that you are going to have to wait a while for the next update, I thought it would be nice to have resolved at least some things for our poor Lucius. Storygirl2009, maybe you should get some tissues ;-)

Enjoy.


To Save a Malfoy

Ch. 7 Expectations

"Is he here?" Lucius asked anxiously the moment the pink-robed young woman stepped into his room.

Hermione walked up to his bed and smiled warmly.

"He is," she confirmed.

"And is he... I mean, will he..." He looked at her with equal parts hope and dread.

"He is waiting outside for me to come and get him. I was just going to come and see if you were ready."

Uncertainty etched on his face, Lucius brought up a hand to touch his hair. That morning, he had asked for Professor Snape to help him getting ready. His hair had been washed thoroughly and cut to just below his shoulders. It was gathered in a neat ponytail at the back of his head with a silver satin ribbon, gleaming softly in the gentle light of morning. He had insisted on being allowed to sit in a chair rather than stay in bed when his son came to visit him.

In an unusual display of understanding, the Potions Master had somehow gotten hold of a set of dark-green robes, with modest silver patterns adorning the fairly simple garment. Lucius was wearing them now and brought his hand back from his hair to start fiddling with the hem of his robe.

"Do you think I look okay?" he asked, not daring to look up at her.

Hermione thought he looked more than okay. Now that she saw him in decent robes, she understood for the first time why people had always thought that Lucius Malfoy was a handsome man. Without the perpetual sneer and the cold look in his eyes, he really was handsome. A bit skinny, still, all right, but the aristocratic features began to show through. And she didn't know any other person that would be able to make the nice, but fairly common robes he was wearing look simply majestic. But Lucius did.

Before she could say anything, though, a snort sounded from the corner where Severus Snape stood, watching.

"Really, Lucius, I already told you: you look just fine!" he said, amusement in his voice.

The man sitting on the edge of the bed cast an irritated glance at his old friend. "And I already told you: I want to make a good impression!"

Turning serious, the dark-haired man pushed himself off of the wall and sat down beside his friend.

"Compared to your evil twin, you'd have to try very hard to make a bad impression," he said.

"Was he that bad?"

"Worse," Snape commented succinctly. "But that is not important now. Your son is waiting outside to meet you and if I know him well, and I do, he is trying to decide at this very moment whether or not to knock on the door instead of waiting for Miss Granger to come and get him."

Hermione smiled at the panicked response that got from Lucius. He got up as fast as his condition allowed and with his friends help, walked the small distance to the chair.

She already turned to go and get Draco as Lucius' voice once again sounded.

"I really look good?"

The medi-witch walked over to her patient and knelt in front of his chair as she had done not half an hour ago with his son.

"Lucius, you look very good. Don't worry. I doubt that is what Draco will be paying attention to anyway." She squeezed his hand in reassurance and kissed his cheek getting up. One more smile and she was gone from the room.

Lucius turned to face Severus, who was standing behind his chair, but before he could even draw breath, Snape interrupted him: "Merlin I'd have thought you would grow over that obsession with the way you look once you got a little older. You are just trying to postpone the inevitable, Luci!"

"You know I hate being called 'Luci', Severus," the pale, blond man snapped.

Severus laughed again and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Lucius, you always were much prettier than I."

Meanwhile, Hermione had stepped out into the hallway to find Draco with his hand raised, about to knock on the door. Thinking of Snape's remark, she burst out laughing.

An annoyed look crossed Draco's face at this most unwanted response.

"Care to tell me what is so damn funny?" he snapped.

Hermione quickly checked her laugh and didn't respond to his somewhat caustic remark. Looking at her friend, who was rather paler than usual at the moment, it was fairly obvious he was nervous.

"I'll explain to you later. He is ready to see you now," she said.

Draco took a deep breath and looked at her, doubt written all over his face.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Hermione nodded. "I must warn you though; he is still underweight and rather pale. An ordeal like his is not something even magic can heal in a week's time."

Draco nodded in understanding.

"Let's go then."

Hermione turned back to the door and opened it. As she stepped inside, she thought she heard Snape say something along the lines of: "...worry, Lucius, you always were much prettier than I."

The moment the two men heard the door, their attention focused there. The medi-witch took Draco by the hand, as the room's wards were not yet keyed to let him in and he needed physical contact with her to be able to enter. She pulled him inside and closed the door.

Draco took a few steps inside, then his pace slowed and he came to a halt only a few feet away from the door. His gaze was fixed on the man sitting in a chair next to the fire. He took in the man's Slytherin coloured robes, the silver-blond hair, so similar to his own, the thin hands clasped firmly together in the man's lap. He noticed the paleness of the skin, different from the normal Malfoy paleness, betraying the man's recent ordeal and maybe his current nervousness. At last, his gaze settled on the grey eyes.

Hermione remained in the background as the two Malfoys looked each other over. She imagined what it must be like for Lucius to see this young man stand before him and know it was the same boy he had held in his arms the last time he saw him. Now, Draco was at least as tall as his father with his six foot two and he was lean and muscular. His hair was shorter than his father's and he tended to have a rather sexily-messy hairstyle that Hermione was convinced he had copied from some Muggle magazines. She suspected it was also a way to detach himself from his father, whose hair was always meticulously groomed. His choice of robes showed this as well: in contrast to the elaborate and expensive robes his father preferred to wear, Draco's robes were deceptively simple, although probably no less expensive. The simple elegance suited him very well, since his features were striking enough to get everybody's attention. His confidence combined with his good looks and excellent choice of clothing made sure Draco Malfoy got more than his fair share of attention from the opposite sex... and of the not-so-opposite sex as well. Looking at this young man and knowing him to be his son, must make Lucius very proud.

As she turned her attention back to her patient, she saw his silver eyes were glistening with unshed tears and he was clasping his hands together forcefully in an attempt to hide the trembling. Severus Snape stood like a great shadow behind his chair, in his ever-black robes, in silent support. Hermione felt her own throat constrict and her eyes begin to water as she watched the scene in front of her.

On the outside, Draco appeared to be completely calm. Both Hermione and the Potions master knew him well enough to know, though, that he was anything but calm. Nevertheless, the appearance of composure was very helpful in this instance.

Finally, Draco released some of the tension that had been building inside of the room from the moment he had entered. He bowed his head in an old-fashioned gesture of greeting.

"It is an honour to meet you, sir."

Lucius bowed his head in return. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment, how many times I feared it would never come..." His voice was rough with emotion and the last part of the statement was choked, leaving him unable to speak for a moment. Yet his eyes raked over his son's figure as Draco confidently crossed the room to sit in the chair across from him.

"Hermione tells me you have been through quite an ordeal," the younger Malfoy commented calmly, his voice even.

Lucius gathered his composure and nodded. "Yes, I have."

"How are you now?" Draco looked at the other man with a critical eye.

"Thanks to the excellent care of my medi-witch and my old friend, I am doing much better, thank you," Lucius replied gracefully.

"I don't think you could have gotten better care if you'd been treated by the Supreme Healer of St. Mungo's," his son agreed.

"I know for certain part of my treatment - at this he looked at his left hand, were the strange Muggle tubes were still taped against his skin – is unknown to any Healer I have met so far."

Draco glanced over at Hermione, before he edged forward in his chair to take a better look at the strange device. "I bet this is one of Mione's inventions," he commented, "What is it?"

Lucius held out his hand a little, for his son to see.

"I am told it is some kind of Muggle contraption called I.V. or drip. A hollow canule made out of plastic is inserted into a vein with the aid of a needle, which allows the Healer to administer medicine or nutrients directly into the blood. I am not a big fan of anything Muggle, but since I was in such bad shape I wasn't able to digest any food, I am told it saved my life," Lucius explained.

At this Draco looked up in wonder at Hermione. "You fed him through this?" he asked, awed.

Hermione nodded, a little amused at his astonishment at something that was nothing extraordinary to any common Muggle.

Draco turned back to face the other man again and for a moment silence reigned. Apparently he had made up his mind about something, because he began speaking once again.

"Hermione and Severus are convinced you are my father," he said, the tiniest tremor in his voice.

Lucius swallowed with obvious effort and could do nothing but gaze at his son's eyes and nod.

"I was also informed that your last memory of me was when I was only a small infant."

"You cannot have been much older than half a year of age," Lucius replied, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You are aware that someone else has taken your place and pretended to be you for all the years you have been gone?" Draco's voice was still fairly even, although the tremor was more audible now.

"I understand this must be very hard for you... Draco," Lucius began, savouring the chance to say his son's name, "I really don't expect you to fall in my arms... that would hardly be becoming of a Malfoy."

A corner of Draco's mouth turned up at that last remark, while Hermione tried to determine whether or not it had been a joke. "Of course not," he confirmed.

"All I am asking of you is that I could get to know you. I understand completely that you will need time to... adjust to these most extraordinary... circumstances. And of course you will need proof of my identity. Furthermore we need to find out who has been taking my place for all these years. As long as these matters are unresolved it will be next to impossible to accept what Severus and Miss Granger have been telling you."

Lucius took a shaky breath after this long speech and looked down at his hands, clasped together in his lap once more.

"I just want to spend some time with you... get... to know you..." he hesitated for a moment. "If you'd be so kind as to let me." This last statement was uttered so softly, Hermione almost doubted she had actually heard it. Draco, however, seemed to have no such doubt.

"I'd like that," he said, a pensive expression on his face. The young Gryffindor narrowed her eyes at him. He was thinking about something, she knew it for certain. She had seen that look on his face too many times not to know what it meant.

At that moment Snape put his hand on Lucius' shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Hermione saw her silver-haired friend didn't miss the gesture.

"Maybe it is time to bring in some refreshments," the Potions Master remarked in the mildest voice she had heard from him in a long time.

The two Malfoys agreed and Hermione drew up two more chairs as her former Professor summoned a house elf and instructed it to bring them a tea tray and some cake.

After the elf had brought him what he had asked for, they were soon all settled around the fire, teacups in hand.

Draco and Lucius were still studying each other, but the atmosphere was more relaxed now. Draco, for one, sat back in his chair and drank his tea with obvious enjoyment.

Lucius sat studying the young man opposite him, his own teacup all but forgotten in his hand.

Severus Snape and Hermione Granger exchanged a glance, both not entirely at ease with the highly personal events they were witnessing. He offered her some cake, which she gladly accepted, if only to have something to occupy her hands with. If she hadn't been so uncomfortable herself, it would have been rather entertaining to see the normally stoic professor so ill at ease.

At last, Lucius seemed to remember the cup of tea he was holding and he brought it up to take a sip. Due to his still weakened condition and the enormous emotional strain of the meeting however, his hand shook so badly, the tea threatened to spill and he was forced to put it down again.

Hermione's medi-witch instincts kicked in and she was about to offer him to help, when Draco put his own teacup aside and got up from his chair. The young man took the few steps that brought him next to Lucius' chair and knelt down in front of it, its occupant watching his movements with something very much like disbelieving wonder on his face.

Draco's young, strong hand wrapped itself around Lucius thin, trembling one. Hermione could see him visibly react to his son's touch.

"Let me help you with that," Draco said, a warm quality to his voice that had not been there before. After only a moment's hesitation he added: "Father."

The next moment, the teacup shattered on the ground; it had slipped from Lucius fingers as his son enveloped him in a hug with his strong arms and he could do nothing but grab hold of him with despair as the tension of the last couple of days finally erupted. His bony shoulders were shaking with the heaving sobs that wracked his body and his thin fingers clawed at the back of his son's robe in his need to hold onto him.

Draco had put his head on his father's shoulder and silent tears were coursing down his own face, as his hands moved over Lucius' back in soothing movements of their own volition, while he held on for dear life.

"It's okay," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. He pulled his father even closer. "It's going to be all right," he promised.

Lucius pulled back a little, to be able to look at Draco, never releasing his hold on him. He looked at the red-eyed, tear-streaked face in front of his, knowing his face must look about the same. His voice was filled with emotion as he said the words that seemed to sum up what was most important to him.

"My son."