"How could you?! You are sabotaging me on purpose!" Lucius exclaimed, pointing his cane at Mina. "You're fucking crazy, you know that?!" She fired back, pacing around. The two had been fighting from the moment their guests left after New Year's day. Luckily none of them knew that they had been angry with each other, since there had been enough distractions. But now those were gone and they were left with their struggles.
"First you invite someone for my wife to fall in love with and then you coerce my son into manual labour!" Lucius growled, also starting to pace. Fortunately for them, Lucius had a large bedroom, otherwise all this pacing would have been difficult.
Mina blushed at Lucius's words, she had hoped he hadn't caught on to her plan to couple Severus and Narcissa. But she huffed and spoke up. "So what if I did? Do you have any idea how unhappy that man is? What he's been through? Am I really -that- terrible for me wanting to bring him a little bit of happiness? And I did that for you, you know? I thought that if Narcissa was happy again, she'd let you see Draco more often!"
"As if you'd even think of that!" Lucius said, scoffing at this idea. "She's my wife! How would it look if they'd suddenly started to date!"
Mina frowned, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why would you care, Lucius? You have me." She said softly, talking more to herself than to her lover.
"That is not what I meant, stop twisting my words!" He barked at her. "I'm just talking about how it would look! I have a business circle and they need to respect me! I told you before that sorting probably sorted you wrong, you're thinking like a true Slytherin!"
"No, I don't! You're just too selfish, too jealous to see! You want to pretend you changed, Lucius, but you didn't! You're just was mistrusting and short-sighted as before! And if you think that that will go without consequences, you're wrong! Draco is happy with his new passion! And if you're going to take that from him…"
Lucius didn't Mina finish. "I will not allow it! My son getting his hands dirty, working in the ground as some sort of disgusting slob!"
"So that's how you feel about my brother? He's a disgusting slob? I'll probably seem downright filthy to you, aren't I? Scrubbing your house, with my own bare hands!" Mina yelled, her voice shrill with frustration and anger.
"As if you're not here for my money! There is a word for girls like you, but I'm too high in status to use it!" Lucius snarled, but closed his mouth when he realized the mistake he made.
"I'm a whore, that's what you're saying." Mina mumbled, staring at the wooden wall.
"Duckling…" Lucius whispered softly, his anger evaporating when guilt took over. Was this too far? Did he lose her? The questions raced through his mind and he was so afraid for her response. Part of him knew this was good, it meant that he didn't want to lose her. He could only hope that she thought of this the same.
"I quit." Mina said plainly and turned to leave, but Lucius grabbed her arm and turned her back around. "You won't! I-I need you!" He said firmly but Mina could hear the tremble in his voice. Part of her was glad to hear that he was honestly afraid to lose her. But was it enough to stay?
"You need me? That might be true, Lucius. But I don't need you." Mina answered, staring at him intently. Again Lucius scoffed. "So you're giving up your education? You won't be able to stay at Hogwarts without me, duckling. Don't do this, don't be stubborn." Lucius said, in a soft tone this time. He was trying to sweet-talking her into staying, Mina realized, while also pointing out that she did need him. For a moment, she was disgusted.
"No, Lucius. I don't. And I will graduate from Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore started a funding amongst the teachers. Professor Snape told me, while he was here. They all put in money and with that, I can pay for my remaining tuition. It's already been done. So you're getting back everything you invested in me so far. They wanted to give it to me at first, since I did work for that money, but I said no. That's how much of a Slytherin I am."
Lucius fell silent. He had no more ammo to fire at her. She truly wasn't interested in his money, he realized.
"Duckling, I-I…" He started, after swallowing hard. "Yes?" Mina asked plainly. She wasn't about to forgive all this so easily.
"I'm so sorry. I'm shaken up about the whole thing with Draco and….I blamed you while I shouldn't have. It's difficult for me to see Narcissa with Severus. But that's not because I still want her, I feel like he's taking over my old life and I need to…work through that." He said with a sigh. Now Mina softened. Now that it felt that Lucius opened up to her, about his struggles, it was hard for her to be harsh towards him. She shook her head, not knowing what to do or say.
"I've been practicing something, can you please come with me to the garden, so I can show you?" Lucius asked, eagerly clinging to that last sliver of hope he saw in her eyes.
For a few moments, Mina didn't answer, thinking this over. Then she sighed and mumbled some sort of agreement. She may have spoken firmly, but the truth was that she really didn't want to give up this thing between her and Lucius. She loved him dearly and having to learn to live without him was not something she'd willingly choose.
Lucius smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her down the stairs and into the garden, like he suggested. He was able to show her in the house, but he hoped that the open air would add to the effect of what he had planned. They walked to the pond and in the distance, they saw Draco and Clint removing weeds from between the plants.
For a moment, Lucius frowned, but took a deep breath and didn't speak of it. Since Narcissa and Severus were seeing more of each other, Draco was allowed to visit when he wanted to, which made a lot of things less complicated. But he had been very prone on learning Clint's trade and Lucius was less excited about this. He couldn't imagine his son working with his hands, but if he commented on it then he might lose the boy again. But this was not the time to worry over it, he needed to ensure that the girl wouldn't leave his side. It would be too hard to live without her, now that she nestled herself into his life like this. Even though she wouldn't be working here anymore, he had to think of a reason for her to stay.
"So….the pond….I've seen this. From up close, actually." Mina stated, looking around. She didn't understand why Lucius brought her here.
"Patience, duckling. Give me a few moments." Lucius replied with a small smirk, taking a deep breath and concentrating. He thought of how Mina brought Draco back to him in a way, how she got Narcissa to forget about bringing him down, how intense and heated his sex life was now. Then he pointed his wand said the spell that he never used before.
"Expecto Patronum!" He said loud and clear and silver threads poured out his wand, landing nearby and forming a guardian. Mina's jaw dropped, she was brought up with the notion that most Death Eaters had never been able to produce a Patronus. When she recognized the animal, tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. Four silver little ducklings were happily trotting around, playing in the water of the pond in front of them. Lucius had hoped for this, the scenery completed his little plan perfectly.
"Do you see, duckling? This is how happy you make me. How important you are." He urged her, squeezing her hand after holding it. He planted a kiss on it and stared into her eyes. Mina looked from him to the ducklings and back and rushed into his arms.
"That's'so beautiful, thank you." She whispered, her voice hoarse from wanting to cry happy tears.
Draco and Clint heard the spell and came to inspect. Clint grinned wide. "A nice Patronus, sir, well done." He complicated the man while rubbing the dirt of his hands with a handkerchief. Draco seemed excited as well. "Well done, father! They look amazing! Clint taught me how to remove weeds just now, the garden looks well again." He said eagerly, looking at his father for praise.
"Great, Clint is a very good teacher." Mina said excitedly, urging Lucius with her eyes to do the same. Lucius smiled. "That's great, son, I'm glad that you found a purpose! Show me what the two of you did?" He asked and Draco led him towards the little patch that he and Clint just cleaned up.
"So….a Patronus. For you." Clint mentioned to Mina, tilting his head at her. "That's big. Right?"
"Yeah, it is." Mina said softly, wiping a few tears from her cheeks. It really touched her. But Clint seemed less impressed.
"But no announcement yet. Minnie, this isn't enough. You know that, right?"
"Clint, stop. Just focus on Draco, okay?" Mina retorted, sound aggravated about Clint questioning the romantic gesture.
"The kid's doing great, no trouble there. We're going to Snape later, to work in his yard. We might start an actual little company together, the kid has a lot of ideas that I didn't think of." Clint calmly explained, trying to hide how excited he was. He didn't want to get riled up before they had any real results, but it was difficult to stay calm.
"That's great, Clint, I'm sure Draco will be so happy. Lucius told me about him, the last few years on Hogwarts he was miserable all the time. Now he's finally smiling again."
"I'm glad to see him smile too. I just wish I saw you do it too. Don't take my word for it, I want you to be happy, even if it's with this guy. But…I want more for you. That's all."
"I know, thank you." Mina answered with a sigh.
Later that day, Mina returned to Hogwarts, since she wanted to catch up on some schoolwork. At least that's what she told Lucius. The truth was that wanted time think. About him, about them.
She found the spiral staircase that led to the fifth floor, where the Ravenclaw common room was situated. Before she entered, the knocker in the shape of an eagle gave her a riddle.
"Good afternoon, miss Harper. Your riddle is….why does love need sunglasses and a cane?"
Mina frowned, thinking it was very strange that the knocker asked her about love. Why did it do that?
"Sunglasses and a cane? Huh?" She asked the knocker out loud. But it gave her no hint, it just patiently waited for the answer.
A cane….it made her think of Lucius. Then the answer hit her. "Because love is blind." She answered and the door swung open for her.
Carla looked up from her books when Mina came into their bedroom, a wide smile on her face. She got up and gave her friend a big hug. Mina chuckled and hugged her back, surprised by such a warm welcome. The answer of the riddle kept racing in her head but she tried to suppress it.
"Mina! Marvellous Mina!" Carla exclaimed and twirled around with her friend in her arms. Mina laughed even harder now as they danced around the room.
"Carla, what's going on? I haven't seen you like this in ages!" She told her as they fell on Carla's bed, exhausted from their antics.
"I did, Mina! Over the Christmas holidays! First I told Mickey about my parents! He was very understanding. Then I went home, marched into my father's study and told him that I was dating Mickey. It was a little awkward that I brought him without telling them first, but I think they understood!" Carla told her, her eyes gleaming with the memory.
Mina squealed in amusement and clapped her hands. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you, Carla! I'm sure Mickey is happy as well." She stated, finding her own bed and unpacking her bags.
"Oh yes, he was so heartbroken, I felt so bad for the guy. He really is a very nice boy. I was afraid that he didn't want to try anymore, but luckily he did! Did you hear about Snape, by the way? Some students are saying that he's in love, he hasn't shown up to Hogwarts in two weeks! Some say he's just not eager to start school again, but I know better! What other distraction than a woman, am I right? Who do you think it is? Maybe it's another teacher!"
Mina smiled weakly, as her friend babbled happily. She wasn't going to reveal she knew Snape's new flame, she didn't want to embarrass him in any way. But the fact that everyone around her was so in love and sure of their feelings, made it even harder to think of her and Lucius.