Of Secrets and Deceptions
Chapter Twenty Nine: How to tell a mate
Lucius looked at his sons, both lying on the beds and wondered what he was going to tell both his sons and their classmates what had happened. He knew if anyone found out it was Draco that had hurt Harry, the rivalry between the two houses would increase tenfold but it wasn't really Draco who was choosing what to do, it was the influence from Albus Dumbledore which had affected Draco to do the deed. He needed to talk with Sirius and Remus first to find out how the children had been and attempt to come up with an explanation to tell his sons' classmates and then another to tell Harry.
Narcissa refused to leave the hospital wing while her sons were still bedridden and Severus had gone to confer with Poppy to tell her what exactly had happened with Draco. Lucius knew that he should have gone to Tom already but he was desperate to put it off to the last minute, knowing that whatever Tom would do to him, would be nothing compared to what he would have done to Draco if it would have been his own free will which had cursed him. Fortunately, Lucius had enough facts to let Tom know most of the situation but with Harry not knowing he is Casimir, Lucius had a feeling that maybe what happened next wouldn't be good for his son.
Severus re-entered the room and looked at Lucius with expectancy.
"Fine, I'll go but if he kills me it will be your entire fault." Lucius moaned at he began to walk towards the door, dragging his feet and a pout on his face. "Besides I don't see why I have to go, you know more than I do Severus."
"True" Severus said with a smirk, "But you didn't say 'not me' so you have to go."
Lucius huffed before storming out of the hospital wing while shouting "Love you Cissa" as he left.
"So do you think Tom will kill him?" Severus asked.
"No, just shout at him or something. He doesn't want to hurt his mate or his mate's family after all." Narcissa explained.
Tom sat regally on his throne while Rabastian and Rodolphus briefed him on what was happening within the Ministry. It wasn't very interesting to say the least and there wasn't much information that was new to him. However they were scheduled updates that he had asked for so he needed to hear each one to keep informed. While he slouched on his chair in exasperation due to the dullness of the meeting, Tom felt his thoughts drifting to his mate, Harry Potter, secretly Casimir Malfoy.
He had felt tiredness coming from the link that he had with his mate recently as well as distress and peace, but he knew that with Narcissa, Severus and Lucius at Hogwarts, Harry would be protected. He also felt distinct pain but he was unsure whether it was physical or emotional and had decided that whatever it was, Harry was not ready to face him yet and so he needed to leave the pain to the adult Malfoys and Severus. He thought about how his mate would react when he found out about him. He knew Harry would blame him, after all if he hadn't been insane when Harry was born; Harry would never have gone to the Potters and be separated from his true family. He would never have been left to grow up with Muggles and had to fight for his life almost every year because Tom was too insane and angry at him to realise that Harry was his mate. If Tom was honest, he was scared. What if Harry rejected him as his mate? While Harry would never be happy with anyone else other than Tom, he could still reject him due to hatred and Tom would be heartbroken. However it was Dumbledore's fault that he went insane in the first place so maybe he needed to explain to Harry what exactly Dumbledore had done.
When the door opened to reveal Lucius, Tom straightened in his chair. Lucius never came for menial reasons, which meant that the man had good reason for turning up and it was important for him to listen because it usually became beneficial for him.
"Ah, Lucius, what has made you grace my presence today?" Tom asked with a smile, hoping there was some news about his mate. "Is Harry ready to meet me? It is a little soon don't you think?"
Lucius looked at Tom unsure. How was he going to tell him what had happened without Tom killing him or Draco?
"Well Tom… It's about Harry…" Lucius started, "You see something happened…"
"What happened Lucius?" Tom asked intrigued. The way Lucius was skirting around the issue, Tom had a feeling that it was bad news.
"There was an incident…"
"An incident? Don't you mean accident?"
"Ah, no… no. It was an incident. You see Draco got cursed by someone. We don't know for certain yet who it was but…"
"Why do I need to know about Draco, Lucius? I was under the impression that something happened to Harry." Tom cut in, irritated by Lucius's hedging.
"Harry was cursed and he fell of his broom." Lucius spit out quickly.
Tom blinked, trying to comprehend what Lucius had said.
"Is he alright?" Tom asked tentatively, knowing that whoever did it could wait.
"Yes, he's in the hospital wing recovering but he should be fine…"
"And the caster, what of them?"
"That's sort of the problem… It was Draco…" Lucius mumbled.
"What?" Tom asked outraged. "How dare he hurt my mate. Your son. HIS BROTHER! Why I ought to…"
"It wasn't his fault Tom. He was under a memory curse."
"What? What memory curse?"
"Severus said it had something to do with only negative emotions and they all were directed at Harry and there were suggestions to hurt him placed within a memory charm. Severus would be better to explain but I got the short straw and I had to come…"
"Why did you have to come?" Tom asked curiously.
"Because Severus didn't want to be cursed ten ways to Sunday and we figured that with Harry as your mate you would be less inclined to hurt his father than his godfather…"
"Why would I hurt you?" Tom asked alarmed.
"Because your mate got cursed and fell off his broom and we knew you would be angry so we figured better safe than sorry." Lucius explained tentatively.
"Ah, well I won't curse you. But I do want to see Harry. Does he know who he is yet?" Tom questioned.
"No, not yet but we will need to tell him very soon because we have no idea how to tell him what is going on with Draco and why he ended up in the hospital wing. He does however know that Casimir exists and that he is a Gryffindor…"
"Well, I think we should leave for Hogwarts don't you? I can see him while he is asleep. Just to make sure he is truly alright."
"Fine," Lucius agreed. "But no hexing or killing my son." He threatened.
"Damn." Tom muttered as he followed him to the apparation point within the manor.
I thank you all for your reviews and your following of this story :) I don't ask for reviews because it annoys me when people threaten to not update unless people review, so you can review if you like, I love hearing your thoughts and ideas, but it doesn't mean you have to and you will still get your next chapter :)
