Chapter 38: Visiting Hours

Phew, ok so finally finished this chapter, sorry it's taken me what feels like forever! Thanks for all the followers and reviews; I really appreciate them and I'm glad people are enjoying the story! So, we left off with Lucius about to be interrogated by none other than the Minster himself… (Oh and yes, this is all copyrighted to J.K. Rowling, none of it belongs to me etc. )

"Have you? I wonder why you would be so anticipating asking me questions I have no answer to. I know why you are here Shacklebolt, I am no fool. However I am entirely unaware as to why I am here in the first place." Lucius moved forward. Despite the fact Shacklebolt was statuesque, Lucius noted he was taller as he neared him.

"I shall explain this to you. There has been an unprecedented attack, on Ministry property, in broad daylight. By a group of unknown foreign dark wizards. They have admitted they were bribed with money to attempt to steal…what, Malfoy?"

"I have absolutely no clue…Minister, nor can I say I care much." Lucius retorted coolly. He sat himself back down and eyed Shacklebolt, who stared back with matched fervour.

"Oh you see, I think you do. You were so particularly keen for the adversus inimicum looking glass to be kept at the Ministry I should have known you were up to something. Safe to say the mirror is no longer within your reach; your plan failed miserably, as is usual." He drawled slowly, leaning a little against the wall as if they were having a casual conversation.

Lucius was incensed, but he said nothing, his jaw clenching painfully. He was wondering when he would bring the Battle of the Department of Mysteries up; that night had haunted him for far too long.

Clearing his throat, he replied calmly: "I think you are forgetting that I was not the only dark arts advisor that was keen for the mirror to be kept here. There was no plan to fail; I have never met these wizards, nor would have any intention of stealing the mirror. Did it not cross your mind that, had I wanted it for myself, I could have found a much easier way to take it from under your nose Shacklebolt?"

Lucius watched as Shacklebolt crossed the small room in a wide stride, leaning his hands on the table Lucius was still sat at.

"It crossed my mind. It was no secret I was uncomfortable with your involvement in the darks arts initiative from the start. After all, I am one to believe that a leopard never changes its spots."

"I beg to differ. And besides, I was appointed to the committee due to my knowledge and…connections. Without me, you would have no mirror, no prize for your Ministry to store away in the dark. There is no evidence against me, you cannot keep me here." Lucius replied sternly. He was unsure if he had really changed, but he recalled the things Lucinda had said to him and he felt confident as he spoke the words.

Shacklebolt stepped back abruptly, pacing away back towards the door, his hands clasped behind his back. As he turned around, Lucius could see the top of the dark wood of his wand sticking out of his ridiculously bright purple robes. Lucius smirked up at him; he did so enjoy winning an argument, which he was certain he had in this case.

"I can keep you here as long as I see fit."

"Incorrect, although I am sure that is what you would like me to believe. Unless you produce some concrete proof I have involvement with these wizards, and with the events of yesterday, I am afraid you will have to let me go by…" He took out his Father's pocket watch (he had had his wand taken from him upon his arrival there, but they had not been bothered about him keeping the watch on his person), and checked the time, "about eight o clock tomorrow evening. Tick tock."

He could sense Shacklebolt's fury from where he was sat, and it was a pleasure to see.

"You have an alibi for the afternoon of August 8th, I assume?"

Although Lucius well knew the significance of the date (it had been his meeting with Costache in Romania), he of course knew he would have to plead ignorance. He supposed he could have asked Lucinda to provide him with a solid alibi, however he knew he could not put her in that position, despite the fact she already knew of his involvement in the attack.

"I was at home all afternoon. Alone before you ask. I have already confirmed this I think you will find."

"Alone? So there is no one who can confirm your whereabouts. A house elf perhaps, family or, someone else?" He asked Lucius, seemingly excited to find he may not have anyone to back his story up.

"No, there is no one. My house elf was not present, and I had no visitors. I was alone until around four, when Miss. Lovegood returned from work."

"Well, as Costache, as the seeming leader of this group calls himself, stated he met with the man who posed this deal to him around lunchtime, this does not bode well."

"Does it not? And have you thought to ask this…Costache for a description of whom he met that day?" Lucius diverted the conversation. The less said about his whereabouts the better.

"I am not willing to disclose that information Malfoy, nor am I willing to explain my choice of questions to you."

"That is fine. I was merely making a suggestion. But I assume those questions have been asked; it would be wholly incompetent were they not, after all." He leant his folded hands on the desk. He knew they would not have identified him.

"We have spoken with Borgin. He confirmed that, as far as he is aware, you had no intention for the mirror other than to deliver it to the Ministry. However the word of a back street dark arts peddler is not worth much these days." Shacklebolt replied, making as if to leave before turning back to Lucius: "Enjoy your time here Malfoy. Your wand is being checked for recent spell casting as we speak. Your home will be searched for good measure."

With that statement, he opened the door with a flick of his wand and left, closing and locking it behind him.

Lucius stood abruptly, the chair falling back onto the floor. How dare they invade his home. He imagined them picking through his possessions as if they were worthless tat, passing judgement, attempting to find something to incriminate him, which was impossible as far as he could think. He had been careful. But he despised the thought of others in the Manor. When the Dark Lord had decided to use his home as the base of operations during the War, Lucius had had no say as to what went on. He was aware people had been killed and tortured there, indeed he had seen some of it himself. It was something he thought his Father might have approved of, but Lucius quickly realise it wasn't to his tastes. His home had always been so separate from his activities as a death eater, it had had to be so as not to arouse suspicion. To have it turned over to the Dark Lord to do with what he wished had been unbearable. And so he was not best pleased at the thought of anyone whom he did not know rifling through his drawers and cabinets filled with personal things, his family's things; his Mother's things. He did not know why he had kept the room the same for all these years. He seldom entered it and he knew Draco and Narcissa had never been in there. But he knew if the Ministry searched the Manor they would most likely want to look anywhere that was locked.

He had no idea what they expected to find from any Priori Incantatem spell they could use on his wand. They must think him utterly stupid to have dared enact any suspicious spells knowing they could be so easily discovered. They were the stupid ones as far as he was concerned; they should be spending their time punishing Costache and his hangers on instead of questioning him. They were the ones responsible for a death after all, he told himself as an uncomfortable flash of guilt rushed through him. He had preferred when he did not feel such difficult emotions. It was much simpler to function effectively that way.

Would she come and visit him, he wondered. Lucius hadn't been able to gauge her reaction when he was leaving. He hoped this wouldn't place yet further difficulty in the way of their relationship; it seemed since they had met they had had one misunderstanding or hardship after another. Then again, he supposed nothing worth having came easily. He had been surprised to hear the words pour from his mouth as they had lain in bed earlier in the evening. He had meant them of course; Lucius never said anything he didn't mean, even when he lying. He had seen her eyes light up at the sound of them and he couldn't help but feel slightly smug at that. Normally, he did when he was with her. She was his after all; his to hold and possess, although he daren't tell Lucinda that. He was well aware she was entirely 'independent', as he had heard her say, and therefore merely wanted him rather than needed him. He wasn't sure anyone had ever 'wanted' to be with him now he thought about it, sat alone again in a cell. In the time he had spent in Azkaban, he had had no visitors, as was the Dark Lord's request. But even when he had returned home, he had felt…unwanted. As if he were some stranger living in the Manor, a shameful reminder of their failure as a family.

He shook his head as he sat back again on the chair. There was no other furniture in the cell. Lucius turned his mind back to Lucinda's visit. He knew they would be being watched, and so any…exciting activities were out of the question unless they wanted yet more intimate details of their relationship shared with The Daily Prophet. They would have to stick to more mundane topics of conversation, but perhaps she could update him if the Ministry had reached the Manor yet. Running a hand back through his hair, he waited for her, an odd impatience taking over.

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Lucinda couldn't sleep as the night drew in. Draco had left a short while after they had destroyed the letter, or she had, to be more specific. There seemed to her to be a new sort of strange unsaid understanding between them. Of course, Draco was not keen on the idea of her marrying his Father, and for that she wasn't surprised. However after he had calmed himself, they had talked honestly about her relationship with Lucius, and she had seen an entirely different side to Draco. Not the spoiled and entitled brat, but a man with actual protective feelings over his family and what she could see was a rather difficult past in many ways.

She lay on the couch as she thought about the conversation, a half drunk glass of wine on the side table. Not being able to bear entering the bedroom without him, she had decided to settle her for the night. She held a letter from her sister in her hand, and read it again:

'Luci,

I heard about Lucius. I am sure things will be ok, you believe in him enough I could tell. If it is alright with you, I will come and visit you tomorrow. We've nearly finished sending all our things now and the flat is looking bare. Do not worry Luci, although I know you do,

Luna'

Lucinda had immediately replied to her sister, stating it would in fact be lovely if she could visit. Visit where she was unsure. Lucinda would rather not put her sister through having to visit the Manor. She had not been there since she was held there and it seemed cruel and unfair to expect her to sit and have a cup of tea as if it were any other house.

She heard something, and for a second her sleep deprived brain thought it might be Lucius. But she was wrong; it was someone knocking on the door, someone who couldn't let themselves in. Heart pounding, she stood, placing Luna's letter on the table next to the glass, and exited the sitting room. She half-heartedly thought it might be Luna herself, but she knew that it couldn't be.

"Miss. Lovegood ?" A thin, tall man in a long overcoat asked, wand at the ready.

"Yes."

"Martin Murigold. Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am a senior evidence officer, and we have a Minister-approved warrant to search this premises." He flashed a badge with his photograph on it. He had lost a significant amount of weight since it had been taken.

Good luck with searching this premises, she thought. The Manor was probably as large as the Ministry itself.

"May I see a copy of this warrant?" She said indignantly. They were not entering the house until she was certain she could not say no.

"Certainly." Murigold spoke, sneering as he handed her the parchment.

Lucinda searched it for some sort of loophole, but found none. If only Hannah was here, she thought desperately.

"Good to go?" He asked as if it were a merely formality. He obviously had known there was no way out of this situation. "In you come gentleman. Greeves you take the living areas and the kitchen. Matthews, you take the cellars and attic areas, myself and Coluber will take the upstairs rooms for now, then head into the grounds. Let's get to it. See what we can find."

Lucinda watched as the men in question, wands at the ready and robes flowing behind them, entered the house and filtered out to where they had been ordered to go. Lucinda followed Murigold and the other man; she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him and so, short of splitting herself into three, she determined it was best to go with her gut instinct.

As she reached the top of the stairs, the two men a few strides in front, she just caught them whisper something unheard by her, and then she saw Murigold head into their bedroom, whilst the other Ministry guy went into the room directly next door, which was yet another of the many bedrooms the Manor had that was not used. She followed Murigold, standing at the doorway for fear of being accused of trying to influence the search.

She watched as he glanced around the space, before opening the wardrobe off to his left. The sound of clacking wooden hangers ensued as she saw him flick through several of Lucius' robes and Lucinda's dresses that she had stored in there. Lucinda wondered why he wasn't using magic to search the room, which would have made it much quicker. He closed the heavy doors before moving over to a chest of drawers in the opposite corner of the bedroom. Opening the top drawer, Lucinda felt her face go warm as he picked through her underwear, half pulling out a black lace negligee Lucius was particularly fond of.

"Look I don't know what you expect to find in there for Merlin's sake!" She said crossly, stopping herself from moving forward and snatching it off him before he placed it back in the drawer where he'd found it.

Murigold turned to her, and she felt like retching as his eyes flicked up and down her body: "Sorry love, got to search everywhere. Minister's orders."

Lucinda's jaw tightened uncomfortably, one hand rubbing across her wand that was sticking out of the pocket of her cardigan. She couldn't help but wallow in the anxiety that her and Draco might not have searched thoroughly enough, that there might be something to find in amongst all his possessions, even if the logical part of her brain was convinced that Lucius wouldn't have been careless.

She headed back down the stairs once she was certain Murigold was satisfied with the bedroom search (she had narrowly avoided him finding the silk ties they sometimes used for more…restraining bedtime excursions in the bedside cabinet). One of the men passed her, clearly coming back up from the cellar, where Lucius kept many fine wines and goodness knows what else. He passed Murigold as he was presumably making his way to the attic rooms.

"Nothing in the cellar Sir. Just boxes of wine and old paintings and the like. I'll check the attic now."

"Right. Right. Yeah you head up there, I'll be in the living areas if anyone needs me." Murigold stated, moving past Lucinda as if she were invisible.

For some reason he had bypassed the first sitting room, the one normally favoured by Lucius and herself, and entered the room down the corridor. She trailed behind, and watched as he tried the handle several times to no avail. Murigold lifted his wand and incanted: "Alohomora."

He tried again, to no avail. Lucinda was somewhat enjoying watching him struggle as he tried several unlocking spells and still could not open the door. He stepped back, rubbing the stubble on his chin, before he caught sight of Lucinda standing by the staircase.

"You know how to get into this room?" He asked her gruffly.

Lucinda shook her head: "No, sorry. I've never been in there, it's always been locked." She lied smoothly. It was the same room in which she had seen Lucius' memory played out before her.

He continued to scratch his beard, his face an indomitable frown. And then he suddenly shouted: "Greeves!"

A tall wiry man stuck his head out from the sitting room.

"Yes gov? Do you need me?"

"Ah, there you are. Your charm skills are required, I need to get into this room." Murigold bellowed.

"Right you are."

Greeves moved past Lucinda and over to where Murigold was pointing, bending at the knee to peer into the small lock by the door handle.

"Hmm, interesting," The man called Greeves said, standing up again and pulling his wand from his coat, "Someone doesn't want us to get in here. I've got an idea."

He motioned Murigold to stand back and then aimed his wand, which Lucinda noted was severely curved at the end as if it had been in some sort of terrible accident, straight at the door.

"Aperta, ego praecipio tibi!" Nothing. Lucinda watched them struggle for several more minutes, entirely aware that nothing they would incant would work, but they seemed to have forgotten she was there. Again.

Greeves stood back next to Murigold, his face now considerably sweatier than it was previously.

"Right. I've got a better idea… Bombarda maxima."

Lucinda ducked despite the fact she was nowhere near the explosion that occurred. When she emerged, she heard several coughs as the dust around the two men cleared. The door was now non-existent, completely destroyed by the spell. She strode forwards, tired of the whole thing.

"What do you think you are doing? I thought you were supposed to search the house, not obliterate it!" She asked sternly, her brow furrowed in what she hoped look intimidating. Her wand was still in her pocket, but she knew she couldn't retaliate; the last thing she wanted to do was get Lucius into further trouble.

"Calm down love," Greeves said patronisingly, "We'll put it back the way it was. It'll be like we were never here." Lucinda wished they weren't.

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"Hello." She said simply as she was ushered into the cell.

"You've got fifteen minutes." The guard said gruffly, slamming the door shut behind him.

His eyes took her in rapidly. She was dressed in dark jeans and a shirt, several buttons open at the neck, where a small gold circle was hung on a chain around her neck. He wanted to bite her beautiful neck, run his lips down it.

It was as if she sensed his thoughts as she brought her hand there, rubbing the skin nervously.

"How are you? Or is that a stupid question?" She asked him, sitting herself down on a second rickety chair that had appeared several minutes before her arrival.

"I believe the saying goes there is no such thing my dear. I am fine. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'd be more fine were we not sitting here now. Draco knows, he came to the Manor." She replied, finally appearing to relax a touch as she moved her chair closer.

"I see. I am assuming he had several things to say on the matter."

"Well, yes. He felt it best he didn't visit, but he wants to support you. They've been to search the house." She almost mouthed the last part. She was obviously aware they were being watched.

He nodded. He had of course known this but he wanted to seem grateful she had told him, which he was.

"Yes, I had thought as much. They will not have found anything, there is nothing to find. I do not know what they expected." He scoffed, and he glanced down as her hand moved over his, her thumb rubbing over his knuckles in a way he found oddly erotic.

"They expected to find something that never existed." She was a good liar, he concluded. Lucius wasn't sure whether that worried or thrilled him. He noted her pause before she added, "They went into the sitting room. The other one. Your Father's portrait was none too happy. Save to say they didn't stay in there long."

"How did they manage to unlock the room?" Lucius asked, feeling his brow creasing heavily.

"They gave it a good go but they couldn't break the charm, and so they sort of obliterated the door and then fixed it later. I was surprised even that worked to be honest."

"Yes, well, I didn't think anyone would blow up the door and so I didn't put anything in place against bombarda charms. Clearly that was my mistake. How dare they damage the Manor in such a way. I expect they will be letting me leave soon, I will check for any signs of anything damaged, anything moved anywhere it shouldn't be…"

Her hand was still over his. It seemed to have a calming effect on him and he took a deep breath to dampen the heady fire of anger that was rising in him.

"There's going to be a trial isn't there? I saw Hannah on my way in. The date has been set for two days' time." Lucinda stated, as if she were trying to make conversation about the weather as opposed to a criminal trial.

"It will be sooner than it would for most criminal acts. The Ministry will want to show they are doing something, justly punishing those responsible."

"Well let us just hope that doesn't include you Lucius." She said. She looked paler than usual, and her eyes were dark underneath as if she had not slept.

He moved himself into her, cupping her face in his hands: "It will not. Truth will prevail my dear."

She sighed silently and nodded, although it was difficult with him still holding her face. Lucius brought his lips in close to hers, until they were only millimetres apart, and then the moment was over, ruined as he heard the cell door swing open heavily.

"Ok star-crossed lovers, visiting time's over. Let's get a move on." An inept guard Lucius didn't recognise stated, his huge bulk taking up most of the doorway and so Lucinda wouldn't have been able to get past even if she'd wanted to. He was holding his wand in a threatening manner, as if he were afraid Lucinda was going to jump up and attempt to break Lucius out of there.

"Right, ok. That didn't feel like fifteen minutes." Lucinda said indignantly, standing from the table. Lucius followed; his politeness was ingrained into him even if this strange situation.

She leant up to him as if to kiss him goodbye, but once again they were interrupted.

"Err ah ah ah, I don't think so. No touching, that's the rules. After you…" Lucius wanted to curse him, probably would have done had he had access to his wand.

Lucinda made her way through the door, turning back to him before she disappeared from view: "I love you."

Aww so no kisses in this chapter either sorry guys! I promise I'll find somewhere to put something smutty in the next chapter haha! Thanks for reading! X