Disclosure Hp belongs to JKR. The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux-
A/n more, we will see where it goes. Lucius is at best, vain, selfish, self-centered, and so on. Ready to betray his friends for his own self-interest, but trying to be good. We will see. And what happened to Narcissa?
At the Malfoy Manor
Plans and memories
Lucius sat in his favourite chair, holding a chilled glass of an Alsatian Gewürztraminer, thinking of the tactical plans for his Cupid-Lucius Operation; maybe call it the Lucid Ops.
He was starting to see the maxi appeal exuding the petite witch, but he had two, maybe three dilemmas that prevented any further attraction. He called for a house-elf; Mipzypan came. "Master?"
"Mipzy," she was Lucius's former nanny, "could you bring me one of those Muggle books to write on? The ones that Draco bought for the office, there are some stored in the supplies room." He was about to wave her to leave. She huffed wondering why her Master wouldn't get the books himself with his wand. No need to wonder, because he was spoiled and couldn't bother himself with menial labor.
"Ah, and a quill, maybe two, the self-wetting ones. Stop, wait, I want a little repast, nothing big. Perhaps, a few crisps, make them sorted, soda wafers, thinly sliced Serrano ham, beluga with crème Fraiche, a couple marinated mushrooms along with pumpernickel, and toasted rye medallions." He paused, "That might be it. But…" He thought, pulled his wand out of habit, and tapped his cheek.
Mipzy rolled her eyes while she looked at her gangly feet; Repast indeed, she thought and mumbled.
"Mipzy, tell him to add a few kalamata olives on a bed of extra virgin Italian olive oil and maybe some cubes of goat's cheese with cracked green peppercorn, sprinkle it lightly; a few sun-dried tomatoes drenched in medium olive oil with some chopped fresh basil, and raspberry-flavored white balsamic vinegar; nothing complicated, and if it is not too much trouble, a chilled beer, hmm, a Crystal Weissen beer, and a bottle of an Italian medium-soda water, lightly chilled, infused with lime."
Mipzy just stood, playing with the embroidery of the smocks designed by Pretzel, waiting for the next batch of little wishes.
"Hmm, maybe a few thin shavings of medium-cured Manchego Cheese, a couple of cherry tomatoes, sliced, and maybe a few wild berries, for freshness. Best you tell Zuki to use his discretion and his genius. And if he wants to add a couple more things, to go ahead, although I am not really hungry. Ah, I want tea in two hours, not heavy; I am trying to fit in my new leather breeches." He sighed, waiting for Mipzy to say he looked fine, and there was no need to eat light.
"Not if you keeps this light eats," murmured Mipzy with a tsk, as she left with a Pop.
Lucius heard and was unhappy. I wonder if I am looking fat, he thought with a worried look in his eyes. Lucius was vain, but he didn't think so. His mother said Lucius was always looking better than her since he could walk, and, soon, he had a collection of mirrors that should display it all. A few of those stood near by, but he didn't want to ask in case he was looking less than perfect.
A few minutes later she came back, "Axel brings you the tray in a minute, I be gone for yus quill," she tried to leave.
"Mipzy, wait, do you find me nicer, a more considerate wizard, friendlier, you know, since the war?" He twisted his mouth and held his breath.
Mipzy hated those questions, but she couldn't lie. What to say?
"Sir, you is my little wizard. I raises you. You always be nice." That was one smart answer; however, not the one he wanted to hear. What else could one expect from silly elves?
"Yes, you are clever, duly noted. However, I want the truth, am I an easier Master? What do you hear others say about me? I will bring you one pound of marzipan next time I go to Toledo." He was not above bribes. The world, either magical or Muggle, revolved around them.
Mipzy's eyes were a little more bugged than usual at the thought of gorging herself on the delectable sweet. The mixture acted like a drug on her metabolism. A drug- that made her happy made her forget the terrible times when those bad wizards invaded the Manor. What horrible times for all of them. Three of her brethren had been killed. One was fed to the snake; Mipzy used her magic to kill her before going into the snake's jaws.
Besides the calming, cheering effect, the sweet was plain delicious. Her magic had never been able to recreate the taste of the Marzipan from the place where Lucius bought it. Thus, she decided to be nearly truthful to her most favourite and untrustworthy-Dark-wizard.
He didn't want to hear the real truth, and she knew it; thus, she was in a bad position. If she lied, he would know it and would be mad. Okay, at least with the truth, he would get over it faster after he made a million excuses why he had acted a certain way.
"Dobby said you were very nasty. But he was my cousin's child, but she drank the kitchen wine when she be carrying Dobby. Yes, many agreed with him." Lucius' face did not show any emotions, but he was dying to know who thought he was nasty; he had promised Mipzy he would not be mad at her, as for the others, hmm.
He would wait a couple of days and then would bribe her again. He would get the names of the bad elves who talked behind his back. Except he didn't want to pay higher salaries, of 1 galleon, 13 sickles, and two knuts, which would most definitely happen if he were to punish anyone of them. The ungrateful, greedy rats, they would go straight to the House-Elves union, whose lead was one Miss Granger, the one and only little trouble maker, oh well.
"Now, nobody says you are nasty." She looked at him with a look that spoke volumes of an extreme sense of accomplishment.
"And, what else, continue," asked Lucius, waiting for the, now everyone thinks you are the best master, a good Wizard, etc.
"And, that is it. And I needs to go and help Pretzel and Master Draco be needing help with the robes. He goes tonight with a young witch, maybe a date. We is hoping to having babies soon, for me to take care of." That was Mipzy's proud response. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. Her Master looked miffed.
Lucius's radar went up right away when he heard the words Draco+Date.
"Ah, wait there, pray tell, who is the date?" Lucius asked, feigning only slight interest. He used the quill to clean imaginary dirt under his once daily, manicured nails while looking at the elf's expression.
"Master Lucius, I don't tell on the young Master, but I don' lies." Mipzy was afraid to see Master's reaction; she should have kept her mouth quiet. She wanted to ask if she were getting her sweets.
"Mipzy, no games," Lucius held the wine glass and looked irritated. He was certainly not like the possible answer, although not for a reason the house-elf thought.
"Master," Mipzy was wringing her long fingers on the edge of her designer towel. "It is a Missy Granger. She is one nice witch. We gets galleons because of her. She is Muggle-born but very pretty. I is happy that maybe we is having babies to love. I is going." Pop and she was gone.
Lucius's drink was no longer tasty. He was never going to be able to eat the light repast he had ordered. Probably just a bite of two, he sighed. Draco was now his first item/problem, to be considered tonight. He would need to dissuade Draco from this date, but how? Or let him go, and boycott the date? The second one sounded less problematic, and he would get to stop Draco from, from, what? From having a good time?
He loved Draco, he was the only being he had ever loved, and he had made a promise to a cousin, even if a second cousin, who landed in Azkaban because of Lucius' bad advice. Well, he also loved Antonin, just not as much.
Lucius started the travel along his now daily path, downhill on the Lucius' pity party (LPP) road. It was the one reason that he was not longer welcome at social gatherings. The LPP was Severus's official name for the boring routine, and Draco had seconded the motion.
He started, aloud, "Oh Lucius, recognize it. Yes, I do, I am a walking bad omen, Antonin is in jail, and Severus six feet under, well but for only a day. Just until they figured out, that he had been left on stasis by Ms. Granger and Draco. They buried all the dead very fast." Lucius was talking to himself, aloud.
"You see what a terrible friend you are. Oh what a jewel of a Wizard, not dark, ultra dark, devoid of light. You couldn't stop laughing at seeing Severus' face when he found out he had buried alive." Lucius continued his LPP.
He paced the room a few times; where was Mipzy with the writing pad? He waited, ruminated, and then finally decided to keep an eye on Draco. Time to press the Greengrass chit's marriage contract, he was slightly sorry to pull that one on Draco, but it was his duty as the only son.
"No, at the end of the day, nothing is your fault." Yes, that was Lucius self absolution, or justification for any bad wishes, wrong doings, you name it; it had begun. It was exhausting, first telling everyone how awful he was, beating himself for it, and then taking it all back. At the end, nothing was his fault.
Lucius had paid his full dues. He had to marry Narcissa, when he had really wanted Andromeda, after being denied the one he wanted the most. Now it was Draco's time to sacrifice. Because if the pretty witch was not for Antonin, and she rejected him, then Lucius was the next one on line. In plain English, Draco had not yet paid his dues.
Sad to know, his worry was for not. Yes, Draco had a date with Ms. Granger, but not the kind that the matchmaking elves thought. It was not of an amorous sort, far from it. It would make Lucius furious, but more about that later.
That reminded him, time to visit Andromeda. He had heard a concerning rumor, the ass Arthur Weasley was often seen with her; Weasley had been inquiring about one of the new and fashionable divorces. Or should he let Weasley have her.
There were still two other items of concern, in reference to Operation Lucid, his final name for this good deed.
The second item had to do with the 'false Antonin,' i.e. with Anton Minsky, the other Antonin, Anton the half-cousin/brother.
Antonin was furious when he met his second cousin, Anton Minsky right in the UK, in 1980. No sooner that he had apparated at the Malfoy's Manor, that Anton had arrived with Voldemort's invitation to a meeting. Seeing his half-brother or second cousin, take a pick, announcing his entrance as Antonin Dolohov, made him see double. His hot temper boiled, and it took Lucius the good part of a week to calm him down. And that was the day when Antonin's problems began; he should have gone back to his paradise by the Baltic Sea; and stayed away from Lucius.
It was not a little surprise, to discover Anton had taken over his name, and by the way, had been a staunch supporter of Snake-Face since the start of WW1, with a chain of wrong doings under his belt. So when Anton was taken to Azkaban, Antonin cloaked himself in a cloud of anonymity. He grew a beard, long hair, and colored his hair light brown. During the next years, he continued to work for the Dark Lord under a pseudo name.
He finally decided to give it up on 1996, the same day when the Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban. Amazed to see what Azkaban had done to Lestrange and to Anton (Antonin) made him want to go back and start living. Anton had earned a full criminal CV, as one of the most dangerous of the Dark Lord's followers and a killer. He had many deaths to his name. Antonin was not guiltless; he did his share of badness, hunting Muggles, killed during scrimmages, destroyed property and some other bad deeds, he was a Death Eater after all.
Lucius needed to figure out what to, he owed to Antonin; his younger cousin. But did he owe him that much? Did he owe him the witch? He had to figure that out. And he couldn't forget about Draco, who had begged for the witch since he was ten.
Antonin at Azkaban
While Lucius was still annotating his notebook, Antonin, was sitting at the new Azkaban library, drinking hot tea from a samovar donated by a friend of his family to the recreation room, actually five were donated, many of the staff, guards, and prisoners enjoyed the good brew. He was remembering the stolen kiss; he always did. Just like Hermione who couldn't forget it, hoping she would meet him soon.
He dammed the day he had left the crafty Lucius Malfoy ruin his life. How come he had failed to tell him he had a virtual doppelgänger? Or at least everyone was blind enough not to see the difference between the half-brothers? He loved Lucius but wasn't liking him a lot.
A/n hmm.