A/N: Hello! Something I probably should have told you in the first part (Oh, well). In this story, Lucius is quite a bit older than the norm for most fanfictions. I don't think he attended school with James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, etc. I actually think he was in Hogwarts around the same time Arthur Weasly was (not necessarily the same year - I do think Lucius is a bit younger than he is). As you can tell from the previous part, I think Lucius and Narcissa were holding off on having kids because of the pressure they were under by the Death Eaters. I did entertain the idea of giving them a second child and having it get killed, but decided that would cause too much angst. Still, I do think it's strange that they only had one child - after all, a family that old wouldn't risk only having one heir. I mean, let's face it - If Draco dies (or turns out gay), that's pretty much it. Something to think about...
As for any ~strange~ behavior Lucius seems to have (as 1960DeSoto (is that a Spike reference?) mentioned in terms of his treatment of Dobby) be patient, people! If I work this right, the persona Lucius uses with the rest of the world is not the same thing as who he really is. Don't worry. I think I can explain every behavior Lucius performs in the books. Stick with me. You might find it interesting.
OKAY! Enough of that! On with the story! (Picks up about eight months after the last chapter ended!)
Trapped
Chapter Two
By: DangerMouse, The Great Immortal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lucius found his wife sitting in the plant-filled solarium when he got home. Her eyes were closed, an expression of peace and contentment on her face. Her left hand, from which a band of gold glinted in the sunlight, was stroking across her swollen abdomen. Her hair also glinted gold in the light, part of it pulled back in a messy half-bun near the top of her head. Lucius stood stock-still in the doorway watching the scene, his heart leaping about in his chest, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes.
"Beautiful..." he heard himself murmur. Narcissa's eyes opened at the sound and she smiled at her husband.
"Welcome home, Lucius," she said softly. She tilted her head to the side to look around him. "Is that Severus I see skulking in the shadows behind you?" Lucius gave a start, having nearly forgotten about his friend. He turned around and gave Severus a quick smile in apology before ushering him into the sun-lit room. The dark-haired young wizard mearly shook his head with a smile, adjusting the heavy bag over his shoulder and walked over to Narcissa.
"You look quite well, Madame Malfoy," he told her, taking a seat in a chair next to hers. Lucius came over and sat on the armrest of her chair, watching with interest as Severus began to pull things out of his bag, one by one.
"Call me Narcissa, and yes, I am well," she replied with a grin. "If you overlook the fact that my ankles are swollen, my back aches, I'm as big as a house, and I have to run to the little witch's room every ten minutes, then yes, I'm great."
Lucius quickly covered his smile with his hand. Since entering her third trimester, his quite, kind, well-spoken little wife had developed the vocabulary of a sailor, especially when she first woke up in the morning and had to have Lucius roll her out of bed. She never liked relying on anyone. He wondered if after this pregnancy was over if he would ever hear the phrase 'little witch's room' again.
"All normal for somebody who is eight months pregnant," Severus reminded her. He pulled a medium-sized, earthenware jar out of his bag and handed it to her. "This will help reduce the swelling on your ankles and your lower back pain. It needs to be applied three times a day. I'll let you do that," he said with a brief nod in Lucius' direction. Lucius took the jar from his wife and opened it, holding it under his nose. He expected it to smell strongly medicinal, but instead he was surprised with a light vanilla scent. As he recapped the jar, he looked back over at his wife, who was now holding a glass vile filled with a clear, red liquid.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's a holistic tincture that provides nutrition for the mother and the baby and specifically targets the uterus, birthing canal, and the regulation of female hormones," Severus explained. "It has red raspberry leaf, motherwort, squaw vine, wild yam, chamomile, beth root, ginger, peppermint, beet, comfrey, aletris, dandelion, licorice, and stinging nettle extracts. It will make the birth easier."
"That doesn't sound very appetizing," Lucius said, wrinkling his nose.
"I suspect it might be a little bitter," Severus agreed. They both watched as Narcissa threw back the herbal remedy like a shot of whisky, without even a moment's hesitation.
"It's not too bad," she told them, handing the vile back to Severus. "It tastes a bit like pepper." She smiled pleasantly at the young wizard. "Thank you for doing all this for us, Severus."
"It's my pleasure," he replied, carefully putting the vile back in his bag. "It's nice to help bring life into this world for a change." Lucius nodded before standing up.
"I have to go, dear," he said, leaning over and kissing his frowning wife on the forehead. Along with her new, exciting vocabulary and strange mannerisms, she had also developed quite a temper and strong mood swings. Sometimes, Lucius felt very fortunate his work both for the Ministry and Lord Voldemort were very demanding. "I promise I'll be back before dinner. Just ministry work this time," he lied, noting her worried glance. It wouldn't do to let her worry about the Dark Lord right now. She nodded sadly.
"Severus, you can use my library for as long as you want," he told his friend, his double meaning quite clear - Stay here. Watch Narcissa. Protect the baby. Severus also nodded. With a final kiss on his wife's forehead, Lucius left the solarium. Narcissa sighed deeply.
"He thinks I don't know, Severus," she told the young wizard sadly. Severus, who had been busy reorganizing things in his potion bag, looked over at her in surprise.
"Doesn't know what, Narcissa?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to reveal too much of Lucius' confidence.
"He thinks I don't know that he's going to do what ever it is you Death Eater's do when the sun goes down. He thinks I don't know about the blood on his hands because of this baby," she continued, frowning down at her swollen stomach. Severus made move to interrupt her, but she held her hand up, stilling any arguments he had. "He thinks I don't know that you're here to act as my baby sitter to make sure nobody tries to kill me when he's away. He thinks I can't take care of myself anymore," she continued bitterly, "which I guess is true since I can barely stand up on my own."
"Lucius loves you," Severus told her firmly. "He loves you and he loves this baby. Yes, he asked me here to look after you, but that's only because he cares. It's never a bad plan to have an extra set of hands around just in case. Besides, I think he's less worried about you getting killed than he is about you going into labor when he's gone."
Narcissa was quiet a moment. "If I hadn't been pregnant," she began softly, "we both would have been dead by now, you do realize that." Severus nodded. "The night I told him," she continued, "we talked about it for hours. At first, we thought it wouldn't make any difference. What were our three lives compared to how many other's would be adversely effected by any future actions of ours? But the more we talked about, the more unfair it seemed to the baby." At this she rested her hand back on her stomach and closed her eyes briefly. "Maybe it's too late for us, Severus, but this life still has a chance to make it, don't you think?"
"Absolutely, Narcissa," Severus said with conviction, even if he wasn't sure he believed it. "Seems like everybody's having babies right now," he said gently, changing the subject.
"Oh?" asked Narcissa, looking at him. "Who else?"
"I don't think you know them," Severus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I used to be... aquatinted with them when I was at school. Lily, the mother that is, sent me a birth announcement for their son about four months ago."
Narcissa tilted her head to the side in thought. "They'll be in the same year in school," she said, rubbing her stomach again. Severus blinked a moment, then nodded.
"I suppose they will."
A comfortable silence fell between them. Suddenly, Narcissa looked over at Severus, a slightly mischievous look on her face.
"Who are you spying for, Severus?" she asked bluntly. At this, Severus' eyes went wide and he sat up straight in his chair.
"Wh--what?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you talking about? I'm not spying for anybody. I--I don't..."
Narcissa held up her hand once again to still any thing more he might say. "Never mind," she told him with a smile. "It's probably best I don't know. I shouldn't have even asked. I... ow!" Narcissa shifted suddenly, both her hands flying to her stomach. Severus, already on edge, jumped out of his chair.
"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked frantically, hovering over her.
Narcissa looked up at Severus, giving him a sly grin. "Feel this," she said, reaching out and grabbing Severus' hand, resting it right over her baby. His eyes opened wide in wonder as he felt movement below his palm.
"It's kicking," he said, his voice misty. "Is it always like this?"
"Sometimes," Narcissa told him. "This one is a pretty early riser, starts moving around five in the morning, rests in the afternoon, and starts up again in early evening." Removing his hand, Severus sat back down in his chair and stared at Narcissa with something like amazement.
"It's a miracle," he said after a minute. Narcissa nodded and smiled.
"It really is," she agreed.
* * * * * *
"It's a boy!"
Lucius looked up at the cheerful midwife, holding his new, noisy son up so he could see. He was squirming and very pink, crying quite loudly. A tuft of light, almost white hair graced the top of his head. As the midwife placed the baby on his mother's stomach, Lucius looked down at his tired, smiling Narcissa, giving her a kiss on her sweaty forehead. She smiled back at him, moving her arms down to wrap around the baby, bringing the small boy to her chest, who quieted and almost immediately began to nurse.
"A gusty one, that one is," said the midwife, standing up to watch mother, father, and son. "Healthy color, good size, ten fingers, ten toes, good appetite - you two should be proud."
"We are," Lucius said softly. He reached his hand down and rubbed his son's back. The skin was so soft and smooth. Narcissa sighed deeply and rested her head in Lucius' shoulder.
"He needs a good name," Lucius murmured softly. "A strong name. One that can carry him through hard times. A name he can be proud of."
"Draconis," Narcissa said simply, gazing down at her son.
"Draconis?" Lucius repeated. Narcissa nodded slowly.
"Our dragon. Brave, strong, intelligent, and, most importantly," she said, giving her husband a somewhat amused smile, "lucky." Lucius found himself grinning back at her.
"Draconis it is, then," he said with conviction, nodding to the midwife, who was filling out the papers for the Ministry concerning the birth.
"A middle name?" she asked. Lucius dug around in his brain, trying to think of something. He could always name him after his father, but somehow, he didn't think 'Francis' was going to be good for the boy. Malfoy men had enough problems with looking feminine as it was.
"Draconis Lucius Malfoy," Narcissa said firmly, startling Lucius out of his thoughts. He looked down at her in surprise. Narcissa read the question in his eyes quite clearly and answered him before he could ask. "Yes dear, after you," she began, "because like you said, he needs a strong, brave name. You are the strongest, bravest person I know." Lucius leaned down and kissed his wife tenderly, paying absolutely no attention to the midwife who watched the whole scene with a pleasant smile on her face.
* * * * * *
It had been a wonderful day for the majority of the members of the wizarding community. Multi-colored sparks were shot up into the air, owl post was being sent at all hours of the day and night, and people road their brooms in wild abandon. Wizards danced in the streets, heedless of the muggles giving them strange looks. Most everybody was laughing, joking, and celebrating, relaxed and relieved for the first time in many long years.
Lucius Malfoy was not celebrating. He was not laughing or joking and he was by no mean relaxed or relieved. Instead, he was extremely stressed, terrified, and nearly frantic. He apparated right outside the front door of the Manor and ran inside, yelling for his wife and child.
Lord Voldemort was defeated and the Ministry would be swooping down on his home in minutes.
"NARCISSA! NARCISSA!"
Narcissa had just finished wrapping her ten-month old son in a warm blanket and came running down the stairs at her husband's frantic cries. On her back was a small bag filled with supplies.
"I finished sealing the items left here by our associates into one of the secret chambers below," Narcissa told her husband as she tied her son comfortably to the front of her body. "I let the house elves and the other servants go for now, reset the wards, and set 'nothing special' charms around the house." Lucius marveled at how composed she was.
"Your wonderful," he told her, kissing her gently on the cheek.
"I know," she replied.
"I don't want you being here when they come," Lucius said evenly, resting a hand on his son's head and rubbing the soft, downy hair growing there. "Disappear with our son and be safe." His wife's eyes filled with tears, but she did not let them fall.
"What will they do to you?" she asked him. Lucius shook his head.
"Most likely I will be in Azkaban until my trail date. After that...." he trailed off.
"After that, you will come home to your wife and son and this nightmare will finally be over," Narcissa said, cupping her husband's face in her hands and brushing her lips across his.
"Yes," Lucius said, kissing her deeply. A sudden banging on the front door startled them apart.
"WE ARE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC," boomed a magically enhanced voice from outside. Draco started to cry. "LUCIUS MALFOY, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR SUSPECTED INVOLEMENT WITH THE DARK LORD VOLDEMORT. THROW DOWN YOUR WAND AND COME OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND YOUR MOUTH CLOSED."
Giving his wife and son one final kiss each, he stepped away from them. "I love you," he told Narcissa softly. "I'll always love you."
"And I you, my beloved," she replied in kind, her tears finally spilling down her face. Putting an arm protectively over her sobbing son, she muttered softly under her breath and disapparated away in a flash of pure, white light.
To be continued...
NEXT CHAPTER: Lucius' trial, how he was found innocent of his involvement, and Draco growing up a little. Everybody having a good time? I'd love to hear from you, either using the review function here or e-mailing me at dangermouse42@yahoo.com . I'll reply to you (if you leave me an e-mail address, that is). Thanks for reading! And a big thank you to all of you that reviewed chapter one (even the not so nice reviews)!
