Disclaimer- I don't own Korn or Harry Potter.
A/N- No song in this chapter… Hmmm… Lucius is hard to write, I hope you like him. Please Review!
SEARCHING…"Dumbledore." The voice ran out, strong and soft, but the sort of softness that was silken steel, it was a softness that could kill. Lucius didn't storm into the Great Hall, he floated through it, his presence commanding attention and a certain amount of fear mingled with almost awe. Snape turned a watchful angry eye to the man as he slid up next to Dumbledore.
"Lucius, to what do I owe this- pleasure." Dumbledore's voice was strong as well, and forceful. The sheer power of the old man was such that a couple of the teachers grew uncomfortable. A sort of silence rippled through the school and nearly everyone was looking at the two. And the one who should have been paying the most attention wasn't, he was entranced by his won thoughts, as morbid as they were.
Draco didn't look good. His beautiful hair was disheveled and his gaze was blank. He ate like a perfect machine, all mechanics. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other over him, they were protecting Draco as best they could, but they couldn't protect him from his own father.
"Draco, your dad's here." Goyle said softly. Draco looked up and froze, Lucius. Lucius was there, talking to Dumbledore, and they looked tense, no, Dumbledore looked furious. Oh god- Draco could feel panic welling up inside of him and he felt sick-
He quickly rose and quietly slid into a hallway of shadows before running to a boy's bathroom where he could empty his breakfast, which he did several times.
"You what?" Dumbledore's voice was soft and murderous.
"I repeat, I opened my copy of that book, and did some research." Dumbledore eyed him with ancient fury.
"So you're the reason why-" Lucius shut him off with a wave of his hand.
"If you stopped being such an old Mudblood lov-" beside him appeared Hagrid whose mere presence was menacing. Lucius sighed.
"Very well, I can see I am not wanted, I shall leave." Idiotic fools! I was willing to help them and all they can fucking see is their own-
"Hold Lucius." Snape said and went up to him. "You wouldn't have come here unless-" and he went quiet, and looked at Lucius. Lucius glanced quickly towards the Slytherin table and then stared intently at a point on Snape's forehead, and then smiled meaningfully. Snape's eyes widened, and Dumbledore's narrowed.
"Severus-"
"Albus, look at him, and I mean look." The emphasis on the word was missed by many, but a select few knew what it meant. Dumbledore calmed himself, and peered intently at Lucius, and then with a sudden intake of breath his eyes flared wide.
"Lucius, I must owe you an apology, I am sorry." Lucius' eyes widened, Dumbledore, a man he had tried to kill before, a man who he had fought against for years and must know that he wasn't guilty, had just apologized to him.
"Oh- well I yes that is-" Lucius fumbled with his robes, and then Dumbledore stood.
"I believe it is time for classes, goodbye everyone." Then he gestured to Filch who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He whispered something in his ear and the man nodded. He left quickly with Ms. Norris and then they split up.
"Come Lucius, let us go to my office."
"Hey Hermione, Ron, how's Harry?" Asked Parvati. Hermione choked again and Ron sighed.
"He's doing no better, but at least no worse." Ron said softly. Seamus sat down next to Ron and put an arm around him, while Dean did the same to Hermione. Soon the entire fifth year of Griffyndor was sitting together, all thinking about Harry.
"So this- this should do it, it has some ingredients that I can't fathom though, why a scale from a mermaid? And-" Snape frowned. "When is the next full moon?" Dumbledore stroked his beard.
"Two weeks from now." Snape nodded.
"I need you to call Lupin and get him here, we need the hair of a werewolf at the height of the full moon." With that Snape went back to reading Lucius' neat and cursive handwriting.
"Ah yes, and now Lucius, I must once again apologize for how I acted earlier, and now I would know, why do this?" Dumbledore asked, and Lucius was surprised. The Dark Lord had rarely bothered to ask, he merely ripped the knowledge he wanted from a person's mind, and that was that. He would have scoffed and said Dumbledore was weak, but he knew that that was as far from the truth as anything else…
"I only ever do anything for three reasons Dumbledore." Dumbledore looked at him. "If I am forced to and if it benefits me." Dumbledore smiled softly then.
"And the third Lucius?"
"For Draco, anything, I would have killed Voldemort himself."
"And why didn't you?" Lucius smiled then.
"Who said I didn't plan to?"
When Lucius left later that day to return to his lodgings in Hogsmeade, he was exhausted but felt better than he had in months. That verbal sparring with the old fuck had been- interesting, invigorating was more like it actually. He had had his mind truly stimulated, something that rarely happened. He would like to play chess with the old coot sometime.
When he got to the town he went to the Owlry and picked out an owl to carry a quick message to Draco. After sending it off he began to stroll down the street, and stopped suddenly in shock.
He'd been whistling! He hadn't whistled in years, it had been a stupid habit that- He stopped. But he'd enjoyed doing it just now, maybe- aw what the fuck, did it really matter, he could damn well whistle if he pleased…
"Lavender, are you sure about this?" Parvati asked, and Lavender nodded. Hermione sat by them, a bemused expression on her face while Skadi and Jessica[i] looked excited.
"Are you two sure about this?" Jessica asked nervously and Hermione snorted.
"Fuck off 'Mione." Parvati said absentmindedly, making Hermione sniff and then smile.
"I'll try anything at this point, we can all contribute in our own way." With that said Lavender and Parvati poured out the tea into a saucer. Swiftly Parvati pulled out a pin and pricked herself on the finger, wincing while she did so, and squeezed a thin trickle of blood into the saucer. Lavender followed her footsteps.
Then Lavender gesture to Skadi who moved over her cauldron with a flick of her wand and ladled out a small spoonful of whatever was in there, it was a weak pink that as soon as it touched the tea and blood turned a deep emerald green, the same color as Harry's eyes.
It was then that Lavender dropped 5 hairs from Harry's head onto the saucer, they immediately burst into flames and the saucer bubbled angrily for a couple seconds before calming.
"Blood of mine conjure, hair of victim speak, the future is a blur, but show me what I seek!" With that Parvati whipped out a polished black opal tied to a string of Unicorn hair. She dangled it over the saucer and it began to change shapes. Lavender wrote down each as fast as she could, along with Jessica, Skadi and Hermione. Finally the shapes stopped changing and the saucer stopped moving, but the stone was jerking wildly. The four girls looked anxiously at Parvati who was breathing heavily, until she suddenly threw her head back and spoke.
"Serpent's eye, serpents fly
Light the way to dusty death
The hand of betrayal be the carrier
Spirits of no mortal bearing
Deception of the cruelest nature
Let the broken mind love
The frozen soul."
"That is a dangerous man Fawkes." Dumbledore said softly. The phoenix continued to preen, but its eyes glittered in a way that showed it was listening. "He is a wild card, something to watch out for."
Dumbledore leaned back and let the chair comfort him, he'd bought it many years ago, and it was something that fit his personality. He put his hands together and appeared to drift of into sleep for a moment, and then his eyes opened wide.
"Ah Lucius, you know don't you?"
Hagrid tossed the bone for Fang, and watched as the dog ran after it. He sighed wearily and felt tears run down his cheeks. Poor Harry, suddenly he felt strong arms slide around his waist and a beautiful low husky voice whisper in his ear.
"Oh Rubeus, what is ze matter?" Hagrid turned and hugged Madam Maxine to him tightly.
"Oh Olympe, it's Harry, he's gone of and gone crazy!" Madam Maxine shushed him gently and then he proceeded to spill the story to her, and by the end of it he felt much better and she had an idea.
"Professor Snape?" Snape looked up from his list, and was face to face with a beautiful girl, a girl who was almost unearthly in her beauty. Vaguely he recognized her as one of the contestants from the Tournament last year, and marveled at how- adult she looked.
"Yes my dear?" He said softly. The girl chuckled.
"I am Fleur Delacour, professor Snape, and is a pleasure to meet one so well known as 'ou." Snape nodded and licked his lips, and was consciously aware of how, bad, he looked, He had the sudden impulse to wash his hair and get some sun, but he showed no nervousness. He could hold any impulse in check, spying on the Voldemort had taught him that.
"May I ask why you are here, these dreary dungeons are no place for such a lovely lady like yourself." Fleur smiled a little at Snape's flattery.
"I 'ear that 'Arry is sick, I am 'ere to 'elp him as I know a few things about potions, and more importantly, as a Veela, I can 'elp." Snape nodded slowly.
"Very well then, please do come with me." Fleur's eyes widened. "And do please excuse my French, it has been-" He paused. "Several years at least since I last used it." Fleur smiled.
"I think we will have an- interesting time working together Professor Snape." She responded in French. He smiled.
"Please, Severus." She nodded.
"And I am Fleur, now let us cure 'Arry."
"Snape, where is he?" Snape clucked nervously and looked at Lucius.
"Lucius, I must ask-" Lucius sighed.
"Severus, I am not going to hurt my son, that is the bitch's duty." He growled. Snape raised an eyebrow and winced at the expression on Lucius' face. "Now where is my son?" He snapped. Snape nodded.
"Come on then."
Draco stared at the wall, the cold hard stone. There was a chip on the 15th stone down, it made a shape the resembled a flower. He looked at it. It was dirty; the grit was thick there. Draco looked, vacant. He didn't appear sad, mad, happy, he didn't have emotion, he didn't even look apathetic. He just looked like he wasn't there. The door slammed open roughly and Draco jumped, panic making his entire body go cold as his father swept into the room.
"We need to talk." He shut the door. Draco stared at him apprehensively. Lucius frowned. "God damn it boy stop looking at me like I'm about to torture you!" Lucius snapped. Draco winced and then stopped. Why did he let this bother him? Nothing mattered any more. Listening to what Harry had told him, people didn't need to feel, people didn't need to live. So therefore, neither did he. He looked calmly at Lucius.
"Yes father?" Lucius raised and eyebrow, and then frowned.
"Draco I-" He stopped and then sighed. "Draco, the Dark Lord is dead. I am- I have done terrible things; I cannot say I regret them. At the time… I was so steeped in blood- I couldn't stop, if I had, it would have been my death, and later on, yours. Voldemort would have killed all I held dear, and then he would have made my life hell. I have no real redeeming qualities, but I will not hurt you Draco, I have spent my whole life protecting you." Lucius stopped for a moment.
"But for your own sake, be careful with the Potter boy." And he left, saying that had cost him, and he felt all the worse for it. It had felt wrong, weak almost. But it had been necessary, and Lucius would do anything for his son. Draco stared at the door for a moment, and then looked at the crack. A flower? No… It was death unfolding.
Slowly, the room grew colder.
Shout Outs-
Jivanna- Thanks for the luck, and the anticipation is over! Nice to know it's interesting, one of the things I aimed for.
Meitama Rouko- Yeah, I noticed how so many times Narcissa is the loving mother who really does care for Draco underneath but Lucius beats her horribly and she can't do anything about while Lucius is second only to Voldemort in evil. I am trying to switch that, but maintain their personas. And sorry about spelling and grammar everyone! I don't have a beta and I really don't have the patience to read more than a paragraph into my chapters… But it I had a volunteer…
Emma- Intense, I like that word, and here's more!
me ()- Well I kept writing, hope you like it.
SophieB.- Better than AD? Any reason why? And if people get confused let me know, there are ways to change the fic, and sometimes I have it all in my head, but only half gets down on the paper. And I will be taking it… somewhere… I think… But yes… Hee hee!
Liberty- "Bloody fantastic" has such a nice ring to it… You know your review was written rather poetically, and I am glad that I am combining your three favorite things, I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you are now.
Thank you everyone who reviewed, and those who didn't? Well now's your chance! Send me your email or leave it in the review if you want to get updates!
Next Chapter- Giving In… And what does that mean? Let's just say people give in to their desires… With sometimes horrible consequences…
[i] I read in the Harry Potter Lexicon somewhere that there should be two more girls in Harry's year in Griffyndor. It makes sense, there are five boys in Harry's dorm, so there should be five girls. And when Lupin is teaching, there are two extra unexplained femal apparitions when they are Boggart training, and it is an only Griffydnor class. So my two are Skadi and Jessica.
