Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, which is just as well, because they keep ordering me around. Draco, especially, will not do what I want him to.

Precious

- Catspook

Chapter 3: Worry

Thankfully, Draco was still asleep when Lucius reentered the bedroom. Lucius quietly tossed the note he had left into the fireplace, sending Dibby off with a glare. Lucius collapsed into the chair with a sigh, still bone tired. He watched Draco sleep peacefully, and tried to compose the wording of the note he would send to Potter. He had already decided to use a crow to deliver it, because he didn't know where Black was hiding (what he could get with that information!) and crows could be found just about everywhere.

Eventually, Lucius lost patience with the task, and he shifted his focus to Draco's recovery. Thoughts of Abraxas sprang up every now and then, but Lucius resolved to ignore them all. Lucius knew that Draco would get better eventually; it was only a question of how long it would take. Considering that less than four months of school remained, Lucius decided that it would probably be best if Draco did not return until September; he did not want the boy fretting about taking the final exams on the school's schedule. Once Draco was felling better, Lucius would bring in private tutors and Severus, as Draco's head of house, could come and administer equivalent exams when Draco was ready. And if Draco never wanted to return to school, there were other acceptable options.

At one point, Lucius reached into his pocket for the photographs he had taken from his office. Terminating the shrinking charm, he examined them both carefully. The photo of Draco at thirteen was fairly standard; it had been professionally taken the Christmas before last. Lucius had one taken every year, either at Christmas or over the Easter holidays. Because of the Yule ball, the portrait for this year had not yet been taken, and Lucius had still had the old one on his desk. Draco looked splendid in black, velvet dress robes, posing with perfect posture.

But Lucius' favorite photo of Draco was the other that he held in his hands. He had taken it one day when Draco was three and had decided that he did not want to wait until Hogwarts to learn how to use magic. He had somehow gotten a hold of one of Lucius' spare wands and gone out into the garden to practice the wingardium leviosa charm. Through one of the library windows, Lucius had seen Draco trying to levitate a dead leaf and had been enchanted by the boy's attempts.

Lucius had ordered a house elf to fetch the camera and had taken almost half a roll of film of Draco waving that wand about and repeating the words over and over. Draco had tried the spell for over an hour, but that leaf never budged. Eventually, he had noticed Lucius watching him, and when Lucius had gone out into the garden to confront him, Draco had apologized profusely. But he had not apologized for stealing the wand, oh no, he had apologized that he had disappointed Daddy by not being able to cast the spell. Lucius had been so touched that he had swept Draco into his arms and told him that it was ok; no three-year-old could cast that charm. He had completely forgotten about the theft.

The Draco in the photo Lucius held had not noticed that he was being watched, and he just kept trying to spell that leaf as hard as he could. Draco had been so innocent then, never afraid of anything except disappointing Daddy; and that only because he had loved Lucius.

Draco was five before Lucius had stuck him for the first time. Lucius suddenly realized how badly he had ruined that perfect relationship by beating Draco. At that moment, Lucius would have given anything to be able to go back and not strike that first blow. It was no wonder Draco was suspicious of Lucius now, he kept expecting to be hurt. His poor dragon, he had deserved a far better father than he had.

Lucius sat and stared at the photograph morosely until Draco woke once again. "What are those?" Draco asked sleepily.

Lucius started, he had not noticed Draco waking. "Photographs," Lucius answered shortly.

"Oh. You're not going to make me eat are you?" Draco pouted.

"Yes, but not now," Lucius answered. "Lunch is not for another hour. Sleep some more if you like."

"Mmh," Draco seemed to consider it. "Where is mother?" he asked suddenly.

Oh, Merlin, why did he have to ask that? Lucius placed the photos on Draco's bedside table while he tried to think of what to say. "She's in France visiting friends," he began. Now the hard part, "Draco... she is not coming back."

"Why not?"

"We are getting a divorce, Draco."

"Why?" but Draco did not sound particularly surprised.

"She... Narcissa is an adulteress."

"And?" Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"And? What other reason do I need?"

"Don't patronize me, Father. She's been sleeping around for years; there has to be another reason."

"You're right; there is another reason. I really shouldn't try to fool you." Lucius paused, searching for the correct words. "I did not feel that she was a proper mother," he finally replied.

"Proper? What..." Draco's face fell. "She didn't want to come back, right? I was raped, and she doesn't care," he sniffed.

Lucius sat on the bed and pulled Draco into his lap. "She is a selfish, shallow woman, Draco. She never deserved you as a son."

"Then why did you marry her?"

"I didn't think far enough ahead. I was looking for a wife my father would approve of, not a good mother for my children. It was foolish of me, Draco. I'm sorry."

"She never did care for me, did she?"

"I think, as her name implies, she has never cared for anyone but herself."

"Did you love her?"

"No. But I love you, Draco, no one but you." Draco raised his head and looked askance at Lucius.

Then he lay back down again, and after a protracted pause, asked, "Since when do you say rubbish like that?"

"Rubbish?" Lucius was offended. "You are the most precious thing in the world to me. I told you that before."

Draco snorted. "I'm your only heir, probably the only one you will ever have; of course I'm 'precious' to you."

"Is that what you think? No, Draco, you're precious to me because you're my son. I love you, why would you think otherwise?"

"Because... because everyone else hates me," Draco replied sullenly. Lucius could not tell if Draco was grabbing for attention or if he truly felt that way. It hurt to think that his son might really feel that alone.

"Nonsense, Professor Snape likes you," Lucius countered.

"I keep disappointing you. I lose at everything," Draco continued.

"Everything? A few quidditch games are not everything."

"Granger always beats me in grades."

"And you beat everyone else."

"I should be able to beat a mudblood."

"Maybe you are right, and the professors do favor her. Dumbledore probably wants to use her to try prove that purebloods are not superior."

"Professor Snape does not favor her, and she still gets better marks than me in potions."

"Ah, but Professor Snape does not have the final authority over grades given in his class; Dumbledore can override him if he wishes."

"She casts charms better and faster than I can."

"She..." this was ridiculous. "She is an aberration, Draco, pay her no mind."

"That's not what you said before. I should-" Lucius placed a finger across Draco's lips. This was a fruitless debate that Draco could not afford to waste his energy on. And, truth be told, Lucius did not have the answers to give him. By all rights, Draco should have the highest grades in his class. Lucius could not explain that mudblood girl's performance, and that bothered him.

"Hush, Draco," Lucius admonished, "Forget about her. She's beneath our notice, but even that is beside the point. My love for you is not conditional. I would love you no matter your marks."

Draco seemed to consider this before he sighed, "You shouldn't have to put up with me losing at everything."

"I still don't think you've established the 'everything' part."

"Name one thing I haven't lost at in the past year."

"You have earned and maintained the liking and respect of Severus Snape. I can think of no living person who has done that." Draco finally smiled.

"What about Dumbledore?"

"Severus respects him, but I do not think he likes him. Two Griffindorish, I suppose."

"Mm," Draco didn't have a response to that, which was just as well, because Dibby picked that very moment to pop into the room.

"What do you want?" Lucius snarled.

"Dibby is mostest s-sorry Master Lucius sir, but Master Lawyer Proust sir is here to see you sir. He says Master requested him to comeses sir."

"Escort him here, then go punish yourself for interrupting us."

"Yes, sir, Master, sir," Dibby replied tremulously, bowing and disappearing with a pop.

"The divorce papers?" Draco asked sleepily.

"Yes," Lucius replied. Lucius was finding it difficult to conjure up yesterday's anger at Narcissa with Draco lying, half asleep, in his lap. Lucius just sat and stroked Draco's hair, waiting for Proust. Proust, as usual, was all business. He nodded to Draco as he handed Lucius the papers, but did not comment on the fact that Draco was lying in Lucius' lap. Lucius kept stroking Draco's hair absentmindedly as he read the contract. It was short, explicit, and left no room for loopholes. Excellent.

Lucius signed it and handed it back to Proust. "Stop by Gringotts first and withdraw the money. Notify me when she signs it," Lucius said. Proust nodded and left.

"So that's it," Draco sighed, "I don't have a mother anymore. Maybe Potter and I should start a club."

"Don't be silly; you still have me."

"Mm."

"Now, Draco, I know you don't want to hear this..."

"What?"

"It's lunch time."

"Wonderful."

O~O~O~O~O

That night, Draco drank the dreamless sleep potion eagerly. He was asleep instantly, much to Lucius' relief. Lucius tucked Draco in, checked the heating charm on the blankets, and ordered Dibby to watch Draco while Lucius went to his office to write the note to Potter. He practiced the handwriting a few times before pulling out a sheet of cheap parchment and writing, "Harry, Moody is not who he seems. D.E.s close. Don't contact me, I'll contact you."

Lucius had debated how to sign the note. If he signed it in the wrong way, Potter could get suspicious. Lucius finally decided not to sign it at all; that would be consistent with the haste in which 'Black' was writing. Lucius then opened a window. There were always plenty of black crows and ravens on the Malfoy lands; they went with the manor so much better than small, colorful songbirds. Lucius cast a suggestus charm (a simple charm that, while mild to a sentient being, acts almost like the imperious on ordinary animals) on the nearest crow. Lucius folded the note hastily and handed it to the bird.

As the crow flew out of sight, Lucius pondered idly how long Riddle had left to live now that the trap had been set. But never mind, the Daily Prophet would answer that question soon enough, and there was no need for him to concern himself with Riddle any further. Lucius closed the window and walked to his bedroom to bathe and change his clothes before spending the night once again by Draco's bedside. Just before he left his office, Lucius remembered to remove his wedding band, as he was no longer married. It was a childish gesture, but he couldn't help tossing the ring into the fire. He did not stay to watch it melt.

O~O~O~O~O

Also that night, long after Draco had drunk his dreamless sleep potion, even after Lucius had fallen asleep in the chair next to Draco's bed, Percy Weasley was pacing the floor of Mr. Crouch's office. He shouldn't have officially been in there, but Mr. Crouch had needed a vacation very badly and someone had to make sure that cauldron bottoms were regulated and the Triwizard tournament was kept on track.

But at the moment, Percy was not worrying about cauldron bottoms, the Triwizard tournament, or any of the hundreds of thousands of things that the Department of International Magical Cooperation had reason to worry about. Tonight, he was worried about Lucius Malfoy going through Harry Potter's official file.

There wasn't much in there, just Harry's birth certificate and the official ministry explanation of what happened between Harry and You-Know-Who that fateful Halloween night. Why would Malfoy be interested in either of those documents? Percy had taken the liberty of reading both of them, and there was nothing in either of them that any first year didn't know. Percy feared that Malfoy had something sinister planned for Harry, perhaps linked with Harry being chosen as the fourth Triwizard champion (such a scandal!) but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was or what to do about it. All he had were vague suspicions. He finally decided that all he could do was keep his eyes and ears open and go to the proper authorities if anything unusual happened.

O~O~O~O~O

"Draco? Wake up; it's time for breakfast," Lucius shook Draco gently, but the boy didn't budge. The dreamless sleep potion had given Draco the rest he so badly needed, but now Lucius was having a devil of a time waking him. Lucius finally had to resort to his wand, "Rennervate!" he commanded Draco.

Wide, silver eyes blinked sleepily. "Oh, it's you," Draco groaned, "I'm not hungry." Draco closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into the blankets. By now Lucius suspected that Draco was testing him by being so stubborn. Draco wanted to see how far he could go before Lucius got angry. This was Lucius' chance to prove that Draco need not be afraid of him, and he was not going to waste it.

"Hungry or not, you still have to eat; healer's orders. You can go right back to sleep afterwards, all right?"

"No," Draco replied, pulling the comforter up over his head.

"Draco, you are being childish."

"So?" Draco's voice was muffled, but Lucius could hear the petulance in his tone.

"So, you can be more mature than this."

"I don't want to be mature; I'm too tired to be mature."

Lucius smiled; at least Draco wasn't as depressed as yesterday. "Well, if you want to act like a child, I'm glad to oblige." Lucius ripped the blankets away from Draco, and mindless of the boy's indignant protests, wrapped his arms around Draco's torso, trapping Draco's arms in his own. Lucius pulled Draco into a sitting position against his own chest and asked, "Now do you want to eat yourself or have me feed you?"

Draco glared at him hatefully, but he muttered, "I can do it myself."

"All right," Lucius replied mildly. He released Draco's arms, but he kept his own arms coiled around Draco's skinny waist. Draco stabbed his food vexatiously as he ate, but he continued to lean against Lucius.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Draco snapped.

"When you're done, precious. It will give me something to do while you sleep."

"You're mocking me. Stop it."

Lucius frowned, "I'm not mocking you, my dragon. Why would you think that?"

"Because you keep calling me 'precious'."

"Well, you are precious to me; we established that yesterday."

"You never answered the question of why."

"Yes, I did."

"Not to my satisfaction." Lucius sighed. "What do you want me to say, Draco? You are my son; it's as simple as that."

"But..."

"But what?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Draco sat up and tried to lean away from Lucius, but he didn't get far because of the arms around his waist. "Let go of me," Draco growled. Lucius removed his arms, but he did not get off the bed. Draco watched him warily out of the corner of his eye as he finished his breakfast.

"Now would you like to sleep some more, precious?" Lucius asked mildly. He wanted to gauge Draco's reaction to the endearment.

Draco paused pointedly before answering, "I want a shower, but I want to take it alone."

"You know I can't leave you alone, Draco."

"Why not?" Draco whined, "I explained about the cuts. You know I won't do it again. Don't you trust me?"

"I do; I do trust you, but I simply cannot take such a chance. You are very ill, you could fall and hit your head; you could fall asleep and drown... There are just too many possibilities."

Draco didn't have an answer to that; he just wrapped his arms around his waist and hung his head so that his ragged hair hid his face from Lucius. From the trembling in his slight shoulders, Lucius could tell that Draco was fighting off tears again. His poor dragon, he must feel so alone. Lucius wanted to help, but Draco kept pushing him away. Not that Lucius could blame him after all the pain that he had caused Draco. At the time, he had explained why he had to punish Draco like that, but how could he expect Draco to trust the word of someone who cast illegal curses on him? Lucius felt like such a fool; how could he help his son now when he had been too stupid to realize that cursing his own child was wrong?

But Lucius had no intentions of giving up his son; he was going to get through to him if it took years. Lucius slowly leaned towards Draco and wrapped his arms around Draco's waist. Draco tried to pull away, but Lucius would not let him. "It's all right, precious; I'm not going to hurt you. I love you, remember?"

"Then let go of me!" Draco sobbed. "Leave me alone!"

"No, my dragon. You've been alone far too much these past months." Draco gave a few more half-hearted attempts to pull away, but he didn't say anything. Eventually, he let Lucius pull him closer. Lucius stroked Draco's back gently while the boy cried. This time, when Draco's tears ran out, Lucius handed Draco a handkerchief so that Draco could wipe the tears away himself. After he took the cloth, Draco pulled away and put some distance between Lucius and himself. Lucius let him, having made his point.

Draco wiped his eyes with the handkerchief and muttered a sullen, "Thank you."

"It's all right, my dragon. Would you like a bath now?"

"That's not what I asked for, but okay," Draco pouted.

"I'll have to be with you," Lucius reminded him.

"I know." Lucius smiled at Draco and slid off the bed. Draco followed him slowly, nearly fainting again when he stood up. Lucius caught him and held him steady as he adjusted to the drop in blood pressure. Lucius considered carrying him to the bathroom, as he did when Draco had to use the facilities, but he hoped it would foster Draco's independence to let him walk the distance.

Once Draco recovered enough to lift his head, Lucius gently led him to the bathroom. Once they reached the tub, Draco pulled away from Lucius, steadying himself by hanging onto a silver plated towel rack. When he reached up to undo his dressing gown, he asked tiredly, "Can't you at least turn around while I undress?"

Lucius smiled and turned. He busied himself by starting the taps. Once the tub was filled, Lucius turned to help Draco into it. "Father!" Draco objected indignantly, yanking a black towel off the rack and holding it in front of his private parts. Glaring hatefully at Lucius, Draco sat on the edge of the tub. "Turn around!" he demanded.

Seeing that Draco was in little danger of hitting his head on the way to the tub, Lucius turned. He heard the splash of Draco sliding into the water and was about to turn around once more when something soft hit him on the back. Lucius spun around, startled, to find Draco hunched down in the water, watching him intently with wide, silver eyes. The towel that Draco had been covering himself with was at Lucius' feet. Lucius blinked then slowly retrieved the towel.

"Did you throw this at me?" he asked Draco, bemused. Draco's head immediately disappeared under the bubbles. What had gotten into the boy? Was he angry? Was he playing? Was he testing Lucius? Yes, that probably was it. Lucius knelt by the tub and said very clearly, "Draco, I am not angry with you, silly child. Come on up now, I don't want you to get light-headed."

After a moment or two, Draco lifted his head from the water, gasping for air. Lucius wiped the suds from around Draco's eyes with a washcloth and smiled at him. "Are you all right, precious?"

"Fine," Draco mumbled, "I don't know why I did that."

"It's all right; no harm done. Now can you wash your hair yourself or do you want me to help you?" Draco frowned.

O~O~O~O~O

Draco decided to take a nap before lunch. While he was sleeping, an owl arrived from Doctor Uberan warning them that he intended to arrive at 3:00. Lucius waited to tell Draco this after the boy had eaten; one conflict at a time was enough.

However, Draco surprised Lucius by not fighting him about lunch. "It's not as hard anymore," he offered at Lucius' surprised look. Lucius did not ask Draco to explain the ambiguous comment; he just smiled.

Once the dishes were cleared away, Lucius broke the news. "Doctor Uberan is coming to see you at three."

"No."

"Draco-"

"No. I don't want him touching me."

"He does not have to touch you. He will probably scan you, measure your weight, and tell you how good you've been fallowing his instructions."

"No, I don't want to see him."

"But why?"

"Because... I don't want him to! Isn't that enough?"

"Draco, this is important. I can't tell him not to examine you without a reason."

"He saw me! He saw what he did and I didn't want him to!" A few tears leaked out of Draco's eyes and he wiped them away angrily.

"He healed you. He wants to help you, precious; please let him."

"No! I... please, father; I don't want him to see me," Draco looked at Lucius with pleading eyes.

Lucius wanted to give into Draco, he truly did, but this was too important. He couldn't trust that Draco was really getting better to his impressions alone; he needed a professional's opinion. "Draco, he won't have to see you with your clothes off. I'll stay here and hold your hand. He won't touch you; I swear it. I need to know that you are recovering; please let him examine you."

"Don't let him touch me, father, please," Draco cried quietly.

Lucius pulled Draco into his lap once more and stroked the boy's shivering back. "He won't touch you, I promise. All will be well, my dragon, you'll see." Draco did not respond to that.

"Why don't you try to get some rest before he gets here?" Draco didn't move.

Lucius let Draco lie there, sniffling. Lucius handed Draco a handkerchief, which the boy toyed with absently. When Doctor Uberan arrived, Draco tensed but did not move or speak. As promised, Lucius held him protectively all throughout the exam, and ensured that Doctor Uberan never touched Draco. And as Lucius had expected, the news was positive.

"You're much better, Draco. You've gotten some rest, I see, and you've been eating as well. How are you feeling?" but Draco did not answer.

"It's all right if you don't feel like speaking to me, but if you are in pain you need to tell your father, all right?" Draco looked at the Doctor reproachfully, but he still did not speak.

Lucius intervened. "Are you done then?" he asked the doctor.

"Yes. Everything looks fine. I'll want to come back in a couple of weeks or so, but call on me before then if you have any concerns."

"Is that all right with you, Draco?" Lucius asked quietly.

"Fine," Draco pouted, looking pointedly away from Doctor Uberan.

"Thank you, Draco; you've been very good," Lucius praised. "I trust you can find your way out?" he asked the mediwizard without even looking up.

"Yes. I'll see you in a couple of weeks then, goodbye." Doctor Uberan left quietly. When the door closed behind him, Draco burst into tears.

O~O~O~O~O

Draco was almost too exhausted to drink his dreamless sleep potion that night, but fear of the nightmares ensured that he did. Lucius was near the end of his rope; after the doctor's visit, Draco had cried for almost half an hour. He didn't give any reason why, but he was clearly ashamed. When it came time to eat, his stubbornness returned. Lucius came dangerously close to yelling at the boy in frustration, and Draco seemed to sense it. He withdrew from Lucius, and the fear in his eyes broke Lucius' heart. Lucius tried to be as gentle and patient as possible, but he was neither gentle nor patient by nature and it took an enormous effort.

As soon as the dreamless sleep took effect Lucius ordered Dibby to watch Draco while Lucius took a long, hot bath. He changed into a dressing gown and settled himself into the now very familiar, green armchair by Draco's bed. And just like last night, Lucius fell asleep in that chair, too tired to care about the uncomfortable position.

* End Chapter 3 *