2. Sleeping Potter

Lord Voldemort's demise had also meant the end for most of his Death Eaters. They were either killed in the round up by the Ministry's aurors, or sentenced to Azkaban.

Lucius Malfoy was not one of that unlucky crowd. The former Death Eater had managed to avoid the authorities the first time Voldemort had been defeated and he wasn't about to let the Malfoy name be shamed this time either. So he'd paid a fine for the use of dark curses and accepted it as the slap on the wrist it was. Now he was keeping a low profile until things had entirely blown over.

In the meantime Lucius Malfoy was bored out of his skull. Narcissa was out once again; a blessing in disguise, for he'd found that prolonged exposure to her brainless chattering could drive even the most hardened Dark Wizard insane.

What was a high profile, rich, Dark Wizard to do without a Dark Lord to plot for? Not to mention the fact he'd had to put all his Dark Arts material into storage to avoid discovery. Merlin, he was bored, and torturing the house-elves had lost its glamour months ago.

Lucius was just about to go find one anyway, just to keep in practice, when an owl came flying through the window of his study. He recognised it immediately as one used by Dumbledore. This brightened up his day significantly. A distraction, finally!

He quickly took the note from the owl and even gave the bird a treat before excitedly unrolling the parchment.

"Mr Malfoy, your presence at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is required as soon as possible for a matter of the upmost importance. Headmaster Dumbledore."

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

In the Great Hall you could have heard a pin drop, and in accordance with the laws of magic and narrative a cricket chirped somewhere.

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

Lucius stood in front of the mirror in his wardrobe and inspected his look. He'd put on his most imposing robes and combed his long blonde hair, casting a charm to keep it untangled. There was silver trim on everything, and he was wearing a few heavy, expensive, rings over his gloves. The fur hat on his head nearly completed the picture. Now where was the damned thing? Ah there! He took his dark wood and silver snake cane from its hiding place and nodded satisfied.

Lucius looked good and he knew it.

Another moment to practice his most dismissive and contempt filled sneer, he hadn't been able to use it much over the last few months, and he was ready to leave.

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

"Is this some kind of joke?" Sirius managed to croak, while the rest of the Hall's occupants were still shocked silent. "Because if it is, it's not funny."

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

Lucius strode over the grounds of Malfoy Manor to the gates, to where the anti-apparition wards ended. He was humming an old Death Eater tune happily and wondering why he'd been summoned by Dumbledore.

Maybe Draco had gotten into trouble again. Oooh, or maybe there'd been some new Dark activity and Dumbledore wanted to question him! It would be good to go a few rounds with the annoying old fool again.

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

"Oh great Merlin, what have I done?!!" Colin wailed as he made a grab for a bread knife lying on a nearby table. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Vector who were both standing near him, grabbed his arms and petrified him.

In the rest of the Great Hall pandemonium broke free.

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

Stepping through the gates of his ancestral home, Lucius felt the tingle of the anti-apparition wards. He checked himself once again quickly and then pointed his wand at himself. With a pop he apparated.

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

"There is no way I'm letting Lucius Malfoy kiss my godson!" Sirius yelled at the world in general.

"But it's the only way to wake dear Harry," Dumbledore interjected.

"There has to be another way. You must have cast the spell wrong!"

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes disappeared and he shot Sirius a menacing look. Sirius was no fool and quickly backed away from that line of enquiry.

"The man's a Death Eater, for crying out loud! There must be some other way! Somebody else! Even Snape, even Filch would be better than that – that – that Malfoy!"

Both professor Snape and Argus Filch, the care-taker, bristled and glared at the animagus.

"I'm sorry, dear boy. It would seem that only a kiss from Lucius Malfoy will wake Harry up."

"Harry's going to kill us. And we'll deserve it." Neville said morosely to his fellow Gryffindors and they nodded their agreement glumly.

"Hey, that's my dad you're talking about!" Draco protested. "And it's just one kiss! It's not as if they have to get married or something."

Hermione cleared her throat and shot another glare in the Gryffindor boys' direction.

"Well, that's not entirely correct."

The Hall's occupants became quiet again and stared at her, although Dumbledore's twinkle had returned.

"What?" Draco snapped impatiently.

"This type of spell, it doesn't just put Harry to sleep. If your father decides to wake Harry up, well, they'll be bound together. They are soul mates after all." She said the word soul mates with a great amount of distaste.

"Oh no. No way. No way is Potter going to be my stepdad! And my father's already married! To my mother!" He whirled around to the Gryffindor boys, pulling his wand. "I'll kill you!"

Professor Snape, McGonagall and the rest of the staff rushed to stop the fight between the young men.

Sirius looked at Dumbledore pleadingly.

"Surely there must be some other solution. You can't let Harry be bound to a Death Eater like Lucius Malfoy! There has to be a way out!"

Dumbledore pulled Sirius aside, and motioned Lupin to join them.

"Calm down. I think I have a solution. While kissing Harry will wake him up, it will not complete the bond between Harry and Lucius. For that, the bond must be … ah … consummated."

Dumbledore raised his hand to stop Sirius' enraged interruption.

"Don't worry, my dear boy. I have a cunning plan."

~~ HP ~~ LM ~~

Lucius Malfoy appeared in front of Hogwarts' gates and started the walk toward the castle. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and he had something to do. It was a good day, and he looked forward to whatever verbal sparring with the Headmaster lay ahead of him.

When he reached the main entrance he found a house elf waiting for him. On closer inspection it turned out to be the same wretched elf that wretched Potter boy had tricked him into freeing in his second year. He sneered his most menacing sneer but the elf was completely oblivious.

"Oh Mr Malfoy has arrived! Dobby is so happy! Mr Malfoy must be coming with Dobby quickly, very important! Dobby is so glad Mr Malfoy is here to help Harry Potter!" and the elf proceeded to lead Lucius into the castle. Lucius was sufficiently puzzled by this behaviour that he didn't protest and just followed the ridiculous little creature.

He was led through deserted corridors– as if they wanted to prevent him from being seen – and then through a door into the Great Hall. Behind him he heard the door close and lock, and he tensed, but was then thoroughly distracted by the scene he found in front of him.

All the tables had been cleared away, except one. Somebody was lying on its surface, but he couldn't see who because of all the people standing in front of it. He recognised a number of the seventh year Gryffindor students standing at one side, all looking as if the Dark Lord had risen once again. If only! He saw his son Draco standing on the other side of the room, shooting furious glances at the Gryffindors and looking utterly disgusted. Snape stood next to him, and had a restricting hand on his son's shoulder. Snape himself looked utterly impassive as usual.

The rest of the staff was there as well. All looking at him with a mixture of horror, desperation, disgust, and – hope? Dumbledore stood in the middle of this group with his mad twinkling eyes. Black stood next to him and seemed to be trying to kill Lucius by just glaring at him. His werewolf partner seemed to have an iron grip on the man's arm, as if he were afraid Black would attack him at any moment. Lucius smirked but tightened his hand on his cane anyway.

It was silent for a moment, and Lucius raised an eyebrow. He hoped he hadn't been summoned just to be gawked at.

"You requested my presence, Headmaster?" he raised the note in the hand not holding his cane.

"Ah yes, Lucius, so good of you to come and so quickly too," despite the twinkle in the old fool's eye, the Headmaster seemed slightly nervous. Lucius was pleased, this was turning out to be a very interesting day.

"A situation has arisen, and we appear to be in need of your assistance."

Black and the Gryffindors gagged at this, and Lucius raised his other eyebrow, a skill he'd perfected in front of the mirror over the years.

"My assistance? Whatever would you need my help for, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"It is a delicate matter, you must understand," Dumbledore began and Lucius mentally rolled his eyes and settled in for a long wait. Knowing Dumbledore the man would take ages to get to the point.

Apparently he wasn't the only one to see this coming, for Black ripped his arm free from Lupin and stepped forward irritably.

"Oh, let's just get it over with. Malfoy, some of Harry's friends cast a sleeping beauty hex on him and now he can only be woken up by a kiss from his true love. That's you. So let's get this over and done with! Kiss Harry and then we can all go home!"

Lucius stared at Black looking for signs that he'd finally gone mad. Dumbledore looked slightly put off by somebody stealing his show.

"You're kidding me. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Hot-Young-Man-Who-Offed-Voldemort-Permanently, has been done in by a sleeping beauty hex cast by his friends?"

They all shuffled aside a bit to give Lucius a better view of the table behind them. And there lay Harry Potter, the wizarding world's saviour, fast asleep.

Lucius was silent for a moment, and then raised a hand to cover his mouth. He snickered, although he tried to hide it as a cough. Black and the others frowned. Another cough and Lucius looked away as he tried his best to keep a straight face. He glanced back toward the sleeping boy and then couldn't contain himself anymore.

Lucius started laughing, the tears streaming down his face as he leaned on his cane to keep him upright.

"This is not funny!" Black shouted angrily, and Lucius shook his head no, but couldn't stop laughing enough to contradict his enemy. All the angry glares in the room weren't able to stop Lucius from laughing. He'd pull himself together, look at the sleeping Potter which would set him off once more. Even Dumbledore looked slightly put off by this disrespectful display, although Lucius saw the corner of Snape's mouth twitch. Severus and he had always shared the same sense of humour.

"That's it!" Sirius barked and he stepped forward to shake some sense into the laughing Malfoy. Before he could grab him however, Lucius straightened up and swatted Black's hands away with his cane. He glared at Black, and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Not a step closer," he hissed, and then looked at Dumbledore.

"So let me see if I understand this correctly. Harry Potter has been hit with a sleeping beauty hex. Only his true love can wake him with a kiss. I am his true love, and you want to kiss him awake? Is that correct? Pardon me, if I find this somewhat hard to believe."

"It is true, my dear boy. I cast the identification spell and it would seem that you are young Harry's soul mate. So you must kiss him and wake him up."

"Hmm. What's in it for me?"

"What's in it for you? What's in it for you?! How dare you stand there and behave as if kissing Harry isn't the best thing that you could ever do in your miserable life? You don't deserve to kiss his boots, I'll kill you!" Black had to be restrained by Lupin and several of the other adults to stop him from attacking Lucius. Lucius just raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Don't do it, father, it's a trap!" he heard Draco cry out before he was pulled behind a couple of the other teachers and silenced. Lucius frowned.

"Headmaster, if you'd let me have a word with Lucius," Snape spoke calmly to Dumbledore, and at his nod he walked over to Lucius, took his arm and pulled him away a little from the crowd. A fight had broken out, not for the first time by the looks of some of the pupils, and Lucius could hear accusations and reproaches being hurled about.

"Lucius."

"Severus."

The Potions Master glanced back at the fighting mass and smirked before leaning towards Lucius again.

"I know we haven't seen eye to eye for some years," Lucius snorted, "but I would ask you not to throw this opportunity away too soon. I'm afraid I can't say much, but trust me, there isn't a person in this room who doesn't wish they were in your shoes."

Severus looked at him meaningfully, as if trying to tell him something, and Lucius looked back at the sleeping young man lying on the table. He made a face.

"But – Potter?"

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Have you seriously looked at the boy lately? Get over it that he killed Lord Voldemort and put you out of a job. I'd do it just to piss Black and all those other self-righteous bastards off."

Lucius nodded. Pissing people off, especially the people gathered in this hall, was in itself a pretty good reason to do it.

Dumbledore had managed to restore order, and he looked with twinkling eyes to Lucius as both Lucius and Snape stepped toward the sleeping figure.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Marvellous, marvellous my dear boy. Now, if you would just come this way," and he lead Lucius to the table with the sleeping Potter lying atop.

Lucius stood next to the sleeping figure and looked down on Harry Potter. Normally he wasn't interested in men, Lucius was more of a ladies man, but even he had to admit that Harry Potter looked good. His dark hair was unruly but it somehow fit the boy. His skin was pale, although his cheeks were a nice red. His robes concealed much of his body, but the boy undoubtedly had a good body, considering how much quidditch he played. Yes, not bad at all.

He glanced back one last time; everybody had gathered around him. Black stood behind him, glaring but keeping his peace and Lucius ignored the animagus. The Gryffindors all looked as if they were going to be sick, well, so did nearly all the staff. Except maybe for Severus, who looked slightly wistful, but covered that up with his habitual scowl once he noticed Lucius looking. Dumbledore stood on the other side of the table, and did the man's eyes never stop twinkling?

Licking his lips Lucius rested his cane on the far side of the table next to Harry and then, leaning on his arm, lowered his lips to those of the Boy-Who-Lived. He really did look quite exquisite, Lucius thought to himself as he hovered above Harry. Behind him he vaguely heard Black growl 'get on with it already', but then he touched his lips to the sleeping young man beneath him and the world around them ceased to be.

Harry's lips were soft and warm against his, and he parted his lips and let his tongue swipe Harry's lips. He felt Harry sigh, and saw Harry's eye-lids flutter. Harry's mouth opened slightly and the tip of their tongues met. The shock of that brief touch set sparks off through Lucius' entire body, and he deepened the kiss, felt Harry's mouth welcome his. And then Harry's eyes opened and he was looking into those jade green orbs and Lucius was lost. In a split second Lucius realised he'd found his soul mate. He realised that he was kissing the man he was supposed to live the rest of his life with, the man who would make him happier beyond belief, who he would love more than life itself, who would love him despite himself, despite everything and anything. And he saw that same realisation in Harry's eyes.

Vaguely, in another world, he heard somebody yell 'now!' and then abruptly, cruelly, he was forcefully yanked away, and the loss hurt. The loss ached in the soul he was surprised to have. It felt as if a piece of himself was being ripped away, and he fought to get back to those soft lips, those green eyes.

Somebody shouted 'Harry, catch!' and Lucius saw Harry's seeker reflexes make him catch the object thrown at him, a goblet. And then Harry disappeared as the portkey was activated by Harry's touch.

Lucius could only scream his loss, could only scream at the injustice that his true love, his soul mate, had been stolen from him.

to be continued in Harrypunzel