Chapter Five
Lucius Malfoy advanced through the crowded antechamber at the Ministry's restaurant, pausing to greet acquaintances, bowing low to the influential, a word of greeting and compliment always ready to his lips as he drew closer to the salon where the Minister of Magic was holding his levee.
He approached the circle of intimates gathered around the Minister. The Vice Minister of Magic was standing to one side, glowering and tapping one foot in obvious boredom. He loathed the Ministry ceremonies that the Minister conducted with rigorous and punctual order, and his expression brightened when he saw the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Arts.
'Ah, Lucius, come to pay your respects, eh?' He offered his hand. 'Damnable waste of a morning this, don't you think?'
Lucius smiled at the corpulent young man whose face shone red beneath the makeup he elaborately powdered on. 'When he earns you the majority of votes, Constantine, you will be able to take his position as Minister of Magic,' he said in soothing tones.
'Yes, and you'll all be damned sure that it'll end these stupid levees,' the Minister declared morosely, raising his glasses to examine the assembled company.
Accepting this withdrawal of attention as dismissal, the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Arts bowed low, and took his leave of the Vice Minister, and approached the circle around the Minister, hoping to catch the man's eye.
Cornelius was listening to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister's head was courteously inclined to one side to catch the elderly wizard's wheezing tones. 'Yes, I agree,' The Minister of Magic murmured every now and then.
Lucius drew closer until he was standing just behind Fudge. When Fudge raised his head, he would be bound to see him.
The Foreign Affairs Minister's discourse died in a fit of coughing. He buried his face in a handkerchief, and the King considerately looked away and caught the slate-grey eyes of the foreign affairs son in law. Lucius. 'Malfoy, beautiful morning, what.what?'
'Yes, it is.' Lucius bowed low. 'We must be grateful, yesterday's blizzard was no worse.'
'Oh my daughters were delighted with the snow,' the Minister said genially. 'They're all for skating on the lake. plaguing their mother for permission.' A fond parent, he chuckled indulgently. 'And how's Narcissa, recovered from her sickness?'
'Yes, she's having tea with Mrs Fudge today, I believe.'
'And the child. thriving, I trust?'
'Yes, sir.'
The Minister smiled a dismissal and Lucius stepped backward. He then offered his father in law a brief and curt good morning. The man warranted no further attention. He was an old fool and had served his purpose. Once the marriage with the mans daughter was celebrated, Lucius was assured of a place in inner Ministry circles and had no further use for his father in law's connections.
He melted into the throng, aware of eyes, some speculative, some envious, that had watched his audience with the Minister of Magic, gauging its length and intimacy. It had been a very personal conversation, one that marked the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Art's as his favourite Minister.
Lucius moved into a window embrasure and discreetly dabbed his forehead. It was hot in the room and his scalp itched. He adjusted the frills of his lace shirt and regarded Vice Minister still holding his place across the room. It was no secret that the Vice Minister cause the Minister of Magic endless heartache with his intransigence and debauchery, but at least the Minister had a successor that was male. An unsatisfactory male successor was better than a second round, mewling, and female brat.
An unconscious frown drew his thin eyebrows together, and one hand moved involuntarily to the small pocket in his waistcoat. His fingers brushed the silk pouch, feeling the shape of the tiny ring it contained. One of the three Malfoy rings. It had been slipped on his finger at birth- his to keep in trust for his own son, but that son had betrayed him.
Narcissa would have to do better the third time round. if he could bring himself to cover her pallid, stick body again. The woman revolted him. And even more so since the birth. She whimpered and snivelled whenever he came near her. He knew from the doctors that she hadn't healed properly after the birth, and was plagued with intermittent bleeding, but offcourse she was far too nice in her personality to mention such a thing to her husband, who was presumably expected to divine from the air whether she was in a fit state to receive his advances.
Lucius Malfoy advanced through the crowded antechamber at the Ministry's restaurant, pausing to greet acquaintances, bowing low to the influential, a word of greeting and compliment always ready to his lips as he drew closer to the salon where the Minister of Magic was holding his levee.
He approached the circle of intimates gathered around the Minister. The Vice Minister of Magic was standing to one side, glowering and tapping one foot in obvious boredom. He loathed the Ministry ceremonies that the Minister conducted with rigorous and punctual order, and his expression brightened when he saw the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Arts.
'Ah, Lucius, come to pay your respects, eh?' He offered his hand. 'Damnable waste of a morning this, don't you think?'
Lucius smiled at the corpulent young man whose face shone red beneath the makeup he elaborately powdered on. 'When he earns you the majority of votes, Constantine, you will be able to take his position as Minister of Magic,' he said in soothing tones.
'Yes, and you'll all be damned sure that it'll end these stupid levees,' the Minister declared morosely, raising his glasses to examine the assembled company.
Accepting this withdrawal of attention as dismissal, the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Arts bowed low, and took his leave of the Vice Minister, and approached the circle around the Minister, hoping to catch the man's eye.
Cornelius was listening to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister's head was courteously inclined to one side to catch the elderly wizard's wheezing tones. 'Yes, I agree,' The Minister of Magic murmured every now and then.
Lucius drew closer until he was standing just behind Fudge. When Fudge raised his head, he would be bound to see him.
The Foreign Affairs Minister's discourse died in a fit of coughing. He buried his face in a handkerchief, and the King considerately looked away and caught the slate-grey eyes of the foreign affairs son in law. Lucius. 'Malfoy, beautiful morning, what.what?'
'Yes, it is.' Lucius bowed low. 'We must be grateful, yesterday's blizzard was no worse.'
'Oh my daughters were delighted with the snow,' the Minister said genially. 'They're all for skating on the lake. plaguing their mother for permission.' A fond parent, he chuckled indulgently. 'And how's Narcissa, recovered from her sickness?'
'Yes, she's having tea with Mrs Fudge today, I believe.'
'And the child. thriving, I trust?'
'Yes, sir.'
The Minister smiled a dismissal and Lucius stepped backward. He then offered his father in law a brief and curt good morning. The man warranted no further attention. He was an old fool and had served his purpose. Once the marriage with the mans daughter was celebrated, Lucius was assured of a place in inner Ministry circles and had no further use for his father in law's connections.
He melted into the throng, aware of eyes, some speculative, some envious, that had watched his audience with the Minister of Magic, gauging its length and intimacy. It had been a very personal conversation, one that marked the Minister of Defence Against the Dark Art's as his favourite Minister.
Lucius moved into a window embrasure and discreetly dabbed his forehead. It was hot in the room and his scalp itched. He adjusted the frills of his lace shirt and regarded Vice Minister still holding his place across the room. It was no secret that the Vice Minister cause the Minister of Magic endless heartache with his intransigence and debauchery, but at least the Minister had a successor that was male. An unsatisfactory male successor was better than a second round, mewling, and female brat.
An unconscious frown drew his thin eyebrows together, and one hand moved involuntarily to the small pocket in his waistcoat. His fingers brushed the silk pouch, feeling the shape of the tiny ring it contained. One of the three Malfoy rings. It had been slipped on his finger at birth- his to keep in trust for his own son, but that son had betrayed him.
Narcissa would have to do better the third time round. if he could bring himself to cover her pallid, stick body again. The woman revolted him. And even more so since the birth. She whimpered and snivelled whenever he came near her. He knew from the doctors that she hadn't healed properly after the birth, and was plagued with intermittent bleeding, but offcourse she was far too nice in her personality to mention such a thing to her husband, who was presumably expected to divine from the air whether she was in a fit state to receive his advances.