A/N: This chapter picks up directly from the end of Chapter 6. I just split it into two to make it easier on myself. I didn't mean to make it a cliffy - honestly! - but I split it and then I posted 6 and realized what I did. I hate cliffies too. If some words are missing it's because the keyboard my daddy has is crap and I type faster than it sends the information to the computer, and it skips small words.

Well, it's Christmas. Alas Santa didn't leave me my own Lucius or Severus in a stocking - and I actually behaved myself this year, forfeiting on much fun - so this is the next best thing. The full version of this chapter will be posted on my website come Boxing Day, since I'm watching all the movies we got - Undercover Brother, How High, Finding Nemo and X2 - and listening to Linkin Park's "Meteora'.

Hope you all got cool stuff! Now, I'll do the replies to reviews and then one more thing before you all can read the chappie.

CrimsonTearsOfPain: Here's Chapter 7, all freshly written and posted on the best day of the year.

Ann: And here's another honest to goodness update. Of course they're both stubborn and stupid. *not stupid stupid…but stupid….if that made any sense* One's a Potter and the other's a Malfoy. But they have that Big Talk *Hehehe, I love doing that!* and they *ahem* kiss and make up…or out. [you'll have to read the full version to get that one]*grin* I don't mind M/S relationship fics - for me it depends on how it's written and if it's believable. Christmas is definitely an insane time of the year and *lol* no it doesn't make you insane for liking it. Lucky to be living alone, I'm surrounded by family that drives me bonkers. Btw, I am immune to puppy dog eyes - blame my siblings - but I will keep writing. I'm enjoying this and I'm glad others are too. ^.^

Vicious Lily: Well, I'm glad someone liked my inadvertent and rather accidental cliffhanger! Update is here!

RhianwynCarma: You're happy, I'm happy, we're all happy! ^^;; Er, that's a whole super sized box of raisin Glosettes talking. I'm glad you think my fic is good - I think it's all right and could use some improvement, and SilverWolf seems to be adamant on having me accept praise - and you like the characterizations. That's the one thing I am driving myself nuts over. Plausible believability is what I am going for; this ain't no parody fic. Action/fluff/angst….dear God, you just summed up some of my other fics too!

Cyberpunk2909: Oh yeah, I've been there before. But then again, I have a horrid lazy streak. Glad you enjoyed reading it. Honestly, I'm not used to all these…glowing reviews. *blushes* Chapter 7, fresh off the presses. Hard drive, I should say.

Prongs: I'm not stopping there. How could I? That'd just be sadistic and I'm only sadistic to people who royally tick me off - namely my closeted brother - I'd tell you where I am planning on stopping but I don't want to give anything away.

Plastraa: Yeap, that's a doozie of a way to end a chapter, ne? Yes, I am good at the angst bit….too good my friends tell me when they read some of the stuff I have on paper. The first fic I ever posted on FF.net simply reeked of angst and suffering. I despise characters that simply 'roll over and play dead'; you're supposed to go after what's important! I saw a guy at the airport in Barbados once who was being deported….not a pretty sight. Yes, I have some plans regarding the deportation issue. It would be nice if they could simply stay there, whapping goats on the head and what not, but alas, things are never what you want them to be. Glad you like this. Your fic "The Hijacking of Hermione Granger" is distracting me from a load of schoolwork that needs to be read too. SHANK YOU!! ^___^

HPIceAngel: Updated! 3 days later! Read and be happy! I'm aiming to update by the 31st of December or the 1st of January. Wish me luck!

This is the last thing, I swear:

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU GUYS!!! ^_^ *bops head to beat on 'Faint'*

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En Las Montañas

Chapter 7

"What?" Harry asked; it sounded as if he thought he was hearing things.

Lucius took the chance to snatch his hand back from Harry. He didn't say anything, simply staring at his fingers, cradling it in his other hand. That was the last thing Lucius had wanted to remember, much less vocalize to anyone. But he knew it would happen someday. And he knew that he had to face the facts.

He just never thought it would be him uttering the words to Harry Potter on an isolated farm with just the two of them in a house in the middle of a rather empty part of Spain.

"Lucius," Harry said again.

Lucius growled slightly, glancing back at Harry. The young Potter looked a touch pale and as if someone had struck him on the face, a horrified look in his darkened green eyes. Accusing, disgust, loathing…Lucius wanted no part of it.

"Don't you dare look at me like that," Lucius hissed, rounding on Harry. "You don't know the first thing about what I have had to do." Lucius looked away, his jaw set. Harry did bear a resemblance to his victim. They were unique enough in their own facial characteristics, but Lucius could still see it, however faint and it was far too painfully clear for him at the moment. Lucius wasn't sure how much more of this situation he could tolerate.

"Rape Lucius?" Harry's voice was hoarse. "Dear God, didn't you have another choice?"

Lucius glanced at Harry once more before looking away. He didn't see the malachite green eyes anymore; they were replaced by stormy dark blue ones, the black hair with chocolate brown curly locks…all the features were coming back to his mind's eye, recreating the face as it was before Lucius shattered it. He closed his eyes with a rather shaky breath.

"Of course I did," Lucius said. "Either rape the boy or die."

"Merlin," Harry sounded as if he was punched in the gut.

Lucius gritted his teeth and made his way into the room quickly. Using his wand and being carted away by Aurors seemed highly preferable at the moment. But he had no desire to spend the rest of his days rotting away in Azkaban. He reached into the drawer where he had placed his wand none the less and took it out, stroking the length of dark oak with his fingertips. When Lucius heard the creak of the door, he gave a disparaging snort; obviously Harry didn't realize that he preferred to be left alone to…wallow in his abject feelings. The bed sank slightly, and Lucius turned to look.

Harry was sitting on the opposite side of he bed, but all Lucius could see was Harry's back and the black hair that stubbornly stuck out in various directions it chose.

"I'm not going to say anything," Harry began. "But I'm not going to look at you. If you do want to talk, then you just have to start." Harry paused for a moment before he spoke in a rather dry tone. "That is, of course, I happen to sound like him as well."

"Impertinent brat," Lucius groused, still holding his wand. Harry sounded nothing like the boy.

Harry simply made a slight agreeing sound from the back of his throat. Silence enshrouded the room as they sat there, back towards one another. Lucius wasn't too sure what to make of it. It was something of a patient anticipation that was making Lucius feel as if he should simply tell Harry, and take him up on his words.

But if there was one thing Lucius Malfoy was wholly sick and tired of, it was the automatic assumption of his character based on actions he hadn't wanted any part of in the slightest. Not that anyone had bothered to see his attempts at seeking help in the early years, when he realized the full extent of his youthful stupidity in caving to his father's wishes. And now they called him a Death Eater, a snake, and Merlin knew how many other 'titles' behind his back, with the galling daring assumption that he deserved it.

Harry certainly was mature for his age and he certainly wasn't stupid. But Lucius had seen some fairly intelligent and perceptive men fall prey towards mainstream prejudices one too many times. Lucius had found himself with the small kernel of hope that maybe, just maybe, Harry would be one of the rare individuals who could look past what everyone else saw.

But the past two days only seemed to prove that Harry had already fallen prey to that way of thinking. And Lucius knew that telling Harry would be a bad idea. But even as he was culling reasons to not tell Harry, he found himself licking his suddenly dry lips and preparing speak.

"I was twenty-one when I joined," Lucius said quietly. "At my father's behest. No, threat is more the word. I either joined Voldemort's cause," Lucius paused before speaking with rather dry irony. "Or, as he charmingly put it, suffer from disinheritance. Which meant him killing me, since he didn't want to risk a potential embarrassment to the Malfoy name."

Harry gave a strange snort, but, true to his word, remained silent. Lucius found himself oddly grateful. Harry may have needed the dialogue but all Lucius wanted was the silence and to talk as he felt ready.

"Much to my own revulsion I did. I knew what was at stake and I had no willingness to gamble with my life at the time." Lucius paused. "My first assignment was to get a job at the Ministry, which I got and simply spy on our adversaries. That was when I first tried to get out. Even a fool could see that Voldemort was clearly insane; and that I wanted no part of it. But everyone was too afraid of me, since my father had done a spectacular job of associating us with…shadier circles."

Harry shifted, the bed groaning slightly beneath him before the silence returned once more.

"With no one to help me, and me too prideful and sufficiently scared to cross my father, what choice did I have? Anything else seemed preferable to death at my father's hands." Lucius didn't say anything for a long time after that, mulling over how full of cowardice he had been. "I continued on. It was a year later that Voldemort decided to initiate me into his coveted inner circle of Death Eaters."

Silence fell once more as Lucius continued to run his fingers along his wand. He had to force himself to dredge back up all the memories of that night he had succeeded so well in burying. It was a long time before Lucius spoke once more.

"On the night of our initiation, we were given the black robes and white masks. We were to raid a house and kill everyone in it after we 'had our fun'." Lucius' lip curled in distaste. "And he wanted to be sure that we did exactly as he said; so he cast a charm on the group. Only one person was foolish enough to back out, one Regulus Black. Needless to say we never saw him again after that night."

Harry made a sympathetic sound in the back of his throat. Lucius could feel his voice threaten to start to shut down but he took slow deep breaths until he felt sufficiently calm enough to continue talking.

"And so I went though with it. I figured with so many of us, there wouldn't be anything too heinous for me to commit. I didn't fully know NacNair at the time. I didn't know what a bloody sadist he was. Or how much he hated Malfoys." Lucius paused. "Once we had stormed the house, MacNair decided to leave the son for me. It would be something along my…'preferences'; the bloody bastard actually had the nerve to say it."

There was a strange silence coming from Harry but Lucius chose to ignore it and continue talking.

"MacNair would have undoubtedly watched had the boy not chosen to attempt to claw out my eyes and bolt into the forest." Lucius paused as the questioning sound Harry made. "It was in a wizarding town by the Dover coast. Do you know how cold it gets on the coast in December?" Lucius didn't say anything for a moment, turning his wand over in his hands. "So I had to go after him; it was either do or die. He fought me every step of the way until he realized what was going to happen. Then he simply said 'No, please, don't'. And then…" Lucius had no inclination to elaborate further. His silence said more than enough.

Lucius looked back at Harry, who was sitting on an angle. Lucius could see the slight tilt of his head, as if he were intently listening to every word the Lucius uttered. It was rather refreshing to not hear condemnation or the like spewing forth in some torrent.

"He wasn't much older than fifteen," Lucius continued a few minutes later. "His name was Weldon Dunford. He had two younger sisters and one older brother. His father died when he was young and his mother raised all four children on her own."

There was definitely a perplexing silence coming from Harry that was puzzling Lucius. But Lucius chose to keep talking.

"I've blackmailed, plotted, lied, stolen, tortured, been tortured, murdered and done things that should only exist in nightmares," Lucius said drawing a heavy breath. "But that night…was the pinnacle of my cowardice. That I would…stoop to such a depraved act in order to preserve my life…"

The sound of the bed groaning once more reached Lucius' ears but he didn't turn around.

"After that I had to sink more fully into my role. I couldn't allow MacNair to catch the faintest whiff of any hesitation; he would exploit it faster than a Snitch could fly and I'd be in a rather precarious position. His blasted son watched me like a hawk too, employing Avery's help. Things became even more complicated once Draco was born. They all assumed that he would be falling into Voldemort's ranks as well. To all outward appearances, he is preparing for that day under my tutelage. But I'll be damned before I allow the same thing to happen to my son."

The bed creaked and groaned again for a few more seconds, a slight depression in the middle that made him lean backwards slightly to compensate. Lucius raised a hand to his temple and rubbed it lightly with his fingertips.

"I refuse to allow Voldemort's insanity to," Lucius paused mulling over his words. "Taint my son. I do not like Muggles, but leading a sixty-year war to rid the Wizarding world of Mudbloods and eradicate Muggles because of an unpleasant past is simply ludicrous. I'll gladly learn to tolerate Mudbloods if it means an end to this war."

The creaking sound came once more and Lucius found himself leaning back a touch more to balance himself out.

"Perhaps if I had an ounce of the backbone you did, things would have turned out differently. I might even be on your side." Lucius said with a tone of finality. That was pretty much all he wanted to ever say on the subject.

Lucius was more than surprised when arms slid around his midsection and he felt Harry's body pressed against his back. Harry had nestled his face in Lucius' neck, his breath warm, slow and steady. Lucius was more than surprised at the sudden contact. Wasn't this the part where he was still denounced as being a Death Eater and secretly loathed for being the villain?

"Lucius, Lucius, Lucius," Harry said in a hoarse voice. That was all he said for a long moment before he spoke once more. "If anything, you've been far more resilient than me. I would have crumbled long before you did. Twenty years is a long time to live with that over your head."

"You aren't… disgusted?" Lucius asked warily.

Harry didn't answer for a bit. "I'm not everyone else Lucius. It's just you and me on this farm and I am far from disgusted with you." Harry's arms tightened around Lucius, tightening their contact. "I simply admire you all the more."

"The more?" Lucius thought he heard a fleeting tone in Harry's voice. "What do you mean 'the more'?"

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Harry could have sworn his heart actually stopped in his chest. Not for some small paltry moment, but rather a long painful drawn out one. Certainly he hadn't just said that out loud. He'd only been thinking it; he never meant to say it. He cleared his throat quietly; suddenly aware of the intimate contact he had with Lucius at the moment

He was wondering what asinine urge had made him wrap his arms around the older man despite the pleasant warmth it built inside him. Oh yes, it had been the urge to show Lucius, in some manner, that Harry knew and accepted that he had done horrid things. And that it honestly didn't matter at this point. This had suddenly become a million times more awkward than it possibly could have been before.

"Well?" Lucius asked, still fiddling with his wand in his hands.

"Er," Harry cleared his throat once more. "That is to say I admired qualities about you."

"Since?" Lucius definitely sounded intrigued now, his former discomfort being rapidly forgotten.

"Does that really matter?" Harry asked, hoping Lucius would have let it drop.

There came a prolonged silence from Lucius' end before he spoke in a quiet voice. "Yes."

Harry had been afraid that would be Lucius' response. "Second year…in Flourish and Blotts. Don't get me wrong, I fully hated you at the time, in all of my naive foolishness," Harry tried to infuse his voice with a dry humour to mask the rawness of his words. "But what really intrigued me was that you could still act like such a bastard with all those dirty looks we were giving you."

"Your self assured arrogance that all would love you made that quite easy," Lucius replied softly. "Yet you didn't have the same look as the Weasleys in your eyes," Lucius paused. "It was definitely a…Slytherin look in your eyes, something calculating and cunning; something I could respect."

"I was trying to think of the best way to get back at you," Harry murmured, feeling a tremor course through him as his lips brushed against Lucius' neck in an accidental caress. Harry pulled back slightly; it was far too soon to be doing anything like that. "And when you showed up in Dumbledore's office just after the…incident, I wasn't about to let the chance slip. Who knew if I would ever see you again."

Lucius gave a snort. "Indeed. As if we needed to see one another after that stage."

Harry gave a wry sort of laugh, allowing silence to fall once more. He didn't want to let Lucius out of his arms quite yet. And Lucius hadn't said anything yet and Harry wasn't inclined to disturb the moment. When Lucius finally placed his wand down on the table and removed Harry's arms from his midsection, Harry sat back on his shins, semi-crossing his legs. The bed gave a requisite creak as it adjusted to his weight.

"Am I sensing an undercurrent here?" Harry said; he suddenly felt that Lucius was going to say something and he cut him to the chase.

Lucius inclined his head slightly. "It might have been there all along. Only we didn't allow ourselves the chance to…explore it."

"Too busy fulfilling our roles." Harry didn't say anything for a moment. "Is it something we should even contemplate?"

Lucius didn't answer for a long moment. "I can't answer that."

"Can't or won't?" Harry asked. He paused for a moment. "What did you really think when you first saw me Lucius?"

"An insufferable brat that would undoubtedly be a pain in my side," Lucius didn't say anything for a second. "Who had very green eyes."

"That's it?"

"There are things that fell place as you…matured." Lucius said, placing a delicate emphasis on the last word.

"Such as?" Harry asked, finding himself strangely nervous and anxious.

"Does that really matter?" Lucius asked in a something of a weary, yet playful, voice.

"Yes," Harry said, his voice suddenly sounding strangled. "I want to know if you see him or if you see me."

"Want or need?" Lucius asked softly; it sounded like he was asking himself the same question as well.

"Need," Harry blurted out immediately, regretting the hastiness of his tongue.

"It's odd," Lucius murmured after a moment. "I see you and him as separate yet indelibly linked."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling disappointed. That meant Lucius would never be able to see him on his own merits. He would always remind Lucius of his mistake that cost him the first of many lives. "I see." He started to shift to move but stopped as Lucius talked.

"I saw a child in the bookstore that day. I saw a round little face with a perfectly snobbish arrogant expression that denounced me in a second. I saw mussed up hair, dirtied robes and your green eyes that were filled with loathing. Despite you highly dishevelled appearance, you bore yourself with a dignity that most adults strive for."

Harry simply sat there, chewing on his lip, trying to think of something to say. Lucius however spared him that as he started talking once more.

"I saw a child that day in the bookstore. Amazing what six years can do for a person. Each time I saw you, I saw more of the brave heroic Gryffindor Saviour who held back on the Slytherin within. I saw the capable hands of a man, who was frustrated at the childish manner in which he was treated. I saw a man shackled to people who called themselves friends, but were simply his captors.

"You'd lost that round face. I was there in the graveyard. I know something of the shadows that haunt your face now. You hid much from them Harry. You hid the pain and suffering endured every summer, you hid the bitterness even from yourself. Now I see a man who is jaded and cynical far earlier than he should have been."

"I'm only 17 Lucius. By law-" Harry started.

"By law you are at 18. But the law only takes rather…normal situations into account; well, as normal as things can get for a wizard. Do you honestly want to still listen to those fools who like to think they know you?" Lucius took a deep breath. "I should hope you don't."

"It's not that I don't," Harry said. "It's that I can't. I can't go back to being their little puppet. I'm always doing what they…correction, what Dumbledore wants. For God's sake it's my life. If I chose to screw it up royally, then that's what I'll do." Harry didn't say anything for a moment. "You honestly see me as a man?"

"You aren't a child anymore," Lucius murmured. "And you aren't some foolish teenager anymore; not much. Perhaps 'old man' would be a better term?"

"Not likely." Harry snorted before he fell into silence.

"Harry," Lucius turned around and looked at him. "It's true you do bear a resemblance to…Weldon, but it's more….symbolic the manner in which you two are linked in my mind. A boy raped and dead by my hand and the Boy-Who-Lived who may as well be dead to the world. Do you see the connection?"

"Voldemort," Harry murmured. "Don't tell me you blame yourself,"

"There's a difference between guilt and blaming yourself Harry. The line is so fine that it's hard to tell when you've crossed it. I don't blame myself; I did what needed to be done as a result of my choices. I feel guilty over my deplorable actions and wish I had done something else."

"Lucius, you found out about that boy, got to know the person. I doubt someone who actually enjoyed doing that would have done what you did." Harry said quietly, moving forward a bit. "You still can do something else."

Lucius arched an eyebrow slightly. "What? Spy for that crazy old bat?"

"No. Heaven forbid you should get tangled in that mess of slippery gillyweed," Harry said with a knowing little smile. "But there are people in your camp that have a close ear to Dumbledore. Once word reaches him that you're passing along information…"

Lucius' lips quirked up into a smirk. "My, this sounds rather underhanded and manipulative. Wringing an exoneration from Dumbledore; and he doesn't even know it."

"Thank you." Harry replied.

"Are you sure you're in the right house?" Lucius asked.

"I chose it," Harry said. "Although Professor Trelawney might say that 'cosmic forces beyond my control compelled me to select the house I am in now'." Harry scoffed a bit with a chuckle.

Lucius gave a dismissive sneer. "Divination. I've yet to see an accurate prediction. Though some things seem too coincidental to be true, it's mostly hogwash."

"Hogwash…" Harry's eyes widened. "Shit, I was supposed to give than evil pig a bath today!"

Harry made a move to get up from the bed and over balanced when Lucius reached out and grabbed his hand. Harry tilted forward and landed right on Lucius' lap. Harry felt his face go bright red as he looked up and found Lucius' amused grey eyes.

"I'll come," Harry's eyes widened in horror. "Go, I mean go. I'll go and-"

"I should have known better. Your little…slips of tongue betrayed you long ago," Lucius said quietly. "And have proved very amusing."

Harry drew in a shaky breath as Lucius' fingers trailed up his neck, and then ghosted over his lips. "I-I really should go…" Harry trailed off, not making a move from Lucius' lap.

"Hm, shouldn't you be going then?" Lucius asked in a knowing smirk as he slid an arm around Harry's waist, bringing him in a bit closer.

Harry gave something of a light shrug, shifting a bit. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted me on your lap."

"Whatever gave you that particular idea?" Lucius asked with a wry smirk as he leaned in a bit closer.

Harry gave a slight quirk to his lips. There was only a laughable gap between him and the older Slytherin now. Harry licked his suddenly dry lips before speaking in a low voice. "Lucius?"

"What?" Lucius had an equally low voice that seemed to glide over and wrap Harry up as if he were in velvet.

"Shut up and kiss me."