Chapter X - Letter from Rabastan
Lucius woke up Sunday morning with the greetings of some of his fellow Slytherins. The whole Quidditch team had come to see him that morning, together with Narcissa (who brought him a kind of fudge cream she did so well), Alice and some 5th and 6th years as well, like Crabbe, Goyle, Wilkes and, of course, some girls Lucius always attracted along the way.
It was good to see that nothing had changed during his one-day absence. Narcissa was still naturally distant, though looking sideways to the girls who had joined them, making clear who was Lucius' rightful owner. Rod and Alice were still hand in hand, Rod a bit skulky, Alice smiling as always. They were being eyed by Bellatrix, who looked like she wanted to present one of the ward's beds to Alice. The other boys from the team looked happy to see him looking so cheerful. Crabbe and Goyle were still the thickest people alive and the girls were still concerned about him, with dreamy eyes. And he was, of course, as popular as ever.
Mr. Ming joined them shortly after, and taking Lucius pulse and checking his pupils he finally reassured them all that he would be out by lunchtime.
Half an hour later, they began to leave. Rodolphus stayed behind and Narcissa, taking a hint from him, kissed Lucius' forehead and left with Alice, leaving the two boys alone.
"So" said Rod after a while "How are you really feeling?"
"Good." said Lucius, unable to repress a smile.
"You really seem fine to me. You're laughing again and you look completely recovered from yesterday's... uh..."
"You know me. I'm not eas-"
"Listen, " interrupted Rod. But his grin faded with a suspicious look around. He leaned on Lucius' hear even though there was no one around.
"Rabastan wrote again. We need to talk."
Lucius smile faded too. Rod took a piece of parchment from his robes and gave it for Lucius to read.
"Dear Rod,
I have talked about you and Lucius Malfoy to my Master as I had promised and I got his approval. He is ready to take you in. He wants to meet you personally, though. Remember the code. I will contact you shortly if you want to go through this to the end. Please, owl me giving me your final answer.
If you decide not to go further, no hard feelings, we'll always be brothers in blood. But if you do, then I'll welcome you with both my arms and my heart open, for it is a great mission we are committing to. Rabastan PS- Send me the date of your next Hogsmeade weekend."
"So" said Rod anxiously "are we in?"
"I already told you so, Rod. I hope you're not stepping back." and he gave the letter back to him.
"No!" he said with determination "I'm not stepping back! But we haven't given him a straight answer yet..."
"Then write to him and tell him he can count on us."
Rod's grin returned.
"Then I'll meet you at lunchtime, Lucius." And he walked away out of the Hospital Wing, hiding the letter back in his robes.
Two hours later Mr. Ming came to check on Lucius and told him he was ready to go. He took no more than ten minutes to dress the clean robes Rod had brought him. He took Moste Potente Potions from under his pillow and looked at Alexis. He headed for her bed, seated by her and put the book in her bedside table.
He had spent half the night thinking about what he had found out about them. He had always been lucky all his life. Things just came up to him as if he was some sort of blessed creature. Wealth, good looks, cunning thought, friends, girlfriends, power and knowledge. Once again chance had favoured him. He had been witness to a spell he wouldn't forget so soon and he was now in possession of such powerful a secret. If the girls were willing to perform such a dangerous spell to hide their secret, where would they willing to go to shut him down?
He grinned, looking at Alexis.
"You were very clever."
He rested his hand on her forehead. She was no longer burning. She was actually quite norm-
Her hand seized his in a fraction of a second and she opened her eyes, coughing.
"Merlin's beard!" he jumped.
She coughed for a couple of seconds, unaware of how tight her grip was on his hand, and finally settled down. Only then did she notice Lucius. She turned to him and couldn't fake a screwed face.
"What are you doing here?"
"Glad to see you too." he said, catching his breath again. "Care to let go of my hand?" Alexis eyed him suspiciously and slowly let go of him.
"Why are you here?" she asked again.
"Don't worry, I didn't come to see you." he said, massaging his fingers "I've been ill, too. I was just leaving."
"Why are you seated here?"
"Mr. Ming said you were not getting better. I just came to check."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Malfoy, but I'm not gonna die yet."
Lucius felt taken aback by this remark.
"I wasn't expecting you to. I was actually hoping you might be feeling better."
"Why?"
Lucius opened his mouth to answer but closed it again. He wasn't going to waste his chance now. He would wait... for the right time. He just smiled and said "I'll be going then. Good to see you awake." and he stood up to leave. "By the way, I haven't seen Andromeda. Why hasn't she come to see you?"
"I don't know." she said with a scowl. "I've been unconscious, remember?"
"Oh, yes, yes. You were found in your common room, lying in the ground, burning with fever."
"Yes" she said slowly. "It is possible." Then she seamed to be remembering why she had been there and looked very anxiously at Lucius "Who found me?"
"One of the prefects." he said, wryly.
"Do you know who it was? Could... could you ask him to come and see me?"
"It was Cris. Do you want to thank her for finding you?" he smirked.
"Yes" she smiled "If she hadn't found me I could have gotten much worse."
Lucius smiled. "Certainly. I'll ask her to come." and he took the book from her bedside table. She noticed the book and her face grew pale.
"Oh," he said "and you were found with this. Cris reckons you were trying to return it to the library. But don't worry, I'll do that for you."
Alexis was torn between the feeling of demanding the book or pretending she didn't even recognised it. Due to her weakness, she couldn't hide her feelings as well and she noticed Lucius was reading right through her indecision.
"Yes. I was going to. I was wondering if I should return it myself, since it was I who requested it."
"Oh, no need. You don't know how long you will be here."
Alexis tried to smile.
"Than if you could be so kind as to return it for me, I would be very pleased."
"My pleasure." he smirked and left. But even as he was crossing the Hospital Wing door, he could still feel her eyes on him, wondering how far did he know.
Lucius woke up Sunday morning with the greetings of some of his fellow Slytherins. The whole Quidditch team had come to see him that morning, together with Narcissa (who brought him a kind of fudge cream she did so well), Alice and some 5th and 6th years as well, like Crabbe, Goyle, Wilkes and, of course, some girls Lucius always attracted along the way.
It was good to see that nothing had changed during his one-day absence. Narcissa was still naturally distant, though looking sideways to the girls who had joined them, making clear who was Lucius' rightful owner. Rod and Alice were still hand in hand, Rod a bit skulky, Alice smiling as always. They were being eyed by Bellatrix, who looked like she wanted to present one of the ward's beds to Alice. The other boys from the team looked happy to see him looking so cheerful. Crabbe and Goyle were still the thickest people alive and the girls were still concerned about him, with dreamy eyes. And he was, of course, as popular as ever.
Mr. Ming joined them shortly after, and taking Lucius pulse and checking his pupils he finally reassured them all that he would be out by lunchtime.
Half an hour later, they began to leave. Rodolphus stayed behind and Narcissa, taking a hint from him, kissed Lucius' forehead and left with Alice, leaving the two boys alone.
"So" said Rod after a while "How are you really feeling?"
"Good." said Lucius, unable to repress a smile.
"You really seem fine to me. You're laughing again and you look completely recovered from yesterday's... uh..."
"You know me. I'm not eas-"
"Listen, " interrupted Rod. But his grin faded with a suspicious look around. He leaned on Lucius' hear even though there was no one around.
"Rabastan wrote again. We need to talk."
Lucius smile faded too. Rod took a piece of parchment from his robes and gave it for Lucius to read.
"Dear Rod,
I have talked about you and Lucius Malfoy to my Master as I had promised and I got his approval. He is ready to take you in. He wants to meet you personally, though. Remember the code. I will contact you shortly if you want to go through this to the end. Please, owl me giving me your final answer.
If you decide not to go further, no hard feelings, we'll always be brothers in blood. But if you do, then I'll welcome you with both my arms and my heart open, for it is a great mission we are committing to. Rabastan PS- Send me the date of your next Hogsmeade weekend."
"So" said Rod anxiously "are we in?"
"I already told you so, Rod. I hope you're not stepping back." and he gave the letter back to him.
"No!" he said with determination "I'm not stepping back! But we haven't given him a straight answer yet..."
"Then write to him and tell him he can count on us."
Rod's grin returned.
"Then I'll meet you at lunchtime, Lucius." And he walked away out of the Hospital Wing, hiding the letter back in his robes.
Two hours later Mr. Ming came to check on Lucius and told him he was ready to go. He took no more than ten minutes to dress the clean robes Rod had brought him. He took Moste Potente Potions from under his pillow and looked at Alexis. He headed for her bed, seated by her and put the book in her bedside table.
He had spent half the night thinking about what he had found out about them. He had always been lucky all his life. Things just came up to him as if he was some sort of blessed creature. Wealth, good looks, cunning thought, friends, girlfriends, power and knowledge. Once again chance had favoured him. He had been witness to a spell he wouldn't forget so soon and he was now in possession of such powerful a secret. If the girls were willing to perform such a dangerous spell to hide their secret, where would they willing to go to shut him down?
He grinned, looking at Alexis.
"You were very clever."
He rested his hand on her forehead. She was no longer burning. She was actually quite norm-
Her hand seized his in a fraction of a second and she opened her eyes, coughing.
"Merlin's beard!" he jumped.
She coughed for a couple of seconds, unaware of how tight her grip was on his hand, and finally settled down. Only then did she notice Lucius. She turned to him and couldn't fake a screwed face.
"What are you doing here?"
"Glad to see you too." he said, catching his breath again. "Care to let go of my hand?" Alexis eyed him suspiciously and slowly let go of him.
"Why are you here?" she asked again.
"Don't worry, I didn't come to see you." he said, massaging his fingers "I've been ill, too. I was just leaving."
"Why are you seated here?"
"Mr. Ming said you were not getting better. I just came to check."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Malfoy, but I'm not gonna die yet."
Lucius felt taken aback by this remark.
"I wasn't expecting you to. I was actually hoping you might be feeling better."
"Why?"
Lucius opened his mouth to answer but closed it again. He wasn't going to waste his chance now. He would wait... for the right time. He just smiled and said "I'll be going then. Good to see you awake." and he stood up to leave. "By the way, I haven't seen Andromeda. Why hasn't she come to see you?"
"I don't know." she said with a scowl. "I've been unconscious, remember?"
"Oh, yes, yes. You were found in your common room, lying in the ground, burning with fever."
"Yes" she said slowly. "It is possible." Then she seamed to be remembering why she had been there and looked very anxiously at Lucius "Who found me?"
"One of the prefects." he said, wryly.
"Do you know who it was? Could... could you ask him to come and see me?"
"It was Cris. Do you want to thank her for finding you?" he smirked.
"Yes" she smiled "If she hadn't found me I could have gotten much worse."
Lucius smiled. "Certainly. I'll ask her to come." and he took the book from her bedside table. She noticed the book and her face grew pale.
"Oh," he said "and you were found with this. Cris reckons you were trying to return it to the library. But don't worry, I'll do that for you."
Alexis was torn between the feeling of demanding the book or pretending she didn't even recognised it. Due to her weakness, she couldn't hide her feelings as well and she noticed Lucius was reading right through her indecision.
"Yes. I was going to. I was wondering if I should return it myself, since it was I who requested it."
"Oh, no need. You don't know how long you will be here."
Alexis tried to smile.
"Than if you could be so kind as to return it for me, I would be very pleased."
"My pleasure." he smirked and left. But even as he was crossing the Hospital Wing door, he could still feel her eyes on him, wondering how far did he know.