Chapter XI - Arrangements
Lucius was greeted in the Great Hall with great enthusiasm by the Slytherins. Even though he had lost them the game he was too popular to loose his House fellow's admiration.
At the Hufflepuff table, on the other hand, there were a lot of looks and grins, and a bolder boy even shouted "Thank you, Malfoy" before sitting down again at the sight of Rod's face. But Lucius was too busy to let any of those demonstrations get to him. He noticed, however, that Andromeda wasn't at the Ravenclaw table as he seated between Narcissa, who served his plate, and Rod, who nodded silently confirming that the owl had been sent.
Bellatrix and Rod resumed their conversation about Quidditch almost at once, while MacNair, who was reading the sports newspaper "The Bludger" occasionally interrupted them to read aloud a new headline. Lucius ate quietly and as soon as he was finished, he excused himself from the table leaving the others looking at him in surprise. He usually joined them in their Quidditch meals discussions and rarely left the table alone.
"You know" said MacNair "I don't think he is quite recovered yet."
"He probably isn't feeling very good." said Narcissa, though her sister could see some apprehension in her eyes.
And with good reason too, for in less than ten minutes, Lucius was by the Potion's Dungeon waiting for Cris.
"My dearest-"
"Hi." cut Lucius, coldly. "Do you know where Andromeda is?"
Cris looked taken aback.
"Why?"
"Well, she is my girlfriend's sister, you know, and I wondered why she wasn't at the table."
"I didn't know that was why you had sent your lighting bolt." she said, pouting.
"What could you except?" he asked, wryly "After that conversation with your little friend about-"
"I thought you had forgiven me. I went to see you at the Hospital Wing. You were so-"
"Ill? In need of love and support? Abandoned?
"Yes... But still, you asked me to stay and all. I thought you had forgiven me. I... I didn't mean what I said." she pleaded "Please forgive me!"
"We'll see about that. So where is Andromeda, do you know?"
"She... she didn't show up for her meals yesterday either."
"She didn't, did she?" he asked in interest. "And nobody has been looking for her?"
"She isn't exactly missing. Marion, who is in her dormitory, said she has been sleeping a lot."
"So that's why-" and he noticed Cris was looking very suspiciously at him. "Anyway, I just wanted to know." he shrugged.
"Why?"
"Nothing you mind." he said.
"You didn't want anything, did you? You just wanted an excuse to be with me and to tell me that you hadn't forgiven me."
"I have to go. We might see each other later."
"When? Where?" she asked, grabbing his robes before he could leave.
Lucius looked rather coldly at her hand. When she let go, he just said "I'll call you" and he left.
"Andromeda is in a deep sleep, probably a side effect of the spell. Alexis is ill. And I'm the luckiest bastard on earth, once more." he thought to himself, later that evening, in the Slytherin common room.
It was late and the younger students were already going to bed. Bellatrix was talking to Rod again. MacNair was finishing some homework and Narcissa was exasperated helping Crabbe and Goyle with theirs. Finally she turned in and so did her sister and the remaining 6th years. Lucius, MacNair and Rodolphus were left alone.
Rod seated next to Lucius in the sofa. "Charming, that sister in law of yours" he said with a sigh.
"Bellatrix?" Lucius frowned
"Bright, excellent Quidditch player. Pretty. The man who gets her will be a very lucky one indeed."
Lucius didn't resist a laugh. "Don't let her hear you."
"Why not?"
"Because she's hoping you to be that man."
Instead of laughing, which would be his usual reaction, Rod looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Shame she's only fourteen." he said at last "Or I might just oblige her."
Lucius shook his head "Shame that you have principles, my friend."
"I don't." he said defensively, as if he had just been insulted. "But she is only a girl."
"What about Alice?" said MacNair, packing his books.
"Quite right, my friend." said Rod.
"Alice is Alice." sighed Lucius "Like Narcissa is Narcissa. They are honourable girls. They are the ones we will marry one day. But in the mean time-"
"Oh, shut up, Lucius!" said Rod, suddenly waking up from his half- fantasies. "You make me sick. You and all your girls. You look like a walking harem."
"Lucky him." shrugged MacNair.
"You make me sick. You say that you will marry Narcissa but you're just a fake. You don't even love her."
"Nobody marries out of love." said Lucius, rather cynically.
"Do you even know what love is?" asked Rod, sceptically.
"Do you?"
"I love Alice, ok? I wouldn't do that to her."
Lucius shrugged. "I also love Narcissa. But I'm an altruist: why keep my loving skills strictly to one girl? It doesn't seem fair to the rest of them. And I do love them all, as a matter of fact."
"You lust them all." argued Rod. "But you never loved anyone. And I'm going to bed."
MacNair saw Rod leaving for the dormitory, shrugged and said "Don't mind him. He's just jealous because you can get any of them and he can't." And MacNair left as well. A few minutes later it was Lucius' turn. And if Rod was still awake when he entered the dormitory he certainly didn't show.
Next morning, Rod was completely cheerful again. He threw his pillow into Lucius' bed to wake him up, laughed loudly and even told him about the weirdest dream he had with Bellatrix chasing him through the Great Hall to give him a pink heart that sang mushy songs loud as a Howler. And his mood didn't change until breakfast, when Lucius' owl left a letter in his hands. Lucius patted his eagle-owl and peered over Rod's shoulder.
"Dear Rod,
Your problem with date is normal. Six or seven hours of rest in bed is the best for hogshead you can arrange. But no alibi is good.
Yours, Rabastan."
Lucius looked puzzled. Rod, however, looked anxious. As soon as breakfast was over and they headed for classes, he took Lucius apart from the rest of the group and whispered "did you get the message?"
"No. What was that about?"
"It's a message in a code me and Rabastan use whenever there is something important. Read only every third words."
Lucius took the little parchment he gave him and read
"[b]Your[/b] problem with date is normal. Six or seven hours of rest in bed is the best for hogshead you can arrange. But no alibi is good. [i]Your date six hours in the hogshead arrange alibi.[/i]"
"I sent him the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend, which is this week. So he wants us to meet him-"
"At 6 o'clock, in the Hogshead. Tell him we'll be there, then."
"And about the alibis?"
"I'll take care of that." said Lucius with a firm look. And they entered the class before they became too suspicious.
It was nearly dinner time when Lucius entered the Hospital Wing. Alexis was seated on the bed, drinking some pumpkin juice. He walked slowly up to her. She noticed him approaching only when he was just a few steps away.
"You again?" she asked.
Lucius seated without answering.
"Having dinner, I see." he said, looking at a bowl of soup by her bed.
"Yes."
"I returned the book." he said casually.
"Good." she said uneasy.
"How are you feeling?"
"Uh... better... I think. But what are you doing here?"
Lucius took a piece of parchment from inside his robes.
"I came to bring you our DADA homework. I thought you might want it."
Alexis looked at him suspiciously.
"No, I mean why did you really come here?"
"I told you. Here." and he left the parchment on the little table by her bed.
"Since when are you so nice?"
"I am nice, Alexis." he said. "But if you think that's not enough I can make up an excuse. How about... that I came to see you? You want me to tell you I came to see you? I came to see you. There. Happy now?"
"Hum... Nope. I think I'd rather believe you came to give me homework." but she grinned when she caught him scowling. "Uh... Thanks, then." She said after a moment.
"So, do you know when you're getting out?"
"Mr. Ming told me I might be out by tomorrow. But he is still very apprehensive. He says I didn't react well to his potion. He said you reacted a lot better. So I guess you were telling me the truth. You were ill too."
"Yes. Well, gotta go have my own dinner. I'll see you around Alexis."
He stood up and turned to leave. But her voice stopped him.
"Thanks, Malfoy."
He grinned without facing her.
"Sure. See you."
And left.
Just as he was crossing the Hospital Wing's doors Alexis noticed that she had just had a normal conversation with Malfoy.
"That should be a sure sign that I'm still ill." she thought to herself and returned to her soup.
Lucius was greeted in the Great Hall with great enthusiasm by the Slytherins. Even though he had lost them the game he was too popular to loose his House fellow's admiration.
At the Hufflepuff table, on the other hand, there were a lot of looks and grins, and a bolder boy even shouted "Thank you, Malfoy" before sitting down again at the sight of Rod's face. But Lucius was too busy to let any of those demonstrations get to him. He noticed, however, that Andromeda wasn't at the Ravenclaw table as he seated between Narcissa, who served his plate, and Rod, who nodded silently confirming that the owl had been sent.
Bellatrix and Rod resumed their conversation about Quidditch almost at once, while MacNair, who was reading the sports newspaper "The Bludger" occasionally interrupted them to read aloud a new headline. Lucius ate quietly and as soon as he was finished, he excused himself from the table leaving the others looking at him in surprise. He usually joined them in their Quidditch meals discussions and rarely left the table alone.
"You know" said MacNair "I don't think he is quite recovered yet."
"He probably isn't feeling very good." said Narcissa, though her sister could see some apprehension in her eyes.
And with good reason too, for in less than ten minutes, Lucius was by the Potion's Dungeon waiting for Cris.
"My dearest-"
"Hi." cut Lucius, coldly. "Do you know where Andromeda is?"
Cris looked taken aback.
"Why?"
"Well, she is my girlfriend's sister, you know, and I wondered why she wasn't at the table."
"I didn't know that was why you had sent your lighting bolt." she said, pouting.
"What could you except?" he asked, wryly "After that conversation with your little friend about-"
"I thought you had forgiven me. I went to see you at the Hospital Wing. You were so-"
"Ill? In need of love and support? Abandoned?
"Yes... But still, you asked me to stay and all. I thought you had forgiven me. I... I didn't mean what I said." she pleaded "Please forgive me!"
"We'll see about that. So where is Andromeda, do you know?"
"She... she didn't show up for her meals yesterday either."
"She didn't, did she?" he asked in interest. "And nobody has been looking for her?"
"She isn't exactly missing. Marion, who is in her dormitory, said she has been sleeping a lot."
"So that's why-" and he noticed Cris was looking very suspiciously at him. "Anyway, I just wanted to know." he shrugged.
"Why?"
"Nothing you mind." he said.
"You didn't want anything, did you? You just wanted an excuse to be with me and to tell me that you hadn't forgiven me."
"I have to go. We might see each other later."
"When? Where?" she asked, grabbing his robes before he could leave.
Lucius looked rather coldly at her hand. When she let go, he just said "I'll call you" and he left.
"Andromeda is in a deep sleep, probably a side effect of the spell. Alexis is ill. And I'm the luckiest bastard on earth, once more." he thought to himself, later that evening, in the Slytherin common room.
It was late and the younger students were already going to bed. Bellatrix was talking to Rod again. MacNair was finishing some homework and Narcissa was exasperated helping Crabbe and Goyle with theirs. Finally she turned in and so did her sister and the remaining 6th years. Lucius, MacNair and Rodolphus were left alone.
Rod seated next to Lucius in the sofa. "Charming, that sister in law of yours" he said with a sigh.
"Bellatrix?" Lucius frowned
"Bright, excellent Quidditch player. Pretty. The man who gets her will be a very lucky one indeed."
Lucius didn't resist a laugh. "Don't let her hear you."
"Why not?"
"Because she's hoping you to be that man."
Instead of laughing, which would be his usual reaction, Rod looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Shame she's only fourteen." he said at last "Or I might just oblige her."
Lucius shook his head "Shame that you have principles, my friend."
"I don't." he said defensively, as if he had just been insulted. "But she is only a girl."
"What about Alice?" said MacNair, packing his books.
"Quite right, my friend." said Rod.
"Alice is Alice." sighed Lucius "Like Narcissa is Narcissa. They are honourable girls. They are the ones we will marry one day. But in the mean time-"
"Oh, shut up, Lucius!" said Rod, suddenly waking up from his half- fantasies. "You make me sick. You and all your girls. You look like a walking harem."
"Lucky him." shrugged MacNair.
"You make me sick. You say that you will marry Narcissa but you're just a fake. You don't even love her."
"Nobody marries out of love." said Lucius, rather cynically.
"Do you even know what love is?" asked Rod, sceptically.
"Do you?"
"I love Alice, ok? I wouldn't do that to her."
Lucius shrugged. "I also love Narcissa. But I'm an altruist: why keep my loving skills strictly to one girl? It doesn't seem fair to the rest of them. And I do love them all, as a matter of fact."
"You lust them all." argued Rod. "But you never loved anyone. And I'm going to bed."
MacNair saw Rod leaving for the dormitory, shrugged and said "Don't mind him. He's just jealous because you can get any of them and he can't." And MacNair left as well. A few minutes later it was Lucius' turn. And if Rod was still awake when he entered the dormitory he certainly didn't show.
Next morning, Rod was completely cheerful again. He threw his pillow into Lucius' bed to wake him up, laughed loudly and even told him about the weirdest dream he had with Bellatrix chasing him through the Great Hall to give him a pink heart that sang mushy songs loud as a Howler. And his mood didn't change until breakfast, when Lucius' owl left a letter in his hands. Lucius patted his eagle-owl and peered over Rod's shoulder.
"Dear Rod,
Your problem with date is normal. Six or seven hours of rest in bed is the best for hogshead you can arrange. But no alibi is good.
Yours, Rabastan."
Lucius looked puzzled. Rod, however, looked anxious. As soon as breakfast was over and they headed for classes, he took Lucius apart from the rest of the group and whispered "did you get the message?"
"No. What was that about?"
"It's a message in a code me and Rabastan use whenever there is something important. Read only every third words."
Lucius took the little parchment he gave him and read
"[b]Your[/b] problem with date is normal. Six or seven hours of rest in bed is the best for hogshead you can arrange. But no alibi is good. [i]Your date six hours in the hogshead arrange alibi.[/i]"
"I sent him the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend, which is this week. So he wants us to meet him-"
"At 6 o'clock, in the Hogshead. Tell him we'll be there, then."
"And about the alibis?"
"I'll take care of that." said Lucius with a firm look. And they entered the class before they became too suspicious.
It was nearly dinner time when Lucius entered the Hospital Wing. Alexis was seated on the bed, drinking some pumpkin juice. He walked slowly up to her. She noticed him approaching only when he was just a few steps away.
"You again?" she asked.
Lucius seated without answering.
"Having dinner, I see." he said, looking at a bowl of soup by her bed.
"Yes."
"I returned the book." he said casually.
"Good." she said uneasy.
"How are you feeling?"
"Uh... better... I think. But what are you doing here?"
Lucius took a piece of parchment from inside his robes.
"I came to bring you our DADA homework. I thought you might want it."
Alexis looked at him suspiciously.
"No, I mean why did you really come here?"
"I told you. Here." and he left the parchment on the little table by her bed.
"Since when are you so nice?"
"I am nice, Alexis." he said. "But if you think that's not enough I can make up an excuse. How about... that I came to see you? You want me to tell you I came to see you? I came to see you. There. Happy now?"
"Hum... Nope. I think I'd rather believe you came to give me homework." but she grinned when she caught him scowling. "Uh... Thanks, then." She said after a moment.
"So, do you know when you're getting out?"
"Mr. Ming told me I might be out by tomorrow. But he is still very apprehensive. He says I didn't react well to his potion. He said you reacted a lot better. So I guess you were telling me the truth. You were ill too."
"Yes. Well, gotta go have my own dinner. I'll see you around Alexis."
He stood up and turned to leave. But her voice stopped him.
"Thanks, Malfoy."
He grinned without facing her.
"Sure. See you."
And left.
Just as he was crossing the Hospital Wing's doors Alexis noticed that she had just had a normal conversation with Malfoy.
"That should be a sure sign that I'm still ill." she thought to herself and returned to her soup.