Disclaimer: Although I don't own the characters and general plot of Harry
Potter, my fic's plot is original and I lay claim to it.
A/N: HUZZAH! First chapter up! This is only my second fic, but I tend to spend a lot of time of the ones I do have. My first, which I just finished, was 21 chapters and took almost a year to write, so if you stick with me it may take a while.....but an enjoyable while, maybe?
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Lucius looked up from his desk, breathing in a cool breath of crisp, night air. The curtains streamed towards him on a breath of wind coming in from the wide French doors opening on to the patio of the Malfoy Manor. His faced, aged twenty-two years, was smooth and calm as he proceeded to finish his first report to the Minister. Stars, a rare sight in a sky so often covered with clouds, blinked down at him as he went back to his writing, his quill flying expertly across the parchment.
A bell sounded on the other side of the house, breaking the peaceful silence of Lucius's workspace. His eyes narrowed as footsteps approached his study and a light knock sounded on his door. He took a few moments to finish writing his sentence, adding his last period with a flourish. He stood and stretched, his jaw cracking from an ear splitting yawn.,and walked to the door.
A house elf poked his head nervously around the door and cleared his throat. Lucius stared down at him expectantly.
"A visitor, for you Master."
"Show him in," Lucius said, walking back to his desk and clearing off the papers he had left dangerously close to being blown off by the breeze. The house elf quietly closed the door and scampered off to alert the night caller. Lucius walked over to the French doors and started to shut them, when a white palm slammed against the glass, pushing Lucius back as the doors slammed inward.
Lucius stumbled back, bumping his knee on his desk and dislodging the paper weight that was keeping his papers from flying everywhere. Lucius looked up, rubbing his knee and inwardly sighing. Peter Pettigrew stood in the open doorway, his black cape settling down across his back as the wind died down.
"Wow. That was really.....unnecessary, Peter." Lucius said calmly, reaching behind Peter and closing the doors again.
Peter sunk down a bit, his once dramatic pose broken as his fat fingers knotted together . He walked forward and winced as his voluminous cape ripped from getting stuck in the doors. "I was, you know, going for the—"
"Dramatic entrance?" Lucius asked, sitting down in his chair and ringing a bell on the wall. "Well, seeing as my servant announced your arrival, you only looked stupid."
Peter frowned, his mousy eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next as he moved to sit down in the chair opposite the desk.
Peter started as the house elf lightly knocked on the door and peeked in. "You called?"
"Fetch some ice. I seemed to have hit my knee on something hard," Lucius said, glaring at Peter. The house elf nodded and left Lucius and Peter in an awkward silence. Peter nervously tugged at his chair's tassel and wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt. Lucius sighed and leaned forward on his desk.
"You had something for me?" he asked.
Peter cleared his throat and nodded, placing his hands on the desk. Lucius drew back in slight disgust and settled back into his chair,
"Yes," Peter replied. Lucius waited for him to continue. Peter cleared his throat again and removed his hands, leaving a faint print on the shiny wood.
"What is the status on your infiltration of the Ministry?" Peter asked, pulling up his chin in what he thought was a striking way.
Lucius raised his eyebrow in what he knew was a striking way and folded his arms across his chest. He remained silent as Peter suddenly grew self conscious and looked down. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint ticking of the wall clock and the uncomfortable squirming of Peter. Finally, Lucius sighed and opened the drawer under his desk, bringing out a stack of papers and blue prints. He arranged them in two piles on his desk as Peter watched curiously.
As Peter moved to pick up a paper webbed with the red outlines of notes and diagrams, Lucius cleared his throat and pulled it away from Peter's wandering hand. The house elf appeared again and place the bag of ice on Lucius's knee. He then scampered off again, followed by Peter's watery eyes.
"I've been hired." Lucius said simply, separating the papers into smaller piles and folding down the ends of certain ones.
"Excellent. So they approve of your application?" Peter asked, his eyes growing smaller as he grinned mischievously.
"Let's just say it wasn't my application that persuaded them," Lucius said, quickly loosing interest in the too eager Death Eater who, at that moment, started giggling. Lucius sent him a look of exasperation and Peter swallowed his giggle in a large gulp. "Are we finished now?" Lucius asked.
"You're not the one who should be acting superior, Lucius," Peter said, drawing himself up to his full height, which wasn't that tall. "Keep in mind that I'm the one who already infiltrated Hogwarts. I'm the one who led our Lord to James! I'm risking my life even BEING here!" He took a breath and sank back down. "You know what I mean," he finished lamely.
Lucius, who had regarded this outburst with the most serenity he could muster without laughing, sniffed loudly and cleared his throat.
"Peter, keep in mind also that you also had a hand in Voldemort's downfall," Lucius said. Peter looked up angrily, but was too taken aback to reply. "If you hadn't led him to the Potter's, he would be alive and killing today."
Peter breathed in fast through his nose and stood up. He grabbed the paper weight and threw it at the wall. It bounced off harmlessly and fell into the thick rug on the floor.
"Rubber," Lucius said, standing up with the papers in his hands. "It doesn't usually rip holes in walls." Lucius walked over to Peter and stuck the papers in his chubby hands. "These are what I could get my first week. Be sure to get them to an official before someone comes looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Peter gulped, rolling up the papers nervously.
"Yes. You said yourself you're in danger. James had many friends, but you already know that. Who do you think it will be? Sirius? Remus, perhaps?" Lucius reached down and picked up the paper weight.
"I'd better be off," Peter whispered, moving towards the French doors.
"Ah, Peter!" Lucius said sharply, placing the weight on his desk and guiding Peter away from his patio. "I trust you haven't forgotten how to Apparate?" Peter shook his head. "Then spare yourself the embarrassment and leave respectably."
Peter tucked the papers in his cloak and nodded. Lucius flashed Peter a sardonic grin as he disappeared with a wonderfully frightened look on his face. Lucius breathed out a long breath of relief and moved back to his desk.
It had been a shock to everyone to find out about Voldemort's downfall. As the celebrations raged on, the Death Eaters were already planning the next move, which required, foremost, infiltration into the Ministry. All they could do was sit and wait while acquiring as much helpful information as they could until their Master returned......
He had been hired by the Ministry, which was the plan, but it didn't bring Lucius much satisfaction to know that bribes and threats were the main reason he had a job. His application was stunning, though, he had to admit to himself.
The clock chimed twelve as he moved out of his study and down the darkened hallways to his bedroom. His mother, Maurel, slept in the room next to his study. He stopped and listened for her breathing. He couldn't hear anything, which led him to believe she had been up listening. Great. Either that or she died; also relatively satisfactory.
The walls, curtained in dark, purple velvet looked shadowed and deep in the midnight-blue moon light. Lucius ran his fingers along either side of the wall as he walked, closing his eyes to savor the soft purple on his fingertips. He entered the room and lit a lamp. He checked outside for any lingering Wormtails and locked his windows. Outside, the moor stretched outwards and into forever beyond the small, white gates that bordered the Manor's garden. The trees and ground were bare of any leaves, what with the devoted gardeners chasing each leaf around with a rake and a curse.
Lucius climbed into bed and blew out the lamp, his mind drifting deep into sleep, his thoughts winding through strings of emotions, thoughts, and memories.....
A/N: HUZZAH! First chapter up! This is only my second fic, but I tend to spend a lot of time of the ones I do have. My first, which I just finished, was 21 chapters and took almost a year to write, so if you stick with me it may take a while.....but an enjoyable while, maybe?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucius looked up from his desk, breathing in a cool breath of crisp, night air. The curtains streamed towards him on a breath of wind coming in from the wide French doors opening on to the patio of the Malfoy Manor. His faced, aged twenty-two years, was smooth and calm as he proceeded to finish his first report to the Minister. Stars, a rare sight in a sky so often covered with clouds, blinked down at him as he went back to his writing, his quill flying expertly across the parchment.
A bell sounded on the other side of the house, breaking the peaceful silence of Lucius's workspace. His eyes narrowed as footsteps approached his study and a light knock sounded on his door. He took a few moments to finish writing his sentence, adding his last period with a flourish. He stood and stretched, his jaw cracking from an ear splitting yawn.,and walked to the door.
A house elf poked his head nervously around the door and cleared his throat. Lucius stared down at him expectantly.
"A visitor, for you Master."
"Show him in," Lucius said, walking back to his desk and clearing off the papers he had left dangerously close to being blown off by the breeze. The house elf quietly closed the door and scampered off to alert the night caller. Lucius walked over to the French doors and started to shut them, when a white palm slammed against the glass, pushing Lucius back as the doors slammed inward.
Lucius stumbled back, bumping his knee on his desk and dislodging the paper weight that was keeping his papers from flying everywhere. Lucius looked up, rubbing his knee and inwardly sighing. Peter Pettigrew stood in the open doorway, his black cape settling down across his back as the wind died down.
"Wow. That was really.....unnecessary, Peter." Lucius said calmly, reaching behind Peter and closing the doors again.
Peter sunk down a bit, his once dramatic pose broken as his fat fingers knotted together . He walked forward and winced as his voluminous cape ripped from getting stuck in the doors. "I was, you know, going for the—"
"Dramatic entrance?" Lucius asked, sitting down in his chair and ringing a bell on the wall. "Well, seeing as my servant announced your arrival, you only looked stupid."
Peter frowned, his mousy eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next as he moved to sit down in the chair opposite the desk.
Peter started as the house elf lightly knocked on the door and peeked in. "You called?"
"Fetch some ice. I seemed to have hit my knee on something hard," Lucius said, glaring at Peter. The house elf nodded and left Lucius and Peter in an awkward silence. Peter nervously tugged at his chair's tassel and wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt. Lucius sighed and leaned forward on his desk.
"You had something for me?" he asked.
Peter cleared his throat and nodded, placing his hands on the desk. Lucius drew back in slight disgust and settled back into his chair,
"Yes," Peter replied. Lucius waited for him to continue. Peter cleared his throat again and removed his hands, leaving a faint print on the shiny wood.
"What is the status on your infiltration of the Ministry?" Peter asked, pulling up his chin in what he thought was a striking way.
Lucius raised his eyebrow in what he knew was a striking way and folded his arms across his chest. He remained silent as Peter suddenly grew self conscious and looked down. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint ticking of the wall clock and the uncomfortable squirming of Peter. Finally, Lucius sighed and opened the drawer under his desk, bringing out a stack of papers and blue prints. He arranged them in two piles on his desk as Peter watched curiously.
As Peter moved to pick up a paper webbed with the red outlines of notes and diagrams, Lucius cleared his throat and pulled it away from Peter's wandering hand. The house elf appeared again and place the bag of ice on Lucius's knee. He then scampered off again, followed by Peter's watery eyes.
"I've been hired." Lucius said simply, separating the papers into smaller piles and folding down the ends of certain ones.
"Excellent. So they approve of your application?" Peter asked, his eyes growing smaller as he grinned mischievously.
"Let's just say it wasn't my application that persuaded them," Lucius said, quickly loosing interest in the too eager Death Eater who, at that moment, started giggling. Lucius sent him a look of exasperation and Peter swallowed his giggle in a large gulp. "Are we finished now?" Lucius asked.
"You're not the one who should be acting superior, Lucius," Peter said, drawing himself up to his full height, which wasn't that tall. "Keep in mind that I'm the one who already infiltrated Hogwarts. I'm the one who led our Lord to James! I'm risking my life even BEING here!" He took a breath and sank back down. "You know what I mean," he finished lamely.
Lucius, who had regarded this outburst with the most serenity he could muster without laughing, sniffed loudly and cleared his throat.
"Peter, keep in mind also that you also had a hand in Voldemort's downfall," Lucius said. Peter looked up angrily, but was too taken aback to reply. "If you hadn't led him to the Potter's, he would be alive and killing today."
Peter breathed in fast through his nose and stood up. He grabbed the paper weight and threw it at the wall. It bounced off harmlessly and fell into the thick rug on the floor.
"Rubber," Lucius said, standing up with the papers in his hands. "It doesn't usually rip holes in walls." Lucius walked over to Peter and stuck the papers in his chubby hands. "These are what I could get my first week. Be sure to get them to an official before someone comes looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Peter gulped, rolling up the papers nervously.
"Yes. You said yourself you're in danger. James had many friends, but you already know that. Who do you think it will be? Sirius? Remus, perhaps?" Lucius reached down and picked up the paper weight.
"I'd better be off," Peter whispered, moving towards the French doors.
"Ah, Peter!" Lucius said sharply, placing the weight on his desk and guiding Peter away from his patio. "I trust you haven't forgotten how to Apparate?" Peter shook his head. "Then spare yourself the embarrassment and leave respectably."
Peter tucked the papers in his cloak and nodded. Lucius flashed Peter a sardonic grin as he disappeared with a wonderfully frightened look on his face. Lucius breathed out a long breath of relief and moved back to his desk.
It had been a shock to everyone to find out about Voldemort's downfall. As the celebrations raged on, the Death Eaters were already planning the next move, which required, foremost, infiltration into the Ministry. All they could do was sit and wait while acquiring as much helpful information as they could until their Master returned......
He had been hired by the Ministry, which was the plan, but it didn't bring Lucius much satisfaction to know that bribes and threats were the main reason he had a job. His application was stunning, though, he had to admit to himself.
The clock chimed twelve as he moved out of his study and down the darkened hallways to his bedroom. His mother, Maurel, slept in the room next to his study. He stopped and listened for her breathing. He couldn't hear anything, which led him to believe she had been up listening. Great. Either that or she died; also relatively satisfactory.
The walls, curtained in dark, purple velvet looked shadowed and deep in the midnight-blue moon light. Lucius ran his fingers along either side of the wall as he walked, closing his eyes to savor the soft purple on his fingertips. He entered the room and lit a lamp. He checked outside for any lingering Wormtails and locked his windows. Outside, the moor stretched outwards and into forever beyond the small, white gates that bordered the Manor's garden. The trees and ground were bare of any leaves, what with the devoted gardeners chasing each leaf around with a rake and a curse.
Lucius climbed into bed and blew out the lamp, his mind drifting deep into sleep, his thoughts winding through strings of emotions, thoughts, and memories.....