Chapter Four: Second Chance
Lucius stood, glaring at nothing in particular. His lips were pressed tightly together making them almost disappear entirely and his brow was furrowed in a look of deep concentration. Suddenly a very unpleasant idea struck him and he turned to the angel who was merely standing silently on the side of the road.
"Am I a ghost?"
"No." replied the angel.
"Then what am I still doing here? Why am I not in hell?"
"Please!" exclaimed the angel as he cupped his hands tightly around his ears. "We can not bear to hear that word."
Lucius just glared at the angel.
"The reason why you are still here is because you are being given a second chance."
"A second chance at what?" he spat.
"A second chance at loving and being loved in return." The angel said, his hands folded, head slightly tilted skyward and a far off gaze in his eyes.
"Oh, cut the crap!"
"Okay," said the angel as his heavenly glow suddenly disappeared. "Truth is it was my fault that Tizzy was."
"Tizzy? What's a Tizzy?"
"Tizzy is the girl that ran you over. Honestly!" said the exasperated angel. "As I was saying it was my fault that Tizzy was driving down this road. See, I'm her guardian angel as well, and there was a huge amount of traffic ahead, and she is probably the worst driver, so to keep her from getting into an accident I diverted her car to coming down this road with a 'Road Closed' sign. How was I to know that you would be spontaneously apparating in the middle of the street?"
"So, it's your fault that I'm dead?!" exclaimed Lucius as his temper began to rise.
"Well, I guess you could put it that way."
"You must be the most incompetent guardian angel."
"Hey, look, pal, it wasn't me who couldn't perform a simple apparition and avoid getting run over."
Lucius became furious and lunged at the angel, throwing a strong punch towards his head. However, his arm and fist swung through nothing but air. The angel was no longer in front of him. Lucius looked slightly confused as he tried to figure out what just happened when he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Tsk.tsk. Temeper.temper. If you keep acting like this I will not be giving you your chance at redemption."
"What redemption?! Lucius hissed, attempting with all his might to control himself from swinging another punch at the pudgy angel. "As far I can tell I am still dead and I must be in HELL because I am stuck with you!"
The angel glared at Lucius and then decided to ignore the comment. He instead very slowly stated through clenched teeth, "Look I'm not too thrilled with hanging around with you too, after all, you aren't the most pleasant man. However, because it was my mistake that brought you to your untimely end, I have to make things right. There is a catch though. I can't just snap my fingers and put you back in your body. No, I have to change you."
"Excuse me?" said Lucius, rather annoyed.
"I have to change you. Make you a better person. Show you the errors of your ways. Prove to you that there are better things in life than just power and money. I need to make you realize that love is the most important thing in this world."
Lucius' face twisted in disgust at the very idea.
"Then, and only then, can I place you back in your body."
"What are you talking about? What has love got to do with anything?"
"Lucius, you are a man who bears no love and is not loved by others."
"Oh, please." Lucius said in a more disgusted tone.
"I know, I hate thing mushy speech too, but you and I are going to stuck with each other until it's done and my mission is completed."
"Look, I do love and am loved. My wife and son."
"Are completely indifferent to your death."
Lucius was rendered speechless for a few moments and then managed to say, "That is ridiculous! Of course they love me!"
"Oh really? Why would they?"
"Because." Lucius couldn't think of a 'because' and just spat out, "Because they do."
"Shall I show you them now and how they are dealing with your death?"
Lucius folded his arms and raised his head slightly, looking down at the angel with an icy glare. "Yes."
The angel grabbed a hold of Lucius' arm once again and they instantly found themselves in one of the extremely large sitting rooms of Malfoy manor. Lucius quickly surveyed the room. There was only a very small handful of people there. They were all chatting together, smiling, and laughing occasionally. Overall, that atmosphere was really quite cheery. He then noticed that two men, which he recognized as Crabbe and Goyle Sr., striding over to where he was standing. He then noticed that he was standing in front of a rather long table that was completely covered in a vast assortment of wonderful food. When they reached the table the two men promptly began to fill their plates with massive quantities of food.
"Hey, I must say, these Malfoys sure do know how to throw a party." Said Crabbe Sr. as he stuffed a bun in his mouth.
"This isn't a party." Replied Goyle Sr. "It's funeral."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. It's too bad that we couldn't bring Malfoy back to life so that he could die again."
"Why's that?"
"Because, if he died again, then there'd be another great buffet. The food is the only reason why I'm here."
Both the men laughed and Lucius walked away completely disgusted. He then stopped as he came up to the group of people who had just burst out in peels of laughter. "And the great Lucius Malfoy, most faithful and important Death Eater, was brought down by, get this, a muggle and her car!" The laughter rose again and Lucius just walked away, the angel closely following. He then stopped at where his wife was sitting in the corner of the room. He looked triumphantly at the angel as he noticed that his wife was dabbing at her nose and her eyes appeared moist. Draco suddenly walked into the room and up to his mother's chair.
"Mum, are you okay?" he said as he handed her a fresh handkerchief.
"Yes, Draco, I'm fine. My allergies are just acting up again. That potion that Dr. Minston gave me doesn't seem to help very much. I also think that there was too much garlic and onion in the salad, my eyes are watering up." She then proceeded to dab at her eyes. Lucius just stared unbelievingly at her.
"What are they laughing at over there?" Draco asked.
"Oh, they're probably just making some jokes about how your father died."
"Oh." Said Draco. An involuntary smile began to creep over his face. His mother saw thins and promptly hit the side of his arm.
"Draco! I will admit that the circumstances surround Lucius' death are a trifle ironic, but he was your father and I will not have you laughing about his being dead."
"Sorry, Mother."
"Very well."
"I am sad that he's dead, I mean he was my father." Lucius looked slightly triumphant at what his son said. The angel just shrugged his shoulders. "But, there's nothing we can do about it now."
His mother let out a sigh, "When are these people going to leave? I'm rather tired and would prefer that they would just leave. After all, they are just here for the food."
"Mother," Draco said, "You aren't going to bed are you? You promised that you'd watch "The Lord of the Rings" with me tonight."
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Of course I'll watch it with you." She smiled up at her son and squeezed his arm slightly. "Now you should probably head over and talk to some of the guests."
Draco quickly obeyed his mother.
Lucius was looking furious. How could they be so cold and unfeeling. He was dead! Didn't they care? He turned to the angel, "Why aren't they distraught over my being dead? What happened?" He opened his mouth to speak again but then something hit him, "Wait a second." He looked at his son, "What I is "The Lord of the Rings"? That better not be one of those muggle movie things!" But Draco could not hear his father.
"Never mind about that." The angel said. "You want to see why they got the they are? Allow me to show you."
Just before the angel grabbed his arm and made them disappear again, Lucius could hear a woman speaking to his wife about some party they were going to put on. "Oh, and Narcissa, dear, I have the most wonderful cousin that I want to set you up with. He's tall, handsome, and a wonderful." Lucius did not hear the rest, but his eyes narrowed and his whole face darkened at the mere thought of his wife on the arm of any other man.
Lucius stood, glaring at nothing in particular. His lips were pressed tightly together making them almost disappear entirely and his brow was furrowed in a look of deep concentration. Suddenly a very unpleasant idea struck him and he turned to the angel who was merely standing silently on the side of the road.
"Am I a ghost?"
"No." replied the angel.
"Then what am I still doing here? Why am I not in hell?"
"Please!" exclaimed the angel as he cupped his hands tightly around his ears. "We can not bear to hear that word."
Lucius just glared at the angel.
"The reason why you are still here is because you are being given a second chance."
"A second chance at what?" he spat.
"A second chance at loving and being loved in return." The angel said, his hands folded, head slightly tilted skyward and a far off gaze in his eyes.
"Oh, cut the crap!"
"Okay," said the angel as his heavenly glow suddenly disappeared. "Truth is it was my fault that Tizzy was."
"Tizzy? What's a Tizzy?"
"Tizzy is the girl that ran you over. Honestly!" said the exasperated angel. "As I was saying it was my fault that Tizzy was driving down this road. See, I'm her guardian angel as well, and there was a huge amount of traffic ahead, and she is probably the worst driver, so to keep her from getting into an accident I diverted her car to coming down this road with a 'Road Closed' sign. How was I to know that you would be spontaneously apparating in the middle of the street?"
"So, it's your fault that I'm dead?!" exclaimed Lucius as his temper began to rise.
"Well, I guess you could put it that way."
"You must be the most incompetent guardian angel."
"Hey, look, pal, it wasn't me who couldn't perform a simple apparition and avoid getting run over."
Lucius became furious and lunged at the angel, throwing a strong punch towards his head. However, his arm and fist swung through nothing but air. The angel was no longer in front of him. Lucius looked slightly confused as he tried to figure out what just happened when he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Tsk.tsk. Temeper.temper. If you keep acting like this I will not be giving you your chance at redemption."
"What redemption?! Lucius hissed, attempting with all his might to control himself from swinging another punch at the pudgy angel. "As far I can tell I am still dead and I must be in HELL because I am stuck with you!"
The angel glared at Lucius and then decided to ignore the comment. He instead very slowly stated through clenched teeth, "Look I'm not too thrilled with hanging around with you too, after all, you aren't the most pleasant man. However, because it was my mistake that brought you to your untimely end, I have to make things right. There is a catch though. I can't just snap my fingers and put you back in your body. No, I have to change you."
"Excuse me?" said Lucius, rather annoyed.
"I have to change you. Make you a better person. Show you the errors of your ways. Prove to you that there are better things in life than just power and money. I need to make you realize that love is the most important thing in this world."
Lucius' face twisted in disgust at the very idea.
"Then, and only then, can I place you back in your body."
"What are you talking about? What has love got to do with anything?"
"Lucius, you are a man who bears no love and is not loved by others."
"Oh, please." Lucius said in a more disgusted tone.
"I know, I hate thing mushy speech too, but you and I are going to stuck with each other until it's done and my mission is completed."
"Look, I do love and am loved. My wife and son."
"Are completely indifferent to your death."
Lucius was rendered speechless for a few moments and then managed to say, "That is ridiculous! Of course they love me!"
"Oh really? Why would they?"
"Because." Lucius couldn't think of a 'because' and just spat out, "Because they do."
"Shall I show you them now and how they are dealing with your death?"
Lucius folded his arms and raised his head slightly, looking down at the angel with an icy glare. "Yes."
The angel grabbed a hold of Lucius' arm once again and they instantly found themselves in one of the extremely large sitting rooms of Malfoy manor. Lucius quickly surveyed the room. There was only a very small handful of people there. They were all chatting together, smiling, and laughing occasionally. Overall, that atmosphere was really quite cheery. He then noticed that two men, which he recognized as Crabbe and Goyle Sr., striding over to where he was standing. He then noticed that he was standing in front of a rather long table that was completely covered in a vast assortment of wonderful food. When they reached the table the two men promptly began to fill their plates with massive quantities of food.
"Hey, I must say, these Malfoys sure do know how to throw a party." Said Crabbe Sr. as he stuffed a bun in his mouth.
"This isn't a party." Replied Goyle Sr. "It's funeral."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. It's too bad that we couldn't bring Malfoy back to life so that he could die again."
"Why's that?"
"Because, if he died again, then there'd be another great buffet. The food is the only reason why I'm here."
Both the men laughed and Lucius walked away completely disgusted. He then stopped as he came up to the group of people who had just burst out in peels of laughter. "And the great Lucius Malfoy, most faithful and important Death Eater, was brought down by, get this, a muggle and her car!" The laughter rose again and Lucius just walked away, the angel closely following. He then stopped at where his wife was sitting in the corner of the room. He looked triumphantly at the angel as he noticed that his wife was dabbing at her nose and her eyes appeared moist. Draco suddenly walked into the room and up to his mother's chair.
"Mum, are you okay?" he said as he handed her a fresh handkerchief.
"Yes, Draco, I'm fine. My allergies are just acting up again. That potion that Dr. Minston gave me doesn't seem to help very much. I also think that there was too much garlic and onion in the salad, my eyes are watering up." She then proceeded to dab at her eyes. Lucius just stared unbelievingly at her.
"What are they laughing at over there?" Draco asked.
"Oh, they're probably just making some jokes about how your father died."
"Oh." Said Draco. An involuntary smile began to creep over his face. His mother saw thins and promptly hit the side of his arm.
"Draco! I will admit that the circumstances surround Lucius' death are a trifle ironic, but he was your father and I will not have you laughing about his being dead."
"Sorry, Mother."
"Very well."
"I am sad that he's dead, I mean he was my father." Lucius looked slightly triumphant at what his son said. The angel just shrugged his shoulders. "But, there's nothing we can do about it now."
His mother let out a sigh, "When are these people going to leave? I'm rather tired and would prefer that they would just leave. After all, they are just here for the food."
"Mother," Draco said, "You aren't going to bed are you? You promised that you'd watch "The Lord of the Rings" with me tonight."
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Of course I'll watch it with you." She smiled up at her son and squeezed his arm slightly. "Now you should probably head over and talk to some of the guests."
Draco quickly obeyed his mother.
Lucius was looking furious. How could they be so cold and unfeeling. He was dead! Didn't they care? He turned to the angel, "Why aren't they distraught over my being dead? What happened?" He opened his mouth to speak again but then something hit him, "Wait a second." He looked at his son, "What I is "The Lord of the Rings"? That better not be one of those muggle movie things!" But Draco could not hear his father.
"Never mind about that." The angel said. "You want to see why they got the they are? Allow me to show you."
Just before the angel grabbed his arm and made them disappear again, Lucius could hear a woman speaking to his wife about some party they were going to put on. "Oh, and Narcissa, dear, I have the most wonderful cousin that I want to set you up with. He's tall, handsome, and a wonderful." Lucius did not hear the rest, but his eyes narrowed and his whole face darkened at the mere thought of his wife on the arm of any other man.