Sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up. The last couple of
days have been a little crazy. My mom and I went horse shopping and wound
up buying a very cute Tennessee Walker. So my time has been taken up with
getting everything ready for him and getting him used to his new home and
our other horses. Now I have some free time so here is the next chapter.
Hope you like it. Oh, and thanks to all who gave me suggestions.
Hey, thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I'm glad you all like the story.
Lady of Life- Gasp! Blasphemy! The Malfoys are my favorite characters! I always go for the bad guys in movies or books. But I must admit that reading fiction surrounding the Malfoys is usually unpleasant, what with all the abuse, incest, rape, and what-not. I actually don't read the ones with incest and rape. Anyway, I just felt like throwing a fic out there that didn't have all that angsty stuff and was completely off the wall. Really glad that you are enjoying the story. I'll try to do better with my typos and stuff. I always reread what I wrote, but an author usually misses their own mistakes. Thanks for letting me know. I'll try to go back and fix them. Thanks for your lovely review.
Aeryn Alexander- Glad you like my story. I thought I'd be a little different and write a fic where mother and son are close and secretly indulge in a muggle vice, television. I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars but I thought that it'd be funny to have them watching a Sci-fi movie. Thanks for your reviews, I enjoyed reading them.
Sailoranime- Yeah, a Malfoy watching tv? Kinda weird, but this whole fic is going to be crazy. Just wait until Lucius comes back from the dead. Hehe. Thanks for reviewing.
Hermonic Friction- Glad you love the story. Thanks for letting me know. Knowing how much people like my story helps me to keep writing it.
Athena- Thank you for your wonderful suggestions. I have put them in the story, however, I do not have him selling their wedding rings, but he does lose it. I also have the idea where Draco is trying to get his dad's attention but have tweaked it a bit. Thanks again. You helped me out.
Emif- Thanks for your suggestion. I've put it in the story. However, if there are some particular things that you had in mind to happen on the date, let me know and I'll put them in. Thanks again for your great help.
Summery of Chapter the Fifth---Okay, so this chapter is going to be about why his family is so indifferent to Lucius' death. What did he do that made people not care about him and the fact that he's dead? So, this chapter is going to have several sad scenes in it. There's no abuse and it's not too angsty; just a portrayal of a very emotionally detached man. Let me know if it's too sob story or not angsty enough to make the indifference to his death believable. If you have any suggestions let me know and I will consider putting them into the chapter. Thanks and love you all.
Chapter Five: You Drove Them Away
Within a moment Lucius found himself no longer surrounded by the familiarity of his own sitting room, but was now standing in the middle of a very busy street. Flocks of young Hogwarts students were running about excitedly along the street and in and out of the many interesting shops. Lucius quickly recognized this place as the magical town of Hogsmeade, and , judging by the amount of children rushing about, he dedeuced that it must be a Hogsmeade weekend for the students. What Lucius couldn't figure out is why he was standing there.
"What are we doing here?" he said in a disgusted tone as a large group of Hufflepuffs went running by, laughing rather boisterously. His face was twisted in a grimace as he surveyed the masses. He never did like kids much.
"We are here because I figured that it would be best if we started at the beginning and this is roughly the beginning." Replied the angel.
Lucius just looked at the angel credulously. "What is he talking about? The beginning of what?" he thought. Just then the angel looked past Lucius and nodded his head, silently telling Lucius to look in the same direction. So he turned and, to his amazement, was met with himself, only he was sixteen years old, his blond hair was quite a bit shorter and slicked back, much like Draco's, and his body was quite a bit leaner and a few inches shorter. He hadn't quite reached his final growth spurt at that age.
He watched as his younger self stood, obviously waiting for someone, and looking rather impatient and annoyed. Within a few minutes a rather young, blond girl came striding up to him. Narcissa was fifteen and was obviously the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. Even though she was quite young, she stood about an inch or two taller than Lucius. He was not too happy about that fact. However, Narcissa was the prettiest girl at the school and Lucius had been brought up to always desire the finest. His parents had pushed him into beginning the search for a proper wife, wanting him to get married soon after graduating Hogwarts. They had strongly recommended Narcissa, her being from a very wealthy and influential family. Lucius, like his father, found those two things to be the most important when finding a wife. The fact that Narcissa was a raving beauty was, in his mind, a great bonus.
So there his sixteen year old self stood, looking rather put out, as Narcissa strode over to his side for their first date.
Lucius looked at the angel quizzically. He hadn't the slightest idea why he was watching this. The angel just told him to watch and find out.
"You're six minutes late." Said the young Lucius as he looked at his watch and then placed it back in his pocket.
"Well, it takes time to make oneself look beautiful, and I wanted to make sure that I looked special for you." Narcissa said sweetly as she looked, slightly "down", at her companion.
"Looks as if you could have used some more time." He said as he looked critically at her.
A look of surprise came over her face at what he had said. Narcissa had thought that she did quite well with herself. After all, it was just a trip to Hogsmeade, not a ball at the bloody palace. Her surprised look quickly disappeared as she took a hold of his arm. Lucius quickly pulled away.
"If you don't mind, I prefer not to be touched."
"Oh, of course." She said, a little hurt. "I see you didn't bring me any flowers or chocolates."
"Why would I do that?"
"Well, that's what a lot of people do for a first date."
"Why would I want to go and waist money on something that is just going to wilt or be eaten within a couple of days?"
Narcissa decided not to comment further, but simply walked next to Lucius as he turned to stroll down the street.
The older Lucius turned to see the angel looking at him with an expression that said, "You asshole!" Lucius was in fact slightly embarrassed by his sixteen year old self's actions. Watching it happening in front of him made it seem much different than what he remembered; it seemed much more rude and cruel.
"Well, they would have wilted or been eaten within a couple of days." He said in his defense.
The angel just looked at him and sighed in disgust. He then said, "Let's skip ahead slightly, shall we?" With that he snapped his fingers and the scene surrounding them zoomed past until it came upon the young couple seated at a small table in one of the many restaurants in Hogsmeade. Lucius and the angel stood next to the table, listening to the conversation.
"Of course, Lucius, I agree, Hogwarts should be a little more selective when it comes to their choice in students. But to not allow any half-bloods or muggle-borns, don't you think that that is a bit extreme?"
"Typical." Said an annoyed Lucius.
"What is?"
"You women. You always are so sentimental."
"Excuse me?" asked a very confused Narcissa.
"If it were up to you women you'd let every stray or mutt into the school. You're always so emotional and incapable and making tough decisions, even if it was for the betterment of the school. It's disgusting. No wonder you women were strictly kept out of the ministry for so many centuries. If running the ministry were left up to you women it would crumble within a day. In fact, it's already rather weak as they are letting more and more women into it."
Narcissa raised an eyebrow at this.
"Well it would." Said the older Lucius to a glaring angel.
"Lucius, I was merely stating my view upon the whole muggle-born, half-blood issue. Not trying to reform the government."
"Well, women shouldn't worry about having opinions, let alone voicing them. Women are for decoration, not thinking."
Narcissa set her jaw. She wasn't going to explode even though he was being a colossal, sexist prat. Her parents had made her go out with Lucius. They had actually lectured her for several years that if Lucius ever asked her out she was to accept , no 'buts' about it. She knew that she would be in a load of trouble if she blew up and ruined this. She simply kept her mouth closed and vented her anger upon the piece of meat that she was viciously cutting through.
The angel took hold of Lucius' arm again and they proceeded to the Slytherin common room where several of Lucius' old classmates sat, talking quietly amongst each other. At that moment young Lucius and Narcissa entered the room, back from their first date.
"Hey, Lucius, come over here because we have some news that you might find interesting."
Young Lucius looked at Narcissa and simply said, "Goodnight." He then left her side and went over to where his fellow classmates, and future Death Eaters, sat. Narcissa stood, slightly shocked for a moment. There was no, 'I had a good time', 'May I see you again', 'Have a wonderful evening', no kiss, no nothing. There had just been a cold, 'Goodnight' and she was left to escort herself up the stairs.
The angel and Lucius went forward again and found themselves of the edge of the lake watching young Lucius and Narcissa on one of their many walks.
"Why won't you take me to Les Miserables?"
"I told you, I hate operas. If you want to go I'll pay for it, but I am NOT going. Take someone else to torture."
"Why is it that you will never take an interest in anything that I enjoy or think highly of? It's as if you have no interest in me and who I am at all."
"Of course I have interest in you. After all, you are the most beautiful girl in the school."
"But what else?"
"What do you mean, what else?"
"What else interests you?"
Young Lucius looked confused. After a moment he replied, "Well, you're wealthy and come from a very important family."
"Is that all? Is that all you care about?"
"Well, what else is there?"
Narcissa stomped off towards the castle leaving a bewildered Lucius by the lake.
"How you got that woman to marry you I'll never know." The angle said as he grabbed a hold of Lucius' arm and proceeded on.
They were now in the giant ballroom of Malfoy manor. It was their wedding reception and the room was filled with the chatting and clamoring of about 1200 guests. Narcissa, clad in a beautiful white wedding gown that fit closely to her body until it reached her knees and then flowed out behind her in a long train, stood, looking around the room for her new husband. They had entered the ballroom together and had danced one dance, but now, as the reception progressed he had disappeared. She searched desperately for him as the time for the traditional toasts were coming up. He was no where to be found. Narcissa spotted Crabbe and grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Have you seen Lucius?" she asked.
"Yeah, he left."
"Excuse me?"
"Him and a bunch of the guys got bored and decided to go to that new Muggle artifacts museum and destroy it."
Poor Narcissa was left to explain to the guest that her husband was not there to accept the toasts. Her face was flushed crimson as she stammered out an excuse for his absence. She then sat down in a chair behind the long table and tried with all her strength to put on a happy front, attempting to show that there was nothing wrong. However, if one was observant, they would notice the glasses of alcohol that she was quickly consuming.
In the blink of an eye Lucius and the angel appeared in the large bedroom where the young couple were to stay that night before they headed over to France for their honeymoon. Lucius cringed as he saw his wife of the past crying uncontrollable into a large, silk covered pillow. Lucius had never realized that his wife had been so upset as he had not returned home until about five in the morning and Narcissa had been fast asleep for some time.
The hands in the clock on the mantelpiece moved forward very quickly until they landed on eight o'clock. Lucius and Narcissa were up and getting ready to leave.
"Narcissa," young Lucius said, "Your ring is on the floor over here."
Narcissa rushed over towards the fireplace and picked up the ring that she had thrown across the room the night before. She quickly placed it back on her finger. She then looked at Lucius' hand and saw that he did not have his ring on as well.
"Where's yours?" she asked.
"Oh, I lost it last night. A bunch of us were playing poker and I ran out of money." Lucius said this in a very matter-of-fact tone.
Older Lucius saw the pained look on his wife's face that he had not seen that morning due to the fact that her back was turned. He cringed slightly inside but did not let it show on his face.
At that moment the angel took hold of his arm again. They were now standing in the master bedroom and it was seven years later. Lucius could tell because his wife lay in the bed, very pregnant. Lucius had gained control of the Malfoy estate as his father had died two years earlier and his mother had moved back to her original home in Iceland.
Lucius watched as his other self hurriedly entered the room.
"Lucius, you're home!"
"Well, obviously, woman." He said very agitatedly. "I'm only home for a moment though. I need to pick up some papers and head out to have dinner with a few of my, erm, colleagues." He said this as he went through a few drawers of the desk and pulled out some documents.
Narcissa knew he meant that he was going to meet some of his Death Eater colleagues and not those at the ministry.
"But Lucius, what about tonight?"
"What about it?" he said shortly.
"It's our anniversary and you promised me a dinner somewhere nice. You know I haven't been out for a long time and tonight is supposed to be special."
Lucius snorted. He had forgotten about their anniversary, but he was not about to let his wife know that. "I haven't got time for silly dinners. Besides, we'd have to floo to the restaurant and with the state you are in right now I doubt you'd be able to fit in the fireplace." With that he rushed out of the room, leaving Narcissa to weep once again on the bed, feeling alone, unloved, and very fat.
Time slipped forward again and Lucius now watched as his wife held their new son, Draco. His other self entered the room once again and walked towards the closet without so much as a glance at his wife and son. He began to pull out his Death Eater robes and laid them on the bed.
"Lucius." Narcissa said, "Why don't you hold your son?"
Lucius froze for a second and looked at her in a bewildered way. "Why?"
"Well, all you've done is merely glance at him the day he was born and that was a week ago. Don't you want to meet your son, hold him, or something?"
"No." he said shortly.
"Why not?"
"Look, I don't have time for this, sentiment and all that crap. The Death Eaters have been very busy as the Dark Lord is gaining more and more strength. In fact I have a meeting this very evening. We've got this kid for at least the next eighteen years so I don't think that there is any rush in getting know him at the moment. Besides, I don't much like babies and it's the woman's job to take care of them. Lucius had a look on his face that clearly said that the subject was closed.
Time progressed even further and Lucius was seated behind his large mahogany desk in the study. He sifted through a large stack of papers and occasional wrote something down upon them. A five year old Draco lay on his stomach on the floor in front of the fire drawing on a piece of paper. He suddenly decided that he was finished, jumped up, and bounded over to where his father sat.
"Father," he said as he tugged on Lucius' robes with one hand and held the picture in the other. "look what I drew." Lucius did not make any sign acknowledging his son's presence. "Father." Draco tried again. Still Lucius didn't respond. Draco tried a few more times. Finally a very frustrated Draco decided that he was going to get his father's attention and proceeded to scramble up onto the desk by way of using the drawers as steps. He thrust the picture in front of his father but as he did so he overturned a bottle of ink that quickly spread across the parchments and began to drip on the floor. Lucius jumped up and began to yell at his son.
"You stupid, STUPID boy! What the hell do you think you are doing!"
Draco scrambled off the desk as quickly as he could. "I'm sorry, Father, I just wanted to show you my picture." He held up the picture as proof.
Lucius snatched away the drawing of a dragon, stalked over to the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. "Go to your room! You are hereby grounded for two weeks!"
Little Draco quickly ran out of the room, wiping away the tears from his eyes as he did so.
Lucius and the angel went forward again and saw an eight year old Draco sitting on a couch in the parlor, looking up every couple of minutes at the clock. After a while Narcissa walked over to her son and sat down next to him.
"I'm sure he'll be here any minute." She said as she put an arm around him.
The hands on the clock sped forward for an hour. Narcissa and Draco still sat on the couch. Draco was now looking very upset.
"He promised. He promised he'd take me to the Quidditch Nationals today."
"Maybe he's just running late. He'll be here."
"No." said Draco as he shook his head. "He won't. Besides, it's too late now. The game has already been going on for a couple of hours. What's the point of going now?"
"Maybe he just forgot." Narcissa said trying to comfort her son.
"He always forgets."
"Well, how about this? Let's you and I go out somewhere. You can choose anywhere you want to go and I'll buy you something very special. We'll celebrate your birthday just the two of us. How does that sound?"
"Thanks, Mother, but I think I'll just go to my room." With that, Draco slowly walked out of the parlor and up the stairs to his room.
Another journey forward showed a fourteen year old Draco sitting at the desk in his room, furiously writing in what appeared to be a journal. In a moment the sound of Narcissa's voice could be heard calling her son's name. Draco put his quill down and obediently went to find out what his mother wanted. Lucius looked questioningly at the angel. The angel pointed to the journal. Lucius walked over and began to read what his son was writing.
"Father yelled at me again. He yelled because I wasn't the best in my classes. He yelled because Slytherin didn't win the house cup. He yelled because I got hexed on the train. Like I could help that. He said I was stupid and incompetent as a wizard. He didn't even ask if I was alright. He just yelled. Well, that does it. I'm through with trying to live up to his standards and please him. If he doesn't care about me then why should I care about him? I'm done, finished, I'm not going to care anymore."
Lucius gave an involuntary shudder at his son's words. Just then the angel touched his arm and they were back on the side of the road where the accident had occurred. Feelings of guilt and remorse surged through his heart. His eyes were now open to what a jerk he had been and he was determined to change that. However, his pride was not going to allow him to come right out and admit it and the angel knew this.
"Now do you understand?" the angel asked.
Lucius straightened up a bit and looked defiantly at the angel. "I'll admit that I am not a perfect husband or father, but."
"Oh, you pathetic excuse for a man!"
Lucius was shocked at what he heard. He had never experienced someone talking to him in this way.
"Are you really going to make me say this?!" The angel sighed, "Fine! You're pathetic and unfeeling. You pushed everyone away and kept a wall up so that no one could get close to you. Not even your own wife and son who tried desperately for years, but were violently shoved aside. Can you blame them for not being too heartbroken that you're dead? Your death has probably hardly placed a ripple in their lives. Not like you were a big part of them. Their lives will probably be better with you gone. I even know for a fact that that man who Narcissa is set up to go on a date with is really nice and wealthy. She probably won't have any trouble falling for him and creating a wonderful life without you. Why, I even think that Draco will grow rather fond of him."
Lucius' eyes darkened with rage at the angel's words. "How dare you!"
The angel just shrugged.
"I will not let that happen! She is MY wife and he is MY son! Put me back in my body and I'll show you that I can change. I'll make sure that they grow to adore me! I'll do whatever it is that a husband and father does. I'll win them both back. No other man is going to take MY place!"
"Alright!" shouted the angel, trying to stop Lucius from continuing his ranting. I'll put you back. But there is one thing that you need to know before you go."
"Oh great. What is it?" Lucius said, fearing the worst.
"I have to put you back a couple of seconds before the car hit you. Therefore you will only have a moment to jump away. If you get killed this time, it's permanent."
Lucius nodded his head. He then braced himself as the angel prepared to snap his fingers.
Lucius suddenly found himself in the middle of the road and staring at two bright headlights coming right at him. In an instant he jumped out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. There was a loud screech as the car came to a halt. Lucius stood up and brushed himself off. He felt as if he was coming out of a dream. Had it all been real? Had there been an angle that took him through time? But who cared. He was alive. He hadn't been run over by a "muggle and her car". He was standing there, alive and well.
The young woman had jumped out of her car and ran over to where he was standing, somewhat in a daze.
"Oh my god! Are you alright, sir?! I swear I don't see you! You just came out of nowhere! I didn't hit you did I?"
Lucius looked down at the girl and shook his head. "No, I'm quite alright as you can see."
A look of relief swept over the girl's features. "Can, can I drop you off some place?"
"No thanks. I prefer to walk."
"Um, okay. Be more careful though."
Lucius just smiled at her as she turned to get back into her car. She quickly drove away and soon Lucius was left alone, in the dark. He looked down and saw that his wand was in his hand. He smiled and lifted the wand up and successfully apparated himself into his own house. He looked around and gave a satisfied grin right before he bounded up the stairs. The giant grandfather clock chimed four times and then the house went silent, except for the sound of Lucius rushing to his son's room.
He quickly reached the door. He did not knock but instead burst into the room with a very loud boom as the doors flew open.
Draco, who had been sound asleep a moment before, jumped so hard that he flew out of the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud. "I didn't do it! I was framed!"
Lucius walked quickly over to his son. Draco, still very disoriented, looked through sleep filled eyes as they figure of his father loomed over him. Draco became very frightened and backed away, grabbing a hold of the side table and pulling himself up. He was about to open his mouth to protest that whatever his father was mad about was not his fault when he suddenly found himself in the arms of his father in what could be described as a bear hug. Draco's whole body stiffened in shock. Finally Lucius pulled back and looked smilingly down at Draco. "I love you, son." He then playfully ruffled Draco's hair and then pushed the side of his head. "Go back to sleep." With that he turned to leave the room and to say hello to his wife.
Draco just stared as the doors shut behind his father. After a minute he shook himself and climbed back into bed. Sleep, however, was not going to come that easily. His mind raced. "What was that? Whatever it was it certainly wasn't his father. Could it have been a bad dream, hallucination, something? Was his father toying with him?" The more he thought the more frightened he became. One question kept racing through his mind. "If that wasn't his father, which it most likely wasn't, then what was it?"
Hey, thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I'm glad you all like the story.
Lady of Life- Gasp! Blasphemy! The Malfoys are my favorite characters! I always go for the bad guys in movies or books. But I must admit that reading fiction surrounding the Malfoys is usually unpleasant, what with all the abuse, incest, rape, and what-not. I actually don't read the ones with incest and rape. Anyway, I just felt like throwing a fic out there that didn't have all that angsty stuff and was completely off the wall. Really glad that you are enjoying the story. I'll try to do better with my typos and stuff. I always reread what I wrote, but an author usually misses their own mistakes. Thanks for letting me know. I'll try to go back and fix them. Thanks for your lovely review.
Aeryn Alexander- Glad you like my story. I thought I'd be a little different and write a fic where mother and son are close and secretly indulge in a muggle vice, television. I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars but I thought that it'd be funny to have them watching a Sci-fi movie. Thanks for your reviews, I enjoyed reading them.
Sailoranime- Yeah, a Malfoy watching tv? Kinda weird, but this whole fic is going to be crazy. Just wait until Lucius comes back from the dead. Hehe. Thanks for reviewing.
Hermonic Friction- Glad you love the story. Thanks for letting me know. Knowing how much people like my story helps me to keep writing it.
Athena- Thank you for your wonderful suggestions. I have put them in the story, however, I do not have him selling their wedding rings, but he does lose it. I also have the idea where Draco is trying to get his dad's attention but have tweaked it a bit. Thanks again. You helped me out.
Emif- Thanks for your suggestion. I've put it in the story. However, if there are some particular things that you had in mind to happen on the date, let me know and I'll put them in. Thanks again for your great help.
Summery of Chapter the Fifth---Okay, so this chapter is going to be about why his family is so indifferent to Lucius' death. What did he do that made people not care about him and the fact that he's dead? So, this chapter is going to have several sad scenes in it. There's no abuse and it's not too angsty; just a portrayal of a very emotionally detached man. Let me know if it's too sob story or not angsty enough to make the indifference to his death believable. If you have any suggestions let me know and I will consider putting them into the chapter. Thanks and love you all.
Chapter Five: You Drove Them Away
Within a moment Lucius found himself no longer surrounded by the familiarity of his own sitting room, but was now standing in the middle of a very busy street. Flocks of young Hogwarts students were running about excitedly along the street and in and out of the many interesting shops. Lucius quickly recognized this place as the magical town of Hogsmeade, and , judging by the amount of children rushing about, he dedeuced that it must be a Hogsmeade weekend for the students. What Lucius couldn't figure out is why he was standing there.
"What are we doing here?" he said in a disgusted tone as a large group of Hufflepuffs went running by, laughing rather boisterously. His face was twisted in a grimace as he surveyed the masses. He never did like kids much.
"We are here because I figured that it would be best if we started at the beginning and this is roughly the beginning." Replied the angel.
Lucius just looked at the angel credulously. "What is he talking about? The beginning of what?" he thought. Just then the angel looked past Lucius and nodded his head, silently telling Lucius to look in the same direction. So he turned and, to his amazement, was met with himself, only he was sixteen years old, his blond hair was quite a bit shorter and slicked back, much like Draco's, and his body was quite a bit leaner and a few inches shorter. He hadn't quite reached his final growth spurt at that age.
He watched as his younger self stood, obviously waiting for someone, and looking rather impatient and annoyed. Within a few minutes a rather young, blond girl came striding up to him. Narcissa was fifteen and was obviously the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. Even though she was quite young, she stood about an inch or two taller than Lucius. He was not too happy about that fact. However, Narcissa was the prettiest girl at the school and Lucius had been brought up to always desire the finest. His parents had pushed him into beginning the search for a proper wife, wanting him to get married soon after graduating Hogwarts. They had strongly recommended Narcissa, her being from a very wealthy and influential family. Lucius, like his father, found those two things to be the most important when finding a wife. The fact that Narcissa was a raving beauty was, in his mind, a great bonus.
So there his sixteen year old self stood, looking rather put out, as Narcissa strode over to his side for their first date.
Lucius looked at the angel quizzically. He hadn't the slightest idea why he was watching this. The angel just told him to watch and find out.
"You're six minutes late." Said the young Lucius as he looked at his watch and then placed it back in his pocket.
"Well, it takes time to make oneself look beautiful, and I wanted to make sure that I looked special for you." Narcissa said sweetly as she looked, slightly "down", at her companion.
"Looks as if you could have used some more time." He said as he looked critically at her.
A look of surprise came over her face at what he had said. Narcissa had thought that she did quite well with herself. After all, it was just a trip to Hogsmeade, not a ball at the bloody palace. Her surprised look quickly disappeared as she took a hold of his arm. Lucius quickly pulled away.
"If you don't mind, I prefer not to be touched."
"Oh, of course." She said, a little hurt. "I see you didn't bring me any flowers or chocolates."
"Why would I do that?"
"Well, that's what a lot of people do for a first date."
"Why would I want to go and waist money on something that is just going to wilt or be eaten within a couple of days?"
Narcissa decided not to comment further, but simply walked next to Lucius as he turned to stroll down the street.
The older Lucius turned to see the angel looking at him with an expression that said, "You asshole!" Lucius was in fact slightly embarrassed by his sixteen year old self's actions. Watching it happening in front of him made it seem much different than what he remembered; it seemed much more rude and cruel.
"Well, they would have wilted or been eaten within a couple of days." He said in his defense.
The angel just looked at him and sighed in disgust. He then said, "Let's skip ahead slightly, shall we?" With that he snapped his fingers and the scene surrounding them zoomed past until it came upon the young couple seated at a small table in one of the many restaurants in Hogsmeade. Lucius and the angel stood next to the table, listening to the conversation.
"Of course, Lucius, I agree, Hogwarts should be a little more selective when it comes to their choice in students. But to not allow any half-bloods or muggle-borns, don't you think that that is a bit extreme?"
"Typical." Said an annoyed Lucius.
"What is?"
"You women. You always are so sentimental."
"Excuse me?" asked a very confused Narcissa.
"If it were up to you women you'd let every stray or mutt into the school. You're always so emotional and incapable and making tough decisions, even if it was for the betterment of the school. It's disgusting. No wonder you women were strictly kept out of the ministry for so many centuries. If running the ministry were left up to you women it would crumble within a day. In fact, it's already rather weak as they are letting more and more women into it."
Narcissa raised an eyebrow at this.
"Well it would." Said the older Lucius to a glaring angel.
"Lucius, I was merely stating my view upon the whole muggle-born, half-blood issue. Not trying to reform the government."
"Well, women shouldn't worry about having opinions, let alone voicing them. Women are for decoration, not thinking."
Narcissa set her jaw. She wasn't going to explode even though he was being a colossal, sexist prat. Her parents had made her go out with Lucius. They had actually lectured her for several years that if Lucius ever asked her out she was to accept , no 'buts' about it. She knew that she would be in a load of trouble if she blew up and ruined this. She simply kept her mouth closed and vented her anger upon the piece of meat that she was viciously cutting through.
The angel took hold of Lucius' arm again and they proceeded to the Slytherin common room where several of Lucius' old classmates sat, talking quietly amongst each other. At that moment young Lucius and Narcissa entered the room, back from their first date.
"Hey, Lucius, come over here because we have some news that you might find interesting."
Young Lucius looked at Narcissa and simply said, "Goodnight." He then left her side and went over to where his fellow classmates, and future Death Eaters, sat. Narcissa stood, slightly shocked for a moment. There was no, 'I had a good time', 'May I see you again', 'Have a wonderful evening', no kiss, no nothing. There had just been a cold, 'Goodnight' and she was left to escort herself up the stairs.
The angel and Lucius went forward again and found themselves of the edge of the lake watching young Lucius and Narcissa on one of their many walks.
"Why won't you take me to Les Miserables?"
"I told you, I hate operas. If you want to go I'll pay for it, but I am NOT going. Take someone else to torture."
"Why is it that you will never take an interest in anything that I enjoy or think highly of? It's as if you have no interest in me and who I am at all."
"Of course I have interest in you. After all, you are the most beautiful girl in the school."
"But what else?"
"What do you mean, what else?"
"What else interests you?"
Young Lucius looked confused. After a moment he replied, "Well, you're wealthy and come from a very important family."
"Is that all? Is that all you care about?"
"Well, what else is there?"
Narcissa stomped off towards the castle leaving a bewildered Lucius by the lake.
"How you got that woman to marry you I'll never know." The angle said as he grabbed a hold of Lucius' arm and proceeded on.
They were now in the giant ballroom of Malfoy manor. It was their wedding reception and the room was filled with the chatting and clamoring of about 1200 guests. Narcissa, clad in a beautiful white wedding gown that fit closely to her body until it reached her knees and then flowed out behind her in a long train, stood, looking around the room for her new husband. They had entered the ballroom together and had danced one dance, but now, as the reception progressed he had disappeared. She searched desperately for him as the time for the traditional toasts were coming up. He was no where to be found. Narcissa spotted Crabbe and grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Have you seen Lucius?" she asked.
"Yeah, he left."
"Excuse me?"
"Him and a bunch of the guys got bored and decided to go to that new Muggle artifacts museum and destroy it."
Poor Narcissa was left to explain to the guest that her husband was not there to accept the toasts. Her face was flushed crimson as she stammered out an excuse for his absence. She then sat down in a chair behind the long table and tried with all her strength to put on a happy front, attempting to show that there was nothing wrong. However, if one was observant, they would notice the glasses of alcohol that she was quickly consuming.
In the blink of an eye Lucius and the angel appeared in the large bedroom where the young couple were to stay that night before they headed over to France for their honeymoon. Lucius cringed as he saw his wife of the past crying uncontrollable into a large, silk covered pillow. Lucius had never realized that his wife had been so upset as he had not returned home until about five in the morning and Narcissa had been fast asleep for some time.
The hands in the clock on the mantelpiece moved forward very quickly until they landed on eight o'clock. Lucius and Narcissa were up and getting ready to leave.
"Narcissa," young Lucius said, "Your ring is on the floor over here."
Narcissa rushed over towards the fireplace and picked up the ring that she had thrown across the room the night before. She quickly placed it back on her finger. She then looked at Lucius' hand and saw that he did not have his ring on as well.
"Where's yours?" she asked.
"Oh, I lost it last night. A bunch of us were playing poker and I ran out of money." Lucius said this in a very matter-of-fact tone.
Older Lucius saw the pained look on his wife's face that he had not seen that morning due to the fact that her back was turned. He cringed slightly inside but did not let it show on his face.
At that moment the angel took hold of his arm again. They were now standing in the master bedroom and it was seven years later. Lucius could tell because his wife lay in the bed, very pregnant. Lucius had gained control of the Malfoy estate as his father had died two years earlier and his mother had moved back to her original home in Iceland.
Lucius watched as his other self hurriedly entered the room.
"Lucius, you're home!"
"Well, obviously, woman." He said very agitatedly. "I'm only home for a moment though. I need to pick up some papers and head out to have dinner with a few of my, erm, colleagues." He said this as he went through a few drawers of the desk and pulled out some documents.
Narcissa knew he meant that he was going to meet some of his Death Eater colleagues and not those at the ministry.
"But Lucius, what about tonight?"
"What about it?" he said shortly.
"It's our anniversary and you promised me a dinner somewhere nice. You know I haven't been out for a long time and tonight is supposed to be special."
Lucius snorted. He had forgotten about their anniversary, but he was not about to let his wife know that. "I haven't got time for silly dinners. Besides, we'd have to floo to the restaurant and with the state you are in right now I doubt you'd be able to fit in the fireplace." With that he rushed out of the room, leaving Narcissa to weep once again on the bed, feeling alone, unloved, and very fat.
Time slipped forward again and Lucius now watched as his wife held their new son, Draco. His other self entered the room once again and walked towards the closet without so much as a glance at his wife and son. He began to pull out his Death Eater robes and laid them on the bed.
"Lucius." Narcissa said, "Why don't you hold your son?"
Lucius froze for a second and looked at her in a bewildered way. "Why?"
"Well, all you've done is merely glance at him the day he was born and that was a week ago. Don't you want to meet your son, hold him, or something?"
"No." he said shortly.
"Why not?"
"Look, I don't have time for this, sentiment and all that crap. The Death Eaters have been very busy as the Dark Lord is gaining more and more strength. In fact I have a meeting this very evening. We've got this kid for at least the next eighteen years so I don't think that there is any rush in getting know him at the moment. Besides, I don't much like babies and it's the woman's job to take care of them. Lucius had a look on his face that clearly said that the subject was closed.
Time progressed even further and Lucius was seated behind his large mahogany desk in the study. He sifted through a large stack of papers and occasional wrote something down upon them. A five year old Draco lay on his stomach on the floor in front of the fire drawing on a piece of paper. He suddenly decided that he was finished, jumped up, and bounded over to where his father sat.
"Father," he said as he tugged on Lucius' robes with one hand and held the picture in the other. "look what I drew." Lucius did not make any sign acknowledging his son's presence. "Father." Draco tried again. Still Lucius didn't respond. Draco tried a few more times. Finally a very frustrated Draco decided that he was going to get his father's attention and proceeded to scramble up onto the desk by way of using the drawers as steps. He thrust the picture in front of his father but as he did so he overturned a bottle of ink that quickly spread across the parchments and began to drip on the floor. Lucius jumped up and began to yell at his son.
"You stupid, STUPID boy! What the hell do you think you are doing!"
Draco scrambled off the desk as quickly as he could. "I'm sorry, Father, I just wanted to show you my picture." He held up the picture as proof.
Lucius snatched away the drawing of a dragon, stalked over to the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. "Go to your room! You are hereby grounded for two weeks!"
Little Draco quickly ran out of the room, wiping away the tears from his eyes as he did so.
Lucius and the angel went forward again and saw an eight year old Draco sitting on a couch in the parlor, looking up every couple of minutes at the clock. After a while Narcissa walked over to her son and sat down next to him.
"I'm sure he'll be here any minute." She said as she put an arm around him.
The hands on the clock sped forward for an hour. Narcissa and Draco still sat on the couch. Draco was now looking very upset.
"He promised. He promised he'd take me to the Quidditch Nationals today."
"Maybe he's just running late. He'll be here."
"No." said Draco as he shook his head. "He won't. Besides, it's too late now. The game has already been going on for a couple of hours. What's the point of going now?"
"Maybe he just forgot." Narcissa said trying to comfort her son.
"He always forgets."
"Well, how about this? Let's you and I go out somewhere. You can choose anywhere you want to go and I'll buy you something very special. We'll celebrate your birthday just the two of us. How does that sound?"
"Thanks, Mother, but I think I'll just go to my room." With that, Draco slowly walked out of the parlor and up the stairs to his room.
Another journey forward showed a fourteen year old Draco sitting at the desk in his room, furiously writing in what appeared to be a journal. In a moment the sound of Narcissa's voice could be heard calling her son's name. Draco put his quill down and obediently went to find out what his mother wanted. Lucius looked questioningly at the angel. The angel pointed to the journal. Lucius walked over and began to read what his son was writing.
"Father yelled at me again. He yelled because I wasn't the best in my classes. He yelled because Slytherin didn't win the house cup. He yelled because I got hexed on the train. Like I could help that. He said I was stupid and incompetent as a wizard. He didn't even ask if I was alright. He just yelled. Well, that does it. I'm through with trying to live up to his standards and please him. If he doesn't care about me then why should I care about him? I'm done, finished, I'm not going to care anymore."
Lucius gave an involuntary shudder at his son's words. Just then the angel touched his arm and they were back on the side of the road where the accident had occurred. Feelings of guilt and remorse surged through his heart. His eyes were now open to what a jerk he had been and he was determined to change that. However, his pride was not going to allow him to come right out and admit it and the angel knew this.
"Now do you understand?" the angel asked.
Lucius straightened up a bit and looked defiantly at the angel. "I'll admit that I am not a perfect husband or father, but."
"Oh, you pathetic excuse for a man!"
Lucius was shocked at what he heard. He had never experienced someone talking to him in this way.
"Are you really going to make me say this?!" The angel sighed, "Fine! You're pathetic and unfeeling. You pushed everyone away and kept a wall up so that no one could get close to you. Not even your own wife and son who tried desperately for years, but were violently shoved aside. Can you blame them for not being too heartbroken that you're dead? Your death has probably hardly placed a ripple in their lives. Not like you were a big part of them. Their lives will probably be better with you gone. I even know for a fact that that man who Narcissa is set up to go on a date with is really nice and wealthy. She probably won't have any trouble falling for him and creating a wonderful life without you. Why, I even think that Draco will grow rather fond of him."
Lucius' eyes darkened with rage at the angel's words. "How dare you!"
The angel just shrugged.
"I will not let that happen! She is MY wife and he is MY son! Put me back in my body and I'll show you that I can change. I'll make sure that they grow to adore me! I'll do whatever it is that a husband and father does. I'll win them both back. No other man is going to take MY place!"
"Alright!" shouted the angel, trying to stop Lucius from continuing his ranting. I'll put you back. But there is one thing that you need to know before you go."
"Oh great. What is it?" Lucius said, fearing the worst.
"I have to put you back a couple of seconds before the car hit you. Therefore you will only have a moment to jump away. If you get killed this time, it's permanent."
Lucius nodded his head. He then braced himself as the angel prepared to snap his fingers.
Lucius suddenly found himself in the middle of the road and staring at two bright headlights coming right at him. In an instant he jumped out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. There was a loud screech as the car came to a halt. Lucius stood up and brushed himself off. He felt as if he was coming out of a dream. Had it all been real? Had there been an angle that took him through time? But who cared. He was alive. He hadn't been run over by a "muggle and her car". He was standing there, alive and well.
The young woman had jumped out of her car and ran over to where he was standing, somewhat in a daze.
"Oh my god! Are you alright, sir?! I swear I don't see you! You just came out of nowhere! I didn't hit you did I?"
Lucius looked down at the girl and shook his head. "No, I'm quite alright as you can see."
A look of relief swept over the girl's features. "Can, can I drop you off some place?"
"No thanks. I prefer to walk."
"Um, okay. Be more careful though."
Lucius just smiled at her as she turned to get back into her car. She quickly drove away and soon Lucius was left alone, in the dark. He looked down and saw that his wand was in his hand. He smiled and lifted the wand up and successfully apparated himself into his own house. He looked around and gave a satisfied grin right before he bounded up the stairs. The giant grandfather clock chimed four times and then the house went silent, except for the sound of Lucius rushing to his son's room.
He quickly reached the door. He did not knock but instead burst into the room with a very loud boom as the doors flew open.
Draco, who had been sound asleep a moment before, jumped so hard that he flew out of the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud. "I didn't do it! I was framed!"
Lucius walked quickly over to his son. Draco, still very disoriented, looked through sleep filled eyes as they figure of his father loomed over him. Draco became very frightened and backed away, grabbing a hold of the side table and pulling himself up. He was about to open his mouth to protest that whatever his father was mad about was not his fault when he suddenly found himself in the arms of his father in what could be described as a bear hug. Draco's whole body stiffened in shock. Finally Lucius pulled back and looked smilingly down at Draco. "I love you, son." He then playfully ruffled Draco's hair and then pushed the side of his head. "Go back to sleep." With that he turned to leave the room and to say hello to his wife.
Draco just stared as the doors shut behind his father. After a minute he shook himself and climbed back into bed. Sleep, however, was not going to come that easily. His mind raced. "What was that? Whatever it was it certainly wasn't his father. Could it have been a bad dream, hallucination, something? Was his father toying with him?" The more he thought the more frightened he became. One question kept racing through his mind. "If that wasn't his father, which it most likely wasn't, then what was it?"