Spoiler Warning: This story is a sixth year fic that follows on from the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a conseqeunce this story contains *major* spoilers for book 5. You have been warned.
SNAKE HEALER: THE MALFOY MUGGLE LOVER
CHAPTER 13: TRUTHS
The scene in the pensieve changed yet again, although the location remained the same. Whilst the location was nearly identical, with only the more recent family photo giving away the change in time period, Lucius, however, looked completely different. It wasn't that Lucius had changed significantly in appearance, for he had not, merely that the look on his face was foreign to Harry's conception of his father. He was sitting at his desk slouching sloppily. His wild uncombed hair and the bags under his eyes only emphasised this strange and unusual lack of concern for his appearance. It wasn't this that shocked Harry to the core nor the obvious lack of sleep instead, it was the haunted look etched on the Malfoy patriarch's face. It was a look that Harry associated with suicide or all consuming fear, both of which were alien to Harry's conception of Lucius, as the blond was too arrogant.
It seemed as though Harry stared at the pitiful sight of the figure at the desk for an eternity until the office door opened and an angry looking Narcissa Malfoy strode in. She made no obvious immediate reaction to her husband's depression.
"Lucius Colubra Malfoy," she screamed, her angry gaze offering no pity or sympathy for her husband's condition, "Will you please pull yourself together and stop acting like a half-witted muggle five year old."
It was a tone would have expected Narcissa to use to address her extremely domineering husband, at least if, like Harry, you believed her public image as a beautiful and docile show wife. Whatever the inaccuracy of her public image, her anger clearly had an effect, although it may not have been as strong a reaction as she had expected. It visibly galvanised Lucius into anger, causing him to stiffen and sit up straight. His face twisted into a scowl, albeit a particularly weak and half-hearted one that clearly showed his depression.
"Why should 1?" he snapped in reply, his fatalism clearly evident in more than just the meekness of his anger.
"Why? Because you have an important meeting with the Neufchâtels in twenty minutes, that could seal the Chateau Maillard deal. Janus is going to be briefing you on the latest Dark Arts Act this afternoon and most significantly the minister is coming to dinner this evening!" she shouted sternly, her glare of betrayal, anger and disgust only deepening, even if her tone had retained it's same ice cold quality that had marked her previous words.
This time her words had no effect as his eyes and face still retained the mournful despair that was laced with his anger at being disturbed. "Does it matter?" he asked, causing Narcissa to glare even more fiercely, this expression was soon wiped off her face momentarily by his next comment though. "He's back. We're ruined and I'm no longer a free man, just like before. You know what he's like; I have to do what I'm told." The despair on his face deepened as the topic of his musings turned to Harry, who was still watching with a morbid fascination that had been roused by Lucius' current condition. "Lord! What about if he asks me to harm Harry? I would rather die. That is if I could even hurt my own flesh and blood…" Amidst the despair and half heartedness the firmness with which Lucius expressed those last comments surprised Harry, it certainly sounding the only thing that he truly meant. What made it even more surprising was that Lucius was expressing what he truly thought, laying his soul bare rather than saying what he thought his wife or anybody else wanted to hear. His remarks continued for a little bit longer, until Lucius made a comment about going into hiding that brought his wife's wrath upon him.
"Lucius Colubra Malfoy," Narcissa exclaimed sounding horrified. Harry wasn't sure whether her horror was a result of the dark lord's return or Lucius' reaction to it, he soon found out that it was the later. "The dark lord's return does not provide you with an excuse to duck your responsibilities as head of one of the leading pureblood families. You opposed him before and you can do it again," As her rant went on the initial horror was replaced by the same ice-cold anger that she had been displaying previously. "You complain about to your son yet you do not think of helping him…."
Once again, some true emotion slipped through Lucius' mask of overwhelming despair. It appeared that Narcissa's last comment had offended Lucius. "How can I?" he snapped heatedly, "If I stand up to the dark lord about Harry, I'll be killed without having helped Harry. At least if I stand aside only one of us dies." Needless to say Harry was less than impressed by this comment, but then so was Narcissa, who responded to it with even more anger.
"If you don't protect Harry who will?" she asked rhetorically. "The same ministry who probably won't even acknowledge the dark lord's return? That old fool Dumbledore and his useless Order of the Phoenix? My cousin, the convicted criminal who is on the run from both the ministry and the dark lord? The Weasley Family? You are his only chance Lucius. If you can not protect him by spying then nobody can and he has no chance of resisting, let alone defeating, the power of the dark lord."
"I know that," Lucius responded, torn between his previous despair and a sense of resignation, the origin of which Harry was unsure about. "It's just that I could not live with myself if I failed him, like I did with his mother. I can't do it, Narcissa, I'm not powerful enough to stand up to him."
Needless to say Narcissa was far from sympathetic and even less impressed with Lucius' response and, like Harry, interpreted it for what it really was – a sign of cowardice. "You were before, Lucius," she snapped angrily. The fact that your two sons are no longer babies changes nothing. You have a duty to protect your family, Lucius, from the manipulations of people like Voldemort. If you die whilst doing so, than at least you die honourably whilst upholding everything that is great about Slytherin and the Malfoy Family. Or would you rather be remembered as a weak coward who nearly destroyed the family through his loyalties to a murderous maniac."
This time Narcissa's comments did have the desired effect on her husband. Any traces of despair, depression, resignation or anger disappeared to replaced by a fierce, fiery determination that consumed him. The complete transformation in attitude surprised Harry, like most things to do with his father. It wasn't the change in emotion with Narcissa's talk of reputation he had been expecting a change, but so suddenly or to the degree that had actually occurred. Whilst, from past experience, he knew that Lucius could be moody, he hadn't seen it happen to this degree. "You're right. Harry needs me," he said firmly. "I have to help him, just like I did his mother. I may have failed her but I will not do so with our son. I promised Lilly that I would protect him and protect him I will – at all costs." The passion in his voice was unmistakable – he truly meant what he was saying.
That was the last Harry saw of Lucius' memories as he found himself back in his bedroom in Malfoy Manor with Lucius standing next to him, looking completely unaffected by the fact that Harry had just seen some of his memories. There was a moment of silence, whilst Harry processed what he had just seen, before he opened his mouth and asked the first question, by that stage it was apparent that Lucius was not going to be the first to speak.
"Is that why I'm here? Because of the promise you made to protect my mother and I and the guilt you feel because you failed her?" Lucius made no reaction to Harry's question or to the vicious tone in which it was asked. Harry took the silence to indicate that he was right. "Then on behalf of my mother I relieve you of her promise to protect me. I don't need your 'protection', Malfoy, I can survive perfectly well without it."
"My promise to your mother is irrelevant," Lucius stated calmly in response. Surprisingly he sounded unaffected by his son's anger, but then the fact Harry had just seen some of his memories might have had an effect too. "You are my son, Harry. It is my duty as a father to protect you, whether you want me to or not."
"Do you think that I want you to be my father?" Harry snapped back in reply. "I don't need you and I want anything to do, with you. I wish none of this had ever happened and, " he continued raising his voice even more, "above all I wish that James Potter was my father."
He didn't wait for a reply from Lucius or even wait to see how he would react, because he stormed out of the room, leaving a stone faced Lucius feeling slightly shaken by the intensity of his son's anger. The blond man, however, was not overly concerned by the reaction though, despite its intensity as he drew comfort from Harry's words or more precisely the lack of them on certain topics. It was clear to him that at least seeing his pensieve had removed any doubts in his son's mind regarding his good intentions.
Several Hours later, Harry made his way to the back entrance to the manor grounds. It was there that he had arranged to meet one of his friends, what he didn't expect though, was for Remus to be there too.
"Remus!" Harry cried happily upon seeing the werewolf, "What are you doing here?"
It wasn't Remus who answered though. "I asked him to come here, because there's something I want to tell you both." The person Harry had actually arranged to meet replied. He was a tall boy with long black hair and was about Harry's age. He was also one of Harry's housemates, even if he wasn't entirely sure which, although Harry did have his suspicions.
"I know as much as you, Harry," Remus commented sounding mystified and slightly concerned, while also answering the question that Harry was about to ask. "But how are you Harry? I hope Malfoy isn't treating you badly."
"No, he just won't stop bugging me," Harry responded bitterly. The memories of his earlier argument with Lucius and the pensieve that preceded it were still fresh. "He seems to think I should like him, when all I want is for none of this to have happened and for James Potter to be father."
Remus smiled sympathetically, obviously emphasising with Harry's predicament, "You've just got to make the best of what you've been given though. As much as you want to you can't change the fact that you're related to Malfoy, so you're stuck with him."
"I know," Harry said with an air of resignation, " I just wish he wasn't such a git. Still, his father is worse, he doesn't leave him alone." He continued, indicating his friend, who seemed to tense up at the mention of his father, just as he usually did.
"Oh?" Remus exclaimed inquisitively, "You didn't tell me that Aranel had married."
Harry's friend tensed up even more, he looked extremely uncomfortable discussing his front of Remus. Harry for his part was thoroughly confused by Remus' reaction and had no idea about what Remus was talking about. The fact that he couldn't place where he had previously heard the name 'Aranel' only added to his confusion. His friend certainly hadn't used the name, but then he never referred to his birth mother by name, unlike Olessë, his mother's husband.
"He means James not Olessë," His friend replied sounding simultaneously firm and nervous. Remus looked at the boy with a mixture of confusion; suspicion and above all anger clouded his face, which immediately made Harry guess who the James his friend referred to was. It was a theory, which certainly made sense, if only, because it fitted in with where he had the name Aranel before. It also brought about the exact same reaction upon Harry that Remus had experienced, although unlike the werewolf he couldn't control his anger.
"You're telling me that not only is James Potter alive, but that he let his own best friend spend thirteen years in Azkaban, as well as leave me with the Dursleys!" Harry roared angrily, anger consuming him as it so often seemed to. "I knew your father is a bastard, but this is just evil."
The boy in front of him just nodded, "I told you he was selfish bastard." he said unhappily, regret but no anger showing in his voice. His lack of denial was sufficient conformation for Remus to gasp in astonishment.
"How?" He cried breathlessly, the hard edge to his voice unmistakably anger. However, his bewilderment was equally as audible "I was at his funeral. I saw his dead body. How can he be alive."
"The same way I did," The boy explained, sounding unaffected by either person's reaction, although, Harry was surprised to note that his anxiousness had only diminished slightly. "It's a flaw in the elfin teleportation spell, its something to do with the killing curse separating the human and elfin sides of a half-elf, and the elfin side surviving because we elves are immune to the unforgivables. Mother knows more, she was the one who explained it to me." The werewolf made no reaction; he seemed to have gone into an angry trance.
"Elf!" Harry exclaimed. He had worked out that the boy in front of him must have been an elf because both of his parents were half-elfin, but to actually hear it from the boy himself astonished him, anyway.
"Yeah, it shocked me too," the boy, who Harry now knew was, Caranthir, James Potters son, commented blithely, "I mean I was shocked enough when Sirius told me that I wasn't fully human. But, to become fully elfin after saving you from You-Know-Who was extremely weird. I mean not only was in a state of shock for several days, but it also felt like I was possessing someone else, because the elfin body is so different to my half-human one."
"Sirius?" Harry queried, whilst simultaneously feeling happy and grateful for the confirmation that his friend had been the one to save him. He didn't comment about it though, because he was pretty sure from the casual way Harry's near death was mentioned, that his friend regarded his actions as an integral part of their friendship and saw no need for the young blond haired Malfoy to bring it up.
"He was the one who put me in contact with my birth mother," Caranthir replied. "He also told me about you too, or at least that you weren't a Potter, even if he refused to mention the Malfoys. I think he knew that you were better off without them."
"I could be worse off," Harry responded, defending Lucius, much to the surprise of Caranthir, Remus and the two elves that Caranthir knew were spying on them under the cover of invisibility charms, one of them much to the young elf's disgust. "I mean at least Malfoy isn't trying to harm me, even if I can't really trust him."
"But, Harry," Caranthir protested, refusing to believe that his friend meant what he was saying, "This is Malfoy we're talking about. You know, evil death eater extraordinaire, who killed Sirius and tried to kill you just a few weeks ago."
It wasn't the Potter turned Malfoy who responded though, because one of the two eavesdroppers made themselves known, causing three sets of hostile glares to be sent towards the tall, elfin form of a man Remus immediately recognised, despite his changed appearance, as being James Potter. "I told you son that the Malfoys had corrupted him. A few weeks ago, he wasn't on their side," the elfin Marauder said in a fatherly tone, that succeeded only in making both and Harry see red, "If you want your friend back, then you have to make sure he comes with Caranthir me or else he'll be lost to the light forever."
The response of James' son was simple: he drew his wand and pointed it at his father, "Over my dead body," he hissed vehemently. Needless to say, Harry had drawn his wand too.
Rather than making his way towards Harry, so as to grab his wife's son and teleport away with him, James looked towards his old friend, Remus, only to find the distrustful and hostile glare of a friend who he had lost contact with after his supposed death.
"No," Remus said firmly, instantly picking up the meaning of Potter's glare, "I will not help a man who left his innocent best friend rot in Azkaban, nor, will I help the man who let his adopted son live with a family of neglectful, magic-hating muggles for fifteen years."
James' reaction to these comments surprised Remus, Caranthir and Harry because of their vehemence. "I did not leave Sirius to rot in Azkaban. I may not have been able to free him but I tried my hardest to make sure he stayed sane, by removing all the anti-magic wards surrounding his cell and giving him enough chocolate to heal himself from the dementors effects," he protested hotly, losing his composure at the allegation that he betrayed his best friend.
"Why didn't you free him," Remus responded, the firmness of his tone and intensity of his glare remaining undiminished.
"I was supposed to be dead!" James thundered, "The ministry wouldn't have believed who I was, let alone my story and Sirius refused to let me help him escape. I may have deserted you, but I would never ever do anything to hurt Sirius."
"Fine," Remus admitted grudgingly, even if his anger and distrust of his former friend refused to diminish. He hadn't truly believed Caranthir, when he had reported that James had betrayed Sirius, as the prospect of such a betrayal seemed ridiculous given the closeness of their relationship. True, James was a bastard to everyone else, even to Remus at times, but never to Sirius. It was this same fact that meant that he would not allow James to get his hands on Harry, a point he made perfectly clear.
James made no vocal response to the lack of aid. Instead, he made to stun Caranthir and Remus, before whisking Harry away to the safety of James' home, where the corrupting influences of the Malfoys could be purged from the boy. What he reckoned without though was the anti magic field surrounding him, cast by a woman who had been a thorn in his side ever since she had ran away with their two month old baby son sixteen years ago.
"Caranthir warned me that you might do this, so I came here to stop you," the woman, who happened to be Caranthir's mother, said fiercely, before launching into a lecture on the rights and wrongs of stealing other peoples children, not that he paid any attention to it. Instead, he bitterly watched as Caranthir and Harry disappeared off into the distance and sneered as Remus wandered away in the opposite direction. By the time Harry returned to Malfoy Manor, James was sitting in an elfin detention cell accused of attempting to kidnap both Caranthir and Harry.
I told you I couldn't guarantee anything except that this story would be finished. Still, a month and a half is a bit excessive. I should be able to write a couple of chapters over christmas, but after that updates will as be sporadic as they have been. It's just that I have been busy since the end of June and consequently I have had little time to write.
Thank You to all those who reviewed chapter 12, your reviews and your patience were most appreciated. If you want me to e-mail you when I update this fic leave your e-mail address in your review.