Chapter 13

I'd never really gone to the kitchens. Whenever I felt like having something to eat, I would head down the secret passage, to Hogsmeade. There was, of course, the occasional house elf I would find, cleaning up the room, or lighting the fire. My unusually potent powers of persuasion (simple leg locker curse, or one like it anyway, and a memory charm afterwards) allowed me to get food without having to go downstairs. It was rather surprising, from my point of view, that I hadn't needed to torture those house elves after all. I'd just had to ask them! The same way Lily was doing, right at that moment.

"Daisy, Lucius and I were just wondering if you could fix us something to eat? Dinner's already started, and, well, you know, it *would* be quite embarrassing to barge in like that," She was asking kindly.

"Yes miss! Of course, anything, anything!" The house elf squeaked, before *bowing* out of our presence. Lily turned to me.

"Poor thing, look at her ear!" She whispered, and, sure enough, when I looked, half an ear was missing. I later recognized it as one of my 'experimental' guinea pigs, the one I'd tried Severus' new jinx on. Guilt (a rather foreign feeling, I might add) crept up on me.

"Well, uh, I'm sure it'll grow back." She looked at me, shocked at my ignorance.

"Ears don't just *grow back*, Lucius!"

"They could!" I said defensively. "I mean, our legs don't grow back, but look at earthworms. The same principle might just apply to house elves, for all *you* know, Miss Lily." I'd taken to calling her that, because it made her even more frustrated.

"House elves are just like-" I never *did* find out what house elves were like, because Dizzy, or Daisy or whatever it was called (In my opinion house elves shouldn't have names, 'elf' seems to work just fine), came up with two of its companions, carrying a heavy platter. Those house elves were fast, weren't they? "Thank you, Daisy, and you Queenie, and you too, Jerry," Lily said (to my horror, she actually knew these creatures by name), before giving me a sharp jab in the ribs. She expected *me* to say thank you to a *house elf*? Was she mad? I didn't express my gratitude to my subordinates! These elves were just doing their bloody jobs! I was Lucius Mal---

"Thank you, Daisy. And to your little friends." The wretched little thing actually giggled and batted her bloody eyelashes at me! If I hadn't known Lily better, I would have suspected the Imperius Curse. How on earth had she gotten me to say thank you?

I didn't know it, then. But that had just been the beginning of 'The Good Lucius' (or, at least, as close to good as I could get). Lily had... a *way* with me. I didn't know *how* she did it, but whenever she wanted me to do something, I'd do it. No questions asked. I don't think it was *A* charm, but rather, one of *her* charms. She'd just give me her pleading look, and I would melt. Oh, yes, the story. Right back to it, then.

Those little elves had just handed me the platter (they looked doubtfully at Lily's feminine frame), which was heavier than I'd expected. Loaded with food enough for 5 students, probably.

"'Bye!" Lily waved to the elves as they chorused their response. Why did she have to be so bloody nice to them all the time? I scowled even more as I pushed the heavy oak doors open. The fresh breeze felt good on my skin, especially after that flaming furnace of a kitchen. "See, you *can* be nice." She whispered.

"Nice my arse. I was forced to say that, and *you* know it." I growled back.

"Forced? I didn't have you at wandpoint or anything like that."

"Ha. Feigning innocence, are we?" I was getting grumpier by the second. And within reason; my own *father* wouldn't have been able to convince me to say 'thank you' to those blasted elves. Not that he would actually *do* anything of the sort. No, my father hated elves, muggles, and mudbloods alike.

This *girl* made me feel odd, period. She made me feel like nothing, absolutely *nothing*, was in my hands. I didn't like losing control of the situation. IT JUST WASN'T RIGHT.

"Lucius?" She was waving a hand in front of me. Immediately, I snapped out of my thoughts. You all know I tend to get caught up in them sometimes.

"Yes?" My voice came out colder than I'd wanted. She ignored it, no small feat for anyone---little fifth year Gryffindors, least of all.

"We never *did* decide, the Tower or the Gardens?"

"Your choice." I cloaked my feelings in sarcasm and nonchalance.

"How about the Lake?"

"How about Giant Squid."

"Oh, right." Her face fell. More guilt. I'd just remembered her 'emotional ordeal', and I probably wasn't helping one bit. Ordinarily, she would have had enough enthusiasm for both of us. But this wasn't ordinary, was it. I made a mental note to be . . . *nicer*. I almost shuddered visibly at the word.

"You heard the story?" She nodded, and smiled a little, at the lighter tone of my voice. Everyone knew about the first year whose picnic had been 'stolen' by a giant tentacle. It was almost legend.

"Fine then, the Tower." I gave a mischievous grin at the suspicious look cast my way. "You asked *me*, and the Tower *is* cleaner. No chance of beetles flying onto your meal. Trust me, it's happened." She shrugged, and followed.

The Astronomy tower must have been at *least* four centuries old. It's walls, worn smooth by age, were held together magically. Otherwise, it would already have crumbled after it's first hundred years. The door was locked. I snorted, at this. So did she. We both knew locks were completely useless against wizards and witches. It *did* keep out the occasional pest (by that, I meant all annoying magical creatures, little children included), but other than that. . . well, Alohamora did the trick.

"See, not a single couple in sight." I whispered, triumphantly, before setting the platter down.

"Not there, let's go upstairs!" I stared at her for a moment. "Dine among the stars? At least we'll have the *real* sky above us, you know, not just a bewitched ceiling."

Let me pause at this point in the story, and explain how exactly the tower layout is like.

Imagine a hollow spire. Completely smooth, and therefore impossible to scale outside, and empty inside, except for a flight of stairs. A flight of stairs that follows the curve of the tower, around and around, until it reaches the top. Nothing much awaits you at the top of the stairs: no door, unless you count the one on the ceiling. So, for tall people such as myself, we have to hunch down a little bit before we manage to poke our head through the hole (it doesn't deserve to be called 'a door'). The 'roof' of the tower is about 12 meters diameter, and slightly convex in nature. You don't have to worry about slipping off though because the tiles on top are charmed with a spell to prevent those sorts of things.

Now you can understand *why* I stared at Lily in shock and amazement when she wanted to 'dine among the stars'. How were we going to climb up those stairs with a heavy platter? Magic, of course, was indeed, an option. Levitate the platter. But, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, magic requires a certain amount of concentration. And so I believed there would be a certain amount of difficulty involved, concentration on the 'magic', and concentration on *not* plunging 150 feet to meet certain death.

Of course, being *me*, I was totally gone the instant she gave me that pleading look of hers.

"Oh, all right." I said, trying not to smile like a fool.

'Like' being the keyword; Lucius Malfoy never was, and never will be, a fool.

Once again, I digress. Let me continue. Unfortunately, I have absolutely NO IDEA how I managed to get up there, so a detailed account of my ascent will not be available. But I did manage, of course. A Malfoy always manages.

A/N:I know I 'predicted' a lot of fluff to come up in this chapter, but then it would have been too long : ) So, instead, I'm cutting this chapter in half, and the 'fluffy' part will come up in chapter 14. My predictions *are* like Trelawney's after all, huh? Oh well, as mentioned, fluff will *definitely* come up in the next chapter. Cross-my-fingers-hope-to-die- stick-a-needle-in-my-eye promise. (Lucius volunteered a crucio if I didn't have fluff in the next chapter, but I think needles in eyes are far more damaging : )

Thanks to all of those who reviewed, because, like I said before, I really really really appreciate it. And so does LUCIUS. He says he 'likes the fact that people are interested in him more than that Potter-boy'. And, for Lucius, that's saying quite a lot, don't you think?

Chelli-- thanks for reviewing again! *hugs* Yes, more is *definitely* on the way.

Trixi Hellfire-- A new reviewer! *calms self down* I'm glad my fic managed to 'stand out' : )