Chapter 27: Dungeons

The trip to the dungeons was, all in all, absolutely uneventful. Niles Longbottom, Head Boy, led us, continually muttering about "Duels! Inside the castle!", like he'd never had any before. I was sorely tempted to hex some sense into him. Meanwhile, the Brats were sulking, and, from the way they whispered, they were feeling rather sorry for someone named Moony, who would, they said, have to be locked up while they toiled in detention. I couldn't care less. They had, after all, started this fight.

"And you, Lucius. You're a prefect. How could you? Giving us a bad name." Longbottom was shaking his head, in apparent horror, at a Prefect knowing how to hex someone who'd tried to hex him in the first place. Hadn't that fool learned anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts? Then again, the teacher was Garednon, who was still pretending to know nothing about that matter.

And where had Professor Dolohov gone to? Probably another one of his remedial Arithmancy sessions. That subject was bad enough to have half of the class fail. Of course I also happened to be in that class, but my Malfoy cleverness was more than enough to get me through it with flying colors.

"These dungeons have to be cleaned, by hand. No magic. Surrender your wands to the prefect inside. I would be supervising you, only I've got Head Boy duties to do." He said pompously, before turning on his heel and walking away.

Annoying little git he was.

The walls were moldy, a sickly green tinge spread all over the cavernous room. I'd never gone to the dungeons before-- it was disgusting, and dirty-- and yet, here I was, about to clean it. We all stood there, at a loss of what to do. Quite suddenly, four sets of mops and pails, the latter brimming with soapy water, appeared in front of us.

"Start working. You can't leave until you've finished cleaning this cell for tonight; tomorrow, you move to another cell."

That voice. It sounded so. . . familiar. Was it? No. . . it couldn't be, but. . .

I turned around. Sure enough, it was Her. Lily. Only she seemed different. Annoyed? I tried to catch her eye, but she seemed too engrossed with the papers in front of her to notice me.

I was definitely not used to being ignored like this.

Somewhat reluctantly, I handed over my wand (she still didn't look up), took the mop and the bucket, and started to clean. If this job hadn't been so degrading, it wouldn't be half bad. At least, that was what I thought, before the numbness had started seeping in my hands. The soapy water, which had been full of welcoming bubbles earlier, now served the dual purpose of cleaning the walls (covered with slime which must have been stuck on with a Permanent Sticking Charm) and freezing my fingers. Of course, I suspected it did the latter more enthusiastically (if water could be enthusiastic).

The Brats were grumbling loudly, but I refused to make a sound. Why show weakness? I purposefully scrubbed even more vigorously, giving a silent cheer at the small improvement I saw on the moldy plaster encasing the roughly hewn stone walls.

Footsteps behind told me Lily was pacing around; watching us. Or, more correctly, watching me. The Brats were far away on the other side of the room; if she'd been pacing around them, I wouldn't have heard her footsteps through their complaints.

Quite suddenly, I felt a hand, not nearly as cold as mine, slip in, and out of my pocket with amazing speed. I turned around, but one look from her, and I resumed my earlier scrubbing just as quickly. She leaned forward, her body radiating surprisingly welcoming warmth.

"It appears you've gotten yourself in trouble, Mister Malfoy." She whispered, almost coquettishly. I smirked, partly from relief that she wasn't angry at me, and partly because. . . well, I liked to smirk.

 "Ask those little Gryffindor boys you have over there at the far corner. They started it." She laughed softly into my ear; her breath tickling and warm at the same time.

"You sound like a little boy yourself." She gave my shoulder a quick squeeze, and walked away, to reprimand the Brats for talking so loudly in the dungeons. I had to say, I was impressed. McGonagall herself couldn't have given a better scolding.

"You're here to work, not to talk. You broke these school rules out of your own accord; else, you wouldn't be standing here, grumbling and complaining for dinner. And, between the three of you, you've only cleaned half a wall. If other people" she was referring to me, of course "can clean half a wall alone in the space of an hour, surely three of you could have cleaned a wall and a half by now. This room's to be split up between four of you; finish with a wall, and you're off until tomorrow. But, at the rate you're going, you'll still be cleaning at midnight. And yes; my shift ends in an hour; Mister Pringle will come to watch you afterwards. And, I'm quite sure you'll find he isn't as accommodating as I am."

It took quite a lot of will power not to cheer 'Go Lily!' at that very instant.

The next hour went by considerably faster than the first; I was filled with the knowledge that I would be allowed to go soon, and the other side of the wall, nearer to the door, was much warmer. Needless to say, my hands were still aching once I'd finished this menial task. Pringle had arrived, just as I was making my way to the door.

"Finished so soon, young master Malfoy?" He smiled at me through his grotesquely formed teeth. I managed to grimace back.

"Yes. I'm sure you'll find my work more than acceptable." He gave a little nod, and handed me my wand. Pringle's parents had been in my father's employ, and he'd used to visit the manor when I was a child. A 'soft spot' must have grown in his hardened heart for me; after all, I had been a very lovable, handsome little child.

I could hear him shouting at the Brats as I exited. Lily had gone five minutes earlier. Lily. I'd almost forgotten about whatever she'd slipped in my pocket.

It was a piece of parchment, with her handwriting hastily scribbled on.

Same place? Hope you had fun in detention, by the way.

Love, Lily

By 'Same Place' she meant the statue of Piro the Pathetic, of course. My heart gave a strange thud at the words 'Love, Lily'. Yes, she'd openly told me she loved me, but it still made me feel strange to hear her say it, or write it so often. I suppose I feared it would lose its novelty. Everything in my world was about novelty. But Lily wasn't. Lily was. . . different. She shone brighter than anything I could ever have.

But, as I reminisce so often, I never had her for long.

Again, I've strayed from my story. Let me continue.

She was there, leaning against the statue, looking a bit tired, but beautiful, nonetheless. She always was.

"Detention was great, if you must ask." I said, before pulling her roughly to me for a kiss. I hadn't held her for so long (at least, it felt like so long; in reality it must have only been a day or two); I was beginning to miss her touch.

She kissed me back, but, as my hands traveled up her arms, she cut if off quickly, to my disappointment. Had I done something wrong? (this question, in itself, was uncharacteristic of me; I was supposed to believe I never did anything wrong)

"Your hands! They're freezing." I was relieved, for the second time that day. What was it about her that had me so on edge? Or was it something about me? I was going to become a Death eater, after all--"Let me warm you." She put her hands over my half-frozen ones, and the warmth emanating from them felt almost unpleasant for a moment. But soon, the rhythmic circling of her palms against mine was. . . it was heaven. I'd been cold for so long, and she was so warm. I pulled her closer to me, not caring if Garednon was watching, not caring if Voldemort himself was watching.

 I was with Lily, and all was well with the world.

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Author's Notes:

Sorry I took so long! I was supposed to upload this days ago, but, unfortunately, there was something wrong with ff dot net, and I couldn't open the website. Worse, Lucius was on a vacation of some sort in Romania, and he was unable to come to my aid. Oh well, at least I can post now. J

I hope you all understood the metaphorical meaning of that last paragraph! For those of you who didn't get it, their hands, in a way, represented them. Lily is a warm person, and Lucius is a cold person. When he started 'changing', he didn't want to; and change pained him. But her warmth of heart seeped into his, and his heart sort of 'defrosted'. When she died, there was nothing left to keep his heart warm, and it froze all over again. *sob* My poor, poor Lucius. *cough cough* not that he is poor, you understand. . . figuratively speaking J

To explain for the absence of Lucius' death-eater-ness, well, he was too engrossed with cleaning, poor thing L

And by the way, the reason Lily was acting a bit cold at first, from Lucius' point of view was because: a) she was annoyed at the Brats b) she didn't want to let on to anyone she was getting 'friendly' with Lucius J they were, after all, supposed to keep the relationship a secret. Besides, she knew James was watching her (in a freaky, stalker guy way, hehehe)

Thank you's!! J

Sorry, I have to keep this a bit short; I just came from a dance and I am beyond tired.

Chelli---thanks for your wonderfully long review!!! Lucius loved it, as did I. You'll find out who he's going to kill soon enough. . . bwehehehe. I hope this chapter's bit of fluff was satisfactory; there'll be a bit more in the next, I think J

Sarah---Cations and Anions are freaky things that have to do with chemistry . . . ugh, don't get me started J

Nanne/Dwen---J you're right, it isn't Lily J but. . . oh, I can't say much here, Lucius might get mad at me for giving away secrets J

Erenriel--- Ooh, I do hope Lucius enjoys his. . .er. . . stay there. . . muggle genius must have hit him full force, with that blinking light, and now he's in a state of hopefully reversible catatonia J wouldn't want our darling evil villain to turn odd, now would we? J

Diabla666---thank you thank you thank you! J I'm glad you don't find my characters 'flat' J I love writing Slytherins J I believe that evil isn't born, it's created, and so this makes villains all the more exciting J