A/N: o.0 *blinks* What's this? An new chapter posted? That's right! I was going insane from working on my report so much that I took a day off and spent it typing up this chapter and inspecting it over. Feel much better now. And now, I have to go back to my report. XP Anyhow, replies to reviews and stuff, and then chapter! *hums to GLAY's Zutto Futaride*
Dyane: Thank you, but really, you don't need to bow or anything. I'm glad you liked En Las Montañas and I hope you like this fic as well…well, what you've read so far. ^^
SiLvErFaTeD: Thank you. ^.^
Bookworm: Yuppers, something of a Brooding!Harry, and a bit of Scheming!Harry later on. And about Ron's eye… *sings in a singsong voice* I'm not saying….
HPIceAngel: Yes, finally posted. And yes, Harry and Lucius do meet; first time is....um....*thinks hard* gooooooooood. The second time isn't until waaaaaaaay later and not under the best of…*ahem* circumstances. And that's all I am willing to confirm on that subject at the moment. *zips lips shut*
kagomepotter: Thank you. You want to know how Lucius is doing? Simply read this chapter and find out a bit. ^^
DaughterofDeath: Hm…not to sure what to say anymore cuz you say the same thing all the time. So….read.
Immortal Memories: I'm of the same mindset too. Dumbledore is, in my opinion, far more disturbing than Voldemort. I've had a 4 hour-long discussion about this with my friend Charlie in a Starbucks in a Chapters bookstore while eating Chinese food and sucking back lattés. I find it very disturbing that Dumbledore seems to know everything that happens in Hogwarts just like that. And the way he phrases things, it's much like emotional blackmail; and who wants to deny a 'kindly' old man. *snorts* Yeah, I find it very disturbing.
Strawberry Pavlova: Thank you! =) Lucius is the chapter after the next one.
anon: Thanks! =) I'm glad you like it.
MustIBeAMalfoy: Yes! Sequel! Update here! I managed to squeeze it out before I launch into my massive study week for my exams.
Final Spell: Updated. When I next update it'll probably be sometime around April 25th, 26th, somewhere in that week. My last exam is on May 5th and afterwards I'll have a bit more time, and can update more regularly…something to the tune of once every week and a half.
Plastraa: I do my bestest to please. ^___^ Happy endings are a-coming, that much I can promise you. lol I see slashy love everywhere too. I was watching Weiß Kreuz again; and there was one part where I gawked and went, "Oh my God! Yohji-kun is feeling up Omi-kun! Right there in the flower shop!" I swear, that's what it looked like to me, but I see slash everywhere. lol Hm, you know, it doesseem like UST between them now that I've read it over. And I think I've been reading waaaaay too much Snarry fanfiction as well.
Shinigami Liliz Black: Updated! I know, two whole weeks. Lucius is fine…but then again, that depends on how you define 'fine'; I don't think I'd be fine if I were him….I'd probably take the Wizarding equivalent of a bowie knife and hunt down Voldemort myself. But I can say there are some serious yet comedic moments later on. Well I find them to be like that. *snickers* And if you're wondering, no, I wasn't as evil to Lucius as I was to Snape.
Quila: *blushes* Thank you very much. I have to go over En Las Montañas to fix up the small errors I found, but it's pretty well done, considering I had no beta and I wrote the fic in the wee hours of the morning when I have some decidedly peculiar inspirations. I provided...um…. 'alleviation' of sorts, but that's not until chapter eight… which will have to be posted off FF.net *koffhint!koff* And in regards to your question, Lucius is playing the role of the Death Eater. His rationale behind this and thie issue you raised about him agreeing with Voldemort's ideals is explained, don't worry.
DesdemonaSakura: Your instructions were perfectly clear, and I finally got a chance to go look at your drawings. XD XD XD XD XD That Lucius one was just hilarious! 'That was my art hand!'. Hehehe, talk about a bitch slap...oh my God, I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard; I shouldn't have looked at them all in a row....it's even funnier seeing it drawn out! Or maybe it was all the sugar I had eaten. *shrugs* And as to what they do to bring Voldie down...well...when one wants something bad enough, one comes up with many ways to get what one wants. Lucius is no exception. ^__^ The betaed chapter should be in your inbox later on today.
Chapter Two
Lucius wasn't all that happy at the moment, and a few things were boding ill in his mind. The first being that he was standing in the old derelict Riddle Manor; the second was that the Dark Lord had kept him waiting here for what must have easily been a hour. At the moment, Lucius was standing in front of a closed set of rotting cherry doors. His throat felt a touch dry and his palms a bit sweaty .This was the first time he ever had anything to hide from the Dark Lord. How Severus did it and manage to stay calm, Lucius had no clue.
And he was now thankful that he had taken the potion that Severus had given him earlier on. It had tasted like rotten eggs and sulphur but he swallowed it down nonetheless. And then nothing had happened. Lucius had recalled every single event his mind could dredge up from the past three months, only to find that nothing had happened. No tingling sensation, no strange feeling, absolutely nothing at all. But he had yet to see Severus brew a potion incorrectly and, had he not been angry, would have been adamant on it being ingested as soon as possible. This potion had better work.
So, all in all, Lucius was just a tad nervous when he felt his Mark burn, summoning him to Voldemort's presence. The nervousness morphed rapidly into the beginnings of fear when he'd received word that the Dark Lord would talk to him in private at Riddle Manor. And that was how Lucius came to find himself standing in a collapsing hallway, flexing his palms slightly, and waiting for the word or signal to enter the room. It was bad enough that he had to wait an extra week to be finally summoned, but this additional wait in the hallway was starting to grate against his nerves.
When the doors finally creaked open slowly, Lucius drew a silent breath and stepped into the room.
It had obviously been a study at one point. What had once been an extensive library was now a large set of collapsed, mouldering shelves, the remainder of books in various states of crumbling away into dust. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, his footsteps stirring it up slightly as he walked further into the room. The large desk, however, was immaculate, despite the termite holes that peppered its surface. A large backed chair was half turned, revealing the Dark Lord's rather flat profile, shadows lending a further gauntness to his face. Lucius came to a halt in front of the desk, not saying anything. He was trying to figure out where the light that made the shadows on the Dark Lord's face was coming when a quiet voice broke the silence.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it Lucius?" Voldemort said softly.
"Indeed, my Lord," Lucius said with a bow. "I'm glad to see your health is well."
"Likewise," Voldemort said, his eyes flickering to Lucius momentarily
Lucius simply inclined his acknowledgment. "If I may, what is it you want from me, my Lord?"
"What I want from you," Voldemort said slowly after a very long moment of silence. "Is to know why you failed to return so promptly."
Lucius didn't say anything for a moment. The tone in the Dark Lord's voice implied that he thought he had needed Lucius here for something very crucial; undoubtedly to tip the scales in the Dark Lord's favour. That certainly meant that Lucius' obvious pronounced absence may have very well cost the Dark Lord an opportunity to win.
"The situation required that I lay low and impersonate," he curled his lip in disgust. "As a Muggle. That slowed me down quite a bit. Undeniably, Aurors would be watching for me, knowing my magical signature; I couldn't use magic in any form. Returning to your side as quickly as I could was always in my mind, my Lord."
"And you've forgotten how to Apparate?" Voldemort asked coldly.
"Indeed not my Lord. That first occurred to me. But once I found out where I was, the risk of splinching was too great. I was over a ocean and at least 1000 miles away. And if I was successful, my abrupt appearance somewhere would have sent some blithering idiot off to the Ministry. A Portkey would have been riskier as it would have immediately alerted the local magical authorities and, if I was caught, they would have turned me over to the fools in our Ministry. As I said my Lord, returning to you was my first thought. Remaining out of Azkaban was my second."
"Hm," Voldemort rose from his chair. "And did you know that the Potter brat was in the very same house as you?"
"No my Lord, I did not," Lucius began; when telling a believable lie, it was best to mix it with a smidge of truth. "I was passing through and asked if I could stay the night. I only knew my fellow…compatriots were there when I heard a noise and saw them through a window," he paused for a moment. He needed to press his luck, considering he wasn't sure where he stood with Voldemort at the moment. "I assure you my Lord, had Severus or I been in charge of the mission, it wouldn't have turned into the…debacle that Nott allowed it to be."
"And that is why I am placing you in charge of the next mission," Voldemort said, regarding Lucius for a moment. "Tell me of Draco, Lucius."
"Draco is still at Hogwarts under that simpering old fool watchful eye." Lucius said, an icy feeling taking hold in his chest.
That seemed to please Voldemort, a faint smile coming to the thin lips. "How long has he been there?"
"For the past half a year, my Lord." Lucius replied. "Four and a half months since Dumbledore prevented the students from leaving."
"Then he would be privy to certain information?" Voldemort prodded.
"My Lord?" Lucius asked in a slightly puzzled tone.
"Such as what Dumbledore may be up to, if there's a guard on the school, what precautions have been taken…" Voldemort gave Lucius a pointed look.
Lucius nodded his head, masking his hard swallow. "Yes my Lord. I'll let him know immediately."
"Good. We cannot afford to lose once more. When we strike next time, I will be victorious."
"Does my Lord have anything else to implement now from his plan?"
Voldemort shook his head. "We are not going to rush this in any manner. With you overseeing this, there is no way this can fail."
"Of course my Lord," Lucius bowed. "As you wish."
"You may leave now," Voldemort said.
Lucius bowed once more and turned to leave, making his way to the door, when it suddenly slammed shut. He paused for a moment, taking a breath before he turned around.
"Is there anything else I can do for my Lord?"
Voldemort was out of his chair, wand drawn and pointed at Lucius.
"I am sorely vexed that it took so long to find you. I had no desire to contaminate myself with the thoughts of some filthy Muggle," Voldemort spat. "Especially since you didn't attempt to contact me in some way."
"My Lord-" Lucius began.
"Shut up." Voldemort ordered. "You always have a way out of a situation. You always have the perfect thing to say. You are very slippery, Lucius Malfoy."
Lucius didn't balk or back down as Voldemort started walking closer to him. He didn't say anything else, focusing on keeping the mask of humility on his face.
"And all those answers seemed too…convenient, too well-practiced," Voldemort said quietly, coming to a stop, his wand a few inches away from Lucius' chest. "And since I do still need you in one coherent piece, I shall have to be careful about doing this."
A bad feeling suddenly enveloped Lucius as Voldemort's red eyes bored into his grey ones. It was a moment later that Lucius felt it, a presence in his consciousness, pulling forth the vague, misleading memories for closer inspection. He fought down the urge to push Voldemort out, but a small trickle of resistance made its way through. Voldemort's eyes narrowed, his fingers tightening on the wand.
"Something to hide Lucius?" he spat.
Lucius didn't say anything, knowing full well what was coming now. He should have known better than to hope he would get off easy.
A few things struck Lucius as he Apparated into the front foyer of his manor. One was that he was still lucky to still be standing coherent and in full possession of his mental capacities. Two, was that the wards on his home felt a bit different; maybe it was just his weary state of mind, but the magic felt a bit different as it slid across his skin to allow him in. Three was that Narcissa was pacing rather feverishly in front of the staircase, something clutched in her hands, and looking rather wrinkled and worn for the wear. Lucius sagged slightly against a wall before he righted himself. Maybe if he slipped into the drawing room and went to his bedroom from there Narcissa wouldn't-
"Lucius!" Narcissa just about shrieked when she pivoted on her feet and saw him standing in the foyer.
Lucius closed his eyes, rubbing his temple slightly as Narcissa's voice throbbed in his head like a drum hit far too hard. What, in the name of Salazar himself, could the harpy in front of him want now? It certainly couldn't be more money; she was always sweet, cloying and clingy when she wanted that. He simply gave her a bored and slightly impatient look as she stormed over to him.
"Look at this!" she demanded, sticking the paper so close to his face that the moving figures were blurred.
It didn't help that the paper was in so close and that she was waving it around. Lucius' hand shot up and gripped her wrist, still the motion. "I certainly can't see it if you insist on waving in front of my face so."
And with that he plucked it from her grasp with his other hand, eyes scanning over the headline of, 'Ministry to perform surprise Inspections - Fudge determined to root out He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's supporters'. Lucius could already feel the beginnings of a headache brewing on top of the mental exhaustion he was feeling at the moment. He was more than certain that the Malfoy Manor would be one of the first places inspected, if not the very first.
"And this came," Narcissa said holding out a small sealed letter.
Lucius opened it to find a single word written in Severus neat, slanted, albeit spidery, scrawl: 'Tomorrow'.
"Did these come together?" he asked sharply, looking up at Narcissa who was wringing her hands unconsciously while frowning. "Did they?!" he demanded harshly when Narcissa didn't seem to hear him.
Narcissa looked at him, startled for a moment. "The letter came attached to the paper," she said. "What are we going to do?!" she looked more than a bit worried now; she managed to make herself fully agitated.
Lucius looked at her in disbelief. Narcissa barely lifted a finger to do much of anything, save organizing a ball, ordering house elves around, having her other socialite friends over to gossip over tea or spend money. But he shouldn't have been all that surprised; a creature's self-preservations instincts always kicked in when it was threatened; Salazar forbid that Narcissa be denied of her decadent lifestyle. Or perhaps she had stopped lazing about with his impromptu 3 month disappearance and actually done something. But he found that to be highly doubtful. HIs lawyer was more than likely responsible; he certainly paid the man well enough to insure a more than healthy interest in a threat to his job.
"You," Lucius said pointedly. "Are going to do nothing as you always end up doing bar sitting around and looking pretty," he tried his best to not sneer. "I am going to deal with this."
He started up the stairs, ignoring Narcissa and her sound of affronted shock. He didn't know why Narcissa felt the need to get involved now. There had been many situations similar to this one, right in front of her face and she hadn't batted an eyelash. Pausing for a moment in front of his study door, he regarded the article before walking in and locking the door behind him. It seemed as if Fudge had a few laws passed overnight to start snooping in the homes of Wizarding people.
He seated himself at his study desk wearily, rubbing his temples as he tossed the paper on the top, leaning back in the chair. The headaches never seemed to end. And now he had a few letters to write, the first one being to Draco, the second one being to Snape. He pulled out a quill and parchment, dipping the nib into the ink pot before he started writing.
'Draco,
You would do well to keep up on things, especially as Snape tells me you did terribly on your last Potions test. I am expecting results from you, soon hopefully, once this messy war is done and over with.
Father'
Lucius looked it over a few times and deemed nothing wrong with it. Draco was always doing terribly in Potions; coming in second was not fitting for a Malfoy, Lucius didn't care if it was just an 'Outstanding'; if that Granger girl could be getting 'Exceeds Expectations' then Draco would simply have to try harder. He rolled up that letter and got started on the second one.
'Severus,
Dinner. 6:00 p.m.
Lucius'
He frowned and erased what he wrote. It looked too much like the notes he wrote to his lovers. Lucius spent a good 45 minutes trying to write a letter to Severus that wouldn't be suspicious if it was intercepted, but obvious to Severus. Finally, he ended up scrawling out something in exasperation.
'Severus,
As per your instructions, I followed the procedure and ended up with peculiar result. A discussion of what went wrong is in order I believe.
Dinner at 6:00 p.m. is the only time I have available for the next two days. RSVP is you wish to reschedule.
Lucius'
Lucius rubbed the bridge of his nose as he looked it over and then put it down. It would have to do. And he could really use a drink at the moment. He rose and walked over to the small bar he had by the window and poured himself a drink. He paused before picking it up, whistling for the owl and summoning the letters to him. He sealed them quickly and then tied them to the owl's leg, gave explicit instructions and sent it off before closing the window, picking up his drink and making his way back to the chair. He still had a letter to write to Borgin & Burkes; quite possibly a Floo call would be in order as well. He knew the shopkeeper wanted to get his grubby little hands on some of the things in the Malfoy Manor. And now was the man's chance; if he cared to come up here at - Lucius glanced at the clock - almost 1 in the morning. He gave a dry snort, taking a sip of his rye.
"No rest at all for the wicked," he murmured, contemplating the amber liquid in the tumbler. "None at all."