A/N – Well, what was going to be part of this chapter got shunted off into Speculations. In this particular version, I was reminded that Lucius and Luc, for all their Slytherin cunning/ruthlessness/etc, are really only seventeen. Don't you think that they'd have at least some of the problems associated with adolescence?

Kylaya – I know that you've requested Happy!Luc and Kate for a while now. Hopefully this chapter is a little more light hearted, but I'll see about writing a separate piece just for you. I'll put it in Speculations, and see how fluffy I can possibly get without strangling myself. Perhaps a Quidditch lesson? Will that do?

Disclaimer – I don't own Harry Potter. Don't sue.

Chapter 13

The restlessness of the Slytherins was so disruptive and so widespread that the rest of the school soon began to notice – it was so obvious, in fact, that even the Gryffindors suspected it. Of course, Lucius knew that such a statement was a broad generality, a stereotypical prejudice that could not truly apply in real life – he was open-minded enough to accept this – but there were times when only stereotypes would do.

There was nothing like indulging a little pettiness to lift the spirits – even if it was only temporary.

Things were going very badly.

Slytherin had all but polarized – those who supported the Malfoy opposing those who hated them, joined with those who supported the Dark Lord and wished to see Lucius on his knees, licking a halfblood's boots. He suspected that there were also more than a few who wished to see Kate on her knees, performing a very different service – but he did not share these suspicions with Luc.

Snape had pulled away, convincing himself in his isolation that the friendship had not meant so very much after all, that it was better to obey his father than to stand by his friends, and Rayden, Brandon and Shan were more and more cautious in their interactions. No doubt they, too, had received letters from home –

He knew Rayden's older brother Regulus had already received the Dark Mark, and that Brandon's father had gone the same way. Lawrence Andahni was seriously considering it, and Gabriel Courtney – almost as accomplished a Potions Master as old Augustus – was vying with Snape Snr. for the post of Chief Inquisitor.

And Marcus Malfoy, in the midst of all this jockeying for position, the mad scramble to demonstrate and prove their loyalty?

Be on your guard for anything. Don't underestimate them.

His father sent one short letter, stating that he had refused the offer and warning them to be on their guard. And nothing more – no justification, no reassurance, nothing – from the man who held his, Luc's and Kate's lives in his care. The older he had grown, the more he had learned, the less Lucius liked about the situation…

Why did his father not do something, at least?

Before they were left with no choices at all.

In actual fact, Marcus Malfoy was indeed doing something about the situation. Lucius was intelligent, incisive and diabolically cunning, and possessed a number of extremely Slytherin virtues – and all the vices that go with them – but since he'd turned seventeen, he'd had something of a blind spot where his father was concerned.

Marcus was reliably confident that he would outgrow this irrational stage – alas, he'd long since given up hope of Luc outgrowing Kate – but until then, he supposed he would simply have to ignore the unspoken questions, challenges, and very subtle resentment. He was assured that this was a perfectly normal part of growing up – he couldn't remember going through it, himself, because his father would have flogged it out of him – and that as soon as Lucius had established his own place in the world and gained confidence in himself, he would give up the constant needling and challenging.

The problem was that he was damned sure Lucius was actively considering taking the easy, safe route to power and security, and the only thing that was holding him back was his affection for Luc. And the only thing holding Luc back from the easiest, most efficient route to the leadership of the de Sauvigny?

One mudblood.

Marcus wasn't sure whether he was grateful for Kate's presence, or whether he should curse her for it. She made things immeasurably difficult for him, but she was also the only thing that kept his sons from giving into their ambition. She held Luc back from reaching his full potential, but he wasn't sure that he wanted Luc to reach such heights in these very hazardous days.

Better a shadow of what he might be, than to have his full strength at the Dark Lord's disposal, surely?

Such were the unfortunate thoughts of a leader, and not a father. He knew Lucius thought him weak, old, for not doing something definite about Voldemort now that he had declared himself – weak and ineffectual, because he had still not moved against the Death Eaters, but remained neutral even now – but Lucius had yet to learn the very hard lesson of patience.

Precipitate action – curses, action, assassination and torture – would be useless at this stage in time. Because Augustus Snape, now that he knew Marcus would not be persuaded, had begun a very subtle campaign of misinformation, poisoning the wizarding community against him and the Malfoy, spreading untraceable rumours, and trying in every way that he could to discredit them. If he acted now, it would only confirm the worst of the rumours…

Intrigue, covert espionage and cutthroat manoeuvring took place daily inside the corridors of Hogwarts and there were all kinds of strife stirring within the common rooms of the four Houses, but despite all that, Hogwarts was still a school, and its students were still only in their teens. Outside, there were a growing number of attacks, killings – of muggleborn witches and wizards and their families – attributed to the Death Eaters, the followers of Lord Voldemort, who were obviously moving from a cult to a terrifying new version of the Ku Klux Klan. Even inside, there was vicious rivalry in Slytherin and the other Houses, as the Death Eaters tried to recruit students. But, in a surreal mockery of reality, the Quidditch Cup was still hotly contested – even the Slytherins forgot that they were Death Eaters in training and eagerly donned Quidditch robes, cheering and competing as if defeating the Gryffindors was the most important thing on their minds.

It was 1977, and all the preliminary games had been completed. There were only two teams left, now, and in two weeks would come the grand final – Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year. Because these two teams were the strongest their two Houses had seen in at least a generation – seven years in the making, every player supremely confident in their role and their skill…

The Gryffindor Dream Team – keeper Caine de Sauvigny, beaters Sirius Black and Connor McGregor, chasers Liam Finnigan, Alison Hartley and Lily Evans, and seeker James Potter.

The Lords of Slytherin – keeper Luc Malfoy, beaters Severus Snape and Darius Flint, chasers Shan Andahni, Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, and seeker Kate Evans.

Controversy abounded.

James Potter and Lily Evans had had a spectacularly public falling out earlier in the year that had nearly torn the Gryffindor team apart. Alison Hartley was sleeping with Darius Flint, and neither of their teams was pleased about it. Severus Snape actively despised Potter and Black, while Luc Malfoy was only waiting for a chance to get rid of his de Sauvigny half brother – and Caine knew it, and had demanded protection. There were rumours of a love triangle between Lucius Malfoy and Sirius and Narcissa Black – although that had never been proven – and Irish Catholic Liam Finnigan's father had just been killed in Belfast, and he was talking wildly about making all the bloody English pay.

But by far the most controversial, hotly debated topic of the season was the selection of the Slytherin seeker. There was no denying her skill, or her enthusiasm for the game, or even her ambitious competitive drive, but still…

The Slytherins would have welcomed her with open arms, had it not been for the unfortunate accident of her birth. They would even have accepted her as she was, if she had been properly modest and self-effacing as she had been for most of her time at Hogwarts. But when it came to Quidditch, as Luc had discovered to his cost some time ago, there were some things that even Kate would not compromise on.

She loved the game. She loved flying, and she loved the thrill of single-mindedly chasing the Snitch – and even more, she loved beating Gryffindor. Given all these things, and the fact that Lucius Malfoy was the Team Captain – exceptions could be made. But only so long as she won – and every time that Kate had played Seeker, Slytherin had not lost a single game.

So. Grudging acceptance. Resentment, but not enough that the malcontents were willing to challenge Malfoy's iron fist. And they couldn't even truly hope that she lost…

Despite their subtlety, their indirect paths of thought, and their cunning, most Slytherins saw some things in black and white – and dislike of mudbloods had been, for centuries, one of the most fixed of these certainties. Kate challenged this, and that was why they hated her. The Malfoy – their traditional leaders – had accepted and even sheltered her, allowing her to continue challenging the old, traditional ways, and so they hated her even more, because they could not truly despise the Malfoy in the same way.

But she was a damned good Seeker…

Next chapter – much action, I promise. Thanks to all those who are still with me and this story. I know it's choppy and all over the place, but I'm still grimly determined to finish.