Symbiosis 7

In the master bedroom, Lucius lay awake staring up at the elaborate ceiling. For some odd reason that he couldn't precisely fathom he couldn't sleep. Was it that the two extra children were in his house and he was now supposed to be responsible for Potter? Was he worried that Voldemort would find out and try to murder him if he didn't hand the boy over? In all his years he had never dreamed of such a crazy situation yet here it was right before him. He sighed loudly and glanced over at his wife next to him. No matter what other people thought he loved Narcissa. She had been the most beautiful girl in his year and she had been a Pureblood. She may not be as ruthless as he was but she had no love for Muggles that much was sure. She lay on her side facing him, a dark blue silk nightgown with white lace trim covering her body. Even in bed she looked like the sophisticated Pureblood she was. Her pale hair cascaded loosely over her slim shoulders and trailed down her back as her blue eyes watched him intently. Sighing again, he admitted his problem to her. "I can't sleep."

"Well it doesn't surprise me with Muggle-borns in our house!" Narcissa exclaimed as her blue eyes flashed with emotion. "Lucius, how could you allow that old fool to boss you around? Surely there must be someone else we can push the Potter boy off on? If we do it quickly You Know Who might never find out he was here."

"But then I would have to go back to prison…" Lucius reminded her as a haunted look appeared in his eyes. "You have no idea what it's like in that place, Narcissa. I'd rather raise the boy for a few years than go back there. Those things; they get into your head…"

"A few years!" she cried as she sat up, horrified. "Do you want to be murdered in your bed by your fellow Death Eaters? They'd do it you know and don't think they won't! They're cold-blooded fiends just like we are! And how do you know this isn't some trick? Maybe it's all a scheme to get into our house…."

"Must I remind you that I was the one that kidnapped them?"

"But they're Muggle-Borns!" she insisted as her eyes darted around the bedroom. She had her own dressing table with mother-of-pearl handles and beautifully carved legs made from rare wood. The top of the table was literally loaded with gem studded jewelry; diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls, sapphires and tons of magical gems that Muggles had never heard of. On top of this there was gold and silver. Her mind listed of all the priceless art scattered throughout the house. Nor had she missed their guests open-mouthed stares at they rudely gawked at the stuff. It was obvious they had never seen real wealth before and most likely had no idea of the real worth of it; just that it was incredibly valuable. "Lucius, they could rob us! Do you have any idea how much my jewelry alone is worth? Why, one earring is worth more than that girl's Muggle family makes in ten years I bet!"

"Yes, that's probably true." Lucius admitted as he enjoyed looking upon her. "But they are Gryffindors. I doubt if they would stoop to theft…"

A frown creased his face as he remembered the things Potter had admitted to him. Hadn't he said something about stealing a car? And there had been those potion ingredients that the Granger girl had mentioned… "Of course, I could be wrong. They do seem to have a lot of Slytherin in them. Potter did mention stealing a car…"

"A car?" Narcissa gazed at him blankly.

"I think it's one of those horrid metal boxes Muggles insist traveling around in." He explained.

A look of utter disgust appeared on her pretty face. "Well, I don't care if he steals fifty of those horrid things just as long as he doesn't bring them over here! Why would he even want one of those things?"

Lucius shrugged. "I haven't the slightest idea."

"Stupid Muggles!" Narcissa whined. "They have best behave while they're here. Are you really going to go to that park tomorrow?"

"Yes, I have to. A promise is a promise."

"But it's a Muggle park! What if it's dangerous?" Narcissa threw herself forward and wrapped her slim arms around his neck. "I don't want anything to happen to you! What if they find out we're not like them? They could kill you!"

"I'll be fine, Narcissa!" Lucius wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and hugged her tightly. Her face was pressed against his neck and he could smell the sweetness of her perfume. He could feel an uncustomary tremor pass through her slim body and he realized she feared for his safety and that of their son. True, he had been apprehensive about visiting the Muggle zoo this morning but it had turned out all right. Most of the Muggles had ignored him and the few that had looked his way were probably just curious. He had gotten more than a few appreciative glances from women and that had not displeased him, but they all kept their distance no doubt due to the children. Draco had also seemed to enjoy himself as he was seeing new things for the first time. Although they had been tense and fearful upon arriving, they had quickly relaxed and just enjoyed the outing. "It really wasn't as bad as you imagine, Narcissa. The Muggles at the zoo more or less ignored us. Most were too busy looking at the animals than to guess we are wizards. Why would they even hazard such a guess if we don't perform any spells?"

Narcissa raised her head and stared into his blue-gray eyes. "I suppose you're right, Lucius. But they're just so barbaric! They have no culture or class and do such horrid things!"

"Yes, that they do. They are quite confusing creatures." He stroked her silky hair with his hand, luxuriating in its feel against his skin. "Why don't you come with us tomorrow? You can see for yourself they are quite blind to what we really are. Perhaps the Granger girl is right after all…"

"Me, among Muggles? Lucius, you must be kidding!" Narcissa stared at him in shock, her mouth open to form a perfect O. "And how can you say she's right when she's just a Muggle-born? That's atrocious!"

"And if you don't come with us what will you do all day while we're gone but worry? You will work yourself into a knot and be totally miserable. This way you can see that we are fine. And I trust Miss Granger will not take us anyplace truly dangerous. She very much wants to save her precious Muggles…" Lucius smiled at her and gently gave her a little kiss on the lips, then moved her off of him. He sat up and glanced at the magical clock on the nearby wall. Some time had passed since they had talked and his mind fluttered to his two unexpected houseguests. The truth was, the things his wife had said did prey on his mind. "I suppose I should check on them."

"You had better!" Narcissa remarked from her place in the soft bed.

Throwing the light cover off, he swung his bare feet out of the bed and slid them into his slippers. Standing, he walked over to a nearby chair and reached for his black silk robe. Pulling it on over his equally black silk pajamas, he knotted it at the waist. It wouldn't do for his guests to see him improper without a robe but he doubted if they knew that it would be improper. They probably didn't even have robes to put on over their pajamas, presuming they had pajamas. He frowned at the thought of them sleeping in Muggle T-shirts but what else could he expect from their upbringing? Snatching up his snake-headed cane from where he had left it, he headed out the bedroom door.

Once out in the hall he paused, considering whom he should check on first and whether it was proper for him to even enter the girl's room. Deciding it couldn't hurt to open the door and peer in, he went there first. If she was asleep in bed a lump should be visible. Stopping outside the room he had assigned to her, he turned the knob and swung the door open silently. His sharp eyes fell on the bed and he realized it was perfectly empty. Lucius frowned slightly. Had Narcissa been right after all or had the girl just gone to the bathroom?

Closing the door, he checked the bathroom only to find it empty as well.

"Perhaps they are all in the same room…" Lucius considered that for a moment and then nodded. It made sense. No doubt they did not trust him and sought safety in numbers, which would be totally understandable. Yet it was highly improper. It would be all right for Harry to share Draco's room but he couldn't allow a girl to be in a boy's room. Striding up to Harry's assigned bedroom, he quickly flung the door open hoping to catch them unaware. But his frown only deepened when he realized that room was empty as well! "Where in Merlin are they?"

His sharp eyes noted Potter's bird sleeping on top of the wardrobe and his luggage resting on the floor next to the bed. Since his stuff was still here that suggested he hadn't tried to escape nor had the alarms on the exterior doors gone off. They were magical alarms, of course, and would sound when one of the doors that led outside had been opened. The last thing he wanted was for the boy to flee who knows where just after the old fool had put him in charge of Potter's welfare! Rubbing his chin for a moment, Lucius quickly strode to Draco's room. Perhaps they had all piled in there with his son…

Opening the door, he stepped into his son's room without hesitation. Draco was asleep in his huge four-poster bed, one arm thrown straight out and the other across his chest. His blonde hair rested softly across his forehead and a faint grin was on his face. Lucius quickly peered around the room and even checked the huge wardrobe his son possessed but as far as he could tell it only held clothes. As silently as he had come, Lucius left the room and gently closed the door behind him. If they were not in the bedrooms then they must be elsewhere in the house. His cane gripped tightly in his right hand, he set off for the grand staircase.

He was partway down the staircase when an unexpected sight met his eyes: a tall stack of books coming up the stairs towards him! With his left hand on the polished railing he waited for the stack to come even with him. He smiled when he spotted the bushy head that belonged to the Granger girl. Why was he not surprised?

"Oh! Mr. Malfoy!" Hermoine exclaimed, her face going pinkish at being caught with the incriminating pile of borrowed books. "You don't mind if I borrow a few of these, do you? It's just that I haven't read these particular ones before…"

"And could that be because they're normally locked up in the Forbidden Section?" He asked innocently.

"Well," She hesitated unsure what she should say. "Filche does seem to keep an annoying close eye on the Forbidden Section ever since First Year…"

"You do realize they are Dark Arts books, do you not, Miss Granger?" His smile broadened, enjoying having caught her pilfering from his library. Who ever would have thought little innocent Granger would read Dark Art books? Perhaps these two did belong in Slytherin…

"There's nothing wrong with just reading them!" She exclaimed and poked her nose up in the air like she had seen other snobby Purebloods do. Her eyes flashed with indignation. "I was going to return them you know!"

"Please, be my guest." He swept his cane out smoothly indicating she should precede him up the staircase. Once she had started up again, he followed her. "Feel free to borrow all the books you wish while you're here. And if you have any questions about the content, feel free to ask. I'd be more than happy to explain it to you."

Hermoine headed down the candelabra lit hallway towards her assigned bedroom. "That's very generous of you."

"I'm quite aware you beat my son in every subject." Lucius quickly passed her up and held open her bedroom door for her like a proper gentleman, the smile still on his face. "There is no reason to protest your thirst for knowledge. May I inquire where Harry is? He doesn't seem to be in his room…"

Hermoine paused in her bedroom doorway and bit her lower lip. "He's around somewhere."

"And would that somewhere be downstairs?"

She nodded. She hurried over to the bed and dropped the stack of books onto it, then returned to join Lucius in the hall. "We better go find him before he gets in trouble. When I left him he was fine but who knows what he got himself into by now?"

Lucius raised one eyebrow. "Does he get into trouble that easily?"

"You have no idea!" Hermoine headed towards the staircase at a steady pace and almost flew down the stairs. "I told him not to go poking at things but he doesn't listen. See, he's quite used to crawling around Hogwarts at night and he almost never gets caught…"

"Why does that not surprise me?" Lucius remarked dryly. Thinking back over what Dumbledore had said, this really shouldn't surprise him. And Harry was no doubt curious about the house and the people that lived in it. Still, he hoped he had not touched the wrong thing, as that could indeed be dangerous. He secretly thanked whoever might be listening to his thoughts that he had the most dangerous Dark Art objects hidden away and locked up, not that he really believed the boy could find the stuff. He doubted even Draco knew his hiding places. Still, he knew Potter was resourceful and seemed to accomplish the impossible on a regular basis. Still, who knew what Potter might touch as he was snooping about the house? They checked room after room without success until they reached Lucius' private study. The door was apparently unlocked as it stood ajar; definitely not how he left it. Then his eyes drifted to the floor and the wild struggle that was going on there.

Harry wrestled with a huge polar bear rug, the rug's front arms wrapped around his slender body. The rug's empty eyeholes glowed an eerie red and its mouth still possessed all its sharp teeth, many of the teeth yellow with stains. The boy grunted with effort, his hands locked on the polar bear's jaws and struggled to shove the sharp teeth away from himself. The two opponents squirmed and twisted about on the floor and were totally unaware they now possessed an audience.

Lucius bent over and peered down at his guest. "I see you found my polar bear rug. Do you like it? It keeps intruders out of my private study."

"Call it off!" Harry said through clenched teeth, his arm muscles aching from holding the teeth away from his tender neck.

"Very well." Lucius tapped the rug with the tip of his cane and it instantly went limp.

Harry immediately threw the rug off and scrambled to his feet. He glared at the older man, annoyed that he had been caught breaking into his office. He supposed he should be grateful that Lucius had called the rug off, but he didn't want to feel grateful to him. So he just glared at him with those intense green eyes, daring him to say something.

"Is there something you wish to see in my study, Harry? You are welcome to look around it since we're already here. I assure you I'm not hiding anything. Perhaps you think I have You Know Who tucked away on a shelf or inside a vase?" Lucius grinned at his own little joke but Harry didn't seem to think it was funny.

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"Come, come, come, Harry! We're all friends now are we not?" Lucius motioned with his cane that Harry was free to step into his study. "We've put the sordid past behind us, have we not?"

"Have you?" Harry stared boldly into the older man's eyes unafraid.

"I am trying." Lucius admitted more honestly. "This is as strange for me as it is for you. Surely you realize that? But you must give me a chance."

Harry considered taking up the man's offer to explore his study but felt uncomfortable doing it while he was there. The room could very easily become a trap and Harry wasn't dumb enough to freely enter a room with only one exit, especially one in Lucius Malfoy's house. His mind swiftly flipped through various excuses as to what he was doing breaking into the study, and then he remembered a remark Draco had made in the dining room. "I just wanted to have a look at the ceiling. I heard it was quite unusual."

A surprised expression appeared on Lucius' pale face. "The ceiling?"

"Draco told us a bit about it in the dining room." Hermoine added. "We've never seen such ceilings before. Their remarkable!"

Lucius blinked. "Yes, I suppose they are. I really haven't thought about them."

"If it's all right with you, I'd like to come back during the day and look at it. I realize now I really won't be able to see it properly in the dark with just candles and a lit wand." Harry said as he bent to pick up his cloak.

"Of course." Lucius smiled sweetly. "I'm quite surprised you're appreciating the fine architecture."

"Good night, Mr. Malfoy." Harry brashly walked past him and gripped Hermoine by the wrist so he could pull her down the hallway towards the grand staircase.

"Good night, children." Lucius placed the rug back in the doorway and relocked his study. Shaking his head, he followed them back upstairs. Once he was sure the children were safely in their own rooms he headed back to his own.

"I was beginning to worry. You were gone longer than I expected." Narcissa said as he closed the door and started to untie his robe. "Was there a problem?"

"Miss Granger has borrowed a few books and Harry was caught in the polar bear rug in my study."

"Your study? What in Merlin was he doing in there?" Narcissa asked with a puzzled look on her pretty face.

"He apparently has decided to study architecture and was interested in the ceiling…"

"The ceiling? That's the most stupid thing I ever heard!" Narcissa shook her head. She had seen the ceiling thousands of times and had gotten quite used to it. "Really Lucius. If the boy's really going to live here you're going to have to teach him to lie better than that!"

He nodded and placed his robe onto a chair, then crawled back into bed after removing his slippers. "He is a Gryffindor…"

The bedroom was quite for several long minutes.

"It is a remarkable ceiling though, isn't it?" Lucius remarked.

"Oh, go to sleep!"

To be continued…