The King and I

Disclaimer: I own very little.

Thank yous: swdf, Muthru, Ceyxa, orlin, EsScaper, Marblez, Kat, Sarahamanda, Sezza Rikda, inumoon3, Lazy Snake, Helewise, Will's Girl, and SiriuslyRJL.

Thanks for all the positive response!

The release and happenings in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will not affect this story in anyway, as it is seriously AU.

NOTE: Sorry it has taken so long for me to update anything, I have been very ill the past four or so weeks.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 6: Throne Room

It was Christmas, he was eighteen and he really did not want to be here in the ballroom of the royal palace. He had run away from home with his younger brother when he was sixteen, so he had no idea why he had accepted an invitation to attend this stuffy ball.

Being completely bored out of his mind, the eighteen-year-old Sirius Black decided to sneak out of the ballroom. He may as well explore the palace if he was here; he had been in it a few times previous to this evening, but that was when he was still living with his parents and regularly seeing his cousin, the Queen. The dark haired teenager wandered almost aimlessly down a carpeted hallway until he came upon a slightly open double doorway.

Curiosity was something he could not contain, so the outcast of the Black family pushed the door open and stepped into the huge room. It was only slightly smaller than the ballroom, and at the opposite end on a slightly raised platform sat a large ornate throne.

The King's throne.

From what Sirius could see through the dim light, it appeared to be made of gold, with what looked to be a silver inlay. It had jewels around the back of it and on the arms – green, red, blue. He ran his hand over one of the almost ridiculously ornate arms in thought; it felt warm, as though an arm had rested here only a brief while ago.

"Well, well, snooping are we, Sirius?"

Sirius spun around and found himself face to face with the tall, blond and rather gorgeous King Lucius, "Are you going to make something of it?"

Lucius rested his hands atop his cane, which he had for decoration more than anything, "I may just if your tone doesn't change."

Sirius narrowed his eyes slightly; "You don't scare me."

The regal gave a smirk, "I know, and I find that to be rather endearing, to be honest."

A frown appeared on the teenager's face, "Are you hitting on me?"

Lucius placed a hand lightly on Sirius's right shoulder, "Would it bother you if I was?"

Sirius chewed his lower lip almost nervously now, this was certainly an interesting turn of events; he had always thought of the blond as attractive, even before he realised he was gay. But now, having that face within a foot of his own, with the moonlight shining through the high windows and playing over the blond head, Lucius was looking absolutely gorgeous. "Y-you're married…" he mentally kicked himself for giving such a stupid and stuttered reply.

Lucius's hand moved to gently caress Sirius's pale neck, "Come now, Sirius, be honest. I do not think you really care if I am married or not, I certainly don't."

Sirius tried not to lean into the hand that was now in his hair, but it was proving rather difficult; "I…I don't care, I'm just pointing it out. We could get caught," he glanced anxiously at the now closed throne room doors.

Lucius glanced over his shoulder before turning his silvery eyes back to Sirius, "No one will interrupt us, and no one expects me to be at that stupid ball all evening anyway," his hand was now at the back of Sirius's head, cupping the skull almost tenderly. "I'll admit, I have been hoping to get you alone for quite some time, Sirius."

"Why?" Sirius noticed that the distance between the two of them was getting less with each passing minute; he could practically feel Lucius's warm, champagne-smelling breath ghosting over his mouth now.

"You're a smart boy, Sirius, I'm sure you can guess," Lucius's voice was barely above a whisper now, and he could see the pleasant effect that it was having upon the teenager before him. "You appeal to me far more than your horrid cousin…"

Sirius managed to swallow the whimper that was trying to escape his throat, "Stop teasing me, Malfoy, please…"

Lucius smiled slyly, he slipped his other arm around Sirius's waist and without further ado, he crushed his mouth to that of the young man in his hold.

Sirius Black was broken out of his daydream by a quiet whimpering sound, he was in the throne room of the royal palace, sitting slouched in the King's throne; it was a place he had been in for about two hours now. Raising his gaze from his knees, he saw a beautiful German Shepherd sitting on the floor, tail wrapped around its feet; it was watching him in concern from the exact spot that he and Lucius had first kissed nearly twelve years ago. Twelve years this Christmas.

The dog got to its feet and trotted gracefully up to Sirius where it sat down again and rested its handsome head on his lap, only to whimper again.

Sirius had never seen this dog around the palace before, in fact he was sure that there were no animals around other than Padfoot when he decided his feelings were too much to bear in human form. He scratched the dog behind the ears, "Where did you come from, eh?" he gazed into its eyes, its strangely silver eyes thoughtfully. "I wasn't aware that His Highness likes animals…" the dog's face, as odd as it seemed, had taken on a rather cocky look now, and Sirius's brain clicked. "…Lucius?"

The dog gave a bark and licked the dark haired man's hand, before backing away slightly and with a pop it became the blond monarch crouching before his lover.

Sirius gazed in wonderment at the blond before him before giving a smile, "Breaking your own laws, I see."

Lucius rested his arms on Sirius knees and gazed up at the younger man, a great amount of concern evident in his silver eyes. "Yes well, bored schoolboys tend to get up to mischief, don't they? Something you would know all about," Sirius gave a shrug. "How are you feeling?"

Another shrug, "All right, I guess…" it had been six days now since Draco had been kidnapped, and two days since the relationship between the King and the oldest of the outcast Black brothers had been announced. "I should be depressed more often if it means I can get you on your knees before me."

Lucius smirked, "I wouldn't get used to it, if I were you," he straightened up and pulled Sirius to his feet by his hands, before placing his own on Sirius's waist. "And His Highness does like animals, particularly black dogs…and anything that will make you smile."

Sirius managed a weak smile before pressing his face against Lucius's left shoulder, "Any news?"

The King slid his arms around Sirius's waist and held him tightly as he spoke, "They do finally have a lead, yes," he felt Sirius tense in his arms a bit. "Hopefully it will be a good one," they stood there in silence for a few minutes before Lucius tapped the younger man's back and spoke again. "Come on, you need to eat," Sirius gave a groan. "Even if it's just soup or ice cream, you need a bit of sustenance, Sirius."

Sirius sniffed and pulled away slightly, "Fine…but I'm not hungry."

…

"This is sick!"

"Should I even bother asking?" questioned Severus tiredly; it had been a long day and on top of that, he had been up most of the night because James had been quite violently sick.

James ignored that remark and continued speaking, "How can the media stick up for that cow when she was behind an innocent baby being taken away from its parents!" he threw the Daily Prophet on the floor in a tantrum. "Draco and Sirius are the real victims, not her! Are you even listening to me?"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes, James, it is hard not to! Most of the school have probably heard your opinion by now," he glanced up at the now very silent James and nearly groaned upon seeing the wounded expression on his husband's face. "I'm sorry, James, I know you're upset about this but nothing you have to say is going to change the general public's opinion on the King and his 'bit on the side'."

James narrowed his eyes, "Don't call him that."

Severus sighed, "Its what he is, or at least was, you may as well accept that," James folded his arms over his stomach and sniffed, lowering his eyes to the floor, and this time, Severus really did give an audible groan. "Please don't cry, James…"

James sniffled, "What if it was our baby? I can't imagine what they're going through…." He was never usually so emotional, if Severus snapped it him he would usually do the same back; but he figured his emotions were all messed up now because of his pregnancy.

Severus gave up on attempting to do any marking or getting rid of his headache, he got to his feet and pulled James to him in an effort to console the pregnant man. "Draco will be fine, our baby will be fine. You have nothing to worry about, Jamie. You need to calm yourself down and relax, especially after last night."

James rested his head on Severus's shoulder and relaxed slightly into the embrace, "…I'm sorry…"

"What for?"

"For keeping you up all night…and for pissing you off…"

Severus smirked, "I'm used to it by now, James," he pulled away slightly and pressed a kiss to the ex-Auror's forehead. "Anyway, we both have many sleepless nights to look forward to when this little brat comes along," he tapped James's abdomen.

………

It was lunchtime the next day; day seven of Draco's disappearance, and Remus Lupin was heading for the part of the Royal palace that held Sirius. He hadn't seen his friend for days and felt that a visit was long overdue, that and he was also there on Regulus's behalf. Regulus who was pissed off with himself for upsetting Sirius.

Remus, despite knowing that Lucius was elsewhere in the palace and thankfully so considering the mood he was in, cautiously entered the royal chambers in search of Sirius. Upon entering, he found the main room deserted, the bed unmade, clothes on the floor and a half-crumpled copy of today's Daily Prophet lying on the bed, along with a piece of parchment covered in writing. As if on instinct, he went straight to the ensuite bathroom, sure of what he would find; he quietly pushed the door open. Upon doing so, his nose was assaulted with the faint smell of vomit, and his ears picked up on the quiet sobs of a heart-broken parent.

The concerned werewolf went around a pillar and saw Sirius sitting on the marble floor next to the huge bath, his knees drawn up to his chest and crying into his hands. "Si?" he was thinking the absolute worst now, what with Lucius's temper upon his arrival and this obvious breakdown from Sirius.

Sirius jumped and looked up, tears streaming down his face, his eyes red from the crying; his body shaking from his attempts to suppress sobs, "H-h-hey…"

Remus crouched down in front of his friend, "What's happened?" all he got in reply was a fresh outburst of tears. "Siri…"

"We got a letter from the kidnapper this morning."

Remus looked over his shoulder to see Lucius leaning against a pillar, an almost dead look in his silver eyes, "Do I even want to know what it said?"

Lucius shook his head but he replied anyway, "There's no way of telling whether it's true or not…but the bastard said that-that Draco's dead. That he killed him…" he trailed off as Sirius leapt to his feet and ran to the toilet, leaving the other two men to cringe as he threw up.

Remus straightened up again, "He isn't dead."

Lucius huffed, "And what makes you so sure about that?"

Remus sighed, "Think about it for a moment, will you?" he watched as Lucius frowned while Sirius sank down to the floor in misery at the King's feet. "Put yourself in this guy's shoes for a moment, what could he possibly get out of killing the King's son? He is probably not the smartest of people, especially if he is doing Narcissa's bidding, but I highly doubt that anyone would want to go to Azkaban for her. Intelligent or not, he knows what is going to happen to him when Draco is found, and any person will know it will be ten times worse if they murder him."

"That's all well and good, but some people are just crazy."

Remus nodded in agreement, "Trust me, you'll get him back even if I have to personally look for him."

……

Remus returned home to hear the voices of Regulus and James coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"…You're as bad as Sirius…well, no you're not…"

"Might I point out that he is far more mature than you are now, Potter."

"He's older than me."

"Was there a particular reason why you turned up today or were you just wanting to annoy me?"

"I had to get away from that dungeon-dwelling, anally retentive moron."

"Understandable if you said that to his face."

"Having fun, you two?" asked Remus upon entering the kitchen and flopping down onto a chair.

Regulus rolled his eyes at James before turning his attention towards the werewolf, "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

Remus gave a grim smile and sighed, "Yeah well, I didn't expect to find Sirius in hysterics when I got there."

James frowned, "What's happened? Have they had more news?"

"You could say that, yeah," Remus ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up like James's did naturally. "They received a letter off the kidnapper this morning…he is claiming to have killed Draco," he gazed between the two black haired men, the only expression on their faces at the moment was that of shock. "However, I am almost certain he is bluffing, and I told those two as much."

"Why make the effort of writing a letter like that if he's just bluffing?" questioned Regulus, his grey eyes saucer like and his voice quiet.

It was James, not Remus, who replied, "If he's daft enough to follow Narcissa's orders then he's probably daft enough to believe that letting everyone know Draco is dead will make people stop searching for the kid, therefore they probably won't find the culprit…" Remus nodded in agreement. "Of course, the Magical Law Enforcement are a bunch of idiots and a lot of the Aurors aren't much better…if they know, then they might take it as that and give up the search, I mean, the Ministry isn't exactly top notch, is it? …I wish I still had my job."

Regulus stared in thought at the table for a few more minutes, his shocked brain slowly processing what Remus and James had said, "…You don't have the job, but you still have the skills," he raised his eyes to look at James. "Skills Rem and I certainly don't have."

James furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you getting at?"

Remus slowly nodded, catching on to Regulus's train of thought, "He's onto something, if the Ministry give up and chances are they probably will if they think Draco's dead and the kidnapper's disappeared, then we'll just have to take things into our own hands," Regulus nodded emphatically. "I mean, clearly Sirius is in no state to go searching himself, and I think Lucius realises he needs to be at Sirius's side right now… We may as well start looking ourselves because it's obvious that the Ministry doesn't care, especially after this so-called 'scandal', they won't stick by their King."

"Well, ok…" started James slowly. "I can see where you're coming from, certainly, but its not like we have any leads, is it?"

"We can find them though."

"Where would we look?" questioned Regulus, "I mean, for all we know they're not even in the country."

James chewed a fingernail in thought, the other two could practically hear the cogs turning in his head, "Actually…I don't think they would be far away at all… In fact, I think they are very, very close, like within the general area of the palace."

"What makes you say that?"

James was still chewing on his fingernail in thought, "Think about it, the Ministry have probably been searching for Draco in the hardest to find places, I'm almost certain they have. I don't think they've found anything because Draco's in a more obvious place; I think he's been under the shadow of the palace this whole time. No one would think of looking so close to where his parents are," he was more wondering out loud now, rather than talking directly to the other two. "If we think like we're idiots, and think in a more universally obvious way we're going to find him."

Regulus had his head resting on a hand, his brow furrowed, a frown on his face, "But surely trained professionals would have thought like that already."

"Not necessarily," replied James, shaking his head. "More often than not it does require a more complicated method of thinking, but the Ministry have exhausted that possibility already. Aurors have never been trained to look for the obvious; it's just too easy… I, however, am a master at being naïve and feigning stupidity…and being blatantly obvious."

Remus smirked, "That theory could be wrong though."

James nodded in agreement, "It could very well be, but obvious works because no one's going to suspect. Sirius and I operated our pranks in that way at school, no one thought we would prank them in places that a teacher could see so they were far less cautious in the corridors, classrooms and the Great Hall, therefore, they were much easier targets."

"Good point."

Regulus was scratching at a mark on the table as he spoke, "So, where do we start looking?"

………

Nine days. It had been nine days now since little Draco Malfoy-Black had been snatched from his crib in Sirius's apartment.

It had been two days since his parents had received a letter from the kidnapper claiming that their baby was dead.

Lucius Malfoy sat on the couch in his study on the second floor of the palace gazing into the fire thoughtfully. He had been willing to give the letter the benefit of the doubt to begin with, not wanting to believe that his son really was dead, but now it just seemed to long. It felt to him like there was no hope left; the Ministry was giving up on the search for the missing Prince. Draco was only four months old, with no proper care or his parents around he would probably die anyway – he could be starving or he could be ill…

A quiet whimper broke the usually stoical King out of his thoughts; he glanced down at the raven-haired head that was using his lap as a pillow. He sighed and ran his fingers through the thick hair as he gazed at Sirius's face; despite being asleep there was a troubled expression set up on the perfect features. The blond let his eyes travel down his lover's slightly curled up body, it was clear that Sirius wasn't eating now, he was getting thinner and his skin was almost ghostly pale; it really was not good. When he looked into Sirius's grey eyes now they were just blank, practically holding no emotion whatsoever; he was becoming even more withdrawn and for the last two days he had not uttered a single word.

Lucius was not fairing much better himself, though he had managed to maintain his appetite and he was trying his hardest to get Sirius to talk, to show some form of emotion. But at the moment it seemed to be a lost cause.

He really didn't know how much more he could take of this, he hadn't even been aware that he could feel so much emotion at once.

The two distraught parents hadn't even seen or heard from Sirius's friends or brother since Remus had visited, that was probably just upsetting Sirius even more.

Lucius sighed and ran a hand down his tired face just as a squeaky throat was cleared, he turned his head to see one of the royal house-elves, Dobby, standing to attention the side of the couch. "Yes?"

Dobby spoke quietly so as not to disturb Sirius, "Misters Black, Lupin and Potter are wishing to speak with you, sir."

Lucius raised his eyebrows slightly, "Did they say why?" he carefully manoeuvred himself out from under Sirius's head, replacing his lap with a cushion.

The house-elf shook his head, his big ears flapping with the movement, "They was not wishing to tell Dobby, sir."

"All right."

"They is waiting down in the throne room, sir."

Lucius nodded and before leaving the study he made sure that Sirius was still sound asleep.

…

Regulus sat on the raised platform in the throne room, his head on Remus's shoulder, as he gazed at the little baby in James's arms, "At least he won't remember this when he's older."

"Yeah," agreed James before cooing to the little child he was holding. His theory on Draco's whereabouts had proved successful after two days of nearly solid searching; the three men had come across a run down shack less than a mile away from the palace, and inside they found Draco and his sleeping kidnapper (whom was stunned before he could wake up). The kidnapper, one Mr. Crabbe, was now in a holding cell at the Ministry of Magic, and Draco was deemed perfectly healthy after being checked over by Severus who had some medical knowledge.

The doors to the throne room soon opened and the King entered, looking tired and miserable; he glanced down at the floor before looking accusingly at the two sitting men and James's back, "You got mud and crap all over my floor."

James turned towards the blond and smirked when his mouth dropped, "Is that the only gratitude we get?"

"Oh my god," Lucius rushed over and practically snatched the wakeful baby out of James's arms, "Where did you find him? How did you find him?" he cuddled the child protectively.

Remus got to his feet and smiled, "With a bit of a nudge in the right direction, James came up with a brilliant theory," Lucius gave him a curious look. "Think the obvious."

Lucius pressed a kiss to the top of his son's blond head, "Thank you, you have no idea of the relief… He isn't hurt, is he?" he held the baby out in front of him in an attempt at inspecting him for physical injury.

James shook his head, "No, I got Severus to check him over before we brought him home, he seems to have been pretty well cared for, just lacking in the affection of his parents."

Lucius nodded and cradled Draco back against his body; it felt like an amazing weight had been lifted off his shoulders now, "I am sure I will regret saying this, but how can I ever repay you three?"

Regulus got to his feet, a devil grin on his face, "I'm sure we'll all think of something…" Remus and James both nodded in agreement, amused glints in their eyes. "How's Sirius?"

Lucius sighed, "Depressed…he hasn't been eating, he hasn't been talking the last two days… Hopefully that will change now."

"I'm sure it will," assured Remus. "Anyway, we should leave you to break the news to him," Lucius nodded, the expression on his pale face was enough to show that he was deeply grateful to the three of them.

"Expect outlandish requests, your majesty," said Regulus as Remus practically dragged himself and James towards the doors. "The kidnapper's name is Crabbe by the way, he's at the Ministry."

After the three men had left, Lucius, his son still cradled against his chest, headed back to his study to break the fantastic news to Sirius. Upon entering and going over to the couch, he saw Sirius was still fast asleep but curled up on his other side now, facing the back of the couch. The blond sat down on the coffee table and supported the baby in the crook of one arm as he gently shook Sirius by the shoulder, "Sirius."

Sirius grunted and gave a quiet murmur but he didn't wake.

Lucius leaned forward a bit more and ran a hand through Sirius's hair, "Come on, Siri, wake up, there's someone here who wants to see you," Draco gave a little squeal and stretched his little arms out to Sirius's sleeping form. A prolonged groan sounded from Sirius this time, which meant he was closer to waking up. Lucius looked down at his son, "I don't think daddy wants to wake up, Dray."

"…What did you just say?"

Lucius smiled slightly, "I was telling our son that you don't want to wake up."

In his haste to turn around and sit up Sirius fell off the couch and as soon as he had sat up again on the floor, he managed to briefly restrain himself and carefully take Draco off his father. "Oh my god, Dray…" he cuddled his son to him as tightly as he dared for such a small child. "I'm not still asleep am I?"

Lucius leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Sirius's forehead, "You are most certainly not dreaming," he brushed his fingers through Sirius's hair again. "We have your friends and brother to thank for Draco's return. I'm glad you haven't lost the ability to speak."

Sirius managed a watery smile, "Sorry…"

Lucius moved down onto the floor next to the dark haired man and he pulled his gorgeous lover and child into his arms, "Don't cry, Sirius, please…"

Sirius pressed his head against Lucius's shoulder, his watering eyes fixed on his baby son, "They're not tears of sadness, believe me…I'm just so glad we have him back…"

"Me too, love, me too."

Sirius lifted his head so that he could see Lucius's face, "What about the kidnapper?"

"He is at the Ministry," the blond used his thumbs to wipe the tears away from Sirius's newly emotive grey eyes. "I plan on dealing with him tomorrow, then I will deal with the law enforcement."

"Ok," Sirius cuddled back up to Lucius's body. "I feel like shit…"

"You don't look much better," replied Lucius honestly, he received an elbow in the stomach. "Do you think maybe you'll start looking after yourself again, now?"

"Yes."

"Good," Lucius stifled a yawn against Sirius's head. "I think bed is in order."

"You go, I'm staying up with him."

"If you're sure," Lucius turned Sirius's head and kissed him soundly on the lips. "I expect you to sleep in that bed at some point."

"Yes sir."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay! Draco's back! You didn't really think I'd killed him, did you?

Next Chapter: Follow up on Crabbe's arrest. More from our lovely couples. Any suggestions as to what you'd like to see?