Interlude: Lucius
They stood, Disillusioned, in the Hall of Prophecy, waiting. Lucius listened to the others - all convicts he'd helped break out of Azkaban - play an imaginary game of chess, complete with spectators, and sighed. It'd been hours already, but no one had shown, and no one had contacted him.
Finally, his mark burned, and Lucius looked curiously at his arm, dropping the Disillusionment spell. His lord was coming, which presumably meant that Potter had refused. Lucius considered the boy. The plan involved convincing the boy that Sirius Black, whom they had on good authority the boy was close to, was in danger. That he'd refused to come meant either Potter realized it was a trap or he simply didn't care if Black died.
Neither fit with Potter who slayed a basilisk at twelve, but both fit with Potter who'd marked both his wife and son.
Lucius thought about that difference, and the fact that Potter knew spells only the Dark Lord should have known. He thought about the strange connection the boy seemed to share with the Dark Lord, who didn't seem overly concerned about why he could perform Legilimency on the boy from hundreds of miles away.
He thought about a diary he'd given to a small, red-headed girl, believing it to be merely a dark artifact. That it might perhaps curse her if he was lucky. He thought about Narcissa informing him Draco's most recent letter mentioned the Chamber of Secrets, and how apparently mudbloods were getting petrified, just as had happened when the Dark Lord was a student.
He thought about Potter who slayed a basilisk at twelve telling them that the diary had been possessing the girl. He thought about a snake that seemed too clever, even for a familiar.
He thought about the Dark Lord's claims that he'd gone farther than any other along the path to immortality.
As though he'd known the answer all along, everything fell into place in his mind, and Lucius staggered for just a moment.
Potter who'd marked his wife and son was the Dark Lord… and yet not.
Lucius thought about the boy's offer. Let me know if you ever decide you want me to replace his mark with my own.
The Dark Lord wouldn't have offered. He'd have demanded or simply killed Lucius. He wouldn't have asked for Lucius's preferences or opinions. It was as though some of Potter who killed a basilisk at twelve had blended into the Dark Lord to create Potter who'd marked his wife and son.
It didn't matter, he supposed. Regardless of what, exactly, Potter had become, Lucius's highest priority was his family. For their safety, Potter needed to win. Lucius resumed his watch, waiting for his lord to arrive. Attached to his wedding band was a monitoring spell. The Malfoy family had the rings commissioned centuries ago, and no modern-day spells would pick up on the enchantments woven into the gold. It let him check on Narcissa, and it let her check on him. And now it would let him replace the spy Potter lost when he removed Severus's mark.
