Several weeks after the dinner party with the Dursleys, Lucius was pacing the receiving room after dinner one night, waiting for his oldest and dearest friend, Severus, who also happened to be Narcissa's love. Lucius and Narcissa had been betrothed straight out of Hogwarts, and while they had been very good friends, had not wanted to be married. Lucius because he was an alpha and had wanted time to find his omega. Narcissa because she wanted to go into healing, and hadn't wanted to deal with family during training. But the nature of the betrothal was absolute, and the wedding contract required an heir at the soonest possible moment. Knowing neither of them were truly attracted to one another, they had gone to Lucius's friend Severus for potions to assist them with the creation of the Malfoy heir, and the fulfillment of their marriage contract. Having known both of them for years, and understanding the ramifications should no heir be forthcoming, he assisted them. And when it was confirmed that Narcissa was carrying the new heir, he had been present for the healer's appointments throughout the process, neither Malfoy trusting anyone else to make the potions required for Narcissa's delicate pregnancy. While Lucius was an alpha, and alphas were very virile with omegas, alphas and betas had more difficulty in creating a child. This necessitated a number of extra fertility enhancing potions, potions to assist Lucius in his completion with the knot, and even more potions for Narcissa to have as little pain as possible, as a beta could not handle an alpha's knot unprepared.
Being successful in the first stage of generating a pregnancy was not their last hurdle. While both female betas and all omegas were built for carrying children, Narcissa, unfortunately, was not. Her organs had developed sufficiently enough to ensure conception was possible, but they were not quite developed enough to successfully sustain a full pregnancy. Her twin, Bellatrix, had similar fertility issues, and she and her husband Rudolphus had never managed to conceive prior to their being thrown into Azkaban after the torture of the Longbottoms. The Malfoys were exceedingly grateful to Severus and his skill with potions to ensure Narcissa could carry their heir as long as possible, and while he was born a month premature, the healers and Severus's potions had assisted in his full development and continued good health.
As Severus had been intimately involved throughout her pregnancy, and Draco's continued ill health at the beginning of his life, he and Narcissa had developed a deeper friendship, and after some time, it had deepened to love. Lucius was fine with this development, never having loved Narcissa romantically after all, and Severus and Narcissa were good for each other. Severus spent as much time as he could at the Manor, being with Narcissa and his godson whenever he could get time away from Dumbledore and his ridiculous requests.
But for now, Lucius was pacing, waiting for his friend, and wife's lover, for an entirely different reason. He knew that Lily Potter had been a sister to Severus in their youth, and even their falling out at the end of 5th year had not had irreversible consequences. They had reconciled in their 7th year, after James had gotten together with Lily, and she forced the two sides to back off each other. The Marauders didn't like Severus, but had tolerated him a bit, for Lily's sake. So Lucius knew that Severus would want to know what was going on with Lily's son.
The fireplace flared green, Severus stepping out from the floo gracefully, and waving his wand to remove the soot.
"I received your message, Lucius," he began speaking as soon as he was clean, knowing otherwise Lucius would take far too much time with pleasantries if allowed. "What is it I can do for you?"
"I am not yet certain, my friend," Lucius responded somewhat vaguely. "But we have much to discuss. Draco and Narcissa are waiting for us"
The two men exited the receiving room, and went down to the family parlour where Narcissa and Draco were waiting for them.
Settling themselves, the house elves handed around drinks, and left the tea service on one of the low tables near the group.
"What has happened?" Severus started, after all the hugs and hellos were complete. Lucius and Narcissa shared a look, silently deciding who would speak first, when Draco beat them to it.
"We met Harry Potter!"
Severus' black eyes widened and his expressive eyebrow rose at the child's declaration.
Lucius sighed, but picked up the conversational kneazle which had metaphorically been set amidst the pixies.
"Indeed," Lucius said dryly. "That is not quite how I intended to tell you, but Draco is correct. We have met Harry Potter."
"And oh, Severus, we think he's been abused!" Narcissa interjected quickly, knowing her love would overlook the slight social faux pas of cutting off her husband.
"WHAT?" The potion's master exclaimed. "Abused? Are you certain?" He looked to Lucius again for confirmation.
"Nearly so, yes," Lucius confirmed. "As you know, I began making investments in the muggle world a few years ago, and on a whim, I decided to meet some of the staff at one of them. I… befriended…" he said with a curl of his lip, "a muggle man, and received an invitation for my family to dine at their home. We have dined with them occasionally, both at their home and out, but that first visit sparked a bit of a mystery. Both Narcissa and I felt magic in what should have been an entirely muggle home."
Narcissa was nodding along to this recitation, so Severus focused back on Lucius as he continued the tale.
"During the appetizer I thought I felt a spark of something, but it was so faint, I brushed it off as unimportant, a draught, or some other quirk of the muggle residence I had not yet come in contact with. It increased during dinner, at which point Cissa felt it as well. But the strangest thing was the increase in intensity of the feeling as we left the residence, passing by a small closet, or cupboard under the stairs."
Lucius paused here to take another drink. Severus, seeing the tightening in both Lucius and Narcissa's eyes, took a fortifying sip as well.
Lucius continued, "we dined at a restaurant the next time, and felt nothing. That led us to believe that whatever it was we felt was something contained at their home. So we nurtured the...friendship… and have dined with them numerous times, always feeling the magic at their home, and never when out with them in public." Lucius took another fortifying sip of his brandy, knowing that what he had to reveal next was likely to set his friend on a rampage.
"Last week we attended another dinner at their home, and when we entered the dining room, a small child was making a hasty exit into the kitchen. The magic was much stronger in the food this time, leading us to conclude that the child is the one who prepared it. The wife of my associate had the boy bring in dessert, after telling us he had been banned from the dinner due to stealing, and introduce himself. He said his name was Harry. I thought nothing of it till I grasped his hand for a shake, and the magic washed over me with such intensity, I believe I squeezed the young man's hand, and he looked up at me. Green eyes, nearly glowing, and the scar right there on his forehead."
Severus' grip on his glass had tightened throughout this tale, to the imminent danger of the expensive crystal. His knuckles were white when he spit out, "And you mean to tell me that this muggle family is housing the savior of our world?"
"Yes," Lucius responded succinctly.
"And who is this muggle family?" Severus said, suspicion growing in his mind.
"The Dursley's, one Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley of Number 4 Privet Drive."
CRACK
The fragile glass Severus had been holding shattered. A house elf popped in to clear away the shards, and placed a new glass on the table in front of him before popping away.
"Petunia. The old man put him with Petunia. PETUNIA! Petunia Evans loathes magic, nearly scarred Lily for life with her vitriol. Petunia." Severus shook his head, sputtered out his thoughts, forgetting the Malfoy family's presence entirely.
The rambled mutterings of his friend clued Lucius in to what was going on. Harry had been left with Lily's muggle sister and her husband, and not been taken in by a wizarding family as all had been led to believe.
"You said he cooked the meal you ate there?" Severus questioned.
"Well, we believe so. I certainly didn't see him cook anything, but his magic was in every dish we were presented with," Lucius responded.
"Did the magic seem…" Severus paused, thinking of what word would be appropriate to the situation, "Positive?" he finally settled on.
"I think so," Narcissa said. "It certainly didn't feel negative or angry when I was eating."
"It felt good," Draco put in. He hadn't participated in the conversation much, but he was listening.
"I agree, it did seem positive. The wash of it was incredible, and intense, while I was eating. If it had been negative in any way, I would have felt it."
"He may be an omega." Severus said. "It is common for omegas to enjoy cooking or at least they will want to provide for the family."
"Severus, no," Lucius stopped that train of thought entirely. "Do not try to pin his cooking on being an omega. For heaven's sake, he's Draco's age! And if you had seen how meek he looked, nearly refusing to look at anyone in the eye. No, there's something else going on there."
"I suppose you will be proven correct," Severus stated, outwardly composed, but inwardly seething.
"I don't think there's any supposition about it. Remember how I said I felt the wash of magic on that cupboard under the stairs?" Lucius put in. "I got a good look at it with my aura sight, and it's definitely where he spends the majority of his time. What magical child spends enough time in a boot cupboard of all things, long enough that their magic has saturated it enough to give it an aura. Especially an aura as bright as I was able to see nearly without even activating aura sight. Near spontaneous activation, Sev. You know how rare that is!"
"Ok, ok. I believe you." Severus replied, placatingly. "So why are you telling me? What do you want to do about it?"
"I'm not sure. We were hoping you might have some insight into the situation that we could use to address it, hopefully in such a way that gets that poor child out of there!" Lucius responded.
"Yes, Sev, it would have broken your heart to see him. So quiet and reserved, not anything like you'd expect a son of James Potter to behave. Especially with Lily's temperament." Narcissa added.
"Wait a moment," Severus interjected. "Harry is with Petunia," he continued, clearly thinking out loud. "I know Lily was working on James to have wills completed due to the threat against them. She wrote me to say they were putting together a list of people to take Harry should anything happen to them."
The Malfoys exchanged glances, following Severus' verbal thoughts.
"Honestly, Lucius," Severus completed his thought, "I don't think he was ever supposed to go to the muggles. I know Lily mentioned Sirius and Remus, the Longbottoms, Minerva and possibly myself. She said she had a few other potential options as well. As I was never called to take him, I assumed he had gone to someone earlier on the list than me, Remus perhaps, or that James had refused to have me on the list at all. Well, not that I'd have been in any fit state immediately anyway, you saw what happened, we were there."
"Of course, Severus. No one would have expected you to take him in right at that moment in time. Sirius Black was his godfather, and he wasn't arrested for four more days, perhaps Harry was with him. And once he was arrested, perhaps in the absence of other options, he wound up at the Dursleys for lack of other family?"
"That can't be right," Narcissa interjected. "Andromeda and I are both cousins to Sirius, he could have come to one of us, Andromeda if they weren't comfortable with us," she continued, gesturing to herself and Lucius.
"I don't know, Cissa," Lucius responded. "Severus, did you get called to the will reading?"
"No, I didn't. I remember thinking it a bit odd as I was sure Lily had implied I would be mentioned in hers, regardless of whether or not James vetoed making me a potential guardian for Harry."
"Father, Uncle Sev," Draco interrupted with a sniffle. "Who is his magical guardian if he lives with muggles? I have you and mother, and I know Uncle Sev would take me if something happened to either of you, but Harry doesn't have anyone. His godfather's in prison." Draco was near to tears thinking about the horrible situation this boy, who could have been his friend, was in.
"Oh, my sweet dragonling," Narcissa cooed, holding her arms open for her son to crawl into her lap, "We don't know for sure. We're hoping Severus can help us find out."
Draco nodded, with another sniff, and hid his face in his mother's neck to be cuddled. Narcissa continued murmuring soothing words to her rather distraught son who kept choking out partial sentences about Harry being alone, and muggles not being good guardians for magical children, and would his core be alright without having been around magic for so long. It was rather disheartening for Narcissa to see how quickly Draco had attached himself to a boy he had not actually spoken to, but it was nice that her son was so tenderhearted. Perhaps he would avoid the fate of so many of the Noble and Ancient Houses, and keep some of that sweet innocence. She knew none of his friends would have shown this much concern, nor would they have let their mothers comfort them like this.
While Draco was being soothed by his mother, Severus and Lucius were having a quiet conversation.
"Lucius, I don't think the wills were ever read," Severus whispered to his friend.
"I feel I must concur with that assessment," Lucius agreed.
"That does make all of this rather a bit more than difficult," Severus countered.
"I am aware, but how do we leave a child in an abusive situation," Lucius continued.
"I don't think we do," Severus stated. "But we need to be cautious."
"I wholeheartedly agree with that statement," Lucius paused. "How do we take a child, moreover a child as well known as this one, away from those who are perhaps his legal guardians, and get him to a safe place without alerting the wrong parties."
"We need to get him to Gringotts," Severus said. "If he's present, he can open the wills as they were his parents, regardless of his age."
"Not quite," Lucius responded, shaking his head. "He still has to be 10. The goblins can't do an inheritance test until he turns 10, and without his key, which might not even work given no one has been taking the Potter Inheritance Tests to keep the vault keys active, he'll have to take an inheritance test to prove who he is in order to open the wills."
"That is unfortunate," Severus concluded with a sigh.
"So it is," Lucius ended the conversation with finality. He would have to speak to his goblin account manager about the situation and see if there was anything to be done.
They both nodded once, and Lucius stood.
"It is too late to continue discussing the situation this evening. Draco, it's time for bed," Lucius indicated firmly, but still kind. People who had seen the hard, cold, sharp-as-ice Malfoy lord would never recognize him if they saw him in private.
Draco hugged his mother one more time before sliding out of her lap, as gracefully as he could manage. He bowed to his father and his godfather, and offered a formal, though soft, "Blessed be," before exiting the room to go to bed.
Gringotts BankTwo weeks after the discussion between the Malfoys and Severus, Lucius and Severus were in Gringotts to meet with their account manager goblin. Both men worked with Gornuk, so they decided on a joint meeting. They had been shown to his office a few minutes ago and were now waiting for Gornuk to arrive.
"Do you think he'll be able to help?" Severus queried?
"I hope so," Lucius responded. "I know Gornuk has had dealings with Griphook before, when the Malfoys and Blacks were in negotiations for my betrothal contract especially. I'm not certain he'll be able to tell us anything specific, but he may be able to guide us a bit, even if we can't get specifics."
"So we'll hope for the best then," Severus replied, folding his hands together in his lap as they waited.
The outer door opened and Gornuk stepped into his office.
"May your gold ever grow, Gornuk," Lucius and Severus stood and spoke together.
"And your enemies suffer, Lord Malfoy, Lord Prince," Gornuk responded. "How may I assist you both today?"
"We are in need of your guidance, Gornuk, and possibly your knowledge of law and any potential...gaps we may be able to utilize," the Malfoy lord replied with a slight bow to the goblin.
"Be seated, gentlemen. Tea?" Gornuk offered as a tea service popped into the room.
"Yes, thank you," they replied, fixing their tea to their preference. They all sipped from their cups and relaxed back into the comfortable chairs provided for client meetings.
"I can tell something is bothering you gentlemen, and it is rare that clients choose to meet with their account managers jointly. Please, speak freely," Gornuk invited.
"I have not witnessed the situation for myself, merely been involved in the discussion of it after the fact. I will let Lucius explain the particulars," Severus noted.
Lucius took another sip of his tea in preparation for the story, and began to describe the situation to his account manager. He laid out all the flares of magic from the first dinner party, the lack of magic when eating out, all the subsequent interactions with the Dursleys, and lingered in great detail of the most recent dinner when he finally got a look at the source of the magic. When he got to the point of recognition, and stating who the magical child was, he was unceremoniously stopped by the now invested goblin.
"Wait, you mean to tell me, you went to a muggle home and stumbled across Harry Potter?!" Gornuk exclaimed.
"Indeed," Lucius replied.
"Well, well, well…" Gornuk mumbled. "This changes things."
"Changes things?" Severus put in, allowing Lucius a bit more time with his tea.
"Yes, well, unofficially of course," Gornuk put in with with a penetrating look at the men, who nodded before he continued, "Unofficially, Griphook, the Potter and Black family's account goblin has been looking for Harry for quite some time. He has not been brought in to participate in the yearly ritual for vault keys when the last of the family is too young for the usual inheritance test, and his magical guardian took a number of things from the Potter vaults prior to the keys losing their function on his second birthday when the vault keys failed, which was far before any of the items taken could or would have been needed for the young heir."
"I was unaware of an alternative method of powering the vault keys," Severus commented.
"I knew of it, but it had slipped my mind as it is needed so rarely. Usually the last of a house is well beyond the age of 10 when they become so," Lucius put in.
"Well, well, well…" Gornuk devolved into unintelligible Gobbledegook for a few moments, clearly trying to come to terms with the information he had just been provided. Finally rousing himself from the shock of the situation, and coming back to clearer thought patterns, he looked at his two clients, and asked, "Would it be permissible for me to include Goblin Account Manager Griphook in this discussion?"
"Yes, if you believe he may be able to assist with the situation," Lucius responded immediately, Severus nodding as well.
"One moment please," Gornuk said, pressing his finger to a perfectly clear cube on his desk. He barked out a long line of Gobbledegook, and a sharp chime was emitted as the crystal glowed for a moment before flashing green. "Griphook will join us momentarily," Gornuk concluded with a predatory smirk.
"Gentlemen, Gornuk," Griphook said as he entered Gornuk's office.
"May your gold ever grow, Account Manager Griphook," said Lucius and Severus, standing and making polite bows to the goblin before returning to their seats.
"And your enemies suffer, Lord Malfoy and Lord Prince," replied Griphook. "Gornuk indicated we have much to discuss."
"We do, indeed," responded Gornuk. "Lord Malfoy has located your missing Potter Heir." He dropped the bombshell with a bland look on his face, waiting for the inevitable outburst from his colleague. He was not disappointed.
Griphook nodded, clearly not having realized what his fellow goblin had said.
…
"WHAT!?" he suddenly exclaimed, jumping out of his chair, the words just spoken playing on a loop in his head. He opened and closed his mouth several times, returned to his seat, and pinned Lord Malfoy with an intense stare. "Tell me everything," he commanded.
So Lucius retold the tale which he had now lived, talked over at least a dozen times with his wife and Severus, told his account manager, and was now in the process of telling the Potter account manager. At this rate, he'd be dreaming of it soon.
The Potter account manager was absolutely furious at the end of Lucius' recitation. He was muttering under his breath in spitting Gobbledegook, pacing the room, and gesturing as if brandishing a sword.
Griphook and Gornuk had a brief conversation in rapid-fire Gobbledegook, complete with Gornuk leaving his seat, and more waving of air-weaponry. Once their conversation stopped, both smoothed down their bank uniform suits, returned to their seats, and sipped at the now-cold tea.
"Officially," glared Griphook with clenched teeth, "we can do nothing without the young heir, or his magical guardian being present."
"Unofficially," Gornuk smoothly took over, "the goblin nation would be marching for war were it an option, therefore we are willing to assist you however we can."
"You say the only magic you ever felt at this muggle residence was that of the Heir Potter?" confirmed Griphook.
"That is correct, Account Manager Griphook," Lucius responded evenly.
"Griphook. We will be seeing much of each other in the future if I am correct in my assumptions," Griphook directed to Lucius.
"Griphook, then, and thank you," Lucius said with a nod. "But what is the significance of only feeling Heir Potter's magic?"
"Ah, never dealt with magical guardianship then, have you?" Gornuk said with a slight chuckle, which sounded a bit like nails on a chalkboard. "A magical guardian must be in physical possession of their minor ward, or must visit said minor ward at least monthly to go over accounts and Wizagamot actions when seats are in play, as well as for tutoring in magical customs, etiquette, finance, and the like. Each monthly visit should be no less than 8 hours, or may be broken up into shorter visits, occurring more frequently. The required amount of time a minor ward should spend with their guardian is more than enough for a residence to gain at least a slight concentration of the guardian's magic.
"The fact that you, a known aura reader, are unable to detect another magical presence is disturbing, because if the magical guardian is not in physical possession of the minor ward, the minor ward is not to leave their residence for these meetings," Griphook continued. "That I know who Heir Potter's guardian is supposed to be," he bit out through clenched teeth, "and that I know who is acting as Heir Potter's magical guardian, is not admissible in terms of altering the situation for Heir Potter. I cannot divulge the information…" he trailed off.
"Directly," finished Gornuk quietly.
"Directly," echoed Griphook, sneering at the absurdity of his most prominent client being somewhere he was patently NOT supposed to be.
"Is there anything you can tell us directly, Griphook?" Lucius queried.
"Only that I am the bonded account manager for the Potter and Black families, I assisted with the preparation of legal guardianship documents and wills under the direction of Lord and Lady Potter, and Lord Black prior to their deaths and his incarceration on the part of Lord Black," responded Griphook. "On a personal note, I can tell you I do NOT approve of the one acting as Heir Potter's magical guardian."
"I don't think any of the goblins approve of the one acting as Heir Potter's magical guardian," added Gornuk.
"Is there anything about the situation you can tell us directly, Gornuk?" asked Severus.
"I was not privy to many specific details surrounding the guardianship papers or wills of the late Potters or Lord Black, but being the account manager to at least one of the preferred list of guardians, I did get a few things," the goblin provided. "For instance, I know that both of you were on the list of potential guardians for our young Mr. Potter, and that the current...guardians...both physical and magical were most emphatically NOT.
The conversation continued for over 3 hours, lunch being provided for them in the office as they were deep in discussion by that point. By the end, they were still working around what Lucius and Severus did not yet know, or had not yet figured out from the best hints and round-about talking the goblins had been able to do. They settled on having at least one full day meeting a month until such time as they were able to remove Heir Harry Potter from his current living situation.
Legally.
Or…
Well…
...Legally.