Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and few chars.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Surprise surprise-I'm running out of floppy disc space. I guess everything comes to an end sooner or later. oh.. yes...I do think Lucius is a vampire. hehehe. Look at him! He's damn pale! Too sallow to be human.
Chapter 36: Glass Shards
Clear skies brought wonderful birds to sing for the world as flowers bloomed gorgeously. The heat wave stayed over the course of the week. I taught the Advanced Potions class on Tuesday and Thursday, which wasn't too troublesome. For the rest of the week I helped teach the first and second year classes. It was quite an interesting week. Even today, the Hogsmeade trip was exuberantly fun.
Lucius contacted me about Malfoy's birthday when I spotted him in a book shop. He basically told me we would have to start preparing for the party tonight, which was completely sudden. I didn't have a clue what to buy Draco for his birthday, so I decided I would help him take care of Mortifer, his owl, for a week. At least it would get the owl out of Lucius' and Draco's way for awhile. Serenity was a friendly kitten, so she wouldn't mind some company for a little bit.
The afternoon was a lightning streak flashing by quickly and barely noticed by anyone except for the ones watching for time to slow down. Time had that mysterious way of slipping by. And birthdays proved it.
"So, you're hanging out with Mr. Malfoy tonight?" Ron asked I relaxed in the lounge with Gwen and Hermione.
"Yep," I moved my shoulder to crack it, "Have to get everything together for Draco's party. It's going to be earlier in the afternoon tomorrow; About eleven or so. Lucius has a load of work to finish, which is why we have to have it earlier. And today he told me that we would've had the party today, but he had even more work to do. I guess that's what's going to happen to us once we leave here: too much work and no time for anything fun…" I left that statement on a sadder note.
Suddenly, Gwen picked up a pillow and smacked my head with it, "There's no way in the fiery gates of hell that I'm letting my friends fade away. So what if we work? We can still mail each other and try to get together sometimes. We'll always be together."
Hermione interjected, "We have to stop talking about it now...Draco will be in here any minute now."
"That's what you've been saying for the past half-hour. If Gilder-ass Lock-fart didn't keep him busy all damn day he'd be here right now." Ron was definitely pissed that Gilderoy was such a controlling freakazoid.
Minutes passed and soon Draco did join us, but as a very tired, very annoyed guy who just wanted to sleep. I left the lounge a bit later, heading to my room. I wanted some personal time to write in my journal for awhile. While writing, Serenity jumped around on my bed and cuddled up to my feet. She purred and licked the back of my hand, causing me to laugh. I continued to write everything that came to mind.
I glanced at the clock and knew it was time to gather a few things from my room and start heading for the garden area outside. Draco would be so surprised tomorrow morning at the party. I was almost ready to run up to him and confess everything, but that would kill the whole point of creating this party behind his back. But then again, I wouldn't cause any trouble by telling Draco...Alright, I would give away the secret, which would make Mr. Malfoy upset at me, and I didn't want to see him upset.
With my wand in my pocket and Serenity by my side, I found the first floor doorway which led to my favorite outside situation of Hogwarts: The oak tree and garden area. The late afternoon was chilly, but beautiful and peaceful. Lucius was standing by the oak tree, glancing up at it in anger. His hands were folded and he tapped his foot violently while cursing under his breath. So my wish of not seeing him upset was broken, but I could deal with it. The way I look at angry people now is positive; If I can deal with Snape's insanely infurious side, I can deal with anything pertaining to madness.
"Mister Malfoy?" I approached him with caution in case he was extremely touchy.
He kept his gaze above the high branches of the oak tree, "Hello, Miss Maguire. I am trying to...Aha!" Suddenly, he pointed his wand towards the top branch and mumbled an incantation.
A grey and brown owl floated from the depths of leaves into the air, staying there for a moment without ability to move itself. I knew this spell...It was Subvolo Aerius, learned in Flitwick's classroom my first year here.
"Do I have a good chance of guessing who's owl that is, Sir?" My playful smile gave away that I knew it was Draco's.
He moved the wand down and the owl floated into Lucius' grasp. He then shouted, "Accio Owl Cage!" The cage appeared quickly, opening as Lucius forced the stubborn bird inside.
"Erm..."
"No need to worry," Lucius finally faced me, with a tiny half-smile appearing, "I've dealt with this bird enough to know how to handle it. But, that has nothing to do with why you and I are here. Do you have your wand with you?"
I took my wand out to show him as I nodded my head. He also nodded and walked a little closer to me. Night wasn't as dark in the spring and summer time, but tonight seemed different. Dark clouds creeped in, making the air feel slightly moist against my cheeks.
Lucius must have felt the change in the air as well, "Oh my, I think it might rain on our parade. Maranda, do you happen to know if the weather is going to play tricks with us, or if it's going to stay tolerable in our favor?"
"I have no clue. Judging by the sudden drop in temperature, I'd say it was about to storm. But I could be wrong. I just hope it doesn't rain after we set everything up." I suddenly noticed there were no decorations outside. Just two glass orbs resting on the ground near the owl's cage. I predictably asked about them, "May I ask what those are next to the cage?"
"Those are party orbs. After I say the required incantation and tap on them three times, they open to reveal decorations that will practically set up on their own. They can only be purchased in a special wizard's magazines. I subscribed for a few years, and just stumbled across the page one day. I admit, they are a bit tacky when you first see them, and may seem a little offensive to the advanced wizard or witch, but they are useful on these happy occasions." He smirked and picked up an orb.
Lucius rested his wand on the top of the orb as he said the spell to open it. He tapped once, twice, three times on the glass and lowered his wand. The glass glowed a blinding white and split in half, revealing floating streamers and balloons in different shades of green.
"Dracos' favorite color. I had these specially designed for him." Lucius fully smiled now with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
A raindrop fell on my nose. Another dropped onto my head. Within seconds the rain was sprinkling the garden unevenly. The streamers darkened from the wetness, the balloons rose into the air and fell as each droplet hit them. Lucius picked up the other orb, apparently not noticing the rain.
"Lumos," I decided we needed some light, as the night was growing darker.
Turning to face me, Lucius sighed as his shoulders dropped, "This was unexpectedly expected. Thunderstorms are not on my agenda for Draco's birthday. Will you hold this for me, dear? I must clean up these streamers and balloons before we go back inside." The same glint of mischief resided in his crystal blue eyes.
I reached out my hand to grasp the other orb. Lucius began to hand it to me carefully. He dropped it into my free hand, but it was drenched from the rain. It slipped around in my grasp. I stared at the orb, hoping it would stop moving. I tightened my grip on the round product, and it cracked. Broke. Shattered in my hand. I gasped...The only thing to do as I witnessed first hand the deleterious pain surging through my palm.
"Ahhh!" My voice finally conjured up the strength to scream.
Lucius placed his palm under my arm so he could lift it and see what was wrong with my hand.
"Darling," He spoke almost seductively, "Open your fist."
Tears were forming behind my eyes. I pushed the thought of crying aside and loosened my grip. Shards of glass fell to the ground, but there were still pieces lodged in my skin. Rain made the pain worse by stinging the open wounds. I had never experienced such a horrid pain in my life.
Lucius made a tut, tut, tut sound as though he were a mother silencing her child. "Poor, poor Maranda. The good news is I can take these pieces of glass out in a jiffy."
He started to pick out tiny glass shards from my palm. It hurt terribly, but I didn't want to move another foot without them out of my skin.
A larger fragment of glass was taken out, but Lucius held it between his thumb and forefinger. I couldn't decipher his gaze. It was almost indifferent. But as all of the glass was gone, I wouldn't complain.
"Thank you..." I took a deep breath and faced the ongoing pain.
"Dear, dear, Maranda..." He shook his head and still held my arm up from underneath, "You misunderstood everything, didn't you?"
I stared at him with confusion, "What?"
"This year was perfect for you... You found your place, found your friends, and found a new love. Oh yes, I know all about you and Severus. If it wasn't for my ghostly companion, I wouldn't know anything."
"Wait..." The pain was suddenly unimportant, "You mean you...Peeves..."
The grin from Lucius was no longer friendly, "Yes, Peeves works for me. You don't know half of it, Maranda."
As I tried to pull my arm away from his grip, Lucius swiped the scrap of glass down my arm, just missing my vein. But this didn't stop the cut from bleeding. I tore my arm away with such force that I was thrown onto the wet ground. Hovering over me was a deceitful man, drenched in not only rain, but lies and anger.
"What's going on?" I yelled over the first clap of thunder, "Why would you spy on me like that?"
He sniggered, putting his foot on top of my stomach so I couldn't move, "Oh Merlin, Here come the questions. Why don't we skip the games and go straight to the ending." He continued as-a-matter-of-factly, "See, twenty or so years ago, your father worked for me, and took care of all of my money. He worked in a bank, and I was his client. One fabulous day he met your mother and fell in lo- Oh my, we have a visitor.."
Out of the shadows came Severus, holding his wand at ready position. "Let her go, Lucius, and Albus won't hear about this.."
"Oh shush, Sev, you're ruining my story time." The crystal blue eyes grew cold, uncaring and devilish. If the Devil had blue eyes, they would be Lucius'. And is it sad that at this time of pain and horror, my only thoughts were how ironic it was that Lucius's name sounded like Lucifer's?
Snape quickly shouted, "Expeliarmus!"
Lucius got knocked back, his wand flying into the air. The relief of having no foot on my stomach caused me to forget my bleeding arm. I got up, feeling quite lightheaded, and ran to Snape's side after picking Lucius' wand up.
"You're bleeding! Here..." Snape ripped off a piece of his robes sleeve and wrapped it around my wound.
"Give me my wand!" Lucius charged towards me.
Snape finished tying the cloth just as I dodged the attack. Instantly, a familiar ghost flew up from underground and took the wand from my hand, along with my own.
"Peeves," Lucius laughed, "My faithful companion."
Peeves stuck his tongue out at Lucius and shouted, "I'm not a dog, you stupid arse."
The grin from Lucius' mouth morphed maliciously into a scowl, "Faithful until I can dispose of you. Firma Formalis!"
In shock, I watched as Lucius cursed Peeves. The damned ghost turned to stone and fell to the ground. Snape moved so I was hidden behind him.
"Now I can finish my story," Lucius stated, pointing his wand at Sev with every intention to start a fight, "but where was I? Oh yes, Maranda, I was talking about your mother."
Sev didn't want to hear anything, and with the rain pouring down on us, we all wanted to head out of there. To humor Lucius, I poked my head from behind Snape's soaking robes and gazed into the scary blue eyes with somewhat of an interest.
I cleared my throat and said, "Go on..."
