A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Auction day 8 – rare slash pairings Ted/Lucius

Word Count: 815

Lucius watched the pair through his binoculars. They weren't doing anything of real interest, but that was besides the point. The point was that they were spending time together, despite the fact Lucius couldn't even prove they were in a relationship. He knew his client would pay big time for this particular hit. Tonks had done the unfathomable. He'd been courting Black's youngest daughter, Andromeda. Tonks was a nothing, a nobody with nothing to his name.

He wasn't the kind of person that Orion Black wanted anywhere near his family. Lucius had been paid handsomely to take him out of the picture. Normally Lucius wouldn't have accepted such a hit. It wasn't what he usually did. Of course, he knew the Black family would pay him enough to set him well on his way to retirement, but he wasn't interested in the money. From the the first glimpse of Tonks he'd gotten from his dossier. No, he had a whole different plan to keep the man from marrying Andromeda Black.

Tonks' home wasn't anything special, but it was homey. From what he could see of the small flat, Tonks knew how to decorate, how to make a place feel like one belonged instantly. Lucius wondered if that would extend to anyone the man knew. He longed to belong somewhere.

His mother and father had died before he'd reached his twenty-first birthday. They'd never seen the man he'd grown to be, not that they would have approved of his tastes in partners. They had been quite strict and closed minded about who a man should lie with. Mister Theodore Tonks would not have met their approval. Maybe it was better that they were gone after all, Lucius thought as he stood in front of the door.

He raised his hand to knock on the wooden door, but before his hand made contact with the door, it swung open.

"Good morning, can I help you?" Ted asked, looking Lucius over. He couldn't help but notice the way Lucius' long blond hair fell over his broad shoulders, how the confused look on his face was more cute than anything. He had a feeling he'd just ruined this man's perfectly crafted plan.

"I'm sorry, I just moved into the building and..." Lucius started to say, trying to remember the lie he'd come up with. It was as though his whole mind had just gone blank at actually being face to face with Ted.

"You don't have to lie. Andi told me her father would send someone after me, either to kill me or something more dramatic. Which one are you planning, because I'd like a chance to get my affairs in order before you murder me."

Lucius couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips.

"Andromeda told you someone was coming after you and you've continued seeing her, you'd think you might have a little more sense of survival?" Lucius drawled. Ted shook his head.

"Nah, her father's got it all confused anyway. Andi and I... we're not like that. I mean, it started like that, and I thought that it might lead to that, but we're much better friends than we are anything else. I know her father wouldn't care about the distinction, but still... would you like to come in? I mean, I'd rather be murdered in my own flat than the middle of the hallway. The blood would clash terribly with the stuff they call carpeting," Ted offered, stepping aside to allow Lucius to enter.

"I'm not here to murder you," Lucius stated, looking around the flat. His first thoughts were correct. It was homey, but comfortable.

"Then what was your plan? Pay me off, ship me somewhere that Andi would never find me?" Ted asked, closing the door. Lucius shook his head.

"No, something with a bit more flair than that," he stated. "I was going to sweep you off your feet, stealing you away from her, then announcing our engagement in a rather grandiose gesture making sure Orion Black knew you were no longer a threat to his precious little girl."

Ted stared at Lucius for a moment.

"I like it! There's only one problem with that plan, sir?"

"And what might that be?" Lucius asked. He'd been trailing Tonks for nearly a month, had he misread something?

"If I'm going to marry you, don't you think I should at least know your name?" Ted asked, flashing Lucius a friendly smile.

"Lucius Malfoy."

"Ted and Lucius... that does have a nice ring. Shall we start getting to know one another, coffee perhaps?"

"I think that would be a brilliant idea," Lucius agreed, remembering how Orion had only told him to get Tonks out of the picture, him dating him would certainly get him out of the picture of marrying Andromeda. Of course, now that he'd finally met Ted, suddenly the money really didn't matter.