Title: Jaded Amber 2/9
Pairing(s):Lucius/Remus
Word Count: 32,705
Rating: NC-17
Language: British English
Warning(s):Prostitution, OC Character death, hurt/comfort, dubious-con, switching, . Er... there's a six year age difference between Remus and Lucius (courtesy of HP Lexicon)
**See chapter 1 for full Disclaimer and Author Notes**
Summary: Lucius never would have thought that such an impulsive act of rebellion – spurred by Rabastan, of all people – would change his life so profoundly. Remus never would have thought that accepting one unlikely client would have such a profound effect on his outlook.

***
Jaded Amber

Lucius stared out of the window despondently. He refrained from resting his head against the glass that overlooked the length of Diagon Alley. Who knew how many people had done that already, and with the state of the rest of The Leaky Cauldron, it wasn't likely the windows had ever been cleaned. It was the last meeting of the day and it was raining outside, the perfect match to his mood. His father sat on one of the chairs next to the fire with Mr Cretach. There were various folios spread on the table before them. Each sheet held a name, face, credentials and history. Any one of the women on the table could be the future Mrs Malfoy. He looked at the sheet of parchment in his hand. It was the first one his father had handed him. Bellatrix Black. Oldest daughter of Druella Rosier and Cygnus Black. He frowned. He remembered her, she was older than him. When she was taking her NEWTs he was in fourth year and he would always remember the look on her face before she went into exams – like she was ready to murder the examiners if they didn't hand out the right questions for her to answer correctly. Lucius tried to picture that personality as his future wife.

No.

In her picture, she looked a little... off. There was no smile. The intense look on her face told him she took picture taking very seriously. Thing is, he knew for a fact that Rudolphus, Rabastan's older brother, had a crush on her in school. He'd mentioned plans to ask her to marry him. As far as Lucius was concerned, Rudy could have her. He glanced across the room to the discussion his father was having with Leopold Cretach. They were all in a secure room upstairs in The Leaky Cauldron. Lucius would do anything to be out of it. The meeting had been going on for three hours as they went through potentials; reviewing their accounts, ages, compatibility, airs and training.

Bellatrix's picture glared at him now, probably sensing his unwillingness. He was tired and perhaps a little cranky. The weight of the future of the family on his shoulders didn't help. He was only twenty-four. Wizards lived for over a century. What was the rush? He glanced up, feeling eyes on him and wasn't surprised to see his father was watching him. He turned away, not wanting him to see the indecision on his face. Abraxas got up and walked over to him, the brandy in his hand sloshing in the glass. Lucius was surprised when he handed it to him. It was not often that he shared.

"You look a tad pale, Luc." Lucius started at the name his mother often called him. He'd never heard it from his father before. He took a sip of the brandy in his hand. The burn of it was welcomed as it slid down his throat. Abraxas sighed. "Son, would you like to take a break? You look like you're about to pull out your hair." He gestured for him to sit down.

Lucius sat on the cushion of the window seat, turning slightly so he could still look outside. "It's so much responsibility." He looked up at his father. "How did you do it?" He shook his head. "This is the future of our family." He held up the strictly intense folio of Bellatrix for his father to see and noticed how Abraxas frowned at the look on her face. "What if what's on parchment isn't at all what's in front of me at the altar? What if I make the wrong decision? Not everyone can choose like you and get someone like mother."

Abraxas sat on the opposite corner. "You sound like me." Lucius looked up. "I got very lucky with your mother, Lucius. Believe it or not, your father is not always the strong-headed man you see before you. I've had doubts in my time, and I've made a few mistakes. I learned from them and keep those lessons with me to this day. It's called experience and growing up. This is just another milestone in your life and if you have doubts, it's natural. It's what I am here for, to help you decide. After all, it's my family too." He cocked his head to the side in satisfaction when Lucius gave him an amused chuckle. He took the sheet of parchment and held it. "Mark my words, though. If I hadn't chosen your mother, she would have chosen me anyway. One meeting and her decision was made. Her parents may have wanted her gone, but she wanted to go twice as much. I didn't have a choice. Luckily, she was the one. It wasn't love at first sight, but I'm more open to it now than I was back then."

Lucius nodded absently and turned again to the busy Alley below. He paused a moment when he saw the familiar figure of Remus Lupin walking up the Alley towards The Cauldron. He chanced a quick glance to his father to see if he'd noticed the focus of his attention. Luckily, he'd been talking to Leopold. "I just – I think I need some time to..." He turned back to the window to see Remus disappearing into Flourish and Blott's. Perfect.

His father sighed and held up the folio in his hand. "Alright. We'll finish this another time." He stared gravely at Lucius then. "But we will finish it, am I clear?" Lucius understood. Doubts were one thing, but deliberately postponing something so important was unheard of. If Lucius didn't make the decision, Abraxas would make it for him.

He nodded. "Crystal, sir."

His father stood and turned to him. "This business is important, Lucius. Like you said, it's the family's future." Still staring, he sighed. A slight chuckle escaped him, as if Lucius both exasperated and amused him in equal parts. "Go on with you then. I'll see you at home."

Lucius picked up his cloak and flung it over his shoulders as he exited the rented room. He walked quickly down the steps and out the back, using his wand to quickly tap the bricked entrance of Diagon Alley. Before the bricks could fully form the archway, he was through it, manoeuvring around and through the crowd to duck into the bookstore. He walked the length of the store, but only found his quarry when he went upstairs. The last aisles were deserted. Remus was in the last one, his legs crossed on the ground with his back to the shelf. He was reading.

Lucius realised two things. He realised he was panting a little from his dash through the crowd and turned to get to the next aisle, embarrassed. Now that he could see him, he had no idea why he'd chased him down.

When his breathing had evened out, he turned once again onto the aisle Remus was sitting in. He was in muggle clothing under his open robe. Lucius could tell because the young man looked very strange. The woollen jumper he wore was cabled and cream coloured. The trousers were a dark blue and wide at the bottom, but tight at the top. It was an odd material Lucius could not place. They looked uncomfortable. He cocked his head to the side to see the title of the book. He frowned and looked up at the sign at the beginning of the aisle. 'Fantastic Beasts' it said. The book in his hands was a literature book. He looked to be three quarters into it. How odd, considering the time it had taken Lucius to get there, there was no way he'd been able to read that far. Lucius cleared his throat.

Remus jumped. Lucius felt himself pinned by the strange colour of the young man's eyes, much like he had a month ago when he'd apparated outside of the manor wards. They gave him a look of curiosity and confusion. "Mr Malfoy?"

Lucius frowned, feeling at odds with that response, until he realised why. "Don't call me that." It made him think of his father. Often people would expect Abraxas when told Mr Malfoy would be attending. He could see the carefully hidden looks of disappointment when he showed up instead. It was part and parcel, he'd got used to it by now. But not here.

Remus closed his book, marking his place with his finger. "What should I call you?" He hadn't said much of anything the last time. Not knowing full names probably lessened the risk of calling out the wrong one at an inopportune time.

"I went by Malfoy in school, but that was six years ago. My name is Lucius." He was rambling. How odd. He waited for Remus to stand. Curiously, Remus nodded to him and walked away. Lucius stared after him, perplexed, and followed. The young man walked down the stairs and turned right to the literature section and walked the aisles with the air of familiar practice. Next to a glass cabinet, he placed the book on the shelf. Disregarding it, Lucius asked, "Are you free this evening?"

"I'm never free." The resentful tone brought Lucius up short, but he disregarded that too, it wasn't his business or his pleasure to discover the inner workings of a prostitute's mind. Remus, seeing Lucius roll his eyes in the glass case, amended his statement. "Not this week. I'm busy this week." Remus began to walk again.

The dismissal stung, but Lucius gritted his teeth and ignored it. "I'll pay you double what you're charging them."

Out on the Alley, Lucius quickly erected a weather-shield charm. Remus soon followed suit and turned to face him. It suddenly occurred to Lucius that he'd just followed this man out into the rain without thinking. Amber eyes that Lucius remembered vividly stared at him, irritated. "For a Malfoy, I'm guessing rejections are a foreign concept, but try to keep up. I have commitments this week. Choose another time." He looked very angry, the complete opposite to the man who could not be riled by anything Lucius said a month ago.

Lucius suddenly understood what the man with glasses, James, had felt at the face of wrath from such an unexpected source. It sounded just like a woman's time of the month. Perhaps the dark-haired man was right. He eyed Remus warily. He'd seen the man naked. There was no doubt he was a man. Relenting, he offered, "Next week."

Remus nodded curtly. "I'll pencil you in." The turn of phrase was obviously foreign to the blond and Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm free. Owl me. My name is Remus Lupin." He walked away and, this time, Lucius let him go.

I know.

The Muggle world was very distinguishable from the everyday sights Lucius saw when he went out. It was like viewing photographs of towns and recognising that what you could see was not native to your country or community. Radcliffe on Trent was as foreign as a wizard could get when thinking of places outside of his usual haunts. Though Lucius could see houses, shops, parks, schools; the place looked different. Alien.

He couldn't believe he was there. Four days ago, Lupin had agreed to meet with him this week. In that time, Lucius had employed several methods to his advantage.

He glanced down one more time to the parchment given to him by his house elf in Wiltshire and then up at the front of the house he'd apparated to. "24a Lorne Grove," he said to himself, as he checked the number on the door. He was in the correct place. There was a black, muggle automobile in front of the house. As he walked past it, he read the word PACER on the back. He passed it without comment, the words meant nothing to him anyway. Lucius paused at the front door and composed himself. Looking around, he took off the disillusionment charm he'd put on and knocked on the front door. He surveyed the door closer. It was an odd material. Hard, but not the typical wood. How strange.

The door opened and a rather pretty woman answered. She was made-up and obviously on her way out. "Oh, hello," she said politely as if she hadn't heard the door and found it surprising there was someone there. Lucius bowed his head in reply and said good-afternoon. She looked at Lucius closely, blushing, and took in his attire. Lucius knew he had the right house when she disregarded his attire, which must have looked strange to a muggle (Merlin knew, Lucius found theirs extremely so) and turned into the house as she held the door open. "Remy, sweetheart, you have a friend at the door." When there was no answer, she leaned further into the house to call louder. "Are you coming down?"

"Yeah," came a rather bored voice. Nevertheless, Lucius recognised it immediately.

The woman smiled at thin air and at Lucius. "I'm off then," she called. "I'll be back later. Your lunch is in the fridge, alright?"

The stairs started to rumble as someone came down. "Okay, mum."

Obviously 'Remy' was close because the woman's smile got wider and she let go of the door to take a step inside. Remus paused when he saw Lucius standing there. "Bye darling," Remus hardly responded to the kiss on his cheek. Lucius was once again faced with her radiant smile and bright amber eyes. "It was nice to meet you, young man. Those other friends of his drive me barmy, they do." She rolled her eyes at a joke that Lucius, apparently, was supposed to understand. He couldn't help it, he nodded in understanding. He'd seen the 'friends' Lupin had at Diagon Alley. He wasn't particularly fond of them either.

He was watching Lupin's mother move the PACER automobile, when he heard, "How did you know where I live?" behind him.

Lucius turned back to the young man in the doorway. Simple Muggle clothes adorned his frame - a yellow T shirt and 'sweatpants'. Lucius always found that term somewhat disgusting. They did not look bad on Lupin, though, even if they did pool a little at his feet with the man's medium height. Lucius understood his predicament, as he often had to hem the length of trousers he bought, but, that's what tailors were for. "I have my ways," he said after his perusal.

Remus, however, snorted. Sirius often said the same thing. He knew what 'ways' Malfoy had. "You have your money, that's not a way, that's just laziness."

Lucius cocked an eyebrow at the assumption. "Is there another way to find your... home?"

Those bright eyes narrowed at him. "Owl?" Remus said obviously. "You could have asked me. My home," he said mimicking Lucius, "as you put it, is all I have, and I didn't ask you to come here," he added in response to Lucius' superior tone. His parents worked hard to afford a place like this, his father especially. "If you don't want to be here, leave." Silence followed his outburst. "So what did you want?" He needn't have asked. The look in Lucius' eyes when he did ask, answered it for him. He scoffed. "Well you're not getting it under my parents' roof." It may well be the seventies, but his parents weren't all for freeing love and being open. Mind coming off his parents, he finally realised Lucius was standing on his doorstep in full Wizard robes. Not casual ones either. They looked... formal. "Why are you all dressed up?" he asked curiously. He couldn't help it. He'd always been that way. Sirius always tried to exorcise the Ravenclaw in him during school. It never worked though.

Lucius looked down, as if now realising what he was wearing. "I had a meeting with my father this morning. I have another one after lunch," he added with – if it were possible – even less enthusiasm than before. "I want your company this afternoon, after my meeting." The subject was not a joyous one, and he had a sense of dread within him, like he had felt last week. He had a feeling he'd need the company. He remembered watching Remus sleep that third morning after, how the deep breathing and total Hufflepuff trust he'd seen had actually calmed him, somewhat. He'd been unable to feel that way since. He wanted it back.

The demanding tone didn't escape Remus' notice. "Did you now?" he asked with his arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. "And an owl couldn't tell me this?" Remus' brow furrowed at the expression on Lucius' face. "What's the meeting about?"

It seemed Lucius realised he was giving too much, away. When he finally looked at Remus, his eyes were hard once more. "The future of the family."

Remus understood immediately. Sirius had 'meetings' of that type once. He'd never attended them, unless he was supremely pissed off and needed some cheering up. His mum had blasted his name off the family tree for his behaviour. Well, that and running away from home. "Suitors."

Despite Lucius' clear objective to refrain from Remus seeing how he felt about the topic, Remus still saw his jaw tighten. "To put it succinctly."

He gave a pacifying smile. "There aren't many other ways, are there?"

Lucius replied with a biting tone. "I have a few choice words to describe it."

Rolling his lips between his teeth, Remus managed to stop himself from laughing outright. "I'll bet you do," he said eventually. Lucius watched Remus' right hand rise to push back the light brown hair that had escaped his hair tie. "I'm not free. I'm not even going to be here after three."

He focused again on the man's face. He'd told him the opposite not four days ago. His jaw clenched. "I can escort you there."

Remus smiled with a mischievous look in his face. "I'm sure you can, but I'm going into the country." Lucius didn't look like that would be much of a problem, so Remus elaborated. "I won't be back for at least two months." He shrugged. "I'm finding myself."

What an odd thing to say. "You lost yourself?"

Remus laughed. Lucius didn't know it, but he'd said exactly the same thing when his mother had suggested it. "I live under their roof, I live by their rules." He shook his head and those damn strands of hair escaped his ear again.

Lucius resisted the urge to tuck them back for himself. "We're not so different after all," he said quietly. "You should be glad," he added, louder. "Getting away from your family" he explained. I would love the chance.

Remus narrowed his eyes. The amber irises still caught the light of mid morning. Lucius couldn't help but stare. "I have a feeling you're expressing your own views instead of mine."

Those eyes were surprisingly astute. "Like I said, we're not so different."

The pregnant silence that filled the space between them was rife with tension as they stared at each other. "Wait here." Remus left him there and walked into the house, leaving the front door ajar. Lucius stood outside and looked around, taking in the neighbourhood he could see. The area looked surprisingly clean for mugglehood. He'd not seen one up close before. They always looked so busy, with everyone moving around all the time. This one looked very quiet and subdued. Lucius was surprised to admit he liked it. But only to himself. When the door re-opened fully, Lucius could tell that Lupin had taken out the hair band to tie it again, as it was all recaptured behind his head. "I'm going by my aunt's in Edinstowe. After Saturday, she'll be gone. If you can hold out."

"If?" The young man thought a lot of himself. Then again, Lucius thought to himself, look at where I am.

Remus shrugged at him. He leaned forward suddenly to look up and down the street. "I wouldn't apparate from here if I were you. We have nosey neighbours." Getting back on topic, he added, "If you can't handle it, I can give you some recommendations."

"No. No thank you."

Remus was surprised. "No? Not even a female?"

Lucius remembered the lecture he'd got from Rabastan. The females tend to get clingy when you go back to them multiple times. Men understand the need to disappear. Lucius had stared, pink faced, at his friend's blatant knowledge of Knockturn's finest, but he'd taken him at his word. He remembered the morning the man had met his mother. He'd said just enough to pique her interest but not nearly enough to give it all away. His mother simply thought he was a very good looking one night stand. He shook his head at Remus. The man was discreet, hid his activities well from all, even his friends, and seemed to be frank about what he expected. If he went with someone else now, he'd have to start from the beginning. He gestured behind the man. "I'll use your floo, then."

Unfortunately, Lucius wasn't able to meet him on Saturday, the first of every month was set aside for taking stock of the various properties owned by the Malfoy name. Houses, manors and estates didn't keep themselves going. The elves and humans working there needed supplies to take care of everything when family members weren't there. It took forever, but it was all necessary. Following that, he had to send out orders and letters of correspondence. Unlike before, he constructed and signed them for himself instead of his father. Now, instead of learning the language of business, he would have a hand in it and would allow the various companies and firms to get acquainted with his name. By the time he was able to send an owl to Lupin, he was frustrated beyond measure.

The response he received simply set him off.

"Dobby!" Dobby was probably the only competent house elf in the house. He'd been with the family for years already, even though, by elf standards, he was still quite young.

"Master Lucius is calling on Dobby, sir?" He was also the only house elf that listened and called him by his name. Then again, the elf had practically raised him.

He nodded. "The man you found for me, find him again."

All he'd been given was the area Remus had gone. The smart man had told him to owl first beforehand so he could give him the coordinates. Since he'd met him, this was the third time he'd turned him down. Lucius was paying for his company, he shouldn't be turned down. That's not how it worked.

Dobby's eyes widened, glancing outside and then back at his master. "Master Lucius wants me to find... Him? Now?" The elf glanced back outside.

Lucius looked up at the window of his father's study. What the hell was the elf looking at? Dusk was approaching but there was a bright waxing gibbous in the sky. The full moon was tomorrow. Lucius looked back down at Dobby. He seemed genuinely upset. "Yes I do, Dobby. Are you questioning me? Must I have a talk with Father?"

If anything, that only caused Dobby to get extra anxious. "No, Master Lucius, Dobby is finding him for you!" He disappeared instantly.

Lucius got up and walked to the window to view the colour of dusk. In the east wing, he couldn't see the sun setting, but the moon was bright and high in the sky. He was getting frustrated with these rejections. This would be the last time Lupin turned him down.