Title: Jaded Amber 4/9
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 4

His walls were more peach than cream. So many years he'd slept in here and he'd just realised that. It was smooth as well. His fingertips pressed against it and moved down slowly. It was like silk. Lucius had to stop staring at his walls. He'd been in his room for three days now with only Dobby popping in and out for company. His only correspondence was to Rabastan, who'd invited him away on a vacation with 'the boys', whatever that meant. He didn't care. He'd said yes. His father must be livid by now. He'd sent an elf in earlier to tell him they had a meeting with Mr Cretach at one. Luckily his mother was there to keep him at bay, which was probably why only an elf had given him the message.

He turned onto his back and sighed. His mind whirled with thoughts, all of them leading back to Lupin. He had to get out of his room or else he'd never get over this. He got up and wandered out into the corridor. Maybe he'd check in on his mother, Sabine loved the southern gardens and could often be found there. He crossed the corridor into the room across from his. It was usually where Rodulphus slept when he stayed overnight. Walking up to the window, he glanced outside to see the spread of greenery and flowers. The fountain in the centre of it all was wide and the blue tile was bright in the afternoon August sunlight. One of the groundskeepers was cleaning it out. Wait. He squinted.

Oh hell. That's the ninth one this year.

When he finally made it outside, it was even worse up close. "Is there a reason you keep staring at my mother, Philippe?" Philippe was the groundskeeper's son. He was a bit of a prat, but not worth the aggravation of reporting, even if the offense was ogling his mother. The boy stood there with a long handled net, pretending to scoop out non existent leaves. When he turned to Lucius, his eyes widened.

The boy looked like he was about to wet himself. "No! No, Mr Malfoy, sir. No."

He was still standing there with a net in his hand. Lucius tsked and crossed his arms. "I think the stables need cleaning, Philippe."

"Yes, sir, of course." He nodded in respect and darted off. Lucius watched him go, shaking his head as he walked over to where his mother reclined in her bathing suit reading a book. He stood up next to her and waited.

She raised her head and smiled. "Hello, dear."

He was not impressed. "Mother."

Her brow marred, but only a fraction. She always warned him about wrinkles. "What's the matter, mon fils?" She looked genuinely worried about him and he almost bought it. Almost.

He rolled his eyes. "If you could rein yourself in a little, so that we could keep, at least, some of the staff, it would be nice, Mother."

Her head angled down to return to her book. "What are you talking about, Luc?" Her innocent act was very good, for Abraxas perhaps, but it didn't fly with his son.

He took the book away. "I'm talking about the number of young men whom father has had fired and otherwise disposed of." He crossed his arms again. "The drool is lining the floors, Mother. The house elves can't keep up."

She smirked. "Oh, you flatter me."

He sighed and covered his forehead with his hand. "Mother, I'm being serious."

She leaned forward, in a strop and snatched her book back. "Oh well fine." She sat back, mumbling, "Lady can't even have a little fun in her own home."

He heard it anyway. "I doubt it's even remotely fun for them when father finds out about it." His father had spies in the house. They wore pillowcases and spoke in broken, backward English. It was amusing to see them peeking around doorways to make sure Mrs Sabine Malfoy behaved herself. She did it on purpose just to piss him off, Lucius knew it.

"Oh, your father is full of fat air."

He rolled his eyes. "Hot air. And no, he's not." She stared at the fountain, sullen. "Have you truly not noticed the amount of them that have gone missing from the house? I'm sure some of them, if not let go legally, are at the bottom of the lake with a cement charm on their feet." He gestured to the lake with his arm in a sweeping motion. He didn't miss her smirk. His parents were so strange. He swore, if this had to do with their sex life, he was going to vomit.

She winked at him. "No one tells them to look, darling."

His eyes shut. "No, Mother, but you could be a little considerate of their families when you lay out here like... that." He'd avoided looking for too long.

She slapped her hands against the arms of her reclining chair. "Oh, fine. I'll go inside and sunbathe." Sunbathing in England. If that wasn't an oxymoron. Lucius rolled his eyes. "Take all the fun out of my day. Just like your father, the old fort."

Lucius decided not to correct that one. "Thank you." He eyed her folding her towel up. When she lay back again, he gave up. It wasn't worth it. "Have you seen Father? We're supposed to have a meeting with Mr Cretach." He checked his watch.

She almost sat up. Almost. But she did open her eyes to stare at him, probably to make sure it was actually him. "You want to go to a meeting with your father? And here I thought crups could not swim."

"Fly, Mother, the saying is 'when crups fly'." They couldn't swim either, but right now Lucius would do anything to get his mind off his usual distraction, even if it meant going to a mind numbing meeting with his father. It's funny how things worked out sometimes. "Do you know where he is or not, Mother?"

She shrugged her slim shoulders. "He went out. Said he was meeting with a Lord, or something to that effect."

Lucius frowned and sat in the chair next to her, where she reclined in the English sun. He handed her back her book, which she took gracefully and laid in her lap. "How does Father know a Lord?" he asked, confused beyond measure. "What's he the Lord of?"

She gave him a reprimanding look. "Oh, bien-aimé, that's rude, don't ask him that in person." At his withering stare, she huffed. He knew she would have asked him that question herself. She was far too curious for her own good. It's probably where he got it from. "I don't have a clue, but he seemed excited to be meeting one. Said they have the same ideals and he's thinking of joining his cause." She shrugged. "I won't deny him a hobby."

"Father's joining a cause?" Talk about oxymorons. "This is the same man who sold all my old toys and clothes to an orphanage? That man?"

She placed a placating hand on his arm. "Oh, Luc, leave him be. He hardly has any recreational time outside of those relentless meetings you both attend. Leave him, it will be fine. He should be home soon, perhaps you should go get ready. Aren't you spending some time with your friends from school next week?" Lucius nodded. "Well, have fun." She was so matter of fact about it, he actually believed he would.

Rabastan's latest protégé and semi-stalker, Evan Rosier, had cousins living in Europe and had invited Rabastan and his friends with him for a couple of weeks to unwind. Unwind from what, Lucius didn't know, since none of them had jobs or careers after leaving school. Lucius knew he'd use the time wisely, though. He'd need the break from the monotony and the thoughts of... him. It still astounded him that he hadn't worked it out sooner. He vowed to forget it all and have a good time, perhaps learn how to ski, get drunk on a regular basis and, simply, get some rest from all the betrothal papers he was being hounded to sign. Narcissa Black was a nice girl and all, Lucius just needed a little freedom. Perhaps this would help.

As long as he didn't have to witness Rosier's, more than obvious, hero worship. He had enough of him following them – namely Rabastan – around in school.

"Ow!" Remus cried as someone sat on him, waking him up. When he looked up, it was Sirius. The dark-haired man grinned at him. "Padfoot! What the hell?" Remus looked around the room. This wasn't his aunt's house. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep on James' couch.

Sirius bounced. "Get up, we're going out."

Remus frowned at him. "What are you eating?" Sirius opened his mouth but Remus turned away putting up his hand to ward him off. "Forget it, I don't want to know." He looked up at the clock. He had an appointment tonight. "I can't, I'm busy."

Sirius finally got off him, sinking onto the coffee table James had decorated his new home with. Actually, he'd bought it because Lily said she always wanted a coffee table and, though he'd had no idea what she meant, he'd gone out into the muggle world and found one. "With what? You're always busy come night, what the hell are you doing?"

Remus was stuck for a second. "Nothing. I'm just tired and I want to go to bed. Besides, Aunt Sarah would be waiting up for me. I don't want to worry her."

Sirius kneeled on the floor and rested his elbows on the chair by his head. "You just woke up."

Remus sat up and ran a hand over his face. "Correction, you just woke me up." He stood. "Where's James?" The living room was sparsely decorated, but that was expected since he'd just moved in.

Sirius cocked his head in the direction of the living room entrance. "Kitchen." He rose too and followed behind Remus into the entry hall of James' new home in Godric's Hollow. They'd thought it an excellent purchase. Then again, they were all Gryffindors so they were obviously biased.

A hand touched his arm making him slow down. "Moony... Remus." Remus turned at the serious tone in Sirius' voice. He stared curiously. Sirius was never like this unless there was something truly important he had to say. "If there was something wrong, you'd tell us, right? Tell me?"

Remus looked confused. Cocking his head, he turned fully to face Sirius in the hall. "I don't understand? Like what?"

Sirius shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "If you needed anything. Anything at all."

Sirius seemed to be trying to convey something in his gaze, but Remus honestly had no idea what he was getting at. The tone of the conversation was a little awkward, though. He sought to lighten the mood as soon as possible. "Of course I would. You're my best friend."

"Am I?" Sirius' eyes looked like he knew something he shouldn't.

Remus was even more confused by that. "You are. Why?" He sensed a perfect opportunity to divert the awkwardness. "Has James been saying something to you to make you think you're not my favourite? Because he's lying. You've always been my favourite."

"I heard that, and I resent it."

Remus turned, smiling at James as he walked up to meet them. James had been in a constant state of happiness since Lily had accepted his proposal. Remus knew he could get away with saying anything now, as long as he mentioned Lily at the end of the sentence. "What have you been saying to him?" he said gesturing to Sirius in the hallway next to him. "He's all insecure," he laughed. "He thinks he's not my favourite anymore. I told you that now you had Lily to look after you, I didn't need to. Stop being so selfish, Prongs," he said scolding him, though the big smile on his face belied his words. James turned to Sirius, very amused.

"Aww! Are you still upset because I'm the prettiest? I told you, you can't beat the master."

"Who's the prettiest?" Sirius said offended. "I'll have you know that I got the most dates in school and Remus says that I'm his favourite, so there!" Remus leaned against the entryway wall and shook his head at his friends' foolishness. He couldn't stay, though he wished he could. He pushed off from the wall and walked to the front door. He couldn't floo out, since he wasn't flooing to Edinstowe, but to The Leaky Cauldron. Even in their pretend fighting, James and Sirius would hear him call out the wrong address. He didn't need those kinds of questions.

He left them, still caught up in their conversation, and stepped outside. The sun was setting over Godric's Hollow and the scene was serene and colourful. It contrasted heavily to the dark twisted path of Knockturn and the heavy, dark oak-rafter ceilings of the rented rooms in the Leaky Caldron, but he didn't dwell on that now. He'd failed to dwell on a lot of things for the past two weeks. Raising his wand, he turned in place and felt the familiar and unwanted squeeze before he appeared to the side of Diagon Alley. He moved quickly out of the way, as a group of shoppers walked by him, to avoid being trampled on. The Alley was busy tonight. Summer solstice started in June and Mabon was coming up during the Autumnal Equinox, mid to late September. He could see all sorts of things on sale to celebrate the harvest. It was all very seasonal. Fruit baskets and candles were stocked in abundance. His eyes caught sight of a 'Full Moon Candle, guaranteed to light your room all night'. He froze.

He hated that his thoughts whirled around in his head until they ended at square one. Lucius Malfoy. What had he done? He looked up to see the sky empty – new moon. Two weeks ago the moon had been full and he'd... He dared not think about it. He'd been waiting for someone, anyone to turn up at his aunt's house to arrest him. He'd been expecting a floo call from his parents telling him aurors had been by asking for him.

There was nothing.

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand. He'd attacked Lucius Malfoy, but apparently Lucius Malfoy wasn't telling anyone. He didn't mind, even though the guilt of what he'd done was killing him slowly. Turning into The Leaky Cauldron, he went upstairs at once. He was already late. Bad work ethic, but not his fault. It was better than not turning up at all. He didn't want to blame his parents, but his father had lost his job just before Remus took his final exams. John was subsequently blacklisted at the accounting firm he'd been working for and was finding it hard to get another job. His mother hardly knew what a job was, pureblood that she was. Her parents had disowned her after she'd declared her love for the muggleborn John Lupin.

Remus was sure her family had cursed them for it. His mother was a wonderful soul, but she just didn't understand muggles or how they lived. His father taught her how to drive, but she continuously disregarded traffic laws, Obliviating police officers whenever she was caught. The pair had moved countless times, or so they'd told him, because of her. His father had then pissed off the wrong person when Remus was nine and he'd been attacked in the woods when they'd gone hiking the next weekend.

Remus, being what he was now, guaranteed he couldn't get a proper job. People who knew him, knew what he was, tended to talk and that often ended with him losing a job faster than he'd gained one. He wasn't a regular wizard like Peter, he didn't have a rich family like James or an inheritance like Sirius. His family were weeks away from losing their house. If he didn't do something, they'd be out on the street. Exchange rates aside, in one night, he made more money than his father used to in a month. It was either this or live on the streets.

He twisted the knob of the door to the rented room and opened it. As he stepped inside and shut it behind him, he decided not to dwell on that for a couple of hours.

The September air was not as clean and the weather was absolutely depressing. It was good to be home. Five weeks of idle chatter, drinks and rather risky manoeuvres around a slope or two and Lucius felt right as rain. He was still slightly hungover, but an extra dose of Anti-Veisalgia would set him to rights if he could get a hold of an elf quick enough. He was only supposed to have been gone for three weeks, but Rosier, somehow, had grown on him and convinced him to spend an extra two and, again, somehow, they'd all ended up in Amsterdam. He needed some well earned sleep... and perhaps a check-up in St. Mungo's, just to be safe.

Lucius froze. Hangover or not, he'd never hallucinated. So when he set foot on the manor grounds, Lucius became aware of two things. The first was that the wards had been taken down. The second was that aurors had swamped the place. He looked around the grounds as he walked up the front stairs. He hadn't used the floo, since it had been shut off for some reason. He'd had to pay for a Portkey and then apparate in. Guess now I know why. He knew that his father had a maximum security ward, but the aurors were new. He stepped in through the front doors and saw his father with his hands in restraints.

He put down his bag. What in Merlin's name is going on? He'd only been gone for a month or so.

Someone turned to him, he didn't recognise him. He didn't recognise most aurors and stayed away from them at all costs. It seemed Lucius had spoken aloud and, due to his expression of complete bewilderment, the auror took pity and informed him.

A raid.

Lucius sighed. He'd told his father if he kept up having meetings with shady characters, eventually someone would find out. Did he listen? No. And now the manor would be shut down for review and Lucius and Sabine would be under house arrest. Judging from the looks of the entrance hall, his father had put up a fight. He shut his eyes. They would detain him for resisting arrest, probably obstruction and a whole host of things. His mother would not be happy. He'd left her behind telling her that Father would get them in trouble. She'd laughed it off and told him it would be fine, to go. So he'd gone and now the manor would be shut down until the ministry deemed it safe to re-enter, or until it wasn't a crime scene anymore.

He glared at his father. "Where's Mother? Does she know about this? She's not going to be happy." He was not looking forward to being the bearer of this news. She was obviously out. If she'd been here, she would already be giving Abraxas a taste of her wrath. On second thought, perhaps he would go and find her.

A series of pitying looks faced him and Lucius looked around at them, wondering what the hell everyone was looking at. Two men looked to the corner, and then a few more and Lucius' eyes were suddenly drawn to the archway leading from the entry hall to the first living room. The Spring Room, his mother called it. She'd taken to decorating the entire space every year before Spring in pastels. This year, the room was in shades of blue and lavender to 'get some light in this dreary place'. He could still hear her lilting French accent as she spoke. He hadn't heard it in five weeks. It brought a sense of peace to his mind that always made him smile. He'd confronted Abraxas with her behaviour and he'd just chuckled. She's French, his father had told him with a dismissing wave of his hand. He used that phrase a lot, as if the words alone simply explained Sabine as a whole. Actually, they did. Let her have her fun. His parents were so strange.

He turned a sharp gaze to his father, who was glaring at the men around him, before he settled his sights on his son. A cold chill crept up his spine at the look his father gave him and he could sense the atmosphere getting darker, like the sun disappearing behind the clouds and leaving the earth before him darker and dismal. Lucius shook his head in denial and a heavy lead weight settled in his stomach when his father let his stance drop and nodded.

It was getting incredibly hard to breathe. Air was coming out, but for the life of him, he couldn't draw it in. "No." He was walking, though he didn't know how. He stopped when the archway hit his shoulder. The length of the white sheet that covered the body on the floor was her size. Its colour matched his complexion as he dropped slowly to his knees. His robes scratched against the wall, the sound low to his ears. It was drowned out by the sound of his heartbeat, thudding so fast and hard, it made his hand tremble as he leaned forward. He could see a lock of her hair lying curled on the ground outside of the sheet. His fell forward over his shoulders. It was longer now, and he'd put half of it up like she'd told him to. He'd pinned the blasted stuff back the entire time he'd been away – out of sight, out of mind – until he'd left this morning, not wanting to cause an argument so early in the day. Sabine would not have liked that. She didn't like her two boys arguing. Hers was a lighter shade of blonde, like his, a unique colour that ran in her family. He touched it barely, feeling his breath catch in his throat. It was still soft and vibrant. His hand faltered on the sheet, but he pulled at it, feeling his breath stop completely and stick in his throat instead as her face was uncovered. He swallowed hard, the frog in his throat preventing him from doing it with ease.

"Who did this?" he managed. His voice, though low, was tense and rough.

A brave auror stepped forward to answer him. "We are still conducting an investigation. Our Pensieve memories will be reviewed extensively." He looked very serious. Good. "You can be assured of that, Mr Malfoy."

Lucius' eyes snapped to his father and back. He looked up at him and rose to his full height. "What happened here?" He knew it was a raid, but for his mother to... no, he couldn't think that yet. Not yet.

"Your father is a very difficult man to handle. Before we could show him a warrant, he fired at us." Lucius looked over to see his father standing proud, yet a small chunk of his armour had been chipped away somehow. Lucius could see through it, could look straight at the man that his behind it by the way he kept glancing at his wife's body and looking away, as if he just couldn't continue. Lucius knew the feeling. Abraxas would say he'd been defending his home; the excuse of the day. Lucius looked down to his mother's body. What would be the excuse for this? he wondered. "We fired back, but he's very adept at duelling. Took all six of us to subdue him. Your mother was found after the fray." The fray. They hadn't even noticed her fall until the dust had settled. Did she scream? He didn't want to think about it. "I'm truly sorry, Mr Malfoy."

The name had his eyes snapping to his father again. The proud man had got them in hot water before, but this... He looked down to his mother one last time and looked away, unable to maintain his gaze. This was new, this was definitely different. There was a pain, dull and throbbing, eating away a part of him that he knew he'd never get back.

But he had to be strong, because she would need him to be. "What is the procedure, now? What do you want me to do?"

tbc...