Title: Jaded Amber 8/9
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 8

Rufus Scrimgeour shook his hand. "I'm glad you could meet with us Mr Malfoy. Please, have a seat." Lucius thanked him with a nod and sat in the chair opposite the Head Auror in the DMLE office. He'd not been sure what was meant by summoning him there, since he'd not been witness to anything, save the fallout of major chaos.

An auror, one he distinctly remembered from the day his mother had been killed, stood in a corner with another auror he was not familiar with. Then again, there were so many of them in the manor at one time, he would need a Pensieve memory to memorise them all. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here?" Lucius cocked an eyebrow. That pretty much went without saying, didn't it? "Well, I'm not sure if you know, but your home, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, is an independent structure in the British Isles."

He did know that. As such, Malfoy Manor, was an independent structure from ministry law as well. It was an ancient law that a great grandfather (to the nth power) of his had enacted with a friend in the ministry, back when the government was formed. Any warrants had to be air-tight, which was how they'd failed to detain his father in the first place. There was plenty of evidence to confirm he'd attacked the aurors first. However, disabling wards before they entered was their main mistake and he'd walked free. Being independent meant that those in charge of the household were, in a way, given diplomatic immunity, as long as the offense happened on Malfoy Manor soil. It was only if the head of household waived the rights, that the ministry would be able to make an arrest. Either that, or an attack on a ministry official without being provoked would have to have taken place.

At his nod, Head Auror Scrimgeour continued. And I'm sure you know that-"

"I apologise for the interruption," he said, bored already, "but if you're sure I know this can we move on to what I do not know? The reason you asked me here?"

Scrimgeour nodded. He gestured for the auror Lucius recognised to come forward. The man stood beside him. "In the case of your mother, we wish to know if you want to press charges. It happened in your home. We cannot arrest due to the laws and protocols of the Manor.

Lucius eyes him carefully. "What will happen to the suspect if I press charges?"

Scrimgeour leaned forward on his desk and linked his fingers, resting them on the desk. "Well, it's murder, Mr Malfoy. If you give us jurisdiction, we'll make sure he pays."

Between the two of them, he wasn't sure what was going on, but they were holding something back. He could tell. Perhaps all those meetings he'd been forced to go to were beneficial after all. "Why didn't you go to my father with this? He is, after all, the reigning heir."

Scrimgeour gestured from the auror to Lucius. He handed Lucius a file. "What is this?" Lucius asked.

"It is a list of all the spells used by the aurors that were in your house on the day your mother was killed." Another sheet of parchment, part of an autopsy report, was placed next it. "This is the spell that killed your mother. To be sure, we performed Priory Incantatum back to the one hundredth for all the wands."

Lucius glanced through the hundreds of spells, some rather embarrassing. He looked up. "Can I have a summary?" If they expected him to go through all of them now, they were sorely mistaken.

Scrimgeour stared at him gravely. "None of the wands reviewed performed that spell, except for one."

He placed the folder down on the desk. "And?" His heart felt like it were about to drop to the bottom of his ribcage.

"And it was not an auror who cast the spell." That hollow chasm that had barely been filled again renewed it depths. "We cannot ask your father if he wishes to press charges. We know his answer."

He understood now, why they asked him here instead. He was their only chance. "You realise what you're asking me to do?" Lucius stared between them. They couldn't possibly understand the gravity of the dilemma they'd put him in. "You're asking me to overthrow my father." Just saying the words sounded like betrayal, mutiny.

Scrimgeour laced his fingers together on the desktop. They tightened to the point they went white. "We're asking you for justice."

Lucius ran his eyes over the list of spells once more. He then turned to the autopsy report. His mother's autopsy report. He stood. "Thank you." He would have to think about this. And even if he wanted to agree, he would never do it here. He'd never say it aloud in such a place as the ministry. He wasn't crazy.

"Mr Malfoy," Scrimgeour's voice made him pause in the doorway. He turned back in question. "Do you have any idea why?" Why. It was a good question. Why would a man want to kill his own wife? It was the right question to ask, but simply the wrong phrasing. He should have asked, 'Do you know why your father would want to kill your mother?' or 'Do you know why your father, while in the middle of a impromptu battle in the foyer, seized an opportunity when he saw your mother hurrying towards the doorway of the Spring Room, with concern on her face, to see what on earth was going on?' This wasn't about Abraxas, he'd learned that from the pale man with the dark penetrating stare.

It had always been about Lucius.

But Head Aurors had no business knowing that. He shook his head. "No." Turning around, he left the office. He would never admit that aloud either. Even as he walked to the elevator and stepped into one that was going upstairs to the atrium, he thought.

Did he know why? Of course he did.

It was burned into his arm.

This was becoming a habit. Remus paused with his cup to his mouth as Sirius sat down across from him. He looked tired, but worried at the same time. Sirius never looked worried. He was the least worried person Remus had ever known. He didn't have problems or difficulties (unless it was in writing essays, but even then it was only when he wanted Remus to read what he'd written to make sure it was alright).

"You alright?" he asked and then finally took a sip of his coffee. He'd broken from his usual. Someone was obviously rubbing off on him. His brow marred. Lucius hadn't owled him in a few days. He hoped the man hadn't taken him up on his offer. Much as he talked big, he hadn't really wanted it to end.

"I'm fine. You?" Sirius was staring at him, his blue eyes piercing. Remus sat back a bit.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?" he said quickly, as if he'd known how Remus would answer and was calling him on it.

Remus put down his cup. He didn't have time for this, nor was he in the mood. Last night had been rough and the man he'd met with had been less than considerate. Even with a basic healing spell, he still felt a twinge. "Are you going somewhere with this?" he asked tiredly.

"Where were you last night?" Remus' eyebrows rose.

Remus narrowed his eyes. "I was at home."

Sirius snorted. "I doubt that." Remus decided to ignore the soon to be one-sided conversation and instead opened the paper he'd bought on his way to breakfast. "I was at Aunt Sarah's house last night. You weren't there." He always called his friends' relatives as if they were his own. It made sense, since they were all like adopted family to each other.

Remus' gaze snapped to him, front page forgotten. "Why?"

Sirius' expression told him he wasn't joking in the slightest. "I think you know why." He crossed his arms. "I've known for while. I was curious the morning after James proposed to Lily, especially since you were wearing the same clothes I'd left you in the day before. Kind of like now." Remus looked away. "You either slept in your clothes or you slept out of them and put them back on. It was a series of clues and I just worked them out." He shrugged. "Then I used James' cloak, and I followed you. I first wondered why you were renting out a room at The Cauldron. It didn't make sense. And then it did."

Remus' face blushed red. He felt embarrassed, angry and ashamed. He settled on angry. "Why were you following me?" He leaned forward. "This is none of your business."

Sirius looked hurt by what Remus was saying. "I was worried about you. You're withdrawn, and you barely talk to us. You're my best friend, Remus, and I hardly see you."

Oh Merlin, he was getting upset. Remus could feel the sharp pinpricks behind his eyes. "That's not my fault."

Sirius shook his head. "Not completely, no." His arms rested, still crossed, on the cafe table. "I mean, there are four of us in this equation – well, barely, anyway." He rolled his eyes heavenward. "James is so caught up in this wedding, I can't recognise him anymore, Peter is always off doing Merlin knows what and you, you're meeting up with strange men in a rented room. I figure you're the immediate priority here, so I'm starting with you and working my way down."

Since when did Sirius ever care about fixing people? "Padfoot, I'm fine." He sat back, prepared to forget this conversation ever happened. He looked down at the front page of the prophet. It blared 'A Pox on the Manor, A Malfoy Incarcerated'. He frowned and read through. He then dropped his scone. Abraxas Malfoy had Dragonpox. That's a nasty viral infection to get rid of. He was quarantined on the second floor of St. Mungo's. Remus bit down on his bottom lip. That meant Lucius was home alone.

"Is that why you're meeting with Lucius Malfoy?"

Remus' head snapped up so fast, he could have got whiplash. "What are you talking about?" He'd answered that too quickly. Mistake number one.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I have eyes, Remus. And I know it was more than once." He shook his head looking outside to the bright umbrellas over the tables. The heavy rain was pouring over them, dulling their colour. Sirius looked sad, his eyes reflecting the dullness of the rain. "People think I never see, that my head is too far up my own arse to notice things, but I noticed you. I saw you one night going up to the guestrooms with him in The Cauldron, but I've also noticed you watching him in Diagon whenever he's around. Shortly after, you disappear." He took a breath and held it for a second, preparing himself to ask and hear the answer. "Does he pay you? Is it the money you need? All you have to do is ask! We're right here for you if you ask."

Remus stared at him and remained silent. He didn't want their money, nor their charity. Sirius knew his answer, though, even if Remus didn't say anything. His expression was imploring. "You have to be careful, Moony. He's marrying my cousin. You remember her, the blonde in the sea of brunets?" Remus knew of Narcissa Malfoy, though he couldn't ever remember seeing her. Sometimes he forgot he was only a first year when Lucius was in his seventh. "She'd graduated already when we were going into third year. Pretty blonde, completely ruins her face by looking like she smelled something awful," Sirius added trying to coach him into remembering her.

A sudden flash of memory hit him. "Right, yeah. Okay." He remembered Sirius saying something exactly like that a while ago, about a blonde girl in the school library.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah." He sighed. "Look, my family isn't like me or Andromeda. Uncle Cygnus is already threatening to have Mum burn her off the tapestry like they did me. Everything for them is about blood purity and, apparently, there's some self proclaimed Lord preaching it to them. It's getting dangerous out there, Moony, and Malfoys aren't exactly known for their love of halfbloods and muggleborns." A furrow marred his brow then and he paused. "Though my belief in that was shattered a little by what he's, apparently, doing with you."

Remus sighed. If Sirius already knew, had already seen him, there wasn't much to gain by pretending. "Not anymore. I haven't seen him in a while." He looked up from where his fingers had been playing with the handle of his cup. He stared solemnly at his friend. "I don't think he's coming back, Sirius." He shook his head though, as if it didn't matter. "I told him to go, anyway. He doesn't need me keeping him back. He's getting married soon. He has to produce an heir, take over a family." His eyes ran over the picture of the manor on the front page of the Prophet. "There is very little room in that for me."

"Remus-"

"I wasn't expecting miracles, Sirius. I'm jaded, not stupid." Thinking on what Sirius said, a concerned look appeared on his face. "But... he doesn't seem the type to want to follow behind a self-proclaimed 'Lord' though. He's far too belligerent for that." He shrugged. "I imagine this 'Lord' would have him killed for the things he'd say." He smiled a little, sadly, eyes still on the paper.

His friend eyed him carefully. "Just be careful, okay? Dumbledore has got in touch with us. He wants to meet us all. James said he spoke to him through the floo and that he seemed... weird."

Remus scoffed slightly, still looking away. "This is new?"

Sirius actually laughed. That sounded more like his best friend. "Well... he's calling a meeting and including us. I don't know what he wants, but James seems to think it's important, so..." Remus raised his head waiting for him to finish. "I'm not trying to preach to you, Merlin knows I've been with my fair share of the odd and fairly legal, but, when a wizard goes over to the Dark Side, there's nothing and no one that matters to them anymore. Just keep that in mind, yeah?"

Remus nodded and continued reading his paper. He read that Lucius had been appointed the head of the family in his father's stead as Sirius got up to ask Heather to make him his usual breakfast. Apparently, Lucius' first order of duty was to order a thorough investigation into who killed his mother. He nearly choked when he read what the results stated. No way. Lucius had pressed charges, and now Abraxas was getting the kiss as soon as he was released from the hospital. Lucius had insisted.

Remus looked outside at the rain. It looked torrential, there was so much of it. Lucius had told him the rain was heavy when he'd been at his mother's funeral. Abraxas hadn't seemed too concerned, though he had looked distant. He remembered how the blond had fallen apart after coming to him. It must have hurt having to lose his mother like that. Remus could only imagine how Lucius felt knowing that his father had killed her. Remus wouldn't know what to do.

A thought arose in his mind. He looked down at the paper. Lucius had insisted his father get over the case of Dragon Pox before he got the kiss. That didn't make sense. As head of household, and having the crime performed on his premises, he had the authority to order it. As long as the ministry got their way in the end, they didn't care and readily agreed. The main headline was in all capitals. A Pox on the Manor. Where on earth would he have got Dragon Pox? There wasn't a bout of it going around now. Thank Merlin. It was very hard to get over Dragon Pox, and the older the victim, the harsher the infection.

As Sirius returned to him grinning like a loon, Remus smiled up at him and moved the paper over so he could set down his plate. "She gave me these on purpose, you know. I'm sure she digs me." Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, glad they'd got over this hurdle. He drank down the last of his coffee and nearly choked on it.

She gave these to me on purpose...

Sirius stared at him in concern as he coughed. He ignored him in favour of picking up the paper again. He'd folded it to get it out of the way. His eyes widened at the view of the manor on the paper. Lucius had mentioned once, vaguely, that he would love a chance to be away from his family, but Remus had always figured, after having met Lucius' mother, that the sentiment extended solely to Abraxas Malfoy. He'd been right. Lucius still keenly felt Sabine's absence from his life and it must have been a slice to his soul that he'd had to lose her first in order to get his wish granted. Lucius had owned his anger before, a large and untamed thing, with no direction, because of the investigation into the ministry 'raid'. Now, he knew who to blame and, for some reason, Remus had an inkling that Lucius was actually revelling in the chance to stretch his Slytherine fingers. Remus may not have known what he could subtly do to make Abraxas pay, but Lucius obviously had.

tbc...