Lucius couldn't help but be amazed by the whirlwind of colour that had entered his life along with Morgana. It had given him a sense of appreciation that he'd never had before, and he didn't think he'd ever forget the evening he'd arrived at Antoinette D'Angelo's London townhouse to collect Morgana to take her dancing. The young witch had swept down the staircase in a stunning sage green silk cloak, beneath which she wore an equally beautiful cerise pink evening gown, cut low on her shoulders, which had floated around them as they'd danced long into the night.
Despite being perfectly adept at it, dancing, and waltzing in particular, had never been Lucius's favourite past time, (if anything he considered it to be repetitive and dull), but he didn't feel that way when he was spinning around the dance floor, any dance floor, with Morgana in his arms. Intellectually, they were similarly matched. He'd quickly discovered that Morgana's memory capacity was immense, she seemed to simply absorb information easier and faster than anybody Lucius had ever met. She was as skilled in verbal debates as he was, and that made for some incredibly interesting conversations, so they often talked as they danced. Their next great debate invariably began halfway through a dance, and more than once they confused and astounded onlookers as one of them strode from the dance floor in irritation.
They met often over the following few weeks, usually at dinner parties or dances. Great-Aunt Antoinette paired them off as often as she could, still hopeful that Lucius Malfoy would see what a catch Morgana would be for his son, and if the matronly witch had heard the whispered rumours about the closeness of the influential wizard and her niece, she had obviously chosen to ignore them.
Upon the discovery of Morgana's love of muggle horses, Lucius had, over the course of the following few weeks, managed to source a semi-wild painted Mustang. When he'd gone to meet the filly, he'd found her to be short-tempered, high-spirited and absolutely beautiful to look at - not unlike the girl he was buying her for, Lucius had thought with a smile as he'd handed over his gold galleons.
He'd intended to give the horse to Morgana as a seventeenth birthday present, but by the end of September he couldn't wait any longer to see her face, and so he arranged to meet his young friend at the stables in Hogsmeade village on her first Saturday trip out from school.
Morgana had been surprised when she'd received his owl. It was the first time he'd asked to see her not in public, and the thought of doing so so close to Hogwarts made her feel a little apprehensive, but she wrapped herself in a purple cloak, told Professor Flitwick where she was going, and went anyway.
As she approached the stables, Morgana spotted Lucius right away, and he smiled happily when he saw her striding up the dirt track.
He greeted her softly, his voice silky smooth as it always was around her, and she replied in the same manner. She was delighted to see him, despite her nervousness, and after a few moments, she felt it was necessary to inquire as to how Narcissa felt about him being here.
Morgana had expected Lucius to say that Narcissa wasn't aware of his visit, or to even lie about it - what she hadn't expected was for him to look away sadly, and give a mumbled explanation that he and Narcissa were 'spending some time apart'. His slightly pained expression told her to not probe any further about the situation so Morgana simply nodded, and stayed silent.
A moment later, his face brightened as he remembered why he was there, and he gestured that Morgana should wait where she was standing. She stared at his back in confusion as he disappeared into the stables and returned a few seconds later leading the most stunning horse she had ever laid eyes on.
Morgana's gaze alternated between Lucius and the filly for several minutes before he gently handed her the reins, and said, with uncharacteristic tenderness, "Happy birthday, Morgana."
She stared at him uncomprehendingly, and as she realised what he'd done, she felt completely overwhelmed.
"She's for me?" Morgana's voice was somewhere between a gasp and a squeak, and Lucius nodded.
"I know it's not quite your birthday yet, but I wanted you to have her now. She's semi-wild," he cautioned, "I thought you'd prefer that..." He trailed off, watching Morgana's face as she stepped slowly towards the Mustang, holding out her fingers so the filly could catch her scent. Unlike with himself or with the grooms at Malfoy Manor, where he'd kept the horse stabled for the past few days, the Mustang stood perfectly still as Morgana approached her, and she immediately allowed her new owner to place a gentle palm on her nose and stroke the baby soft hair there.
Morgana's voice shook a little, and there were tears in her black eyes as she turned to Lucius and whispered, "Thankyou."