Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update... you know the reason... Anyway, I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. This is more like an explaining chapter or whatever I should call it...
Disclaimer: As you all should know by now; I do not own the Harry Potter books and never will since I'm just a poor student with no money...
Lucius was sitting in his office, still working. He was the sort of person to do his work properly. Right now he was reading trough some reports from other Death Eaters. Voldemort had entrusted him with that task.
Lucius sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Since Harry Potter had come into his house, he had not been getting too much sleep. He found himself working till late at night and when he finally went to bed, he couldn't sleep.
The silver-haired man knew what is was he was feeling when it came to that boy, he wasn't a inexperienced teenager after all. The only problem was that that boy probably didn't feel the same way. Before, they had been different sides in the war and now that the war was over and the Dark was the victorious side, the boy probably hated him for killing his friends and allies. There wasn't much to do about it. The boy was strong-willed and rather impatient, even though he seemed to have calmed down now, Lucius still couldn't trust that he stayed that way if he told the boy his feelings towards him.
There was also Draco. He hated Potter and would not be too happy if he found out about his father's feelings. Lucius sighed again.
Draco still missed his mother, even though he would never admit it if you asked him. Narcissa had left Lucius's side when the war was nearly over, her reason being that he had grown cold and uncaring towards her, and that she wanted to feel loved and not feel like a burden. They had agreed to tell Draco that they needed a break from each other and that they maybe never got together again. He was old enough to handle that sort of thing now.
But Lucius still felt a little anxious when he thought about telling both Harry and Draco. He had to tell Harry first, that much was obvious, but that wouldn't be easy and Lucius rather liked the relationship they currently had. If he told Potter his feelings, then that relationship would be ruined and he wasn't sure whether Harry would accept his feelings or not. Maybe he should leave it, lay out some subtle signs now and then, to maybe get Harry to understand that he liked him. But that would still be hard, hell, Lucius didn't even now if the boy was straight or gay!
Lucius sighed again, before rising from the chair and walking over to the fireplace, watching the flames slowly devour the wood and pieces of newspaper that he had put in it. He doubted that he'd ever Harry like him when he kept himself distanced from him, but Lucius was unsure of what method to use to get closer to the boy. To befriend him would probably be the best choice, but he didn't know how. There was a long time since he had tried to gain another persons friendship. Nowadays, people tried to gain his friendship, and not the other way around. Maybe he'd ask Severus about it, though he didn't really think the other man knew more than him when it came to gain peoples trust.
Lucius stretched and decided to go to bed. It was late and he didn't want to be sleepy the next day because of insomnia.
He put away the papers he was done reading trough and walked out of the office. He walked up the large staircase and was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn't see the person standing in front of one of the big windows a couple of meters longer down the corridor. It was only when the person turned and the moonlight fell on the pale face that Lucius looked up and saw his son looking at him.
Draco looked a little tired, but also confused. It looked like he had just been thinking very hard on something that he couldn't quiet grasp.
"Father" he said silently and looked up at Lucius.
"What are you doing here Draco, shouldn't you be in bed?" Lucius said, his voice a little harsher than he meant.
"I couldn't sleep, I was thinking" Draco said, and looked away from his father and continued to watch the scenery trough the window.
"What is so important that it keeps you awake at night?" Lucius asked, even though he was pretty sure what it was and Draco's answer confirmed that fact when he, without looking at his father said "The fact that Potter lives in my house, and that you, who once said you hated him, now don't seem to mind."
Lucius knew that his son was going to say that, but he wasn't sure how to give Draco a reply he could be satisfied with.
"I can't exactly turn down a gift from the Dark Lord, you know." Lucius said, not wanting to tell Draco the real reason he didn't mind Harry living in Malfoy Manor.
"I know that, but still! You're not obliged to be nice to him!
It wasn't often that Lucius Malfoy was at a loss for what to say, but now was one of those times, maybe he should just tell Draco? He doubted the ill-tempered son of his would take it too good though. He probably should wait with telling him.
"Why don't you just accept the fact that Potter is indeed living here, and that he is to be considered a guest, so you won't be ordering him around, making him do things like the house-elves should do." he said, taking on the authoritative voice he used outside his home.
Draco gave his father a furious look, turned on his heel and disappeared into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. For what would probably be the thousandth time this day, Lucius sighed and shook his head. What could he do to make the two boys get along? Draco hated Harry, and Harry wasn't too fond of Draco either, though Lucius wasn't sure if the black-haired boy would try to get on better terms with his son if he asked him. It was a possibility.
He continued to walk down the corridor to his own room. After a quick shower, he got to bed. The bed seemed too big with just one person in it, even though it had been a while since there had been more than one person in it. The last person had been Narcissa, and she had left him.
Lucius closed his eyes and thought back. Had he ever really loved Narcissa? He doubted it, at least he couldn't remember that he had. Their marriage was an arranged one, none of them had a say in the matter. He didn't know if Narcissa had loved him, she had never told him she did. He wondered if he could have come to love her if things had been different? She was a nice person after all...
He decided not to dwell on it, no use thinking about the past.
It didn't take too long before he actually fell asleep, too tired from the lack of sleep lately to stay awake.
While Lucius slept, another person was awake. Draco was pacing around in his room, he couldn't sleep, he was too upset. The conversation with his father earlier had made him wonder, what role did Harry Potter play in his father's life? Was he just a gift that Lucius felt he had to treat nicely, just because it had been Voldemort that had given him to them? Or was it something else?
Draco used to understand his father's way of thinking, but now he had to say he was confused. Lucius's behaviour towards Potter didn't make any sense to him. He had thought his father would use the boy as a slave, someone to order around, to do his dirty work, but instead, he got to work as Lucius' assistant in his office.
It was annoying, not because Draco felt jealous, but because he didn't understand the reason why Potter should be treated like an equal, something that he, in Draco's eyes, was not.
His father had behaved different different after Draco's mother left, no, maybe even before that. Draco had first thought it came from him missing her, but he soon understood that wasn't it. There was something on his father's mind that he didn't understand. He really should ask him about it. It was unsettling, not knowing what was going on in his own home.
Draco missed his mother, he couldn't hide that fact from himself, even though he could pretend he didn't. She had always been nice to him, protected him and spoiled him, and now she was gone, she had left him and his father alone and Draco didn't know the reason why. Maybe she didn't love them anymore? His parents had told him the reason was that they needed a break. That was probably just something they told him so he wouldn't worry.
Like he would believe that old excuse. The "break" meant that his mother never returned, no matter what she and his father said. It made him quiet mad actually, that they didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth.
With a loud huff, Draco fell down in one of the armchairs in his room and crossed his arms. What could he do to make his father tell him the truth, to trust him? Maybe he could find the answer if he asked Potter? That could be even harder though, Potter didn't trust him, not that Draco had ever given him a reason to do so.
'This is just too troublesome!' Draco thought and closed his eyes, he wasn't really sleepy, just a little tired, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. His last thought being 'I'm going to talk to Potter tomorrow, to get some answers!'
Okay, thanks for reading! A review would be nice (hint hint!) anyway, my internet is being mean, but I'll try to upload as fast as I can!