A/N: *pokes head out and looks around, waves little white flag (I come in peace!). Slowly advances and grovels humbly at the feet oft all those who have been waiting FAR too long for me to finally finish this chapter* I am SOOOOooo sorry that it took me this long to finally get another chapter up. Things have been so hectic here that I have been unable to get any time where both me and my muse are on the same page and have the time to actually write. Anyways, enough of my blabber I offer you the next installment of Raising Phoenix for your reading pleasure.
Chapter 27
The Return of Lucius
Lucius Malfoy stood in front of a full length mirror and smoothed the wrinkles from his emerald green robes and viewed his appearance with a critical eye. His blond hair was still long and practically shown it was so clean, though it had acquired streaks of white hair among the blond. Normally, according to his age, he would not have had any white hair mingled with his blond, but taking into account that he had just had spent the last few years as a Dementor, and that the body that had been added to the Potion was of an advanced age, it seemed that it was expected, or at least not surprising that he was beginning to go white.
It had been three months since the time that he had 'hatched' from the chrysalis in the basement. It had taken him a good three weeks to get used to the fact that there had been a considerable amount of time since he had last walked the earth, in human form anyways. He remembered a little from the time as a Dementor, shadows and fleeting thoughts of the whole ordeal. These fleeting visions were enough to give anyone pause and even give the most hard core of cold blooded killers a shiver down their spines, but not Lucius. This did little to faze him, thoughts and images were little more than an annoyance that would have done little to prick his conscious if he still possessed it at all. Soon after he had emerged and realized that he was not in the Dementor's Lab, where they put those who were to be Kissed, and that his very existence was indeed not known to the Ministry whatsoever, he was exceedingly eager to advance his revenge on Severus Snape.
It had become well known amount those in Azkaban, the Severus Snape had been the mole in Lord Voldemort's ranks. The dirty lying, cheating rat that had undermined the Pureblood authority and philosophy for his own gain and Lucius had learned that he now walked free and unpunished by the Ministry. He had also learned through Draco, that he had even managed to bag himself the prize that should have gone to Draco at the end of the war, the mudblood, Hermione Granger. He had always planed and dreamed of breaking her himself, or at least walking Draco through the process and watching him do it. He felt that it would have been the ultimate revenge against not only the girl that had tried so hard to upset the 'natural' balance of the magical world with her attempt at intelligence, but had provided so much help to Voldemort's worst enemy, Harry Potter.
Now that she was married to Severus he saw it only as an extra added bonus, though it did make some things more difficult. He could still do what he had planned with and to the girl, but now it would also spite and rend the heart of now his greatest enemy and once brother in arms, Severus Snape. Especially now that he had learned from Draco that Severus seemed to actually care for, and possibly even love, if that were really even possible, the Mudblood and the children that they had so far produced together. It seemed that they had produced two, twins, something unusual in the muggle world and exceedingly rare in the magical one.
Draco had caught him up also on what had been going on in the magical world since he had been 'away' and what new and different things the Ministry had enacted in that time. He had also managed to find a way to get a hold of a new wand for his father that was of reasonably the same strength and power as the one before. It had been a bit of a struggle to get a new one, involving glamours lies and some rather powerful memory charms. There had been quite a bit of fancy footwork involved so that the Ministry did not catch on to the fact that Lucuis was back in town and ready to 'party'.
Lucius had been confined to the house and grounds of his son's home. It was something that many would have loved to have, a pretty little cottage in the country, but when compared to the Malfoy Mansion it was a mere shack, albeit a pretty shack. He had been able to see no one in the time that he had been back other than those who were on the grounds of the house. This meant that he saw and was served by the two house elves that his son had acquired as well as had seen his son's mudblood wife and nasty halfblood son. At least he had been allowed the option of using his son's wife when he felt the need and she wasn't occupied by Draco. Despite the diversion that his son's wife created on occasion it was not that that he really craved anymore. He had engaged her twice, but he found that he preferred being in the same room when his son engaged her, enjoying the brutalness that Draco doled out. It was almost as if he was 'feeding' off of all the negative feelings that Hattie felt towards the whole ordeal and the twisted nature of his son in bed. Admittedly Draco thought it a bit strange, weird even, but he didn't really bother to question or worry about it. It made his father happy and kept everything in 'balance', or at least in his mind it did.
The lack of change of scenery though was a bit distressing, he was certainly getting bored of the whole ordeal and really wanted to get going on his revenge upon Severus, and then maybe even find a way for himself to enter back into society. He was getting very impatient. He wanted to be able to at least get off the grounds to exact his revenge that if nothing else. he had been planning and formulating ideas for how to make Severus suffer to the greatest extent over the last few weeks and was anxious to get the show on the road as it were and be done with it. He wanted to make it as miserable for him as soon as he could.
He had been confined to Azkaban for months before he had been sent to the Dementor pens after all, as well as learning of Severus' treachery at backstabbing the Dark Lord. He had some major axes to grind with Severus and wanted to make sure that each one was ground to its most painfully exquisite maximum. He was hoping for something to happen soon. The problem was that as it stood now Severus and his wife and children were too well protected by their position at Hogwarts. There was just no way that he could get onto the grounds and into contact with the family group without detection and capture before he got to his prize. What he needed was either a distraction or someplace that was far less secured in order to get what he wanted.
Exiting the rooms that he had been given he went down to meet Draco in the study of the shanty that his son called home now. Walking into the room the elder Malfoy looked at his son who had recently arrived home from work and was sitting in a chair before the fire nursing a small glass of wine; at least it was a bottle of some vintage and taste.
"Draco." Lucius told him. "There must be something that I can be doing other than staying here in the house all day. It is getting to be monotonous. There has to be some way that I can get off this tiny spit of land and torment… I mean interact with someone else. You can only kick the same house elf so many times before it loses it charm."
"I know father." Draco said. "I know how you feel, but there is nothing that I can do to help you. And I see no way to get to Severus or his family without early detection. I have known for a while now that I want to exact some sort of revenge upon them, but I was never able to figure out how I would do it. The what, that I would do is no trouble at all, it is the how and the where that is that hard part."
"Well what do you know of Severus's movements? What sort of reconnaissance have you done in order to exact you revenge?" Lucius asked, accepting the glass of wine offered to him by his son.
"I would like to say that I know his every move, but I do not." Draco confessed. "I have to work and so it is very difficult to track his movements while in a completely different place. Though I would venture to guess that his movements are much the same from when I was in school. Married life and children will have certainly not changed his general habits too much; he is still a teacher after all." Draco told him. "I am sure that there is some way that I can get the information that we seek. He has to some out of the castle some time."
"I am sure that there is a favor you can call in from someone." Lucius said to Draco. "I want information and I want it soon. I want to begin my revenge at once. And I want his whole family to suffer it." Lucius said darkly as he sipped his wine and looked into the fire from where he sat in the second arm chair.
A/N: well… that is just beyond creepy and scary, Lucius is back in town and getting restless, this can't be good. Poor Hattie,, but for those worried that she will not make it through the fic, never fear, she will survive it, that I can assure you. As for Draco don't worry he will get what is coming to him, just be patient.
Next chapter we see what Hermione and Severus have been up too in the time since they have had their children and how they are a adjusting. I will also be covering the phoenix in the next chapter or too as well, they have been starting a family as well.
I don't know when I will be getting the next chapter up, but I hope to have it up before the end of this month or within the first week of next month. I must thank my wonderful beta Skydancinghobbit who makes sure that my content is solid so it can be posted. Thanks.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and my slow writing ablibity lately. I am hoping things will pick up soon and provide you all with more chapters faster. Thanks to all those who have left me a review so far, kudos to you all! Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your January, I know where I live we are working on a whole double digits for a high (lowest temp it got here on my thermometer was -14) so for everyone who is warmer than things are here, NO FAIR! But that is besides the point. Hope you are all well after the holiday rush and if you have the time to go and check out some of my other fan fics or those of my beta please leave a review to let us know what you think of our work. Thanks! Live, Laugh, Love ~ Dragons Quill
