A/N: The usual thanks apply to Mamacita for her beta skills and to all my lovely readers. Dx

Lucius strode through the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, completely ignoring the greetings several of the revellers threw his way. He was incandescent with rage at what that tosser Wentworth had done to Cindy and it overwhelmed all other thoughts. The man had gone too far this time. If he didn't find a way to release her from the vow, Lucius was going to make sure it was the last thing he ever did. He didn't know, but surely it was at least likely that the vow would be ended once Cindy's useless wretch of a husband was dead.

Outside the pub, he walked quickly into a deserted alleyway and Apparated to the address Lissy had given him. He walked across the road to the house, his brisk, forthright steps showing that he intended business. Without hesitating, Lucius pounded loudly on the door. He waited thirty seconds and impatiently pounded again. He had just drawn his wand and was standing ready to blast the door off its hinges when it opened and a terrified-looking woman peered out at him.

'I want to see Andrew,' he said coldly. The woman looked at him as if in shock, her face pale. 'Now,' Lucius said imperiously. 'Where is he?' Still, the woman said nothing. Lucius snapped his fingers and the woman blinked. 'Andrew?' he asked again.

This time the woman nodded, but she still didn't move.

'This is important,' Lucius said, and she finally moved back to give him entrance.

'In his study,' she said, now looking shell-shocked as she led him into the lounge and motioned towards a closed door down another corridor.

'Stay here,' Lucius commanded and left the woman in the lounge while he headed for the study. He considered for a fraction of a second and then used his wand to open the door without knocking. He strode into the room and closed the door behind him with a loud bang.

'What the hell—'

Andrew had half-risen from the chair he was sitting in, a glass of Firewhisky still in his hand. He stood up fully, swaying a little and bumping against his desk as he gazed rheumily at Lucius.

'What do you want, Malfoy?' he asked belligerently, seeming not to notice Lucius' wand trained on him. 'Actually, I don't really care what you want. I'm not releasing Cindy from the vow, so you can just go back to whatever pit of hell you came from.' He took a sip from the glass he was holding.

'You should care,' Lucius said malevolently. 'As it's your life we're talking about.'

Andrew laughed loudly. 'Going to kill me, are you?'

Lucius' eyes narrowed. 'Perhaps I should.'

'Ah, but where would that leave poor Cindy?' Andrew asked sarcastically. 'Trapped forever within a vow that can't be undone.' He sat back down with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

'Perhaps the vow will be broken once you're dead,' Lucius told him. 'It's almost worth it to find out.'

'You won't risk it, though,' Andrew said shrewdly. 'You won't risk killing me in case the spell doesn't break.'

'You're right,' Lucius conceded. 'But that doesn't stop me from hurting you . . . very badly indeed.' He gave Andrew a cold smile.

'I won't end the spell,' Andrew repeated, but his voice held just a trace of nervousness.

'No?' Lucius moved a step closer to the desk, the smile on his face growing although his eyes were still glacial. 'Perhaps a little something to help you change your mind . . . .'

'You can't use an Unforgiveable Curse,' Andrew blurted quickly. 'I'll tell the Ministry of Magic. They'll come and arrest you, chuck you back in Azkaban.'

'You stupid man,' Lucius said, shaking his head in amazement. 'Do you honestly think I'd give you the chance to go running to the Ministry? I'll give you a choice. Release Cindy from the Unbreakable Vow or I promise you will regret it.'

'You can't make me,' Andrew said, but he sounded less confident now.

Lucius sighed and looked at the tip of his wand as if examining it before pointing it once again at Andrew.

'Okay, one last chance, Wentworth. You release Cindy from the Unbreakable Vow and I'll let you live. Your children won't lose their father and your girlfriend won't have to look after them alone.'

Andrew didn't say anything, just stared at Lucius and his wand. 'You wouldn't dare,' he finally croaked.

'Oh, believe me,' Lucius hissed, his face suddenly much closer than it had been before. 'I will do absolutely anything that is required to get Cindy back. You will not stand in my way.'

Andrew looked terrified at Lucius' close proximity but seemed to be rooted to the spot.

'Just try me,' Lucius said. 'I've had enough of this foolishness. Now, release Cindy from the vow or I promise you a world of pain. And believe me, you will do anything then, just to get the pain to stop.'

'And I'll go—'

'No, you won't, because after you've finally removed the curse I'll kill you,' Lucius promised.

'Then what's the point, if you're going to kill me anyway?' Andrew moaned.

Lucius looked scornful. 'I just told you — release Cindy now, before I hurt you, and you'll go free. But if I have to hurt you, I'm not leaving you around to tell the Ministry. It's your choice.'

Andrew looked unhappily at Lucius as if weighing up his decision.

'I don't understand why you're so intent on keeping us apart,' Lucius said, almost conversationally. 'After all, you never loved Cindy, not really.'

Andrew opened his mouth to protest then shut it again. It was true. Although he had fancied and admired Cindy while they were at school he had never really loved her as deeply as he had wanted to, knowing she was already in love with Lucius. Even when she had married him he couldn't believe she had turned away from her previous lover. When Cindy had given him a daughter instead of the son he had so longed for what love he had felt had turned to anger and then, over time, to hatred. But stronger still, was the all-consuming hatred he felt for Lucius Malfoy. Without him, Andrew was sure, things between him and Cindy would have worked out. Without Malfoy, Cindy would have loved him and things would have been different.

'You say you love Cindy,' Andrew said bitterly, 'but how can you when all you do is make her life unhappy with your stupid Death Eater ways?'

Lucius glared at the man in front of him. 'How dare you make assumptions about me. You have absolutely no idea what I've been through for Cindy.'

'Well, you've never been there for her when she needed you,' Andrew reminded him. 'Otherwise, she wouldn't be in this mess now, would she?' He seemed to have recovered himself. A sly grin spread across his face as he took another swig of his drink. 'Where were you whenever she needed you, Malfoy?' Andrew smiled nastily and gave a scary-sounding giggle. 'Oh, yes, that's right — off with your Death Eater friends, killing and torturing Muggles. What a fine choice for a partner you are, Lucius.'

Lucius growled angrily. 'Enough of this. You try my patience too much, Wentworth. Now, do as I ask, or I swear I will kill you regardless.'

Andrew sat back in his chair, shaking his head slowly as he looked at Lucius, a small chuckle leaving his lips. 'Well, you could,' he said smugly. 'But how would Cindy feel about that? How do you think she would react to the news that you'd killed me?'

He looked more intently at Lucius than he had done so far throughout the entire encounter, seemingly having sobered up suddenly, and gave another laugh.

'If you know Cindy anywhere near as well as you should, Malfoy, you'll know that if you kill me you will have single-handedly put her out of your reach forever. Do you think she will want to be associated with you, the Death Eater who killed her husband?'

Lucius started to lunge toward Andrew in fury but managed to stop himself, lowering his wand. Andrew was right. However Cindy may have felt about her husband and however much she may have hated him for what he had done to her, she would never condone Lucius killing him. Cindy wouldn't allow Lucius to stay in her life if he was a murderer.

But he had to do something. Somehow he had to get Andrew to release Cindy from the Unbreakable Vow. He felt his free hand clench into a fist as anger coursed through him, and suddenly he knew what he had to do.

He rounded the desk, and before Andrew had a chance to react Lucius pulled him up and away from his chair. Lucius' face was just centimetres away and now Andrew reverted to the coward he so clearly was.

'Wha—what—' he started, his voice quivering as he tried to pull himself from Lucius' grasp.

Lucius gave a smile so cold it would have frozen angel wings. Dropping his wand onto the table, he clenched his now empty hand into a fist and smashed it straight into Andrew's face with a satisfying crack.

Andrew's nose exploded under the pressure and blood began gushing from his nostrils. This seemed to unhinge him completely and he cowered, scared that more blows would be coming his way.

Lucius looked at the pathetic creature he was still holding, tears now in Andrew's eyes and pushed him backwards against the wall, a look of disgust on his face.

'No curses, no magic,' he said quietly, his voice glacial. 'But if you don't release Cindy now, I will beat you to a pulp.' Without warning, his fist shot out once more and landed in Andrew's stomach, causing the man to cry out as he doubled over in pain.

'No more chances, Andrew,' Lucius said. 'Release Cindy.'

For a second there was no sound but wet gurgling as Andrew tried to control his sobs. The blood from his broken nose still dripped, frothy bubbles appearing with each heavy breath, a legacy from the punch to the gut. Lucius drew himself up to his full height, his fists clenched once more.

'All right,' Andrew muttered miserably. His voice was thick, made more nasal by the broken nose. He flinched as Lucius loomed closer and put his hands up in front of him as if to stop Lucius from doing anything more. 'I'll do it. Just leave me and my family alone.'

Lucius relaxed his own hands and took a step back to give Andrew space.

'I need my wand,' Andrew said almost petulantly.

Lucius nodded and picked up his own from where he had dropped it on the desk. He trained it on Andrew once more. 'Just don't try anything stupid,' he said gravely.

Andrew bent down and opened a drawer in his desk and removed his wand. From the clinking noise it made as he extracted it, Lucius gathered that his supply of Firewhisky was kept in the same drawer. Straightening up once more, Andrew looked around the room as if searching for something.

'Now what?' Lucius asked impatiently. 'Just remove the spell and I'll leave you in peace.'

'I'll need to look up how to do it,' Andrew said, a bitter tinge to his voice. 'I obviously wasn't expecting to have to remove the bloody thing, so I didn't bother looking at how to do it. I don't even know if it can be done.' He continued to look aimlessly around the room. 'Thing is, I don't know where the book's gone.'

Lucius scowled. 'Well, I suggest you remember,' he said, 'and soon.'

Andrew sighed and rubbed at his eyes, gently, as he didn't want to do any further damage to his nose. 'Can I do something about this first?' he asked, indicating his face. 'I'm having trouble thinking because of the pain.'

Lucius waved his wand at Andrew. 'Episkey,' he said, sounding as if he'd had to force the word out. 'Now, no more stalling. Find that book and reverse the charm or you'll be in a much worse condition.'

Andrew's nose had been mended; the dried blood and the emerging bruises were the only sign that anything untoward had taken place. He touched it gingerly; then, after a glance at Lucius at which he ascertained that the angry man was on the verge of losing his temper once again, he hurriedly looked around for the book.

Spotting it on a shelf at the far side of the room, Andrew made his way over there as quickly as he could manage eager to put a little distance between himself and Lucius. Aware that Lucius' wand was still trained on him and that Lucius was only a moment away from hexing him he reached up and pulled the small, dusty tome from the shelf. He thumbed through the book to the index, his hands shaking as he looked for the counter-charm. Andrew had no doubt that if he failed or stalled any further Lucius would hurt him badly and he wouldn't even use magic to do it.

'I can't remove the spell,' Andrew said, his voice dropping glumly as he read the instructions in the book. Inside he flinched and hoped Lucius wouldn't use this as an opportunity to punish him further. He quickly added, 'But according to this we can cast another Unbreakable Vow that counteracts the first. But Cindy needs to be here. We need to have the physical contact for the spell to bind.'

'Do you have an owl?' Lucius asked. He was aware that the quickest and easiest thing to do would have been to go and get Cindy himself and bring her back, but he didn't want to give Andrew the opportunity to do something that would stop them from getting access to him, and time away from Lucius would increase Andrew's confidence.

Andrew shook his head. 'No. You'll have to go—'

'In that case, your girlfriend will have to go and find Cindy and bring her back here,' Lucius said, cutting off Andrew's words. 'You don't really think I'm going to leave you here alone, do you?'

Andrew looked scared. 'I don't want Sandra involved in this,' he said quietly. 'She's got the kids to look after . . . and . . . and this has nothing to do with her,' he finished lamely.

'I'm not asking her to do anything dangerous,' Lucius said scornfully. 'I just want her to go and fetch Cindy, that's all.' He looked at the blood-covered man in front of him. 'I'm sure the children will be fine for a few minutes.'

Andrew swallowed loudly. 'But she won't know—' he began.

'I know that Sandra knows who Cindy is,' Lucius said. 'After all, Cindy's been here before and I'm sure your girlfriend would recognise your wife. Anyway, Cindy, Lissy and Draco are waiting for me in the Leaky Cauldron, so she won't have to go far to find her.'

Andrew used his wand to remove the worst of the bloodstains and tidy himself up a little, although there was nothing he could do about the bruising. 'Okay,' he said reluctantly. He moved to the door of the study and opened it. 'Sandra,' he called, trying to keep the quaver of fear out of his voice. 'Sandra, can you come here, please, love?'

A few seconds later the dark-haired woman appeared, the child Nathan once again resting on her hip. She was wearing a flour-covered apron and streaks of flour were dusted through her dark hair. No longer seeming in a trance, she was, however, visibly frightened by the sight of Andrew with his bloodstained robes and bruised face. She glanced quickly at Lucius, then back at her boyfriend.

'I need you to go and find Cindy and bring her back here,' Andrew said hastily. 'She'll be in the Leaky Cauldron, with Lissy and his son.' He nodded towards Lucius.

'But I'm in the middle of baking,' Sandra complained. 'And it'll be the kids' tea time soon.'

Andrew nodded understandingly. 'I know, love,' he said, reaching out to take Nathan from his mother. 'But this won't take more than a few minutes, and it's really very important that we get Cindy now.'

Sandra, hearing the quiet pleading in Andrew's voice, relinquished her son and untied her apron, pulling it off. She ran her hands through her hair, ridding herself of the flour.

'The Leaky Cauldron, you say?' she confirmed. Andrew and Lucius both nodded. 'Okay, I'll be back shortly. Davey's in the playroom. Please make sure he doesn't move from there.' There was a pop as she Disapparated from the room.

'Can I go and check on my son?' Andrew asked.

Lucius nodded and followed him out into the hallway and towards the playroom. He still had his wand trained on Andrew although he didn't think he needed to any longer.

'Why did you treat Cindy so badly, Andrew?' Lucius asked as he watched Andrew deposit his son onto the floor next to his older brother and then sit down with them. Lucius couldn't stop himself from asking, seeing the joy in the face of his love rival when Andrew looked at his children. 'How could you have treated her as you did when she almost died giving you a child?'

Andrew ignored Lucius for a moment as he played with his sons, then looked up from where he sat on the floor.

'It was you,' he said quietly. 'I thought you'd done something to her, thought somehow you'd managed to stop her from giving me an heir. The one thing I wanted so much from our relationship, and I couldn't even have that.'

'But that's ridiculous,' Lucius said. 'How could I have affected Cindy's ability to have children? I hadn't even seen her for years. You kept her well hidden from me, remember?'

'I didn't know what you'd done to her before,' Andrew replied bitterly. 'You were a Death Eater, Malfoy, and Cindy's Muggle-born. She was completely under your spell and you could have done anything to her. It could have been your fault she almost died giving birth to Lissy.'

Lucius stared at Andrew in astonishment. 'I loved Cindy,' he roared. 'I loved her from the very first moment I set eyes on her. I loved her even after you took her away. And I love her more now than I've ever done. How on earth can you believe I would ever do anything to harm her or cause her pain? It just couldn't happen.'

'You didn't love her enough not to be a Death Eater, though, did you?' Andrew replied snidely. 'Don't you think that hurt her? Don't you think that caused her pain?'

'I know it did, but there was nothing I could do about that,' Lucius replied contritely. 'Cindy understands that now. I've explained it all to her.'

'I wanted her to love me,' Andrew said, a whine in his voice now. 'I really thought if I kept you away from her she would realise what a waste of space you were. But I never stood a chance; not with rich, handsome Lucius Malfoy always there in the background.'

Lucius laughed sharply. 'So all this time you've been blaming me for the failure of your marriage when all along it's been your own fault,' he said. 'You saw what you wanted to see, Andrew. Cindy was in love with you. She had cast me aside long before and you were everything she wanted. But your jealousy ruined that.'

'You were always there,' Andrew said. 'You were the elephant in the room, always waiting, always watching.'

'Only to you,' Lucius said. 'Cindy had given up on me. She didn't want to have anything more to do with me. She loved you.'

Andrew gave a snort of disbelief.

'It's true,' Lucius insisted. 'Why do you think I left you alone for so long? I admit that once Voldemort had gone I had hoped to rekindle things with Cindy, but when I tried to find her I discovered she was married to you, so I left you to it. I didn't even think about doing anything because she was happy — or so I thought.

'I know she loved you, Andrew, because she told me so. The first time we went to lunch she told me all about how much she had loved you and how badly you had treated her. She was so desperately unhappy, and I just wanted to make her happy again.'

'So you thought you'd do that by fucking her, did you?' Andrew asked bitterly.

'It was quite a while before we became intimate again,' Lucius replied, shaking his head. 'Cindy was still hoping that one day you would come to your senses and realise it was her you loved. That you would stop your affairs and go back to her and Lissy; be the family you should have been. She and I never resumed our relationship until it became obvious to Cindy that you didn't care for her at all and had no intention of ever trying to mend your marriage.' Lucius sighed. 'Why shouldn't we have resumed under those circumstances?'

'Because you're married, too, for starters,' Andrew said.

'In name only,' Lucius retorted. 'Narcissa and I have never been romantically involved; unlike some, we've never loved each other. We married for duty and lineage.'

Andrew barked a laugh. 'Of course, you couldn't have your oh-so-precious pure blood tainted by Cindy and her Muggle blood, could you?'

Lucius glared at Andrew. 'I'm sure you know very well that I asked Cindy to marry me before we left school.'

'Yes, she told me. But that was very handy for you, wasn't it, Malfoy? I mean, you asked her, but you could never have actually gone through with it. Not as a Death Eater. And it was obvious she'd turn you down.'

'If she'd said yes, I would have married her somehow,' Lucius said adamantly. 'But she chose you instead.'

'And now you expect me just to give her to you.'

'She's not yours to give any more,' Lucius replied quietly. 'You lost that right when you set up home with your girlfriend.'

'Cindy is still my wife,' Andrew insisted.

'Who you don't love,' Lucius pointed out. 'You have a whole other family, Andrew. Why stand in the way of Cindy's happiness when all you're doing is ruining your own?'

'So you'd marry Cindy, then, would you?' Andrew asked. 'What about your wife? You say you married for duty, but will she be so eager to give up her prominent position to someone she's always detested?'

'Narcissa is aware that Cindy and I have been reconciled and she knows that nothing will keep me away from Cindy this time. Narcissa will be generously provided for and is unlikely to lose the position you mention; after all, Cindy has no interest in that side of things. Therefore, I cannot see Narcissa objecting to a divorce; if only so she can be away from me. She's always been disgusted by my desire for Cindy.'

Andrew looked steadily at Lucius for a few moments. 'So why should I give Cindy a divorce?'

'Because she deserves to be happy,' Lucius replied simply.

The two men continued staring at each other, saying nothing further.

'Andrew?'

Sandra's voice drifted along the corridor from the lounge. She had obviously Apparated while they had been talking, and they hadn't heard her.

'In the playroom,' Andrew called. He smoothed down the hair on his oldest son's head and followed suit with the younger, then stood up just as Sandra and Cindy entered the room.

Cindy looked worried — still concerned about speaking to him, Lucius assumed — and he gave her a small smile and took her hand, squeezing it to reassure her.

'Let's get this done, then,' Andrew said, sounding resigned. He looked at Sandra. 'We won't be long, love. Cindy and Lucius will be leaving shortly and I'll help you with the kids' tea.'

Sandra gave him a smile, said goodbye to Cindy and Lucius, heading back to the kitchen and her interrupted baking. Cindy and Lucius followed Andrew along the corridor to the study. Andrew picked up the book and turned to the place he had marked.

'This won't take long,' he said, and, closely watched by Lucius, he performed the new Unbreakable Vow which completely cancelled out the old.

'How do we know it's worked?' Lucius asked anxiously as he removed the non-speaking charm Lissy had placed on her mother earlier.

Andrew shrugged. 'I've cast the spell, and everything the book said would happen has. Now I guess it's just a case of trusting that it worked.'

'Andrew's magic has always worked before,' Cindy said. 'So there's no reason why this shouldn't.' She smiled as she realised she was talking to Lucius. And she hadn't died. The new charm had worked successfully.

Cindy could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly to try to stop them from falling. Lucius took her hand once more and squeezed it gently.

'Thank you, Andrew,' she whispered, smiling at her husband for the first time in years.

'Yes, thank you,' Lucius added, happy to be gracious now that Cindy was free to talk. As if there had never been any nastiness between them he added, 'We'll let you get on now. I know you're busy.'

'Can I have a few words with Cindy alone before you leave?' Andrew requested. He, too, seemed to have caught the politeness bug.

Lucius nodded his head and dropping Cindy's hand he headed out of the door, leaving her alone with her husband.

'I still don't understand why you want to be with him,' Andrew said. He raised his hand to stop Cindy from replying. 'But it's clear nothing is ever going to stop the two of you so there's no point in me standing in your way any further.'

Cindy's heart lifted. Surely Andrew was telling her he would give her the divorce she had pushed so hard for. She smiled and took Andrew's hand.

'Did you ever really love me?' she asked.

Andrew looked surprised. 'Of course I did,' he said. 'But I was never a match for Mal—Lucius.'

'You didn't have to be,' Cindy said a little sadly. 'It was you that I loved.' She squeezed his hand. 'But I think you're happier with Sandra,' she admitted. 'You seem content and you were never that with me, not even in our best moments. I'm just disappointed that your relationship with Lissy isn't better. She loves you so much, you know.'

Andrew released Cindy's hand. 'I do feel bad about the way I've treated Lissy,' he admitted. 'Do you think it's too late for me to try and make it up to her?'

Cindy shook her head and smiled. 'No, it could never be too late. You're her father, Andrew, and she needs you now just as much as she did when she was younger. Perhaps it will be easier now that we've resolved things.'

She kissed Andrew on the cheek. 'Thank you,' she whispered. 'I really do love him, you know.'

'I know,' Andrew replied.

'I've spoken to Narcissa,' Lucius told Cindy.

They were sitting in Mario's, having just shared another exquisitely cooked lunch and were lingering over their tea, as usual holding hands as they talked.

'And was she receptive?' Cindy asked, a moment of panic hitting her that after everything they had been through she and Lucius still wouldn't be together. Was Narcissa as vindictive as Andrew had been? After all, she had never been happy about their relationship, either.

'Perfectly receptive,' Lucius replied happily. 'Obviously, I've been extremely generous with the settlement but to be honest, I think Narcissa would have been agreeable to getting a divorce just to get away from me and our "disgusting relationship".' He gave a small laugh. 'She'll be able to dine out on it for months, getting her girlfriends' sympathies over how I've dumped her for a Muggle-born.'

'She didn't object at all?' Cindy asked curiously.

Lucius shook his head. 'No. To be honest, Cindy, it hardly came as a surprise to Narcissa, did it? Although we never discussed it I knew she was aware we had resumed our relationship. Narcissa no longer cared because there was no reason for the two of us to be intimate. She already had everything she wanted from me. And without that mad bitch of a sister around to poison her mind she could be a little more subjective about the whole thing. She gets to keep her place in society yet also gets to distance herself from the Malfoy name — and reputation, which, let's face it, has taken a bit of a battering recently. A win-win situation for her . . . and for us, too.'

'I still don't really understand what happened at the end,' Cindy said, frowning.

She had tried to get Lucius to talk about the final days of Voldemort's reign of terror, the months she had missed by being in the Muggle world, but he had so far been loath to discuss it. Cindy wasn't sure whether this was because he was embarrassed about his part in it or because it had just been so awful that he couldn't bear to talk about it.

Lucius shrugged. 'What can I say? You know the Dark Lord was staying with us and we had no choice but to do his bidding. Narcissa was never a Death Eater, however much she may have appeared to play the part and fear for Draco's safety made her far braver than I had ever imagined she could be . . . .'

His voice trailed off as he picked up his cup and took a sip of his tea. A moment later he looked at Cindy once more.

'I do care for Narcissa, you know. I don't love her, I've never loved her. But she is the mother of my child, my son and heir, and I respect and appreciate what she did. She was incredibly stupid and incredibly brave, and her actions saved everyone.' He took another sip of his tea. 'And she stopped me from going back to Azkaban,' he finished quietly.

Cindy looked at Lucius in surprise. 'Azkaban? But why were they going to take you there?'

'Because I was a Death Eater,' Lucius replied. 'There was no hiding it this time, no pretending I had been forced into it, whatever the truth of the matter may have been. If it hadn't been for Narcissa . . . .' He shook his head, not voicing the rest of his thought.

'But what did she do?' Cindy asked. 'Don't forget I was stuck out in the Muggle world, with no idea of what was going on. I didn't even know if you and Lissy and were dead or alive. And I still don't understand what happened at the end. I haven't pushed Lissy to talk about it in case it was too traumatic for her. But I'm sure you can tell me, Lucius. About your side of it, at least.'

Lucius stayed silent for a moment, looking into his cup then sighed. 'Yes, I suppose you should know. After all, I promised I would never lie to you again, Cindy, and I meant that. And actually, I suppose it wasn't so terrible. Not as bad as it could have been, anyway.'

'We had them at Malfoy Manor, you know,' he continued after a short pause, during which he finished his tea. 'Potter and his two friends. They were captured by one of the round-up gangs and brought to us because the Dark Lord was using our home as his base. I wasn't sure it was them, at first. They were in disguise and I hadn't seen any of them since that night at the Ministry of Magic, and Draco wouldn't confirm or deny it. I'm not sure whether he was trying to help them or was just too scared to say, but Bellatrix was sure. She took the opportunity to torture the girl, Hermione, enjoying it just a bit too much.' He looked disgusted.

'And then an ex-house-elf of mine, whom Potter had freed several years before, came to help him. It was confusing,' he admitted. 'They fought with us, although in truth I no longer had a wand, having had mine taken from me by Voldemort, and during the fight, Potter took Draco's wand. Somehow, with the elf's help they managed to escape, but by then Bellatrix had called the Dark Lord and sealed the fate of our family. His wrath was terrible.'

Lucius sat silently then, his eyes closed as if remembering. His face was drawn, the look of pain etched across it making him seem much older than he had before. Cindy patted his hand supportively.

'If you don't want to continue . . . .' she said quietly.

But Lucius shook his head and opened his eyes. 'Not much more to tell,' he said gruffly. 'Voldemort was furious that we'd lost Potter, but by then he was on the trail of a wand, a special wand that would make him invincible. He was convinced once he had that, Potter would stand no chance of defeating him. We were left to pick up the shattered remnants of our lives and ready ourselves for his call to arms for the final battle against Potter.

'And so we waited. Until finally we were called to the Forbidden Forest, where we gathered with our master, awaiting the arrival of the boy who wasn't going to live. Narcissa was with me. I still don't know whether she chose to go, perhaps knowing in her heart that she needed to do something to help Potter, or whether she was forced. We've never spoken about it. We don't need to. She knows how grateful I am to her, and she, as ever, was motivated purely by the need to keep Draco safe.

'The fighting began. Death Eaters and giants and all those other Dark creatures that Voldemort had drawn to him attacked Hogwarts, fighting the children. That was the worst thing, Cindy. It wasn't just the teachers or other adults come to help. The children had got involved and were taking a stand. They were helping Potter to defeat the Dark Lord.'

Cindy nodded solemnly. 'Lissy was one of those,' she said. 'So were her friends. Some of them died.'

'Too many of them died,' Lucius said bitterly. 'They should never have been involved. But Voldemort was a complete madman by then. His desire to beat Potter overrode any sense of wrongdoing or worry that he was killing innocents. And then there was a ceasefire, a chance for both sides to reclaim their dead and wounded and to regroup. Voldemort used it to goad Potter into meeting him. And so we waited. And eventually, Potter came.'

There was a brief pause.

'And Voldemort killed him,' Lucius finished bleakly.

Cindy gasped in surprise. 'What? What do you mean, he killed him? He can't have done. Harry beat Voldemort!'

Lucius began playing with Cindy's fingers as he spoke again.

'Potter came to the forest and Voldemort killed him using the killing curse again. At least, Voldemort thought he'd killed him. Narcissa told him Potter was dead, but she lied. Potter was still alive and because of her lie he was able to surprise Voldemort at the end and kill him, instead. As I said, Narcissa was both brave and stupid in what she did. If Voldemort had realised she was lying he would have killed her.'

'So she really did help to save the wizarding world,' Cindy said, impressed. 'Good for her, even if it was only motivated by a desire to save Draco. Although I completely understand that — I would have done exactly the same for Lissy.'

Lucius nodded solemnly. 'We, like the rest of the Death Eaters, made our way up to the castle. But unlike the others who were ready to crow at Voldemort's victory over Potter, our only motivation was to find Draco and escape unharmed.' Lucius looked at Cindy. 'Although if I'd seen Lissy I would have helped her, too,' he assured her.

Cindy nodded understandingly. 'And Draco was safe?'

Lucius gave a bitter laugh. 'Yes. Potter had helped to save him, too. Crabbe and Goyle Junior had tried to fight on Voldemort's side, but stupid as they were, they couldn't do anything properly. One of them unleashed Fiendfyre and ended up perishing because of it. Potter helped Draco escape the fire.

'And then it was over,' Lucius continued quietly. 'Potter had somehow killed Voldemort and we were free once more. Narcissa, Draco and I left as soon as we could, eager to be away from the fighting. Bellatrix was killed during the battle and I have to admit I was very pleased about that.'

'So how did Narcissa save you from Azkaban?' Cindy asked.

'It wasn't long before the Aurors arrived at Malfoy Manor,' Lucius said. 'There was no way to deny our involvement. After all, the Dark Lord had lived in our home and we, or at least Bellatrix, had almost killed one of Potter's closest friends. Things weren't looking good for any of us. But then Potter came forward and told the Ministry that Narcissa had risked her life to help him — a charitable act if ever there was one. And from there Narcissa told the Aurors that we had all changed sides at the end and that Draco and I, too, had helped Harry. And so it was that we escaped Azkaban.'

'Well, I'm glad you did,' Cindy said vehemently. 'It was bad enough last time. I can't imagine what I'd have done if you'd ended up back in there again.'

'Understandably, Narcissa wants to distance herself from everything that's happened,' Lucius said as they stood, ready to leave the restaurant. 'I think she's thinking of moving abroad, at least for a while.'

'I know she and I are never going to be friends, but I'm sure Narcissa will at least make an appearance at Lissy and Draco's engagement party, won't she?' Cindy asked.

Lucius shrugged. 'I don't know, but I would imagine so. I can't imagine Narcissa missing her beloved son's party, even if his choice of wife isn't to her taste.'

'She doesn't like Lissy?' Cindy asked, sounding disappointed. 'I was hoping Narcissa wouldn't mind her as she's a Half-blood.'

'I don't think she dislikes her,' Lucius replied. 'But I think Lissy reminds Narcissa a little too much of you,' he said with a grin. 'Whatever the case, she knows Draco is madly in love with Lissy and therefore she'll accept his choice.'

'Very gracious,' Cindy said, a little more sharply than she had meant to.

'And she has every reason to be so,' Lucius reminded Cindy. 'Just be grateful she doesn't actively dislike Lissy.'

Cindy sighed. 'I suppose you're right. But you can't help hoping everyone will love your child as much you do.'

'And she will, in years to come, once this is all a long-forgotten memory,' Lucius assured her.

He took Cindy's hand as they left the Bistro and walked along the alleyway toward Diagon Alley.