Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the AU plot.
This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Ashley, who has been there and encouraged my writing all along. Thank you nugget! I love you!
Ch. 5 Leader of Men
'...I am not a leader of men, since I prefer to follow..'
Leader of Men by Nickelback
He would never have dreamed that Harry would trust Draco as implicitly as he seemed to. The two had been bitter rivals since their second meeting almost six years ago on the Hogwarts Express. Whatever had happened to spur on the scene he was now witnessing had to be significant. Standing there, not ten feet away from him, Draco and Harry, his son and his master's enemy, were melded together at the mouth. Lucius, his fingernails digging deeply into the palms of his tightly clenched fists, could only watch flabbergasted from the sidelines as the entire thing unfolded.
This cannot be happening. Not again. Another Malfoy falling for one of the light and foolishly risking it all to save him.
It was his relationship with Sirius all over again. Lucius wanted desperately to rush from beneath his invisibility cloak and separate the two, explain to Draco what had happened between him and his golden boy, and tell him that things like this never end well.
A sudden clap of thunder startled the two from their embrace. Lucius observed quietly as Draco walked away after one final brief exchange, leaving Harry standing there alone. Harry was still so caught up in what had just transpired that Lucius could have run by him banging a drum and he wouldn't have flinched. He knew what was to be done, what would save himself and his son. This was going to be entirely too easy. Lucius soundlessly slid his wand from its casing, and aimed it carefully at Harry.
One word. Just one word and Potter would be his. The dark lord would reward him immensely for this capture. He inhaled, lips pursed and ready to utter the stunning spell. He stopped cold, cursing himself and Sirius Black, his conscience in human form. Though the man was long dead, Lucius could not bring himself to give Sirius' beloved godson to the Dark Lord on a silver platter. And he still didn't know what to make of Draco's feelings for the Potter brat, but he wouldn't injure his son in that way. Lucius was not fond of Harry, and never would be, but he was determined for Draco to have more choices than he'd ever been given. As the older Malfoy lowered his wand, Harry crossed the road back to the Burrow, blissfully unaware of how close he had just come to being captured.
Lucius previously believed that Azkaban had killed every bit of tenderness he felt for Sirius Black, but he was mistaken. He had just spared the only other person Sirius had loved, and he realized bitterly that he would continue to do so until it was no longer prudent.
But Harry would be the only one.
OoOoO
The next morning found Lucius reclining leisurely in his large garden bath tub. He was the perfect picture of tranquility; eyes closed, head thrown back casually to one side, damp pieces of his silvery hair curling wildly about his temples. He would have looked peaceful to the casual observer, but in his mind, a silent war was being waged.
He knew he couldn't simply stand by and let his son begin, or continue any sort of relationship with Harry Potter. It was entirely too dangerous. He didn't want to hurt Draco, but the pain the dark lord would inflict if he ever found out would make anything Lucius could do seem like child's play. There had to be a way to talk to him about it without letting Draco know that he had followed him last night.
"Fuck!"
Lucius lifted his left arm which had been submerged by his side. Icy fingers of fear gripped his heart as he looked down on the angry dark mark that was searing his forearm.
The dark lord was summoning him.
Rising swiftly from his bath, Lucius dabbed a towel haphazardly over his body before donning the white silk shirt, black trousers and robe he had worn earlier and rushed to a disapparating spot behind the manor.
Upon arriving at Riddle House, Lucius entered and made his way to the closed outer doors of what was once a dining room. He reached his hand out to turn the knob and saw that he was shaking. To say he was apprehensive would be an understatement; he was terrified.
If he knew, we would be dead already. Calm down Lucius. This is business as usual.
He finally turned the doorknob and entered the room. Voldemort was seated at the head of a long table, and he was alone save for Peter Pettigrew who was pretending to tend the fireplace while waiting to overhear every word passed between Lucius and his master.
Malfoy tried to appear imperturbable though his knees quaked and threatened to fail him.
"My lord. You requested my presence?"
Voldemort signaled for Lucius to take the seat directly to his right and began speaking, going straight for the point before Lucius could even cross the room.
"After long thought, I have decided that you, Lucius, are best suited to serve as the new minister for magic once my plan is realized."
Lucius was almost dumbstruck. Admittedly, prospect was thrilling, but he had not expected it. He believed Severus was the one the dark lord had given the position to. Snape was after all, in the office already, though not quite as himself.
Voldemort's eyes were boring into him, waiting for some sort of response. Lucius knew better than to question his master.
"I—thank you my lord. I will not disappoint."
"I know you won't Lucius. Your life depends on it." Almost as an afterthought he added. "You realize the ministry will be under my control. You will merely represent me."
"Of course my lord."
Twenty minutes later, Lucius left Riddle House and disapparated back to Malfoy Manor. They were to make their move this evening.
OoOoO
As Lucius was being appointed minister for magic in de facto, the true minister, Rufus Scrimgeour was drawing his last breaths in Malfoy's dungeons. Bellatrix had been using her favorite curse, the cruciatus, to 'question' him when the man suddenly stopped screaming and flailing about. She walked over to his still form and nudged him with the toe of her boot. Her lips arranged into a pretty moue as she realized he was dead. She was disgruntled because the man had died so easily. He hadn't even had the courtesy to lapse into a brief bout of madness for her entertainment.
"Rodolphus!" she bellowed. In an instant her husband was by her side, brows furrowing darkly as he looked down on the lion-like countenance of the now former minister.
"Bellatrix, what did you do? You weren't supposed to kill him yet! He's going to be furious with you when he finds out."
Bellatrix shrugged her shoulders.
"I didn't kill him on purpose Rodolphus. He just—died." She brushed past her husband and out of the cell before calling back over her shoulder. "Clean it up."
OoOoO
The sight of the death eater's expressionless white masks and black hooded robes, topped with Scrimgeour's lifeless body being levitated and displayed, created great panic at the ministry. Workers tried to flee in all directions only to find that every door and every fireplace had been magically sealed. There was no way out. They were all trapped inside, left to the mercy of the death eaters.
Those who unwisely refused to pledge their loyalty to the dark lord were quickly dispatched, pure of blood or no. Others who swore their fealty had been reprieved, only to be grouped together and carted off to Azkaban until the new minister had need of them.
Lucius walked casually to the minister's offices. He expected to find Severus working diligently, like a good minion, breaking the enchantments on Harry Potter's suspected hideouts. When he stepped in though, the office was empty. Lucius looked around and almost laughed when he spotted the corner of a man's shoe sticking out from beneath the great oak desk.
"No need to cower under that desk anymore Severus." Lucius said amused. "Didn't you hear the ruckus going on outside?"
Severus rose from the floor slowly, glaring at Lucius.
"Why was Scrimgeour killed early? I was almost caught, had it not been for—"
Lucius rolled his eyes heavenward.
"One word Severus. Bellatrix."
"That witch needs to be taught self control." Severus said angrily. "He is entirely too lenient with her."
Lucius was not in the mood to listen to Snape's quibbling today.
"The point Severus, is that we are here and you were i not /i caught. Let it go."
His eyes scanned the moving wanted posters on the wall, spotting his own face among the thirty or so other posters of death eaters, and frowned before reaching out and tearing it down.
"No need for that anymore." he turned once again to Severus, who was just watching him. "Did you manage to find and break any of the charms yet?"
"Of course. Everything has been removed, Potter has been vulnerable since this morning."
"Impressive Severus. And his muggle family?"
"Don't you know what is going on in your own home Lucius?" Snape sneered. "The protection spell in place lifted on it's own yesterday, Potter's seventeenth birthday. Yaxley, Dolohov and Macnair were there waiting to take the muggles prisoner, and they now reside in your dungeon."
Lucius was a bit peeved that he hadn't known or been informed that even more prisoners were now in his dungeons. Yes, peeved, but he wasn't going to show it.
"Wonderful. So, now there is nothing to do but collect Potter then?"
"As usual Minister, I do all of the work and you receive all of the glory."
"Ah, so you've heard the good news then? Don't worry Severus, your day of glory is near. The dark lord has informed me of your new position, and I do believe you will be pleased."
Before Snape could question him, Lucius quickly ushered him out of the office. Severus, quickly forgetting the reason Lucius was taking a seat behind the minister's desk, rushed back in exclaiming.
"I can't be seen here Lucius! Have you gone mad?"
Lucius leaned back in the leather chair and folded his hands behind his head.
"But you can Severus. You are amongst friends here. You see, we've taken over."
A/N: As some of you may have noticed, there have been some slight changes and additions to chapters. Changes have little or nothing to do with plot line, though I did add considerably to the chapters. There is also the longest a/n in the world in ch. 1 and 2 dealing with a name change.
I'm writing this for my NaNoWriMo submission this year, so in light of that I will be changing the title and summary of this tonight (11/6). It all fit for the one shot, but now it seems to have outgrown it. So watch out for that!
Pleaase don't forget to review! They make my day and get me writing faster! And I just love hearing from all of you!