Lucius woke up four hours later when Severus opened the door to the back seat and shook him awake as gently as he could. It was not because he was feeling particularly affectionate towards Lucius but that he didn't want to aggravate the head wound the Pureblood was nursing.
"What?" Lucius grumbled, turning to look directly into Severus's face.
"Get up, get dressed. This is the last stop for a while and you need to try to use the restroom."
He didn't have any idea what Severus was talking about but was able to feel annoyed at being spoken to in such a manner. He wasn't a child. Severus dumped clothes onto his face and Lucius was left scrambling to remove them with flying limbs and spluttering a few choice words. Severus simply chuckled and shut the door again.
Sitting up, Lucius found that they were in a Muggle fuel station. Arthur was outside, expertly pumping gas with a huge smile on his face as if this was the best part of his day. Lucius rolled his eyes.
He turned his attention to the clothes he'd been given and managed to squirm his way out of the hospital gown and into grey sweatpants, a red and blue flannel, and black combat boots. In the pocket of his sweat pants he found fresh bandages for his head. All he needed was a mirror.
Opening the car door, Lucius braced himself for trying to stand. Surprisingly, it wasn't the head wound that made it difficult to stand but his cramped legs. He had to shake the pins and needles from his joints before he could take his first shaky steps around the back of the car and approach Arthur.
"Where is the restroom?" he asked.
"In the back," Arthur replied without even looking away from the electronic numbers on the fuel pump. Lucius made his way around as quickly as possible and soon found himself in a dingy bathroom with two stalls and a single sink. Severus was washing his hands with water that Lucius wasn't entirely sure was safe to use. At least not if one judged cleanliness by how clear the water was.
"Feeling better?" Severus asked, drying his hands on his dark jeans as there were no towels-disposable or otherwise. There was a white box that was labeled air dryer but Lucius wouldn't even know how to turn that on. Based on the fact that Severus wasn't using it, he decided it must be broken.
"I suppose," he said. Standing in front of the mirror Lucius made quick work of the bandage, applying the new one with a practiced ease. He had been in far too many battles not to be able to do basic first aid. In the other pocket of his sweatpants he found an elastic hair tie and used it to pull back his long, dirty locks from his face. He really needed a shower and a bed.
"At least you can walk again," Severus replied.
"What happened on the motorway after I fell unconscious?" he asked, genuinely curious as to what had become of Odie. Had he escaped?
"Jonathan hobbled back into the motel to warn us about what Papa Odie had gotten himself and you into," Severus said.
"Who's Jonathan?" Lucius asked, squinting at him in the grimy mirror. He was leaning against it heavily and didn't have the energy to turn around.
"The Squib in the stolen car," Severus said. So that was where Odie had sent the Squib. He had barely thought about it until then. How had Odie even managed to do it? He had never known a spell that could displace a person like that. Even Side-Along Apparition required that both parties be transported. "I got there in time to see them load you in the ambulance and I simply followed you from there. While they treated your head wound I went back for Arthur and the car."
"Where is Odie now?" he asked.
"In jail I would imagine," Severus shrugged. "He'll stumble back home in a month or so maybe. He likes to wander through the jails every now and then."
"Seriously?" Lucius asked incredulously. Severus shrugged again.
"He's crazy," was the only explanation he gave.
"Well, what's happening with the Ministry?" Lucius inquired.
"They're all in an uproar," Severus said. "Percy Weasley and Auror Jennings are both in Mungo's for burns. Arthur's wife went there to see the kid but I guess he wouldn't see her. She's been crying ever since."
Lucius raised his eyebrows at this information. First of all, it sounded suspiciously like gossip-something Severus never did. Second of all, he wondered why he should care about the Weasley family troubles at all. After all, he barely knew them. He barely even wanted to admit that they should be allowed to exist.
"Percy Weasley is of the opinion that the Dark Lord had not risen again," Severus said catching Lucius's look of confusion. Lucius nodded his head. So even the Weasleys were at odds over Potter and his tale.
"What was Papa Odie doing?" he asked. "Exploding that fountain? And what was that stuff the Squib dropped in the water?"
"It's called Exploding Chalk," Severus said, clearly picking and choosing how he was going to answer.
"I've never heard it," Lucius responded. He had become quite an expert in Magical explosions over the years but he had never before seen anything such as what had happened to that fountain.
"That's because it didn't exist until six months ago," Severus replied.
"Did you make it?" Lucius asked, finally turning around and leaning against the sink to give Severus his full attention. Neither of them felt the need to move quicker than they wanted and they gave no regard to the fact that Arthur was likely waiting for them in the car.
"No," Severus replied. "At least not entirely. The original product was designed to explode the water in order to drench people standing near it. I simply weaponized it."
"You weaponized a Zonko's product?" Lucius asked, knowing that if his head had been a little clearer he would have been able to ridicule Severus quite completely. With affection, of course. They were, after all, friends. Severus squirmed a little.
"It wasn't a Zonko's product," he said. "I confiscated it from the Weasley twins."
"So what was Papa Odie doing with that weaponized Weasley prank?" Lucius asked grinning. He found it deeply amusing that Severus, even after twenty years, was weaponizing harmless pranks.
"Trying to shut up Percy Weasley," Severus said quickly, clearly hoping to turn the tide of the conversation away from the potential of being teased. "Papa Odie has known the Weasley family for hundreds of years. When Percy left the family he became a loose cannon."
"He's talking to Aurors," Lucius said, remembering what he'd seen in the Atrium.
"Yes," Severus replied. "The Ministry of Magic won't believe that Odie is Merlin but they will believe that he's organizing the Muggleborns, the Squibs, the werewolves. Everyone they've managed to piss off in the last fourteen years. Fudge is terrified that there will be a rebellion. Percy Weasley could hand him everything he needs to know."
"So why hasn't he yet?" Lucius replied. "I remember when he worked for Crouch. There wasn't anything he wasn't willing to do to get favor. What's stopping him from giving up everything?"
"Loyalty I would suspect," Severus said. "He is Gryffindor after all. There must be a conscious there. I taught that boy for his entire Hogwarts career. I know he's smart enough to know that should he try to turn Odie into the Ministry it would likely only exacerbate the problem."
"So the Exploding Chalk was a warning?" Lucius asked.
"Yes," Severus nodded, crossing his arms. "A harsh one."
Lucius was quite certain that the last thing Percy Weasley should do was start talking to Aurors about Papa Odie. If Papa Odie was exposed he would most likely leave the country in order to maintain a sense of privacy as he had done for the last thousand years. If that happened everyone under Papa Odie's protection would either have to leave with him (if allowed) or lose the protection entirely. Neither of these options was good for Lucius and his future plans.
He may not have known anything about Papa Odie before he had defected but his entire plan now hinged on the man's presence in his motel outside Aberdeen. Percy Weasley would likely end up dead before he ended up a famous and brave whistleblower. Odie wouldn't be chased out of his own land easily. And Lucius knew situations like this well enough to know that the next time one of Odie's people visited the renegade Weasley it would be to do infinitely more damage than a weaponized prank could ever do.
"And if Percy Weasley ends up dead," Lucius said, "how does Papa Odie expect to keep half of the people who come to him on his side?"
"You're talking about Potter and the Order," Severus noted and Lucius nodded. That was exactly who he was talking about. Granger and Potter might be able to look at an old massacre with a touch of forgiveness, but the death of a Weasley would hit too close. They would walk away. And they would likely take most of their friends with them. Not to mention what Dumbledore would take with him.
"I don't think he cares," Severus said and that worried Lucius. A man who didn't care would do things he normally wouldn't have otherwise. Lucius and Severus couldn't care less about what happened to Percy. He was trying to play a game he didn't have the skills to play and with too big an ego to realize that he didn't have the ability to win. This was their world. This little Gryffindor had no right to set foot there. "But I don't think he'll have to kill Percy either. Dumbledore is interfering as we speak."
Lucius nodded. This effectively ended the conversation and while Severus left the restroom, Lucius went about his business. He wasn't sure how far away Odie's Motel was but it was likely still hours away. He used the toilet, braved the water long enough to wash his hands, and stepped back outside.
As he walked back towards the car, he noticed three men standing off to the side hands tucked into their pockets, and eyeing him intently. Lucius watched them from the corner of his eye as he made his way back to where Severus was standing by the open passenger door, also watching the three men.
"Who are they?" Lucius asked quietly when he reached the car. Arthur was inside using the mirrors of the car to keep an eye on what was going on around him. Lucius couldn't recall if the man was any good in a fight but he would have to do if things got ugly. He would have preferred Fenrir.
"I think they're thieves," Severus replied. Thieves?
He had been through Death Eaters, Hunters, Papa Odie, and Muggle police officers. And now common thieves were what he was supposed to go up against next?
"What could we possibly have that they want?" he asked.
"The car," Severus replied. Lucius looked at the vehicle with an interest he had not had before. It was sleek black with chrome trimmings. Lucius didn't know if it was supposed to be particularly expensive as he knew next to nothing about cars. Severus leaned into the passenger seat opened the compartment in front of it, and pulled out a Muggle firearm. Lucius was so surprised by its sudden presence that he didn't even think to ask where he had gotten it from. The smart answer would have been from Papa Odie.
Severus tucked it into the waistband of his jeans, settling his t-shirt over the gun to hide it, and crossed over to where the men were standing. He stopped just before the curb of the sidewalk that wrapped around the store accompanying the fuel station. Ignoring his inhibitions Lucius followed, stopping just behind Severus. Arthur didn't move from the car and nobody expected him to.
"Is there something you need?" Severus asked politely, his hands folded in front of him. The sleeves on Severus's shirt were cut off at the elbows which allowed his Dark Mark to stand out vividly. Lucius's own flannel shirt sleeves had been rolled up and was only half buttoned. His Dark Mark, bruises, and cuts were clear as day. He probably looked like a bum.
"Naw, mate," one of the men said, flicking a cigarette butt away and taking a sip from an unmarked bottle. Lucius had no desire to learn the contents of this bottle though he sincerely doubted it was laced with Benadryl. "Jus' admirin' the car, is all. How long you have it?"
"Long enough," Severus replied. Lucius remembered suddenly that Severus had spent a good portion of his life in the Muggle World. He wasn't sure what use such knowledge would be here but Lucius was heartened to know that at least one of them had the potential to know what they were doing. "You like it, mate?"
Severus practically spat out the last word and the man's eyes narrowed at the tone and all it implied. They were moving to start a fight. He should've stayed in the car with Arthur. He was no in condition to fight nor did he wish for Severus to pull out the gun hidden under his shirt. He wasn't even too certain where his wand was.
"O'course," the man said, stepping down off the curb to square off with the darker-and more dangerous-man. "But it ain't a crime to admire, righ'?"
"Depends on what your admiration leads to I guess," Severus said with a casual shrug. "Especially if it leads you to touch things that aren't your's to touch."
"You callin' me a thief!" the man shouted and pushed at Severus's shoulders in anger. It was the only opening that Severus needed and he pulled his fist back and then let it fly in a controlled arc. It landed square on the man's jaw so hard that he blacked out from the pain and fell to the ground unconscious. He was likely now suffering from a broken jaw.
His two friends took one look at Severus's expression and the gun he pulled from his waistband before turning and fleeing the scene. Lucius sighed, more in annoyance than anything else. He did not see the point of this entire encounter and even deigned to say so.
"Was there a point to that?"
"No, there was not," Severus replied. "But it felt good."
They walked to the car in silence.
And no one ever spoke of it again.
00000
"How did Potter's hearing go?" Lucius asked two hours later. He was sitting up in the backseat, too wound up to sleep anymore. He had thought long and hard about what he would do if Percy Weasley made the decision to expose Papa Odie to the Ministry's particular brand of justice. He would likely not step out as a supporter of Odie. He didn't owe him that type of allegiance.
And if Papa Odie choose to leave instead of deal with the infamy of being of being a rebel leader, Lucius would be forced to remain silent on their connection as it would no longer provide any protection. He could not survive this defection alone. Of that, everyone involved was abundantly aware of. .
Somewhere in his silent contemplation he had remembered why he had been at the Ministry in the first place.
"He was cleared of all charges. After the chaos died down that is," Arthur replied, not in the least surprised that Lucius was choosing now of all times to inquire about the Boy-Who-Lived. "I was rather surprised myself. Not that I told Harry that of course, what with him being so nervous. We didn't think he had the votes."
Lucius hummed. He wasn't sure if Arthur was including Potter in his use of 'we'. It was quite clear that Potter and Granger had also thought that Potter didn't have the votes to be cleared. That was why they had roped Lucius into going to the Ministry on his behalf. And now he owed Cynthia a debt. He didn't appreciate that considering the only thing he'd gained from the entire affair was a head wound and a second dosing of things he should never have been dosed with.
"We know it was you that swung the votes," Arthur continued and Severus twisted around to look at him with an expressionless gaze. He must not have known why Lucius had been at the Ministry. "Papa Odie seemed pretty impressed that you were willing to do it."
"I wasn't willing to do anything," Lucius replied. "Potter has me backed into a corner and he knows it."
"Or rather Granger knows it," Severus corrected and Lucius nodded once at the truth in that statement. Granger always seemed to have a better handle on the situation. Lucius thought it was because she had the mind of strategist. She would be a good asset to have around in the coming war. Potter should keep her close.
"Regardless," Arthur said, interrupting them. "Papa Odie was impressed. I guess he thinks you're worth helping."
Lucius had a flash of memory from yesterday morning. Papa Odie pressing his hand to his chest. The feel of the Magic that coursed through his body had been unlike anything Lucius had ever felt. And he had no heart beat. Why didn't Papa Odie have a heart beat?
"Have you heard anything about my family?" he asked. Arthur nodded.
"The Order has had them under surveillance since Harry and Hermione met with Dumbledore at Willow Point. They come and go from the manor at regular intervals. We can't tell if they've been bewitched or not but they appear normal." Arthur didn't have to say that appearances were always deceiving when it came to Death Eaters. Lucius sighed with relief. He was not certain where the Dark Lord was staying these days. He was never in one place long but he was relieved to hear that Narcissa and Draco were still alive and well enough to be seen in public without raising suspicions.
He was certain his trip to the Ministry had already been passed along to the Dark Lord. He would know that what McNair had probably reported was the truth. He had Fenrir were alive and they weren't coming back to him. Lucius should have killed McNair when they had the chance. But they would have lost Potter and Granger's help. There was never an easy path for him to walk these days.
"Good," he finally replied.
He needed to talk to Odie about removing his wife and son from Malfoy Manor. There was only so long they would not be touched. Especially if Lucius was going to start making public appearances again.
There was silence again before Severus turned around again.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to the Ministry to help Potter?" he asked. Lucius knew that Severus was no fan of the Potters-big, small, dead, or alive. He honestly couldn't tell where Severus was going with this question.
"I didn't think you would care to know," he said, eyeing Severus warily. There was no telling if the encounter with the Muggle had scratched Severus's itch for a fight. Severus snorted in derision.
"You should have told me," he snapped and then turned back around. Lucius tried to prod him further but Severus was quite content to ignore him for the remaining six hours of their drive to Odie's motel. Lucius wished he was well enough to Apparate.
It would have lessened the awkward situation so much.