It was February and Lucius was reading in the study at the villa. Narcissa and Druella were having tea in the drawing room, while Draco and the twins were all down for their afternoon nap. The twins were two months old and didn't sleep for long periods of time, so they would wake up first and when they woke, Druella and Narcissa would tend to them to let Draco have his rest. The twins were bigger now; Scorpius had almost doubled his weight and Hyperion had gain two pounds. Scorpius' eyes were still grey, but Hyperion's had turned a vibrant green.
It was then that Nilbert the house elf appeared before Lucius in the study.
"Master Lucius Malfoy, sir," Nilbert said.
"What are you doing here Nilbert? Aren't you supposed to be tending to your duties?" Lucius asked as he tried to remember what exactly this elf's duties were this time of year. This was one of the laboring elves, he was sure, but the vineyard and garden were frozen. The two dairy cows still needed tending to and there was the wine to check on and cheese to make.
"Bellatrix Lestrange, ma'am, is at the guesthouse right now, sir," Nilbert said.
"Yes, I let her and the Dark Lord stay at the Manor guesthouse Nilbert."
"No sir, Bellatrix Lestrange, mam, is at the villa guesthouse, here in France, sir. She is looking for Master Lucius Malfoy, sir."
"Why?"
"Bellatrix Lestrange, ma'am, said that the Dark Lord, sir, told her to find Master Lucius Malfoy, sir, and the rest of the Malfoy family, sir and ma'am. She already questioned the Manor house elves and searched Malfoy Manor for clues this morning, sir, before coming here. She is in a rage, sir, because the villa is missing, sir. She is tearing the guesthouse up sir!"
"Let her. Tell the elves they are to stay away from her and if she calls for service, send Wispy only." Wispy was a very old mostly useless house elf that Lucius wouldn't mind if Bellatrix murdered in a fit of rage.
Nilbert agreed and left and Lucius went to the drawing room to inform Druella and Narcissa of this turn of events. There was nothing to do for it but wait and hope that Bellatrix wore herself out without doing too much damage to Malfoy property.
Later, when Draco woke up, Lucius informed Draco too of Bellatrix's rampage. "Draco, did you leave anything behind at the Manor that could tell Bellatrix where we are?" Lucius asked.
"No, I don't think so. From what you said I think she's figured out where we are from the fact that the villa is missing," Draco replied.
"Yes, I imagine that's the case. But did you leave anything of value she might destroy? Something I ought to have the elves go back for and apparate here to keep safe?"
"No. The only thing I left is the portrait of Merlin in the loo and Merlin knows it can't be moved," Draco answered. There was a permanent sticking charm on that portrait of Merlin, so it was impossible to take it with him.
"The house elves will have to disillusion it, so that she doesn't burn him," Lucius replied, before calling a house elf with instructions to do just that.
With that settled, there was nothing to do for it but wait and go on with their lives. Scorpius and Hyperion needed constant care and got bigger every day and the Malfoy family once again became engulfed in their day to day grind. Lucius kept tabs on Bellatrix and was disheartened to learn in mid-February of Wispy's death at Bellatrix's hands. After that the elves reported an incident in which Bellatrix went out to the farmland on the Manor grounds and began destroying the place, convinced the Malfoy family was living off of the produce being transported to them by the elves. They weren't of course, because they were afraid of the food being tampered with or tracked, but Bellatrix didn't know that; at least none of the elves died in the altercation, even if a few were injured. It wasn't until the second oldest house elf, Cinders, died at Bellatrix's hands in late February that Lucius decided dealing with his sister-in-law couldn't be put off any longer. At least Bellatrix hadn't discovered Merlin in the loo.
"Maise!" Lucius called, summoning the new oldest Malfoy house elf to him. The old ones were the least valuable, but Lucius was running out of old elves. Maise wasn't even that old, barely past middle-aged as far as elves were concerned.
"Yes Master Lucius Malfoy, sir," Maise replied, after apparating into the room.
"Maise, I want you to lead Bella to the mirror in the bathroom in the guesthouse at Malfoy Manor. Only do so when the Dark Lord is away and likely to remain away all day. When she is in there alone, come tell me," Lucius instructed.
Lucius went about his day, helping his son care for his two precious grandchildren. Scorpius and Hyperion were young yet, but it was never too soon to start ingraining the proper set of principles into one's heirs. Lucius was reading some of the works of the saint Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli to his family. Machiavelli was a muggle, but an ingenious one who the Malfoys had befriended in his day. That was back long before the International Statute of Secrecy was established, back when the Malfoy family had still consorted with muggles; not that the Malfoy family would ever admit such an association, but they did still read Machiavelli to their children.
That is when Maise popped into the room and announced, "Master Lucius Malfoy, sir, Bellatrix Lestrange, ma'am, is in the bathroom and waiting, sir."
"You may go Maise," Lucius said, dismissing the elf. "Alright, keep the boys silent. Cast a silencing charm on this room just to be safe."
"Alright. I know the story by heart, so if you need back up, come get me," Narcissa said. She and Lucius had been discussing back up plans for what to tell her sister if worst came to worst and it became necessary to actually contact Bellatrix.
Lucius nodded and then excused himself to the loo. The spell to link the two mirrors was complex and he hadn't needed to cast it in years, but he was a skilled wizard and it wasn't long before he got it. Bellatrix appeared dourly in the mirror.
"See here little old elf! Explain to me right this minute why I am to wait in the loo," Bellatrix shrieked indignantly.
"Because I am under the impression that you are looking for me dear Bella. Did you really kill two of my elves?" Lucius asked sternly.
"Come now Lucius! I had to; they wouldn't tell me where you and Cissy are."
"And just why do you need to know?"
"The Dark Lord asked me to find you and your family. I know you are in hiding at your villa in France; it's disappeared!"
"It's true, we are at the villa, but I am not the secret keeper, so I cannot let you in to speak with me."
"Then who is?"
"Cissy and she's in far too delicate condition right now to trouble her with your petty problems.
"Petty problems? It's been almost a year since Cissy vanish and there has been no word from you in months!"
"There is a reason for that.
"Ah yes, there is always a reason for a Malfoy to turn traitor, isn't there?"
"You are mistaken Bella, I am ever loyal to our Lord. Circumstances have prevented me from serving him, but I left him my house. I hope he has made proper use of it."
"Come now Lucius; we are at war here! The fate of the wizarding world lies upon us. What could be more important than that?"
"My son is dying," Lucius answered solemnly.
"That is what Severus said last year. Surely the boy can't still be dying, can he? If he was going to, he would've done so by now!"
"How cruel of you to look so callously on your own flesh and blood."
"Alright, I'm all ears Lucius; just what is dear nearly dead Draco dying of now?"
"The same dark curse that nearly killed him last spring. The Potter brat cursed him with it. Cissy and I mend the wounds frequently, but they pop back open all the more insistently. We had hoped he would get better with time, but he only grows worse every month. The progress is very slow, but I fear I won't have very many months left at all to tend to my ailing son before he slips from my grasp."
"I'm sure that must be awful for you," Bellatrix said, not sounding all that concerned at all, "but why can't Cissy tend to the boy and you return to serve our Lord. Or is he no longer your Lord too?"
"He will always be my Lord! But Cissy is incapable of caring for anyone right now."
"How's that? She's always been better with a healing charm than you Lucius."
"That she is, but she's pregnant," Lucius revealed and that news finally gave Bellatrix pause. He quite enjoyed the speechless expression on her face. "With my heir incurable and slowly dying, Cissy and I had no choice but to create another. She's growing a bit old for it, but I was able to brew up a fertility potion that did the trick. Only trouble is that with her age, the stress of the war, and the horror of losing our son, it's turning out to be a very difficult pregnancy indeed. Eventually she'll have the baby and Draco will…pass on…and I will return to my Lord and serve him. I can only hope that he can still find a use for me when the time comes. Do pass along to him my regrets."
Before Bellatrix could stop flapping her mouth about like a fish and formulate a response to that bit of surprising news, Lucius canceled the charm on the mirror, breaking the connection. He smiled to himself as he imagined his sister-in-law raging at the mirror in his absence. He was fairly certain he would need to repair that mirror upon his return to Wiltshire; maybe even replace it.
Lucius went back to his family and when he entered the room, little Scorpius called out, "Hi, hi, hi, hi!" and it was almost as if the baby was saying it to his grandfather. But Lucius knew that the twins were always babbling and more often than not, it was the word hi. Still, Lucius did like to dote on his grandsons. "Hi Scorpius. Did you miss your Grandfather?" he asked, taking the baby from Narcissa, who was holding him.
"How did it go dear?" Narcissa asked.
"As well as can be expected, Cissy. Only time will tell," Lucius replied.
"Severus will be here in a few hours; maybe he will have good news for you," Draco suggested hopefully.
And so the Malfoy family waited for Severus Snape. Three hours later Severus arrived and Lucius relayed the news of his conversation with Bellatrix, but it was too soon for Severus to have news. In fact, it wasn't until almost a week later when Severus was called to report before the Dark Lord that he was able to come back with news of Bellatrix and the search for the Malfoy family.
"The Dark Lord claims to be a merciful Lord; he has granted you more time Lucius to deal with your family situation. He proclaimed that you have until Narcissa's baby is born to return to him. Once the baby is born, Narcissa will be expected to look after both it and Draco, if he is still alive by then, leaving you free to serve our Lord. Of course he doesn't know when Narcissa is due to deliver, so practically that means another eight months before the search for the Malfoys will resume," Severus said.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the good news and the Malfoy family celebrated. Hopefully the war would be long over in another eight months, but one never did know with these things. At least they were being granted another eight month reprieve before Bellatrix destroyed anymore Malfoy property. Their lives were important, of course, but they were relying on the Manor and the farmland surrounding the Manor to survive intact, not to mention the elves; elves were bloody expensive to replace.
Author's Note: Does anyone else find the idea of Merlin being hung in the loo hilarious?
Were you surprised by the Narcissa pregnancy ruse Lucius told? It seemed the obvious choice to go with, because they really would need a new heir if Draco really were dying.
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