Lucius left a hefty tip for the waiter and returned to the streets of Diagon Alley feeling very satisfied. Despite Miss Granger's very obvious irritation with him, he could already see her resolve slipping. When it came to the art of manipulation, he was the master.
Having to visit the mudblood's home wasn't exactly his idea of a Saturday well spent, but he was not lying about being sick of the Manor. Besides, spending an afternoon in a muggle apartment building, if he was seen, would make quite a statement. It would likely even be newsworthy. There was talk about his release in the Prophet, but he had yet to make front-page news. He needed the good publicity, but mostly he just enjoyed being the centre of attention.
Lately he had been coming off as rather pathetic. Poor Lucius Malfoy, lost his wife and is sentenced to an eternity with his demons. If it hadn't been for the public's profound hatred of him, he feared he would have their pity.
No one pitied the Malfoy's, and he would certainly not be the one to change that.
He picked up the book and skimmed through it a bit, but he found it terribly dull. Muggles were simply very boring people. It was no wonder it took such a great effort to convince wizards they were even worthwhile human beings.
Everything took them such a long time, and they needed to create the strangest contraptions to substitute for the simplest spells. Who knew what kind of abomination he was in for on Saturday, but from what he had so far experienced in his not entirely authentic journey towards muggle tolerance, it would probably be mind numbing.
Luckily, frustrating Miss Granger was a highly entertaining way to pass the time.
It was surely a sign that depression was imminent when the only thing a highly cultured and well off man such as himself had to look forward to was making a twenty year old woman uncomfortable. He needed this plan to work, for the sake of not only his social life, but also his sanity. He could already feel it slipping away.
Speaking of things slipping away, I should notify my devoted son of my release.
The boy had been distant, to say the least, but now that he was free Draco would surely think to drop by occasionally. After all, he still wanted to receive his inheritance, even if his family loyalty was deteriorating with time.
He had no idea where the boy had scampered off to now, but he must have found some way to support himself. Lucius kept very close watch on their bank accounts, even while locked up in his home. Draco barely withdrew from the family money, so it had to be coming from somewhere.
He picked up his new pen and began to write.
Draco,
I hope this letter finds you well. You may have already heard that I have been released from house arrest. While I am not sure where you have been these last few months, if you happen to be in the area I would appreciate my only son and living family member stopping by. I have been assigned a project by the Ministry, but outside of that I have yet to restore my presence in society. A bit of company on occasion is not too much to ask. You may bring your lady friend along if you wish. I heard news that you had one these days.
Father
He went for a more subtle approach at guilt. Draco was his child, and he refused to be ignored forever. Lucius did not care if this new fling was the most distracting woman in the world. He risked life and limb for that boy, and this was the thanks he got in return.
He called his eagle down from his perch and sent the letter on its way.
"Ginny I need you!" She yelled into the fireplace. Her friend popped into her apartment a few minutes later.
"I would ask what the problem is, but judging by the mess in here you are having some kind of serious crisis."
Hermione was sitting on the floor of her living room. The mess in question was the result of her frantic search for the perfect film to watch on Saturday. They were spread all over the floor, and she looked rather frazzled.
"It is a bit of a crisis. You recall that today was my lunch meeting with the devil?" She was still upset with how their meeting had turned out. She got the suspicious feeling they were not going to get any better as the project went on, but if she didn't oblige her job would suffer.
"Ah yes, and have you made the old villain see the errors of his ways? Will he be adopting muggle children and taking up a position as a soap opera star within the year?" At least one of them found the situation amusing.
"Yeah sure, laugh it up. You aren't the one who had to sit through a lunch with him while he played little mind games. I don't think he knows how to turn off the conniving and mockery. He sat there provoking me, and when he had me caught in his trap he laughed openly about it."
He made her feel like an idiot. Hermione Granger never felt like an idiot.
"Well Draco was spawned from him, you surely couldn't expect it to be pleasant. They say prison changes people but I doubt it can solve genetic mutations in personality." Ginny's upbeat attitude was getting on Hermione's already sensitive nerves. Just because her life was working out so perfectly at the moment didn't mean she needed to laugh off Hermione's problems.
"Obviously I didn't expect him to be pleasant. I didn't expect him to be anything because I never imagined I would actually need to tolerate him!" She stood up, attempting to pace, but the films were in the way.
"He even bought a muggle pen, and was using it as if there was nothing strange about it, but he knew when I noticed. Why would someone go to that much trouble to make another person uncomfortable?" She tried her best to be polite to everyone, but he tested her limits. Ginny was still laughing at her outburst.
"Hermione, he has tons of gold and has absolutely nothing to do with it right now. If I were him, I'd be bored out of my mind too. Is it really so shocking that he will go out of his way to torment you? He was a bloody Death Eater. You are the only person he can bully and still get away with it, and it seems you are making it easy for him. So suck it up and quit taking it just to be nice. Now tell me what all this nonsense is about."
Oh the Ginny pep talk. This was why Hermione always went to her for advice. Harry beat around the bush weighing all sides, but the fiery Weasley girl always spoke her mind.
"Right, sorry. That is the best part. We decided that for our first event we would show a muggle film. It is a fairly easy introduction to muggle art, without demanding much effort. The bad part is that he suggested we watch a few first, so we can choose one to play."
"So what? That makes sense, doesn't it?" Ginny didn't see where she was going.
"So what is that Lucius Malfoy is coming over on Saturday to watch muggle films with me." She closed her eyes and fell on the sofa.