To the Victors FreyaFallen
Chapter Management Edit Chapter
Chapter 24: Behind the Curtain
Summary:
We get a little insight into what is going on in Lucius' head. Are you confused about what's going on? So am I (and I know all the meta stuff).
Notes:
I'm trying to write at least a little most days. So hopefully I'll get further. Honestly, I just realized this fic is going to be twice as long as I originally intended.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Your little Ward is looking quite grown up. Have you thought on what you'll do with her next?" Selwyn's bottle green eyes watched as the girl whirled in the well-taught arms of Draco Malfoy.
"Why?" The host himself was drinking brandy with a few associates; his own gaze had been drawn across the ballroom to her golden visage more than he cared to admit. "Interested in making an offer?"
The other man considered him. "And if I am? Your wife seems to think quite highly of her. Are you not worried she'll try to marry her to your son?"
Lucius nearly choked on his brandy. It was one thing to have halfblood bastards unnamed in the world, but to sully the family proper? "She wouldn't dare."
"You're not as fond of the girl?"
"Narcissa might love her enough to want to overlook her blood status, but I have no such blinders. Miss Granger is intelligent and obedient, yes, but she is still limited by her blood. She could perhaps prove to be an improvement on some halfblood lines, but I would certainly not allow her to marry into one of the twenty-eight. A well-kept mistress for the right man, but…"
He cut himself off with a shake of his head.
Selwyn tapped a finger against his own crystal tumbler. "What if he begat bastards on her?"
That sent a lance of inspiration through him as sharp as it was bright. "Then there would be a handful of halfblood brats superior to the Potter boy. Draco would still be expected to marry well and produce an heir."
"I have no interest in keeping her as a mistress," Selwyn said at last. "But I was curious as to your thoughts, especially with the way Narcissa is pushing the girl." His lips pursed as he had a thought. "She said the girl is brilliant, inferred she might be useful as an employee. Do you plan to use her in your business? Or would you consider letting her go for such a position?"
Had Selwyn asked even a year ago, Lucius might have lept at the chance to negotiate a position for his charge at the benefit of his own family. Now that he'd had other ideas, he was… reluctant.
"She is some time from finishing her education. Perhaps we could speak once her OWL results have come in."
The other man marked him with shrewd eyes, nodding slowly. "Narcissa was not wrong that my business could benefit from another strong mind. I hope you will owl me once her scores are in." His expression lightened as they darted past Lucius' shoulder. "Ah, Tom!"
Lucius turned enough to open himself to the new addition. He'd been fascinated by Riddle as a student; who hadn't? But as he'd grown older he'd seen why his own father was reticent to follow the young man. There was something about him not quite right. For one, he did not adhere as closely to tradition as he would have the other Purebloods believe. Lucius had noted the way he treated Hermione. He couldn't necessarily fault the professor for acknowledging her intelligence and aptitude, but would he elevate her over Purebloods if given the chance?
It was a distinct possibility.
No, it was not magical blood that Riddle ascribed to, but power and the means to accrue it. It was… respectable, but not aligned with the Malfoy principles.
"Alexander, hello. Lucius." Riddle nodded to his host.
"We were just discussing one of your pupils."
Lucius could have hexed the man.
"Oh? And which pupil is that? Draco?" By the coy lilt of one brow, Lucius had a feeling the man knew exactly to whom Selwyn referred.
"Ah, no. Miss Granger." Selwyn nodded toward the girl, who was now taking a turn about the dance floor with the Potter boy.
"I hear she has quite the mind."
Riddle's eyes lingered on the spot of gold. "She's perhaps the brightest student I've come across in my teaching; apt mind, eager to learn, open to experience. But I don't need to tell you that, do I, Lucius?"
"Indeed. Exceptional for a muggleborn." The words settled heavily between the trio.
"There is that old adage, 'the exception proves the rule.'" Midnight eyes snapped from the girl to Lucius' own. "If ever there was an exception, Hermione would be it."
Lucius' cheek ticked. "Why, Professor Riddle, I had thought you were the exception?"
For an instant he could swear the other man's eyes flashed red before settling back into that cool blackest blue. "Myself, I see it as my mother's line overcoming the weakness of my father's. Not unlike young Draco in that regard. You can see he is a Malfoy, certainly, but he has so much of the Black family in him. After all, there's never been another Malfoy outside of Slytherin."
Lucius' gloved hand squeezed the cobra head of his wand-laden cane. "Draco will soon be shadowing me on family business. I am certain he will learn to rely on his inner Slytherin."
"And Hermione?" The professor was as still as a serpent, and Lucius reminded himself that Riddle was a consummate Slytherin.
"She has served her purpose well," he professed. "Draco is quite motivated where she is concerned."
Riddle's eyes narrowed. "And when you no longer require a whipping boy?"
"Malfoys know the value of their possessions."
The cord of tension snapped taut between them. Riddle betrayed his fury with only the tensing of his jaw, but it was enough to satisfy Lucius that he had gotten beneath the man's skin. Why Riddle was concerned with his Ward, he did not know. But perhaps he should find out.
"Ah, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen…" Selwyn had stood there awkwardly throughout the exchange. The moment of silence finally propelled him into action, relieved to leave the conversation behind.
Riddle excused himself as well, and Lucius found himself blissfully alone and able to study the girl who was suddenly creating so much chaos in his life.
Narcissa had outdone herself. The girl shone. The gold of her gown gave her flesh an ethereal quality with the subtle accents of warmth across her skin. She had, while Lucius immersed himself in work and politics, blossomed.
"Pretty little thing, innit she?" That insidious voice truly brought out the worst in him. "All these boys flocking to her, tempted by that shiny packaging. Not just boys. Men as well wondering if they can get a hold of her, even for a night."
His jaw firmed. "Is there a point you're trying to make, Bella?"
Ink black eyes shimmered as she twittered. "Don't you just hate when others covet your possessions? You should show them she belongs to the Malfoys. She's not for others to use."
"Why does it concern you?" He was genuinely curious; Bellatrix had always found the girl distasteful, but she had only pushed the issue once before.
His sister-in-law pouted, a pretty, if irritating expression. "She's distracting." She stroked a hand down his arm, rested her chin on his shoulder. "Even Tom seems smitten with her, and he cannot be swayed by her. I won't allow it."
"Why should it matter if a halfblood Hogwarts professor is overly fond of a mudblood?"
Her curls tickled his throat as she murmured. "I know you dislike him, Lucius, but he's essential to our plans." His eyes narrowed. "Besides, she's yours. Will you let him take her from you? She may be a mudblood, but she has some value. And everything she is belongs to the Malfoy family."
Her lips were against his flesh now, sending tingles down his spine with each seductive word. No one was near enough to hear, no one was looking, but she was still tempting fate as well as him.
"So you would have me be distracted by her instead?"
Bella's chuckle slithered over him. "You will put her in her place." Her hand began to wander.
"Bella," he warned, his fingers wrapping around her slender wrist.
"But I've missed you. You play the best games."
The woman was a maelstrom, but no one could deny her appeal. He never should have given into her the first time, as it was harder to resist thereafter.
"It excites me, thinking of you teaching her how to mind her betters. Certainly preferable to them fawning over her." There was that pout again, though now her Lucius lips whispered against him.
"What would you have of me?"
"I would have you keep the mudblood as her people should be kept: servile, unobtrusive, something to own and little else."
That last was spat as she backed away. "You rule your family, Lucius, yet you allow them to carry on as though she were a part of it instead of serving it. You do this as a member of the Sacred twenty-eight, publicly, no less. Do you not think it shows weakness? Shows a lack of dedication to the Pureblood cause?" Bellatrix scoffed. "Cissy is a soft thing; I know that softness has created tension, but I had hoped you would stand strong against my sister. Instead you let it infect your son, infect you. The wolves can sense weakness, Lucius, and they are circling ever closer. Get your house in order, or they will pounce."
She pushed off at the last, sashaying through the party-goers as though she had not just been flush with her sister's husband, whispering madness into him.
Notes:
Tommy is playing games within games, Bella is trying to drive things her way, and Lucius is a man who gives into temptation. Also, yes, it is common knowledge among Slytherins that Voldy is a Gaunt.
I have yet to abandon a fic. I have zero plans to do so. I've been reading/writing fanfic since I was 10 (in my little notebooks, didn't post any until Deal with the Devil- anyone wanna hear my ridiculous old school fanfic stuff? I'll totally post on Twitter with some of the plot points). It's up there in my passions near my original work and art- I'm a painter, btw. When I was 11 I set down a story I was 100+ pages into. Mid-sentence. About a year and a half later, I picked it up and soared through the rest of the 200+ pages of plot.
Anyway, follow Twitter to know what I'm up to. I also have an email on my carrd.
I also post kitten pics sometimes.