Lucius could feel beads of sweat dot his upper lip as the others filed out of the room, leaving him alone with the Dark Lord. He had asked him to stay behind after the meeting. That never meant anything good.
The Dark Lord sat across from him on the other end of the dining table. He looked at Lucius with a cool and inscrutable gleam. Finally, he asked, "Did you kill Regulus?"
Lucius sputtered. "What? No, no my Lord. I wouldn't–" He sucked in a breath. "He might not be dead. It's only a few days. He might have needed to go to ground to escape Aurors or–"
"He's dead," the Dark Lord brusquely interrupted. "We're connected through the Dark Mark. That connection has been… severed."
Lucius felt his heart drop. "I didn't do it," he insisted, pleading with his eyes.
He felt the brush of the Dark Lord's mind dipping into his memories. The Dark Lord perused through the past week, picking up each memory and examining it like a bored customer in a shop, before finally withdrawing. "I had wondered if you and Narcissa hadn't concocted a murder plot in order to marry," he mused, leaning back in his chair. "But it seems I was wrong. Someone else has killed him then."
"You don't think… well, there are all these stories coming out of Knockturn these days."
"You mean the Knockturn Killer?" The Dark Lord gave a raspy laugh. "Well, if he has killed our Regulus, we'll find out soon enough. The killer always leaves his victims in a place where they can be found."
"I have wondered about that. Most common murderers try to hide their crimes. Do you think the killer might be making a statement? Perhaps he's taunting the Aurors?"
"No," the Dark Lord said dismissively, already growing bored with this conversation. "I don't think the killer finds it worth his time. He leaves his victims beside waste bins and piles of refuse. To him, they're merely trash to be discarded." He took a sip of his wine and said, "I have a mission for you. Two, actually."
Lucius leaned forward. "Yes, my Lord?"
"You've been very loyal, Lucius. I wish to reward that loyalty." He withdrew from his robes an old, worn book and placed it upon the table. "This is very important to me. I want you to keep it safe."
Lucius summoned the book to him. He took a moment to flick through the pages, his brow furrowing in confusion, which brought a wry smirk to the Dark Lord's face. "It's just an empty diary."
"Yes," the Dark Lord agreed with growing amusement. "And you will guard it with yout life."
Lucius closed the diary. "And the other thing?"
"I need a new consort. Severus is… surprisingly useful. He has a first-rate mind and plenty of talent. It would be a shame to let that go to waste, especially since an opportunity has recently presented itself that he would be particularly suited for."
"What would that be?"
"Slughorn is retiring. Dumbledore will need a new Potions professor, and Severus will be completing his mastery soon. He would make the perfect spy."
Lucius nodded. "What about using Bellatrix, my Lord? She is already primed." Crazy as Bellatrix was, Narcissa would still be heartbroken over the death of her sister, but needs must…
"Next to Evan, she is one of my best duelists. We won't be able to operate in the shadows for much longer. Soon, it will be an open battle and we will need her for that. And she still has to provide Rodolphus an heir. There is little need for our war without the next generation to carry on our work."
Lucius sincerely doubted Bellatrix would ever give birth to her husband's child. They would have to consummate their marriage first. Not that Lestrange was in any rush to attempt it, not after their disastrous wedding night.
"I will search for a substitute," Lucius said as he stood up and bowed. There were plenty from the lower classes who would jump at the chance at being one of the Dark Lord's inner circle, no matter how brief. The Dark Lord never told Lucius why he needed the cores of so many wizards and witches. He was far more powerful than any other wizard he knew, save for Dumbledore. But it wasn't Lucius's place to question him, and, anyway, he was in no danger. He didn't suit the Dark Lord's taste.
But first…
Lucius apparated to Grimmauld Place as soon as his meeting with the Dark Lord was over. Once again the door was opened not by Kreacher, but another house-elf, a cowardly, quaking little thing that nearly tripped over its own feet as it bowed. Lucius rushed past it without a second glance.
"Lucius, is that you?" Walburga called out from the parlour. "Have you brought any word from Regulus? Lucius–?"
Lucius didn't wait for permission. He raced up the stairs to Narcissa's room and threw open the door, startling her out of her reverie. She sat at her desk, an open book on her lap that tumbled to the floor as she stood open, her blue eyes wide with fear as she took in his abrupt appearance. "Lucius, is everything–?"
"Have you taken the potion yet?" He asked. He did not need to elaborate on which potion.
She glanced behind him, at the soft thump of Walburga's footsteps coming to stand behind him, and shook her head. He took a step forward, wanting to touch her, when a spindly claw grasped his upper arm, pulling him back.
"Mr Malfoy, I do hope you have an explanation for this intrusion," Walburga said, her grey eyes jumping between him and Narcissa.
Lucius swallowed, taking a moment to try and form the words. "I–" he started, stopped, and started again. "I regret to inform you, Mrs Black, that your son, Regulus, has died."
She let go of his arm and staggered back. "He hasn't," she first insisted, her voice raspy, and then, with an air of defiance, "Have you any proof?"
"The Dark Lord can no longer feel him through the Mark."
Walburga blinked rapidly and mutely shook her head. Leaning against the door frame, she glanced all about the room, taking in the small details– the lace-covered bed, the vase of purple irises, the halo of light streaming from the window, until her eyes finally landed on Narcissa. All at once, whatever soft and tender emotions that had been stirring in her breast were quickly smothered. She threw herself back into the role of the Black Family Matriarch, the Old Battle-Axe seizing control before her grief could overwhelm her, and she said, her voice clipped, "If it's true… we have much to do. We must go to Gringotts so that you may be named heir. We'll need to find a suitable match… Rabastan, maybe…"
"If I am to marry anyone, it will be Lucius," Narcissa said simply, folding her hands in front of her like a young girl taken to the Headmaster's office.
"Don't be an idiot," Walburga snapped. "He must carry on the Malfoy name, just as you must carry on the Black name. His family will not agree to a matrilineal marriage. Rabastan is a second son. There will be no objections there."
Lucius said nothing. It was true enough, what she had said. His family would not allow him to marry Narcissa if it meant he must change his name to Black.
"I will marry Lucius and I will take his name," Narcissa answered simply. "There's no use arguing, Auntie, I am already with child."
Walburga's mouth snapped shut with a clang of her teeth. She looked like a wild bull, her breath ragged, nostrils wide as she struggled to take in a breath, her eyes crazed. "Traitor!" She shrieked. "Whore! You dare betray my son in this way!? You fucking slut–" That claw-like hand for hers made a wild grab for Narcissa, and Narcissa pulled out her wand, taking aim. Lucius ducked between the two women, his hands raised.
"I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement–" He started.
"The only thing I'll agree to is having your spawn ripped from her womb! You'll not be leaving here with him, girl! You are staying right here with me! I am owed grandchildren and I will get them, even if I have to chain you to that bed!"
"You're insane!" Narcissa screeched back. "I'm glad Regulus is dead! At least he doesn't have to spend another day in this prison with you!"
Walburga looked as if she had been slapped.
Lucius let his hands gently drape across Narcissa's shoulders and he guided her out of the room. Walburga did nothing to stop them. "Let's go, darling," he murmured.
At the threshold, Narcissa swiveled her head around and stared coldly at her aunt. "You're going to die alone," she said. "With no one but the house-elfs to mourn you." And with that they left Grimmauld Place.
Narcissa, half-lying on the sofa, clutched at Severus's robes and sobbed wretchedly. Severus, trapped underneath Narcissa's clenching hands, awkwardly rubbed her shoulder. He turned pleading eyes onto Lucius as the man exited Severus's laboratory, holding out a calming draught. Ha, there was no use looking at him like that. Lucius doubted he would be able to save him from Narcissa's crying. "I found it! Here, you are, my dear. Just what Doctor Snape ordered. Drink this for me, it will make you feel better."
"I don't want any stupid potions!" She shrieked, lifting her red and tear-stained face to glare at him. "I don't want to feel better! I want my family back!" She let her face drop back down. "Oh Merlin, oh Merlin," she sobbed. "I killed him. I killed Regulus. I wished for this to happen, so that we could be together, and now he's dead."
Lucius knelt beside her and pushed back her hair. "You didn't kill anyone, love. Wishing for something doesn't make it happen."
She sniffled. "Then how? How did he die?"
"We're not sure exactly, but we think he was murdered. Either in a duel, or–"
"Or the Knockturn Killer," Severus whispered, his dark eyes wide and unseeing as he stared into a corner of the room.
Lucius shot him a glare. The last thing he wanted was to send Narcissa into hysterics thinking her cousin had been murdered by a serial killer, no matter his own thoughts on the subject. "We don't know that for sure."
"But you think it might be him?" Narcissa sat up and rubbed at her nose. There was a dangerous glint in her eye. "Are there any suspects? Anyone taken into questioning?" Anyone I can confront, anyone I can avenge my cousin on, the unsaid words fell over them like a pall.
Severus's eyes drifted back to her. "The papers all suspect it is a Death Eater…" He hesitantly answered.
"I know that isn't true. What do you think, Sev?"
He bit at his lip. "I think… What if it's an Auror?"
"An Auror?" Lucius asked. "There's hardly enough of them to go around anymore."
"I… A few days ago, when I went to Knockturn to buy ingredients for… for that potion you asked me… Something happened. It was… It reminded me of something that happened at school, and–" Severus closed his eyes and shook his head. "Never mind, you'll just think I'm crazy." He opened them again and took hold of Narcissa's hand. "I'll do some research. Perhaps there is something we can use, a spell or ritual, that will at least help us find his… his body."
The tears started welling up in Narcissa's eyes again and she nodded pitifully, tilting forward until her head was once again braced against Severus. She reached out and took hold of Lucius's hand, interlocking their fingers together. As Lucius stroked her knuckles, he was suddenly glad that the Dark Lord had decided not to harvest Severus's core.