Another Malfoy

Lucius, to his credit, only jumped a little as the voice greeted him. Turning to his right, he saw a beautiful woman sitting in one of the patio chairs. She was dressed in a black top that dropped to just above her belly button. She had a flowing black skirt which fell almost to her knees, with thigh-high silver sequined leggings. Her raven colored hair fell nearly to her waist, and around her neck was a silver, diamond encrusted necklace. "Isis?" Lucius exclaimed. "Where did you come from? I haven't seen you in days!" Then he frowned as he took in her appearance. "And what on earth are you wearing? You need to change immediately! What if Narcissa gets home and see you dressed like that?"

The woman chuckled. "To answer your first question, I decided to take your offer of staying inside the house. I find that I am not fond enough of the English weather to lark about outside indefinitely. As for how I'm dressed, as you well know this is how I've always dressed when in my humanoid form." She cocked her head, genuinely curious. "It never bothered you before?"

Lucius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "We've never been in this situation before, Isis. The people here are very posh, and I don't think your…um, normal attire would go over well at all in their eyes."

He lowered his voice. "And I am trying to win Narcissa back. She might not understand if she came home and saw me with a beautiful and somewhat… scantily clad woman. Probably take it the wrong way."

Isis continued staring at him a moment before she gave a light chuckle. "Very well. I do see your point." She gave a casual twirl of her hand, what looked like golden sand leaving her fingertips and covering her clothes, which began to dissolve, starting at her feet and working up toward her head, turning into flowing green and silver robes as it went. "How's this? I believe these are the colors of the house you and Narcissa were in at that magical school."

Lucius gave her outfit a quick once over and nodded. "That looks fine. But now we also need a cover story for you."

Isis waved her hand. "Oh pish, I've already thought that out. I am your cousin from France. I dug around a bit and found out that the Malfoys originally came to England from France, sometime around the Battle of Hastings. And there seem to still be quite a lot of Malfoys floating around France. So it shouldn't be an issue. And we are cousins, after all, so it's not technically even a lie."

Lucius thought it over a second before nodding. "Sounds perfect. But what's your name going to be? You can't go by Isis around here."

Isis smirked up at him. "Rowena Malfoy, and I attended the magical school called Beauxbatons that's in southern France, so it fits."

Lucius huffed. "As long as Narcissa doesn't start snooping around herself and finds there isn't a Rowena Malfoy in France."

Isis laughed. "My goodness, you are getting paranoid!"

He gave her a grim smile. "That's one reason I'm still alive."

Isis quirked an eyebrow at him and pursed her lips. "Yes, you are indeed alive. And yet, you did die, cousin. You died, and returned for a second chance. A chance to redeem who you were in this world.

"Yeah, well…I didn't ask for a chance to redeem myself. Or to have two separate beings fused into one single entity!" He frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "I've been here for months and it's still confusing as Helheim!"

Isis approached and placed her hand on his cheek, a soft smile playing across her lips. "As I said, yet here you are, dear cousin. You have the ability to change the course of history in this world. And you must, at the very least, change the course of Lucius Malfoy's life…or rather, your life now. He had originally been slated for greatness here, but greatness for good, not evil. But that is what he slipped into…he wanted power and respect, and it is very easy for evil to draw in those who seek power."

Lucius sighed. "To be honest, I don't even know how to start undoing whatever it is Lucius…whatever I did here. I reached out to the family of Narcissa's estranged sister; still waiting to hear back about that. I invited them over for supper sometime, if they wanted to try and mend fences. I can't force them to. But I'm at a loss as to what else I can do. I evidently mucked around in politics a lot, and followed that idiot who everyone here calls "the Dark Lord", even though I haven't found anything he was actually lord of. Trying to figure out what more to do, besides trying to undo most everything I already did."

Isis tapped her chin with a finger, staring off across the back garden with a contemplative gleam in her eye. "Hmmm…since we seem to be stuck here for the rest of our lives, and I do suspect we are, perhaps I should expand my horizons of the magic world beyond the bushes of Malfoy Manor." Her lips still smirked, and Lucius rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he replied with a sigh. "Then I will take you to the Alley shopping place."

"Diagon Alley," Isis supplied. "The primary shopping center of magical Britain. It's rather like the magical, British version of Rodeo Drive, isn't it?"

Lucius scoffed. "I wouldn't go that far. All the magical people shop there, rich and poor. Rodeo is pretty high-end. Although it's true there are some pretty high-end places in the Alley place too." He paused, and a thoughtful frown crossed his face.

"Well, if you're going to be sticking around in human form, I could take you tomorrow," Lucius replied after a moment of thought. "We'd have more time then. That place is strange…yet oddly fascinating, and it needs several hours to give it proper justice, wandering around and checking out all the shops there. And there are a lot of shops. Most of them don't really appeal to me much, but you might get a kick out of them."

"And how would we get there: through the floo or with aparation?" Isis asked, a small smirk still dancing on her lips.

Lucius threw her a frown. "How do you know so much about all that magic rigmarole anyway, miss 'I-going-to-stay-in-cat-form-and-lurk-around-in-the-bushes'?"

Isis' smirk grew wider. "Cats are very perceptive creatures. We hear many things others may not hear."

"And if you already know so much about magic land," Lucius continued, "what do you need to go to the Alley place for?"

"Because as I said, I am already tired of the bushes, cousin," Isis replied, a somewhat irritable tone in her voice. "If I am to gather proper intel, and be able to sufficiently advise you here, I need to understand as much as I possibly can about this place we're stuck in."

"Hmmm, very well. You're right. And that way I can fill you in on what I've found out myself. Which for as much as it is still isn't much. This magic stuff is so confusing." He shook his head.

"So, how will we get there?" Isis asked, returning to her original question, the insufferable smirk still firmly in place.

Lucius sighed again. "I've considered getting a car, but I have come to the rather inescapable conclusion that this property, or at least the house, has some sort of magical shielding in place."

Isis giggled. "I somehow cannot picture someone like Lucius Malfoy driving around in a car. It just doesn't work with your persona, after all."

Lucius scowled. "I don't like that fire travel nonsense, and the teleportation bit is extremely uncomfortable. I figured we could just use a Quantum Path."

Isis laughed. "Oh, I'm certain that would go over quite well! The reactions of all the magical people as a Quantum Gate opened right in the middle of their biggest shopping district would be simply priceless! Oh, I can see their faces now!" She collapsed into a fit of giggles as Lucius' scowled deepened.

"We wouldn't open the Gate in the actual Alley place," Lucius muttered. "We could open it a slight distance away."

"In the middle of London, with all the non-techs around!?" Isis exclaimed with delight. "Why, that might be even better! At least if we opened it in the Alley place, no one would accuse us of being witches! Bwahahaha!" Her giggle fit turned into uncontrollable laughter.

Lucius rolled his eyes, still scowling. "I'm glad you're so amused by this. I'm trying to be serious here! You're the one who wanted to go to the Alley place and learn more about magic land!"

Isis, still grinning, gained control of her laughter and opened her mouth to reply, when out of nowhere, a voice called, "Lucius? Where are you? I'm home!"

Lucius froze, his eyes growing wide and his face pale as he realized just how long he and Isis had been standing there talking.

The voice was accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching the back terrace. Lucius was standing in direct line of sight and saw Narcissa appear. She smiled when she saw him and headed in his direction.

"Draco is safely back at Hogwarts," she informed him. "And he said to tell you that…" Narcissa's voice trailed off as she caught sight of a smiling Isis. And the smile she had first given Lucius turned to surprise as her eyebrows rose, then to anger as her eyebrows and mouth turned downward into a scowl.

The three stood staring at each other …Narcissa glaring at Isis, Isis smirking at Lucius, and Lucius pale, and swallowing hard, and looking anywhere but at his wife.

Narcissa: So, he has a mistress after all, eh? And he has the audacity to bring her to our home?!

Lucius: Oh Lord have mercy…this must look horrible to Narcissa! What do I do?

Isis: I really shouldn't feel like I want to burst out laughing…but with that 'lost little boy' look on his face I can't help it!

There was an awkward silence for several minutes until Narcissa broke it.

"Well, Lucius? Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to invite your…guest inside?"

Narcissa's voice was like ice down Lucius back, and if looks could kill…a sudden thought made Lucius cringe. Narcissa was a witch…this was magic land…what if looks could kill here?

He gulped, suddenly uncertain of how to proceed. Isis, the smirk still affixed to her face, took pity on him. She stepped up to Narcissa and dipped her head respectfully. "It is a great pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Malfoy. Lucius has told me so much about you."

Narcissa still wore an icy glare, this time turning it on Isis, and narrowing her eyes. "Has he now? And you are…?"

The cold stare on Narcissa's face didn't affect Isis at all. In fact, the smirk on her face increased. Giving Narcissa a slight curtsey, she replied, "I am Lucius' cousin, Rowena Malfoy. I arrived this morning from France." She added a slight French accent into her voice so subtly that Lucius almost didn't notice it at first.

The glare disappeared from Narcissa's face, replaced by a look of surprise. "His—his cousin?

Isis flashed Narcissa a dazzling smile. "Indeed, I've just recently ended an apprenticeship and decided to take a few weeks off and travel a bit. And I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to see cousin Lucius again, and get to finally meet his gorgeous wife that I've heard so much about!"

Narcissa's head was spinning. Lucius might be a lot of things, but he'd never have an affair with a cousin. It's just not done in pureblood families!

But before she could reply, an owl chose that moment to arrive with a letter tied to its leg. It landed on Lucius shoulder and held its leg out to Narcissa, who untied the letter attached there. Her eyes narrowed as she read, then she gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth and her eyes growing wide as saucers. After reading the note over several times, she looked up at her husband, still covering her mouth with her hand. "Lu—Lucius? Lucius, what did you do?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Ummm, what did I do?" He had no idea what was in the letter, nor whom it was from, so he had no idea of how to respond to his wife's question.

Narcissa, her hands shaking, thrust the letter at Lucius.

Narcissa,

For some strange reason, your husband came over to the house the other day, and invited Ted and I over for dinner. I confess that I was very suspicious about Lucius reaching out to us after so many years, and after so much antagonism. However, I am intrigued as well. Ted told me that Lucius was very apologetic and sincere in his words and believes that we should accept his offer.

I admit that I am still very suspicious, yet we all know what a terrible liar and actor Lucius is. And I confess that I miss my baby sister; despite all the bad blood between us, we are still blood, after all, and not much is left of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Therefore I am writing to inform you that we accept the invitation. Please reply at your earliest convenience to arrange the details.

With all due regards,

Andromeda Tonks

Lucius eyebrows rose. He was at once both pleased that his invitation had been accepted so quickly, and wondering if he should be insulted or happy about his apparently "terrible" lying and acting skills.

He finally decided on happy, as Narcissa flung her arms around his neck and sobbed against the front of his shirt, saying, "Oh thank you, Lucius! Thank you!" over and over. Narcissa broke off the hug, only to seal her lips against his own. Taken aback for a moment, he soon closed his eyes and returned her kiss, sighing in contentment as he did so.

After several moments of kissing, Lucius noted the grin on Isis face over Narcissa's shoulder; at the same time, Narcissa broke the kiss with a gasp, her fingers flying to her lips. An expression of complete shock covering her face; said face turning a very deep scarlet hue. Husband and wife stood staring at one another in silence, shock and embarrassment heavy in the air between them, until Narcissa mumbled. "I—uh-I must go and reply to Andromeda. E-excuse me, Lucius." She turned and almost bumped into Isis, who quickly schooled her face into a polite and neutral mask, the grin disappearing before Narcissa saw it.

"Oh!" Narcissa exclaimed, her hand once more covering her mouth and her eyes growing wide. "R-Rowena, I apologize! First I will see about having a room made ready for you, of course! Please, follow me…I will have the elves attend to your needs at once! You must be hungry and tired from your trip!"

Rowena inclined her head to Narcissa again. "It is quite alright, Lady Malfoy."

With a beckoning gesture, Narcissa hurried into the house, followed by Isis, who threw a wink and smirk at Lucius over her shoulder as she disappeared into the house behind Narcissa.

Lucius watched the women depart, his hand finding its way to his lips as he remembered the passionate kiss he and Narcissa had exchanged moments before. Then he scratched the back of his head. I have no idea at all what I'm doing really; but I guess I've done at least one thing right. With a shrug, he followed the ladies into the house.

A/N: Okay…short and perhaps a bit boring of a chapter. I just wanted to get something out. Hope you enjoyed it! And to anyone reading this that also follows "It Runs In The Family", I am currently working on that story as well. Thank you for reading!