Celegorm stared at the mansion in front of him, wondering why he was standing here.
Caranthir had abandoned him a while ago, grumbling about Maedhros, meeting crazy family members and soialization. Celegorm had agreed with all his points, and so they had procrastinated outside the invisibe house number 12, returning to the front of the house after Curufin had gone in.
It hadn't led to any revelations, and Curufin hadn't returned out within the hour, so Celegorm had been summarily abandoned to his fate of meeting his wife and son by Caranthir, who had the patience of a highly reactive chemical, which was to say none at all. It didn't stop Celegorm from the feeling of betrayal, and he wondered absently if that's what Finrod had felt when Curufin had tried to usurp his kingdom. Celegorm had just been a supportive older brother during that little takeover plan, truly.
It wasn't the first time he had felt betrayal of this kind.
In fact, Huan's betrayal had been worse, considering he had spoken thrice to Luthien instead of using his voice to explain himself to Celegorm, or to stop Celegorm's slow and horrifying descent into madness.
Shaking his head, he took a step and moved closer to the mansion, shuddering slightly as the weird magic thing settled over his shoulders, welcoming him back into his house.
It felt nothing like their home in Valinor.
It felt far less like the woods where Orome's hunt camped, which shouldn't cause that much disappointment to weigh him down, and yet, Celegorm couldn't help himself. He had thought that the centuries without Orome would have lessened the guilt and the longing that had become a constant within his heart, but everytime someone mentioned him, Celegorm's heart gave a traitorous lurch.
Apparently, seven ages wasn't enough time for him to get over the Vala.
It was why he had braided his hair in the traditional way of the Hunters of Orome. He hadn't been a hunter since he had abandoned Valinor, and left the Hunt on his own terms, without telling Orome. It comforted him to know that so far from the Valar's power, he could braid his hair as he wished and none would judge him for it. Expect his brothers, but he expected nothing better from them.
A crack beside him had him palming the knife that had been slipped up his sleeve.
"Does master want Mippy to take his cloak?" Mippy asked and Celegorm squinted at the tiny creature that was called a house elf. It seemed like an insult to the Eldar, yet Celegorm had never been accused of being narrow minded before, not when Vana had seen him pining and dragged him to Orome, and certainly not when someone had mistakenly assumed those tiny creatures were in any was similar to elves.
When he realized the creature had asked him a question, his confusion merely increased.
He was not wearing a cloak, so what would Mippy be taking from him?
"I do not have a cloak, Mippy," he pointed out, and Mippy's eyes widened.
She seemed to be floundering for words to say, so Celegorm, taking pity on her, suggested, "why don't you get me a glass of water."
The house elf complied, disappearing within seconds, and Celegorm nearly breathed a sigh of relief. How was he supposed to deal with those creatures? The person he was stealing the body from was by all accounts a jerk and had never treated anyone kindly before, even if some of the memories in Celegorm's mind proved otherwise. It wasn't encouraging that the world chose to match Celegorm with a man who would rather cower under the boot of a monster than stand up for his own pride.
"Lucius, is that you?" Narcissa Malfoy's, his wife's, voice reached him and Celegorm panicked.
Unfortunately, he was Lucius Malfoy, so his reply was, "Yes. I'm back."
Which was lacking in so many ways, but Celegorm hoped she just attributed it to exhaustion and he could escape to the room that he shared with her without further questions.
His foot froze on the first step of their grand staircase, which he didn't understand the need for.
They shared a room.
He shared a room with Narcissa Malfoy.
The only other woman, if woman was even what you could classify one of the Valar as, that he had shared a room with was Vana, and that was with Orome as well.
"Are you alright? How was your business trip? Did your meeting with the goblins go well?"
The words summoned up the image of tiny, hook-nosed creatures that sneered at everyone indisciminately and Celegorm couldn't help the disgused snarl that crossed his face. It didn't help that every creature in this world was determined to be tiny, pestering and underfoot in every way.
Narcissa Malfoy's footsteps were getting closer, and Celegorm was getting nowhere near their shared bedroom.
Looking down at his attire, he wondered what she would think at the different look.
The closest things he could find to his hunting attire certainly didn't match their robes and flowy, hindering, court clothes at all. Perhaps he should have changed to something more formal before he met his lady wife for the first time, but the thought hadn't occurred to Celegorm earlier, and if it had occurred to any of his brothers, they had certainly not mentioned it to him.
Which… traitors, the lot of them.
It was probably revenge for his betrayal of Finrod, or the way he captured Luthien. It was unfair, considering Huan was obviously the biggest traitor in that instance, regardless of whether or not Celegorm was in the wrong.
"Are you alright, Lucius?" Narcissa asked, frowning up at him. Her eyes roved across the slightly damp clothes that were loosely falling on his lithe frame and she frowned. "And what happened to your clothes?"
Celegorm shrugged helplessly. "I wanted a change in pace?"
Narcissa glare sharpened, and Celegorm was abruptly reminded of the way his amme got angry. The urge to flee the entire situation presented itslef ratherexpectedly and Celegorm grimaced.
"We'll talk later, I promise," he rushed out and then took the stairs three at a time to lock himself in the bathroom, hearing Narcissa's confused, "Don't run in the corridors!"
When Celegorm finally emerged from the bathroom, a good hour and a half later - having gotten through a mental plot of how dead he was going to be, what his conversation with Narcissa was going to be about, how much money he required to pay off his wife and son and leave, the amount of begging that he needed to do to get into Valinor, and a solid hour of frolicking in the woods that were behind the manor that he had sneaked out to - Celegorm found himself face to face with yet another house elf.
"Master," the house elf squeaked, bowing low and balancing the tray of food items expertly. "Mistress Narcissa tells Havy to bes giving you this."
Celegorm glanced at the too cooked meat, excessive amounts of greens and the diary that he had never liked, and wondered if it was too late to ask Curufin, or Maglor, for poisons. He would rather die than eat the food that was commonplace to this era.
"Thank you, Havy," he said instead of the tirade on the state of the food. Lucius had done that often, and Celegorm was not Lucius. He wasn't. He refused to be. "I will take my food in my office."
"Yes, Master Lucius," Havy said, and then disappeared with a crack, likely to the office.
Celegorm wondered if he could learn the convenient skill of disappearing and appearing wherever he wanted, without the noise though. It would be far more convenient than running away from people.
Sadly, he knew better than to put off difficult conversations, and the one with his wife was bound to be one of those. Unless… unless he just didn't tell anyone? It wouldn't be so odd, and it wouldn't change their lives majorly. Narcissa had married Lucius based on an arrangement made by their parents, which firstly - worse than Celegorm's decision to marry Luthien because that had been willing on at least one side, or that's what he told himself.
Secondly, Narcissa and Lucius barely spent any of their time together and had no common interests other than Draco. They were minimally affectionate, and the closest they had come to anything intimate was kisses on the forehead, which Celegorm was perfectly capable of doing with anyone.
"There you are, father," another oddly familiar voice reached him and Celegorm resolutely dug his heels in. The feeling of affection aimed at Draco was far more muted than the love Celegorm held for Celebrimbor, who wasn't even his son. "Mother said you had arrived back from your business meeting."
It was obvious that his… son… was trying hard to seem mature, but Celegorm wasn't sure how to get him to calm down. He was fifteen, an awfully young age, even for one of the Edain.
"And how has school been Draco?" he asked, instead of replying to the implied question. Gesturing for his son to follow him, he turned to head to the dining room. He found he had no appetite for the bland, overcooked food that was awaiting him in his office. "I trust you have been having fun."
The look Draco sent him was close to the concerned looks Maedhros sent him sometimes, but more on the 'have you lost your mind' end of the spectrum. He wasn't sure which statement of his had garnered the look.
"I had as much fun as can be expected when I'm working hard for the OWLs," Draco said.
"Why are you working hard for the owls?" Celegorm asked, floundering at the utterly gobsmacked look on his supposed sons face. It took him an embarrasing length of time to realize that Draco was talking about the exams that were held at the end of his school year, and not actual owls. It was also fairly disappointing, since Celegorm knew that the actual owls had required him to work far harder than any other living being to communicate with them.
"It was a joke," he said, when he finally got his tongue back, sighing inwardly when Draco showed no inclination to laughter. Perhaps he should teach his son about jokes? But what kind of child, or teenager didn't know about those?
Draco seemed to shrug to himself, and he started talking about his Quidditch and his achievements in the Art club, which Lucius didn't seem to know that Draco had joined. In fact, Celegorm found that Lucius knew very little about his son, which left Celegorm in a bit of a tight spot.
"- obviously, and I'm surprised that Potter was spending so much time in the library this semester," Draco was saying, and then, much to Celegorm's concern, he continued to converse - one-sidedly - about the brat that had summoned Celegorm. He was fairly sure that Draco and the Potter child had a very nicely established rivalry, veering into hatred, that was ongoing, which begged the question - why was his son informing him about this?
When Draco paused to look at him, Celegorm lifted a brow. "Don't worry, son," the word sounded odd on his tongue, "I support your inclinations either way. Just don't take your obsession with Potter too far and ensure that you have ample consent."
Draco stared at him.
Narcissa, who was at the end of the hall Celegorm hadn't noticed they had reached, blinked at him.
Celegorm paused. Was what he had said wrong? He had established that he supported Draco, and he had warned him against the kidnapping that had left him so hated and infamous. Was there anything else he was supposed to say? What else did Maedhros tell them?
"Father," Draco started, as if he was speaking to a five year old. Celegorm hadn't heard that tone of voice in a while, since Curufin had disappeared into the invisible house. "You are the one who wants to know so much about Potter's activities."
Celegorm frowned.
That was both concerning and explained a lot of things.
"Well, I have no interest in him anymore," Celegorm announced, not even bothering to analyse Lucius' reasons. It was undoubtedly something related to the megalomaniac bald guy, and Celegorm wanted nothing to do with him. It seemed like an awful amount of effort was wasted on having fun rather than the actual war that he was supposedly waging.
"That's good?" Narcissa said, making it sound more like a question.
Draco looked like he was contemplating whether or not this was a fever dream, and Celegorm would try and act more like Lucius, except truly, he couldn't be bothered.
"So, son," he said, the word coming to him more naturally this time, "what are your interests, other than Quidditch?"
If he was abandoning the pretense that he was behaving like Lucius, then he would do it fully and completely. And well, why wouldn't he learn about this son of his? He seemed fairly interesting, looked like he was intelligent and his lithe build was perfect for swift hunting, if Celegorm said so himself.
Narcissa shook her head and walked out of the hallway, away from their shared room, muttering something that Celegorm didn't catch.
Draco blinked and squinted up at him. Celegorm was glad that he was still taller than the boy.
"I like riding," he answered finally.
Celegorm nodded sagely, pulling forth memories of the horses that were in the stables on the grounds. He hadn't seen them yet, but they seemed well-bred. He'd have to ask Maglor about it.
"And have you got a favorite horse?" he asked, continuing with, "Which one speaks to you the most often?"
Draco was starting to look concerned. "Horses don't speak, father."
"You ignored my first question," Celegorm said reflexively, then bit his tongue. "And what do you mean horses don't speak? Have I never taught you their language? How many languages do you know?"
"I - what even - why - urgh," Draco threw up his hands and whirled around, stalking back up the stairs.
Celegorm blinked up at where he had disappeared.
What even had he done?
He remembered Celebrimbor going through that phase once, so maybe it was just what did these Edain call them? Teenagers?
Celegorm shrugged. Perhaps he should just hide out somewhere in the house for the next few days, until they calmed down? He could always talk to them later.
With that thought, Celegorm found himself meandering the labyrinthine hallways of his mansion.
Notes:
Celegorm has an unhealthy obsession with comparing every one of his many crimes to the Finrod, Beren and Luthien Incident, which has gone down as his most heinous crime. He personally thinks his worst crime was his betrayal of Orome during the first kinslaying, followed by the way he got Curufin and Caranthir dead along with him in the second kinslaying (they're his little brothers, he was supposed to protect them) due to his forceful decision to fight Dior and thirdly, his slow descent into madness, which led to Huan abandoning him. The Incident is not even in his top 5 worst crimes (by his own list).
Anyways, Draco and Narcissa's POV of this incident is probably very amusing because Celegorm is NOT like Lucius, and is the most airheaded of his brothers to boot. I may or may not write it.