Entry 06, Cursed: Chapter 2
Title: Cursed - Chapter 2 - Lucius's Reaction
Entry Number: 06
Author: y3llowdaisi3s
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Angst
Spoiler Warnings: None
Word Count: 1706
Author's Note: Continuation of the story.
He was sitting in his favorite leather arm chair in his study, a tumbler of Ogden’s Finest Firewhiskey in one hand, staring into the fireplace contemplating the burgeoning Dark Mark on his left arm.
He didn’t know what that meant. Well, he did. It meant trouble. But beyond that, he wasn’t sure.
It definitely meant bad things in the future.
He was just about to call for Cissy to tell her that they would need to prepare for the Dark Lord’s return when Bubbles, his grandfather’s house-elf, delivered a letter to him, and then Disapparated away.
He wasn’t sure how to react to that. He hadn’t seen the house-elf since he stopped talking to his father, which was years.
When he finished the letter, his tumbler was on the floor, Firewhiskey spilled onto the carpet.
Lucius wasn’t really sure what he had expected, but it was definitely not that.
His father was jealous of a Muggle. A Muggle! So he killed him, and now Draco, his son, would never know love. A Muggle! Lucius scoffed at the idea of his son loving a Muggle.
And then he realized why his father was no longer the man he grew up with. He recalled with absolute clarity the last day he had ever spoken to his father.
His father had just come back from an outing with a ten-year-old Draco. Draco had scuffed his shoes and had grass stains on his knees. The smile on his face was contagious and he had the whole family grinning. That is, until he mentioned where they had returned from.
“Oh father, I was playing at a park. And there were kids there. But they weren’t anything like Greg or Vince. They ran around and yelled and had fun!” The young boy’s laughter carried through the whole Manor. “Grandfather, can we go play with Muggles again tomorrow?”
And just like that the jubilance was sucked out of the room. The atmosphere instantly became cold.
Cissy, his darling Cissy, recognized a confrontation was about to happen and quickly excused herself, dragging Draco along with the promise of chocolate frogs and chocoballs.
“You took my son to a Muggle park? Had him play with that filth?” Lucius asked through clenched teeth.
Abraxas took his time to answer. He took a calming breath and answered, “They’re not filth, and you need to stop telling your son that.”
Lucius saw red. His father, the man who he looked up to, the man who taught him everything he knew in the world, his father was negating one of the biggest aspects of their lives. Was the last thirty-six years of his life a lie?
“What are you talking about father?” He spat.
“There are things you don’t understand. Things that I’ve done. I have regrets, Lucius,” His father dejectedly responded, “and I don’t want my cherub to make the same mistakes.”
All Lucius heard was mistake. Did his father think he was a mistake? It would be just like him, he thought.
“Am I a mistake father? Do you regret having me?”
Abraxas shook his head, “No, of course not. But if I could do things differently I -“
Lucius cut him off, “Get out.”
“No, let me explain.” His father had gotten up and tried to reach for him, his hand just grasping his shoulder.
Lucius brushed him off and turned his back to him. “I said get out father. I don’t want to see you again.” His head bowed, voice low, “And I don’t want you around Draco any longer.”
Was that going to be the last words his father ever heard from his son? Was the last words from his grandson a request that he would never be able to fulfill?
He couldn’t let it end like that.
And his father loved him. Cissy always said that he did. She was adamant that a Malfoy did everything for their family, and Lucius would have believed her - he knew he would do anything for his family - but he thought his father, his father must have been the exception to the rule.
He didn’t know what to think. What to do. His father loved him. Loved him. He immediately called for Bubbles, but when no elf appeared, he ran to the fireplace to floo to the Malfoy Townhouse in London.
Lucius arrived to a dreary desolate library. The place was filthy. Dust everywhere. He even sneezed, in a dignified manner, of course. In the corner off to the right of the fireplace, his father’s desk was littered with Muggle newspapers and parchment mixed with regular paper. He sneered at the sight, but quickly caught himself. He would have to tamper the habit.
He left the library quickly, and climbed the stairs to the third floor where his father’s bedroom was. The door was ajar, and he pushed it open with his cane. In the middle of the dark, dank room was his father. He was laying on his bed in stasis.
Lucius’s breath left him. He was too late.
But was he too late to save his son? He pulled a chair from the window and placed it at his father’s bedside. He grabbed his hand, rigor mortis be damned. His father loved him, and now he was gone.
He wasn’t sure what to do. He needed to make arrangements, for one. But he had more important matters to figure out. Firstly, the only person his son would ever love could quite possibly be a Muggle. Hopefully she was a Mud-Muggleborn - another habit that needed altering.
But his father had a point. The Dark Lord was back, and if she truly was a Muggleborn, her chances of survival were closer to nil than if she was merely a Muggle. He thanked his father’s foresight on casting that enchantment.
He thought his life was already complicated, but this just made it a lot worse.
First issue was how to ensure the livelihood of his family. When a Malfoy loved, they loved with their whole heart. He couldn’t believe his grandfather forgone magic to prove a point. He never did like his grandmother, so there was no love lost at that revelation.
He could also understand where his father was coming from. The more Lucius looked at it - and him, he was lying there, dead, in front of him - the more he tried to understand. His father was never overly affectionate with him, but Lucius never went without. He may have grown up a spoiled prat, but that was simply the Malfoy way.
He thought about how he treated his own son. He truly loved Draco. He was the best of himself and Narcissa, his lovely wife. How could he not love the boy?
Did Draco know that he loved him? Did he know that, although he fully - at least used to - agree with the Dark Lord’s doctrine, he was only serving him, this time around, to protect Draco and his mother?
And what to tell them? Lucius knew that Draco missed his grandfather but wished for his father’s respect so much that he acted like the separation did not affect him. Lucius knew better.
And to think, even with estrangement, his father still tried to help find Draco happiness. And how did Lucius repay him? By not allowing him to see his cherub, that’s what. Lucius realized he made a grievous error, and had no way to truly solve it.
He couldn’t tell anyone about this. That was for certain. The Dark Lord was a master Legilimens and any look at this could bring the demise of his precious family. No, he would keep this a secret.
He would do the bare minimum of what was required of him. If Draco was destined to marry a Mu-Muggleborn - he almost had it that time - then the Dark Lord simply could not win. It would mean his son would be stuck with some vapid gold-digging whore and Draco would never know love.
Lucius would not allow that to happen.
He wouldn’t change his outlook on Blood Purity, not until the Dark Lord was gone. It wasn’t the time for that. He would just not say anything. His father would always tell that to Draco, and now Lucius understood why. He was ensuring that Draco wouldn’t put his foot in his mouth when he finally met the love of his life.
Oh Merlin. What if Draco had already met her? She would despise him! Lucius cringed at the thought, it was his fault if the road to Draco’s happiness was a rocky one.
He would have to find a way to change his wife and son’s outlook without being obvious. Well, he wasn’t Slytherin for nothing. Draco clearly mimicked him, so if he simply kept his mouth shut, Draco would get the hint. As for his wife, well, she would eventually question him, but he’d circumvent that somehow.
He needed to find this Sebastian. He needed to ensure that their daughter was protected, and their family for that matter.
The blood rite his father performed would keep them from death, but his sister-in-law’s Crucio could be considered a worse fate than that. He would not allow his future daughter-in-law to go mad! She was going to be the mother to his grandchildren. The love of his son’s life. He would protect her.
Lucius figured he had some time before his Dark Lord’s absolute return. He would use his time wisely and covertly seek them out.
He knew he couldn’t keep all this information in his mind. He would cast a special Obliviate that would allow him to retain what he needed to do, without knowing the why. That would keep him well-prepared for when his Master called upon him.
He looked back to his father, and made a silent vow, he would do what he had to ensure his family’s survival of the eventual war. He would do what he had to ensure his own son’s happiness.
He would.