Lucius Arrives

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of her help and suggestions.

Chapter 4 – Lucius Arrives

Lucius was sitting in his study reading. He’d been sulking all day, and quite frankly, he was sick of himself. He remembered a time when he had been a very visible wizard. Visible in the sense that he enjoyed being seen and fawned over. But, ever since the death of his wife, Narcissa, he felt that none of the things he once enjoyed mattered anymore. He had loved his wife, but not to the extent that his life meant nothing without her; as surprising as many people would find it, Lucius always enjoyed being a husband. He had taken care of his wife. He had spoiled her. He loved treating a woman like she was a queen; it made him feel strong, masculine, virile.

He knew it would have been easy enough for him to find someone to occupy his time, but he wanted more than just a warm body in his bed and a living accessory to adorn his arm while walking through Diagon Alley. His marriage to Narcissa Black had been planned by both of their parents while they were still young. In time he grew to love her, but he could never honestly say he was “in” love with her. No, this time he wanted to fall in love. He wanted someone that hadn’t been chosen for him. He could have any woman he wanted. The only problem was, he didn’t want any of them. Most women he came across only wanted him for his wealth. True, he was an obscenely attractive man, but he was quite certain that if he was poor and living in a cave, not one woman would want him. Looks will only get you so far.

As he sipped his cognac, his musings were interrupted when the flames in the hearth grew green and came to life.

“Lucius? Are you home?”

He recognized the voice to be Hermione Snape’s. Having left his former Death Eater beliefs in the distant past, he always found it pleasing to hear from his friend’s wife.

“Yes, Hermione. I’m here. I’m surprised to hear from you. Severus told me you would all be on holiday.”

“Oh, Lucius. Thank goodness you’re home. Yes, we’re here in Bavaria, but I’m afraid the holiday isn’t going quite as planned. Severus isn’t having a very good time, and it’s all my fault.”

Lucius knew exactly why his friend was miserable. Shortly before the Snape family left, Severus confided that he would rather have spent his holiday in Voldemort’s outhouse than go on their trip. Just knowing he would be stuck in a castle with Hermione’s friends had him dreading the entire trip.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Perhaps I can Floo him later,” said Lucius.

“Actually, I was hoping you didn’t have any plans of your own for Christmas. If you don’t, perhaps you can come and spend some time with us.”

Lucius smiled. It happened that he didn’t have any plans. Draco was on a business trip in America and had taken his wife, Cho Chang. They would be spending the Christmas and New Year holiday in New York. While they had invited him to come along, Lucius had no desire to stand in the middle of a crowded Muggle street, counting down the new year with no one of his own to kiss.

“I have no plans. I would love to join you. I just need to get some things together here, and I should be over in a short while.”

“Excellent!” cried Hermione. “Thank you so much, Lucius. I’ll make sure I tell the house-elves to prepare a room for you.”

The Floo connection closed, and Hermione called for one of the house-elves.

“Miss called Koko?” asked the small house-elf.

“Yes, Koko. We will be expecting one more guest shortly. Please prepare the room next to Miss Weasley’s.”

Hermione wasn’t sure if Ginny would be pleased or angry that she had placed Lucius so near her. But seeing as Ginny was in total lust over the man, Hermione doubted she would be anything but appreciative. Although she did wonder if Lucius would be interested in Ginny. It wasn’t that Ginny wasn’t attractive; she was smart and a great catch for any man. But Hermione wasn’t quite sure if she was Lucius’ type. Ginny wanted someone to settle down with; she wanted to get married and have kids.

Was Lucius even looking for a wife and children at this stage in his life? Narcissa had passed away a little over five years ago, after she’d accidentally ingested some poisonous mushrooms while in the Amazon. Lucius seemed to turn away from many of the things he once had pleasure in. He was seen only on rare occasions, when he would have dinner at the Three Broomsticks with some Ministry colleagues, or buy clothes at his favorite haberdashery.

Hermione shook her head. It was too late to go back now. Lucius was on his way. Whatever happened, she was sure it would be interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucius arrived a half-hour after he spoke to Hermione. As he came through the Floo, he found a roomful of Gryffindors.

“So it seems I have walked into a lions’ den,” he said playfully, then looked around the room. He noticed Harry Potter playing chess with Ron Weasley. The two young men looked up from their board and wondered what the elder Malfoy was doing there. Lucius then turned his attention to Neville Longbottom, who was having tea with a strikingly beautiful red-haired young woman.

“Well, and who do we have here?” Lucius approached the young woman with a predatory grin.

Ginny smiled back at him, hoping the warmness in her cheeks didn’t mean she was blushing.

“It’s me, Mr. Malfoy. Ginny Weasley.” She giggled like the eleven-year-old girl she had been when she first saw him. He still looked much the same. The only difference was she now saw him with the eyes of a woman — a woman looking at the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Many years had passed since her first encounter with the man standing before her. True, it was Lucius after all who had given her Tom Riddle’s diary – a Horcrux – in her first year at Hogwarts, but his time in Azkaban allowed him to reflect on many things. Lucius repented much of what he did as a Death Eater. And when Draco almost died at the hands of Voldemort himself, it was then that the elder Malfoy knew he’d had enough. He realized almost too late that Voldemort was truly insane. During several skirmishes as well as the Final Battle, Lucius stood beside Severus and helped protect and save Harry and numerous Order members. Even Arthur and Molly Weasley now approved of Lucius’ charitable endeavors on behalf of Order and Auror widows as well as many children left orphaned after the war.

Lucius hadn’t seen Ginny in several years. He looked at her from top to bottom.

“Miss Weasley, how lovely to see you. I did not recognize you. My my, how you have grown.” His eyes sparkled as he looked at her. It was as though something inside of him had come to life. He felt warmness in his chest and a fluttering in his stomach.

Harry, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes towards Lucius. It was bad enough that Neville was also there, but now he had Lucius to contend with. While Harry’s relationship with Ginny never amounted to much more than a few sporadic dates throughout the years, he felt that eventually, once he made up his mind to settle down, that he and Ginny would marry. He’d never seen Neville as much competition. Neville didn’t like Quidditch, nor was he as good-looking as Harry. But Harry’s former schoolmate was a kind and sensitive man. Women liked that in men, but not Ginny. Harry knew Ginny still liked him, just as she had liked him since she was eleven. He knew that whenever they went out, Ginny felt proud to be by his side. She would wait for him to finally decide he wanted to settle down, and then they would be happy together. In short, Harry was living with the typical self-delusional idea that most men have about the women they date: that she would wait forever for him, until he finished sowing his wild oats.

Harry was delusional, all right. He had no idea just how much.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I needed to get Lucius in here so this chapter was mostly him, but I'm thinking next chapter will be a bit of Severus and Lucius.