Chapter 4 - There Is Always a Price to Pay When We Atone For Our Sins

Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to read this and review. I appreciate all of your comments.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks to June for all of her help and suggestions, especially with the title of this chapter.

Chapter 4 – There Is Always a Price to Pay When We Atone For Our Sins

Lucius knew that his time was limited; he had to escape now or Narcissa's sacrifice would mean nothing. He stood shakily and walked to the door, opening it slowly. He peeked out warily; making sure no one was about. When he saw that the coast was clear he walked the short distance to the room next door. As promised, it was open. Lucius then walked into the room, looking for a door to the cellar that she had mentioned. He noticed a tapestry moving slightly, as though there was a wind behind it. There was nothing else in the room – no furniture, windows, or other doors – only the tapestry. He then walked quickly towards the tapestry and moved it, revealing a short stairway down, which he surmised would lead to the cellar. He ran through as fast as he could in his condition.

Lucius made his way down the stairway, but just before he rounded the corner to the cellar, he heard voices. He held back and kept as close to the wall as he could, and waited until whomever it was passed by. He heard laughing and thought he recognized the voice, then decided to move a bit closer.

"Are you sure he said that?" asked a male voice. Lucius thought it sounded like Rodolfus Lestrange, his brother-in-law.

"Yes, of course; I'm not deaf! I even asked her if she wanted me to do it. It would have been interesting to watch Lucius die," said the woman, who he now was sure was Bellatrix. 'That crazy bitch,' thought Lucius.

"Shut your mouth, you stupid woman," hissed her husband.

"Don't call me stupid!"

"Are you so blind then that you do not see what is happening?"

At this point Lucius heard shuffling, as though they might have been shoving each other.

"Lucius has always been among the most trusted. If he was condemned to death for such a minor infraction as being late, then we must all tread lightly!" exclaimed Rodolphus.

"I still have his favor as his concubine."

"Then why has he sent you away with me on an errand? Does he ever send your sister on errands?" Rodolphus taunted his wife. The two began walking and their steps faded into the distance.

Lucius hurried as he knew that this was his only opportunity for escape. He would have to travel just beyond the caretaker's house before he could Apparate. If he Apparated while still on the grounds of the Riddle property, it would alert Voldemort.

As Narcissa had told him, he escaped outside through the door on the eastern side of the cellar. When he finally reached a point beyond which he knew he could safely Apparate, he allowed himself to briefly rest; he didn't want to splinch himself. He bent over slightly and arched his back. He could feel that the wounds that were left by the whip were bleeding and now stuck to his shirt. After a few deep breaths he straightened himself, and felt something poking at his chest, through the inside pocket of his jacket.

He reached in and took out an old key. Before he had a chance to read the inscription on the side he felt the pull of the Portkey.

~*~*~*~

The previous night, while Severus recuperated in the hospital wing, Albus had spoken briefly with Arthur Weasley, the Minister of Magic and a few other key Order members and informed them that it was Lucius who had been their secret informant these last three years. It was decided that once Severus felt well enough they should meet at number twelve, Grimmauld Place to meet and form some sort of strategy, they would need to continue the ruse that Severus was dead and might possibly have to protect Lucius' identity.

The next morning, after Poppy forced Skele-Gro down his throat, she gladly released Severus from the hospital wing. Albus then called an Order meeting.

It was now nearing late afternoon at the small home still affectionately called The House of Black by Harry at times. Albus and Minerva sat in their usual spot on a small love seat. Arthur and Molly Weasley were present, as well as Remus and his wife of two years Tonks. Mad-Eye Moody was speaking to Kingsley Shacklebolt who was desperately trying to get away from the older retired Auror. Ron, the youngest Weasley son, sat next to Ginny, who looked like she was a million miles away.

Severus was sitting in a corner of the sofa, next to Hermione.

"Funny how he allows Hermione to fuss over him, yet Poppy can't even get him to stay still for a second," said Minerva to Albus, as she looked on at the two young professors.

Albus chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. He then stood, eager to get the meeting started.

"Everyone," called Albus. "Let's begin the meeting."

"Albus," interrupted Arthur. "We are still missing Harry and..."

Arthur was interrupted by a noise just outside the front door. It sounded as though something large had fallen on the doorstep. No one moved, they all waited to see if there was any additional movement.

Severus quickly stood and walked to the door, wand at the ready as he slowly opened the door. He looked out and saw a crumpled mass of what appeared to be a man. As he approached he saw a mass of long blond hair. He instantly put his wand away and bent down over his fallen friend.

"Come quickly," Severus called out to the others in the house. Suddenly a mass of people crowded the doorway. Severus moved the hair from Lucius' face. He didn't see any bruises but he could see that his friend's white shirt was soaked with blood.

Albus and Arthur came outside. Albus performed a Mobilicorpus spell to lift and move Lucius into the house.

"How the bloody hell did he find this place?" asked Ron, clearly not trusting the elder Malfoy. While he'd been informed that Lucius was the informant who had been helping them, Ron wasn't convinced that the man was to be trusted.

Arthur noticed Lucius clutching a key. "I gather that key must have something to do with it. It looks similar to the one Harry has for this house."

They carefully placed Lucius on the couch and surrounded him. Severus sat on the edge looking down on his friend.

Lucius moaned, his pain evident to all watching. His eyes began to flutter open. He looked around, then his eyes stopped at Severus. He tried to speak, but was stopped by Severus.

"You are safe here, Lucius."

Lucius lifted his head, so now he was able to see everyone better. Severus was sitting next to him; a young woman was standing next to Severus, and her hand was placed on his shoulder. He thought she resembled the young woman who accompanied Harry Potter and the youngest Weasley boy during Draco's years at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore stood behind them, as did Minerva McGonagall. He then noted Arthur and Molly Weasley, and a few other people he could not recognize at the moment. He spotted on a woman with light pink hair and smiled.

"Nymphadora," he whispered.

Tonks smiled; she'd often wondered if her uncle would ever remember her. As an adult, she knew him to be a Death Eater, but he was kind to her the few times she'd seen him when she was a child, even though her mother Andromeda and Narcissa were estranged sisters.

Lucius made a motion to sit up but felt a hand push him back lightly.

"You should rest a bit, Mr. Malfoy. You're bleeding." He moved his head in search of the voice and saw a young woman with long red hair. "I can't heal you well if you are tense," said Ginny, who was a Medi-witch.

He was about to speak, when he noticed two young men walk into the room. One had glasses and messy brown hair, and the other was his own son.

"Father!" Draco rushed towards the couch. Severus allowed Draco to take his place; the two had become close after the younger man turned to the Order, but Severus had always respected Lucius' position as Draco's father.

"Draco?" Lucius reached up and cupped his son's handsome face. He lifted himself and hugged the young man tightly. "My son, my son." Tears filled his eyes. It had been seven long years since he'd laid eyes on his son. As he held Draco he felt the events of that day rush against him like a train.

"Forgive me, Draco." Lucius's voice trembled as he held his face against his son's shoulder.

"There is nothing to forgive, Father." Draco held him tightly, feeling his own tears escaping. "You did what you had to do, and you kept me safe."

Lucius shook his head. "No, son, it was your mother who kept us both safe. I was so wrong about her. How I wished her dead so many times for what she did to us."

Draco stiffened. He'd hated his mother for abandoning them and now his father was telling him she'd done it to help them.

"Where is she now, Father?" Draco pulled back as Lucius lifted himself into a sitting position. His father looked as if his heart was going to break into pieces at that moment.

"I fear...I fear that your mother is paying for allowing me to escape," said Lucius. Draco's sudden intake of breath pulled at his heart even more. "Her last words to me were that she wanted you to know that she loved you, Draco, she always loved you."

~*~*~*~

At the Riddle home, Narcissa stood in the middle of Voldemort's bedroom, with her head bowed down.

Voldemort's face had a look of contempt as he glared intently at her. He walked around her in increasingly smaller circles, like a predator preparing to make a kill.

"There must be something in the pumpkin juice here. What is it with the Malfoys as of late that they cannot seem to take orders?"

"He was my husband, I could not bring myself kill him," Narcissa said, just before she was grabbed by the hair and pulled roughly back towards Voldemort.

"Foolish witch, I am not concerned with what you can or cannot bring yourself to do. I ordered you to kill him!" He let go of her hair and shoved her roughly away from him.

Narcissa lost her balance and fell to her knees.

"Get up and look at me!" yelled Voldemort.

Narcissa stood, still refusing to look at him in the eye.

He took her by the chin and forced her to face him. "You were a smart woman, weren't you? Giving yourself to me the way you did, keeping my interest away from your son and husband. I applaud you, you had me fooled. Not an easy thing to do, Narcissa." He spat.

Narcissa pulled away from him, "No, not easy, but I did it nonetheless."

When she'd left Lucius earlier she immediately went back to the Dark Lord's bedroom. Knowing he could be easily manipulated into having sex with her, she began to seduce him before he had the opportunity to ask her how she'd done away with her husband. Lucius was injured and needed time to get out of the house. She didn't know how long it would take him to make his way down to the cellar and off the property, so she kept Voldemort busy for several minutes, until Voldemort realized she'd not mentioned Lucius. He used Legilimency on her and saw that she'd allowed Lucius to escape.

Now the woman stood before him defiantly. Narcissa knew she would die, and in an odd way she found it almost liberating. She decided that fear was of no use at this moment. Whatever the Dark Lord did to her meant nothing as long as she knew her husband and son were safe.

"It is impossible for you to comprehend how much I love my son, and my husband. You have no life inside of you. You are dead, your soul is dead, and one day soon the whole world will see you die. Including me."

Voldemort's face darkened, "You cannot see me die if you are dead." He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him and the large blade he held in his hand.

Narcissa felt the sharp burn of the knife as it went through her chest. She grabbed Voldemort's shoulders as her eyes opened wide in surprise.

As blood trickled from her mouth, he pressed his lips close to her ear and whispered, "I will use this same knife, to gut your son."

Narcissa looked down at the knife embedded in her chest, then looked into the bloodshot eyes of Tom Riddle. She smiled and laughed softly.

"We shall see, Tom, we shall see."

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

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will have a bit more Severus and Lucius interaction in the next chapter.