Lucius Malfoy
Lucius loves Draco above all else. Not that he planned it though, it just happened. He had never thought himself to be capable of loving someone more that he loved himself...
During his whole life it had been that way, ever since he was born and his mother died bringing him into the world. His father was stupid and irrational, and held no love whatsoever for baby Lucius. The boy grew up in fear of being punished, thus he learned how to lie very convincingly and to read body language. This last skill was useful both to know when his father was angry and what was he thinking, and to conceal the signs of fear from his own body to prevent his father from hurting him any further. For the old man seemed to be very found of the fear on his son�s eyes. But even developed to the fullest, his abilities weren�t enough to keep him from having to deal with Crucius every now and then, for his father thought that a Malfoy should be able to stand even the Unforgivables showing no signs of pain.
Life was hard on the young Lucius during the time he lived on family Manor. And when the time came and he went to Hogwarts, he found there to be heaven. He at age 11 knew more about the Dark Arts then most 4th years, and having survived his father he found out that he could read unprepared people like open books. He then started his reign of terror, which lasted all the 7 years that he spent at the school. Lucius was a great duellist, and proved so by defeating his fellow 1st-years and even some 2nd and 3rd years. There was one boy he could not beat easily, though. His name was Severus Snape.
At first Lucius didn�t like Severus, but respected him. And as time passed, he found that the brooding dark-haired boy was the only one with whom he could maintain a decent conversation. Soon after that discovery he took Severus, �Sev�, under his wing. Not that the other needed it, but... they bickered and duelled with sarcastic words, this being the Slytherin way of making friends. He never thought of Severus as a friend, although they could exchange opinions and plans almost on an equal level. And as the years passed by and he turned 16, he realised that his shy friend fancied him. The way it happened was most unusual, and had nothing to do with Lucius� reading-people skills.
Lucius had the habit of laying awake for long hours on his bed. Insomnia, which was used to conceive evil plots. And Severus, his roommate, had the habit of talking during his sleep. Lucius had always known it, and taken advantage of it. So when Sev started to have wet dreams about Lucius, the latter was most amused. Not shocked or surprised, but amused. He took rather pleasure in hearing Severus call for him and beg him, and he�d spend half of the night doing so. He was flattered that Severus liked him, instead of being driven away by it. We must remember that during 5 years he had had every girl drooling all over him, and all boys feared and adored him with equal intensity; it was natural for him to be liked.
Severus was his biggest trophy, and he still admired the boy for not showing his feelings or letting them interfere with the bond that they shared. It was very Slytherin of him, Lucius thought, putting the head before the heart.
Lucius had it all � money, power, looks, status. Girls came with the package. He liked to think of himself as a stud, an irresistible stud. He could have any girl he wanted, and it was that way with Narcissa Faye. Severus never got along with her. Lucius blamed it on jealousy, although his instincts did tell him to examine that matter further. He stored that information to pay it proper attention later.
Lucius himself had never really thought much about her. She was pretty and rich and pureblood enough to be seen around with him, and that was fine. She didn�t exactly have the brains to see when he was having his little affairs, and was easy enough to control. Ordinary girl. He certainly wouldn�t have noticed her if it wasn�t for Ureck Zabini. She was his girl, and that made her a prize to be won. Not that Lucius was afraid of Zabini; even being two years younger he knew that he could beat the stupid, brainless Quidditch captain of his House Team any day. There were few things that could make Lucius happier than humiliating him over and over again.
But leaving that aside, what was really interesting about Zabini was that he�d be angry if Lucius dated Narcissa, because it would be about Lucius stealing yet another thing he had won with lots of effort. His biggest triumph over Zabini was, once again, Severus. Ureck Zabini fancied boys rather than girls, and it was no secret for most Slytherins. But he could not take a BOY to the Yule Ball, or kiss one in front of the whole school. Lucius had caught him staring at Severus more than once. He had smiled at that. Sev was his and his alone, and he knew it. Zabini would never get anything other than a hex from him. And Lucius watched with pleasure as Zabini got more and more desperate, and as he turned against Lucius himself. One big surprise, though, was Zabini going after him later that same year. No affection, just plain lust. Lucius was happy when the sick brainless amount of muscles left school giving him two whole years full of peace. No fun, but certainly peace.
He�d meet Zabini later. One year later. On the night that followed his birthday, Lucius was made a Death Eater. He wasn�t exactly devoted to the Cause; of course he thought that mudbloods were scum and should die but he thought that he had better things to do with his time. Such as learn a few tricks with the most powerful dark wizard ever born.
Lucius had wanted Severus by his side at the time he was made a DE. Since it was going to be Slytherin Common Hall with Voldemort as Head of the House, he better have someone he could talk to. And so Lucius talked Severus into becoming a Death Eater.
Or at least he thought he had done so. The Malfoy arrogance. Of course he knew that the incident with Lupin and Sirius had influenced Severus� final decision, for the boy had been disgusted when he learned how far the Gryffindor favouritism would go. That night he had turned to the only person he would ever turn to. He had turned to Lucius Malfoy. And Lucius had been patient, had listened and offered support. Pretending that he believed that Severus was just angry about the Gryffindor favouritism, and not scarred that he had nearly died and ashamed that it had been Potter the one to save his life. Pretending that he believed in the lies Severus was telling himself. And he saw that as the perfect chance to talk his friend into joining Voldemort. The one true Slytherin. If the world gives you hell, then you give them hell. The Slytherins should stick together. And most importantly, and Lucius knew it the impact that his next phrase would have on his friend, him, Lucius, wanted them to be together. He and Sev.
Severus did join him, even after seeing the bad side of it. He was the one who looked after Lucius when the latter became ill few time after receiving the Mark. This was one of the worst times in Lucius� life; he had spend whole weeks laying in his bed, in fever, sweating and delusional. He could not go to the Hospital Wing for the nurse would see the mark, and so he accepted the potions Sev pushed down his throat. Luckily enough Severus was as good at healing potions as he was with every other potions, and he was the one who kept Lucius sane and alive. Mr. Malfoy had wanted to come and pay his offspring a visit soon after Hogwarts sent him an owl informing Lucius had been missing classes, and Severus dealt with the problem in a simple way: he made some polyjuice potion and attended some of the classes as Lucius Malfoy. He also spent the nights by Lucius� bed, which had him looking almost as bad as the ill blond boy. And one of these nights haunted Lucius forever. It was the night when he felt Sev come to him and take him, welcoming him inside his body, holding him close and tight, stroking and kissing and licking him in a painfully slow and playful way. He never got to know whether it had been a dream caused by Sev�s habit of talking while he slept or if it had been real, because he did not say anything about it in the morning and neither did Severus. It had felt so real... and so good. But they did not talk about it ever. And Severus did not become ill after receiving the mark.
Zabini was there as well, and it gave Lucius a familiar sensation of happiness when he took only a few months to be higher in Voldemort�s hierarchy than his pathetic rival was in one year of total dedication. But as said before, he had other things to do.
He graduated from the school and married Narcissa. This happened a few months after his old father mysteriously died, few time after he was old enough to inherit. Five years went on with nothing interesting really, excluding a few meetings with Severus during which they caught up on old times. Sev would laugh and call him Lucifer, an old nickname that went back to schooldays.
Then Draco was born. He had sworn to himself that when he had a son he�d do a better job of raising his son than his father had done with; Lucius had practically raised himself. But he hadn�t expected it�d turn out the way it did.
It wasn�t that fatherly love at first sight of the baby creep. To start with, he was pleased that the baby looked so much like the father. He named his son Draco Lucifer Malfoy, half thinking of Severus and half wanting to put something of himself on that little silvery-haired thing. Foolish act maybe, marking his territory. As Draco grew, he found out that the boy had potential equal to his own if trained properly. And so he decided to take matters on his own pale, long fingered hands.
At age 2 Draco could speak both Latin and English. Greek was next, and all of the languages Lucius himself spoke. He was pleased to see how quick-thinking was the boy. And even more pleased when he found out that the only thing Draco would ever fear was his disapproval. The boy could bear little time of Crucius at age 5 showing no signs of pain. Lucius� heart nearly went out to him one time, when after being cursed for almost one minute Draco managed to smile and ask in a perfectly controlled voice, "Did I do fine Father?", and Lucius wanted nothing more than to embrace him and say "Yes, you have been doing excellent my Dragon, you�re outstanding and I�m blessed that you are my son." But instead what came out was, "Quite, Draco, quite. But you have to work on that lip biting, otherwise people will see that you are in pain, my son." He felt his heart sank because Draco was lowering his head as he spoke. But when that �my son� was said in a softer voice, the boy looked up, eyes bright. "Yes Father."
That was when he learned that he loved his son. The boy had been sensitive enough to catch the smallest display of affection in his voice. And although he told himself that he�d have to watch his words carefully from that day on, he was immensely satisfied with Draco.
He found that his son and heir was the only person alive that could make him angry or disappointed. Because no-one else could reach his heart. And being so, he demanded a lot from Draco. He had to live up to the Malfoy name. "Top every class at school, play Quidditch. And most importantly, learn how to read and use people. Don�t trust anyone until they owe you something, Draco. That�s when you have control. And even then, don�t trust people too much. Don�t tell them your plans, and find a way to make them tell you theirs. Twist that to your favour. Twist everything around you to your favour. And, if you ever have to duel a Gryffindor, give him hell. And if anyone that is more powerful than you try to hurt you, be sure that they�ll have to answer to me. Sleep tight, my son. My Silver Dragon..."
Anyone who tried to hurt Draco would suffer Lucius Malfoy wrath. A smile came to play on his lips every time he thought about how the mere insinuation that he�d use his wand against someone could put people in extreme terror. Did he have such a bad reputation? Well, someone who tried to touch his son would have a really good reason to run and hide. That half-giant Hagrid had learned it the hard way.
When Draco reached age to attend school it was no big surprise that he was sorted into Slytherin. And Lucius liked it that his son would have the company of Severus Snape during his schooldays, as he himself had had. Snape was the only person Lucius would trust to look after his son. He knew that he didn�t need to ask him to do so. Predictably enough, Severus would see Draco as a young version of Lucius and that�d be enough for him to love and protect the boy. Severus Snape could surprise Lucius many times, but where the love that he held for the Golden Boy was concerned Lucius could foresee his actions with ease. So when Draco told him that Professor Snape protected him, Lucius asked him if he had any idea why.
"He protects us Slytherins against the Gryffindor favouritism. I wonder why he hates is so much." And Lucius had decided to leave him believing that, at least for a while. But when asked the same question 3 years later, Draco answered in a completely different way.
"Because he�s all over me. Not me, you. He sees you in me, and therefore he fancies me."
"And doesn�t that bother you?"
"Not much, really. He�ll keep it to himself, I�m sure no-one else knows. And he still won�t let me win when we play chess, if you know what it means. I venture to guess that it didn�t bother you either, did it Father?"
Lucius had agreed, immensely pleased both with his son�s reading-people skills and Snape�s attitude. He knew what it meant, Sev not letting him win chess matches. That Severus still put his head before his heart, and although he�d do everything in his power to protect Draco he respected the boy�s abilities and knew that he could stand for himself. And more importantly, he was willing to teach Draco to do so.
But whilst Lucius loved his son very much, he couldn�t give him all the attention and time he would have liked to. He knew Draco could stand it, and that he would have to understand that his father had other plans going on. Such as bringing Voldemort back.
He wasn�t the one who did it, although he did try. Pathetic Wormtail, together with Barty Crouch. They nearly killed Harry Potter in the process. His son had an immense dislike to the Potter boy, which pleased Lucius. One thing that did not please him was Crouch bewitching his son to turn him into a ferret. He knew that Crouch was very resentful of the Death Eaters that had not gone to Azkaban. He did not understand, Lucius thought angrily, that one had better things to do with his life than sacrifice it just to show the world that he supported the cause of Muggle Extermination. Things such as look after the family, and be prepared to go back to the service of the Dark Lord on the moment he came back. And Lucius liked to think that he had done a good job of both. And a great job of Crucius on Crouch after he found out that he had been the one to inflict pain and humiliation to his son. Barty had thought that he could get away with it by being Voldemort�s favourite when the Dark Lord came back, but he did not know how far Lucius Malfoy would go to protect his son and make sure one would never hurt him twice. Because if it depended on him one would not live enough to. He went to Azkaban to pay Crouch a visit after Snape told him what had been going on during school year. Having enough connections with both the Light and the Dark Magic, it was easy enough to enter the prison. Lucius hated the place, but he would not spare Crouch. Nearly killed him, actually.
He had great plans for Draco. Of course the boy would be taking up family business and was to be made a Death Eater. The last part had taken a big deal of thought and time from Lucius; he hesitated to let his son exposed to Voldemort. Because one needed to have very strong willpower not to be practically brainwashed by the Dark Lord. However Lucius told himself that Draco was strong. And that he�d be there.
Two years passed since Voldemort rose, and Draco was now on his 6th year. Lucius had been made a Death Eater that same year. And so he waited for the night when the Mark was darker, the night that it had gloated on his arm for the first time, the night after his birthday, which was on January 8th. On that night, he told Draco, you�ll enter the service of the Dark Lord. "It will not be pleasant, but Malfoys can stand pain. And listen, Draco, do not show him pain or fear. He takes pleasure on both, even more when they�re combined. I have never given him the pleasure to see me finch. You�re strong and you can do it. I�ll be there all the time, think of it, I�ll be there with you all the time."
These words were similar to the ones he had used with Sev. But the situation was completely different. At the time Lucius had wanted someone he could talk to and that would not represent a danger to him. Severus filled in for both. But with Draco it was infinitely more complicated. He was about to give Voldemort the chance to toy with the thing he endeared the most. It would be dangerous. Voldemort loved twisting things to make his servants dependent on him, and most of them loved him nearly as much as they hated him. It didn�t work with Lucius. And he would make sure that it didn�t with Draco either. It came down to it. And Lucius Malfoy would do anything in his power to keep his son with him and, most importantly, safe. Because Lucius loves Draco above all else. Not that he planned it though, it just happened...
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