nothing i wont do anymore

once upon a december

Malfoy Manor 1974 December 24th.

There was no rest for the wicked, not even before Christmas. Many, Including Lucius Malfoy were still working tirelessly at the Ministry of Magic, even on Christmas Eve. The holiday meant little to Lucius in the years before this one. His family had not engaged in gift giving in the same fashion as others. That's just what came from having money. If you even faintly desired something you went and purchased it. Wants were fleeting, as was the season.

His family's only insistence was the dinner, one he cared not for. He knew it was an opportunity for his parents to assess the success, and therefore worth of him and his brother Morpheus. The boys were close in age, with Morpheus only being eighteen months Luicus' senior and so rivalry was high. His wife was a Russian witch he met at his time at Durmstrang. Dark hair and high arched eyebrows. She laughed too loud and drank too much, according to his mother. She cared not for foreign witches bearing the name of Malfoy. Another tally under Lucius' name. His mother adored his Narcissa. Her long blonde hair and listening ears.

"Now she, she is a Malfoy Lucius." she had told him on their wedding day. "A fine match you have made."

Lucius agreed. He had thought so since his fifth year at school. Narcissa seemed to enjoy it most of all. Every time they went out together he felt her squeeze his hand tightly upon being addressed as Mrs Malfoy. Something Lucius would have never thought about without his wife.

That was one of the reasons he adored her so. She made him see things he would otherwise have never noticed.

"Look Lucius! Look at that snow sitting there on the hedge, isn't it wonderful?" she had said that very morning as he was dressing to leave. He had glanced at it and hummed.

"It is like that every winter, love." he told her gently. It still did not wipe the smile from her features. "Oh, so it will be like that next year. Splendid." Lucius thought it should stay there forever if it pleased her so.

So despite his disinterest in Christmas, he had decided in October to give Narcissa a gift she would never expect. Something that they could both cherish over the years. Of course he could not give her the singular thing she desired the most, despite them both trying.

They had been wed for almost a year now, and even still there was no sign that Narcissa had or would fall pregnant anytime soon. It had been cause of great pain for his wife, and for himself too, of course. Many of Narcissa's friends who had been wed in the year after school were already with child and it made her painfully aware of how unsuccessful they were.

"What if something is wrong with me?" she asked him. "What if I can't have children?"

"Cissa, I beg you not to worry." he said. "It is unimportant to me."

"But it is important to me, and your mother..." she said.

"I want to enjoy our marriage. Just you and I for a little bit longer. When our children do arrive, I will have to share you, won't I?" he reasoned, getting a smile out of her before he kissed her head. God, he hoped his mother did not start down this path with her over dinner tomorrow. If she did he just might have to make a scene.

He walked into his parlour and hummed. Narcissa would be out until later this evening. Good. He could survey his finished product, remove the silencing enchantments and return the elves to their employer. He walked up the stars and down the hallway. A little further down the carpeted floor was the door to their room. But that was not where he was headed. He paused at the door before and took his wand, waving it over the door. A golden sheen seemed to lift itself from the wood and vanish into the air. He nodded and turned the handle to enter. The room was exactly how he had envisioned it, from floor to ceiling. He lifted his chin to look over every inch. God he hoped that she liked it. He had tried harder than he had in any other task set for him. The thought of her stepping into this room for the first time made him giddy. But he had to wait for his wife's return.