Peripeteia (Malfoy Daughter Fanfic) Harry Potter, Draco, Lucius

Father and Son

At the same time Diana and Sarah were embracing in Sarah's room, Lucius Malfoy was standing outside the doorway of his own son's room, working up the courage to enter and shatter his son's perception of him permanently.

Earlier in the day, Lucius was reminded of how and why he eventually fell in love with Narcissa over the years. He remembered pouring out all the details about his conversation with Abraxas, and Narcissa stood there listening, not interrupting once. At the end of the tale, the only question Narcissa asked him was, "How much longer do we have?" She then told him that she would begin sending letters and reaching out to all her contacts in order to help control the narrative that would soon emerge. Before leaving to meet with Barnabas Cuffe of the Daily Prophet, she told Lucius in no uncertain terms that he would be the one who needed to tell Draco.

She didn't specify what time though, so Lucius naturally procrastinated doing it for as long as he could. Why should he be in a rush to forever ruin his son's image of him?

After Narcissa left, Lucius wrote two letters. The first was written in about five minutes and was addressed to Cornelius Fudge, explaining the basics about the situation and requesting that the custody proceedings be fast-tracked in order to occur during the latest time slot possible on Sunday, and for the identities of the participants involved to be sealed until a judgment is made. While the Ministry was open every day of the week, the amount of people who would be in the building on a Sunday evening would be limited, and Lucius didn't want to encounter a bunch of rifraff trying to "make conversation" with him about the proceedings immediately after, when the information would be put in the public record. The whole world would find out about it soon enough.

The second letter took significantly longer to write. It was addressed to his mother, and the wastebasket near the writing desk was overflowing with crumpled drafts by the time Lucius finally wrote one he was satisfied with.

By the time his mother's letter was sent out, an owl from Borthwick arrived with a copy of the Blood Tracing document. After reading it more thoroughly than he did earlier, Lucius immediately went about the Manor grounds and put fresh offerings in the shrines that were collecting dust. The sheer statistical improbability that both his son and daughter would happen to be born on June 3rd had Lucius convinced that he must have offended some kind of divine presence in some way. He was only placated somewhat by the time of birth listed, which cemented Diana as being younger than Draco. Having an older sibling, even a female one, could have made things a bit more complicated in regards to the inheritance.

Then, he went to the Ministry to file the necessary paperwork. He remembered the clerk's gaping expression when he told him why he was there, and made it very, very clear that the clerk must be discreet with this information and that if it was leaked, he would know who did it. He remembered Fudge stopping him in the corridor and pulling him off to the side, whispering that he would send a letter later tonight after speaking with the council, but did not expect the transfer in custody to go as smoothly as it did in previous years.

("It's because of that awful business with the Rowles and Dolohovs, you see," Fudge whispered, wringing his hands. "The public doesn't have the stomach to see something like that happen again. The Association for Muggleborns and Muggle Rights has been propping those children up as martyrs. N-not that I expect something like....something like that to happen in your reputable household, o-of course! But—you know—there is the matter of Albus Dumbledore to consider.")

After that, Lucius returned home and opened up his liquor cabinet to pour himself a much-needed glass of alcohol, his first in eleven years. And then a second. And then a third. And so on.

Lucius spent the remaining hours staring vacantly at a spot on the wall, indulging in a rather long episode of self-pity, in which his thoughts drifted to various topics. He remained in his study for some time, the only other contact he had being Dobby, who brought (slightly overcooked) supper into his study. After tasting the meat, Lucius ordered Dobby to take the paperweight and beat himself with it until his forehead was bloody, but even that did not give him the pleasure he often felt when seeing his inferiors in pain. The overwhelming dread was just too great.