𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 || 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲

Chapter 19 - Care

It was almost lunch time when Ophelia finally climbed the stone stairs to the main house, where Draco sat eating his lunch happily in his own company. Seeing the boy spooning pasta into his mouth as he flicked through the pages of a quidditch magazine, Ophelia felt a ping of guilt stab her right in the stomach. Freshly showered, dried and dressed she approached the table sheepishly and took a seat opposite the boy. As she reached out for the dish of tuna pasta to help herself the boy looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Where have you been?" Draco asked with his mouth full of pasta.

"It's not polite to speak with your mouth full Draco," his father scolded as he descended the stone stairs from the upper level.

"Sorry father," Draco swallowed nervously as Lucius stalked down the long table, his cane tapping on the floor with each step. Rather than taking his usual seat at the end of the table, he sat next Ophelia on the long side facing the roaring fireplace.

"I was... out, I had some... errands to run, sorry Draco," Ophelia told the lad.

"I was also out... running errands," Lucius added with a sly twitch of his lip.

"What did you do this morning then, Draco?" Ophelia asked, steering the conversation towards him.

"I had breakfast, waited in the study room, but then I got bored and went out on my broom, then I came in for lunch."

"I'm glad you had a nice morning Draco, I'm sorry you were waiting for me," Ophelia shot a glance at the man beside her, who sat with his chin in his palm, hiding a smug smirk beneath his ringed fingers.

"It's okay, do we have class after lunch?" Draco asked, shovelling another load of pasta into his mouth.

"I believe Miss Oakham has some more errands to run after lunch," Lucius told Draco pointedly as he shot a sideways glance to the governess, who in turn almost choked on her pasta.

"No, my errands are quite finished for the day Mr Malfoy," Ophelia cleared her throat as she dabbed at her lips with a Slytherin green napkin.

"Are they? For the entire day?"

"Yes, the entire day," Ophelia said firmly, "We can do some geography after lunch Draco."

"Urgh, I hate geography, can we not do something more interesting? Like history?" Draco sighed as he shoved his cheek into his palm and rested it sulkily on the table.

Draco did two hours of geography and one hour of history that afternoon... and as it turned out, Ophelia did have 'errands' to run that night.

***

"We must stop this now, Lucius," Ophelia sighed as she stood and pulled on her underwear, being sure not to leave any evidence behind this time. Lucius sat up on his elbows from the sofa in the sitting room.

"Why prey tell? Are you not having fun?" Lucius asked with a cocked brow and knowing look. He knew she was having fun, for he hadn't had to use Severus' potion that night, or that morning in the shower, it was all of her own accord now. He wasn't about to let her put a halt to their relations just as her desires for him had finally surfaced.

"You know it's nothing to do with that," Ophelia sighed with an eye roll as she clasped her bra behind her back.

"Are you going to lecture me how 'wrong' this is again? I do feel a lecture coming my way," Lucius smirked as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her off balance to the sofa, where she landed breathily in his lap.

"Do you not feel any guilt? At all?" Ophelia asked as she looked into his blue orbs for any sign of regret or shame. But she saw none. Maybe that was her problem, she knew he had no regrets cheating on his wife, he felt no shame.

"No, and neither should you," Lucius told her as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

"Well, I do, I feel absolutely terrible," Ophelia sighed as she looked away, her attention consumed by the raging fire, she watched the flames dance and twirl among the wood, she pictured herself there, amongst the flames, burning for eternity for her adulteress sins.

"I think that's what I find so endearing about you," Lucius smiled softly as he stroked down her messy, post 'errand' curls.

"What? That I'm a guilt-ridden mess?"

"That you care so much," Lucius tone was serious. Ophelia turned her head to see a matching honesty in his eyes, a deeper more open look that had the hairs on her arms raise slightly. "The way you care about my wife's feelings, despite how wicked she is... but mostly the way you care for my son... in a way that Narcissa, nor me... are not able to."

"You care for your son Lucius, I know that you do," Ophelia told him, shaking her head. Sure, the way that he cared and showed it was... different. But Ophelia knew that he his love for Draco went deeper than the man would ever let on.

"Not in the way he deserves, not like you do, I see how he is with you, he brightens up... his eyes almost even twinkle."

"He just needs someone to listen, to pay him attention, ask how his day has been... perhaps next time at the dinner table, you could ask him what he did in the day,"

"It's not my place," Lucius said sternly.

"You're his father," Ophelia furrowed her brows.

"I'm head of this house, head of this... great family, I know my duties and boundaries... my father was the same when I was young."

"Well, that explains just about everything," Ophelia huffed, "You don't have to be like your father to be head of your family, Lucius."

"What would you know?" Lucius asked with a scowl, He sat up, forcing Ophelia to shift from his lap onto the sofa. "You come from nothing, your name means nothing... you don't have eyes in the shadows waiting to watch you fail, waiting for you to show an ounce of weakness."

Ophelia returned his scowl with one of her own, she stood, shaking her head.

"You're right, I don't come from a prominent family, I grew up an orphan for over half my life, thank you, for the reminder, Lucius." Ophelia scowled as she roughly grabbed her dress from the rug. "I may not know about the pressures of leading such a historic house, but I do know about family, and what it's like to lose them. You're risking losing yours every time we do this, and worst of all, you feel no guilt, or remorse over your... our actions,"

Lucius snarled slightly and reached for his whiskey glass on the mahogany side table, he pressed it to his lips roughly and took a long swig as Ophelia pulled her dress over her head hastily.

"You can have my letter of resignation in the morning," She hissed as she gathered her shoes.

"Again? Empty threats Ophelia, we both know you won't leave this house, for Draco's sake," Lucius narrowed his eyes on the girls retreating form.

"At the end of the day Lucius, he's not my son, he's yours, maybe if I resign, you'll actually have to step up and be a father to that poor boy." 

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A/N: Sorry this one is so short, it's more of a natural end than what I have planned for the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed! If you have any constructive criticism, idea's, favourite moments etc I'd love to hear them in the comments, thanks for reading!