from Time to Time | Lucius Malfoy

Strawberry, Lemon, Hazelnut

1961, June

"Get up, sleepyhead!" I stormed into the room of the little blond boy I had grown so fond of and ripped open the curtains. "Nooooooooo....." came a muffled sound from under the covers. How can one be so sleepy? It's almost half past seven in the morning and his father would be waiting at the breakfast table. Somehow I had to get the kid out of the feathers!

I threw open the window in the large room and let in the cool morning air. "Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. Get up now, your father is waiting!" I said in a calm voice as I walked towards the bed. I pulled the covers off the boy with a jerk and lunged at him. I started tickling him and he woke up instantly. He squirmed in my hands and laughed like there was no tomorrow. Children's laughter is something beautiful, I thought to myself...

Would I ever have children myself? Would I ever find someone with whom I would have a family, a life together, a future with everything that goes with it? At the moment I didn't really care. I had traveled back in time 30 years, accepted a job offer from a rich snob and took care of his sweet little kid. Nothing awaited me in the future. Not even in my own time was there anything waiting for me. I had thrown all my rules and resolutions overboard and had been here in the 60's for much longer than just 24 hours... And I was enjoying it. I enjoyed every single minute! I felt great. I-

"Miss Sterling! Where's my son!?" a familiar voice rumbled up from downstairs. Great, mister Malfoy must be in a particularly good mood today. His deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I sat bolt upright in bed. "We're coming!" I called back in a friendly, sweet voice. "Get up now, Lu!" I whispered to the boy, who rolled his eyes and finally got out of bed.

I helped him getting dressed like I did almost every morning, buttoned his shirt, tied his scarf, laced his shoes, did his hair and brushed his teeth. Everything that a 7-year-old could do well on his own. But Lucius needed me... his mother had died not too long ago and the boy savored every moment of affection he could get from me. He asked for help where he definitely didn't need it, but of course I was happy to do it, it was a wonderful feeling to be needed. The sparkle in his eyes when I treated him like a toddler...

Hand in hand we went down the stairs towards the dining room. Just before we reached the bottom of the stairs, I let go of his hand. Mister Malfoy didn't like it when I offered the boy too much closeness. The child looked at me sadly, took a deep breath and then marched into the direction of the dining room and greeted his father in a friendly manner, "Good morning, father!" and swung himself into his place.

Mister Malfoy nodded benevolently and motioned for me to sit down as well. "I've got work to do today, find new clothes for the child. I'll be back for dinner at 8 o'clock." Of course, he always has a lot to do and he's usually back for dinner. Not that I would care at all where my employer spends his time during the day. I just found it rather sad that he never found time for his only son.

A few days ago I had found out that Abraxas Malfoy had no steady job at all. Despite this, he left the house at 8:30 a.m. every day like someone who should be in his office by 9 a.m. The Malfoy family was more than wealthy, though I didn't know where all the wealth came from. Mister Malfoy had a more or less regular schedule. 5 times a week he left the house on time in the morning and came back in the evening. On the weekends he spent most of his time in his study or in the library. He had no concept of idleness, he always seemed extremely busy to me.

After breakfast I took Lucius by the hand and we used the fireplace in the living room to get to Diagon Alley together. "Behave yourself, be a good boy and stay polite. If everything goes well, there'll be ice cream afterwards. Do we have a deal?" I said to the kid, who looked at me with big eyes. "We have a deal!" he grinned at me.

We went from store to store getting new pants, shirts, stockings and shoes. Everything a 7 year old definitely didn't need, I thought to myself. He would definitely like a pair of jeans and a T-shirt better so he wouldn't have to be so careful while playing. But what did I know after all, mister Malfoy was the head of the house and appropriate attire was the be-all and end-all in his opinion.

I chuckled when thinking of mister Malfoy's style of dressing. He was always dressed as if he'd go out to a ball. He wore only the best of the best, his shoes were polished to a high shine and his shirts were always buttoned all the way up. The tall, mostly somber-looking man with the silver-blond hair reminded me of someone from a bygone era. His tastes were extravagant, he totally didn't fit into this century and seemed more like someone from a costume drama to me. Dance of the Vampires seemed appropriate to me. His style was off, even for the wizarding world we were living it.

I could only allow myself these thoughts when I was out of the house. On the second day after my arrival a house-elf called Dobby who used to babysit little Lucius had told me on the spur of the moment that mister Malfoy was a legilimens... One had to be constantly on guard not to think anything wrong or lewd, the master of the house loved to enter the minds of his employees and participate in the lively world of thoughts. And then hand out penalties. "Thoughts are free" was not yet known at that time. And even if. Mister Malfoy lived in his own world with its own rules anyway.

Our shopping day went well. Lucius behaved in an exemplary manner, a little charmer so to speak. Without complaining, he tried on the clothes I put out for him that neither me nor he liked but would definitely please his father.

The incident finally took its course in the ice cream shop around the corner. Although Lucius had behaved in an exemplary manner throughout the day and it wasn't his fault at all, I still remember this day forever. "Oh, misses Malfoy and young master Malfoy, what kind would you like?" the ice cream man asked me. Misses Malfoy? Oh no, I'd have to put that right! The moment mister Malfoy found out about this... I opened my mouth, took a deep breath and was about to say something when Lucius babbled on.

"I'll take a scoop of strawberries and a scoop of lemon, mummy will also take lemon and hazelnut!" said my protégé. Mummy? Did he really just say that? I was perplexed. He had said it so naturally that even I had no doubt that it was like he said. I took the cone and handed it to him without commenting on what he just said. The ice cream man smiled at me, apparently unaware of the plight. Maybe I was just overreacting inside my head... I decided not to say anything, paid for the ice cream, took my own cone and the boy's hand and together we left the store.

Like mother and son.