Stronger Than Silver

Sweet Dreams

Trigger Warnings: Bulimia, Mention of Body and Weight, Cursing

(Author's Note: I decided to add an encounter with Arthur Weasley in Lucius' dreaming state to see if it would add depth to the story or not. Hence, recovery weight gain is never easy to handle! The bloating during bulimia recovery is thoroughly insufferable, I know from experience. Just know if you're struggling, you've got this, and don't stop fighting. :) )

After reassuring his wife that everything was all right, and that he had merely experienced a minor disturbance in his sleep, Lucius drifted back to slumber.

Except instead of waking to find Lord Voldemort pinning him against the bed, he found himself in the Manor once more, facing a stanky red-haired, oh, the very abomination called Arthur Weasley. What the hell was the Weasley patriarch doing in his house?

No idea. Lucius immediately bared his teeth in irritation at the pest invading his property and stalked over to him like a vengeful spirit.

"What... are... you... doing... in my house?"

To his very indignation, Arthur did not even flinch at the man's cruel, icy tone.

Why is he not afraid of my monstrous presence?

"Why, if it isn't my pleasure to pay the dying Malfoy a visit?" the redhead smiled smugly, taking a gigantic step towards Lucius. For once in his life, he felt physically too small and fragile for his good. He no longer felt like a compact rhinoceros with a pot belly and globs and blobs of fat drooping from his flesh.

"Look at you, you skinny piece of pureblood scum," Arthur snarled, shoving the blonde man against the double doors. Lucius' eyes widened in fury. "Is this what happens to all the stuck-up bigots of the wizarding world? You are all so fixated on purity and perfection that you fuck up your body systems while you slaughter muggles and muggle-borns, hm?"

The Malfoy gasped, taken aback by the harsh comment.

It's the truth, right?

He was about to retort with an absolutely arrogant, sneaky, and slimy insult of his own, but his shattered inner self stopped him.

"Perhaps..."

Arthur's eyes shone with increased adrenaline. His face reddened to the shade of a beet. "So you admit it, huh? You admit it, you fucking pureblood supremacist nothing? Huh, is that what it is?" He began to shake Lucius' weak frame.

The blonde could only nod.

"You are fucking pathetic, Malfoy. All those years of taunting me and the other witches and wizards in our society who are actually benevolent towards the wizarding world as a whole? Are you fucking kidding me?" shrieked the Weasley.

Lucius tried to escape the older man's grasp but was not strong enough to do so.

"Now you have the guts to play the victim, huh? That's all you do, eh? Mass murder innocent souls and then play the victim when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named upturns his nonexistent nose on you?" Arthur growled, anger visibly radiating off his glowing vermillion face.

Sneering, Lucius attempted to shove Arthur off of him as best he could. "Me? The victim? Pfft, no. It's clear I'm the villain, you see, and I'm utterly fine with that. You never know what other people are going through despite their demeanors, Weasley. Not everything in this world is black and white, contrary to your uptight Gryffindor, Weasley, blood traitor, whatever beliefs. It is not a simple matter of benevolence and malevolence. Us miscreants have been wronged and can surely suffer too, I hope you are aware of that," he snarled back.

Seeing as that the redhead had no response to his argument, the blonde sighed. "Now evacuate my house this instant, or else I would have to impose violence on you even though I no longer obtain a wand."