The Fearsome Name of Riddle

His Mother's Son

A child's forgiveness is a sacred thing. Something so easily given, a pure kindness that cannot be tainted. No matter how badly Victoria had treated him in the past, Lucius ran to her like she had loved him his whole life. Tosia might have been annoyed at losing her little boy to his mother but Victoria couldn't have been happier to spend her days entertaining Lucius. 

Pure white and purebred, the peacocks at Malfoy Manor were famous around the wizarding world. The iconic imagery associated with the house and noble family. The animals strutted around the decorative hedges like guards watching their posts, their heads bobbing with each step as Victoria watched her son imitate their movements. His white hair swayed and bounced with each large step. The green jacket of his robes bent at the elbows, his hand on his sides to make bird wings. She laughed gently as he crouched and then stood up suddenly, freezing when the birds turned to look at him. He took an overly confident step and the proud animal decided he was too close, it turned sharply and pecked his hand. 

"Away!" Victoria yelled as Lucius hid behind his arms from the bird and its flapping wings. "Away!" 

Victoria reached her son in a few steps. Large white wings flapped towards her aggressively. With a flick of her hand, she sent a spark to the ground in front of the bird's feet and it scampered off, ruffling its feathers. A few angry squarks sounded as Lucius sniffed back tears. 

"It's alright," she said, kneeling down in front of him as she tried to pull his hand from his chest. "You're alright. Let me look, I'll fix it." 

"Stupid bird," Lucius cried, letting his mother take a look at the cut on his hand as he flailed his other limbs. "That bird is stupid." 

Victoria chuckled, wiping away the smear of blood with her sleeve. It was just a small cut, the bird’s beak only just breaking the soft skin of his hand. "You must be careful, they can do some serious damage when they attack. Does it hurt?" 

Lucius sniffed as he nodded his head. She drew her wand as his small hand lay in her palm. As she traced the tip across the cut, it sealed instantly, leaving a red line behind. His skin felt so precious under her fingers, delicate and innocent. Part of her felt angry that even such a small injury had been inflicted on him. Victoria contemplated having the bird killed and cooked, but that felt like an overreaction. 

"There." Victoria smiled softly, placing a kiss on his palm over where the cut had been. "All better?" 

"All better," Lucius agreed with a small smile. 

Victoria brushed her fingers through the gentle waves of his hair, flattening it again after his arms had ruffled it. The little boy stopped crying and wiped his tears on his sleeve, the green fabric darkening where he dabbled his face. 

"Do you play with the peacocks a lot?" Victoria asked him, looking over the long waves of pale blonde hair on his head and wondering if he needed it cut. 

"There's no one else to play with here." He shrugged and kicked his foot on the grass. "And they run fast, but I'm getting faster." 

"I see." Victoria nodded with a smile, running her thumbs over the backs of his hands. "Do you get lonely?" 

"Sometimes," Lucius told her, stepping from one foot to the other. "I think Aunt Tosia is tired of me." 

"Oh Darling, I'm sure that's not true," Victoria cooed, lifting her hand to the side of his face. "If you wanted to, your aunt would love to spend time with you. I know I'm having a lot of fun now that we're spending time together.”

“Do you get lonely, Mummy?” Lucius asked, mimicking her by placing his hands on her cheeks. 

“I do,” Victoria said, smiling a little at his actions. “I used to live with your father and then he had to go away, so I get lonely without him.”