Lucius Malfoy Is My Husband

Chapter 2

The sun shone brilliantly as the clock struck noon at Malfoy Manor. Out in the garden, sitting under a large marquee, sat two very content looking men. Their eyes gazed lazily over the lake in front of them; occasionally following a butterfly as it made its way around the flowerbeds. A table stood in front of them decked out with beautiful china and a large bowl of ice cream and strawberries. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the picture at all. Harry tried to imagine that this was all that mattered. It should be all that mattered. He closed his eyes and sighed, focusing on the warmth of the day and the knowledge that he was happy, despite the feeling of disappointment every time his thoughts strayed to the Weasleys.

"This is nice," he heard Lucius mumble, sounding quite comfortable himself. Harry murmured in agreement, sloughing a bit more in his chair. "We should go for a swim in the lake." Harry opened one eye slowly, checking to see if it really was Lucius sitting next to him. Even after living with the man for over a month now Lucius still managed to surprise him. He constantly had to remind himself that Lucius had always been like this, and that it was the spells and potions used by Narcissa that had prevented him from being himself before. It was of course Lucius' own efforts to break through the binding magic of his former wife that had caused Harry to help him join the Light side and consequently fall in love with him, but he still felt surprised every time Lucius suggested something seemingly out of character.

The differences only increased of course, as time went by and the last remnants of the magic finally subsided. Lucius liked to tell Harry that he brought out the best in him, quite literally. Harry would always smile and say it had been Lucius' own strength and courage that had allowed him to break the magic and destroy Narcissa.

"We should wait for Draco," Harry remarked and got a nod in return, even though Lucius had closed his eyes and couldn't see that Harry was watching him. Another content murmur reached Harry's ears and he smiled while closing his eye again.

Draco had been affected by the magic as well, but for some reason he had managed to partly break free of it and refuse The Mark in their sixth year. It wasn't until Narcissa's death, however, that the magic let him go completely and he became free to be the Draco that had existed all along, underneath the magic. Draco seldom spoke of his actions before his defection to the Light, but no one pressed him. Lucius didn't like to speak of it either, but he and Harry had had many conversations about the things he had done under the influence by Narcissa's very Dark Magic, though they had yet to touch on the early years of the first war. Lucius had admitted that he had joined the Death Eaters of his own will as far as he could remember, but had wanted to leave when he realised what he would be required to do. His memory was, due to the magic, sporadic at best, but whenever he remembered something new he would come to Harry and they would talk about it, something Harry was grateful for.

"Where did he go? I want to swim," Lucius said, but made no move to get up or call for him.

"Relax, it's your day off. We have the whole day to swim," Harry reminded him. It was summer vacation for Harry and Draco though. Their seventh year had finished early since they both received honorary diplomas thanks to their war efforts. Now Harry was waiting for his Auror training to begin and Draco was waiting to start work with a Potions Master.

Draco was currently in the drawing room. He had sat down to read up on the seventh year potions curriculum, wanting to be prepared when he started his apprenticeship, but had dosed off. If someone had come in and seen him lying on the couch with the large volume on his chest they would conclude he was having a serious nightmare, which indeed he was. He trashed violently suddenly, enough to knock the book off and onto the floor. The thud caused him to sit up, wide awake and shaking. Almost a year after he had been freed from his mother's magic he was still having problems. When he had first felt the magic dissipate completely it had felt like waking up, like he had been chained all these years inside his mind and was finally free to open his eyes. Yet after so many months he was still having trouble distinguishing what parts of himself were his alone, and what had been caused purely by Dark Magic. He stared about the room in confusion before he realised he was safe and wasn't being threatened by his mother to take The Mark. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Draco started again. He chuckled half-heartedly when he realised what the noise was. He got up, dried off the sweat from his forehead and made his way to the front door.