𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 | ℒ𝓊𝒸𝒾𝓊𝓈 ℳ𝒶𝓁𝒻ℴ𝓎

Chapter 25: Childhood

Lucius watched Catalina sleep peacefully while he was seated on a chair, next to the bed. He hated leaving her alone, he wanted her around him all the time but he knew that he couldn't. He would put her in an imminent danger if she would be to live at the Malfoy manor.

He caught a feather between his fingers and started tracing it softly on the skin of her exposed shoulder. Her skin glowed and it looked so gorgeous, she had no flaws, at least not in his eyes. It was a curse that he couldn't give her all of him and be sincere about everything. He hated himself for the way he was caught in Voldemort's claws. Yes, it was true that he joined the Death Eaters willingly when he was young, but back then he had no one to be concerned about. He didn't have Draco and he didn't have Catalina. And now all his mistakes came back, dragging him in the same spot. He didn't want to be a part of it anymore but he feared for his life, Draco's and Catalina's.

He sighed and placed the feather on the nightstand, shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts. They still had a little time left together.

"Lucius..." she murmured in her sleep.

He found himself smiling.

The older Malfoy bent down and placed a kiss on her slightly parted lips. Oh how much he wished he loved her the same way she loved him but he knew he just couldn't. He could only love her in his own way.

FLASHBACK

Little Lucius walked through Hogsmeade with both his parents, holding his mother's hand. His blue eyes scanned the crowded streets until he spotted a couple. Their display of affection was subtly but it didn't go unnoticed by the curious eyes of the five years old. He blushed.

"Mum, when I will be big, will I get a lady too?" He looked up at his mum with hopeful eyes. His mom giggled.

"Yes, Lucius. We will take care to arrange a marriage for you too." She patted her son's head.

"But can't I choose her? What if I will like another girl?" He asked curiously. His father snorted from next to him.

"Son, marriages don't last. Not marriages of love, anyway. They are just meant to preserve our wealth and give us off springs to carry out the name." His father said sternly without sparing him of any detail. "Your mother and I are doing pretty well, better than if our blood would have been mixed with mudbloods." He tapped his cane impatiently.

***

"Dad, can we go out and play?" Little Lucius held a little ball in his tiny hands.

His father had a quill in his hands, writing a letter hurriedly. "Shut up, Lucius. I have more important business than your pathetic little game." He dismissed his own son with an authoritative tone.

Little Lucius dropped his ball and tried to hold back his tears. Tough boys don't cry mama said.

***

"Your father said that he will give you the inheritance by the end of this year and it's nearly December. I cannot end the contract without it!" Lucius' father screamed at his mother while she covered her eyes and cried silently. Little Lucius was his behind the doorframe, watching in horror as his father slapped his mom after she murmured an incoherent sentence.

"Mum!" He tried to run to her but his father caught him by the back of his throat and pushed him out of his study so harshly that he stumbled and fell. His nose started to bleed, droplets of blood dripping on the wooden floor.