The Alchemist - Chapter 80

[northangel27]

*Snuggles precious ickle Malfoys* 

Chapter 80

 

“Cissy…?!  Cissy!”

 

Narcissa cringed at the shrill sound of her sister’s voice in the entry, and stared over at the pale, dark eyed man quietly reading in the chair across from her.  “Now, what can she want…?” she mumbled mostly to herself.

 

His eyes lifted from the copy of The Prophet he was reading and he lifted an eyebrow.  “No doubt something unpleasant…”

 

Setting the tea cup in her hand, down in the saucer on the table next to her, she sighed.  “In here Bella!”

 

There was the sound of heeled shoes clicking hurriedly across marble and then the door to the parlor burst open.  “Where’s Draco?” she demanded.

 

Severus set down the newspaper and leaned back in his chair beside her, and she looked to him quickly before returning her eyes to her sister.  “Why?”

 

“I have news for him.”

 

“What sort of news?”

 

“News that will no doubt be of much more interest to him that it will to you…”  Bella’s eyes moved briefly to Severus, and darkened.  There was a cold insinuation in her sister’s tone that she didn’t like.

 

“What news…?”  Draco burst in behind his aunt, his eyes wide and anxious.

 

Bella sneered at Severus one last time and then swung around to Draco with an almost maniacal smile.  “The best.  Your father’s coming home.  Today.”

 

Her son’s face lit up.  “Father!  Today?!”

 

“Yes, and Antonin and Walden.  All of them!”

 

Narcissa felt her heart speed up in her chest, hammering hard against her ribs with anticipation and anxiety.  “All of them?  But how?”

 

“We’ve taken over Azkaban!” her sister bit back, impatiently.

 

“But the Ministry?”

 

“We’ve had people inside the Ministry for some time, Narcissa,” Severus spoke up beside her.  “You know that.  Yaxley has been working at building a network from inside for almost a year.  The Dark Lord felt it was time.”

 

“You knew about this?!”

 

“For some months.”

 

She looked briefly to her sister, who seemed rather irritated at this new revelation, and then turned back to Severus.  “Then why did you not tell me?”

 

“You had enough weighing on you, and it was highly confidential information.  No one was to know.”  He lifted his eyes to meet Bella’s across the room and smirked coolly.

 

She glared back daggers, and then turned back to Draco.  “Your father should be Flooing into this very room in a matter of hours, minutes perhaps.”  She reached out and brushed a nonexistent wrinkle from the front of his shirt.  “He will be so pleased that he did not miss your initiation.”

 

“Today…  Now…?”  she whispered.  She had known that the day would come when he would return to her, but in a way she had almost been dreading it.  She had become so accustomed to life without him, and perhaps too accustomed to the quiet companionship that Severus provided.  Lucius’ return was an unknown element about to be introduced into a life of relative comfort that she had managed to build up for herself over the past year.  If she ignored the constant coming and going of the creature her sister almost seemed to worship, and the small cohort of undesirable types that seemed to follow in his wake, she could almost say she was contented.  But now…

 

True, Lucius did seem to have changed somewhat.  Each month when she paid her short visit he seemed less and less the arrogant, preening and at times brutal man she had married and more and more a frightened and lost child.  But with his release, after a few weeks of the comforts of his own bed and brandy, would he revert to his old ways?  Or worse yet, she wondered, would he remain as he was - a broken and pathetic shadow of a man?  That almost frightened her more than the specter of the old Lucius.  What on earth would she do with such a man?  She had one dependant child.  She did not fancy having to take on another.

 

“Draco, perhaps we should retire to the library.”  Severus spoke beside her, pulling her attention back to the present.

 

“But father…”

 

“Yes, but I believe your father will want some time alone with your mother.  You will have plenty of time to speak with him once he has bathed and eaten.”

 

Bella opened her mouth as though to object, but then clamped it shut again.  There was really nothing she could object to in that, and Severus had no doubt known it.  They were going to leave her alone, alone to wait for him.  She felt desperate. 

 

“There’s no need for that.  I’m sure Lucius will want to see him…”  Her voice cracked and she swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry.  She eyed the brandy decanter across the room longingly.

 

Severus’ eyes flitted briefly to Bella and Draco and then came back to rest on her.  He stepped in front of her so that his back was to them, and then lowered his voice to a whisper.  “Cissa, you have seen him.  You have seen the condition he is in.  He would not want Draco to see him in such a state.  You know that.” 

 

“I…” she wanted to object, but there was nothing in what he had said that she could object to.  She glanced up at him pleadingly, but he just stared back at her, unwavering.  There was no question from the look in his black eyes that he expected her to do her duty.  Of course he would.  He had never shirked it himself, and expected no less of those he knew, especially those he cared for.

 

She nodded silently, and brought a hand up to her hair subconsciously.

 

“You look fine,” he whispered.

 

Something in his eyes gave her strength and she forced a weak smile, before nodding.  He turned back to Bella and Draco.  “Come then Draco.  I am determined that you should beat me at chess at least once before the summer is out.  It has been a terrible gap in your education.”

 

Draco followed without question, but Bella stayed where she was, a sneer on her ruby red lips.  “What was that about?”

 

“Mind your own business, Bella!” she snapped.

 

She smiled.  “I see…well, it couldn’t last forever now, could it Cissy.  I hope you remember that no matter what his current standing with The Dark Lord, he is still a half-blood.  I do hope you were using protective charms, Dear.  I would hate so to see the purity of the Malfoy and Black bloodlines so corrupted.”

 

She could feel her blood boil at the insinuation.  “Oh yes Bella, and the fact that you practically grovel at The Dark Lord’s feet like some pathetic house elf, while your own husband lies at home having to satisfy himself, that is so much more noble, so much more worthy of the Black name…”

 

Her sister’s face drained of color and her mouth drew into a hard line as her eyes narrowed.  “Be careful, Narcissa…”  Her voice was icy and lethal, and she looked almost feral.  “You may be my sister, but I think you know where my loyalties lie…”  And with that she turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her, leaving her alone in the small, sunlit room.

 

She looked around her, at a loss for what to do.  In the end she decided to sit down and finish her tea.  There was no use in letting it go to waste.

 

The hours ticked by in a seemingly endless monotony, and she had just begun to think that perhaps Bella had been wrong, that Lucius would not be coming home today, when there was a rushing sound and a flash of green light, and he was stumbling out of the hearth before her, tracking black soot all over her fine Oriental carpet.  She leapt to her feet but then seemed to lose her courage. 

 

He looked a sight; his hair was well past the middle of his back, matted and so filthy it almost looked grey rather than the pale blond she remembered, and his face was still obscured by a mass of untamed facial hair that looked nearly as filthy as the hair on his head.  They had evidently given him back the clothes he had arrived in a year prior, but Merlin knew where they had kept them while he was incarcerated, because they looked just as dirty as the rest of him. 

 

If it had been horrifying and shocking to see him looking so diminished within the walls of Azkaban, it was even more so in the stark contrast of the wealth and grandeur of their finely appointed parlor.  He looked about him, numbly, as though hardly believing that he was really back in his own home, and then, finally, his eyes found her.  He blinked once and his brow furrowed.  “Cissa…?”  His voice was hoarse from disuse.

 

“Yes, Lucius.  It…it’s good to have you home.”

 

He nodded and looked around himself again, still looking lost.

 

“Yes.  You will want to bathe, I’ve no doubt, and I can have dinner brought up.  I doubt you will want to come to the table.”  Somehow her feet seemed to suddenly work again and she strode over to the door, pulling the cord to ring for a house elf.  “Is there anything in particular you would like?”

 

He just stared at her.

 

“Oh well, I suppose they barely fed you at all.  We had best settle for something simple…”  The door clicked open and an elf scurried in, bowing low before her.  “Have a bath run in my suite for the Master, and I want dinner brought up as well.  Chicken broth, bread, a little wine.  That will be all.”

 

The creature bowed low again, “Yes Mistress,” but then started and froze at the site of Lucius by the hearth.

 

“Now!” she snapped.

 

The elf started again and hurried out of the room, bowing so low that its long nose almost brushed the carpet.

 

She stayed where she was, almost afraid to approach him.  “You…you look a sight, Lucius.  Severus suggested I tried to persuade the warden to bring you some extra food, let you bathe on occasion, but I fear that the insufferable man took the inducements and did little.”

 

Still he said nothing, only stared at her with a look she had never seen in his eyes before, something so foreign she couldn’t even identify it.  “Well come then,” she said suddenly, motioning toward the door.  “Come and bathe.”  He followed after her in silence and when they finally reached the master suite, entered and stood in the middle of the room just as he had in the parlor, his feet seemingly rooted to the spot.

 

The sound of running water was still issuing from the bath beyond, and after a moment it shut off and the door swung open revealing the same elf that had attended to her in the parlor.  It started again, and then bowed backing out of the room, nearly colliding with another elf bringing the food.  “Put the tray there,” she instructed, pointing to the small table by the hearth, “and then leave.  I do not want to be disturbed again, do you understand.”

 

“Yes, Mistress,” and then that elf too was gone, and they were left wholly alone.

 

Lucius was staring hungrily over at the food, but she stared down at his soiled hands and dirt caked nails and shook her head.  “Food can wait, Lucius.  Bathe first.  You’re filthy.”

 

He nodded and stared down at his clothes, and then slowly started to unbutton his shirt.  It seemed to be causing him some difficulty, and she wondered if his eyesight was going, or whether his brain was just muddled with hunger.  Something about it tugged at her heart, and with a sigh she finally overcame her discomfort and walked over, pushing his hands gently out of the way.  “We’ll incinerate these.  Merlin knows what’s crawling in them.”  Finishing the last button, she peeled back the fabric, and gasped at the amount of weight he had lost.  He was nearly as wasted looking as Severus had been most of his life.  She could count each rib beneath his pale and filthy skin.  “Lu…Lucius…Did they not feed you at all?”

 

“Not often.”

 

His pale grey eyes looked slightly ashamed.  He had always been excessively proud of his physique.  Lean and well muscled, he had been one of the finest specimen’s of manhood she had ever laid eyes on at sixteen, and as a daughter of the House of Black she and her two sisters had already had several suitors by that age, ensuring that she had plenty to compare it to. 

 

“It’s alright,” she whispered, trying desperately to fight the tightness in her throat.  “A month or so of proper food will set you right again…  Here, let me help you.”  And reaching out again she pulled the shirt from his emaciated body, and held the offending garment between two fingers as she rushed quickly across the room and dumped it unceremoniously on the stones in front of the hearth.

 

Returning she removed his trousers as well, disposing of them in the same fashion and then returned to his side, and herded him into the bath.  The water in the tub was steaming lightly in the cool room and he climbed in slowly, but without any further encouragement.  The elves had put something scented in the water.  It smelled like lavender and the smell of it drown out the pungent tang of his sweat, and relaxed her nerves.

 

A small silver tray lay upon the counter by the wash basin and it contained a pair of scissors, two clear glass bottles, and a small folded note.  She opened it, and stared down at Severus’ scrawling hand:

 

The yellow potion is for the hair (cut it!), and the brown for the body.  Leave both on for at least five minutes before rinsing.

 

She stared down at the two bottles and then at the man hunched over in the tub beside her.  They were delousing agents, no doubt.  She cringed at the thought of what might at that very moment be crawling through his hair and the clothes she had deposited outside.  Best to do exactly as Severus instructed.

 

“Lucius, Severus has left these for you.  He says you are to…”  She stopped and stared.  He had brought his knees up to his chest and brought his head down to rest upon them.  His shoulders shook.  He was crying.  They had been married for twenty years and in all that time she had never once seen him cry – not even at his own mother’s funeral.  She had quite honestly begun to think him incapable of it.  It frightened her now more than anything else could have.

 

She had absolutely no idea what to do.  If it had been Draco, or even Severus, she would have pulled him into her arms and held him tenderly in an attempt at comfort, but this was Lucius, an entirely different breed of man – or so she had thought.  Perhaps he wasn’t so different after all. 

 

She had seen him cry once before, after all.  The first time they had ever met, in fact.  His family had only very recently come into money, and was holding a garden party at their estate.  She had been nine or ten at the most at the time, and had been following her parents and the senior Mr. Malfoy as he gave them a brief tour of the gardens.  It was at the outer most edge of the rose garden that they had come across Lucius hovering over something small, and black and abnormally still.  As she got closer she had realized that it was a small dog, evidently quite dead.  She had let out a little gasp of shock, and he had swung around, his eyes red, and cheeks tear stained. 

 

He had wiped away the tears hurriedly at the sight of the group of them staring down at him, but then his father had reached down and yanked him to his feet admonishing him with a firm box to the ears to stop groveling about in the dirt like a common elf, and to wipe those childish tears from his eyes and act like a man.  He had done so immediately, but she could still remember the look of grief and despair she had seen in his boyish grey eyes as they had first met hers.  Perhaps he wasn’t as hard as he seemed.  Perhaps there was a part of him that was that little boy still...

 

For the first time in years she felt her heart open to him.  “Lucius, I have to cut your hair.  It’s…it’s too dirty to try and salvage it.  I…I’m sorry…”  Taking up the scissors, she rolled up the sleeves of her pale blue silk gown and pulling the small rubbish bin nearby close to her, sat down on the edge of the tub.  It broke her heart as she hacked off feet of matted, lice infested hair (it was another thing he had always taken such pride in), but he remained as he was, curled into himself and silent as she worked, though his shoulders had stopped shaking almost as soon as she had touched him.  She did nothing to try and style it, only hacked off as much as she could.  The rest could wait until after she had washed it.

 

The warmth of the water had caused him to begin to sweat, and she could seen little white trails running down the length of his back where the small droplets of sweat were running down and washing away the grime on their way to joining with the softly scented water in the tub.  He sighed.  No doubt it felt a relief to be rid of the weight of the hair. 

 

“Your beard too, Lucius…”  He had sat up then, and allowed her to cut it.  He had allowed her to administer all her ministrations without comment.  All he did was to keep staring at her, his eyes burning into her with that unidentifiable look, just as they did in the parlor.  It had taken her well over an hour, to bathe, shave him and cut his hair, and when she was finally done and he was wrapped snugly in the folds of his favorite velvet robe, she had to stand back and admit that she was quite pleased with the results.

 

It was amazing how much he looked like Draco with his hair short, and though there were wrinkles around his eyes and creases in his forehead that had not been there before, and despite the fact that she had a strong suspicion that some of the fair hairs at his temples were silver now rather than pale blond, she still had to admit that though he looked starved, and a tad sickly, he was still quite handsome.

 

The food the elves had left was cold, and she had to heat it again with her wand before letting him settle down at the small table to eat it.  He ate slowly as though the energy of lifting the spoon to his lips was almost more than he had left.  She just sat on the edge of the bed and watched him.  He took spoonful after spoonful of warm broth slowly into his mouth, occasionally looking over at her, as though desperate to confirm that she hadn’t disappeared.

 

He only ate a little of the bread and a few sips of wine, but drained the crystal goblet of clear, fresh water the elves had thought to add.  Finally, setting it down, he leaned

back in the chair and looked over at her.  She smiled softly.  “You must be tired.  Draco is anxious to see you, but Severus told him he needed to wait until you were yourself again.”

 

“Severus?”

 

“Yes.  He’s staying here for the time being.  It is the safest place at present.  He’s just downstairs with Bella and Draco.”

 

Her husband’s brow furrowed and he shook his head.  “What…?  I don’t…”

 

“It’s why you’ve been able to come home to us, Lucius.  The take over of the Ministry has begun.  Severus killed Albus Dumbledore a little over a week ago, and now everything has been set in motion, it seems.  It’s really happening – really all happening at last.”  She forced a tone of excitement she didn’t feel.

 

His eyes widened.  “Albus Dumbledore is dead?”

 

She nodded.

 

“And Severus…?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And Draco?  How is Draco?”

 

“He is…”  her heart twisted painfully at the thought of all her son had been through, all he still would be forced to go through.  “He is to be initiated.  In two days time.  He…he is no doubt pleased that you will be able to attend.”

 

The grey eyes searched her blue ones until she felt horribly exposed beneath the probing gaze, and let her eyes drop to her lap.  “You do not sound so pleased, Narcissa.”

 

“I am pleased…  Of course I am pleased!”  She knew as soon as the words left her mouth that they had been much too forcefully expressed to be believable, but his eyes simply flickered away from hers to the pile of his soiled clothes in a heap in front of the hearth.

 

“You look well, Narcissa.  I am glad that you have been well taken care of while I was away.”

 

The phrase was innocuous enough, but there was something in his tone…

 

“Yes, well Bella has been in and out.  Whenever the Dark Lord is here, she is sure to be as well.  Occasionally there will be Fraternity meetings…it has been a mostly solitary existence to be honest.  Having Draco home the last week or so has been a welcome relief…”

 

Slowly he got to his feet and she stopped talking for a moment, allowing him to lift himself to his full height.  “Are you tired?” she asked.  “If you want to sleep, I can explain to Draco.  He can see you in the morning.  It is soon enough.”

 

He nodded.  “Yes.  No doubt you will want to see to your guests.”  It was there again, the unreadable look in his eyes, the strange tone in his voice.  It looked almost like…  But it couldn’t be?

 

Standing up, she reached down and pulled down the blankets for him.  He brushed past her, his arm brushing ever so lightly against hers.  She felt an unexpected surge of pleasure.  Once he had settled, she pulled the blankets up around his chin and smiled down at him before turning to leave, but he reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her, and she turned back.

 

“Cissa…Thank…thank Severus for me.”

 

She stared down at him.  “For what?”

 

His eyes pleaded with hers, that she not make him say it, spell it out.  So the look in his eyes had been…  He did think…

 

“Oh, speaking of Severus, I forgot to tell you.  Lily Potter is alive, did you know?”  He stared at her blankly, but she continued on despite it.  “Apparently Dumbledore had her hidden all these years.  She’s been Severus’ special assignment from what I understand…”

 

Something akin to relief suddenly rushed over his features, and she let her thumb trace softly over the back of his hand.   “I’ve missed you…” she whispered.

 

The grip on her hand tightened, and he pulled her ever so gently toward him.  “Stay…stay with me, Cissa.  Please…”

 

She let him pull her into the bed beside him, where she curled up against his body and pulled his head to her breast.  She lay with him in silence until she could hear the gentle cadence of his breathing deepen, the muscles of his body relax in sleep, and then leaning down she pressed her lips gently to the top of his head before allowing herself to join him.