Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Loved	By : Dazzlious Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 5761 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
- 11
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- 13
Lucius tried hard not to grit his teeth as he stood in the lift on the way to their meeting with the Department of Contracts on the seventh floor. Crystal’s incessant chatter, annoying enough at the best of times, was downright infuriating this morning as she kept wittering away about the baby and the success of their pairing.
Fortunately, she hadn’t alluded to Julia again otherwise Lucius would probably have lost it with her completely, so eager was he now to divest himself of the obnoxious bimbo. But she had insisted on clinging tightly to him and simpered at everyone who looked at them, and plenty of people were. This was a regular occurrence and usually Lucius was happy to bask in the glow of attention, but right now he wished he could disappear into the woodwork. He just hoped that Ginny and Julia were on their way.
His mood wasn’t helped by the message he had received from Draco when they arrived at the reception. According to his son, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic, had been in a meeting off-site all morning and Draco hadn’t yet been able to gain his agreement for Lucius to be removed from the eligibility list.
Although Draco was still confident that agreement would be given, he had been unable to ascertain what time Kingsley would be returning to the Ministry. Lucius hoped it was before he had to give up his wand. He had grown particularly fond of it even though he had only had it for a few years and would be devastated if the Ministry destroyed it and then afterwards rescinded their sentence of exile.
The lift finally arrived at the floor they wanted and the doors opened. Lucius and Crystal followed another couple out of the lift and down the corridor towards the reception area for the Department of Contracts. From the body language the couple evinced it was clear that their relationship was no more of a success than his and Crystal’s, and Lucius wondered whether they too would be gaining an annulment. He shrugged Crystal’s hand from his arm as they waited in the queue to get booked in for their appointment, then he deliberately chose a single seat in the waiting room so Crystal couldn’t reclaim her grip on him.
Lucius was determined to be even-tempered when they had their meeting as he needed to be at the top of his game to deal with the criticism he would surely receive when it was discovered what he had done to prevent Crystal conceiving. Even the fact of her own duplicity wouldn’t assuage that guilt in the Ministry’s mind, and losing his temper wouldn’t make them any more receptive to his request. He just had to think about Julia and the fact that hopefully within the next hour she would be his wife again and everything in his life would finally be perfect once more.
He closed his eyes and thought of the beautiful woman he was so in love with, remembering her as she had been when he had left her the previous morning. He had shamelessly attempted to keep her in bed, his fingers and tongue working their magic to give her the pleasure he so enjoyed bestowing, even though he knew she had to go to work. She managed to resist him quite well although she didn’t object when he joined her in the shower and she ended up being half an hour late leaving, which he couldn’t help considering a small victory.
Lucius was looking forward to tomorrow morning when neither of them would have to get up. In fact, he could easily imagine them spending the entire day in bed — he certainly wouldn’t get bored. Thinking about a day spent doing nothing but making love to Julia made him wonder whether she had actually told St Mungo’s she was getting remarried and would be taking some time for a honeymoon before resuming the work pattern she had been on during their previous marriage. He would need to check. If need be, they might have to take a detour to visit his friend, the Director of the hospital, on their way home.
Of course, knowing Julia, it was probably more likely that she had submitted her resignation in readiness for their theoretical move to the Muggle world. His beautiful wife was nothing if not a pessimist. But he sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case. Although it would suit him if she no longer worked at all, he was aware that being stuck in Malfoy Manor with nothing much to do would drive Julia crazy. The truth was that she really was happier when she was busy, even if it was only working from an office within the manor. It looked like a trip to St Mungo’s was on the cards regardless of the outcome.
Lucius turned his mind back to Julia, who on the occasion he was remembering was dressed in nothing but fine silk stockings encasing her beautiful legs — tied, just as her arms had been, to the posts of their bed. He grinned as he sank into the memory, enjoying once again, even if only cerebrally, the pleasures of her soft skin.
‘What are you thinking about?’
A grating voice suddenly broke through Lucius’ thoughts and the vision of Julia melted away, leaving him a little disappointed. He looked at his watch. There were seven minutes before their appointment was due to start. The other couple who had arrived at the same time as them had already disappeared into one of the offices.
‘I’m thinking about how much I’m going to enjoy my freedom from you,’ Lucius told Crystal candidly. ‘By my reckoning we’ve got about another thirty minutes before this stupid charade is finally over for good.’
Crystal looked shocked at his comment but after a moment she rallied. ‘Are you saying you think the Ministry will annul our marriage? You know that’s not going happen, Lucius. I’m pregnant. That ensures that we stay bonded forever, whether you like it or not.’ She paused for a moment and looked as if she was thinking, then added, ‘I thought you were happy about the baby. I thought this was going to be a new start for us.’
Lucius’ face held an expression of withering contempt as he regarded the young woman on the chair opposite him.
‘Whilst you are indeed pregnant, Crystal, I know the baby isn’t mine and after a couple of minutes in there,’ he motioned towards the offices, ‘the officials will also be fully apprised of the situation. As I am unwilling to accept responsibility for the child, the Ministry will have no choice but to annul our union, especially once they realise how much danger you’ll be in if you stay at Malfoy Manor.’
‘Of course the baby’s yours,’ Crystal said, using her most saccharine voice. ‘Who else’s would it be? I haven’t been anywhere near another man in two years . . . since I married you, in fact. And if you think you’re getting rid of me that easily, think again, Lucius. Who do you think the Ministry will be more likely to believe?’ She affected a wistful, girly look and said in a small voice, ‘I fell completely in love with you — and let’s face it, we did it more than enough times for me to get pregnant. A few tears and a statement of disbelief that you could do such a terrible thing to me and they’ll be putty in my hands.’ She gave a wicked smile.
‘And I’m equally certain that once they’ve heard about the measures I took to ensure that you couldn’t get pregnant by me, they’ll fully understand that any statement you make about having been completely faithful to me for the last two years is a lie.’ Lucius gave his own wicked grin and added, ‘Let’s face it, Crystal, you’re nothing but a cheap, gold-digging little tart, and you’re desperate enough to try anything to hang on to my money. But that isn’t going to happen. Anyway, even if you do attempt to sway the Ministry to your side, they’ll remind you that the death charm no longer exists, so there’s no possibility of me dying, too, should you have an unfortunate accident.’
Crystal’s face paled as she gazed at Lucius. ‘You wouldn’t dare,’ she whispered.
Lucius gave another grin. ‘I’m going to be remarrying Julia once our sham of a union has been annulled. I know that you’re perfectly well aware of my feelings for her and that I will do absolutely anything to ensure that happens. Believe me, Crystal, you are not going to get in the way of our wedding.’
Crystal frowned. ‘But Julia can’t have children,’ she said. ‘So she’s not on the Ministry’s eligibility list, is she?’ She gave a nasty smile. ‘Even if you manage to get rid of me, Lucius, you still won’t have her. The Ministry will just pair you with someone else instead, and then you’ll be back to square one.’
Lucius shook his head. ‘That isn’t quite true. I don’t need Julia to be on a list. She’s my wife and always has been, whatever the bloody Ministry of Magic think and nothing will change that. If they attempt to re-bond me I shall give up my wand. The two of us will live just as happily together in the Muggle world as within the wizarding one.’
Crystal looked completely stunned at Lucius’ comment.
‘But what about Malfoy Manor?’ she asked.
‘Draco and Ginny will inherit early. It’s passed down through the family and was always going to go to them eventually. They’ll just move in sooner than originally anticipated. It’s no big deal. But to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to come to that because I think the Ministry will allow us to remarry.’
Crystal snorted and said condescendingly, ‘They won’t change the law for you, Lucius. Remember, I was in the room last time, when you were begging so pathetically for that bloke to let you have another two years with Julia. They weren’t very sympathetic then, were they?’
Lucius shrugged. ‘As I said before, I don’t really care. I’m going to remarry Julia one way or another, and if the Ministry don’t like it they can lump it.’
Movement at the door drew Lucius’ gaze away from Crystal and his face broke into a beaming grin as he saw Julia and Ginny enter the waiting area. He stood up and went over to them. Crystal stayed where she was, looking extremely unhappy at the new arrivals.
‘You look gorgeous,’ Lucius told Julia as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her. ‘You’re just in time. I was explaining to Crystal why our relationship is over.’ He released Julia and gave Ginny a hug, too.
‘Draco will be up shortly,’ Ginny said. ‘Kingsley’s due back any minute, and Draco and Harry are ready to pounce on him when he arrives.’ She looked anxiously at her watch. ‘When’s your appointment?’
‘Any time now,’ Lucius said with a shrug. ‘As soon as one of those doors opens, I imagine.’
A couple of minutes later one of the doors did open and a man with long brown hair and a matching bushy beard, wearing a plain brown robe, stepped out.
He looked around for a moment, then asked, ‘Mr and Mrs Malfoy?’
Lucius held his hand out to Crystal for the first time ever and helped her up from her seat.
‘Shall we go and get this over with?’ he asked pleasantly.
Crystal scowled. She had been so sure her plan would be foolproof and see her settled for life, yet somehow Lucius had managed to outsmart her. She had no idea what he had done to stop conception but she didn’t think he was bluffing about knowing the baby wasn’t his.
But where did that leave her? She was about to lose all of Lucius’ money and the roof over her head and she would still be pregnant, and to make it worse, all alone. In the space of a few minutes her entire life had completely crumbled. And just to really put the capper on things, she was there. The bloody woman had been nothing but a thorn in Crystal’s side for the whole of her marriage.
Julia turning up here had been completely unexpected as Crystal had been sure she had walked away from her life with Lucius. She hadn’t even continued her friendship with Ginny and Draco after the events at the wedding. But here she was, large as life and all dressed up ready to remarry Lucius.
It had been enough of a shock to hear Lucius, who everyone knew was the world’s biggest Muggle-hater, talking so blithely about moving to the Muggle world in order to be with Julia — although, of course, Crystal had known that Lucius was in love with the woman. She remembered his pathetic and downright embarrassing pleading with the official just before he had submitted to marriage to her.
That had been enough to convince her that she was onto a sweet deal with him and that the unsuspecting older man would succumb easily enough to her charms, and if not would be easy enough to put one over on. But instead, the canny old bastard had caught her out and now she was going to pay for her deceit . . . unless he really was bluffing about the baby.
The only thing she could do was play it by ear. Once she heard his defence she would have to string together a credible story in a hurry or she was finished. Holding tightly to Lucius’ hand, she walked past the two women, her look imperious. She was determined she wasn’t going to let the looks they were giving her get to her.
Ginny and Julia started to follow Lucius and Crystal but the man in the brown robe held up his hand to stop them.
‘I only need Mr and Mrs Malfoy,’ he said pointedly. ‘You can wait out here for them.’
Lucius smiled at the man but it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Look, Mr . . . whatever your name is.’ He paused.
The man in brown said, ‘McPhail.’
‘Mr McPhail, my companions will be joining us as it will save time in the long run. You will shortly be annulling my union to Crystal here.’ He indicated Crystal. ‘As I intend to remarry my real wife, Julia, we may as well skip the formalities and have everyone in the room at the same time. Ginny is my daughter-in-law and her husband, Draco, will be joining us shortly, possibly bringing some other people with him. I have no objection to other people being present during our interview, so I assume you should have no problem with this, either.’
McPhail looked in confusion at the group. The woman holding Malfoy’s hand, the woman he was currently bonded to, was quite clearly very pregnant and he couldn’t begin to understand why the man was so convinced their marriage would be annulled. And as if that wasn’t enough, he had brought his own replacement wife with him. McPhail gave a small internal sigh. He already had a stress headache from a long and trying morning; this was just what his day needed — another difficult client.
‘This is most irregular,’ he told Lucius. ‘The interview between you and your wife is supposed to be conducted in private.’ He looked once again at Crystal’s pregnant belly. ‘If it has been decided an annulment is appropriate that will already have been taken care of and all that would remain would be to arrange your new bonding ceremonies which, with the best will in the world, is unlikely to involve a partner of your own choosing.’ He broke off again for a moment, then added conspiratorially, ‘But to be frank, Mr Malfoy, considering the condition of your wife I feel it’s unlikely that your bond has been annulled.’
Lucius looked amused. ‘We’ll talk about it out here, then, shall we? I really don’t mind, although it might embarrass Crystal a little.’
‘I can’t allow you all into the office,’ McPhail said. ‘I’m sorry but it’s just not possible.’
‘Does that Leach bloke still work here?’ Lucius asked suddenly.
McPhail frowned. ‘Do you mean Duggold Leach?’
Lucius nodded. ‘That’s the chap. Does he still work here?’
‘He does,’ McPhail confirmed stiffly. ‘But I imagine he’s rather busy. He is the head of the department, you know.’
Lucius looked commandingly at McPhail. ‘Well, run along and get him anyway. Tell him Lucius Malfoy is here and has a problem with his bonding.’
For a moment McPhail considered refusing Lucius’ request, but the bloody man obviously had no intention of backing down from his assertion that his bonding needed to be annulled, and if there really was a case to answer, Mr Leach would need to be involved anyway.
‘Wait here,’ he announced brusquely, and without waiting he walked off down the corridor towards Leach’s office.
Crystal sighed and released Lucius’ hand, sitting down on the nearest chair. She put her hand on her lower back, rubbing it.
‘What good will Leach be?’ Julia asked in confusion. ‘I doubt he’ll be any better disposed towards us than he was last time. And he was so incredibly rude, whether he meant to be or not.’
Lucius moved towards Julia and took her hands. ‘It’ll buy us a bit of time while we wait for Draco. Also, you know McPhail wouldn’t be able to make a decision on this. He’s just the monkey, not the organ-grinder, so he’d have to get Leach to sort it out anyway and it saves having to go through the whole thing twice. Don’t worry, my love, I won’t let him be rude to you this time. If he does I promise I’ll hex the bastard.’
Julia gave a small, rueful smile as she shook her head. ‘Please don’t do that, otherwise it might prejudice his decision . . . and I don’t want you ending up in Azkaban. I might be prepared to move to the Muggle world with you, Lucius, but I certainly won’t go to prison with you.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lucius crooned as he pulled her closer. ‘A nice, comfy little prison cell. I bet we could have lots of fun in there.’ He bent to kiss her.
‘Mr Malfoy.’
A resigned sounding voice broke the moment and Julia pulled out of Lucius’ arms and moved back to stand by Ginny. Lucius straightened up and stared at the newcomer, taking in the lanky frame dressed in royal blue with the shock of straw-coloured hair. He smiled coldly as he held out his hand.
‘Ah, Mr Leach. What a pleasure to see you again. Now, I have a little problem I’m hoping you might be able to sort for us. Shall we go into one of the offices to discuss it or do you want to stay out here? Either is fine for us.’
Duggold Leach shook Lucius’ hand for a few seconds as he rapidly assessed what was happening in the room. While the waiting area was currently empty it wouldn’t necessarily stay that way for long; he was aware that there were people in some of the other interview rooms who would be leaving within the near future, too.
Additionally, remembering his previous run-in with Malfoy he didn’t expect this to be a matter that could be sorted easily or quickly, at least not as easily as it should be. Whilst it looked pretty clear-cut to him, the man obviously once again didn’t agree with the Ministry’s assessment of the situation and just as obviously intended to complain about it.
Leach had no idea who one of the extraneous women was, but Malfoy’s previous wife, the one he had fought so hard to stay bonded to the last time they had met, was the other. Leach’s heart sank as he looked at the woman. She was definitely beautiful. He had thought that at the time of their annulment and had felt some sympathy for the couple as it was quite clear that they were in love. But as he had told Malfoy at the time, the law couldn’t be subverted just to accommodate a single person. Once you did it for one person you felt beholden to do it for another, and so on, until the law was no longer the law.
However great his sympathy he’d had no choice but to do his job and enforce that law. The woman — he couldn’t remember her name offhand — was extremely well dressed, over-dressed if anything, and with a sinking heart he realised that whatever was coming was somehow going to involve the re-bonding of her and Malfoy.
He looked at the wife. She was looking particularly unhappy, which he could completely understand considering her condition and what was going on with her husband. Obviously Malfoy had made no effort to make a go of his relationship with her other than to give her a child, but that alone would have been enough to ensure the continuation of the union and after everything he had been through previously, Malfoy would definitely know that, so there was quite clearly something awry. Whatever the case, it wasn’t fair to either Malfoy or his wife to discuss it in public.
‘Let’s discuss this in private, shall we?’ Leach said, indicating the room with the open door that McPhail had emerged from.
‘We should have some others joining us shortly,’ Lucius told him as Leach led the group towards the room with McPhail bringing up the rear. ‘My son is currently waiting to talk to the Minister for Magic, but he shouldn’t be too much longer.’ He waited, allowing the others to enter the room before him.
Leach frowned when Lucius mentioned the Minister for Magic. Oh, Merlin, he hadn’t got him involved in this, too, had he? Great, that would mean even more work for him. It was now more important than ever to ensure that he gave the man a fair hearing and followed the letter of the law exactly.
‘Do we need to wait for him to arrive?’ he asked, his tone hinting that he hoped that wasn’t the case. It was sod’s law that he had a particularly busy caseload that day and didn’t really want to spend a large chunk of it waiting for Malfoy’s relatives.
Lucius shook his head. ‘No. There’s a fair bit to cover, so it’s probably best if I go through it with you and then we’ll see where we need to go from there. Hopefully, Draco should have arrived by that time.’
There was a pause whilst Leach and McPhail went to get some more chairs to accommodate the extra people, during which the two men had a very hurried discussion about the case, continued whilst the two Ministry employees seated themselves behind the desk facing Lucius and Crystal.
Leach smiled. ‘If you don’t mind waiting for just a few minutes longer, Mr Malfoy, I’d really like to have a quick read of your file and see exactly where things stand from the Ministry’s side of things so that I can give the best possible advice after you’ve explained your perspective on the situation.’
Lucius nodded graciously and smiled back. ‘Of course. I’m happy to wait if it means getting justice for the way the Ministry of Magic has treated us in the past.’
Leach ignored the jibe and picked up the folder that was on the desk, scanning the documents within as rapidly as possible to remind himself of the case although he hadn’t really forgotten much of the history. As he reached the current partnership he discovered that, as anticipated, due to Crystal Malfoy’s pregnancy the Ministry had not annulled the union. Theoretically, all there was to do was to remind the couple legally that the death charm had been removed and send them on their way with congratulations for a successful bonding. But obviously it wasn’t going to be that easy; asking the question he was going to have to ask would be sure to open up a whole can of worms.
Leach looked politely at Lucius once more. ‘As I’m sure you are aware, Mr Malfoy, this interview is really just a formality. As it’s quite clear that your wife is pregnant, there has been no requirement for an annulment. Therefore we need only fulfil our legal obligation of assuring you that the charm which was placed upon you for the first two years of your union has now been removed and you are, as far as the Ministry of Magic is concerned, free to go about your business with no further intervention from us. However, I understand you have some query about your bonding that you wish to raise.’
Lucius nodded his head. ‘Firstly, I should point out that Crystal is not my wife, nor will she ever be. Julia — who I am sure you will remember from last time we were here, as you were so rude to her — is, as I told you at the time, the only woman I accept as my wife, and that situation hasn’t changed.
‘It’s true that Crystal is pregnant. However, the child isn’t mine and I refuse to take responsibility for or have anything to do with it. That being the case, we as a couple have failed to conceive a child within the specified time limit and therefore have not met the terms of the stated contract. Under the Ministry’s own rules this means that our bond should be annulled with immediate effect.’
Leach didn’t say anything immediately but looked appraisingly at both Lucius and Crystal as if gauging their reaction. It was clear that Malfoy believed implicitly what he was saying, although he had as yet offered no proof as to why he wasn’t the father. Crystal appeared to be rather upset at her husband’s comments, but that wasn’t really much of a surprise considering what Malfoy had just inferred about her. If what Malfoy had said was true, then he was right that the bonding would be invalid and the Ministry would need to act accordingly. He, therefore, needed to hear more on the issue before he could make a decisive judgement.
‘And what have you to say about this matter, Mrs Malfoy?’ Leach asked Crystal.
Crystal knew she had to be careful. If she said the wrong thing now, she could be proved a liar. She had to stay calm and be noncommittal until she heard Lucius’ story and could work out one of her own that would counteract his assertion that he wasn’t the father. Willing herself to cry, something she had always had a talent for, she shook her head as she looked at the officials behind the table, wiping away tears as she stammered, ‘I can’t . . . I just don’t understand . . . .’
‘It’s all right, Mrs Malfoy,’ Leach said soothingly. ‘Please calm yourself.’
Crystal pulled a handkerchief from her handbag and began to dab at her eyes, sniffing occasionally as she did so.
‘Mr Malfoy, as your wife is not in any fit state to talk at the moment perhaps you can explain to us why you believe you are not the father of her child,’ Leach suggested.
Lucius gave another pleasant smile. ‘I shall be most happy to do so.’ He glanced at Crystal for a moment then turned back to the officials. ‘I can guarantee the child isn’t mine because I am infertile.’ He saw Leach look as if he was about to say something and continued, ‘Yes . . . I know I already have a son from my first marriage, so obviously I was able to conceive previously. But when you forced me into bonding with Crystal you gave me no choice. There was no way on earth I was going to stay bonded to her for a moment longer than I had to and it was vital there was no possible chance for her to get pregnant. So I went out into the Muggle world to visit a medical clinic where I was given a vasectomy. I don’t know if you know what a vasectomy is?’
McPhail looked bemused and Leach frowned.
‘I believe I may have heard the term before but I’m not entirely sure what it is, so perhaps you could enlighten us,’ Leach said.
‘Certainly. As you will recall, the Ministry insists that a couple has to have made adequate attempts to conceive before they will consider annulling the bonding. This obviously meant that I couldn’t just refuse to have sex nor could I use a contraceptive charm as that would surely be picked up . . . and, of course, those have been known to fail, especially if the other partner is using something like a fertility charm at the same time.’ He glanced again at Crystal, who was trying hard not to look guilty. ‘In the Muggle world, men who no longer want to have children and who want a fool-proof method of contraception submit to a minor medical procedure called a vasectomy in which the tubes inside the scrotum are cut and tied, stopping the sperm from escaping. The procedure doesn’t take long to perform, is not overly expensive or painful, and is completely undetectable once completed as it doesn’t stop ejaculation, just ensures that the sperm aren’t released. Hence, it was a useful way to get round the problem of having to try for a baby and yet ensure that it didn’t happen.’
‘But surely no method is one hundred percent effective,’ Leach said. ‘There must be a slight possibility that there was an accident which resulted in your wife’s pregnancy.’
‘Ah, no.’ Lucius replied smugly. ‘You see, a vasectomy is the closest thing to perfect contraception you can get. It’s true that very occasionally it doesn’t work properly and there is a random pregnancy, but that almost always occurs within the first few months of the operation happening and is usually because the procedure hasn’t been done correctly. But even if that were the case it certainly wouldn’t happen after eighteen months. Anyway, I was thoroughly checked at regular intervals and it was confirmed that my sperm count was zero. Because of that I am absolutely certain there is no way the baby could possibly be mine.’
Leach looked at Crystal, who had paled considerably at Lucius’ explanation. He was fairly certain that Malfoy was correct and the baby wasn’t his but without concrete proof, unless the wife confessed to her infidelity there wasn’t really very much they could do about it except to censure Malfoy for his attempt to subvert the law, and they were going to have to do that anyway.
‘Do you have anything to say at this point?’ he asked Crystal. ‘Would you like to explain your side of things now that we’ve heard Mr Malfoy’s accusation?’
Crystal looked panicked for a moment but she had been thinking about what to say all the time Lucius was speaking. She knew Ginny and Draco, and probably Lucius and Julia, too, thought her stupid, but whilst she would be the first to admit that she wasn’t particularly clever, book-wise at least, she had researched the bonding law thoroughly and was aware that without incontrovertible proof there was nothing the Ministry could do unless she confessed.
If she stayed silent there would be no annulment — although remembering Lucius’ threat, that would leave the problem of how she would survive now the death charm was no longer in place. She would just have to hope the threat of what the Ministry would do to Lucius if anything happened to her would be enough to protect her from his wrath. She would need to be careful not to overdo the denial though or it would seem false and then, just maybe, the Ministry would feel moved to investigate, and if that happened they might actually track down the real father, even though he had been well paid to keep quiet.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Crystal told Leach using her weakest, girliest voice. She still sounded tearful. ‘I haven’t done anything and I don’t understand why Lucius is being like this. I thought he was happy about the baby. He’s never mentioned anything about any of this. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.’
‘You haven’t mentioned your suspicions to your wife before?’ Leach asked Lucius, sounding curious.
‘I told you, she’s not my wife,’ Lucius stated coldly. ‘And no, I didn’t tell her I knew because I didn’t want to give her a chance to think of some ridiculous excuse to tell you. The important people in my life knew, and that was all that mattered to me at the time.’ He turned and gazed fondly at Julia for a moment.
Crystal looked at Lucius with surprise. Draco and Ginny had known about the baby and yet not one of them had let it slip. She turned to look at Julia, too, and realised it wasn’t a surprise to her, either. But that would mean that she and Lucius had been in contact after the wedding. She hadn’t disappeared from their lives after all.
‘Anyway, not telling her also gave us time to track down the real father.’
Crystal felt her blood run cold. If they had managed to find him and convinced him to talk, the deception was over. There was nothing she could do but accept defeat. But that would be a really bitter blow.
‘And did you find the father?’ Leach asked interestedly.
Lucius shook his head. Crystal relaxed and her heart, which had started beating faster at the thought of being caught out, slowed once more.
‘No,’ Lucius admitted. ‘I’ve been given several leads, but considering the amount of my money Crystal has spent over the last two years I imagine he’s been very well paid to keep quiet. To be honest I wasn’t that bothered about finding him, as I knew that if it came down to it I could always prove that I wasn’t the father.’
Leach looked interested. Crystal looked worried again.
‘How can you prove it?’ Leach asked.
‘The Muggles, who are far more ingenious than I ever realized, have a test to establish paternity. It doesn’t take long and is completely accurate as it’s based on the DNA of the father. I am more than willing to undergo this test, as it will prove once and for all that I am not the father of Crystal’s baby. I think we can probably all agree that a refusal to take the test on Crystal’s part would be an admission that I am not the father, can’t we?’
Leach thought about it for a moment and then nodded. ‘I think that would be a fair enough assumption. And how long would it take before this test could be done and the results processed?’
‘The clinic I used for the vasectomy would be able to do the test as soon as we can get there, and the results could be provided within a couple of hours as I am more than willing to pay the necessary fee to get it processed immediately. Certainly, if we went now we would have the results before the end of the working day, and in time for the union to be annulled today. I really don’t want to be bonded to this woman for one minute longer than I have to be.’
Leach looked at Crystal. ‘I assume you are willing to get this test done to prove the paternity question beyond doubt?’
Crystal didn’t answer immediately as she debated what to do. Lucius had beaten her. There was no way she would be able to fake the test, and while it would delay things by a few hours her marriage to him would still be over before the end of the day. She could drag things out by insisting on the test, but he had plenty of money and it wouldn’t bother him to spend whatever he had to in order to get rid of her.
Making him wait would delay his attempt to remarry Julia, too, which Crystal could do to get her revenge on them, but Lucius was as single-minded about achieving that as he was about proving her a liar. She could easily imagine him just deciding to up sticks to the Muggle world in order to make sure that went through today as well, rather than arguing any further with the Ministry about whether or not they could remarry. It seemed that Lucius’ dislike of Muggles wasn’t anywhere near as severe as had been made out by the newspapers, as he was content to rely on them — and for medical matters, too.
Even she had to admit the vasectomy had been a genius move. If she hadn’t been so intent on keeping hold of Malfoy Manor and the money that went with being his wife, no one would ever have known their attempts to conceive had never had any chance of success, especially when Lucius had been so diligent in making sure they had tried at the most likely times for conception. Certainly, it would never have occurred to the Ministry that someone could be that duplicitous, especially someone who apparently hated Muggles so much.
For a few seconds she wondered whether Lucius had lied about when the vasectomy had been done and had in fact done it when he was with Julia and that was why she had never conceived either, and unexpectedly found herself feeling sorry for the woman. If things had gone according to Lucius’ plan Crystal would have found herself in the same boat as the older woman and might, as Julia had done, have thought she was unable to have children. If that was the case it was a very cruel thing to do to both of them. How would Julia feel if she discovered that the man she loved so much had deceived her that way?
Crystal realised that everyone was looking at her, waiting for her response. With a loud sigh she shook her head.
‘All right, I admit the baby isn’t Lucius’, but if he hadn’t gone out of his way to circumvent the Ministry law then no one would have been any the wiser.’ She looked at Leach intently. ‘I do hope you intend to do something about the fact that he deliberately attempted to stop conception?’
Leach nodded, but before he could say anything Crystal turned to Lucius.
‘So when did you really have the vasectomy, Lucius? Did you have it for me like you said or did you really have it when you married Julia? After all, she never conceived and that could quite easily be the reason.’
Out the corner of her eye, Crystal saw the look of shock that crossed Julia’s face at her comment. Had she really never considered it before? Was her faith in Lucius that absolute? She looked back at Lucius. He was clearly furious with her comment.
‘My vasectomy happened the day after you and I consummated the bonding,’ Lucius told her coldly. ‘I did use a contraceptive charm on that occasion as we had to get the consummation out of the way so we wouldn’t become ill and there wouldn’t have been time for me to recover from the surgery before that. I can assure everyone that prior to my being forced to bond with you, my tackle was in full working order.’
Suddenly angry at Lucius’ response, Crystal turned to look at Julia. Bitchily she said, ‘So you really are defective, then, Julia. I thought maybe Lucius had treated you in the same shabby way he treated me, but apparently not. You really aren’t much of a woman, are you?’
Crystal saw Lucius rear up in anger as Julia turned away in pain at her words, and she couldn’t help feeling a small moment of triumph. The bitch may have been on the verge of getting her place back within the Malfoy family, but Crystal had managed to remind the Ministry that Julia wasn’t capable of bearing children so they would have no choice but to block Lucius’ plans for remarriage. The Muggle world would be the only place for Lucius and Julia now.
Leach had been instructing McPhail to go and arrange the annulment when Crystal asked Lucius her question. As Lucius reacted, Leach stepped in to calm the man down before something serious happened that would cause an even bigger problem for him.
‘Miss Lufkin,’ he said, calling Crystal by her maiden name. Crystal looked at him in surprise. ‘Mr McPhail is about to arrange the annulment between you and Mr Malfoy. As you are pregnant, you are not currently eligible to be bonded and therefore you may now leave. I can assure you I will deal with Mr Malfoy’s unusual attempt to evade the law.’ Crystal looked as if she was about to say something when he added, ‘Please leave, Miss Lufkin. If you make any further defamatory comments you may end up in trouble yourself and we wouldn’t want that, would we?’
Crystal looked mulish but she stood up and began to walk towards the door.
‘They’re not going to let you remarry each other, you know,’ she said, sounding smug. ‘It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, Lucius — even you can’t buy off the Ministry of Magic. Enjoy the Muggle world.’
McPhail followed her out the door.
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