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A Gift for a Lotus	By : FemmeBono Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 5040 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters created by Rowling. This is a free work of fan fiction.

Chapter List
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A Gift for a Lotus
Cht. 1
Lucius Malfoy, to his credit, had never had any reason to question the workings of fate or irony in his life prior to that autumn day. He had never been given reason to appreciate the subtlety of serendipity.
Sadly, he had fallen into a predictable life full of duty and expectation. He had gone to the right school, been sorted to the right house, married the right girl, produced the heir, and done his job. He liaised with the Minister and top board officials. He subscribed to the modes of thinking that reflected the times, and because of this he landed in prison.
His time in Azkaban reduced all those years of civic duty and familial obligation to naught. What made most people crazy in Azkaban was the complete loss of their happy memories. Once they had drained away, people lost themselves in depression never to return to the fullness of mind they had had. In Lucius' case, he realized that he had no such memories to lose, save one. And the only reason he never lost it was because it was not truly happy, but bittersweet.
When Draco was around five years-old, Lucius had stepped out onto the veranda to see his son flying nearly ten metres in the air on a broomstick which he knew should go only two. Somehow, the little boy had bewitched it to go higher than it should. Lucius found himself torn between paternal pride that his son's ability was strong enough to alter a powerful magical binding and irritation that the little tyke was doing something he knew he shouldn't.
When the broom tipped, and Draco spilled over its handle onto the ground, Lucius simply set his mouth in a firm line and stepped off the veranda to deal with his errant son. Draco, meanwhile, had set up a wail and cradled an apparently twisted ankle. Lucius crouched down next to the mewling child, fully prepared to deliver a terse lecture when the boy launched himself into his father's lap, knocking him onto his bum and surely soiling a brand new pair of trousers. For a moment, Lucius held onto Draco whose tiny arms circled his neck in a death grip. It was this moment that he clung to in prison, every bit as much as his son had clung to him for comfort. That one memory kept him sane, and moreover had him re-evaluating his entire life. By the time Lucius Malfoy was released from prison, he found himself clinging tighter to his family-at least to Draco.
Halfway through his incarceration, he was reminded of the ancient magic that was woven through the marital vows of older families. He was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp twang as though something magical had sprung loose. He rose up on in his cot as a light filled the room and the family patronus, a regal falcon, appeared in a strange bluish glow.
"Your wife has been found in a position of reproach. She has not remained faithful to the name of Malfoy, and as such, your marriage has summarily been dissolved."
It was in this way that he found that Narcissa had cheated. It was this news which weighed on his mind after his release, during the whole nasty year when the Dark Lord was housed in his own home, when he and his family needed each other most. They formed a necessary alliance in order to "just get through this" as they constantly referred to it amongst each other.
However, by the time the Dark Lord fell, the group that sat huddled together in the Great Hall of Hogwarts barely resembled a family. Shortly thereafter, when the subject of Narcissa's transgression was finally broached, there was not even enough heat left to summon an argument. She agreed to a settlement, part of which included their old vacation home in Majorca.
Shortly after Greg Goyle was released from prison, he and Draco rented a flat above Diagon Alley so Draco could pursue an apprenticeship in healing. He had taken to the idea of specialising in spell damage and removing hexes. He spoke to his father, always civilly, perhaps once a month. Goyle, on the other hand, secured a job at Borgin and Burkes working the stock room.
And so, three years after his incarceration, Lucius Malfoy found himself living in a marble floored home that more closely resembled a tomb. The labyrinthine passages of Malfoy Manor seemed impossible to heat and the silence felt almost palpable at times. He found himself shuffling through the dimly lit halls, stopping to talk to portraits. It was this very habit which had him shaking a head at himself and grimly grabbing his cloak and crunching over the frosty ground to the apparition point just outside his gates. Time to get out more, he told himself.
With that thought in mind, he headed into Borgin and Burkes, uttering a brisk hello to Greg who was in the shop window setting up a display, and rapped his ring on the counter for service. Alaric Carrows came out from the curtain at the back of the shop and stepped up to the register where Malfoy waited.
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy," he smiled diffidently. "It's not often we see you out and about."
"Not often enough, I suppose. How are you?"
"Well enough, well enough. And you, sir?"
"Getting on. Now Carrows, about those embarrassing items, which we discussed."
"Ah yes. I have to admit to getting mixed results with them. One has not been responding to a thing I do, and I've tried everything I know to remove any hexes. Though I'll admit to you, it is a nasty piece of work. The other, mind, has been much more cooperative shall we say. You can take it home today in fact."
"And the first, what do you recommend with it?"
"Normally, I'd chance trying to destroy it as best I could. Yet there may be another way."
"Do tell."
"Well, as it happens, that middle Weasley child who works for the Ministry is now in the Department of Histories and Antiquities. He was in here just the other day asking about dark artifacts for an exhibit at the new museum that will be breaking ground shortly. I may be able to broker a deal for you, for that and any other items you may find. I'm sure this item would fetch you a hefty sum for such a bidder."
Lucius gave barely a passing though to the withered, grisly looking hand before answering. "Fine. Get rid of it then. And I'll see what else there may be around the house."
"Wise choice, sir. I'll knock him up and see what price I can get out of him on the company dime."
"Very well. And the other?"
"Ready to go, sir," he said, reaching under the counter and sliding a box across to Malfoy's waiting hand.
"Well done. You'll bill my account for it."
It wasn't a question, but the younger man nodded accordingly. With that, Lucius nodded to the clerk and left the store. He had barely gotten steps away from the entrance when he was waylaid by a feminine voice.
"Why it's Lucius Malfoy!"
"Yes?" he turned, a hesitant smile on his face. He could not quite place the voice until he spotted her. Darienne Yaxley, a coquettish finger tracing a strand of hair at the curve of her neck, sidled up to him looking like the cat with a belly full of cream.
"Lucius! It's been ages," she said, lifting her hand for him to bring to his lips.
"Entirely too long," he said, his smile now forced. He felt it sliding off like wax, entirely too tired of pretenses and the whole silly dance of manners and etiquette. "If you'll excuse me, it may well be even longer before we can visit. I do have pressing matters to which I must attend."
Feeling that should suffice for an abrupt departure, Lucius bowed stiffly and turned away, leaving a completely baffled woman stammering, "perhaps later then" to his retreating form.
As he rushed away, promising himself a stiff drink in the Leaky Cauldron, Lucius rounded a corner only to run headlong into a very small someone. The small box was jarred from his hands and he was nearly knocked off balance, but righted himself just in time. Regaining his composure, he noted several things simultaneously. The first was a small Asian girl sitting in a heap at his feet with tears welling up in her eyes. The box had landed in the gutter, discarding its glittering contents on the cobblestone. Rushing feet and a melodious voice coming to a stop at the little girl.
"Mei Lien? Are you okay?" the woman crouched down at the child who was still staring back up at him, tears now spilling over onto rounded cheeks. "It's okay, dearest. We'll get you fixed up at once. I promise."
Then she tipped her gaze up to him, an apology dying on her lips as she realized who the child ran into. "I'm sorry, sir. She- Mr. Malfoy…" His own moment of recognition came barely seconds after hers.
"Miss Granger." For surely it was. It was staggering to think of the change that had taken place to the girl over the years. He had seen her barely a handful of times through her childhood and had noted the difference in her teeth from one meeting to the next, but now, here the child had shed her cocoon and fully blossomed into womanhood. More, the bushy unkempt hair of her youth had finally been tamed into sleek chestnut ringlets that were infinitely more becoming. Truly the difference was staggering.
Shifting his gaze back to the sniffling child, he smoothed his features and offered a hand. "And you child, Mei Lien is it?" She nodded uncertainly and he noticed Miss Granger put a protective hand on the child's shoulder.
"Now I may snarl, but I do not bite," he said, smiling winningly at the child. "Any longer," he added, with a glance to the woman staring dumbfounded at the display. "Now, let's see those hands. You hit the ground quite hard, didn't you?"
She nodded again, more vigorously this time, and set her pigtails dancing. Mei Lien sniffed once and held up both palms, which had been scraped on the pavement. Lucius pulled out his wand and muttered both a soothing and cleansing charm over them before conjuring a couple of bandages for good measure.
"I believe a nice mug of cocoa would fix it all, don't you?"
"Oh yes, please!" she cried. All reservations about him gone, she wrapped her chubby arms around his neck and linked her little legs around his waist as he rose up. She looked over her shoulder at Miss Granger, standing cross-armed on the sidewalk with a look of utter confusion and complete bafflement on her face. "Can we Mum?"
"Sure," she choked out. "Of course. Fine."
"Come along, Miss Granger," he said stiffly, memories of all their prior meetings churning through him. Perhaps in some small way he could begin to put all that right. "You look as though you could use one too." With that, he led the way to Florean Fortescue's.
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A Gift for a Lotus