TBGC

Call It Love
Chapter Two

Lucius Malfoy walked noiselessly through Hogwarts, keeping his ears open for the sound of footsteps. According to the information he had managed to torture out of his son this corridor was rarely checked, as Potter had erected so many wards and entrapments throughout it. Not even Snape or Filch’s cat bothered going up there.

Draco was now dead, laying in the dungeons of Malfoy manner until Lucius ordered the removal of his body. It had been the boy’s own fault; he had assumed that he could pretend to be paying his father a friendly visit and then sneak into his study to rifle through the paper work for useful information. What bothered Lucius most was that it had apparently worked on several other occasions. The Dark Lord had been very angry lately, trying to figure out who was leaking information, and it turned out to be his own ungrateful son. As though he hadn’t done enough, as though he hadn’t left him in the will despite his refusal to join their cause, as though he hadn’t sanctioned the boy’s choice to pursue Harry bloody Potter despite the fact it would most likely get him killed and, if the perpetual refusals were anything to go by, was not going to get anywhere.

No matter, his son was a sentimental fool who believed that what he felt for Potter was love, or some other equally unrealistic emotion. Draco could call it love, or whatever else he liked, but Lucius knew the truth of it because he had suffered from the same affliction for more than five years. Ever since his first taste of the rebellious little sixteen-year-old he had craved more, but forced himself not to take it; first because he was too heavily guarded while pregnant, and then because Draco had expressed an interest.

Now, however, there was nothing in his way. All assumed that Potter’s own paranoid nature would keep him safe. The wards were good, the traps perfectly placed, if Draco hadn’t told the older wizard where each and every trigger lay and the passwords to disable them he would have been caught by now. As it was, he’d had no such problem.

At last, he reached the door he was looking for and whispered the parseltongue password followed immediately by another English password. Parselmouth was a very difficult language to master and Lucius would not pretend that he had, but Potter had apparently trusted Draco far more than he should have and taught the blonde how to say the word just crudely enough to get him past. Possibly, he had done so because he knew that very few would believe Harry trusted a Malfoy that much or, possibly, he suffered from the same delusion as Draco had. Either way it had worked out to Lucius’ benefit.

The room was shabby and messy, Lucius nearly tripped over several items as he made his across the floor. The bed was overly lumpy, but only one figure lay in it, a small five-year-old child. Not so small, perhaps, as Draco had been at that age, but Draco’s build was much more like his mothers. Of course, that right there should have tipped Lucius off to his son’s future preferences.

He knelt beside the bed and stared at the half-covered figure. Straight, silken black hair, golden skin, glasses laying on the side of the table, sharp Malfoy nose on the otherwise rounded face. He brushed the hair from the boy’s face, feeling the Malfoy like texture on a head of such dark hair was strange, to say the least.

The eyes blinked open and he found himself staring at the same blue-grey eyes that he had, the same Draco had had. Odd, this little creature was such an obvious mix of Potter and Malfoy, of two such opposite wizarding families that it should have felt unnatural, instead it was just… perfect.

The boy sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “Who’re you? Where’s father?”

Lucius smiled, pulled from his awe by the suspicion behind the sleepy voice. No Gryffindor had ever been that suspicious without reason. “I am your father.”

“No you’re not, Harry Potter is my father.”

Smart mouthed, as well. “Your other father, Evan, you have my eyes.”

The child sniffed and his mouth perced as he thought this through. “I do not, I have big brother Draco’s eyes.”

“And where do you think he got them”

Evan stared at him for a moment, before a look of uncanny determination came over his face. “I don’t like you. Father said my other dad was bad and that I shouldn’t trust him and so did big brother Draco. Big brother Draco said that if I ever met my other dad I should scream.”

The declaration had the desired effect of stunning Lucius long enough for Evan to open his mouth and take a deep breath, preparing to do just that, but Lucius grabbed the boy’s face, muffling the noise with his palm. He cringed at the sharp little finger nails that dug into his hand as he pressed the child into the mattress and dug around for his wand. “Stupefy.”

Not the best spell to use on a small child, but very effective. He went limp and Lucius scowled down at the now sleeping figure. The little brat had left teeth marks! He looked incredulously at the palm of his hand, now imprinted with a ring of teeth before wiping it on the edge of the bed in disgust. He picked up the boy and did a quick invisibility spell, walking down the halls as quietly as possible. Potter’s sleeping quarters were surprisingly close to the exit, something Lucius doubted was coincidence.

Outside the entrance hall, Lucius handed the limp body over to a waiting house elf and scowled at it. “Take him back to the manor, lock him in his room, and wait for my return. I doubt I have to warn you about the punishment should you fail.” There was a terrified squeak and the two figured disappeared.

Now all that was left was to get his hands on Harry, a much harder task.

____________________

Harry walked through the entrance hall, looking around at the dark, evening surroundings. Everything seemed quiet enough, only a few of the students out of bed, a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff were making out in the Astronomy tower, but, other than the two houses involved, it was nothing unusual.

Turning the corner towards his rooms, he offhandedly said the first of the passwords and stopped, waiting for the familiar tingle that said it was safe to walk past. Nothing happened. He waited a few extra moments and then walked forward. Nothing, it must have been disarmed.

He was nearly ready to panic when it occurred to him that Draco was probably back and had stopped by to say hello. He knew about Harry’s midnight strolls and was most likely waiting for him with a very awake Evan. He’d have to lecture Draco about that again. Waking up a five-year-old after only a few hours sleep was not a good idea, they had the uncanny ability to stay awake, not to mention he’d left the spells down. How many times had Harry told him to reinstate them as soon as he had gone past? Honestly, Harry was going to momentarily panic either way, whether he found them inactive or walked in on someone unexpectedly sitting in his room, but he preferred them up for Evan’s safety. Not that the Dark Lord had ever tried to actually claim the child, but it was a fear that weighed heavily on Harry’s mind every day.

Opening the door into the living room/bedroom, Harry expected to see Draco and Evan sitting up on the large bed, talking animatedly. Instead, he saw nothing. The covers were thrown back and Evan, who never liked to sleep in his own room, was not there. He looked around, but already knew nothing was there. The only other furnishings were a magically locked wardrobe and a cluttered desk.

Harry marched through the first door he reached, scanning the large bathroom quickly before going into Evan’s room. He stopped in the doorway, his stomach clenching uncomfortably and he forced his mouth closed to keep himself from vomiting. Lucius Malfoy was sitting in the denim rocking chair in the corner, staring back with an overly calm expression.

Harry gave a soft growl as the feeling in the pit of his stomach went from fear to anger. Lucius would have to be responsible for Evan’s disappearance, he knew that much, and there was no way in hell Lucius was getting out of this unscathed.

His fingers clutched the wand in his pocket and he was about to pull it out when the man smiled, just smiled, and Harry stopped. “Where is he, Lucius?”

Lucius continued to smile. “Whoever do you mean, Harry dear? I’ve only come here for you.”

Narrowing his eyes, Harry stood straighter, his wand now out of pocket, but not yet aimed. “My son, Lucius. Where is Evan?”

Lucius made a knowing sound and stood, seeming to expect the wand that Harry instantly raised towards him. “I wasn’t lying, Harry, not entirely anyway. I only came here for you; however, after interrogating Draco, it seemed the most likely way to get to you was to get to little Evan James first.”

“Where is he and what have you done to Draco?” Harry’s voice had taken on a demanding tone, the same tone that had earned him respect among many ministry officials. Unfortunately, it did not appear to be having the same affect on the Death Eater.

Lucius stopped next to Evans child-sized bed and ran a hand across the plastic footboard. Harry had insisted on buying the supplies himself and had also insisted on things made specifically for children rather than the solid wood wizarding bed set that Draco had pointed out, one that was charmed to grow with the child. It would have been sensible, sure, but then Harry would never have gotten to see the horrified look on Winky’s face as he assembled the ‘multi-colored, plastic monstrosity’ (as Draco had insisted on calling it). “Our son is safe, I would never… no, that’s not right, I would hurt my own blood, but he hasn’t done anything to deserve it just yet. Besides, he’s the bait that will make you come with me. Draco, however, is dead.”

The wand slipped from Harry’s fingers and fell on the floor. Lucius was using his son to get to him and Draco was dead? “Why?”

“Well, it appears he was only using me to get information for the Dumbledore. So, I used him for information and then discarded him as I’m sure he would have done with me eventually. I should have seen it long ago; we are Malfoys after all.”

Harry’s eyes flitted around the room, determination bright in them. He stormed past Lucius to a small chest of drawers near the bed, made of the same plastic. He opened them, frantically pulling things out and throwing them on the bed. After less than a minute he grabbed a very full, small backpack and set it down next to the items.

Lucius watched in interest as Harry took a child's muggle suitcase from under the bed and threw the clothes in, zipping it shut with little difficulty. When Harry went to pick it up, Lucius stopped him. “Anything he needs, will be provided at Malfoy Manor.”

“You’ll pardon me if I’m skeptical.” Harry shoved past, suitcase and backpack in hand, into the other room. He stopped only long enough to put a small stuffed animal in the backpack and then turned to Lucius. “I want to see my son, Malfoy, and I want to see him now. You’ll get me to your manor with threats to his safety, but you’ll get nothing else until I see him.”

Smiling darkly, Lucius held the door open. “You first, dear.”

-tbc-

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