Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Lucius watched the girls as they skipped off down the hall together. Ron glanced at him and saw a look of faint longing on his face that was gone so quickly he thought he must have imagined it.



Draco pushed himself to his feet. "I need to go tend dinner…" he said.



"You should send the house elf." Lucius grunted.



"I enjoy doing this, father." he reminded.



"Well, I\'ll come and help." Ron said, and he headed to the kitchen after Draco. Harry watched them go, and then glanced at Lucius, who was gazing at his once again empty glass.



"Potter?" He mused thoughtfully. "What the blazes is this you\'re giving me to drink? I\'ve never tasted such a smooth whiskey… it IS a whiskey, correct?"



"Yes, it\'s called Tullamore Dew; it\'s my favorite. It\'s an Irish whiskey and you probably shouldn\'t have too much more."



"Don\'t tell me that Muggles make this." he said with disbelief.



"They do." Harry half chuckled, getting a half glass for himself. "Even you have to admit, Lucius, that Muggles are capable of doing a thing or two right."



"Perhaps." he agreed with clear reluctance, pushing himself back to his feet. "Get me a bit more of this, Potter. Then I wish to see your study. You DO have a study, do you not?"



"Our study and library have been combined so Angel could have a room." Harry answered, getting the little clay jug and pouring some more in Lucius\' glass before he led him down the hall. From the study they could hear the children laughing as they played with puppets in Angel\'s room; a heartwarming and joyful sound.



Lucius moved in, glancing about, eyes landing upon a picture that Harry had gotten from Hagrid; a photo of his father back in his school years at Hogwarts, flying and waving the snitch high at the end of a victorious game. He sighed softly, standing and gazing at the photo for a few long minutes.



Harry watched him, moving to take a seat in his favorite chair. Lucius reached up and touched the glass that protected the photo, then turned and moved to a chair, sinking into it with a slightly lost and grieved expression.



"Are you all right, Lucius?" Harry asked softly.



The older man was silent several long moments. "I don\'t know if I\'ve ever been all right, Potter." He said softly, eyes drawn back to the photo. "I\'ve been… broken… for a long time."



"Broken? I… I don\'t understand…" Harry murmured softly.



"This is all very difficult for me, Potter. I am not a very giving or sharing man. I was raised in all the traditions of my family… all of them. Good and bad…" he murmured, taking a sip of the whiskey again.



"I don\'t expect anything from you sir." He reassured.



Lucius looked at Harry over the top of the glass. He was definitely feeling drunk and knew it; it was a welcome feeling. He needed to say some things to Potter and doubted he would ever allow himself to do it were he sober. "Traditions of raising a child, Potter, in our family rarely involved loving care." He said.



"I don\'t understand what you mean…"



"You\'ve seen Draco; you know his every scar and mark. He can tell you where each of them come from." He said.



"Yes, of course. He\'s my husband sir."



"…and none of those marks were made by my hand." Lucius said with no small amount of pride. "Not one of them."



"Your father? He abused you?"



Lucius shrugged. "Often, yes... my father abused me with both mundane and magical means, as did his father. Usually it happened when things did not go right for him at work, or elsewhere. But the worst abuse I ever suffered I would have suffered through every day for the rest of my life if I could only have kept what I loved."



"I know what that\'s like; I didn\'t have a happy life with my uncle and aunt either. But you, I… I had no idea…"



"Of course you didn\'t. It\'s not exactly something I share with everyone I come in contact with, Potter. I haven\'t told Draco; I never want him to know. I haven\'t even told Cissa all about what my father did to me, though she has guessed by the scars I bear upon my body."



"Why tell me?" Harry asked after a moment, stunned by the revelation and the fact that this man who had shown him nothing but snarky dislike and had done everything in his power to take his husband out of his life forever.



"Because I want you to understand why, at least once… remember this though, Potter. After today I won\'t likely treat you much differently. I am a very selfish man. I love my son and cherish every moment with him, but… You make him smile." Lucius said softly, looking down. "It has been a long time since I have seen him smile so much."



"I love your son too." Harry responded, sipping his whiskey. "I\'d do anything to make him happy."



"Draco is beautiful when he\'s pregnant… absolutely beautiful…" Lucius murmured, eyes wandering to the photo again. "So was he…"



"My father?" Harry looked at the photo again.



"Yes. He didn\'t just glow; he was incandescent." the smile on his lips was loving, full of regrets and pain. "Your father was beyond stunning when he was pregnant… I loved Jamie so…" He murmured softly.



"…what?"



"Your father. James. Jamie… He was everything I ever desired and more." he sighed softly, looking down again.



"You?" Harry was taken completely by surprise by this information.



"Yes, your father and I. It long ago, Harry… before he took up with that Evans woman. Before sixth year…"



"No one ever told me about that…"



"It was a scandal and it was quickly covered up. Memory charms can alter an amazing amount of memories." he sighed softly. "I don\'t think your grandfather had anything to do with the cover-up or what happened."



"How is you two being in love a scandal?"



"I had a wife chosen for me by father. My entire life arranged neatly and laid out before me, brick by brick, bar by bar; and I was following along like the good little pureblood heir should… until I met James. We were attracted to each other so strongly. During his fifth year, we spent most of our time together. Neither of us expected anything out of it all; we had no plans at all, and then it happened. James became pregnant. We were unwed, and he was expecting a child… it was unheard of. I wanted to bond with him, to give the child my name; I wanted the baby and James to be mine forever… then… James was spirited away.... The last month of school, he vanished. I didn\'t hear a word from him all summer…"



"What happened to the baby?" Harry asked softly.



"I don\'t know." Lucius\' voice was faint, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to go on. "When James returned to school to begin his sixth year, he had no memory of being pregnant. No memory at all of the time we had spent together, of all the plans we had made… he never spoke to me again."



"He started dating mum in his sixth year."



Lucius nodded, drinking down the last bit of the Irish whiskey. "I don\'t think she knew, your mother. She never paid any attention to him until that year. Honestly, the Evans woman seemed to dislike him in our fifth year; she spent a lot of time with Severus Snape. I was sure those two would make a go of it; Severus certainly doted on her every moment of the day."



"Does Narcissa know about all this? About my father?"



"She knows everything. She\'s highly resistant to memory charms, my sweet little Narcissa. She has been my friend since childhood. She has stood by me and supported me in everything… I found it difficult to accept, at first, that my father decided for some reason that she was the woman I must wed." he murmured, gazing at the glass in his hand.



"I always thought Narcissa was a special person." Harry said.



Lucius grunted. "That\'s because for some reason she seems to care for you." he answered immediately, then sighed. "It is hard for me to see you with my son, Harry… hard because… because… what you have should have been mine. It was stolen from me when I was still in school, and I never had a chance to recapture that magic. And our child… the baby that he was carrying… I\'m so certain she was a girl…" he whispered, looking over at the photo of James again. "My father made certain to arrange things so it seemed as she never existed."



"Is she dead?"



He shrugged. "I don\'t know… I have little hope of ever finding out anything about her." He sighed softly.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



Ron tossed the salad ingredients together, glancing back toward the doorway. "Well, this ought to do for a salad." he said, reaching for his beer and taking another drink.



Draco glanced over at him then tried to hide his smile of amusement. "You know, Ron, if you feel guilty about leaving them together, you can always go on and see what\'s going on." he told him.



"I don\'t feel guilty…" he started.



"Then why is every vegetable in our salad chopped into pieces small and precise enough for potions ingredients…?" the blonde wizard asked teasingly.



Ron looked at the salad and realized that every bit of vegetation in that bowl was cut to precise size and shape to be little cubes. Severus Snape would have been proud of him if he had managed to produce something like that back in school. He sighed. "I guess I must be…"



"Go and tell them dinner is ready. I promise my father won\'t hex you. He hasn\'t done anything like that in quite a while." He assured.



"Very funny." Ron made a face at him and rose, moving out and down the hall.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



Both Harry and Lucius looked round when Ron stuck his head into the room. "Dinner\'s ready; Draco\'s got me rounding everyone up. I\'ll get the girls."



"All right; thanks Ron." Harry said, rising to his feet. He stepped toward Lucius, unsure if he would need assistance with walking. Tullamore Dew was a very powerful drink and snuck up on you with its effects…



Lucius rose as well, a bit unsteady for a moment but that moment was all the weakness he revealed. "Rather powerful drink, that whiskey of yours… are you certain you didn\'t doctor it with some sort of truth serum?" he asked with a smirk.



Harry chuckled. "That was straight out of the jug, you saw me pour it yourself. And I drank from the same jug." he smirked.



Lucius grunted but led the way out of the room at a very measured, careful pace.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



"Girls? Time to come eat…" Ron smiled, moving into the bedroom.



"Oh great, I\'m really hungry daddy and Uncle Draco makes food as good as Grandma Molly!" Rosie said, rising.



"Uncle Ron? Where is Mimi? I really wanted to see Mimi and tell her what I\'ve been doing and how I\'ve practiced everything she taught me…" Angel asked innocently.



"Mimi… Hermione, that is, couldn\'t come tonight, little one. She\'s at home. She told me to tell you she\'s proud of you, Angel." Ron said softly, his smile fading somewhat, trying to ensure that he did not show her any of his roiling emotions about that subject.



"But why didn\'t she come? I\'ve missed her…" Angel asked.



"I\'ll tell her; maybe she can see you another night…"



"How do you know my mum?" Rosie began chatting with Angel, leading Ron through the house back toward the kitchen.



"Mimi used to come to my house every night and teach me stuff; she was really nice and always played games with me." Angel said as she and Rosie moved into the bathroom to wash up before dinner. "I really miss her a bunch…"



"Maybe you can stay over at my house soon, and then you can tell her yourself." Rosie suggested as they took their seats.



Ron let the girls chat, moving to unpack the cheesecake he\'d brought and place it in the serving crystal tray.



Lucius moved in as well, and Ron moved to help Draco bring the food to the table.



"This looks fantastic, Dray." Harry smiled.



"Better than what I could get out at the corner deli…" Ron agreed. "After all, I only come over so you guys can feed me… I\'d starve out there on my own."



"Nah, you\'d just spend all your money going out to eat."



"I do that so Rosie won\'t be tortured by my cooking or starve." He smirked at Harry. "Besides, your cooking IS fantastic."



"That is good to know." Lucius said as he took his seat. "At least we will not be poisoned." he drawled with a smile at Draco.



"This smells really yummy, Uncle Draco!" Rosie smiled as she and Angel moved into the kitchen, taking their seats.



"Have you two washed your hands?"



"We did, in the bafroom… our faces, too!" Angel smiled at him, and then marched up to Harry to show him her hands and face for inspection.



"Fresh as a daisy." He chuckled and kissed her nose.



She giggled and climbed into the chair next to him. Rose carefully stood in her chair and picked up a napkin, tucking it carefully into his collar and spreading it out across his chest. "There you go daddy; all ready to eat." she giggled when Ron tweaked her nose.



Lucius looked on with a slight frown, but stood and began to carve the chicken to serve the girls their meal first. "So, young Mr. Weasley… your daughter is a charming young witch." he said thoughtfully and Rosie smiled at him sweetly. "Have you placed her in a primary school or is she being home schooled before Hogwarts?"



"Hm…? Oh, I managed to get her into Mount Tananda Primary Wizarding school... she\'s in first grade, sir." he said, shaking off the slight funk he had sunk into as he spoke of his child with clear pride.



"Is this where you will send my Angel also, Draco…?" Lucius asked, looking at his son. "Is it a good school?"



"Yes, it\'s the best one in this entire part of the country. I was really lucky to get her in there. It\'s been a bit of a financial struggle to keep her in at times, but I\'ve managed to keep her in there… They have lots of extracurricular programs as well. Rose likes dance best of all, so far."



"I would love to get her in, if they\'ve openings." Draco said, putting the drinks on the table and pouring them for the kids.



"I will research it, and if it is appropriate I will see to it personally." Lucius said firmly. "Ballet is quite appropriate for young ladies, and I found that gymnastics is a good idea as well, helps with flexibility and posture. Perhaps you should take gymnastics class, Potter." he suggested, eyeing his son\'s husband.



Harry closed his eyes and sighed. No, nothing was going to change at all…



"Father, that\'s enough." Draco cautioned, frowning as his father finished carving the chicken.



"Just a suggestion, Draco, just a suggestion…"



"So what is mother up to?" Draco asked, changing the subject. "Why didn\'t she come also tonight?"



"Oh, she\'s decided to stay home with her little foundlings." he said, deliberately being completely vague.



"Foundlings?"



"Your mother brought them home in a basket; I couldn\'t deny her something so small that would occupy her time… she does so hate having idle hands."



Draco gazed at his father in disbelief. "Kittens? Don\'t tell me you let mother bring kittens into the manor!"



He shrugged innocently. "You\'ve been so busy… she needed something to fill her time."



"Are they Kneazle kits?"



"Enough questions, son. You will see them, soon enough; for now I wish only to see YOU eat a proper meal."



"He\'s right, Uncle Draco; you have to eat or you can\'t have any of my cookies." Rosie teased.



The family began to eat, Harry finding himself spoken to very little by Lucius; in fact, the older Malfoy man spoke far more often to the children, asking them their ages and learning of their favorite things to do and to get. Ron was quietest of all at the table, not eating with any of his usual gusto. In fact, he hardly ate anything at all and Rosie began to get quiet as well as she constantly glanced at her father with worry clear on her face.



Lucius found he rather enjoyed having dinner with his son. If only it was just with his son and the children, he could have enjoyed it quite a bit. He got around that by simply ignoring Harry\'s presence, watching the girls carefully as they ate, pleased that they showed proper manners and ate silently.



Rose kept glancing at her father in concern, but she finished her own meal before she did anything. She finally set her fork down, stood up in her chair, crawled into his lap and hugged her father.



"Aw Rosie… I\'m okay…" Ron murmured softly.



"It\'ll be okay, daddy; I\'ll always be here with you."



Lucius watched, making an assumption on the spot. "Difficulties with the wife, Mr. Weasley?"



"It\'s nothing… really, Mr. Malfoy; I\'m… I\'m all right…" Ron assured, putting his façade back in place. He didn\'t want Malfoy of all people to figure out what his wife had been up to.



"Well, how about those cookies, hmmm?" Draco asked, smiling.



"Oh!" Rosie bounced out of the chair and hurried to the counter to get the tin of cookies she\'d brought. "Mum Weasley helped me to make them." she said as she brought the tin over, taking the wrap off. There were at least two dozen six-inch cookies in the tin of varying types. "We made chocolate chip, and shortbread, and peanut butter and I burnt some but I didn\'t bring those…"



"You\'ve made all my favorites." Draco smiled at her.



"I know, I meant to. Daddy told me." she giggled.



"Gotta take care of our family." Ron grinned softly.



"Have all you want, Uncle Draco, there\'s lots and lots…"



"I couldn\'t possibly eat all these!" Draco laughed. "I\'d get as big as a house…"



"I\'ll help you eat them, papa!" Angel volunteered, and Rosie giggled.



"What\'s your favorite? I like chocolate chip."



"Peanut butter!" Angel smiled. "Nonno? What do you like?" she asked, gazing across the table at Lucius.



"I don\'t often eat cookies, little one."



"Oh, you must try this one." Angel picked out a cookie and moved around the table to offer it to him. "This cookie is the bestest."



"Is it, now?" Lucius asked, smiling at the child, accepting the cookie she presented.



"Uh huh; you\'ll really like it."



"I\'ll um… I\'ll just get the milk." Harry murmured, bemused. If this was the effect that Tullamore Dew had on his father-in-law, he\'d certainly make sure to keep a good stock of it in the house and serve it every time he set foot in the house. He slipped out of his chair to fetch glasses and milk.



"Can I have chocolate milk, Uncle Harry?" Rose asked.



"Of course… anyone else?"



"Me too, daddy?" Angel asked.



"I think I\'ll pass." Ron said with a smirk.



"Tell me, my Angel. What should I have with these cookies?" Lucius asked, running his fingers through her dark curls.



"Chocolate is the bestest, Nonno." Angel said in a very serious tone, gazing up at him.



"Then it would not do for me to have anything less." He said with equal gravity.



Harry tried not to smile as he filled the glasses for the girls and his father-in-law, and then brought them over.



"Thank you, Potter." He said, and then took the cookie to sample it.



"No, no, Nonno, that\'s not how you do it…you do it like this!" Angel took her cookie and dipped it into the milk before she took a bite.



"Ah… you see, there are some things that you will need to teach me, little Angel, as there are things that I will be able to teach you." he said, following her example. The taste was rather surprising, the cookie crunch and the milk a very interesting combination to his refined palate.



"See? Isn\'t it he bestest…?" she beamed up at him.



"It is indeed, my own." he smiled.



Ron watched them, nibbling on one cookie which he barely finished before he rose, giving Rosie a kiss on the head. "I\'ll come get you tomorrow, Rosebud. I really should go…"



"Bye daddy! I\'ll be a good girl and help Uncle Draco I promise."



"Good girl…" he said, stroking her cheek.



"We\'ll take good care of her, Ron." Harry assured, walking him to the door.



"I know you will, I\'m just… I\'m really not looking forward to going home tonight." He glanced at his watch. "I\'m going to meet Charlie and Blaise for drinks tonight… things are really… well, awkward at home right now."



"I understand. Go on and have some fun."



"Thanks mate…" he said, moving out the door. "See you tomorrow."



Harry turned to return to the kitchen to find that Lucius had risen to his feet as well. "I should go as well; I must return to Narcissa."



"When can I meet my Nona?" Angel asked, gazing up at him.



He knelt and took her face in his hands, kissing her on the forehead. "Soon, my dear… Soon." He said, and then rose. "Be good for your papa, little Angel."



Rosie waited, watching as Draco walked his father to the door, saying his farewells and closing the door behind him. She slipped up to him then, tugging at his sleeve timidly. "Uncle Draco?" she asked softly.



Draco looked down at her, and then knelt to get to her level, seeing the child looked gravely worried about something. "What is it, love?"



"It\'s my daddy… I think he needs a potion…" she said softly, looking down and biting her lip.



"A potion? What potion would he need?"



"He\'s sick, Uncle Draco… he doesn\'t eat anymore and doesn\'t even eat dessert or cookies and he and mum both tell me how clever you are with potions…" she said, looking up at him. Tears were faint in her eyes.



"Don\'t worry, love; I\'ll do whatever I can to help your father."



"Okay… I\'m just… he doesn\'t even play with me anymore and he\'s so sad… he doesn\'t think I see it but I know he\'s sad and he doesn\'t talk to mommy anymore."



Draco hugged the girl. "Don\'t worry, Rosie… everything will be all right." he assured.



"Thank you, Uncle Draco… you\'re the best ever…" she said, hugging him tight, and then she hurried off after Angel.



Harry pulled Draco into his arms. "That wasn\'t so bad, you know… I think things are going to work out."



"Finally… though Weasley seems to be having all the problems now; he wasn\'t behaving normally at all at the table." he said, a bit concerned.



"He\'s having some problems, but it will get better, I hope."



"Rosie asked me to make him a potion to help him."



"Did she…? Why…?"



"She says her daddy isn\'t playing with her, but what really has her worried is he isn\'t eating…" Draco told him as they moved back into the kitchen.



"For Ron not to eat is a major thing in and of itself." Harry agreed with a bit of a smile.



Their house elf Toodles popped into their path, her little arms folded. "Toodles do this… you go rest!" She insisted firmly. "Go on, masters, shoo!"



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



Narcissa smiled as she laid the sleeping infant next to his sister in the cradle, setting comforting and monitoring spells over them. Sleep well, my loves." she whispered to them. She sighed contentedly and turned to leave the room, her smile fading as she noticed she was no longer alone. Her husband stood in the doorway, his head bowed, half-leaning on the doorframe. "Lucius?" she asked softy.



"She looks… so much like James…" he whispered, his eyes damp with tears.



"Oh Lucius…" she moved to him, drawing him into her arms to comfort him.



He held his wife close, trembling slightly with restrained grief. "She\'s just like James, Cissa… so full of life, so beautiful…"



"But unlike James, love, she will always be here; she will always be your granddaughter, even if she is Harry\'s daughter."



"It\'s so hard Cissa… I… I thought I had left all this behind me, so many years ago…" he whispered, shaken.



"Come, Lucius. Let\'s get you into a hot bath and perhaps a drink?" she kissed him.



"I have been so wrong, Cissa… I\'ve treated my son the way my father treated me…"



"No." she interrupted immediately. "You never drew one drop of your son\'s blood purposefully. Your father did that to you." She reminded.



"I was jealous of his relationship. I was jealous because I was denied my life with James and I took it out on my son… he loves Harry, just as much as I loved James…"



"That was your father\'s worst mistake, not allowing you to bond with him." Narcissa murmured, leading him onward.



"I hate not knowing what happened that summer… what did they do to him? Why did he hate me so when he returned?"



"There is no changing the past. We can only try to improve the future…" she soothed. "Tippy?" she called



A house elf appeared, bowing. "Mistress is needing Tippy?"



"Start a bath for Lucius." she said. "And bring him a shot of Ogden\'s, won\'t you?"



"No… I\'ve had enough to drink, I think…" Lucius murmured softly. The house elf simply vanished to do as she was commanded. "If I only knew what happened, if our baby lived or if she was dead, I… I don\'t think it would hurt so much if I only knew…" he said, allowing Narcissa to lead him to the bathing room. "Little Angel… Cissa, she looks as if she could be our own daughter, mine and James\'… so beautiful and precious…"



Narcissa smiled as she undressed her husband. "You need to relax, Lucius."



"You must meet her, Cissa."



"I plan on it, love… I\'m finally a Nona and I\'m going to be a doting one to any child that comes our way."



"She speaks Italian; you know… she called me Nonno right off… I\'m hopelessly within the girl\'s power..." he murmured, moving into the water.



"Isn\'t that how it should be? It is our job to spoil the child rotten, and then send her home to her parents."



He settled into the warm bath with a sigh. "I don\'t think she\'s had much love in recent life, though someone had raised her with plenty of it… she\'s so beautiful… I wish you had been there…"



"I wish I could have been too, but the kitlings needed me." she began to wash him, her hands soft and soothing.



"There will be a room here for her, I plan to work on it immediately… only the best of toys, only the best of everything." he said, and then looked up at her with a faint grin touching his lips. "And, by the way, Cissa… Draco thinks you have kittens."



"I have kittens, do I?" she laughed. "Well, they do have soft fuzzy hair like kittens, and they sound like kittens when they\'re complaining that they want their bottles."



"And they do love their milk…" he added.



Narcissa laughed and kissed him. Lucius grinned and pulled her into the tub with him. She squealed in disbelief, laughing as she settled into the water with him. Lucius chuckled and banished her soggy clothing.