Dolasitas

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Her chest heaving as she leaned heavily against the wall, Lexy licked her lips, still tasting Lucius upon them. His kisses were awakening deep desires within her, and instinctively she knew that only he could fulfil them. It was all too tempting to follow him into the bedroom for the inevitable conclusion to their kiss, and only the sounds of Will stirring behind the door brought her back to her senses. She could not – would not – give herself to him on his terms.

Resolutely, she opened the door to the nursery and her heart swelled as Will held his arms out and grinned up at her. “Lecky, wanna play now?” he asked.

“Come on then, trouble,” she said, kissing the top of his head. “Up and out!” she beamed as she swung him through the air and onto the floor, causing him to erupt in fits of giggles. “What do you want to play with, darling?”

“Horsie?” he asked hopefully, spying a rocking horse in the corner.

“Horsie it is.” Lexy chased Will on her hands and knees to the rocking horse, oblivious to Lucius standing in the doorway watching them, a strange expression on his face. It had been so long since there had been laughter in the manor; not even when Draco had occupied the nursery, in fact. He had found himself drawn towards it, and a slight smile spread across his face as he watched his fiancée giggling as she gently pushed the rocking horse, the boy roaring with childishly unrestrained laughter.

Suddenly, they were all disturbed by a thunderous knocking from the front of the manor. Lexy spun around, panicking when she saw the look of concern on Lucius’ face. To her intense surprise, he threw her the wand he had taken from her on her arrival. “Ward the nursery to the best of your abilities; I sincerely hope they will not be tested,” Lucius commanded, his face taut, before he strode downstairs.

Lexy did not hesitate, and placed a quick calming charm on Will before backing out of the room and hastily locking it with all of the wards she could think of. The shouting was getting louder; it seemed that the intruder, whoever it was, had gained access to the manor. Silently, she moved down to the first floor and looked warily down into the hallway. What she saw there destroyed her self-restraint. “You!” she shrieked, hurtling down the stairs, her face bloodless and her wand out.

Lucius threw out his arm to halt her charge, his grey eyes sparkling. “I suppose it is no use asking you to return to the nursery, princess?” Lexy merely looked up at him disdainfully, and struggled to get out of his grip and to the wizard standing opposite them.

“What the fuck has this bitch got to do with you stealing my son?” Caius Avery demanded.

Sparks flew out of Lexy’s wand but Lucius beat her to it. “Crucio!” he roared furiously, holding the curse for only a few moments before Lexy wordlessly pleaded with him to stop, horror evident on her face. “Consider yourself fortunate, Caius, that the future Lady Malfoy has more compassion than I. Let that be a lesson to you to never insult my future wife again,” he spat, pulling Lexy into his arms.

Avery pulled himself up off the floor, his anger not dissipated. “Where is my son, Lucius?”

Lucius growled. “Are you so idiotic that you cannot learn a simple lesson, Avery? The child you stole has been removed from your ‘care’ into that of his family.”

“And if you know what is good for you, you will never come near my brother again,” Lexy snarled.

“Oh, you’re the Beaumont girl,” Avery replied condescendingly, “though I see you’re no longer a girl,” he followed with a leering tone.

“You have one final chance to leave my home before you regret staying, Avery. My orders were not to kill you, but our master mentioned nothing of your wife,” Lucius said threateningly.

“Then I will have to go to our master myself and argue my point,” said Avery with a final stab at winning the argument.

“If you wish to throw away your life in such a way, do so,” Lucius replied dismissively. “I had permission to bring Will into my family. If you want to question our master’s directives…” he trailed off suggestively.

Avery paled, knowing Lucius to be speaking the truth. “This is not over, Malfoy,” he said, throwing a last look at Lexy before storming out of the manor.

The adrenalin surge suddenly ending, Lexy’s legs buckled underneath her and Lucius quickly moved to support her weight. “It’s okay,” he murmured soothingly, “he won’t dare return here now. You and Will will be safe from him so long as you are with me.”

“Because the Dark Lord has said so?” Lexy asked scathingly.

“Even if I did not have his support, I would protect your brother for your sake,” Lucius vowed honestly.

“And why do you go to such effort for my sake?” she replied, her eyes looking into his searchingly. “I am sure that you could find yourself another wife who would cause you far less trouble; one who would give in to your demands instantly.”

Lucius paused, unsure how to express all that he was feeling. Finally, he grasped her hands in his and looked at her earnestly. “Lexy, from the moment that you ran into me in that corridor, I knew that you were the one I wanted to marry. No-one else can stir such emotions and reactions from me; Lexy, I think I am falling in love with you.”

Her eyes wild, Lexy tore herself from his hold. “Tell me whatever lies you will, Lucius, but do not tell me that!” she forced out before running back up through the manor.

Lucius slumped against the wall, holding his head in his hands. He was as surprised with his own revelation as he was with Lexy’s reaction; but he found that he had indeed been telling the truth. The thought of not having Lexy in his life, even though she had been there for only a matter of days, was enough to make his heart clench and despair rise in his mind. He would do anything to keep her by his side. Lucius only hoped that her reaction had merely been one of shock, not disgust. He desperately wanted to chase after her and ascertain her state of mind, but he realised that for now she needed a little space to come to terms with his declaration. Instead, he moved into the drawing room, sinking down into the chair nearest the fireplace.

A half hour had passed without him moving when the fire roared to life, green flames dancing around the logs. Wearily, Lucius rose and bent over the fireplace, acknowledging Severus Snape’s head with a slight wave of his hand.

“Lucius, may I come through?” Snape asked. Lucius nodded, and Snape withdrew his head from the fire to be replaced by his body, revolving fast before he stepped out, brushing his robes off. His sharp eyes did not miss the dulled light in Lucius’ eyes, and he frowned. “Trouble in paradise already, Lucius?”

Lucius grimaced. “Not at all, Severus. Lexy has agreed to become my wife, and we are to be married in a month’s time. Life could not be better,” he stated, ignoring the ache in his heart. Malfoys did not succumb to such weaknesses; if she would not love him, he would not let it affect him. He bit his lip and continued. “To what do I owe this unexpected visit? Lupin has already been here to check that I have not killed the girl, and we have made arrangements for her schooling.”

Snape smirked. “She is not my concern, Lucius. I have simply come to inform you of my upcoming nuptials, and invite you to attend.”

“Your…” Lucius was speechless; this, he had not anticipated. “Who in Merlin’s name are you marrying?”

“Ginevra Weasley. And I do not regard it as a marriage per se; more a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Snape replied, sinking nonchalantly into a chair.

“The youngest brat of the blood traitors?” Lucius said disbelievingly. “How did you convince her to have you?”

“I did not. She proposed our union, pointing out what we would each benefit from it. There are reasons why she was resorted into Slytherin, my friend. The marriage will be the weekend after the school year ends. It will only be a small affair, of course – I have no desire for show and expense.”

“I would be delighted to attend, Severus, provided the invitation extends to my fiancée.”

“That is part of the reason why I have called upon you today. It seems that our fiancées are friends, and Ginevra would like Alexis to act as her maid of honour at the ceremony – you would, of course, be the accompanying groomsman,” Severus said smoothly.

“We accept,” Lucius replied. “When will we be required to come to Hogwarts for the rehearsal?”

“I shall send an owl, Lucius. The robe fittings will take place then as well, I presume. Very well, I shall take up no more of your time. Please pass on my regards to Miss Beaumont,” Severus said with a bow before Flooing out of the manor.

Reluctantly, Lucius moved through the manor in search of Lexy. He was fearful of the reception he might receive, but hoped that the news might cheer her up somewhat. He located her in the room he least expected to find her; their bedroom. Lexy was stood on the balcony, the breeze blowing her hair back from her face, looking beautiful and yet immensely sad. Lucius stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, relieved that she did not pull away from his embrace. “I just had a visit from Severus Snape, princess,” he said, choosing not to mention their last conversation for now. Lexy not responding, he continued. “He tells me he is to be married to the Weasley girl.”

Lexy tensed. “Ginny?” she asked, her heart pounding.

“Yes, Severus mentioned that you and she were friends. She has asked for you to be her maid of honour at the ceremony in a couple of week’s time; I will be your groomsman. It will be a lovely day, I am sure,” he said coaxingly.

Resignedly, she nodded. She did not know what had possessed Ginny to accept Snape as her husband; no doubt she would discover the reason in due course. At least she would have a friend amongst the Death Eaters’ wives, someone for each of them to turn to. And hopefully once she was back at Hogwarts, Remus Lupin would be able to find a way to extricate them from their marriages. They would simply have to make the best of the situations they were in until that time.

For Lexy, that included an apology to Lucius for fleeing from him. She slowly turned, allowing him to maintain his hold on her. “I owe you an explanation for my actions earlier,” she said quietly. He nodded, but allowed her to speak in her own time. “Your declaration startled me somewhat. It was not something I ever expected to hear from your lips, and it reawakened some painful memories in my mind. All those who have loved me have died, and to hear one of those responsible for their deaths telling me that he was falling in love with me was a shock,” she said frankly. “Running away from you was perhaps not the correct solution to my feelings, but I was frightened.”

“Can I ever expect you to return my feelings?” Lucius pressed her gently. “I do not expect it to be a quick process, but please allow me to live in hope.” It seemed it would be harder to manipulate her into the position he wanted her in, but if he kept trying he was sure he would succeed, and the victory would be even sweeter when it came. Lucius would simply have to take great care not to lose his heart in the process.

“I am finding you to be not as abhorrent as first I feared,” Lexy replied grudgingly after a slight hesitation. “Perhaps one day my feelings will change; I can say or promise no more.”

“You have given me hope, and that is all I ask for now.” Lucius tenderly stroked her face with his fingertips and saw her to be emotionally and physically drained. “Come, princess, sleep for now. I will lift the wards on the nursery and settle your brother for you.”

Lexy nodded acceptingly and allowed Lucius to guide her to the bed, collapsing on the sheets and falling into a deep sleep the moment her head rested on the pillow. Lucius stared down at her, unable to reconcile his heart and his head; one telling him to give in to his love for the young woman, the other telling him to regard her as nothing more than the Pureblood breeding mare that he was expected to secure. He left the room with his mind in disarray.

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A/N 1000 hits! It's great to know that so many of you are reading this, but only 6 reviews? Awww... I promise I will work at least a lemon into the next chapter if I get another two reviews... pretty please? ;)