Hate it or Love it

Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.

Hate it or Love it
Poisoned Ink
Chapter 12
Never Better

If there was one thing Niveus hated during his time at the Malfoys, it was Sunday Mornings. Lucius had a terrible habit of waking up at six on every Sunday morning, and he wasn’t real subtle about getting off the bed neither. If the floor didn’t look so uncomfortable, he would even consider sleeping on it during the weekends, but he soon decided his dignity is more important than a few more hours of sleep.

This was another Sunday morning that Niveus hated. He dragged his tired paws into the study at six thirty, cursing silently in his head and found Lucius sitting in his chair, scribbling furiously at a piece of parchment, stopping every once in awhile to rub the tail of his quill across his lips before writing again. How the man managed to think clearly and write at six thirty on a Sunday morning was a mystery to Niveus.

Niveus rubbed his face against Lucius’ leg, jumping into his lap. When Lucius turned his head Niveus stuck his head out, looking at the thick book that lay heavily on the wooden table. Lucius moved his arm to flip a page, scanning through the book and accidentally blocked Niveus’ view with his arm. Niveus whined silently, and nudged Lucius’ arm to move it out of the way. When Lucius moved it the second time, Niveus decided to jump on the table to get a better view. Lucius barely paid any attention to Niveus, his eyes concentrated on the book. Niveus followed Lucius’ gaze and was immediately hit by big clumps of tiny words with pictures. He looked at Lucius curiously. Why would he torture himself with a book full of tiny names, pictures, and family trees?

Niveus’ attention was recaptured when Lucius flipped to the Potter section. A picture of himself, including a full three page biography, appeared in front of Niveus. The picture saw Niveus and waved. Niveus glanced back at Lucius, who frowned suddenly at the sight of Harry Potter. Niveus watched as Lucius touched the picture lightly with his eyes misted over before shaking his head and flipping to the next page.

What’s going on? Niveus shifted further away from his owner. Is there something that I should know about?

But from Lucius reaction to the picture, Niveus was almost certain that Lucius had an attraction, or at least an obsession, whether good or bad, with Harry Potter. How didn’t he see all of this before?

What terrorized Niveus the most was that he wasn’t compelled to the idea of having Lucius as a lover at all.


A few hours later on the breakfast table, Niveus was snuggled comfortably to Draco this time, the thoughts of Lucius Malfoy liking himself still haunting his mind. He decided there was nothing wrong with a little distance with the older Malfoy, since Draco was much closer to one of the faculty members at Hogwarts, no matter how much it disgusted Niveus.

Both men were restless at breakfast. Niveus glanced between the two; curiosity growing fast as he munched on the toast that was Draco fed him. Niveus had found Draco considerably tolerable recently, especially when he found out Draco liked slipping a few sweets to him under the dinner table when Lucius wasn’t looking. The older Malfoy can be such a health freak sometimes.

Niveus growled softly as he was moved from Draco’s lap to Lucius’, although unwillingly. Draco looked at Lucius and a huge grin broke out on his features, completely contradicting his usual Malfoy expression.

“What are you grinning about?” Lucius said indifferently, still a bit down from the unsuccessful search for Midnight this morning.

“There’s a meeting today, isn’t there?” Draco grinned.

“Yes…” Lucius hesitated, “What about it?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe I can go and visit Severus after the meeting’s over.”

Lucius shrugged.

“Sure,” he replied, still looking at Draco suspiciously, “Why are you so happy about Severus?”

Draco’s grin faded a little bit.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” he quickly lied, “And there’s this potion that I’m dying to know more about…”

Niveus snorted in Lucius’ lap.

“Oh,” Lucius petted Niveus’ head, mistaking the snort for a sneeze, all suspicion cleared from his face.

“Then we ought to find a pet sitter for Niveus,” Draco commented, glancing at the pet, “Remember what happened the last time we went to Hogwarts with him…”

Lucius grimaced at the memory.

“I still own the werewolf a pair of pants,” he frowned.

Niveus whined in his lap and snuggled closer, nuzzling Lucius’ hand.

“No,” Lucius turned to his pet, “You are not coming with us to make a mess again.”

Niveus dropped his head on his paws and whined louder.

“Maybe he’ll be good this time…” Draco said, eyes softening at the sight of the puppy. His silver eyes were soon met by his father’s glare. “…and he still wouldn’t be able to go.” Draco finished quickly.

“That’s right,” Lucius poked the golden body in his lap, “You are not going anywhere.”

Niveus growled and jumped off of Lucius’ lap, walking out of the dining room. He used his teeth to rip one of the window curtains on his way up the stairs.

“That went well,” Draco smirked, “That’s the third one he ripped since he got here.”

Lucius merely shrugged. He’ll get used to it.


“Welcome, welcome,” Dumbledore gestured to both of the Malfoys as they stepped out of the fireplace, “Mr. Malfoy!” He beamed at Draco, who scowled slightly, “My, my, I haven’t heard from you in a long time! Is everything going well?”

“Yes sir,” Draco grumbled and shuffled closer to Lucius. The members quickly spread out in the room and took their own seats. Severus slid into the seat beside Draco and winked, causing Draco to flush slightly.

“So, Remus has been informing me about…Death Eater movements.”

Immediately the murmurs broke out from the room and glances were thrown to the ex-spies from the war.

Dumbledore raised his hand and the room fell silent again.

“Lucius, Severus?” Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

“I have no been informed of any Death Eater activities,” Lucius shrugged slightly, and turned his gaze to Severus, who shook his head.

“Several raids have been placed in some towns in France,” Dumbledore said sadly, “The raiders claimed they were Death Eaters. The death mark that Voldemort have used is used by them also.”

“They must be former Death Eaters,” Severus spoke, “Only the former Death Eaters knows the spell for the Death Mark.”

“They are all in Azkaban,” Remus interrupted, “…Right?”

“The spies have named as many Death Eaters as they can during the trails,” McGonagall commented, “Most certainly the major ones in the inner circle.”

“Breakout in Azkaban?” Draco suggested.

“It would have been in the papers within hours of the breakout, if there was ever one,” Dumbledore said, “Those reporters are vicious. Unless…”

“Unless the reporters did not know about the breakout,” Lucius finished, “Unless the Death Eaters were let out of the prison. Which would mean Fudge is involved in this.”

The murmurs broke out once again in the room.

“Alright!” Molly shouted through the noise, “Lets not assume anything. What if those are just some minor Death Eaters that we haven’t named during the trails? The spell for the Death Mark could be passed around also…”

“Molly’s right,” Dumbledore said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “It might not be as bad as we think it is. We still need to check out Azkaban…”

Silence fell into the room again. The order members looked at each other, none of them willing to go to Azkaban.

Lucius sighed. “I guess I will,” he glanced around the room, “I’m familiar with the prison anyway,” he said bitterly.

“Excellent,” Dumbledore grinned once again. “And Lucius, be sure to leave at eight tonight. I’ve already made an appointment with Fudge.”

Lucius’ eyes widened in surprise. “What…?”

“Better not be late,” Dumbledore’s eyes sparked, “I will be expecting you to report back in a week.”

Lucius almost choked on that statement. “A week!”

“Did I forget to mention? Some inspections are needed in Azkaban. Its one of those annual checks.”

“A week?” Lucius nearly exclaimed.

“Minimum time,” Dumbledore’s face was getting brighter and brighter by the minute, “You will be showed around by an officer there.”

“But my son…”

“Will be taken care of by Severus.” Dumbledore interrupted happily, “Along with that adorable pet of yours.”

Severus scowled at this, but the frown disappeared when his thought trailed to Draco.

Lucius growled, and glared at Dumbledore, who was smirking in triumph.

“You knew!” Lucius suddenly exclaimed, turning to glare at Draco, losing his Malfoy etiquette, “You all set me up!”

Draco only smirked back and shifted closer to Severus.

Lucius only glared at everyone in the room, knowing it’s impossible to back out now.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the murmurs that rose in the room quieted down.

“We still haven’t heard from Harry. Most likely he is captured by the Death Eaters,” he pressed his lips into a thin line, “So we must track them down as soon as possible.”

The members in the room shifted uncomfortably. Funny, really, before Harry killed Voldemort, his disappearance would have sent everyone into panic and there will be a big mess made with everyone running around, willing to sacrifice anything to get their weapon back. But now, the disappearance was only discussed in weekly meetings, and people, well, while they frowned and worried, they didn’t want to do anything about it. Lucius guessed that Harry’s purpose was gone now, ever since he defeated Voldemort. Strangely that thought upset him more than it should.

“The only thing we can do is keep watch of the attacks,” Dumbledore signed, “Have someone try to contact the group and join them. Spying has worked very well in the war against Voldemort.”

“I’ll do it,” Tonks said cheerfully, “Change me into an ugly old guy and that should fool them over.”

Severus snorted.

“Very well,” Dumbledore said, “The meeting will be same time, next week, it should be the time that Lucius gets back.”

The groups quickly disbanded, and Lucius threw a glare at his son before stepping into the fireplace and disappearing. All the while he wondered, if Dumbledore was the ultimate evil.


Niveus growled at Lucius stepped into the room again. He twitched as he walked closer, turning his head away from Lucius. Niveus raised his head in surprise as Lucius walked right past him, slamming the wooden door of his closet with a bang. The door hit the wall and bounced off of it, colliding with Lucius’ shoulder softly. Niveus watched curiously as Lucius muttered under his breath, waving his want frantically over his clothes and pointing them sharply to a suitcase.

Ten minutes later, Niveus found himself following Lucius to the bathroom and sat down while Lucius threw his things into the suitcase.

It didn’t take long before the suitcase was filled with clothing. Finally, Lucius turned to Niveus.

“I supposed you’ll just have to live with Severus…” he muttered under his breath. Niveus jerked his head towards Lucius. Does that mean he got to live in Hogwarts? Niveus shook his head. What is going on?

He squeaked as he was picked up from the floor, and thrown to the fireplace forcefully. The last thing he saw was Lucius’ scowling eyes before he was sucked into the swirling darkness.