Claimed

Authors Note: As always, thanks to my beta Alexandra. Prompt and clever as usual. There was a bit of discrepincy as to whether or not in the UK 17 or 18 is the age of adulthood. I knew in the magical world you are no longer a minor at 17, but we both wikipedia-ed it and got opposite answers, so whether or not it is true, for the sake of this story, normal UK citizens do not come of age until 18, but the magical world is still 17. I mostly just didn\'t want to re-write the chapter around it being otherwise. lol. If you haven\'t already, check out my other stories, and my header art for them on my website - or my livejournal.



Chapter 2 False Luxuries



Lucius had left him several hours ago and after a bath in the luxurious marble tub and changing into clothing from his new wardrobe, Harry was getting bored.



He was looking through the vast array of tomes on his shelves when a faint pop startled him, making him turn around. There by the door, bowing low was a… well Harry didn’t know what it was, but it certainly wasn’t human.



Fighting the urge to scream, he inched away ever so gently, trying not to draw its attention. The thing looked up at him then and its bulbous eyes looked frightened. “Mr. Potter sir, I am Dobby, sir. Master sent me up to tell you that lunch is ready, sir.”



So this was Dobby. “Do… Dobby? Wh- what are you?”



The large eared creature bowed again, its nose touching the floor. “I’m a house elf, sir.”



“An elf? Really?” Harry asked excitedly.



The creature scoffed slightly. “A house elf, sir,” he corrected, as if the distinction would mean something to Harry. “If you don’t mind Dobby asking, are you really the Harry Potter, sir?”



Harry shot Dobby a confused look and merely shrugged.



Dobby whispered, glancing around nervously. “There are legends about you, that you killed the Dark Lord when you were only a baby.”



Laughter filled the room. “Me? No, I’ve never killed anybody. I think I would recall something like that. You must be thinking of someone else.” The idea made him give pause though. What if Lucius also thought that he was this other Harry Potter? What if he realized his mistake and sent him back to the Dursley’s. Best not give him a reason to, Harry thought to himself.



The house elf bowed again and was gone with another faint pop. “Wait,” Harry shouted into thin air. “How do I get to the dining room?”



--



As Harry padded into the dining room, Lucius looked at him appraisingly.



In truth, Lucius had been studying Harry for several weeks before approaching his home the day before. The boy was ragged and uncouth, but obviously held a raw magical power within him. He had spied the boy doing several bouts of magic without a wand, and though not unheard of for a wizard to be able to do wandless magic, it was rare, and never found amongst children.



Technically Harry was no longer a child, at least not according to wizard law, but he was certain Harry was unaware of this fact when he let Lucius pull him from his home earlier that day. No doubt he was under the impression that he would not be an adult until the age of eighteen, which gave Lucius merely six months to mold the boy, and convince him to remain under Malfoy influence.



It was easy pickings so far. The boy didn’t have a thing to his name, and the muggle family that raised him treated him worse than Lucius treated his house elves. It was all too easy to impress the child with the extravagance of the Manor and his new surroundings. It really wasn’t a challenge worthy of the cleverness of a Malfoy, but the prize made it worth Lucius’ time.



Once he was finished, he would have under his control the new Dark Lord, for Harry had the potential to be as powerful, if not more so, than Voldemort before him. This time he wouldn’t merely be a sidekick, a number two to the Dark Lords whim. This time he would be pulling the puppet strings.



His first task was to make the boy presentable. Something needed to be done with that mop on his head, and those filthy broken glasses, though he was otherwise a handsome boy. He didn’t hold the delicate beauty of his own son, but darker, harder edged good looks that you couldn’t buy, but rather had to be blessed with at birth. Harry and his son would make an excellent team one day.



Light and dark—rulers of the Wizarding world and obliterators of mudblood’s and muggles.



Lucius no longer took issue with half bloods. There were too many of them, and too few purebloods to kill them off. It was better that they allow them to inter-marry, to re-strengthen the line of wizards, and over time, there would be no more half bloods, only pure or those who were close to pure.



He would probably even allow Draco to marry a half blood if he so chose. That was how committed he was to the cause. Tainting his own bloodline had been an unspeakable idea just a few years before, but now, it was an acceptable part of the changing process.



“Potter, I trust you found your accommodations to your liking?” Lucius asked, pleasantly. The patient happy demeanor he had to uphold for the boy was the worst part of the process. He could tell Harry was still distrustful though, so it wouldn’t do to let his softer side falter.



He nodded politely and sat across from Lucius. “Yes, very much, sir.”



The blonde man beamed at him, and this time it was mostly genuine. He appreciated that he wouldn’t have to train the boy to address him as ‘sir’. “Excellent. Potter, this is my wife Narcissa, you may call her Lady Malfoy or madam,” he said, gesturing to the lovely lady sitting at the far end of the table.



She smiled sweetly and nodded her head. She was thrilled to have Harry in her home. She missed Draco so much when he was away at school, and having Harry there would be a great distraction from her loneliness. She could already tell the boy had a warm caring heart, and only hoped her husband’s plans to turn Harry to darkness would somehow fail. Though she doubted they would.



Lucius was a powerful man, but not as powerful a wizard, so he made up for his lack of magical talent with cunning. It almost always worked. He was rarely denied by anyone, herself included.



She dreaded the idea of this innocent boy being pulled down the same dark road as her son. Her poor Draco, with no real friends because he couldn’t stop belittling everyone, and who felt entitled to everything he had, not appreciating any of it. Whereas Harry was strong all on his own, never having a family to love him or care for him, and barely anything to his name. She wondered how the boys would get on together.



--



Lunch consisted of hot pressed sandwiches and stew, which Harry ate hungrily. He hadn’t bothered with breakfast that morning so he was famished. He saw Lucius watching him with mild disdain from his seat and Narcissa with amusement from hers.



The Malfoys looks so similar they could be brother and sister, yet their personalities were like night and day. Harry already found himself taking a liking to Lady Malfoy, but there was something about Lucius that just didn’t sit right with him.



It was informed to him that he would begin his studies the next day and that that afternoon, they would be going to Diagon Alley to get tools and have, as Mr. Malfoy said, ‘something done with that hair’.



Lucius left them to make preparations for their trip and Harry fidgeted being alone with Narcissa. “Lady Malfoy?” he asked.



Smiling warmly she shook her head. “You need only call me that when my husband is around, when we are alone you may call me Cissy. It was what my sister used to call me.”



Harry smiled sadly. “Did your sister die?” he asked, then immediately regretting it, thinking it was rude to ask such things of a stranger. He hated when strangers asked about his parents.



She shook her head solemnly. “No, Harry. She did some… questionable things and… I’m afraid she is a long way from here now. I miss her though.”



That was something Harry could relate to well. “Yes, I know what you mean. Mr. Malfoy mentioned my parents earlier. Did you know them also?”



“I knew of them, but no, I’m afraid your parents and my family ran in different… well different circles I guess you could say,” she tittered.



Harry could understand that. He doubted his parents were nearly as well off as the Malfoy’s and from what he could grasp from television shows and Vernon’s dinner conversations, money stuck with money.



Again Harry wondered why he was brought to this place, into this family. “Lady… Cissy, why am I here? Really?”



She sighed and looked into Harry’s pure green eyes. He was so innocent; she hated this, all of it. “Harry, I’m afraid it’s too complicated for me to explain, but I’m happy you’re here and I hope we can become close while you stay with us.”



A wide grin spread across Harry’s face and her heart broke a little, wondering how many of those she would get to see before her husband gave him nothing more to smile about.



--



The trip to Diagon Alley had been less exciting than Harry had hoped. Lucius had walked around the small village at such a quick pace that Harry had to use all of his concentration to not be left behind, and could barely spare a moment to look at the shops and people surrounding him.



Lucius had made it clear that Harry was to stay with him and to wear the cloak he had provided at all times. The cloak was simple and black, but the older man made Harry wear the cowl up so that his face was lost to the shadowy depths of it.



They first went to a wand shop called Olivander’s. The little old man behind the counter was not pleased to see Mr. Malfoy, but helped Harry choose a wand nonetheless. Lucius seemed to be pleased when Olivander mentioned the wand’s phoenix feather core, but Harry had no idea why that would be important.



After that they zipped in and out of several shops gathering books and supplies like Harry had never seen before. The last shop they visited was his least favorite. It was a sort of wizard barber and Harry left looking much different than when he had gone in.



He stood now, in front of the oversize mirror in his room in the manor and shook his head in dismay. His hair was longer than before, nearly shoulder length, and fell back into soft ebony ringlets. His vision had been corrected with a spell and his glasses thrown in to the first rubbish bin Lucius was able to find.



He wore a set of the robes from his closet and they made him look slightly paler. Looking in the mirror he realized that he appeared at a darker version of the Malfoy’s now, but seemed to fit in better. His hair and skin and overall appearance was now more polished than before. Even knowing how much nicer he looked, he still felt like an imposter.



Harry resisted the urge to run his hand through his raven locks, for he had already been scolded several times by Lucius for such a gesture.



Mr. Malfoy was still there in his rooms, helping Harry put away his things, and looked up at Harry’s troubled expression. “Something wrong, Potter?”



Wincing, he looked back at the reflection of Lucius. “No, sir… it’s just that…” he let his voice fade away, not entirely sure he wanted to confess his thoughts to the man.



“What is it, boy?” he asked with a hint of impatience.



“Well, I was just wondering… Why are you doing all of this for me? These things must cost you a fortune, you must know I have no way of repaying you?” he said at last.



Lucius looked thoughtful for a moment. “It must be obvious that money is no object for us, Mr. Potter. But certainly I am no fool, and I do expect payment for my helping you rise as a wizard, just not monetary payment,” he said with a raised eyebrow.



Harry’s eyes went wide as he looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes flicking back to Lucius’ hungry ones ever so briefly. Was that his purpose here, to have sex with Lucius in return for tutoring? Though not the most repulsive idea he could think of… it certainly wasn’t something he wished for. The man was… old after all.



The terror must have shown in his eyes because Lucius laughed out loud. “Boy, be serious! Why would I need you for such things when I have such a beautiful wife at my beck and call?” Had his thoughts really been that obvious?



Harry let out a sigh of relief. “Then what could I ever do for someone like you Mr. Malfoy?”



“Let us discuss that when the time comes,” Lucius said, still laughing lightly under his breath as he left Harry alone in his room.



Authors Note: As with the rest of my stories I\'m holding chapters hostage for reviews. lol