Twisted Roots

Chapter One: Pride

Other than the sound of his father's labored breathing the study was engulfed in a heavy silence.  Seated near the empty fire grate was the elderly Abraxas Malfoy.  He held a delicate blue tea cup painted in pastoral scenes in his  hand, a family heirloom from the 17th century.  Across from him sat Lucius.

'You have overome many difficulties, worked hard, and endured a great deal to get this far; unlike the other young men who waste their time engaging in unnecessary violence or involving themselves pursuing women you have made a name and a reputation for yourself.' He took a sip of tea but quickly handed it off to a nearby servant while he coughed into a silk handkerchief.  

Lucius leaned forward, 'Do you want to rest and finish this discussion tomorrow?'

His father took his tea cup back and continued on as if he had not spoken, 'Have you decided on what you will do next?

Lucius crossed his long legs and relaxed, intwining his fingers together and stared into a space, a somewhat dazed expression on his face as he considered what to say.  After a couple of minutes he honestly answered, 'First I planned to follow up with the ministers who joined us in maintaing the integrirty of the ministry in preventing that unrefined mudblood from holding office. I know a lot of them risked their reputations to stand by their principles.'

His father nodded his head slowly, 'Good. I can see that you have learned a lot.  I will support whatever decision you make, not simply because I can see you are capable but only through making mistakes will you learn what to do.'  He paused, 'I want you to listen closely Lucius and take what I am about to tell you into consideraiton when you make these decisions--friendship is shallow.  They supported you and helped you--partly on account of their friendship with me but also because they could see you worked hard.  Never ignore etiquette and always pay attention to how you employ money.  There is a fine line between being servile and overbearing.  They have all had a lifetime to perfect these skills but you are still young and your power still growing.'¹

Lucius nodded in agreement, and became concerned when his father burst into another fit of coughs, 'Are you being mindful of your health father?  Everything I am I owe to you so please do me this favor and watch your health more.'

Abraxas set the tea cup down and watched this son of his that he carefully raised, 'Because you understand these things, I presume you understand the importance of etiquette and observing the rules.'

Lucius lowered his eyelids and thought about these words for a moment, and sunk a little lower in his seat, giving him a look of languid indifference but Abraxas knew that whenever Lucius appeared lazy it meant he was anything but.  'I can't apologize for the mistakes of others but I could have done some things different.  I'm ashamed to admit my wrong but in the future I won't allow my feelings to impact my decisioins.'

Abraxas glanced over at the servant, 'Brandy.'  And waited for the servant to return and pour son and father a sizable portion, 'So you understand that although it may be beneficial to maintain a friendship with that Mulciber boy you should be more careful of how others perceive such friendships.  His father was able to pull some strings so he did not get into trouble for what he did to that boy but everybody believes he is a wastrel, and now you are associated with him.  Part of this is my fault, I encouraged you to become friends with pure blood witches and wizards and overlooked the small problems he presented.'  He took a sip, 'Just focus on finishing out this year and taking care of yourself.  We are, if anything, patient.'

His father glanced up, 'Lucius you are cautious and careful.  I trust you to take care of things.'

Lucius took a small sip of the brandy and felt the ghost of a smile dance across his face, 'Of course.'

¹This paragraph is heavily influenced by a similar conversatioin about family in the first chapter of the Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan.  I wanted to cite it because it was too similar to ignore, and I thought it was relevant to the idea I wanted to communicate.

I understand that this chapter is long but I want readers to have a mind for the direction Malfoy is coming from.  He is logical, rational, and incredibly interested in protecting his family, which isn't too different from the character in the story.  Let's see how that translates to his romantic relationships...