𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | | 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐚

-

Katherine woke up the next morning to Lucius gently nudging her. She felt his warm kisses peppering her neck, and she moaned slightly as she stirred awake. Sitting up and stretching a bit, she rubbed her eyes to see Lucius laying beside her, wearing black reading glasses and studying the newspaper. It was the report on the previous day's Triwizard Task, the headline reading "The Boy Who Lived Takes Second Place". Katherine peered over his shoulders, reading the story intently.

"Luci, can we go to the last task? I'd like to see Elowen, and I think it would be fun to watch actual children compete in a deadly tournament that hasn't happened in centuries." She hummed, flopping herself on his lap. His hand found place entangled in her hair, his palms running small circles on her scalp.
"Firstly, don't call me Luci. But yes, I was planning on taking you anyways, as a surprise. We can all go and pick Draco up early." He responded. She grinned, shifting herself so she was straddling him. Her arms wrapped around his neck comfortably, and he returned a weak smile before going back to his reading.

"I didn't know you wore glasses." Katherine observed, swishing her hair softly as she feigned for his attention. Lucius kept his eyes on the paper, ignoring her as he flipped the page.
"Well, I'm not 20 anymore am I. I can't read that small print on the paper, they always make it so minuscule." He responded back. Katherine snatched the paper out of his hands, giggling as she flipped the page herself.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, let me read it to you so you don't have to strain your poor eyes." She quickly flipped through the paper, trying to find any headline to catch her eye. '50 Ways To Snatch Gnomes' sounded boring, '25 Magical Sex Tips for 50+ year Old Wizards' was unneeded, and 'Top 100 Wizard Rock Chart' was something she knew Lucius didn't care about.
Suddenly, a photo caught her eye. It was a black-and-white image of a curvy woman with long black hair standing next to a tall man with long blonde hair, his hand holding a cane with a silver handle. The man had his other arm around the girl's waist, the girl leaning on his shoulder. The photo was taken through a window, their faces obscured and unclear. It seemingly was her and Lucius. After dinner the previous night. The headline?

'Head of Pureblood Family Allegedly Spotted with Much Younger Ex-Celestial Employee at Luxury Resort. Devoted Assistant or Seductive Mistress?'

Her face went pale, Lucius's glasses sliding to the tip of his nose as he raised his brow. "Well, what is it?" He asked. Katherine swallowed, shifting the paper behind her back.
"Nothing, it's nothing." She lied, biting her lip so hard she could taste metal in her mouth. Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Liar. Hand it over." He hissed before sitting up. He pushed the girl off of him before wrestling with her to pin Katherine on the bed, snatching the paper from her hand before standing up.

His face went pale as well, his hands making wrinkles in the pages from holding it so tightly. "We need to find out who printed this. Who writes the Daily Prophet again?" He sneered, his eyes narrowed in fury at the paper.
"Rita Skeeter, she's the sister of Miranda Skeeter, my old boss. What does the article say?" she asked him worryingly. Lucius cleared his throat, beginning to read.

"Wealthy pureblood Lucius Malfoy was allegedly spotted alongside ex-employee of The Celestial Katherine Farrington last night at a luxury wizards-only resort. Though the image is blurry, the people in the photograph resemble our two lovers. While many have identified Miss Farrington as Mr. Malfoy's doting assistant, an inside source and ex-friend of Miss Farrington has told me the two seem to have a bit of a flame between them. Lucius Malfoy is married to Narcissa Black Malfoy, and the two share a son together. It is unclear to me if Narcissa knows of her husband's accused infidelity, or if she is staying silent for the sake of her family."

Lucius crumpled the paper in rage, throwing it on the floor. "This is ridiculous. I bet the secret informant was that Victor of yours. Get dressed, we're paying a visit to Miss Rita Skeeter, and we're going to get her to print a retraction before this gets too out of hand."

-

Rita Skeeter's office was at the very top of a skyscraper next to the Ministry building. It was an obnoxious, kitschy room with green decorations and a wall of her best news stories.  She sat at her desk scribbling away, mumbling to herself about how she would be even more respected and famous with her breaking story.

"Miss Skeeter, you have visitors." said a booming voice over an intercom. The door to her office sprang open, Lucius storming in as Katherine trailed behind him. He strode over to her desk, whipping out his wand and tilting her chin with it angrily. Katherine moved to stand behind Rita, her hands finding place at the journalist's shoulders as she leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Rita, you're going to want to print a retraction." Katherine hissed. Rita's eyes opened as she reached for her own wand, Katherine grabbing it and dangling it over her head.
"This-this is my biggest story yet! It's not my fault you two aren't careful about being seen in public together! Please, you two were asking for a scandal! You're lucky I didn't print anything about Victor catching you two having sex on the staircase!" She pleaded.
Katherine looked at Lucius, who still had his wand pointed at the writer. He leaned in closely, his nostrils flaring.
"You are going to print a retraction, Rita, or we'll force one out of you. You messed with the wrong man. I will make sure your life is absolutely shit." He threatened.

"Oh, and what will that entail Mr. Malfoy? We all know your dark secret." Rita laughed, reaching to pull down his sleeve. Katherine could've sworn she spotted something on his arm, but the fabric fell back in place before she could take a closer look. Lucius poked Rita's throat with his wand, hissing slightly. Katherine sighed.
"Miss Skeeter, if you don't print the retraction I'll have Miranda publish those candids of you. You know, the ones of you with the Minister of Magic?" She smirked.

Rita gulped, shakily grabbing a quill and some parchment. She began scribbling a letter, and Katherine could see the words from where she was standing.
'It has been brought to my attention that the image I published earlier today was in fact not Katherine and Lucius, but two totally unlinked persons. I apologize for the error and any commotion my article has caused.'

"Now send it." Katherine ordered. Rita nodded and handed the letter off to an owl. Lucius finally retracted his wand, placing it back in his cane. Rita stood up carefully, snatching her wand back from Katherine.
"Can this be over?" She asked. Katherine glanced at Lucius before pointing her own wand against Rita's head.
"Lucius, she'll remember this. We need to make sure she doesn't turn us in for blackmail." Katherine pointed out. Lucius nodded as she inhaled sharply.

"Obliviate."

-

"I cannot believe we just did that!" Katherine yelled as she and Lucius walked back into Malfoy Manor. Lucius had an evil grin on his face and he pulled her inside the mansion.
"Katherine, darling, I had no idea you had that in you." He purred, pulling her into him to press a kiss on her lips. She chuckled into the kiss, her hands finding place on his cheeks as the two stood together.

"Oh, you two are back."

They quickly pulled away from each other as Narcissa stood in the entryway. Her arms were crossed and Katherine could hear the rapping of her foot on the hardwood flooring. Lucius walked over to her, embracing her and pressing a kiss on her lips as well.
"I missed you, my darling wife-"
"Save it, Lucius. I saw the paper-do you know how humiliating that is!" She yelled. Katherine stepped back, not wanting to be caught in the verbal crossfire.

"Narcissa, my dear, we handled it. Rita is printing a retraction, and Katherine obliviated her. She won't remember a thing, and it'll all be okay!" Lucius explained. Narcissa sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand, taking a deep breath.

"You two are trouble, you know that?"

But I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life
And when I die alone, when I die alone, die I'll be on time

A/N: premake your popcorn and grab some tissues bitches, the big dramatic "turning point for our darling MC" chapter comes out Friday ;) wednesday will be the setup chapter and then drama. will. ensue.