Amortentia

Chapter Nine

Malfoy Manor
Wiltshire, England
Date: Friday, 3rd of December, 2021

  Lucius walked into his bedroom, unable to soothe the ache in his heart. All three of his children chose to reside elsewhere tonight. His fiancé and her son were vacationing in Paris with her family, not that he was upset but that. Anita and Abraxas were somewhere that he couldn't recall at the moment.

He looked around his room with a sorrow-filled mind. Narcissa had shared this room with him for twenty-five years. They had held each other through stillbirths, miscarriages, and Death Eater raids in here. Elliot had said yes to them adopting him here.

  Unused and covered in dust, her vanity stood in the corner of the large room. He could still see her sitting on the bench, brushing through her thick hair with a smile on her face. A bottle of Channel No. 5 was in the bottom left drawer for their daughter. It was the same that Narcissa and her mother wore every day. He had already packed up any jewelry she had left behind. There was no reason to stare at it every time he entered the room.

Jenna took some of them after being informed of the divorce. Not that she would wear them, she couldn't handle seeing Sabrina in them. Lucius couldn't either; his Narcissa was the true Lady Malfoy. His clear mind pieced together what his once foggy mind could not. Why couldn't he say it out loud or to Sabrina?

"Love isn't something you can control,"

"I know, so you should leave before it causes us to do something we can't stop,"

Why couldn't he tell her that he didn't want to leave? All he wanted to do was pull Narcissa close and never let go. He wanted to be with her for the rest of the pregnancy. He should have said something.

"Draco!"

Lucius rushed to the window to see what was the matter. He pushed back the curtain and sighed with relief as he saw his daughter throw a snowball at her brother. Astoria erupted into a fit of laughter as it hit him square in the face.

  His daughter was the first to spot him. An enormous grin took over her face as she smiled up at him. The freshly fallen snow slowly planted itself in her hair. Her normal rose-colored cheeks were exceptionally brighter as she waved him down. Unable to say no to the excitement, he grabbed his cane and walked to the back garden.

Jenna shrieked as he appeared behind her and dumped snow over her head. She waved her hand and watched as the snow from the balcony above them fell on top of her father.

"Game on, old man," she smirked.

Lucius smiled as Jenna took off running from Astoria. As a child and father, he had never played in the snow. It was rather fun. A feeling of guilt overtook him as he watched his children indulge in the fun. He would do this for his new child. He would be the father he's always wanted to be.

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Malfoy Manor
Wiltshire, England
Date: Saturday, 1st of May, 2020

"The musings of a father are the best to offer,"

They had decided it would only be appropriate to celebrate their daughter's sixteenth birthday again. From what they knew, no one wanted to kill them. There would be no elaborate ball since that wasn't Ara's taste. It would be a celebration of reconnection and happiness.

   Arabella Malfoy walked from person to person with a fake smile plastered to her face. She didn't know these people and found no reason to know anything but their names. Brooks watched as she elegantly walked across the garden. Outside of the family, he was the only one who knew her persona was fake.

Lucius watched her as well. Anita walked a safe distance from Ara to make sure she was alright. Earlier, she had spoken about being afraid of making herself look stupid in front of their friends. Her grandmother offered to step in if necessary and hadn't done so yet. His quiet daughter was unsure of herself but played it off wonderfully. She was so much like her mother it scared him.

He looked over to his wife to see her doing the same thing. Narcissa knew how to relax her body and seem more confident than their daughter. She laughed whenever someone told a joke, funny or not. Whenever someone says something silly, she tends to smile brightly. Narcissa never had the heart to comment on beliefs. Although, everyone views her as the perfect wife.

The parallels between mother and daughter were uncanny. Lady Malfoy had trouble expressing feelings and emotions. Lucius had asked her to marry him and received a calm, yes, as his answer. Nothing more came from the situation.

Five years into their marriage, she gave birth to Draco. As she held him, she looked unsure. He was positive it was a mental debate on if she could love him or any other child they had. Eventually, the fear went away. Her blank smile grew to an adoring one.

His quiet, perfect wife was still so. Yet she had learned how to love others in a way she had never been able to. The first time she reached for him he had been sure he imagined it. Lucius had always made the first move. He was so happy that they conceived Ara that night.

Draco had been anything but emotionless. She had raised him to be that way. Both of them were afraid that he would turn out like her. Instead, he had her tender heart but was his father through and through.

Lucius couldn't say the same for his daughter. Her entire stay, all she had done was stay quiet and retreat into herself. His daughter was his wife reincarnated. They would help her however they could, but Lucius and Narcissa both knew Brooks would be the one to help her the most.

"She will be alright." Druella came up beside him. "I see it too, but I also see Bellatrix in her,"

Lucius felt his eyes widen, "Don't tell her that,"

"My daughter wasn't always an insane person, Lucius. She had been cruel to her sisters, but who isn't? My daughter was a warrior. She made the bravest of men question themselves. Ellabit will do the same,"

"I agree," Narcissa wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulder.

Lucius smiled at his wife. She had come so far since their first years of marriage. Shy and afraid, there wasn't much said between them. He had grown jealous and angry with her a handful of times but learned to get over it. He loved her, and in her way, she loved him.

The younger crowd made their way onto the dance floor, much to Ara's dismay. Lucius laughed as he watched Elliot, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter force her to dance. Although rather stiff at first, his daughter adapted and took over the floor. She was a natural, like her mother.

"I want you to know something," he whispered to Narcissa. She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes filled with empathy and waited for him to continue. "I will love you until the end of time, Narcissa Anita Malfoy. I understand that in your way, you will love me for the same amount, if not longer,"

He raised her pale hands to his lips and kissed them softly. She blushed at the attention her husband shared so openly while in public. Narcissa almost scowled, but one look into his eyes made her go mute. Unlike her oldest sister, who she had looked up to, she found someone who loved her. She reestablished a family and life that others envied.

"I love you," she whispered. "even if it doesn't seem like it at times," she pushed herself onto her tip-toes and kissed his cheek.

"Can you save the PDA until after the party?" Arabella asked, her big blue eyes pleading with them to agree. They laughed, and both kissed her on separate cheeks. "I'll take that as a yes!"

Anita laughed, "Your daughter is a mess,"

"Just like her mother,"

"Just like her father," The couple answered in unison. It earned multiple laughs from their parents and a small kiss between the two of them.

"This isn't after the party!"