If I had a highway, I would run for the hills
If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still
But you're giving me a million reasons
The two stood in shock before Katherine walked over to the illuminated porch.
"Is that-" Narcissa started before Katherine shushed her.
"Lucius? What are you doing here?" She asked as they reached the porch. He turned around, his undereyes painfully red and swollen, a look of unease and weakness on his face. He stumbled towards her, holding his hands out as she grabbed on to him. He was frail, fragile, barely recognizable. It shattered her heart to see him in that state.
"There was-there was a mass breakout at Azkaban. The Dark Lord freed us all. I had assumed I could find the two of you here." He whispered, Katherine holding on to him as he struggled to stand. She couldn't believe it was him, someone she thought she would never see again right in front of her. It was as if he came back from the dead.
"Cissa, can you open the door please so we can bring him inside?"
Narcissa nodded and slowly pushed the cottage door open, Katherine pulling Lucius inside as she led him towards the living room. She sat him down on the sofa, grabbing a blanket to wrap around him gently. Her hand moved to gently stroke his cheek, her warm palms beginning to heat up his icy cold skin.
"I can't believe you're here." She whispered, letting her thumb trace circles on the curve of his face. His grey eyes stared at the ground below him avoiding her gaze.
"Katherine, dear, can you come into the kitchen for a moment?" Narcissa asked from the doorway.
She nodded, standing up to walk into the joined kitchen. Narcissa stood by the sink, nervously peeling an orange.
"Cissa, is something wrong?" She asked quietly. Narcissa bit her lip for a moment before setting the fruit back down on the table.
"How can we be sure it is him, and not someone who used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him? Think about it, we technically disappeared. Who knows who could be after us. And him coming back from Azkaban, of all places? It seems incredibly suspicious." Narcissa mumbled, pulling out a plate from the cupboard before beginning to cut up strawberries.
"We have to ask him to tell us something he alone would know. I don't know, maybe like a secret you two have, or something he's said to us in private. I don't think anyone impersonating him would know all of his personal information." Katherine responded, glancing into the living room. Lucius was just sitting there silently, gazing blankly at the floor still. Katherine slowly stepped into the room with him, walking over to him before kneeling down to match his gaze.
"Luci, can you do me a favor? Can you tell me something that only me and you would know?" She asked quietly. Lucius looked up at her with cold, empty eyes that showed not ounce of warmth behind them.
"It will be pleasure and delight if I may serve you as a friend, as a friend, but all I have ever learned, all I can ever do, shall be for you and those you love. There are darknesses in life, and there are lights. You are one of the lights. You will have a happy life and a good life, and your husband will be blessed in you...that was the first line I had read to you the night before we stormed the Ministry." He recited, falling back against the sofa. Katherine smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. But he stopped her, his hand pressing against her cheek solemnly. She bit her lip, stiffening before standing up.
"Luci, why don't we go upstairs so you can rest a bit?" She offered, offering him her hand. He took it slowly, standing up, his balance somewhat regained. She led him towards the staircase and up the steps as gently as she could. Luckily, her bedroom was the first room of the second floor. Gently pushing open the door, Katherine guided Lucius into the sunlight room. Sunlight, something she knew Lucius had not seen in ages.
"Here, let me at least get you cleaned up." Katherine mumbled as she pushed him gently to sit on the edge of the bed. She went into the bathroom, grabbing a muggle first aid kit from the medicine cabinet before coming back into the bedroom. He was staring at his reflection in the small mirror next to the bed. Once he heard her approach him, his head quickly snapped back to her, his stone eyes glassy.
"Is that truly what I look like now?"
Katherine's face fell as she saw him. Even it was hard for her. Despite her seeing him in Azkaban just weeks before, he still looked worse for wear. It must be difficult for him, she thought to herself, for the once elegant, boastful man to be reduced to a shell of his former self. Lucius was prideful, one who she knew always took pride in his appearance. But here he was, ragged in ripped clothing. But now he looked old, weak, like he was made of glass.
But she loved him just the same.
She frowned, sitting herself down next to him on the bed, grabbing his hands in hers tightly. "Do not think of yourself like that. You have survived hell on earth. Soon enough you'll heal and be back to normal, love." She whispered softly, slowly reaching to unbutton the Azkaban prison uniform he still wore. Her hands worked diligently to undo the buttons before slowly sliding the shirt off of him. His bare chest was littered with scratches, bruises, and little deep cuts that would eventually fade into scars of lightning.
Biting her lip, she reached into the first aid kit and took out some rubbing alcohol, gauze, and bandaids. Despite being a witch, she wasn't a Healer and had no idea what spells would help and what spells would do more harm than good, finding it safer to just treat his injuries the old fashion way. Dipping a cloth into some alcohol, she gently pressed against one of the wounds on his chest causing Lucius to wince.
"Luci, you're fine. I'm trying to be as gentle as I can." she doted back, removing the cloth to put a large band-aid on the wound. She continued to treat the various injuries on his body, Lucius soon sporting around 10 band-aids and one wrapped wrist.
"There, all better." Katherine smiled, tucking the medical supplies back into the first aid kit.
"I am telling you, there is something seriously wrong with you nursing a grown man back to health like I am some wounded deer." Lucius grumbled. She glared in response, her arms crossing in front of her. She knew his pride would catch up to him.
"Yes, there's something so wrong with me deciding to care for you after you came home from what is essentially a torture chamber. For Merlin's sake, I'm only trying to help!" She snapped back. "Can we please not argue about this right now. Is the fact that you sit here in front of me, practically wasted away, not enough for you to realize I just want you back."
Lucius opened his mouth to say something but reluctantly shut it once he saw Katherine's dagger-like glare. He watched her grab a hairbrush from the vanity counter before she moved to sit behind him. He stayed silent, not wanting to upset the poor woman more than he already had. He just hated being babied, hated the way that he was not her protector but her protectee. It never should have come to that, her having to worry over him and see him in his depressing, solemn state.
The brush slid through his long hair, getting caught in tangles almost every time. Katherine hummed to herself as she tried to be as gentle as possible, but once and while he would yelp if there was a particularly stubborn knot. As she made her way towards his side, she noticed what she thought was a speckle of grime on his neck. Furrowing her eyebrows, she licked the tip of her thumb beginning to rub roughly against the stain. But it didn't come off. She moved closer to inspect his neck, seeing that it in fact was not dirt. It was a tattoo of his Azkaban number, a permanent reminder of the time he spent locked away.
"I can't believe they did this to you." She mumbled, brushing a strand of hair over his neck to cover the tattoo. Despite knowing deep down it was his fault, she just couldn't believe that the only wizarding prison was such a horrid and cruel place full of so much death and despair. She decided she wouldn't give him any more trouble, that tonight was going to be about him and making him realize she was still very much in love with him. Gliding the brush through one last knot, she gently placed her lips on his forehead pressing a small kiss on his skin.
"Looking better already." she said, her tone optimistic and back to a cheerful song.
"Now why don't you go take a nice, warm shower?"
-
Lucius, of course, refused to shower alone. Not when he had endured so much time by himself. All he wanted was for all of his moments, all of the time he had for the next hours, days, weeks, months, to be spent in Katherine's company. Because she was one of the lights in his life, a beacon of glimmering hope that maybe, just maybe, after the second war was over and if he even survived said second war, that she would stay a part of his life.
But for now, he was standing underneath the showerhead, water dripping down his bare, scarred skin. Katherine stood in front of him, letting the water flow over her. She pretended that they were in Bali underneath a beautiful cascading waterfall, sharing a romantic beachy moment instead of being cramped together in a small glass shower. Her eyes glanced over every bare inch of his body, wanting nothing more than memorize it in her mind.
"I missed you." She said quietly with teary eyes. She hadn't let herself cry, not when she knew he already felt terrible about himself and the situation. But here he was, in the flesh, with her when she thought she would never see him again. His hand gently rested on her shoulder causing her to shudder.
"I missed you more than you shall ever know, my dove. You have stood by my side despite everything that has happened. Why is that?" he asked her.
"Because I love you, Lucius Malfoy. You heard me almost say it after Bellatrix attacked me and you heard me say it when I was visiting you in Azkaban. I have fallen for you, a married man." She laughed, a stray tear falling from her eye, sitting on her cheek for a moment before it became mixed with water droplets.
"Stay with me." Lucius said quietly. Katherine looked up, confused. She was already staying with him. "After the war, after everything, stay with me. If we survive this I want you by my side. I know this was only supposed to be temporary but you can still set up your little shop and become a famous designer, just like you have always wanted. Would that not be wonderful? And you can stay with me, stay with us. You belong with the Malfoys. You are, my dove, one of us now." He whispered.
She paused for a moment, replaying his offer in her head. It tempted her, staying with Lucius, living the rest of her life in luxury and excess. But her mind trailed to Victor and her dream, the reason she was affiliated with Lucius in the first place. It was all for her to eventually gain independence and finally live her life the way she wanted it to be. One side of her wanted to be in this triad relationship with Lucius and Narcissa (despite her knowing deep down that he would never love her as much as his wife), the other side of her wanted her own husband, her own family. Lucius was a charmer, a seducer, something she simply couldn't have all to herself.
A sudden kiss sealed her fate. Her soft lips met his, his hands resting on the bare skin of the small of her waist. She pressed against him, finally feeling the hot energy between them again. She knew then and there she could not leave, that he had an influence on her she could never be free from. He had her trapped and he would never let her go, not when she was his muse, his beacon of all the good in the world.
And she loved being trapped.
Head stuck in a cycle, I look off and I stare
It's like that I've stopped breathing, but completely aware