Entry Title: A Vacation from Life-Hijacked
Original Title: Lost Boy found here Story Title:A Vacation From Life Original Author:roedhunt Hijacker:Melfina the Blue Rating: (G-NC17)PG-13 for gore Pairing: Harry/Lucius Length : 3500 Time Period:Post-Hogwarts Canon Compliant:Yes Summary: Lucius finds Harry Potter badly beaten in Knockturn Alley and takes him home. Warnings: pre-slash, open wound descriptions which may cause squick, EWE Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are property of JK Rowling and Warner Brothers, no profit is being made off of this story. Author's Note: As always, massively indebted to Zephre. Special thanks also to hp_britlish over on LJ for giving me help with the British version of a grilled cheese sandwich. Roedhunt, I hope you like the hijacked version! Lucius walked carefully down Diagon Alley. He wouldn't put it past any of the inhabitants to throw things at him; they had done so before. But it was twilight, and most people had gone to dinner with their families. That suited him just fine. He didn't want to go back to the Manor. He didn't want to walk down those echoing, empty halls and be reminded of what he'd lost. Plus, Narcissa was there right now, packing up more of her things, and Draco was helping. Neither of them wanted him anywhere near them anymore. Sure, he'd survived the battle, but he'd lost his family. He'd even managed to stay out of Azkaban, but what was the point? He sighed. Nothing was the way it should be anymore.
There was a wanted poster in the window of Ollivander's. Lucius walked towards it, to get a closer look. He'd thought all the Death Eaters had been caught by now. He was extremely surprised to see Harry Potter's face. The savior of the Wizarding World was missing? Well, that was just rich. Sometimes life had a cruel sense of irony. He shrugged and continued walking. What happened to Potter was no concern of his.
He started to walk past the entry to Knockturn, and paused when he heard a groan. It was none of his business, he knew that. But the denizens of Knockturn still had a healthy respect for his hexes, if not his name, and it should be safe enough. And besides, it gave him an excuse to postpone going home a little bit longer. He loosened his wand in his cane and walked slowly into Knockturn. He stopped when someone groaned again, and realized it was coming from under a cart. He poked his cane under it, and hit something soft.
"Oww. Ohhh."
Lucius looked under the cart, and was extremely surprised to see Harry Potter. The boy looked like he'd gone ten rounds with a Whomping Willow.
"Potter, what are you doing under there?"
"Dunno, sir. My head hurts."
"Well, come out, and we'll get you cleaned up."
Potter groaned and rolled out from underneath the cart. Lucius helped him to his feet.
"We should get you to St Mungos."
Potter paled.
"Please, no sir. I don't want to go anywhere."
"Well, I can't just leave you here in Knockturn. It's not safe."
Potter started to shake.
"Alright, so no St Mungos. Can I take you home then?"
"I... I don't know where it is."
"Friends, family?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything."
Potter burst into tears. Lucius tentatively patted him on the shoulder.
"Well, I could take you home and get you cleaned up. Maybe some dinner too?"
Potter nodded. Lucius wondered briefly if he'd gone completely round the bend. He was taking Harry Potter home with him. On the other hand, Potter would be indebted to him, and that could prove extremely useful. He took Potter gently by the arm, and used the Manor Portkey.
Once they arrived in the foyer, Lucius steered Potter towards the south wing, away from where Draco and Narcissa would be.
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"You keep calling me Potter. Is that my name?"
"Yes, your name is Harry Potter."
"Oh. What's yours?"
"Lucius. Lucius Malfoy."
"What should I call you?"
Lucius shrugged.
"Lucius is fine, or Malfoy. Doesn't much matter."
"Oh. Where are we going?"
"To a guest suite."
"You live in a big house."
"Yes, yes I do."
"Have I been here before?"
"Once, briefly."
"So I shouldn't be worried about the fact that nothing looks familiar?"
"I wouldn't be."
"Okay. And you can call me Harry if you want."
"Well then, Harry, what would you like to eat?"
"A cheese toastie?"
"You can have anything you want, Harry. The house elves are quite capable."
"I want a cheese toastie, please."
"Lurch!"
A house elf dressed in a pillowcase popped in. Harry jumped back.
"Easy, Harry, it's just Lurch. Lurch, what's prepared for dinner?"
"Vichyssoise, roast beef and vegetables, and pomegranate sorbet."
"Excellent. I will have a tray of that, and our guest would like a cheese toastie."
"Master does not wish to join Mistress and the young Master in the dining hall?"
"No, I need to tend to our guest."
"Yes, Master."
"Here we are, Harry. You'll stay here for the night, if you find it suitable."
Harry's eyes widened as Lucius opened the door in front of them. The room was huge, with a bed easily big enough for four people. There was a fire merrily burning in the large fireplace, and two armchairs with a table in front of it.
"Wow."
"I assume this is satisfactory?"
"Yes."
"Now, Lurch will be along with your food shortly and we need to get you cleaned up and your injuries treated."
Harry suddenly looked very panicked. Lucius moved quickly to reassure him.
"Harry, the loo is through that door. I am willing to help you if you think you need it, but otherwise I'll leave you to your own devices for a bit and go find you some clean clothes. Does that sound good?"
Harry looked like a frightened child. It was odd to see the savior of the Wizarding World so petrified.
"But but but..."
"Harry, it's up to you. If you feel you need help, I will gladly provide it."
"You won't go far away?"
"All you need do is call for Lurch, and he'll fetch me immediately."
"Okay."
Lucius patted Harry on the head, rather like he used to do with Draco. This was very odd. Harry Potter was, what, 18? He'd faced down the Dark Lord, died more than once, and now his body language was that of a terrified and traumatized child. Obviously something very serious had occurred.
"Lucius?"
"Yes?"
"You promise you won't be far away? I'm scared."
"Would you prefer I stay in this room while you bathe?"
"Yes, please."
Harry started to walk to the loo, and fell against one of the armchairs. Lucius quickly moved to help support him.
"Easy, Harry, easy. Let me help you."
He put his hand to the small of the boy's back and was rather horrified to discover that it was blood-soaked.
"Harry, you're bleeding badly."
Harry looked back at Lucius' blood covered palm and started to hyperventilate. Lucius quickly wrapped his arms around the boy.
"Easy. It'll all be fine, I'll take care of you, you'll be fine. Don't worry."
Harry was shaking. Lucius quickly helped the boy into the bathroom, and kept talking to him. He carefully helped the boy sit on the toilet while he started the bath running.
"Harry, do you want me to help you take your clothes off or do you think you can manage?"
Harry didn't answer. He just stared at the tub.
"Harry?"
Lucius started to gently pull Harry's shirt off. Harry reacted suddenly, punching Lucius hard in the gut. Lucius doubled over and Harry started crying. It took a few moments for Lucius to get his breath back. He could hear Harry sobbing quietly. It took him a moment to realize that Harry was actually apologizing in between sobs.
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. Now, how about you take off your shirt so I can see your injuries?"
Harry nodded slowly and pulled off his shirt. The back of it was soaked with blood. He had some random bruises on his front, but nothing serious.
"Harry, I'm going to look at your back now, okay?"
Harry nodded again. Lucius walked slowly behind him to get a good look. The top third of his back reminded Lucius of raw steak, steak that moved with every breath Harry took, and that was leaking blood around the edges. He suddenly felt very queasy. He could see the bones of Harry's shoulder blades and oh Merlin, were those bumps the boy's spine? He leaned against the wall as his stomach did flip flops. How could the boy be functional at all with so much skin missing?
His voice shook a bit as he spoke.
"Harry, you need to see a Healer. I can't fix this."
Harry turned to look at him, and it hit him. He couldn't take Harry Potter to St Mungos. No one would ever believe that he hadn't been the one who did this, and Harry was too confused to really know what happened. They'd lock him up in Azkaban and throw away the key. He was screwed. Completely and totally screwed.
Harry was just staring at him, rather like Draco used to, like he could magically make everything better. He had to do something. The library. All his uncle's books were still in the library. All those books on healing. There had to be something of use in there.
"Harry, we're going to go to the library. Is that fine?"
Harry nodded his head and extended his hand. Lucius took it, and very carefully helped Harry to his feet. He couldn't be really badly injured if he was walking, right? Right?
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Harry was lying on his stomach on one of the large tables in the library, his head pillowed on Lucius' jacket and vest. He was munching on his cheese toastie and seemed rather content. Lucius was frantically flipping through books, looking for spells to clean wounds and regrow skin. His dinner lay untouched on a nearby table.
"Aha! I knew Uncle Mortimer wouldn't fail me. Spells for the treatment of severe burns. First clean the area. Harry, I'm going to try a spell now. It may hurt. Is that okay?"
Harry nodded.
"Tersus Vulnus!"
Harry started to whimper, and the flow of blood from his back increased.
"Desiderium Tergum!"
The skin on Harry's back rippled as it grew back over the gaping wound. Lucius resolved to never eat again. After a few moments, the skin settled into place, and Harry stopped whimpering. Lucius moved closer. It looked rather like someone had used a great deal of spellotape to stick the skin back on, but at least there was skin there.
"Lucius?"
"Yes, Harry."
"My back feels better now."
"I'm glad, Harry. Now is there anything else that hurts? Anywhere that's bleeding?"
"Places hurt, but I don't think anywhere else is bleeding."
"Where do you hurt?"
"My head, my sides, my arms."
Lucius looked carefully at all of the above.
"Okay, Harry, those are bruises and some small scrapes. Nothing serious and they should mend on their own. Now, why don't we get you cleaned up and into bed?"
Harry sat up and smiled at Lucius. Lucius reached out and ruffled his hair like he used to do to Draco, back when the boy was still speaking to him. Harry slipped his hand into Lucius' rather larger one, and Lucius led him out of the library and back to his bedroom. Harry climbed into bed, and Lucius tucked him in and started to leave.
"NO! You can't leave. Please don't, I'm scared."
Lucius sighed. Harry lifted the covers, inviting Lucius into the bed.
"Harry, it's not really appropriate for us to share a bed."
"Please? I'm scared and cold and I don't want to be alone."
Lucius pondered for a moment. On the one hand, it was highly inappropriate. On the other, he certainly wasn't planning to do anything to the boy and he might actually get a good night's sleep out of it. He'd gotten so used to having 'Cissa in the bed next to him and now he couldn't sleep through the night. He'd wake up reaching for her, and panic momentarily when she wasn't there before he remembered why.
"Harry, I need to change before I go to bed. I can't sleep in this."
"But I'm scared."
Lucius sighed again.
"Please?"
Lucius started unbuttoning his waistcoat and Harry smiled. He took off his waistcoat, tie, and shirt, then sat down on the bed to take off his shoes. He was a bit startled when Harry hugged him.
"I'm glad you are here to take care of me."
Lucius smiled at Harry, who took that as an invitation to pull him into bed.
"Harry, I'm still wearing my shoes!"
Harry pushed Lucius down when he tried to get up, and crawled down to Lucius' feet and removed his shoes. He held one of Lucius' feet and tried tickling it through the sock.
"Harry, I'm not ticklish, and you need rest, okay? So come back up here, and try to go to sleep."
Harry nodded, crawled back up the bed, and slipped under the covers next to Lucius.
"I'm still cold."
Lucius sighed and wrapped his arms around Harry, who squirmed closer to him and laid his head on Lucius' chest. Lucius smiled. It reminded him of how 'Cissa used to curl up to him. He drifted off to sleep, soothed by Harry's company.
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Harry awoke the next morning, and realized that he had no idea where he was. He also had a crick in his neck. He leaned up slowly, and then decided that he'd obviously gone stark-raving mad. There was a half-naked Malfoy next to him, and he'd been using the man's chest as a pillow!
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
Lucius hated being awakened suddenly. He hated it even more when he was awakened by someone yelling in his ear.
"Could you please not yell this early in the morning?"
"I'M GOING TO YELL AS MUCH AS I BLOODY WANT! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AND WHERE THE HELL AM I?"
Severus had mentioned something about the annoyance of shouting Potters, and Lucius was beginning to see his point.
"You're in my home, because you refused to go to St Mungos, and couldn't remember where you lived. I found you in Knockturn Alley last night, hiding under a wagon. I brought you home, fed you, and took care of your wounds."
"That really doesn't explain why we're in the same bed."
"You were rather insistent about not being left alone. I assure you, nothing happened."
"Your assurances mean nothing! Prove it."
Lucius sighed. This was not how he liked to start the day.
"Very well. Will examining my memories in a Pensieve do?"
"Pensieves are extremely expensive and rare. How'd you get one?"
"Potter, this house is full of expensive and rare things, most of which I inherited."
"Fine. But don't think for a second I trust you."
"Duly noted."
Lucius led Harry to the library. Harry glanced around at the overladen bookshelves.
"Hermione would love this place."
"I wouldn't recommend bringing Miss Granger here. Some of the books are spelled to be very nasty to non-purebloods. Severus almost lost a finger once."
"I wasn't planning on it. And the Ministry let you keep dangerous books? I thought they didn't trust you with anything more dangerous than a wet noodle."
"I rather doubt the Ministry trusts me with wet noodles. But they have yet to find a reasonable solution to keep me away from all weapons of pasta. And that would be why the books are still here. The Ministry can't figure out how to safely remove them."
"And I'm sure you've been a great help to them in that."
"It's not my fault that they have no facilities to manage dangerous books."
Harry rolled his eyes and groaned. Lucius ignored him and pulled back a purple curtain in one of the room's corners. Behind it was an ornate secretary with shelves full of little vials and a large silver bowl.
"Are there any inspections you'd care to make before we begin? And no, you may not look at all the memories in the vials."
Harry looked closely at the Pensieve. It wasn't something he knew a great deal about, but he decided to poke at it with an air of confidence, in the hope that at least he'd look like he knew what he was doing.
"Potter, what are you doing?"
"Inspecting it."
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
"I certainly do know what I'm doing."
"Then what does the bit you're poking do?"
"It's the flux capacitor."
"No, it's not. You just made that up."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not, and I'm the Auror, so I should know."
"Being an Auror does not make you a Pensieve expert. In fact, being an Auror means very little."
"We're the best of the best!"
"Since when? And let us not forget that they dropped their standards for you as well."
"Hey! You're on thin ice here."
"You're no Mad-Eye Moody, Potter. Now, please stop poking the expensive heirloom and let me get on with this."
Harry scowled, but stepped aside. Lucius put his wand to his temple and pulled out his memories of the previous evening. He carefully deposited them into the bowl.
"Well, Potter, there they are."
Harry looked into the bowl....
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After Harry had viewed the memories, he sat down in a nearby chair. Lucius sat near him, looking at him expectantly. After a few moments, Harry spoke...
"Why?"
"Why did I take care of you or why did I bring you home?"
"Both."
"Because you needed someone to help you, and having you owe me a debt could be quite useful."
Harry shook his head.
"There has to be more to it than that. You took care of me, tried to heal me, treated me like I was..."
"Draco."
"Yes. Why?"
"Would it shock you so much to learn that I have a heart?"
"Frankly, yes. I always thought you were a cold-blooded bastard."
"Emotions can be used against you so very easily. They're a very useful weapon. I have never had any intention of giving my enemies that kind of power."
"So you fake being a cold-hearted bastard and you think that's better?"
"Potter, we could spend hours arguing about upbringing and stiff upper lips and all that. Now the question is, what happened to you in the first place?"
"I don't actually remember. I remember arguing with Ginny, going to work, getting snarled at by Ron, and then I woke up here."
"Oh. You will be sure to tell the Aurors I had absolutely nothing to do with your injuries?"
"Relax. You do me a favor and I'll do you one."
"And what's the favor?"
Harry sighed.
"I don't want to go home just yet. You've got plenty of extra room, and aren't half as horrible as I first thought. The only problem is Draco."
"Draco is no longer a problem. He and his mother have both left the Manor. Narcissa has filed for divorce and Draco has declared his intention to have as little to do with me as possible."
Harry stared at the floor for a moment. Just breaking up with Ginny had ripped him apart; he wasn't sure at all how Lucius managed to give that news in such a calm, unemotional manner. Losing his wife, his child, that had to hurt, even if the child in question was that prat, Draco.
"I'm sorry."
"Why? You did nothing to cause it."
"Still it must hurt."
"Not really your concern, is it? If you want to stay, I have no objections. If you need clothing, I'm sure we can find something to fit you in the attic. Now, can you find your own way back to your room? I need to go shower and dress for breakfast."
"Dress for breakfast?"
"Change out of the trousers from yesterday, and put on a shirt. Lurch!"
A house elf popped in.
"Lurch, take Master Potter back to his room, and assist him. Potter, please don't free him, I rather like him."
"Duly noted."
The house elf bowed and gestured to Harry, who followed him out of the room. He wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, but a vacation from normal life, from dealing with the fallout of Ginny's cheating, Hermione's dumping of Ron, and the stupid politics of the Ministry sounded wonderful. Just a slight vacation from life, a couple of days, and then he'd go back and deal with all of it.
Lucius smiled as Harry left. It'd be nice to have a boy round the place again, and Harry did have a nice arse. He wondered briefly if Potter liked men, and resolved to get Rita on it at the first possible moment. If nothing else, the next few days would be interesting.