Devotion Title: Devotion Author:kaycee Rating: PG-13 Pairing: Tom Riddle/Lucius Malfoy Summary: "The man was different, intriguing, utterly fascinating even at first glance. Lucius Malfoy’s gaze was drawn to him the very instant he sauntered into the Great Hall, giving off the impression that not only did he own the whole of Hogwarts, but that he’d also had the entire place built to his own, personal design." Warnings: AU (deviates greatly from the canon time-line especially), mention of sex between a seventeen-year-old and an adult (student/teacher), mild angst. Prompt: "Power has always excited Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle has it in spades." Notes: The Potterverse is JKR's, not mine.
The man was different, intriguing, utterly fascinating even at first glance.
Lucius Malfoy’s gaze was drawn to him the very instant he sauntered into the Great Hall, giving off the impression that not only did he own the whole of Hogwarts, but that he’d also had the entire place built to his own, personal design.
Word had it that he was a new member of staff.
Truth be told, he looked rather too young to Lucius to already be an academic, or any kind of professor at all, but nonetheless, that’s what he was.
Following his predecessor’s mysterious disappearance and rumoured demise, Tom Marvolo Riddle would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts that year.
Soon this bit of news reached the far end of the Slytherin table, and once again Lucius was glad that he’d chosen to continue taking that subject, despite his father’s endless objections.
“I could instruct you far better,” the man had insisted repeatedly, “and my spells, at least, would be of some practical use. Didn't anyone ever tell you to fight fire with fire, son? They’d never teach Dark spells at Hogwarts, you realize. The current headmaster wouldn't dare permit it. He‘s far too… traditional in his views, and you and I both know that defence spells are a complete joke when one’s faced with real evil.”
Professor Riddle clearly knew his stuff, and from the looks of things, his knowledge reached well beyond what was required for the Hogwarts curriculum.
Lucius couldn’t shake the distinct feeling that the man was holding back, that he was capable of far greater things and much more powerful magic.
Lucius may have been only seventeen, but this did nothing to diminish his shrewdness or to make him any less calculating.
He was a Slytherin and a Malfoy through and through, and more than able to recognize true power when he saw it, and Tom Riddle seemed to possess it in spades.
Not to mention that the man was confident, well spoken, charismatic and incredibly handsome.
Lucius had never encountered anyone like him before. Lucius was enthralled.
It was hard to have to admit, albeit only to himself, that he had developed a crush on a teacher.
Crushes were for Hufflepuffs; silly female Hufflepuffs in their first or second year; not for intelligent young men such as himself.
Still, he didn't believe in denial. An unwillingness to look the truth in the face was an act of weaklings and cowards, and Lucius had no intention whatsoever of counting himself among either of those.
He wanted to be just like him, like that brilliant man who stood in front of the classroom and taught everyone how to conjure a Patronus; the same man who claimed that magic wasn’t about good or evil, but about power and having the spine and the guts to seize it.
Sometimes Lucius thought that he could see Riddle's eyes flash from deep green to almost black and he wondered whether that was real or just a trick of the light.
He didn't know, couldn't know and had no way of being certain.
Though more and more he realized, just from the way Riddle’s gaze would rest on him, and such occurred more and more lately, that perhaps his vast interest in the man wasn’t merely one-sided.
Unless he was only imagining things, deluding himself despite his best intentions to the contrary, but still—
He could hope and dream, couldn't he?
His thoughts drifted again and he wondered what it would be like to wait until the lesson was over and to then walk up to the teacher’s desk and offer himself to that enchanting man.
Lucius would never even dream of doing something like that, ordinarily, but then there was nothing even remotely ordinary about this crush or about him.
Lucius licked his lips subconsciously as he considered the many sinful things he'd like his Defence Professor to do to him; activities that stretched far beyond the limits of his already highly active and extremely vivid imagination.
One Monday afternoon two weeks later, Lucius was asked to stay behind after class.
The request left him feeling nervous, excited and above all, confused.
He hadn’t done anything to upset the Professor, had he? Nor had his grades suffered due to his changed feelings for the man; overwhelming and distracting though these feelings continued to be.
One flick of Riddle’s wand and the door flew tightly shut.
Anxious, but with his head held high and determined not to show any weakness or guilt, Lucius slowly walked towards the front of the class.
"So, Mister Malfoy, tell me," Riddle began with a sneer that was close to devious and nowhere near professional and which sent a shiver up and down Lucius' spine, "what are you hoping to accomplish here exactly?"
Lucius blinked. “Sir?"
“Entertaining such… inappropriate thoughts about one of your Professors. Whatever would your father say?”
Lucius gulped. He hadn’t told a living soul, so how did Riddle ever find out about this?
“I’m sorry?” he tried again, attempting to feign ignorance and innocence, neither of which he wore particularly well.
“Mister Malfoy,” Riddle enquired, his sneer growing darker and more diabolical with each passing second, “are you familiar with the fine and precise art of Legilimency?”
Lucius’ pulse started racing. So the blasted man had read his mind. How painfully embarrassing. How completely outrageous! So did this mean that he would be expelled now, he wondered with increasing horror? Would his parents be told, or—?
"I repeat: What are you hoping to gain from this, Mister Malfoy?" Riddle enquired again. This time, his expression was impossible to read.
Before he could even try to stop himself, Lucius’ mind was filled with power and wealth and above all, enticing images of himself and Riddle and all the great things they’d undertake together.
Without another word, Riddle stood up, walked towards his wide-eyed student and the kiss that followed stunned Lucius into complete silence.
A long age later, Riddle released the startled boy again and took a step backwards. “Well, Mister Malfoy,” he said with a smirk, “I believe we may find ourselves on the threshold of a highly promising partnership.“
Two months passed and Lucius was forced to acknowledge that he was in way over his head.
His feelings for Tom – the two of them were on a first-name basis now, at least when they were alone – went beyond attraction, beyond infatuation and beyond anything else he'd ever experienced before, and he’d hardly been an innocent at the start of this affair.
Lucius had fooled around before, with both males and females; as certain Purebloods tended to do before they eventually resigned themselves to an arranged marriage, one that was mutually beneficial in many ways, but generally devoid of any kind of passion or love.
With all his past conquests, however, things had remained quite superficial, emotionally.
His liaison with Tom, on the other hand…
Lucius couldn’t deny that he was falling hopelessly in love with the man, and that, to all intents and purposes, was altogether rather frightening.
They had to be extremely discreet.
This type of relationship between a teacher and a student would never be tolerated at Hogwarts. There would be dire consequences for both of them, even though something about Tom made him seem almost… untouchable.
So they sneaked kisses after class and spent their nights in Riddle’s private quarters, hoping that their secret would remain theirs and theirs alone.
“Promise me, Lucius,” Tom said one night, “that you’ll wed a Pureblood witch and produce an heir as planned. Our kind is dying out. As long as most of us are mortal, we need children to carry on our name."
"Yes,” Lucius said obediently. “Yes, of course.”
He would have agreed to anything then, just as long as Tom kept looking at him like that, with those green eyes darkened with lust and maybe, just maybe, something else besides.
"Good, so long as we're clear on that," Tom said and kissed him again, and Lucius wondered what the powerful influence was that this man held over him, and how Tom was capable of reducing him to a big puddle of nothing every single time.
No one had ever managed that before, man or woman. No one had ever made him lose himself.
“You're a most delicious diversion, Lucius," Tom whispered.
Lucius smiled, though in his heart of hearts, he longed to be more; so much more, and some day, he would certainly tell him if he got the chance.
One Tuesday at lunch, the students were informed that Professor Riddle had unexpectedly left in reportedly conspicuous circumstances.
It didn’t take long for the ongoing rumours to reach Lucius’ ears.
Some of the claims were stranger than others.
The most notable one involved a murder and a basilisk that had been conjured or unleashed some time ago.
The details were vague, and then that other story about fragments of a soul and an unholy resurrection made no sense at all, but one thing was certain; Professor Dumbledore had somehow played a major role in unearthing these supposed truths.
But whatever the specifics were, there was only one thing on the forefront of Lucius’ mind as a chill settled around the young man’s heart.
Tom was forever out of the picture, and Lucius missed him more than he’d ever imagined himself capable of missing anyone.
He didn’t hear from him again, not once, but life had to go on, and in the end, Lucius kept his promise.
On a sunny afternoon in June, almost a decade later, his son and heir Draco was born.
A Dark Wizard was on the rise; one whose name was so powerful it ought never to be spoken out aloud.
Lucius was the first of many Purebloods to be summoned.
Nervous and scared, he stood before the man who’d be their new self-appointed leader, the person who guaranteed to restore dignity and order to a Wizarding Word infested with meddlesome Muggleborns who threatened to expose and subsequently damn them all.
Lucius was terrified to face him, this great man, this brilliant mind, but when he finally did, all he could do was stand there, rooted to the spot, his eyes wide and his heart overflowing as he finally whispered in a shaky voice, "T-Tom?"
"I beg your pardon?" The man said, feigning affronted surprise.
"My Lord," Lucius quickly corrected himself and bowed respectfully.