Lucius Malfoy and the Cauldron of Doom 6/? Title: Lucius Malfoy and the Cauldron of Doom Part 6 Author/Artist:melfinatheblue Rating: PG Pairing: Lucius/Severus, Lucius/Narcissa, Draco/Pansy, Lucius/an OC may occur later. I certainly wouldn't put it past him. Summary: The Quidditch match and some flirting. Warnings: Well, my fandom does warn for flirting... Prompt: Lucius has been a bad boy and as punishment, The Ministry force him to take over the job of Potions Master. No-one ever said The Ministry had any sense. Notes:This is the last prewritten bit. So it's going to be a while before you get more. Sorry. Oh and Happy Holidays! last bit here
It was really a fine day for a Quidditch match. Nice and sunny, without much wind, though it could be warmer. Lucius shivered in his winter robes. It really was quite chilly. He cast a warming charm on his feet and looked around. There was a first year staring at him. Oh, the one who'd burned off his eyebrows last week.
"Is there something you want?"
"What did you just cast?"
Muggleborn. Most certainly, to not recognize a simple warming charm.
"A warming charm."
"Can you cast one on me too, professor? It's really cold out here."
"My casting the charm for you isn't going to motivate you to learn the charm yourself."
The first year looked confused. The third year next to him looked amused.
"But we haven't learned that charm yet."
"Then I suggest you learn it on your own. It's not a difficult charm. Just don't singe off your eyebrows again."
The third year snickered. Lucius couldn't remember her name, but then again, he couldn't remember most of his students' names. He tended to default to "You there, boy (or girl)." It was working thus far, with a bit of confusion, even if the Headmistress had given him no less than three lectures on the subject. How he was supposed to suddenly remember the names of over three hundred students, most of which he'd had no prior interaction with, was a bit beyond even him. The Headmistress had it easy. She just had to learn 40 or so new names every year. He'd learned the names of those in his NEWTs class, and was (admittedly rather slowly) working his way down the years.
"Professor, aren't you supposed to be neutral?"
"I am the advisor to the Slytherin head of house. And my son is on the team. I am neutrality itself when it comes to taking points away or giving them. As far as Quidditch goes, I'm rooting for Slytherin."
"You know, Malfoy, I'm not so sure the Headmistress will approve. Is there room next to you?"
Lucius looked up to see Peters.
"Yes, there is room. And in this matter, I will not bow to the Headmistress. I rooted for Slytherin for many years before I became a professor, and I'm not changing that now."
Peters looked out over the field.
"So what position does your son play?"
"Seeker. He's also the team strategist this year."
"He's not the captain?"
"Turned it down, actually. Vaisey, another seventh year, is captain instead. It's easier for a Chaser or Keeper to captain than a Seeker. Vaisey's a decent Chaser, and seems to be doing quite well as captain thus far. The replacement Beater he selected is quite good."
"So you think they've got a chance to beat Hufflepuff, then?"
"A very good one, actually. Hufflepuff has too many green players."
"Willing to make a small bet on that?"
"And what do you call small?"
"A galleon seems like a good sum."
"A galleon that Slytherin wins then."
They shook hands on it. On the field, the game had just started, and already Lucius was confident he was going to win the bet. The Hufflepuffs had no idea what they were doing.
"And that's twenty to zero, Slytherin leading, as Vaisey scores!"
Lucius applauded politely. Peters looked over at him.
"You know, generally people cheer and scream at these sort of things."
"Yes, well, Malfoys don't scream. Polite applause is quite sufficient."
"Ah. Have to behave with decorum and all that."
"Yes."
"Don't you ever want to let go of all that, just be wild?"
Lucius stared at Peters in disbelief. Be wild? In public?!
"Alright, I guess not. Weird, though."
"Wild in public is a no. Never. In private, different rules apply."
Peters smiled.
"So you're a wild man in private?"
Lucius smirked.
"Maybe. You're not really in a position to find out, now are you?"
"And what would I need to do to be in that position?"
Lucius's head was suddenly full of interesting possibilities. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure his back would object to most of them, but there were some, mostly the riding ones...
"Malfoy?"
"Sorry, miles away."
"Anything interesting?"
"Possibly. But this is neither the time nor the place to discuss such things."
Peters groaned.
"Damn, looks like I owe you a galleon."
Lucius glanced at the field. Draco had caught the Snitch. He smiled. Draco looked ridiculously happy. It was nice to see such a smile on his face again. The boy deserved some happiness. Which reminded him, he needed to talk to Gregory Parkinson about arranging things. 'Cissa and his wife, Jackie were friends, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Maybe invite them over for Christmas lunch or something?
"Earth to Malfoy."
"Yes, what?"
"You really are out of it today, aren't you?"
"Sorry. Just trying to think of what I need to do in Hogsmeade and London once I get approval for a weekend off."
"You haven't had one yet? I've had three."
"Well, apparently I need to make up for the time I missed while recovering. And you may have noticed, our Headmistress is not exactly fond of me."
"But still, it's only three weeks till Christmas and you've got a family to shop for. Are you on the schedule every weekend?"
"Till Christmas, which I do get off. Hogwarts bylaws. Married professors with children must spend Christmas with their families."
"I've got next weekend off, and New Years. I'll let you have them, in exchange for two things."
"And what would those be?"
"One, I want a home-cooked family dinner at Christmas. If your wife is anything like my mother, she'll make tons extra. Just send some my way. And two, dinner with me, in my quarters. You interest me strangely, Malfoy, and I want to have a decent conversation with you, one that isn't constantly interrupted by students."
"Well, my wife doesn't cook, but I can send a house-elf made banquet. Will that do?"
"Fine. I'm so tired of the cooking here that I want to scream."
"I'll ask her what she's planning. I need to owl her anyway. And just pick a night where nether of us has night duty."
Peters smiled. It was a rather predatory smile, and Lucius found it amusing. He wandered off from the stands. He had a letter to write and then grading to do.
'Cissa responded to the letter a day later. That was one of the major problems with Hogwarts, all your mail came in the morning and everyone in the hall could see. He preferred to read in private. But with a full day of brat-herding ahead of him, he could use the lift. He missed 'Cissa.
"Dear Lucius,
He's welcome to join us for dinner, if he wants. I've invited 'Romy, Teddy, and the Parkinson family. We'll start at two. Jackie loves the idea of Draco and Pansy. By the way, should I do your shopping for Draco, or will you have time? And I hope you're taking it easy. How's your back reacting to the cold? Your dearest, Narcissa PS- are you angling for a Severus sort of arrangement with this one? Just make sure he knows, I come first."
He carefully folded up the letter and put it into his pocket. Peters was sitting near one end of the table, smiling at him. Peters had done that frequently over the last couple of days.
"Peters."
"Yes?"
"Christmas day, two o'clock."
"What?"
Lucius fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"Christmas dinner, two o'clock, Christmas day."
"You're inviting me?"
'The man may be handsome, but occasionally as dense as a Hufflepuff,' Lucius thought.
"Yes."
"Thank you. I'll be there. Wait, where do you live?"
"I'll give you the floo address later."
The Headmistress was now frowning at both of them. Lucius smiled sweetly at her.
"My wife has a soft heart. What can I say?"
Her frown deepened but she said nothing. Lucius was careful not to let his amusement show on his face. It was the simple things, like Gryffindor baiting, that made life worth living.