Who: Lucius Malfoy and Daphne Greengrass Where: Malfoy Manor When: Saturday, September 23rd What: Making Plans Rating: Low
Finishing his drink, Lucius snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared to take the glass away. The elf looked terrified as it scurried out of the study, causing Lucius' lips to curl into a cruel smirk. Elves should fear him, he thought. Everyone should fear him. He was in possession of the most powerful wand in the world and could bend people to his will time and time again.
The trouble was, Lucius had realize, his partner in crime no longer seemed interested in their plans. His focus had shifted and Rabastan seemed to care more about redemption than power. Redemption, Lucius believed, was for those too weak for glory. He had no desire to redeem himself to lesser beings and Rabastan was a fool for caring about them.
Still, the realization that he was losing the one person he had always counted on wasn't sitting well with Lucius. He had trouble sleeping, even with the perfect woman curled up next to him at night. Lucius couldn't wake her up every night to settle his nerves, though he woke her up far more than he cared to admit. What he needed was a plan.
Another snap of his fingers and the timid elf appeared again. "Bring Daphne to me," Lucius ordered. "And ask her to bring me another drink.
---
Daphne had been feeling somewhat flirtatious when the call came to her, so she decided to go for it, getting herself dressed rather scandlously and perfectly appropriately as far as she was concerned, Daphne making her way down to where Lucius was alongside a floating tray with drinks for them both.
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, she leaned herself against the railing with a small smile, deliberately making herself all the more alluring in the process as the tray continued on ahead of her to set itself down on the table before him.
"You called?"
---
Any man would be foolish not to appreciate the beauty Daphne's possessed and Lucius was no fool. He smiled happily, the tension pressing down on him suddenly lightened. Lucius stood from his chair and made his way to his fiancee, one arm slipping around her waist and pulling her close for a long, lingering kiss. "You are a vision," he told her. "How did I get so lucky?"
Pulling back, Lucius plucked his drink from the tray and made his way to the sofa. He sipped on the perfectly chilled vodka for a moment before turning his attention back to Daphne. "I have to act in a way I wasn't anticipating and I am not sure of how to proceed," he said honestly. "I was hoping you could listen and offer some insight."
---
"You were your lovely self." Leaning into him, Daphne simply let herself relax for a long moment, kissing him back with a soft sigh. For a good while, she'd half-expected this to keep going, for their kisses to turn move intimate and move into the bedroom, but then he pulled back again, and she moved to seat herself in the armchair by the couch where he was.
At his question, he slowly nodded. "You know I'm always here for you... especially to listen and offer advice." And sex, if he wanted that release later on, certainly.
---
Lucius took several minutes to speak again. His eyes were fixed on the wall and his brow knitted together. Though normally a man who couldn't hold his tongue to save his life, Lucius found himself struggling to find the words he needed in the moment.
"They are going to try to kill me," he finally said. "It's the only way to truly stop me. And when the time comes, Rabastan will be the one who does it." Lucius didn't fear anyone. His fear had been burned out him under The Dark Lord's reign. Lucius did, however, respect abilities. There was only one person who knew him well enough to kill him and that was Rabastan. His best friend could end his life and Lucius had to respect that. It didn't mean he had to lay down and allow it to happen, but he had to respect it. "I have to protect myself, protect the life and world we are creating. Protect you."
Turning to look at Daphne, Lucius smiled softly at her. "My darling. I worry they'll come for you too."
---
"They?" The first thought that seemed to hit her was why. Was he truly that much of a threat to the Ministry? Did Rabastan fear that Lucius would try to take over and stage a coup? More importantly, perhaps, was he right?
"Do you think they'll succeed?" That was the most important question, she supposed, knowing that it could affect her so very directly. Then again... now that Joseph was dead, she was dying regardless.
"You really think they'd come for me to get to you? What would the point be?"
---
The trouble with keeping so much close to the vest was that Lucius hadn't made Daphne truly aware of all the struggles and plots swirling around in the world. He only wanted her to be happy, to be spoiled and adored. Telling her the truth, all of the truth, would bring her into the darkness. Narcissa hadn't loved the darkness. Nor had Draco. Lucius had to wonder if his own blackened soul would drive yet another person away.
But, she deserved to know. He began to tell her everything then. Lucius told her how he had killed Harry Potter and then stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave. He told her how he'd used the Wand for years to build a base of support, people who owed him, people who adored him and stood by him. He told her how he'd brought Rabastan in, created a plan with his best friend to slowly, but surely, obtain all the Hallows and use their power to move beyond Magical Britain. He confessed his sins to her, the people he had killed along the way, the pain he'd inflicted. Lucius spoke of Bellatrix, of how he bedded her and used her. He told Daphne every detail of what he'd done to Hermione. He confessed his darkest desires, to rule all magical people, to have an army of those who adored him as she did.
When he finished speaking, Lucius ran a hand over his face and sighed. "There is no light left in me, my dear. I cannot expect you to stay, but it is my hope you will."
---
She hadn't expected him to let her in, but Daphne nevertheless listened patiently, one of her knees up on the seat as she waited for him to finish. All things considered, she was impressed. This was a lot for a man like him to share, especially when, in his words, there was no light left in him. Still, did it matter whether or not there was any light remaining within him? Why should she care, truly?
"I'm not leaving," she said slowly. "Not of my own accord, anyway." She wasn't stupid, after all. One of their very first meetings, he'd gone so far as to torture her for being a bratty little bitch. It had, in all honesty, been part of the appeal. She wasn't going anywhere so long as she could help it. But that also meant confessing her own secret, Daphne swallowing hard.
"I'm dying. Of a family blood curse. It's going to weaken me until my heart stops. I don't know when or what'll bring it about, but..." She shrugged, her expression resigned. "It's going to happen sooner rather than later."
---
Lucius felt his heart stop for a moment as Daphne spoke. He refused to believe it was possible that his beautiful, strong, and fierce fiancee could have her life stolen. She was his salvation and now? Would he be able to do this without her? Did he even want to? Lucius wasn't prone to believing in the myth of love. Narcissa had proven to him that love wasn't real, as had her son. But Daphne had almost made Lucius believe in it again with her ever present smile and her utter adoration of him.
"We can protect you from death," he promised her. "I've considered... are you familiar with how the Dark Lord preserved himself? I've considered doing it for myself, but.. but there is no one I trust enough to help me with the process. No one but you, my love. We could save you as well, create a horcrux and save a part of your soul, keep you safe should the worst happen to you. I cannot lose you, Daphne. I won't."
---
"Why do you think I care so little about... basically anything, least of all my health? Why I fuck around so much? I only have so much time. It would be a shame to waste it doing anything I didn't want to do." Daphne sighed, her tone more than a little resigned. "I never thought that I'd get to get married or have kids. I never expected a normal life."
A part of her was undeniably skeptical at his words. A way to stop death? She'd just allowed herself to hope for the potential of a long life when Joseph had found a solution, but... this was different. She'd have to kill someone. But even that wouldn't matter much with a blood curse. "I'd obviously help you. But I don't know how much it would help me. I'm still going to get weaker." She grew quiet at that, momentarily more somber. "I already feel it happening. Why would you want me around if I were confined to a wheelchair? If I had to be cared for all the time? You don't need that. You deserve the Daphne in front of you right now, not the shadow of myself I'm going to turn into sooner rather than later."
---
Moving off of the sofa, Lucius took the few short steps to his fiancee and knelt before her, picking up her hand and pressing his lips to it gently. "Daphne," he said sincerely. "Do you think I only want you for your youth and beauty? I saw in you a potential for greatness, a mind so quick and sharp, a tongue sharper still. You are more, you deserve more and that is why I want to spend every moment you have left in this world by your side. Should those moments be few in number or should we find a way to make them stretch out for infinity, it doesn't matter. I will be here and you will be by my side until our last breaths."
And, for once, Lucius was truly being sincere. Daphne had healed a part of his soul left broken and empty by his wife and her son's abandonment of him. She had whispered into his ear, brought him back to life, and showed him he was so much more than the people who had failed him. And now, he would not fail her.
"I will find a way to make you whole again," he vowed to her. "And as far as children, why my love, we can have one now, if you'd like."
---
A part of her had to admit to her surprise. She'd seen in herself a trophy wife, not someone that Lucius would consider to be of much use in a great deal of other regards. It wasn't that Daphne was an insecure individual, not in the least, but she also wasn't too naive to acknowledge that dying slowly wasn't exactly a marketable skill in the dating game. As much as she knew that she was intelligent and witty, she'd still never considered that anyone would want her for more than a good lay in the face of those qualities. Most wizards, after all, disliked intelligent witches. But... evidently not Lucius.
She likewise hadn't expected that he'd tell her all of this-- on his knees, the very picture of affection painted before her. Daphne had never been an emotional person, had always been reluctant to allow herself to be vulnerable in any way, and yet...
Taking in a deep breath, Daphne worried her bottom lip. He was really being serious, wasn't he? Slowly but surely, she nodded her agreement. "I trust you," she said, her words quite honest. "Yes."
---
Leaning up, Lucius pressed his mouth against hers, sealing his promise to her with a kiss. "My darling Daphne," he murmured against her lips. "I would bring mountains tumbling down for you." His hands began to pull at her clothing, intent to keep his promise right there in his study. It was only the thought of his new house guest that kept Lucius from bedding his soon-to-be bride right there in the open.
Instead he stood and held out his hand to her. "Come, my dear. It has been some time since I've hoped the woman in my bed will bear my child, but I cannot think of a more perfect woman to give me a proper heir."