𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | | 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰

Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die

Three Years Later, at a large home in Wiltshire

It was called Redwood Manor.

Though it hardly rivaled the never-ending landscape of Malfoy Manor, the house was still grand in its own sense. Victor had devised it as a punishment for Lucius to suffer through. Built using the money he had given to Katherine (she still believed it to be her lost inheritance), the large home had been erected on the same plot of land that Malfoy Manor resided on. The man had pent-up rage towards the aristocrat, hating him with every ounce of his being for, in his own mind, stealing Katherine away from him. Victor Redferne wanted revenge and forcing Lucius to watch them become a happy couple to a happy family was his plan.

Lucius lived in Malfoy Manor alone as Narcissa had left him and Draco had been keen on moving out of his childhood home. Every morning he would gaze out of his drawing-room window, waiting for Katherine to come to sit on her porch steps as she did routinely every morning, a cup of warm tea clutched in her hand. He still admired her delicate features and silky auburn hair from afar, his deepest regret was not trying hard enough to win back her favor. It would be so easy for him to simply put her under the Imperius curse, finally have her back to give him undying attention. But it was risky and Lucius loved her too much to do something as horrid as that. One evening he realized it was too late when he spotted a beaming Victor carrying Katherine in his arms, the woman looking like a marshmallow in a beautiful white ballgown.

The Redferne wedding in 1998 had been charming yet small, as most of their friend group had unfortunately perished during the war. Lucius tried to bring himself to attend, he really did. But it was too painful to see the woman he so dearly loved pledge her undying loyalty to another man. Though he did make an effort to send a tasteful congratulatory present, the new Mrs. Redferne never received it, her new husband made sure of that. In fact, Katherine was hardly ever allowed to Victor married Katherine only a month after the war had ended, and not long after that came Baby Redferne.

That's what Lucius called her, anyways. Deep down he conspired about what had happened, he told himself the child was born too quickly after they had married for it to be Victor's. His theory was seemingly proven three years after the war had ended and Katherine had left him for good; the young girl grew to have striking light features and thick blonde hair. Sometimes he would watch Katherine and her daughter in their front lawn (though Victor was always present as well), the little girl chasing the family's white Doberman happily.

He never had the courage to go over to the house and speak to Katherine, Victor seemed to always be present at the house anyway and the last thing Lucius wanted was to stir up trouble. Redwood was usually quiet, with the family normally staying on the property, Katherine never being left alone. It was as if Victor knew that the moment he left Lucius would come to try and gain his wife's affections back. Often Lucius would see Narcissa's sister Andromeda dropping off her own babbling toddler, Remus and Nymphadora's orphaned son. The two children were around the same age after all, and Katherine felt at least a small obligation to look after her late friends' child.

But then Lucius finally gained his chance.

During his usual morning brooding, he spotted Victor coming out of the manor's meager doors clutching a suitcase and a carry-on. Katherine held her toddler tightly in her arms, the two waving goodbye. His stomach clenched at the sight of the woman pressing a delicate kiss on her husband's cheek before he disappeared down the cobblestone road in front of their home. After three years of seemingly never leaving his home, Victor had finally decided that Lucius would, in fact, not bother them any longer.