The Accidental Malfoy

12 | Scandal

Disclaimer: I do not own this, nor am I profiting off the display of this story in any way.

Draco whistled as he made his way through the garden, his broomstick slung over his right shoulder. He'd followed his heart this morning and made the most of the beautiful May morning to go for a ride rather than be sitting down at his desk and ploughing his way through business documents. His father was right; life was too short and if he wasn't careful, he'd end up spending his time doing nothing but work. Besides, he'd decided it was time to take on a Personal Assistant to take over the organisation of his diary. This would free up much valuable living time.

He cheerfully jogged his way across the vast Malfoy manicured formal lawn. He was late for lunch and his father wasn't going to be happy. Sunday lunch was sacrosanct in Lucius' world and no one was allowed to play truant. To make this lunch even more important, this would be the first one without Astoria in seven long years. Draco was looking forward to how much more relaxed everyone was going to be.

He took in his father's rigid form, as well as his mother's comforting hand on his shoulder, as he entered through the open French windows.

"Come on, Dad! It's not that bad. I can't be more than five minutes late."

And then he stopped. There was no answering snarl from his father or a reassuring look from his mother. Instead, Lucius keeled over, causing the crockery on the table to rattle, before he slumped to the floor where he began to convulse violently.

His mother cast a frantic look behind her at him. "Don't just stand there!" she yelled. "Get a Healer over here now!"

And with that panicked plea, Draco stumbled to the door, holding onto the frame for a brief moment, looking back at his still convulsing father before sprinting into his study and placing an emergency Floo call to St. Mungo's.

It was less than a minute later when two Healers rushed through the Floo connection.

"He's through this way," he said rapidly, rushing them back into the informal dining room where his mother had moved his father away from any objects on the carpet and was cushioning his head.

"Let us take over, ma'am," one of the Healers said, taking her place by his father's head whilst the other one started to time the convulsions.

His mother stood next to him, looking helpless and clutching his hand tightly.

Once the convulsions had stopped, Lucius was put in the recovery position.

"We'll give him some time to recover before assessing whether he needs to be admitted into the hospital," a Healer said to the bewildered pair. "In the meantime, would you be able to tell me if anything in particular triggered this attack. We're currently logging them all to try to define a pattern."

"He received some shocking news. It stunned him for a while, but then he went rigid, fell to the floor and started to convulse," Narcissa said.

Draco looked at his mother in surprise. It would have to be something monumentally big to cause this much of a reaction in his father, who was usually so calm and collected. The Healer just nodded and jotted this down before starting a quiet consultation with his partner that went on for a good five minutes.

The two conscious Malfoys could do nothing but watch. Draco could feel his mother still shaking and he was too numb to comprehend much. The seriousness of his father's illness was driven home forcefully by this seizure and it reminded him all too keenly that a cure had not been found and Lucius could die at any moment.

Finally, the consultation ended and the Healers decided to take his father to the hospital. Apparently, Lucius' heartbeat remained too erratic for them to be comfortable with him staying in the Manor. They wanted to bring him in for observation.