Marked

The Promise

Chapter 24: The Promise

"Well," Theo muttered as Lucius Malfoy's thin, pale face revealed itself at the bottom of the cellar stairs. "Can't say I didn't see that one coming."

The look on Narcissa's face silenced him instantly.

"Draco is here," Lucius said simply, aiming his wand defensively at the space between Theo and Narcissa. It was a statement of fact, not a question, and Theo wondered if Narcissa would deny it. By the look on her face, he guessed she hadn't quite landed on her chosen course of action.

It was very strange for Theo to see Lucius this way, he thought, eyeing the man carefully. Growing up, Theo had imagined Lucius to be a man with no flaws, who effortlessly carried himself with prestige, who always provided for his wife and son, and who was every inch the pinnacle of wizard nobility. Theo's own father - who was rarely complimentary, given his own not inconsiderable standing - had often said as much about the Lucius Malfoy of the past.

This man, however, was nearly unrecognizable. This Lucius Malfoy had long since abandoned his signature practice of elegantly pulling back his long, silvery hair, and his haggard tresses had since trained themselves to do little more than settle hazily about his shoulders, giving him an unbalanced, slightly deranged look. His grey eyes, once as piercing and thoughtful as Draco's, were now dazed and unsettled.

Unsettling, really, Theo thought. Lucius's brief stint in Azkaban had made him somehow less than half the man he'd once been, and frankly, Theo no longer knew what to expect from him. Lucius had been broken several times over by the Dark Lord in the past year alone, and there was no way of predicting what his reaction to the truth of his son's whereabouts would be.

Broken men were dangerous. Theo himself would know.

In response to Lucius's accusation, Narcissa said nothing, but she also did not budge. Her wand remained impassively at the level she'd initially aimed it - straight at her husband's chest.

A very mixed message, Theo thought grimly.

"Draco is here," Lucius repeated, his voice breaking. He jabbed his wand forward, puncturing the air around them. "I felt him. How is that possible?"

"Put your wand down, Lucius," Narcissa said quietly, her voice a low warning.

"Answer the question!" Lucius shouted. "Is my son alive?"

"Our son," Narcissa corrected him, her voice cold. "My son, too."

Lucius was shaken. "If he is here, we must call the Dark Lord," he said instantly, and Theo caught the flicker in Narcissa's eye that told him she had always known, somehow, that someday it would come to this. This reaction, Theo realized, was precisely why she hadn't lowered her wand. Not even for her husband.

Lucius was adamant. "If Draco is here, we must come forward at once," he said robotically. "We risk everything in keeping this from him - "

Narcissa's expression never wavered. "You will do no such thing."

"Did you know?" Lucius's face went ghostly pale and he lowered his wand, stumbling forward to take hold of his wife's narrow shoulders. "This whole time - did you know?"

Ever the aristocrat, Narcissa did not allow herself to be affected by either her husband's harsh tone or his uncharacteristic brutality, though Theo could see how tightly Lucius's fingers pressed into her slender arms.

She addressed him calmly, almost serenely, as though she meant to show him that his reaction was little more than a tantrum. "Let go of me, Lucius," she instructed, pulling away.