Lucius woke up in the early hours of predawn and stared with no small amount of terror at his left forearm.
"Darling, what is it?" his wife murmured from beside him. "I can nearly hear your thoughts whirling."
"My arm... it... it hurt Cissa."
Narcissa sat up abruptly at this.
"Lumos," she said, lighting their room with a large light from her wand. "Show me."
Lucius dutifully held his arm out to his wife. Narcissa hissed sharply between her teeth at the sight of the mark on his forearm.
"Is it darker?" she whispered.
"Yes," Lucius said. "It is."
The two Malfoy's stared at his arm in silent horror for a few long moments.
"What will you do?" Narcissa asked quietly.
"I cannot break my oath to Potter, I swore my fealty on my magic and life Cissa. I vowed to remain loyal to him regardless of what happens with the Dark Lord."
"Good," Narcissa said curtly. "Then we remain loyal to Harry. We chose wrong before, we will not risk our Dragon by attempting to play politician with a madman."
Lucius absently agreed with her and stroked her silken hair when she laid back down.
The problem that Narcissa refused to acknowledge was that being on Potter's side had as much potential to be 'playing politician' with another madman. Despite the way he charmed his wife and son, they had not seen Potter when he threatened Lucius outside the Hospital Wing the day Lucius pledged himself to the child's causes. Potter was incredibly strong, powerful, and the prophesied vanquisher of the Dark Lord; which made him a safe bet in Lucius' opinion, but Potter was mad.
That was a simple fact.
***
"You've noticed it surely Malfoy?"
"What do you think it means?"
"Is He coming back?"
"I have noticed," Lucius said slowly. "I am unsure what it means."
The other men seated in Avery's office all shared uneasy looks.
"He's going to kill us if He returns," Crabbe said quietly. "We're dead."
"He's going to think we aren't loyal," Goyle agreed.
"You're being quiet Malfoy," Avery said astutely. "Surely you have an opinion on what we should do."
"Apologies," Lucius said as he swirled his glass of bourbon. "I am unsure how we go about proving our loyalty to a Master who has been gone for over a decade now."
"Maybe you don't want to," Avery said, leaning forward with his teeth bared like a shark who smells blood in the water. "I heard that young Draco is close with Harry Potter. Have you found a new Master to serve Lucius?"
Yes.
"Don't be crass," Lucius sneered. "Any fool can attest to Potter's power. Draco does what he must to avoid the same fate as the Lestrange boy."
Crabbe and Goyle shared a look at the reminder of the shock the men had all felt when they had seen the scar on Lestrange's face that Harry Potter had left on his first night in Hogwarts.
And a matching one the next year.
Lestrange was a fool. As were these men.
"I think it's a fluke," Avery sneered. "The Potter brat is a whelp and would piss himself in fear if he were faced with what a real Wizard could do."
"Suppose Nott killed himself then?" Goyle grunted.
"There is no proof that Albus Dumbledore's Golden Boy killed Nott," Avery snarled.
Which was as correct as it was incorrect. There was no proof. Yet, they were all fully aware of whose wand added ended Nott's life regardless.
And Avery would meet the same fate if Potter heard him refer to him as 'Albus Dumbledore's Golden Boy'. Potter held as much disdain for Dumbledore as he did the Dark Lord. The child refused to bow to anyone. It was a sentiment Lucius could respect greatly, even as he himself would be willing to bow to anyone who could carry his causes further.
He liked to believe he was more practical than Potter in that manner. Though if he wielded power as effortlessly as Potter did, perhaps he would consider differently. But he didn't. And so Potter was the Master that Lucius would serve in an effort to choose the winning side this time.
At a minimum, he would like to avoid the end that Theodore Nott Senior had found.
It had only taken Lucius a few coins to rub the palms of a few well placed members of law enforcement to learn what they discovered at the ashes of Nott Manor. A vein vaporizing curse, followed by fiendfire, committed by an underaged wizard? Coupled with a news article stating that Theodore Nott Junior now resides with Harry Potter and Severus Snape?
It was no wonder that Harry Potter was Kingsley Shacklebolt's main suspect.
Harry Potter was Lucius' main suspect as well.
Lucius had shamelessly suggested that perhaps the DMLE focus on Walden Macnair's nephew, Benjamin Macnair, with a manufactured cause that young Benjamin held a grudge against Nott Junior for a schoolhouse quarrel. And perhaps Benjamin had likely been seeking vengeance on Nott Junior, and wasn't it a wonderful coincidence that Macnair only found a dark wizard and not his innocent young Heir?
Macnair had enough Ministry connections of his own that nothing would come of Lucius' insinuations, and the spotlight would turn away from Potter himself.
And if it earned Lucius some small goodwill with the boy he pledged his loyalty to then all the better for Lucius.
These machinations were what Lucius excelled at. Twisting and turning facts with small suggestions, and a few golden coins, to see his goals achieved.
It was a political minefield, and the slightest misstep would end Lucius' life, but there were much worse fields to be fighting on.
"Vincent says Potter is a force," Crabbe grunted. "I don't know what to tell him to do."
"I told Gregory to only distance himself from Potter until we know what to do," Goyle said. "There's no use making an enemy of the boy until we know more."
"The Dark Lord will not accept neutrality," Avery slammed his glass down on his side table. "I have told William to make a show in their house this year. See who stands by Potter's side when he is taken down from his self-righteous pedestal. And those of us left should be proving our loyalty to the Dark Lord before he returns. The time for playing neutral is over."
"And how would you have us do such a thing?" Lucius asked carefully, making a mental note to inform Potter and Draco to avoid William Avery this year. "How do you suggest that we show our loyalty to a Master who is not here to witness it?"
"We create a spectacle," Avery said, his pale eyes glittering dangerously. "Something that can't be ignored."
***
"We're going to be late!" Draco yelled for the tenth time.
"Quiet darling or we won't go at all," Narcissa warned him.
Lucius scoffed at the coddling tone his wife took with Draco. Draco could do no wrong in his wife's eyes. The same could usually be said about Lucius himself, but after a night spent tossing and turning over the occasional slight pains in his left arm, he was in no mood to be ordered around by his Heir.
"You will speak with Severus today?" Narcissa asked as she checked her reflection one last time.
"I will," Lucius said quickly.
"And you will remember who our loyalties are tied to?" she hummed.
"I am unlikely to forget," Lucius said tightly. He was marked by one madman and pledged his life and magic to another. It was the very thought that had kept him from resting peacefully since the first line in his mark darkened.
Narcissa turned and stalked close to Lucius, her round grey eyes were narrow and hard as she pulled him closer to her by his robe collar.
"Draco will be killed for ever associating with Harry. You will not risk my sons life by even entertaining the notion of returning to the man's side if we should be so unlucky to see him rise again. We have chosen our side and we will stick to it. Is that perfectly clear Lucius Abraxas Malfoy?" she hissed.
"Crystal," Lucius said, his heart racing wildly in the face of his wife's untamed fury.
"Good." Narcissa released him and smoothed his collar down before plastering a pleasant smile on her face. "Then let us go see our family shall we?"
Lucius watched with admiration as Narcissa plucked the golden wrapped gift off her vanity and walked gracefully out of their room. Their marriage may have been one of contractual convenience, but Lucius would be a fool to believe he could ever have done better than the beautiful and fierce woman he has called his wife for fifteen years now.
"Harry! Happy Birthday darling!" Narcissa cooed gently as she slowly offered the young man a hug. "How are you?"
"Fine, thank you," Potter smiled at Narcissa, but Lucius could sense a tightness in his expression. "Snape's in the kitchen," he said politely to Lucius.
"Thank you," Lucius said, quickly making his way to his closest friend and only true adult ally.
"Lucius," Severus greeted him when Lucius stepped in to his heavily decorated kitchen. "How are you?"
"As well as can be expected," Lucius shook Severus' offered hand. "And you? How have you been faring with two teenagers in your home?"
"As well as can be expected," Severus snorted as he mimicked Lucius' words back to him. "The boys have created a game out of sneaking their partners in for 'sleepovers'."
Lucius chuckled at Severus' disgruntled tone.
"And who is winning this game?" he asked.
"As I have been forced to have breakfast with Mister Fred Weasley multiple times this summer, I believe Potter is," Severus said drily.
Lucius laughed more genuinely at that. He was incredibly lucky that Draco had more decorum when it came to experimenting with his teenage desires. He wouldn't begrudge his child if he brought someone to their manor, as long as it was not one of Arthur Wesley's spawns.
That, he would quickly put a stop to.
"Please tell me that isn't a sword or more throwing stars?" Severus sighed upon spotting the gift Lucius carried for Potter.
"Of course not," Lucius drew himself up and looked at Severus down his nose. "It is a kaiken, enchanted to be dull when wielded by any aside from Potter."
"I hate you," Severus groaned. "He's built a wall of weapons Lucius. A wall of weapons."
Lucius patted Severus' shoulder sympathetically. Though privately he saw no issue with Potter having a wall of weapons, Lucius himself had one in his office.
"Do you have time to speak in private?" Lucius asked quietly with a pointed look at Severus' left arm.
"After," Severus murmured. "We will speak after."
Lucius nodded curtly and resigned himself to mingling with the odd mixture of houseguests Severus and Potter were currently hosting.
When Lucius and Severus joined the party in the backyard, Lucius found his wife laughing quietly beside her cousin Sirius Black and his mate, the wolf Remus Lupin.
"All sorted out dear?" Narcissa asked softly as she linked her arm in Lucius'.
"It will be," he assured her before greeting Black. "Black, Lupin," he nodded courteously at both men.
"Malfoy," Black responded coolly. "How are you?"
"I am well, and yourself?"
"Good." Black's eyes, so like Narcissa's, wandered over towards the group of teenagers that Lucius' son was grouped with. "Harry invited you then?"
"He did," Narcissa cut in smoothly. "I told him how we are related and I believe he was delighted to discover he had living family."
Lupin scoffed lightly, which was an interesting reaction.
"Problem Lupin?" Lucius asked.
"Not at all," Lupin gave him a bland smile before pulling on Black's hand. "Let's go find Harry, okay?"
"Excellent Lucius, irritate our allies. It's a wonder you've survived this long," Narcissa said after the two briskly walked away.
"The werewolf is no ally of mine," Lucius sneered.
"That is where you are wrong, darling," Narcissa hissed quietly. "Remus Lupin lives with Harry Potter's godfather. Harry has invited them both to the game next week where you will play nice or risk isolating yourself from the only possible entity that will keep my son alive. Yes?"
Lucius maintained the emotionless mask that he never drops in mixed company, but if he were a lesser man he would have scoffed.
Playing nice with a werewolf. It was both disgraceful and distasteful.
Though later that evening as Lucius watched Potter twirl effortless circles around Sirius Black in a mock-duel, he thought perhaps treating the werewolf with civility was a small price to pay to remain in the powerful young man's good graces.
"I presume you are experiencing the same signs as myself?" Severus asked Lucius that night after the majority of party guests had left.
"I am," Lucius said simply, accepting the proffered glass of scotch graciously.
"And so you have come to, what? Seek out my approval to return if the Dark Lord comes calling?" Severus' tone was casual, but his grip on his wand was tense.
"I have not," Lucius said slowly. "I came to ask you what you intend to do if it happens."
"I stand by Potter," Severus said, taking a long sip of his drink. "As I have always intended to do."
"You will stand against the Dark Lord publicly by Potter's side? You will be marked a traitor Severus, He will want your head on a platter." Lucius could hardly prevent the worry that coated his voice. Severus was Lucius' closest friend. If there was a man alive who Lucius could drop his pretenses around, it was him.
"You believe I would be welcomed back with open arms?" Severus curled his upper lip. "Be sensible Lucius. The Minister himself declared me to be a spy and the guardian of the Boy-Who-Lived. I am high on a list of targets no matter what I do. I may as well go down fighting."
"You could flee," Lucius suggested. "I can give you money Severus. You could flee and we both know you could hide yourself away."
"And leave Potter? Tsk, come now Lucius. Would you flee and abandon Draco?"
"You will die Severus," Lucius said harshly. "He will order any who encounter you to kill you. Is it worth that?"
"I would die for Potter, and I will kill for him," Severus said simply. "So I believe my loyalties have been declared rather clearly. It is now time for you to choose a side and stick with it."
"How could I choose any side besides Potter with the vow I've given him?"
"Precisely," Severus said. "So what is the problem?"
"The problem is that I'm dead if I betray Potter and dead if I don't!" Lucius said sharply.
"You think I can't protect you?"
Lucius rapidly turned around to see Theodore and Potter himself lounging in the doorway. Potter's face looked amused, but the twirling knife in his hand was an obvious threat.
"Harry, how did you get in here?" Severus asked wearily, as if this were a common occurrence.
Which, considering his ward was none other than Harry Potter, perhaps it was.
"Magic," Potter said with a bland look. "Thought i heard screaming in here."
"No you didn't," Severus scoffed.
"No," Potter smiled, "I didn't. But I did hear everything. So, let's make a plan, yeah?"
"We are not making a plan," Severus scoffed. "Go to bed boys."
"No." Potter came further in the room, followed by Theodore, and kicked the door shut behind them. "Lucius is mine, isn't he? And so are you. We need a plan to keep you safe for when Timmy comes back."
"Is the Dark Lord rising a great concern of yours?" Severus asked sardonically.
Lucius gripped his glass and silently watched the two volley back and forth.
It would be much more entertaining to watch Severus argue with what Lucius believes is the man's own karma if the topic were not so dire.
"It is when he keeps trying to break in to my head."
"What?!" Severus' hand slipped on his own glass at Potter's blunt confession. "Explain. Immediately and without sparing any detail, please."
"Timmy keeps trying to break in to my head," Potter said slowly. Lucius' nearly grinned at the exasperated look on Severus' face.
It actually served the man right to have a ward so sarcastic and disobedient. Severus was a menace when Lucius served as his prefect.
"What makes you believe this?" Severus grit out.
"Cause it feels like it did when Dumbledore did it, doesn't it? So I let him slide in for a minute so I could figure out who was doing it, and I saw a man Timmy called Peter and a giant fuckin' snake."
Lucius and Severus both gaped at Potter. Theodore looked unsurprised, Potter had likely already informed him of this unheard of occurrence already.
"You share a mind with the Dark Lord?" Lucius breathed, forgetting his own determination to watch Severus and Potter argue without his input. "Merlin."
"We have no research on how a survivor of the killing curse is impacted," Severus said, slipping in to what Lucius deems his Ravenclaw voice. "It may have created a link between the two of you."
"Well he's giving me a headache, so let's make a plan to keep everyone on my side safe and then kill the bastard," Potter sneered.
"I do not even know how it is possible for him to rise again!" Severus said, his composure slipping in favor of frustration. "Albus swears that he is not dead, yet offers no solutions on how it is possible."
"You're gonna find out though, yeah?" Potter asked.
Severus must have looked towards Theodore too rapidly for Lucius to catch, but slow enough that Potter did, because Potter shifted to stand in front of the other boy slightly.
"Theo's mine too," Potter said lightly. "He stays."
"I may be able to earn some semblance of trust with Albus, but it will be difficult when he see's my allegiance with you instead of him," Severus explained. "And as he currently believes you are the next Dark Lord, he will not view my allegiance favorably."
"Dumbledore's an idiot who thinks everyone will eventually see his side," Theodore said with a juvenile roll of his eyes. "You just need to talk about how you're steering Harry to him and he'll trust you again."
Potter snarled at the implication, as Lucius knew that he would.
"What about Lucius?" Theodore murmured to Harry, eyeing Lucius from head to foot. "What do we do with him?"
Potter twirled his knife as he studied Lucius calmly.
"Same thing but opposite." Potter said softly. "Snape sticks to Dumbledore for protection, Malfoy sticks to Timmy and the Death Eaters."
"Absolutely not," Lucius said immediately. "If I am discovered they will kill me."
"And if you don't do it then I will," Potter said calmly.
"Harry! You are not killing Lucius!" Severus said sharply. "What is wrong with you?"
"It's perfect though," Theodore insisted to Severus. "The Dark Lord would never let you back, you were right, your loyalty to Harry is too well known now. So if he rises, we need someone who can respond when he calls and tell us immediately."
Lucius looked at the two boys young men in front of him and realized that this was Harry Potter, the leader of the Grey Alliance, and his right hand Lieutenant. They were not children playing games in this moment, they were nearly men plotting for a war.
It was chilling.
"That may be the safest plan for now," Severus eventually agreed thoughtfully. "I assume the others have already called you about the changes in their marks?"
"They have," Lucius confirmed. "Avery, Crabbe, and Goyle are determined to remain loyal to the Dark Lord despite acknowledging Potter's power. They plan to rally the others and make a public demonstration during the World Cup."
"Brill," Potter's eyes lit up. "How many are left? Cause old Nott is gone, and Snape is mine."
Lucius glanced at Severus at Potter's declaration of ownership of the man and was surprised to see a pleased look in his friends' eyes.
"Avery, Crabbe, Goyle, Macnair, and Karkaroff," Lucius listed off the only free members of the inner circle who still lived. "Karkaroff will be in attendance as his student is on the Bulgarian team, but he will not face any of the others. His evidence put away too many others."
"So, five? That's it?" Potter laughed and Theodore sighed heavily. "Snape and I could kill them in one swoop at the cup. Then Timmy could rise and not have any followers."
"Those are only the ones who were branded, you idiot child," Severus snapped at Potter. "You arrogantly believe that marked followers are the only ones who will follow the Dark Lord? Purebloods across the country will happily follow the man with no visible marks to be held."
"Severus is correct," Lucius said hastily as Potter looked unconvinced. "Avery will recruit many sympathizers to join him at the cup."
"You."
"Excuse me?"
"Avery will recruit people to join you at the cup," Potter said. "Cause you'll be with them."
"They may not accept me," Lucius said, choosing his words will careful precision. "It is well known amongst them that I allow my Heir to associate with you."
"I'll protect Draco, you figure out how to prove you're worth keeping around." Potter gave him a lopsided smile that would have been nearly friendly if not for the cold look in his eyes. "I didn't forget about the diary, did I?" he said softly.
Lucius laid in bed next to Narcissa that night and thought of the future.
"Did you talk to Harry?" Narcissa asked quietly.
"I did."
"And?" she prompted him.
Lucius sighed, praying to Merlin that Potter would prove to be a man of his word and Lucius' family would survive whatever calamity was quickly coming their way.
"And it appears as if I am once again joining the Death Eaters."