Dark Descent

The Foot Soldier

Lucius didn't return to Malfoy Manor for the rest of the summer holiday. He returned to Hogwarts for his final year there on a mission, one that he intended to be successful with. Lord Voldemort was looking for willing and able bodies the fill his ranks. Lucius was one of the first members of his army, and was filled with pride at that thought. He loved the idea of helping to bring about a whole new world for wizards. A world with no Muggles or Mudbloods, a world where wizards reigned over the entire earth.

He started with his room mates, Crabbe and Goyle. They would do anything Lucius asked of them, and so were easy to bring over to his lord's side. Lucius looked within Slytherin House for more recruits. The 6th and 7th years would be able to help more immediately, since they'd be out of Hogwarts relatively soon. But he made sure to look at all the students, since the younger ones could help recruit more students, keep tabs on the professors, and be ready to help once they left the school in the years to come.

He found one such recruit in a first year student, Severus Snape. He was a gangly child, dark-haired, moody, unpopular amongst his peers, just ripe for the picking. Lucius took the time to befriend Snape, show him just how nice followers of Lord Voldemort could be.

Snape was eager to please Lucius, his only friend at Hogwarts, and a 7th year at that! Snape was good at keeping an eye on the professors, and reporting anything of interest to Lucius. In exchange, Lucius offered Snape protection from the students who would have otherwise bullied him. He assigned Crabbe to act as a body guard, and all-purpose protector of Snape. There were a few first year Gryffindor students in particular who tormented Snape, so it was up to Crabbe to make sure they were unable to do anything to him, which wasn't difficult, seeing as he was a very menacing young man that no one would dare to stand up to.

With the important business taken care of, Lucius turned his attentions to his schooling. He put a lot of effort into his Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, knowing those were the most important for his future career.

In his spare time, he devoted his attentions to the girls of Hogwarts. Over the course of the years, he'd had almost all of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls, and was turning his attentions to the other two houses for his last and final year. Lucius was a very desirable young man among the female student body. There was an air of mystery and power about him that they found attractive. The idea of being the one to finally tame him was what drew them to him in droves. Lucius was also a physically attractive person as well. As captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, he was in great shape, which drove the girls wild. He had fun being with these girls, for a while, yet grew tired of them quickly and moved on to the next one.

One girl in particular turned Lucius's head. Seventh year Gryffindor, Rachel MacMillan, who for some reason, he'd never paid any attention to in all the years they'd been at Hogwarts together, but now he saw as the object of his desire. The object that paid him no mind. Didn't she know who he was? And what he could do for her?

Unfortunately, Rachel MacMillan had a boyfriend, Mathias Steele, who wasn't interested in sharing. Steele had been the bane of his existence at Hogwarts since their first year. He was a Gryffindor, he was captain of their Quidditch team, and he loved all things Muggle, and always seemed to be besting Lucius in academics. But worst of all, he was a Mudblood. How had he not known that Rachel was seeing Mathias? Why would such an attractive pureblood see a person like that? And what was he going to do about it?

He had Potions class with Rachel and Mathias, and tried to find ways to spend time with her. He got to class early and sat next to Rachel before Mathias got there, so Mathias had to sit somewhere else. Rachel was always polite to Lucius, but never showed an interest in him. It drove him crazy. He brushed his fingers against her hand while reaching for ingredients, and told jokes that made her laugh. He thought he'd go insane every time she brushed her long honey blonde hair out of her face, which she did frequently.

The year passed with no action from Rachel. Quidditch was winding down for the year, and Slytherin and Gryffindor were up against one another for the house cup. Lucius was very excited; he knew his team stood a chance against Gryffindor.

Finally the day of the big game arrived. Everything was a whirl in Lucius's mind; it seemed to go very quickly. The only move he could remember making was flying past Rachel, slowing down, and winking at her. Before he knew it, the game was over, Slytherin had won! He was so excited, and happy, he did the first thing that came to his mind. Running up to Rachel, he grabbed her head and pressed his face to hers, kissing her hard.

Rachel stepped back from Lucius after he let go of her, wide-eyed, her fingers brushing her lips. Lucius turned around to walk away and was hit hard in the face with something. Past experience with his father told him it was a fist: Mathias's. Mathias was on top of him, and somehow Lucius had fallen to the ground. He had pinned Lucius's arms underneath him, so he couldn't fight back with his hands or wand. Mathias gave Lucius a bloody nose and lip before Rachel rushed over and pulled him off Lucius. "Mathias, stop!" she shouted. Bending down, she held out her hand to Lucius, who took it and stood up slowly.

From seemingly out of nowhere, Professor McGonagall appeared, took both Mathias and Lucius by an ear and dragged them into the school where she proceeded to yell at them for quite a while before taking 50 points from each house and sending Lucius to the hospital wing.

Lucius seethed with anger and humiliation while the nurse cared for his cuts and bruises. His friends and roommates knew Lucius well enough to stay as far away from him as possible during this time. All but one: Narcissa Black. She had a crush on Lucius and tagged along with him and his friends whenever she had the chance.

Narcissa fretted over Lucius after the nurse had finished and left them alone. Bending over him, she brushed the hair out of his eyes, and then sat down next to him. Lucius looked at Narcissa. She was a fourth year Slytherin, yet he'd never slept with her before, for some reason, he'd not wanted to. She was attractive, yet Lucius had no interest in her, perhaps because she had always seemed so willing to be with him. Lucius enjoyed the hunt, the challenge presented to him by girls who ignored him. They had dated off and on for the past couple of years, but it had never really led anywhere. But for some reason, he always seemed to come back to her, and she always took him back.

Lucius politely made small talk with Narcissa, who seemed excited that he was paying attention to her again. After he was able to leave, he allowed Narcissa to eat dinner with him, where they continued to talk about nothing in particular. He walked her back to her room afterwards and gave her the thrill of her young life, kissing her goodnight before returning to his own room.

Soon Lucius had to deal with his NEWTS, which he did very well with. Before Lucius knew it, school was over, and the prospect of going home to Janos loomed heavily on his soul. He'd almost managed to forget about his father during the school year, yet had nothing left to keep him from dwelling on those dark thoughts.

Lucius's heart was filled with terror over the thought of Janos. He had buried the pain of his mother's death far beneath the surface of his mind, yet every once in a while, it crept to the surface, threatening to manifest itself in ways Lucius did not want. Janos could never know how upset he still was over Rowena's death. He was afraid of how he would act the first time he saw Janos again after such a long time. Part of him was afraid that he'd lash out violently against his father, but a larger part was scared that he wouldn't. He wanted his father to suffer for what he'd done, but knew he had not the strength to do anything about it.

To Lucius's relief, Janos had given him an entire wing of the manor to have for his own, far from his father, far from that room, and those memories. Never a word about Rowena was spoken by either men, and Lucius learned to live with Janos again.

Lucius continued his work for Lord Voldemort. Now that he was out of school, he was able to assume more responsibility, and relished every minute of it. He was one of the very first supporters to receive the special tattoo on his arm, and he wore it with great pride.

The harassment of Muggles was well under way when Lucius got his first chance to participate. He had never paid much attention to their world before spending time there, and did not like what he saw. For not having any magical abilities, they adapted to their environment extremely well. They compensated in fascinating ways, but Lucius hated all of it. He couldn't wait for the time when wizards could walk the earth openly, not hiding who they were.

He never went as far as some of the other Death Eaters in their tormenting of Muggles. He couldn't stand to touch them, and so sated himself with things that could be done with his wand alone. He couldn't get his hands dirty. He had practiced the Cruciatus Curse to perfection and used that more than anything else.

The first time he used the Avada Curse, he'd been nervous, for although he'd thought about it many times, he'd never taken a life before. But Lord Voldemort praised him so much afterwards, that he'd been eager for more, and continued to use the curse with more ease. Lucius would do anything if Lord Voldemort wanted him to. He was kind to Lucius when his father showed him only hate.

Lucius began to resent his father, for he was the one doing all this work for Voldemort, not Janos. Janos had not been involved in any of this, and Lucius didn't understand why. His father had been the one who had introduced him to Voldemort in the first place, yet was not partaking in any of the duties of a Death Eater.

That first summer after Hogwarts passed quickly before Janos told him he had to start thinking about marriage. When Lucius married and produced an heir, Malfoy Manor, along with the family business, would be relinquished to him. Until then, he would remain under Janos's rule. Lucius thought about all of this apprehensively as he prepared to take his place within the family business, under his father's control, which would be celebrated in only a few weeks.