Harry Potter & The Daughter of Malfoy

Chapter Five - The Father

Nearly three weeks had passed since Harry´s arrival at Malfoy Manor.

It was almost exactly that time since Lucius Malfoy had spoken to either Harry or his transvestite wife, Narcissa, so when he actually walked into the room where the odd pair were eating breakfast, they were mildly surprised.

His hair was, fortunately, back to its normal colour.

Had it still been neon green with purple and orange polkadots, Harry was sure he would have cracked up laughing. Lucius' skin, though, was still visibly striped pink and blue from the colourful set of hexes that had been thrown at him.

Of course, he had only been hexed after a wild chase through the halls of the manor, which culminated in Narcissa performing the most spectacular slide-tackle that Harry had ever seen just outside the drawing room.

"Good morning, dear," Narcissa said cheerfully, as Lucius stomped towards the opposite end of the ten foot table. He made a rude gesture with his cane. "Nice of you to finally stop sulking."

"I was not sulking, Ciss."

Narcissa gave him a knowing look that almost set Harry giggling.

Of course, he didn´t giggle aloud, or in public, because that would place him firmly in girly territory, which was something he really didn`t like the idea of. It was bad enough that his stomach was now a bump and he was almost a quarter of the way into a magical pregnancy.

Fortunately, the morning sickness had waned and he was less and less inclined to burst into tears at the slightest thing, although that could be attributed to the fact that Narcissa was an absolute angel and that Lucius had not come anywhere near them since the first night in the manor.

"You should know better, Luce," Narcissa was saying as Harry spread thick layers of kipper paste onto his bacon and egg buttie, adding a large dollop of peanut butter for the crunchy texture he liked. "You never insult a pregnant...er...person´s femininity, even if they are proud to be male."

"Hmpf."

"Actually," Narcissa continued amiably, as her husband glared darkly at his piece of toast. "You should know to never insult a pregnant person in any way, shape or form. Even Voldemort knows that its madness."

"So it´s true, then?" Harry inquired curiously around a large mouthful of bacon, egg, kipper and peanut butter roll. "Voldemort is afraid of pregnant women?"

"I suppose you...could say that," Lucius Malfoy said. He looked like he was trying to smother a smirk.

"Could?" Narcissa was laughing out loud. "Dear Merlin, the man is terrified of pregnant women! If he sees one in the street these days, he usually turns and walks very quickly in the opposite direction!"

"Why?"

A burst of laughter from Lucius made him stare.

Lucius Malfoy could actually laugh and sound vaguely normal?

All right.

Harry was officially scared!

"It...it was a rather...funny story," Lucius managed to say, between chuckles, while Narcissa was giggling behind a hand. "Voldemort decided he wanted to...take out a group of muggles...just to show how truly evil he was..."

"And the blithering idiot went and picked a group who had just left their antenatal class!" Narcissa squealed with laughter, clapping her hands together. "Twenty-five very pregnant muggle women!"

"Twenty...five?" Despite the fact that he hated the Dark Lord with a passion, Harry couldn´t help feeling a little sorry for him.

Well, not for him, but for the humiliation that no doubt ensued.

"He thought he would scare them...taunting them..." Lucius continued, a broad smile on his face. It looked very odd to see him that way, but it was...nice to see he could do something as normal as smiling. "Some of them started crying, which definitely wasn´t a good thing..."

"When one cries, they all cry," Narcissa agreed. "It was a...pregnancy thing, I think."

"But Voldemort had never dealt with a pregnant woman before..."

"So he taunted them more and if you taunt someone just enough, you cross the line and hit the anger reflex."

"And, by Merlin, he did it in style!" Lucius was slapping his hand on the table with the force of his amusement. "The leader stormed at him and started bitch-slapping him upside the head!"

Harry choked on the piece of toast he was chewing.

Narcissa grinned at him. "It gets worse," she said. "The others agreed with her and charged in. Voldemort was squealing like a girl! He didn´t get to his wand fast enough and the Death Eaters were just standing there, staring! They didn´t have a clue what to do!"

"No, dear," Lucius corrected, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "The Dark Lord was shrieking like a baby and we were pissing ourselves laughing at the look on his face. It made it rather difficult to be intimidating."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

The fit of hysterics that ensued at both ends of the table left Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy incoherent for almost five minutes, but for feeble gasps as they struggled to catch their breath between giggles.

"He...ran..." Lucius wheezed.

"Hiked up his robes..."

"Flashed his chicken legs..."

"And ran away down the street, screaming!"

They both howled with laughter.

"Oh! Oh!" Narcissa waved her hands. "You forgot! The underwear!"

Lucius burst out laughing again, tears of mirth rolling down his cheeks. "Oh Merlin! I had forgotten about that!"

"Underwear?"

"Voldemort...he...he..."

Giggling hysterically, Narcissa tried to succeed where her husband had been reduced to a chuckling wreck. "He wears...wears...oh Merlin! I had forgotten!"

"Wears what?" Harry asked, perplexed.

Shaking with laughter, Lucius Malfoy finally calmed himself enough to say. "The Dark Lord wears a pink, lacy thong."

Harry blinked.

Voldemort being attacked by a horde of pregnant muggles, who bitch-slapped him upside the head. Voldemort hiking up his robes and fleeing in terror. Voldemort wearing a pink, lacy thong...

His eyes went round.

"Oh...my...God..."

The laughter rapidly ensued.

Narcissa looked along the table at Lucius, who was smiling appreciatively. "I told you he would fit in with our mad little world, didn´t I, Luce?" she remarked, with a fond look at Harry.

Lucius gave Harry a brief, curious and pensive look, but made no reply, although the smile on his face remained.

***

Standing at the top of the main staircase of Malfoy Manor, one hand resting on the swell of his stomach, the other on the broad granite banister, Harry frowned slightly at the figure in the hallway.

He had never seen the stranger before, although he couldn´t help feeling there was something familiar about him.

Tall and very slim and streamlined for a man, he was gracefully pulling on a set of evening outer-robes. Long, silky silver-blond hair, not unlike Lucius and Narcissa´s, was pulled back at the nape of his neck, held there by a dark ribbon.

"Ex-cuse me?" he called, as he started down the staircase.

The man turned and looked up at him, smiling with lips that Harry knew should definitely be a lot more red.

"Harry! Sweetie!" The man gave an elegant little twirl. "Will I do?"

Green eyes went round. "N-Narcissa?"

"Well, when I look like this, I do prefer to be called Bob, Harry," Narcissa, or Bob as we must now call her, replied, grinning. Gesturing down at his elegant robes, he spread his hands. "Well? Will I do?"

"Do for what?"

Bob´s grin was purely filthy. "For a night on the tiles, of course, silly!" he replied cheerfully. "I´m off to the Wonky Wand to try and find me a wizard who will give me a good solid shag. Maybe that Weasley, who sometimes shows up..."

"Weasley?"

"Mmm," Bob agreed. "Tall, long red hair, wears leather a lot...very nice arse..."

"Bill?"

Harry tried to keep his face straight at the thought of Ron´s reaction if anything did come of Bob and Bill.

Yes, Ron, your brother is gay. Yes, your brother has a boyfriend called Bob. Yes, the boyfriend is a transvestite. Oh, and did you know that the boyfriend is also the mother of our arch-nemesis? Funny old world, isn´t it?

"So that´s his name, eh? Gives me an advantage already, that does!" Picking up an oddly-shaped furry hat, Bob turned to the mirror on the wall and started to position the hat on top of his perfectly-groomed hair. "I´ll be out all night, if things go well... and even if they don´t, I won´t be back before dawn."

"You...you´re leaving me on my own?"

"Oh, you won´t be on your own, sweets," Bob replied with a smile. "Lucius is in the living room. Ask him nicely and I´m sure he´ll keep you company."

"But he...he doesn´t like me."

"Looking at our `close´ relationship, Harry, anyone would say he doesn´t really like me either," Bob remarked. "But I´ve spent nearly twenty years with the silly twit. I can´t imagine life without him, even if he does have divorce papers lying around and has done since our wedding day."

"Wouldn´t any boyfriend you got be...a little put out to find out you´re married?"

Bob sighed, bringing a hand to his brow dramatically. "Ah, yes," he exclaimed melodramatically, then grinned. "But I do have a...way with words," Feigning a lisp, he fanned himself and breathed. "Oh darling, for you I would divorce my darling husband, even if does mean losing my wing of our mansion, where we could easily set up home and we would lose the pool house and all those wonderfully muscley servant boys, who are just SO pretty!"

Harry was doubled over giggling by the time Bob stopped.

"As you can see," Bob finished cheerfully. "I have plenty of reasons, mainly in the bank, why it would be safer and better to stay married to one of the richest wizards in the wizarding world and most boy-toys wouldn´t be able to resist the thought of all the pretty servant boys. Plus, I would never dream of divorcing Lucius. Ever. Any boyfriend that was deemed good enough would have to be able to deal with the fact that Lucius will always be my husband and nothing will change it."

"Why?"

Bob gave him an odd look. "Because I love the silly coot."

"L-love?"

"Sweetie, if he had turned his back on me for long enough, I would have loved him every which way I could and then some..." Bob´s grin was broad and filthy, but it faded to a genuine smile. "He might not be my way inclined, but he has been very good to me. He´s one of the best in the world, although not many people realise it. I think I´m the only one who has so far..."

"Lucius? Best in the world?"

"You´re rapidly coming up in my poll, sweets," Bob reached up and mussed Harry´s hair. "You remind me of a younger, straight, scrawnier and...well, not to be rude, but less-fashion-inclined version of me. Luce, on the other hand, he´s just my great big teddy bear. You just have to understand him."

"I think I´d rather not."

Bob studied him for a long moment. "You never know, sweetie," he said. "Talk to him. I mean, you are carrying his baby, so it might help if you knew something about the father."

"I suppose..." Harry admitted.

"And now," Bob grabbed a long cane from the rack that stood beneath the mirror. It was topped with a silver rose. "I had best be off for a night of fun, frolicks and fu..."

"I get the idea!"

Bob laughed, then twirled around to show off his ensemble to it´s best. "So, sweets, you like?" Harry nodded approvingly. "And what about the hat?"

"It looks...er..."

"Fuzzy?"

"I was thinking gay."

"Perfect!" Bob laughed and dropped a kiss on Harry´s forehead. "Don´t wait up, sweetie! I plan to make a night of it!"

That said, he flounced out of the door, leaving Harry standing in the hall, shaking his head and chuckling. Turning left, he entered the living room and could see Lucius Malfoy sitting on the couch, apparently watching the flames of the fire in the grate.

The house was oddly silent without Narcissa´s merry prattling and Harry quietly approached the couch, wondering if he should take Bob´s advice and try to work out the man who had left him pregnant.

Coming level with the couch, the expression on Lucius´ face was one he had never seen before.

The older man was comfortably sprawled on the couch, his eyes fixed on the flames, but he looked...sad. Strangely sad and pensive. One of his hands was tracing absent circles on the arm of the couch and every so often, he exhaled a quiet sigh.

Carefully sitting, Harry saw the moment that Lucius´ expression closed. It was the moment the couch shifted and told him he was no longer alone, his features growing tight as his eyes turned to Harry.

"Boy," he acknowledged.

"Do...do you mind if I sit here?"

Lucius started to push himself onto his feet. "Feel free," he replied, but Harry´s hand on his arm stopped him from rising. Cool grey eyes looked down at the hand, then at Harry´s face, a flurry of emotions crossing his features. "What is it, boy?"

"Please, I...that is...I would rather not be left alone."

Lucius snorted, starting to pull away. "I´ll send a house elf."

"No! Please!" Harry grasped at his wrist desperately, looking around the massive room. The plea was entirely genuine, the room large and gloomy and altogether rather frightening to be left alone in. "Narcissa has gone out and this place...I-I don´t like being on my own...I never have...its like being..." he trailed off. "Never mind."

"It´s like what, boy?" Lucius made no attempt to move away, but nor did he sit back on the couch.

Harry shivered at the thought of his home life with the Dursleys. The cupboard under the stairs. The darkness. The isolation. The insults. The loneliness. "It would be just like it was before I went to Hogwarts."

"How so, boy?"

"I don´t like being on my own," he replied, so softly that he could barely even hear his own voice. "Like I was with the Dursleys."

"As if the famous Harry Potter would ever be on his own!" Lucius scoffed.

"That´s what everyone thinks," Harry murmured, lost in thought. "Everyone assumes that, but they didn´t let me have friends. They made sure I was always alone...that I was treated like nothing. I wasn´t worth anything to them."

There was a rustle of the velvety fabric of the couch, as Lucius slid back and Harry reluctantly raised his eyes to find Lucius gazing at him, an intrigued expression on his pale face. "They didn´t honour you for what you had done?"

"Honour me?" Harry almost laughed at the concept. "They hated me for what my parents were. They were afraid of what I might become, so they tried to crush it out of me by treating me like little more than a slave, an animal."

Lucius´ eyes had narrowed slightly. "That can´t be true. Dumbledore would never allow such a thing," he seemed to be saying it more to convince himself. "He would have done his utmost to protect you."

"He was the one that left me on their doorstep," Harry replied quietly. "He has never once faced them, not once. He couldn´t face them. Instead, he left me on their step, wrapped in a blanket and holding a letter."

"And people wonder why I despise the old man," Lucius muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He probably had a reason for it," Harry said, looking down at his hands. Despite the fact that nothing cruel or derisive had been said by Lucius, his eyes were stinging at the memories of his life before he had learned about his heritage.

"Probably some nonsense about building character or strengthening will or rubbish like that," Lucius spat in vehement distaste, then seemed to notice Harry´s dejected posture. "Boy... Harry..."

"I tried to believe that," he whispered tearfully. "Everyone expected me to be so strong, so powerful, so smart and popular...I had defeated Voldemort, so surely I was meant to be all those things...but I´m not...I´m just a kid..."

His throat was burning with the effort of trying to contain his tears and he pressed his eyes shut, pressing the heels of his hands against his forehead.

It came as no small shock when two hands were gently laid on his shoulders and he was drawn against Lucius Malfoy´s chest, the older man letting him burrow into his embrace as the tears came.

Despite his mental voice howling that he was acting like a big girl´s blouse, Harry let himself cry for the first time in years, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn´t get slapped down by his guardians or mocked or derided.

He had only felt this safe and protected once before and that was when Molly Weasley embraced him like a mother would.

Now, he wondered as Lucius Malfoy embraced him tightly, protectively, was this what being held by his father would have felt like? Would he have felt so safe and sheltered from the world?

"You´re not going back there, boy," Harry heard Lucius murmur. "You´re going to have some semblance of a real life now. Dumbledore can say what he likes, but you are under my protection now."

Had he been able to speak the words, Harry knew he would never even have been able to find the right ones to say just how grateful he was.

Instead, he remained there, curled up in Lucius Malfoy´s protective arms, until he was cried out, and gradually fell into a deep and exhausted sleep, Lucius´ arms still around his shoulders.