The Second Malfoy

Prologue:

Ripped Away

"You deserve this, did you know that?" the cold, high, menacing voice said gleefully as he held the small bundle in his long-fingered hands. "In fact, you're lucky that I am only taking your child and not your lives."

Lightning struck outside, and the flash threw the faces of the Dark Lord's victims into sharp relief. The Petrified man with bright red hair and glasses askew stared at his captor in fear, unable to move a single muscle. The woman, also with bright red hair, was at the feet of the intruder, bound by ropes that the man had conjured from his wand. She squirmed pathetically, trying desperately to reach her own wand that had fallen just out of reach. With each movement, the ropes around her tightened painfully.

"Please, take our lives instead," she begged through her tears. "Please, don't hurt our Ronnie!"

"SILENCE!" the evil man snapped, slashing his wand in the air and ending the din of the mother's crying. "You should have thought of your son when you decided to stand up against me." He watched happily as the woman continued to squirm without any sound escaping her lips. "Think of it this way, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley: This is a warning. If you continue to fight back against me, I will not just destroy one child. I'll take them all."

Then, without another word, Lord Voldemort turned on his heel and left the Weasleys to their struggling.

* * *

A loud crack echoed across the countryside, and Narcissa Malfoy sat straight up in bed. From a room down the long corridor, the sound of a tiny voice crying out reached her ears.

"Dobby!" her husband snapped from beside her. Another loud crack resounded, this time in the room.

The house elf cowered in fear as he faced his master. "Yes, sir?" he asked in a pathetic little squeak.

"What do you mean, 'yes'?!" Lucius Malfoy snapped aggressively as he too sat up. "Our son is crying and here you are wasting time with us! Attend to Draco, you little pest!" Dobby nodded in understanding and Disapparated down the hall. Within moments, Draco's cries died down.

"Do you think it's him?" Narcissa asked nervously, familiar butterflies dancing in her stomach.

"Who else would it be at this time of night?" Lucius grumbled as he moved to the wardrobe and extracted the nicest robes he had that were currently clean. Following his lead, Narcissa bolted out of bed to her own wardrobe and donned a beautiful green silk gown that her mother once bought her for the annual Christmas Ball held by the Ministry of Magic. It was amazing to her that it still fit, giving that she had given birth since that ball, but she supposed it was only natural that she was still rather tiny. After all, the stress that she was constantly under quelled any appetite that she would have normally experienced.

"What do you think he wants? To discuss the prophecy?"

"Perhaps," Lucius confided, buckling a belt around his midsection. "Or he could want to discuss Indoctrination tactics."

"Excuse me?" Narcissa asked as she fixed her hair in a mirror upon the wall.

"Erm..." Lucius said uncomfortably, "...it's a new mission that the Dark Lord has asked some of us to take on, dear. I'll tell you about it after we see him." Her husband rushed over to the door at this, his clothing all in order, and held it open for his wife. Narcissa hated it when Lucius kept her in the dark as far as Death Eater plans were concerned. She knew he had his reasons for this, of course. He desperately wanted to keep her and little Draco as safe as possible. Voldemort was a ruthless enemy to have, and the less everyone knew about what he was up to, the better. Still, she would have liked to have known the things Lucius got involved in, especially since one of the promises he had made her when they married was that he would keep no secrets from her.

When they arrived in the entrance hall to Malfoy Manor, they were not surprised to see Voldemort had already entered their home. He was standing in their entryway, a bundle of blankets in his arms and a smug smile upon his face. "Ah, Lucius, Narcissa...so good of you to leave the comfort of your bed in order to entertain your Master," he greeted them.

"Would you like to come into the drawing room, my lord?" Lucius asked, eyeing the blankets in Voldemort's arms warily. "I could get the elf to make you a drink."

"No need, Lucius. I merely came to drop this off to you." Voldemort passed the small bundle over to his servant and Narcissa heard the sound of a soft coo come from the depths of the fabric. Leaning over slightly, she saw a pale, chubby faced child asleep in her husband's arms.

"An infant?" she questioned in shock.

"Yes. Do not tell me Lucius failed to inform you of his big plan?" Voldemort asked, and the confusion on Narcissa's face was enough to seemingly delight the Dark Lord. He gave Lucius a look that seemed like mock disappointment. "Oh, Lucius," he said. "What an appallingly bad husband you've been. I suppose, though, that I should be grateful that you have chosen to be more loyal to me than you have your wife. Such loyalty never goes unrewarded, you know."

"Yes, my lord," Lucius mumbled, his eyes remaining downcast. Narcissa knew that he was feeling ashamed for not confiding in her and for having been called out as he was by Voldemort. As annoyed as she was by her husband, she could not find it in her heart to be too angry with him, for she knew he always had a good reason for keeping information from her. Voldemort's plan to shame Lucius in the eyes of his wife was one that Narcissa would not allow to work.

"What plan is this, Lucius?" she asked in as kind a voice as she could manage.

She hoped to be encouraging to him, but the sweet manner in which she addressed him seemed to make her husband uneasy. For a good, long moment he did nothing but stare at the child in his arms. Then he said, "As you know, dear, there have been a lot of blood traitors who have been aiding Mudbloods in escaping from us. The Dark Lord has not wanted to kill any of them, since their blood is pure, but he wanted to punish them somehow for insubordination. So, a couple of weeks ago, I suggested that the best way to do this would be to take children from their homes and raise them to be the next generation of Death Eaters."

Narcissa could do nothing but stare at her husband. His eyes were still cast upon the face of the sleeping baby, and automatically, she knew why he had been so hesitant to tell her of this plot. If she would have known, she would have never gone with it. As a mother, how in the world could she agree to such a heinous crime? Even a family of blood traitors, who should have been grateful that someone was taking steps to purify wizardkind, did not deserve this sort of punishment. Briefly, she imagined how she would feel if someone took Draco in the dead of night. Her life would be over as she knew it. Never again would she be the same person; she would be completely broken.

"You are displeased, Narcissa," Voldemort stated, looking at her distastefully. Immediately, she regretted her moment of weakness. To be in the same room with the Dark Lord involved constant concentration in order to block any negative thoughts that may break the surface. Voldemort was an accomplished Legilimens, but he usually could never read Narcissa as well as he would have liked, as she was a brilliant Occlumens. Tonight, she had accidentally let her guard down.

"I...merely feel for the child's mother," she said. It was only a partially honest answer. She more than merely felt for the woman. If she had it her way, she would take the baby back to her immediately.

"Well, your feelings, I daresay, will pass with time," Voldemort commented, still looking rather disgusted with Narcissa's compassion for what the Dark Lord clearly thought were unfit parents. "Once you realize that the woman who birthed this child does not deserve him. He is a pureblood and therefore should be given the best in life."

Would Voldemort been another person, Narcissa would have argued with him. Indeed, she felt compelled to shoot a nasty comment back at him, but her sense of propriety and fear of the man before her held Narcissa back. She could not argue with the Dark Lord. Her son depended on her and she could not put him in danger.

"What are your plans with this child then, Master?" Lucius asked, sensing confrontation brewing from his wife's side.

Voldemort turned his eyes onto his faithful Death Eater and answered, "Since you were the one who conceived this plot and you are one of my more trusted servants, Lucius, I decided to leave the child here with you for the time being."

"For the time being, my lord?" Lucius asked in bemusement.

"Until the prophecy business is dealt with," Voldemort replied. "He has informed you of that, has he not?" Now he was looking upon Narcissa mockingly, clearly still relishing in the fact that Lucius had not shared his plan with his own wife.

"He has, my lord," she answered, trying to keep her voice as indifferent as possible. For good measure, she attempted to get back onto topic. "What happens to the child once the prophecy is broken?"

"After that, I will take him into my care. He will be my heir." Voldemort looked upon the boy with what Narcissa could only equate to fondness, though she wasn't sure she could really call it that. It wasn't really an affectionate look (she was quite certain that he was incapable of feeling what most Death Eaters referred to as "soft emotions"), but more of an excited, anticipatory, and hungry glance. Clearly, Voldemort had been waiting for an opportunity like this for some time. "I will raise him to work alongside me. But first I must rid the earth of this nuisance that everyone imagines will be my end. Until then, I need you to take charge of him."

"Yes, my lord," Lucius and Narcissa answered as one. Truth be told, she was rather glad that she would not have to take care of the baby long-term. The guilt would have been too much to bear.

As if that was all he needed to really hear, Voldemort turned on his heel and began to exit the home. Suddenly looking eager, Lucius called, "My lord, may I ask whose child this was?"

Voldemort turned back and answered, "The Weasleys. They called him Ronald. Horrible, Muggle sort of name. I trust you can give him a new one that is suited for a pureblooded wizard." He looked at Lucius meaningfully and turned back to the exit, leaving the Malfoys in a very uncomfortable silence.

Narcissa turned to look at her husband, her heart now fully aching for Molly Weasley, but was frightened to see her husband beaming down upon little Ron.

"A Weasley, eh?" he said excitedly. And all of a sudden, Mrs. Malfoy knew exactly why her husband had formulated this plan.

* * *

Lord Voldemort never came back for his child. His plan to kill the baby in the prophecy backfired horribly, and a month after the fateful night that Ronald Weasley was delivered to their home, the Malfoys were left with a very big burden.

"I still say we should drop him off on his parents' doorstep," Narcissa said, pacing back and forth in their drawing room. She watched briefly as Draco, who was seated on the floor with his new friend, used his stuffed dragon to attack Ron's teddy bear. It was hard to suggest that Ron be returned to his real family. She was quite taken with him now. Sure, he was a tad fussy at times, but for the most part, he was sweet and very loving. Far more, she realized with dismay, than her own son. Still, Ron's family was purebloods and the Dark Lord was gone. He needed to be with them.

"And I say we'll be caught and arrested, Narcissa," Lucius answered warily, biting his nails. "It's bad enough that we have the Ministry breathing down our necks about our involvement. If they knew we were the source for a plot to kidnap blood traitors' children and teach them to be Death Eaters...I mean, that's good enough for a Kiss!"

Narcissa's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the idea of suffering the worst fate that could befall any person. Nervously she looked over at Draco and Ron and began biting her nails just like her husband. "I wish this would have never happened," she said. "Damn you for being so spiteful!"

"Language, dear!" Lucius insisted, looking upon the two boys nervously. Ron looked up at Narcissa and opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead stuck his teddy bear's foot in his mouth. Lucius smirked at the boy, then, as if he suddenly understood fully what Narcissa had just said, he twisted his head over toward her in outrage. "And whatever do you mean by that?!"

"I know that the only reason you created this plot was to seek vengeance on Arthur Weasley for his marrying Molly Prewett!" Narcissa yelled, shaking. Lucius looked shocked and tried to say something, but Narcissa cut him off. "No, let me finish! I know you liked her and that you wanted her, but our marriage was already arranged. So you've hated Arthur ever since for getting the one you wanted."

There. It was out. She had never confronted her husband with this very harsh and painful truth before, though it had been bothering her ever since she first learned that she was to marry Lucius Malfoy. She, of course, easily fell in love with the dashing young man from Derbyshire, but had also been witness to how he looked upon Molly Prewett at the time. Narcissa turned on her heel toward the window, leaving her husband sitting in stunned silence. The sounds of Draco and Ron playing behind her filled her ears and she allowed the innocent noises to calm her. At least they love me, she thought, though she immediately chided herself for including Ron in her thoughts. He's not even my son!

"I did not love Molly," Lucius suddenly spoke from right behind her. "And I am not jealous that Arthur has her, dear. I'm in love with you, believe me. Sure, I may have at one point liked her. But I fell in love with you, Narcissa. There is no one in the world I would rather have as my wife." His arms wrapped around her protectively, and Narcissa sank into them. "You are right, though. I wanted to get to Arthur, but only because it disgusts me that a pureblood like him goes around and behaves like a Muggle, when he should have been on our side. That is all."

"If you love me," Narcissa whispered as she turned around in her husband's arms and stared him in the eyes, "you'll understand my feelings about Ron. I can't sit here with another woman's child knowing how bad she must be missing him. I can't do it, Lucius."

Lucius' gaze faltered and he whispered back, "I'm afraid it's too late. We cannot return him. What if the Dark Lord comes back, Narcissa? What if he returns and we've given away the child who he marked as his heir? Do you realize the sort of danger that would put Draco in? And Ron, for that matter."

Narcissa turned her eyes upon both of the children on the carpet. They both appeared to be happy, smiling widely and sharing toys. She could not imagine the sort of harm that came to Ron's family coming to hers. She simply wouldn't allow it. If that meant keeping an infant who was not rightfully hers, then it was settled. "What do we do, then?"

"We say he's Draco's twin," Lucius stated.

"No one will believe that. You haven't spoken of him to anyone beyond the Death Eaters," Narcissa said.

"We can say he's been sickly. One of the Death Eaters works in the Department of Records and I can have him add Ron to the registry of our family after hours. He can also mark Ronald Weasley as deceased so that there will be no question of his identity." He tilted his head over toward Ron, who, quite sadly, looked up at his former name, as if expecting some sort of treat.

"What do we call him? He answers to Ron and only Ron if you haven't noticed. None of the names we tried for the Dark Lord seemed to suit him anyway." Narcissa shuddered to think of the ridiculous names that they thought befit Voldemort's heir and tried out on the boy. Vindicticus, Titan, Grimmoire...all were too foul to suit the happy child they had inherited.

"We will call him Ron then!" Lucius declared, staring down at the little child in a frenzied sort of affection.

"But it can't be Ronald! The Weasleys will see right through that!" Narcissa declared. Then and epiphany struck her. "I know! We'll call him Ronaldus after my grandfather! That's probably who he's named after anyway, since Ronaldus was Molly's great uncle. They just made it sound more like a Muggle name, because Molly's husband is a fool." She wrinkled her nose, deciding instantly that the best way to get over having stolen one of the Weasleys' children was to speak ill of them and imagine that they were, in fact, bad for Ron.

"Perfect!" Lucius said smiling. He still looked worried, but it felt like everything was falling into place for both of them. Even though there was doubt still lingering, the air of gloom that had filled the room only seconds ago dissipated and left the Malfoys feeling just a tad more peaceful. "And since Draco is named after me, we'll give Ronaldus my middle name."

"Ronaldus Piscean Malfoy," Narcissa said, trying the name out on her tongue. To her, it seemed to fit. Slowly, she made her way over to her new son, bent down, and lifted him into her arms. "How does that sound to you, Ronaldus?" she asked.

Ron smiled, leaned forward in her arms, and gave his new mother a slobbery kiss on the cheek. Narcissa grinned at him and kissed his soft cheek in return. "What do we do about his hair? It's Weasley red." Again, she wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"I think there's a potion for lightening hair," Lucius commented, picking up Draco (who seemed slightly jealous that Ron was suddenly getting attention and was holding his arms up desperately). "I'll have to ask Severus about it. He knows about Ron, by the way." Narcissa nodded as though it made sense that Snape would know. She couldn't really imagine him being in on the plot to kidnap blood traitors' children, since Snape wasn't really the paternal sort. Still, he was a close friend of Lucius and a Death Eater. It was only natural that he would be well aware of this particular scheme.

"We'll just...tell Ron it's his medicine, I guess. Since he's always been sickly," Narcissa said with a shrug. Lucius beamed at his wife as though proud of her skills as a professional deceiver. It would be difficult lying to their son, of course, but it had to be done in order to preserve the family.

That is how Ronald Bilius Weasley became Ronaldus Piscean Malfoy.