Farewell to Arms

It was dark and foreboding, the skies black and grey. It reflected her mood as she grasped her cloak tighter. She was at Azkaban Prison, the most foreboding place in all of Wizarding Britain. It took two years to get to this point and a year for her to be admitted entrance. So she wasn't going to waste this chance to take care of one last piece of business from the past.

Harry had defeated Voldemort three years prior, but the war had raged until a year ago. The past year had been spent hunting down the remaining Death Eaters, figuring out who had been operating under the Imperious Curse, and reorganizing the Ministry of Magic. Ginny was here to visit one of the last to be found and the first to be executed: Lucius Malfoy. Ginny clenched her hands as she followed the Dementor down the halls towards her enemy.

She had wished for this for two years. Lucius Malfoy had been the greatest bane in her life from her first year at Hogwarts until he was caught. She loathed him like Harry had loathed Voldemort. Ginny shook her head, it was best not to let her hate swallow her while she was here.

The Dementor stopped in front of a cell and pointed. Ginny swallowed and went up to the bars. She called out, "Malfoy?"

A man with once glorious, now stringy, white blond hair came up to the bars. Azkaban in a short time took away the good looks Malfoy had once prided in. He now looked much older than his forty-six years. However, the keen intelligence and disdainful manner were still there. Lucius drawled, "What brings you here, little girl?"

Ginny gripped her wand before answering, "A matter that should be taken care of now."

Lucius merely looked at her, his grey eyes mocking her. He drawled, "Planning to get some Crucios in before I'm given the Kiss? Such a bloodthirsty little wench..."

Ginny stiffened, his words reminding her of so much. The war ended up bringing out the worst in everyone, especially her and Harry. After her brother, Hermione, Lavender, and Ernie were killed, Ginny became a master at the Cruciatus Curse. Feeding off of the intense anger inside, Ginny was able to conquer and kill the master at the Cruciatus, Bellatrix Lestrange. Ginny snarled and cleared her head.

She took out a piece of Honeydukes chocolate and waved it in Lucius' face. Ginny tut-tutted and remarked, "I was considering giving this to you, one last comfort before your decrepit soul is sucked out, but I guess not."

Lucius followed her maneuvers while willing himself not to crack. He smirked then whispered, "I was sure that you wouldn't come here to visit me. I mean, it was a rather good Imperious Curse to crack and control your youngest brother. Getting him to kill that Mudblood, the Brown girl, and the Macmillan boy before killing himself was a stroke of genius-"

"-Of course, Narcissa agreed until she realized that it meant your death and a loss of influence for the Malfoy name," Ginny finished in a cold voice.

Lucius lunged at the bars, growling, "Leave her out of this! She knew nothing; she was the only innocent in all of this." Ginny sniffed with disbelief but she didn't argue.

They looked at each other for a while, assessing one another. Then Lucius said, "You haven't asked about him."

"I haven't wanted to. He wouldn't have been interested in what you have to say about him," Ginny primly replied.

Lucius gave her a pained look before starting, "He was my heir, he had a duty to live up to. I had to-"

Ginny quietly said, "-put him under the Imperious Curse. Because your pride and desire for power, you had to get your son involved, even when it would have been better for your family if he stayed uninvolved. Continuation of the line, all of that..."

Lucius slumped, his age showing in all ways. Ginny felt a little pity; she never though she would see him like this. He was a shell of the proud, confident man who thought he ruled the world. Power had ruled Lucius Malfoy. He could never have enough and Voldemort had promised him endless power as his second-in-command. Lucius' desire for power had ruined his family and turned the Malfoy name into a shell of what it had been.

Ginny murmured, "The ancestors are disappointed. You failed them. The motto is, 'To be feared rather than envied.' You are neither feared nor envied. You drove your own son nearly to death. Driving your own son to insanity, literally killing your own son before Draco could surrender to the Ministry. What kind of man are you?"

Lucius raised the eyes of a man broken with his own guilt to hers. Ginny's heart went out to him but she pushed that feeling down. She raised her left hand and Lucius saw the glinting diamond on her left hand. Lucius snidely stated, "Finally got Potter to marry you didn't you."

Ginny gave Lucius a malicious smile, one that made him fearful. Then she said, "Blaise and I married."

Lucius blinked then said, "I thought he was in love with the Parkinson girl."

Ginny narrowed here eyes. "She unfortunately fell against Avery right before Avery was caught," she said.

Lucius asked, "Why?"

Ginny looked at Lucius squarely in the eyes. Then she replied, "The Malfoy heir would not be born a bastard."

Lucius eyes bulged and he began to sputter. Ginny continued, "That's right, the Malfoy heir. Draco and I were able to get together nearly 16 months ago before he succumbed to your Imperious Curse for one last time. Of course, we were unfortunately not able to marry due to already mentioned events but yes, the Malfoy line would continue."

He knew why she married Blaise; she wanted to cement the brat's claim so no one could dispute it. But Lucius still whispered, "No," but Ginny ignored him.

She said, "Yes, the Malfoy line will be continued by a Weasley. The ancestors are pleased; at least one of their descendents did not disappoint them."

Ginny looked down; Lucius had slipped down to the floor, horror on his face. He reckoned that it was the worst thing that could happen to him. The Malfoys had always been among the strictest pureblood sticklers but Lucius had taken it to the highest level. Not only did he think that purebloods were better than everyone else, he believed that the elite purebloods were better than everyone else. For the Malfoy heir to have Weasley blood, no matter how pure her bloodline, it would be a fate worse than death for Lucius.

"Leo is almost seven months old and he's beginning to teeth. He looks exactly how a Malfoy is supposed to look like according to Narcissa. She said he looks like exactly like how Draco did at that age," Ginny conversationally said.

Lucius let out a bark of horrified laughter. He whispered, "Of course, this is my payment for my crimes. My blood is tainted with Weasley taint. I have a blood-traitor in my family. I'd be happy that he was dead."

Lucius raised dark grey eyes shining with hatred. "I would have killed my son myself if I knew he had bred with a blood traitor bitch like you."

The fire in Ginny's brown eyes died as she pressed her face closer to the bars. She whispered, "You are half the man that Draco was. Not even half the man, you are lower than a troll. No matter how much you hate me, Draco and I love each other and Leo is a Malfoy through and through. Even Narcissa, who is still a blood purity snob, can at least love a child of her blood without out cursing it with all of the prejudices of the past." Ginny gave Lucius an evil look that made him tremble inside. She continued, "Despite Draco willingly taking the Mark, I give him credit for realizing that he made a most terrible mistake. He at least wanted to atone for his sins unlike you. I can see despite all that happened, you still cling to your evil beliefs. I think I know you better than you know yourself."

"You do not know me. You could never know me," Lucius hissed,

Ginny replied, "I do know that my son will know of the failures of his father and grandfather but that at least his father understood right from wrong and at least tried to make amends. His grandfather was power-mad slime who decided that it was more important to have power than anything else."

Ginny turned around, signaling to the Dementor that she was done. Though, before she left, she dropped the bar of chocolate through the bars without looking back. Lucius Malfoy was given the Dementor's Kiss the next day.