Marrying Lucius Malfoy

"Oh...my...God." Selina lay back on her husband's bed. There were silk pillows--Merlin, where had all those pillows come from?--and they rubbed luxuriously against Selina's bare skin.

Beside her Lucius was breathing deeply through his nose. He turned his head slightly to the left to observe his wife for a moment, and then he rolled over again. Gods, but he'd be damned if he wasn't married to the sexiest witch in Europe. All the English Roses of the world be screwed over; they had nothing on his fierily beautiful Selina.

"It was bloody good," he muttered to her.

Selina kissed his tiredly on the cheek. "You're amazing," she whispered. Her sleepiness, which was setting in with the afterglow, made her southern drawl sound droopy and serene.

"You're amazing," Lucius countered. Oh, Gods, he loved her so much; to make sure that she knew his feelings he ran a pale hand down the right side of her torso. She shivered delightedly. "Beautiful, brainy...You'll be the envy of every witch imaginable."

Selina blushed. "No, I won't," she retorted. "Too many freckles!"

"And in the most interesting places," her husband murmured. His wife blushed even more; he laughed and kissed her. "You know, we don't have to go home. We could have a honeymoon. Merlin knows I owe you one."

Selina perked. "Really? A honeymoon? I thought that honeymoons were a trivial waste of time."

Lucius stroked her bare breast. Selina arched to his touch and waited for his reply. "Not when you're with the woman of your heart's desire," Lucius murmured into her ear.

Selina gasped; his fingers were tracing patterns down her belly. "I thought Malfoys didn't have hearts."

"Not all Malfoys had you for a spouse." Lucius winced. "Am I being too cliché?"

"Of course," Selina replied. "But I like it. Cliché work for you, Lucius."

Her husband smirked. "My dear, everything works for me."

~*~

The next morning Selina and Lucius Malfoy awoke with the rising sun streaming through their windows. Quietly they packed their remaining things, and then Selina wrote a long note to the lady of the house.

"To my dear friend Daphne:

Thank you for the kindnesses you have shown my husband and I. We are very much in love with each other now; we would never have made it this far if it weren't for you and Andrea. We leave now not for Malfoy Manor but for Lucius's residence in Venice. Then it's off to a flat in Florence, a château in Crete--perhaps we will make it to his penthouse in Paris. Wherever I desire to go, he tells me. I believe that if I asked him to whisk me off to the moon he would do it. I have never known this gentle, loving side of Lucius; it is good to know it exists. Again, Daphne, I thank you for your kindness. It means the world to us both that you would not give up on us as a united couple.

All my love,
Selina J. Malfoy (and Lucius, as well)"

After leaving the note in the hand of a trusted maid, Selina and Lucius climbed into their carriage. The ride was fast-paced and the scenery went by too idly for Selina to discern what was on the outside of the carriage, but when they stepped out of the carriage, she was in an icy wonderland. Beside her Lucius cursed.

"Damn bloody horses. Stupid beasts! This isn't at all Venice!" His anger was apparent on his handsome face. "From the looks of it I'd say we were in the Borg."

"The what?" Selina asked.

Lucius looked down at her. His gaze softened. Pointing to the small town before him he repeated the name of the place. "The Borg. It's a resort town for the richer occupants of magical society."

Selina took this to mean, "It's very exclusive."

Lucius continued to explain, "The Borg has a good deal of things to do, and many young witches would give their eyes to honeymoon here...But still, it's no Venice."

Selina looked at arches that must have been the entrance to the city. They were carved in great detail out of ice; they looked at though they would never melt. Though her heart had been yearning to see the history of Venice she couldn't bear to spend another day riding about in the carriage. She told her husband, "This will be perfect."

His smile was without its usual haughtiness. "We will stay in the honeymoon suite of the most expensive hotel. I will make love to you all night, and by day we will experience the excursions that make this place so famous."

Selina blushed, but then she remembered that after what she did the night before, she would never have to blush in her husband's presence. He held out his arm, presumably so that she could link her own into his, and once she joined them, they set off towards the snow covered town.

~*~

The week that henceforth commenced was pure bliss. As Lucius had said, by day they explored the ice mazes and world-class bakeries that made the Borg so appealing. By night, they made love. Lucius never let her forget how adored she was. Every morning she awoke with treatment fit for a queen, and every night, when she dozed off in her husband's arms, she slept on the finest silk bedclothes.

Such bliss was not meant to last, though. Lucius might have loved her, but, being a Malfoy, he had considerable limitations. After a week and three days he told her that business would be withering without him to oversee the finances. The next day, while eating honey and porridge, he went so far as to say that he missed the manor, where there were no human servants, only meek and humble house-elves. On the fifth day, before he could begin to lament on how much more beautiful Britain was in the wintertime, Selina mentioned that she too missed home; within hours they were packed and headed back to Malfoy Manor. Their carriage came to a rest in front of the Wiltshire estate at just past midnight. They had arrived without any notice, and so neither Lucius nor Selina was surprised when no one rushed out to greet them. Once inside the manor (and still undetected) Lucius asked Selina where she would prefer to sleep from now on.

"I beg your pardon?" Selina had been wondering how Pamela and Riley were, and so her mind was not totally focused on the question.

"Where would you like to sleep from now on?" Lucius asked. "In your old room, with me joining you? In my room, with you joining me? Or would you prefer to sleep alone and keep our new...situation...to yourself?"

Selina thought a moment, weighing each pro and con against each other. "I'd like to move into your rooms," she answered, "but tonight, just until I can talk with Riley and Pamela, I'd like to sleep in my own apartments."

"Do you wish me to walk you to your rooms?"

Selina shook her head. "No. I'll be fine. I could use a little stroll, after today."

In the darkness she saw his blonde head bow. "Then goodnight, mi amor." He left without even kissing her. Selina thought nothing of it, though; she was slowly beginning to remember her old life, the one in which she was unhappy. Her crups, Artemis and Apollo, her rivalries with Ms. Laverne, and Pamela.

'How in the hell will I explain all this to them?' Selina wondered. It wasn't likely that Riley would be overly happy for her; she'd never like Lucius, no matter how good he was to her. Selina could imagine that Pamela would be a little pleased, but also a little nervous. 'She's seen the damage Lucius can do.'

When Selina reached her rooms, she eased the door open quietly. Pamela was probably asleep, and it would scare the life out of her if she thought someone was breaking in. No matter how quietly she had decided to enter, though, Selina's return was announced by both Artemis and Apollo. The crups-they had grown to their full size in their mistress's absence-came flying out of the parlor and pinned Selina to the door. Moments later Pamela came flying into the atrium-shaped entry hall. Her reddish-blonde hair was limp around her shoulder, but her entire body perked up when she saw who it was.

"Selina?" she asked in a disbelieving voice. "Merlin almighty! You look radiant!"

Selina and Pamela embraced. When Selina pulled away she could see, even in the darkness, that her maidservant was glad she had returned. Artemis and Apollo danced about their feet as the two friends moved into the library. Pamela filled in Selina on the trivial details of her three-month absence fm the manor.

"For the most part these furry rascals and I explored the estate. Riley invited me over for dinner a good deal of the time, and I've been helping her set up shop."

Selina barely felt a sudden wave of guilt. "Oh, damn! She opens shop up in a month, right? I promised I'd help!"

Pamela grinned. "Still can. We've squared away everything furniture-wise, but she hasn't thought of a name yet. And there's a bunch of different foods that's she's trying out. She'll need all the help she can get."

Selina nodded. "I'll help in any way I can."

Then Pamela asked, "So, enough about me and the boring old manor--how was vacationing with Mr. Malfoy?"

Selina controlled her face enough so that no emotion could be gleamed. In a level tone she proceeded to say, "It's very complicated."

Pamela seemed genuinely interested. "Complicated? How so?"

Selina regretted her choice of words. "Well, I suppose that there are two ways of looking at what happened. The relationship I now have with Lucius is either very, very complicated or very, very simple."

"What's your relationship with him?" Pamela asked.

Selina swallowed. "I love him."

Pamela didn't seem too surprised. "Is that all? Well, that's very, very simple. To be expected, even. You two went on a trip, you were hurt, he was your rescuer, you fell in love." She paused. "He knows, right? And loves you back?"

Selina nodded. "Since Christmas Eve, he told me."

Pamela grinned. "Well, like I said, it's to be expected. Cherished, even." Her grin faltered suddenly. "But Riley--she might see it as complicated. She's thankful that Lucius sprung you from the Lewis Ludwig home, but she still hasn't warmed to him."

"So you two did help him! I thought that he'd just been blowing his own horn!"

Pamela shook her head. "No, he wasn't. After a while we decided that the Lewis Ludwig home wasn't helping you at all, so Riley decided to make it appear that Mr. Malfoy had broken free and tied me up. That way neither of us would be blamed for telling him where they were hiding you."

"Smart plan," Selina commented. "And I'm very grateful for it. How did Lucifer and Dionyza react to my escape?"

"Oh, once you were gone they both knew there wasn't much they could've done. They moped a bit, maybe, but in the end Mr. Malfoy's brother, Mister Lucifer, stayed around long enough to send Draco back to school, and Dionyza stayed a few days after that, to make sure that the household was under proper management. Ms. Laverne's been taking an extended vacation in France as well, so mostly it's been me and the crups."

Selina could tell that her friend had been lonely, and she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for having so much fun while being gone. Softly she said, "I missed you and Riley both. Falling in love is all well and good, but nothing can make up for missing a friend."

Pamela shrugged. "We missed you too, but I know that you and Mr. Malfoy both needed this."

"It's too much to hope that Riley will see things the same way." Selina shook her head. "I'll owl her early in the morning. We can go visit her as soon as possible, perhaps for lunch. How does that sound?"

Pamela smiled. "It sounds very well, Selina. But mightn't you want to get to bed? You've been traveling all day!"

Selina stood, stretched, and agreed silently. "I can get my own nightclothes tonight," she assured Pamela. "You just go back to bed."

Pamela didn't need to be told twice. Rapidly she exited the room for her own bedchamber. Within minutes every occupant in Selina's apartments was snoozing peacefully.

~*~

"So," Riley said, in the voice of someone still in disbelief, "you've gone and fallen in love with Malfoy, have you?" Selina nodded from her uncomfortable parlor chair. She wished that Riley would smile or frown or laugh or curse, as long as she showed some emotional reaction. The placid, blank Riley before her was not the one she was accustomed to. "And he loves you back?"

"He really does, Riley," Pamela interjected. "You should have seen him at breakfast this morning. He treated her like the Queen of Sheba! Better, even!"

Riley brushed her hair back with her hands and gave a deep, over-emphasized sigh. "Well, I won't lie and say that I'm thrilled," she told her best friend, "but I'll admit that it's quite an improvement. As long as he treats you well...As long as you're sure he loves you...I'll keep my thoughts to myself."

Selina suddenly wondered if Pamela had owled Riley earlier that morning to tell her to 'behave' politely towards Selina and her new relationship. It wasn't like Riley to allow something she obviously disliked to go on unchecked.

'Or,' Selina's subconscious whispered, 'she could just be trying to be happy for you! Riley loves you more than she hates Lucius!'

And just as suddenly as Selina had wondered about Riley's strange reaction, she felt ashamed. Of course Riley was just being kind! As crass as she could be at times, Riley had never failed to put Selina before her pride. Hate Lucius though she might, she still cared about Selina enough to make nice for her sake. Even so, to break the uncomfortable atmosphere, Selina suggested that they begin to make birthday plans for Riley.

"You're turning twenty, after all," she reminded her friend. "You're leaving the teenage years behind for the young adult ones!"

Riley shrugged. "Well, there's not much I can do. If I could do anything in the world, then I would go home for a bit, but the shop's about to open and I need to be here around the clock. I'd invite my family over here, but, like I said, my duties to my café come first, and I wouldn't be a proper hostess at all."

"Sounds like the perfect birthday gift would be to take you to London and go clubbing," Selina said. "With all this work you are really going to need a night off."

Riley snorted. "Depends. What's the drinking age here, Pamela?"

"Eighteen."

Riley's grin turned wolfish. "Really, now? In the USA the legal drinking age is twenty-one. I think you Brits have it down pat on this one." Turning to Selina she said, "Alright. We can drink. But whom do we drink with? You're an easy bet. You have a husband." Riley motioned to both herself and Pamela. "We are not as lucky."

Selina considered this. Her final comment was, "There is Lucifer."

"No. Way. In. Hell." Riley's tone was dangerous and definite. "I will not lower my standards so much as to date a Malfoy."

"I doubt Mr. Malfoy's brother would want much to do with a serving girl," Pamela murmure. It sounded like more of an excuse than anything.

"Oh, damn," Selina groaned. "I don't know of any others. None of Lucius's friends would work out. Neither would his son's friends." Riley made a face of utter loathing. "And we can't have a birthday girl without a date..."

Riley could see her friend's desperation. It took only a moment's thought to cause her to wave her hands and say, "You know, I've decided it doesn't matter. I'm a pretty thing. I'll pick up a guy in no time flat. Pamela, the same thing goes for you."

Pamela looked unsure of this, but she nodded pleasantly. "I'm sure we will."

Selina looked from one friend to another. They both seemed so confident of their abilities to hook a man. Surely it wouldn't be a selfish thing to bring along a guaranteed good date if the both of them had made a mutual decision. "If this is what you want, Riles," she said uncertainly.

Riley gave her a winning smile. "I assure you, it is."

Selina pushed aside her unease and gave in. "It's settled then! On the sixteenth of March the three of us, plus Lucius, will go to a bar and have a splendid time." As an afterthought she added, "He won't bother you, Riles. I promise."

Riley hugged Selina. "You're the best," she said.

"Yes, well, The Best had better get going. There are a few birthday surprises that I've got to go and place if I want them to happen on time." Selina took and stretched her legs. She winked at Riley before saying a final goodbye and heading for the carriage.

Pamela stood to follow her mistress when Riley caught her elbow. "Pamela," she whispered, "does he really treat her like a queen?"

Pamela nodded. "He's really in love with her. Believe me, Riley, he is. He treats her better than a queen. To him she might as well be an empress."

Riley rolled her eyes. "As long as it stays that way."

~*~

It was March the sixteenth. Riley's birthday. And Lucius had been dragged along. As he sat at the bar, watching his wife and her two friends bounce around, he wondered how much longer he'd be made to endure hopping from club to club. Selina and Riley had refused to leave the manor-- mind you, they had been dressed and made-up for at least two hours before they left--until the clock struck nine. Of course, once they did manage to get out of the house, no ordinary club would do. The limo drove by three clubs before Selina and Riley had jointly agreed on a dim looking one with a skinny, lone bouncer. They must have had some sort of magic insight, though, because inside the club the music was deafening and everyone was dancing.

"All the best clubs," Selina had confided in her husband, "are charmed to look dank and dingy. Some clubs are really as pathetic as they look, but if you have a good eye, then you can spot the good ones a mile off."

Lucius had never probed into his wife's pre-marital life before, but he had the urge to do so then. Obviously Selina and Riley had partied before. They had an impressive resilience and vibrant energy. 'What sort of bars do they have in Alabama?' he was wondering, when someone jostled him and then cried-

"Father?"

Lucius did a double take and nearly gagged on his glass of wine. Standing before him, dressed in a black silk shirt, sleek slacks--Gods, that dragon skin belt was his!--and a ridiculously designed bowler-type hat, was his son. His sixteen-year-old son, had, moments before, been knocking back hard Pumpkin Juice. His sixteen-year-old son, who was supposed to be in school, hundreds of miles away. His sixteen-year-old son, who, in light of current events, might not live to become his seventeen-year-old son!

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Lucius barked, regaining his voice with full force.

In his defense, Draco did not quake. He did, however, have the sense to look the tiniest bit afraid of his father's wrath. "About the same thing you seem to be doing. Though I don't see Miss Selina anywhere...Could you be here with a 'secretary'?"

Lucius had to resist the tempting idea of smacking his son. Not only had Draco jeered at him for his previous infidelities, but also he had implied that he was still committing adultery! And that he would have blackmailed him, his own father, if that had been the case! Malfoy pride aside, the boy was getting a decent whipping before he got him back to school.

"Your stepmother is over there, with Ms. Bryce and Ms. Duraford. See them? Yes--right there! It just so happens to be Ms. Bryce's birthday, and Selina dragged me out for a night of celebration. But enough about my evening; I'm more interested in yours!"

Draco thought for a moment and then replied with, "Marcus Flint owns a loft two blocks down. Invited some of the house quidditch team out for a night of boy's fun." The pale, lean boy paused. "Is it really Riley's birthday?" he asked.

"Don't you dare buy her a present," Lucius snarled. "You're in enough trouble as it is!"

Draco shrugged. Either he was very unconcerned about Lucius's apparent fury, or he was very much enamored with Ms. Bryce and didn't wish to break down in her presence, or he was just plain stupid. "I suppose. But, you know, we don't have to tell Dumbledore, of course."

Lucius considered this for a moment. He didn't want Draco expelled; he didn't believe that the old buffoon wanted to expel him, either. Dumbledore was still stupid enough to think that Draco might be persuaded not to follow in his father's footsteps, and removing Draco permanently from Hogwarts could very well trigger an early joining to the Death Eaters. However, as much as Dumbledore was above expelling Draco, he wasn't below punishing him. If Draco were to be returned to his school with alcohol on his breath, apprehended at a bar, he might as well kiss his prefect's badge goodbye. And his captaincy on the Slytherin quidditch team? It would be as good as gone. Finally Lucius was forced to agree with his son.

"No. I'll have to arrange something that will sneak you back onto the school grounds as quietly as possible."

Draco, for the first time that night, looked a little unsure. "Not in the castle?" he questioned.

Lucius shook his head. "Do not try your luck. If it weren't for this family's pride and for the fact that your position on the quidditch team might be challenged if you were apprehended then I would box your ears and leave you to find your own way back."

"But father-"

"Oh, God, Lucius! Is that Draco?"

Lucius whirled around to find that Selina had crept up behind him. She looked as scrumptious as she had the moment they left the manor, and he cursed his son's stupidity once more. By the time he managed to get Draco back to Hogwarts then it would be far too late to make love to her. One more mark against Draco...

"Draco, did Riley invite you?" Selina moved past her husband and hugged her stepson with her curvy pale arms. Draco made a face over his stepmother's shoulder, but one glance at his father's warning expression wiped the look from his features in a second.

"No," he said, pushing Selina back and taking a sip from his liquor filled kiddy beverage, "I came on my own. With a few friends."

Selina looked surprised. "I didn't know the school allowed things like that! How fun!" she exclaimed, perhaps a smidge to tipsily. This time Draco's smirk wouldn't fade for anything.

"Selina," Lucius said softly, "have you had much to drink tonight?"

Selina giggled and shook her head. "Just one. Or two."

Lucius sighed in relief.

"At every bar, though," Selina added.

Draco smirked even more while his father moved to hold his drunk wife. "Selina, I think it's time to go home," he murmured.

"But Draco! How will he get back to school?"

"I can take him." It was Riley; Lucius hadn't seen her behind Selina, but now it made sense that Riley had shepherded the intoxicated Mrs. Malfoy back to her husband.

"Riles," Selina protested, "it's your birthday."

"Not anymore, honey. It's twelve-thirteen on the morning of the seventeenth. Come on, you need to get home. If Draco can get me to the beginnings of the school grounds, then I do my best to sneak him back in."

Lucius cocked an eyebrow, and though he was already shuffling his wife to the door, he asked, "How will you make it to the castle undetected? It was my understanding that Dumbledore had stepped up the guard."

Riley gave him a bold, reckless grin. "Do you know how many times Selly and I snuck out of our old school and down the road to meet some schoolboy? Believe me, I'm an expert at getting out and then getting back in!"

Pamela, who had danced her way towards the small group, offered, "I can go with you, Riley, if you like."

Riley shook her head. "It'll be easier this way," she told them. "The less people sneaking in, the less chance of getting caught."

Pamela relented her offers and followed her mistress and Lucius closely. "See you later, then," she muttered, her mind already with the wellbeing of Selina Malfoy.

~*~

As it turned out, getting back to Hogwarts was immensely easy. After hailing a cab that took the to Kings Cross Station, Draco led Riley to platform 9¾ . Draco had been quite surprised to find that the Hogwarts Express, for the most part, served as a mode of transportation for witches and wizards commuting from Hogsmeade to London. It was only because Hogwarts had paid for the train and the train's tracks to be laid that it bore the school's name. Also, because the both of them looked old enough to be twenty-three, they didn't draw any attention as a school runaway and the woman helping him to sneak back in. When the train stopped at the Hogsmeade Train Station Draco and Riley slipped off quietl and walked the distance to the castle looming in the distance.

It did not take long for Draco to begin talking amiably with her. "How is your café coming along?" he asked.

"Fine."

"Oh, very good. And are you enjoying yourself during this long English winter? It can be a bit bleak for first-timers."

'Compared to Georgia,' Riley thought, 'anything is bleak.' She was becoming increasingly aware of how skimpy her garb was, and how the dying winter night was cold enough for her to shiver.

"Should have asked my father for some cloaks," Draco commented. He was shivering too. "It's bloody well freezing out here. Colder than a mermaid's tit, you might say."

Riley repressed a snort of laughter. "Such crude language for such a respectable boy," she laughed. The laughter lessened the chill, so she laughed some more. "You sound too common, when you use the word 'tit.'"

Draco smirked in the darkness. "Commonness does not become me," he murmured.

Riley had to agree. Draco Malfoy was far too beautiful to be common. Oh, damn! Did she just think he was beautiful? Good God, perhaps she was as noshed as poor Selina! But Christ, did he have luscious lips...

"We're almost to the beginnings of the grounds," Draco commented, waking her from her reverie. "Time to start planning my route back in."

Riley shook her head clear of scandalous thoughts and sat down on an icily cold rock. She motioned for Draco to join her on the ground. "I need a moment to regroup," she informed him. "Good plans-"


Riley glanced at him, then looked away quickly. The cold had made his nipples hard. They stuck out like beacons under his shirt. Damn, damn, damn it! She hadn't known that men could get erect nipples. A thought struck her, and she looked down at her own chest. Yes...Her nipples had been barraged by the cold weather as well. And Draco had noticed.

"Oh," he said. That was all he needed to say.

Riley's resolves broke. Before she knew it, they were wrestling on the ground, mouths mashing against each other and pelvises grinding blindly. Nothing, nothing, nothing could justify this sudden collapse of standards, Riley realized, but screw her pride! This was her birthday--well, the day after her birthday, truthfully--and she'd enjoy it any way she damn well pleased! Oh, gods, now his hands were sliding under her shirt...Cupping her breasts...Then he kissed her nipples...Didn't matter how freezing the ground was, because the throbbing member between his legs was hot enough to melt anything.

And that was how Riley came to have hot, shameless sex with Draco Malfoy. She came harder that night than she ever had with Selina's cousin Bruce or with any trivial one-night stand. When they were finished, when Draco's moans had subsided, he stroked her into a second and then third climax. Riley thought, as the tendrils of satiation crept into her mind, and as she got up to stumble home, that the young Malfoy had every reason to be cocky. With hands (not to mention other body parts) like ¡that! the boy had some bragging rights.

When sense returned to her mind, she knew that helping him sneak back in was out of the question. "I...I have to go," she mumbled.

He didn't protest. He had no reason to. So what if he got caught? Draco smirked as she left. He'd shagged a mudblood; this was proof that they were shameless sluts. Now he was back to the dormitories. He'd brag to Crabbe and Goyle the next day how she'd moaned and bucked and come undone for him. He'd make what happened in the darkened, winter-touched woods to be less than it really was, because, if he ever let himself know face the honest truth, it'd destroy whatever pride he had.