A True Malfoy

A True Malfoy

He paced up and down the hallway of the hospital, wondering how it was possible that he hadn't figured it out.

It was the middle of Potions when professor Snape told him to go see the Headmaster. Surely the professor wouldn't punish him for bothering Potter and Weasley, that wasn't really anything out of the ordinary after all.

He ascended the staircase to the Headmaster's office. Thoughts of what he might have done to merit a summons from the headmaster ran through his mind. Soon he stood before the Headmaster's door. He raised his hand to knock, but before it could meet the oak door, it opened on its own.

"Do come in M. Malfoy," the calm voice of the Headmaster came from deep inside the room.

Draco walked cautiously through the Headmaster's doorway. You never knew what might be in this room.

"Please, have a seat," the Headmaster said and with a wave of his hand a chair walked up to his desk.

Draco sat down and awaited punishment for an act he had not committed.

"Now I suppose you're wondering why you've been called here? Do not worry Draco, you're not in trouble."

"Then if you don't mind my asking Headmaster, why exactly am I here?" Draco said as relief filled him.

"It's about your mother."

Draco's heart skipped a beat, the relief went away and the worry returned.

"Relax dear boy! In fact it's good news."

"Well, what is it Headmaster?" Draco said impatiently.

"Alright, alright," Dumbledore said, realizing how impatient this boy was, "your father asked that I send you to the hospital immediately. Your mother is in labor."

"Um, I'm sorry, what?" Draco said rising to his feet.

"She's having a baby. Your father mentioned that you did not know. I suppose it was to be a surprise."

"Well then their plan was a success."

"Alright then, take this port key. It will take you to the hospital," the professor said, placing a small box in Draco's hand. "You will be excused from classes for a few days. I will have a housemate give you the notes you miss."

Draco nodded and opened the box. Inside the box sat a small metal screw. Draco picked up the screw and momentarily he felt a tug from behind his navel. He was being thrown forward, and things were rushing past him. Suddenly he came to a stop, and found himself on his knees on a floor. He stood up, brushed himself off, and straightened his robes.

"Oh! You must be Lucius' son!" A voice said from behind him. "Your parents are in the delivery room. Everything should be over soon, this is the wizarding world after all!" she said with a pleasant smile on her face.

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He paced up and down the hallway of the hospital. How was it possible he hadn't figured it out? The signs were all there. His father told him not to come home for Christmas; they had "business to take care of". Then there was the time he was talking to his father in the Slytherin fire place and he heard his mother demanding flobber worm pie in the background. No one in their right minds would ever eat that! Now it all suddenly made sense.

Before long, and yet after much pacing, a nurse came out with Draco's father. A flood of congratulations were spewing from her mouth.

"Oh congratulations M. Malfoy! It's a beautiful and healthy baby boy! That is always great news!" she said.

"Yes he is perfect," Lucius said stopping in front of Draco.

The nurse continued to walk past Draco, patted him on the shoulder, and congratulated him on becoming a big brother. Draco stood and glared coldly at his father.

"When exactly was I going to find out about this?" Draco demanded.

"Well I was waiting to see how this one turned out," Lucius said airily.

"And what the hell does that mean?"

"Watch your tone with me boy!" Lucius barked.

Draco shrank back from his father for a moment. Lucius sighed.

"Do you remember when you were a child? You were a very gentle and mild mannered boy. You got it from your mother. I had to reform you, transform you into the young man that now stands before me. A son I could be proud to say is mine, a true Malfoy! I don't know why, but you were never that son. To be quite honest I'm not sure you ever will be that son. I can not bring myself to be proud of you. That gentleness, it's always there, it's like an open wound in your soul that will never close! Now I have a new son, perhaps this one will step up to the task of being the one I can call my own. A true Malfoy!" Lucius stated, and walked away leaving Draco there to absorb what he had just heard. As Lucius rounded a corner he turned and looked over his shoulder at his son. With a sneer he added, "Oh and Draco, I don't want to you get too close to the baby, I don't want that gentleness of yours to rub off on him and ruin him." At that Lucius rounded the corner with a nasty sneer on his lips.

Draco stood rooted to the spot. He was so full of rage, he couldn't move. His hands were clenched in white knuckled fists. His ears were on fire with what he had just heard, and yet the only thing he could hear was the blood rushing through his head.

A nurse came around the corner and asked Draco if he would like to see his mother and the baby. He couldn't bring himself to speak so he simply nodded. The nurse took him to a small room and closed the door behind him

Draco stepped forward into the room. He looked around to examine the room. There were paintings of children playing on the walls. The walls themselves were pale beige. His mother sat on a bed near a window. The setting sun's rays shone down on her and the newborn baby in her arms. Draco's mother looked up at him as he approached and smiled gently. It had been so long since he'd seen such a smile, did she look at him that way when he was born?

"Come Draco," she said quietly, "come see your brother."

Draco went to her side. He looked down at the tiny bundle in her arms. The baby had little silver locks, and its tiny blue eyes stared up at Draco. Was this boy going to be his replacement in the family?

"Can you believe," his mother said, snapping him out of his reverie, "that you were once this tiny? You were such a beautiful baby. I was the proudest woman in the wizarding world the day you were born."

"And now?" Draco said leaning against the wall by the window.

"I am still so very proud of you. You've turned out to be a very fine young man. I couldn't have asked for a better son," she told him. "Would you like to hold you're brother?"

Draco shrugged indifferently, but he really wanted to hold him. He sat beside her on the bed and she gently passed him his brother. The baby looked at him for a while then fell asleep.

"So what's his name anyway?" Draco asked.

"Well your father wanted to name him Lucius Jr. but I would absolutely not have that! So we settled on Lucian."

"I see," Draco said to himself.

Soon a couple of nurses came in. One took the baby and the other was examined his mother and to make sure she was ready to go home. She asked Draco to leave while they examined her. Draco did as he was told; he had a lot to ponder. His mother had just had a baby he that didn't know about, and his father had practically disowned him. In fact the only good thing that happened to him that day was that he had gotten Weasley to drink a potion that turned his skin purple.

The question rolling through Draco's mind now was, what would Lucius do with him now that he has Lucian? How would Lucian be brought up? That question made his heart skip a beat. Draco's childhood was hell, would Lucian's be different? Draco was now worried for the baby and his mother. For the first time he realized that his father truly was heartless. He didn't really know any better when he was younger; he thought that all parents were that way. As he grew older it no longer mattered, all he wanted was to make his father happy and proud. It didn't matter what he did to Draco, it was only Draco anyway. But now it's different, there's another life to be ruined. Another child to torture. It was too late for Draco, but was it too late for Lucian?

Draco felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned to see his mother smiling at him.

"Shall we take the baby home?"

"Yes mother," Draco replied.

They met up with Lucius down the hallway, who put himself between Draco and his mother. Clearly he wasn't kidding about what he had said earlier. Draco said nothing.

"Narcissa you must rest when we get home. Leave Lucian to me," Lucius said. "Draco, you can go back to school."

"Oh but Lucius I've missed him so! Can't he come home for a few days?" Narcissa asked.

Lucius sighed but reluctantly agreed.

"Just remember what I told you boy, you stay away from Lucian. I won't let you spoil him," Lucius said to Draco so Narcissa couldn't hear.

Draco glared at Lucius.

They came to a large room full of fireplaces. It was a floo travel room. Narcissa covered baby Lucian and told Draco to go in first, she and the baby soon followed and Lucius came last.

Without a word to anyone Draco went to his chamber. He changed from his school robes into his regular clothes and sat on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest. He felt like he was going to cry, but he couldn't remember how. He had been forced not to cry, and it had been so long since a tear rolled down his cheek.

There was a large window in Draco's room, which was usually covered by heavy green curtains. The curtains were open just enough for some moonlight to cut through the darkness in his room. Draco walked to the window and opened it to let in some of the night air. A warm evening breeze tousled his silver hair, and the moonlight lit his blue-grey eyes. He sat in the window frame and thought to himself.

He thought as far back as he could remember. He remembered his first pet. The only pet he ever had really. It was a Cerberus pup. He and his father went out into the gardens to play with the pup; Draco had gone looking for the puppy's favorite ball. Upon his return Draco saw his puppy lying very still on the ground at his father's feet, his father's wand was in his hand.

"What happened father?" the young Draco asked, tears forming in his little eyes.

"He misbehaved. He tried to bite me so I punished him," Lucius said as though it was nothing serious.

"You killed him! You killed my dog!" Draco screamed as the tears came forth.

"Why are you crying boy?" Lucius shouted at his son. "A Malfoy does not cry! Stop this very instant!"

But Draco did not, or could not stop. His father seized him by the arm and dragged him into the house. He hauled Draco, kicking and screaming, all the way down to the dungeons deep below the manor. He threw Draco to the floor of a very small room and shut the door. A tiny window slid open and Lucius peered in.

"You will stay in here until you stop!" Lucius closed the window leaving Draco in complete darkness.

Draco had spent a great deal of time in that little room, and even as he grew bigger his father continued to throw him in that room. Every time he cried, he was thrown in that room until he stopped. If he was ever caught slouching at the dinner table, he was put on the rack and stretched out for hours to teach him to sit up straight. If he laughed, his father would find other ways to torture him into stopping. Draco was literally beaten into being the boy his father wanted. The things he had done for his father's approval! But nothing he had ever done was good enough.

Was this how Lucian was going to be brought up? Where was his mother when he needed her? Would she be there for Lucian?

Draco snapped out of his memories, and looked up at the moon. A breeze blew through the open window and Draco's cheeks suddenly felt cold. He raised a hand to touch his face. It was wet. After years without tears, they had fallen once more. They weren't tears of sadness however, by no means was Draco sad. No, Draco was furious and full of hatred. These were the tears of anger that had been building up for years.

He had come to a decision, he was going to protect his mother, and the baby. He would not allow Lucian to go through all the pain and suffering he had gone through. He was going to prove to his father that he was the Malfoy that he wanted him to be. Never again would Lucius make another child suffer. No one should ever have to suffer the way Draco had for his father's love and approval. Lucian never will.

Draco stood up from where he sat and went over to his chest of drawers, where he had placed his wand earlier. He took his wand into his hand and left his chamber. He walked, with conviction in every step, to his father's study. He didn't even bother to see if the door was unlocked, he just pointed his wand at the door and said "bombarda!" The door blew from its hinges and into the room.

Lucius looked up from his books in total disbelief and shock.

"I hope those are books about how to be a good parent," Draco said as he entered the room.

"Have you gone mad boy?" Lucius said, standing from his seat and reaching for his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco shouted.

Lucius flew backwards into the wall.

"What has gotten into you boy? Are you here to lose your life?"

"Bring it on old man. I am no longer afraid of you," Draco said calmly.

"Explain yourself Draco!"

"What's to explain father? Or should I even be addressing you as such?" Draco spat, "You tortured me, and forced me to become what I am. You threw me in a box and stretched me until all of my limbs were dislocated! You forced me to become like you, inhuman. All I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me. I did everything you asked of me! And what did I get in return? Scorn, torture, disapproval, and this God forsaken thing!" Draco raised his sleeve to reveal a blackened mark on his forearm. "This God damn thing! I never wanted it, I did it to make you proud, because you wanted me to do it! I wanted you're approval just once! Well you did not approve, but HE did. For the past seven years of my life I kept tabs on Potter for you, so you could look good in His eyes. Now today you tell me that I am no longer of any use to you? How can you possibly be married to a woman like mother? She's a gentle person, kind and loving, the perfect parent. She is everything you are incapable of being!"

"I can have whatever I want!" Lucius replied angrily. "She was the perfect specimen to marry, perfect for reproduction and preservation. She's beautiful and pure-blooded. Her only flaw is her gentleness toward weak creatures. And you are weak boy. You are NO SON OF MINE!" At that Lucius dove towards Draco, tackling him to the ground. When Draco collided with the stone floor he lost his grip on his wand and it slid away from his reach. "Listen you little ingrate, I gave you everything you asked for, but everything has a price. You wouldn't be the man you are today if it wasn't for me!"

"You tortured me for my own good? I could have been an equally great man without all the crap you put me through!" Draco said, forcing Lucius over. Draco was now on top of Lucius pinning him down. "What next? Will you get rid of mother so you can ensure that the baby is the way you want him to be, untainted by humanity?"

"Of course not. Every child needs his mother for the first few years of its life."

"What if he's just like me? Tell me father, what then?" Draco said slamming Lucius into the ground.

"Then I will just have to keep you and dispose of the boy and the woman."

Draco tightened his grip on his father's clothes.

"You bastard!" Draco yelled as he began to pummel his father.

Lucius bucked from underneath Draco, forcing the boy off of his chest. Lucius then rolled over and got to his feet.

"Maybe I'll just get rid of all of you and start anew. Although right now you are proving to be quite promising," Lucius said, rubbing his jaw.

Draco got to his feet. "Funny He told me I was very promising too. Perhaps even more promising than my father." Draco's eyes had wandered over his father's shoulder.

On Lucius' desk sat a large letter opener the size of a dagger. Not good enough, Draco thought. Then his eyes ventured up the wall. Directly behind Lucius, mounted on the wall, Was the Malfoy family shield, and two crossed swords above it. Draco raised his right hand toward the shield.

"And what are you doing now?" Lucius questioned.

"Accio," Draco said quietly.

"Ha! Do you really think that will work without your..." Lucius trailed off as he heard the clattering of metal from somewhere behind him.

Lucius turned to see one of the swords undo itself from it's fixture on the wall and glide across the room right into Draco's outstretched hand.

"He said I was very promising indeed," Draco said. "What's the matter father? Surprised? He helped me to unleash my true power. My full potential. Didn't He tell you? Take up a sword father, unless you're afraid to face me, that is. The son that isn't good enough for you."

"No matter what He says, you will never be good enough for me!" Lucius said as the remaining sword shuddered and flew to his hand. "You are no match for me no matter how much He increases your power!"

Lucius lunged at Draco, and their swords clashed. They dueled and swung their swords violently at each other, both of them in it to win. Eventually Lucius gained the upper hand and had Draco cornered.

"What are you trying to do boy? Prove to me that you are my son, a true Malfoy? Or is it that you are trying to kill me?"

"I gave up on trying to be your son. I no longer want your approval," Draco hissed. "I'm doing this to protect my family. To protect mother, and to protect Lucian so he won't have to go through the things I went through. If protecting them means I have to kill you, then so be it!" Draco said pushing Lucius back. "Even if I lose my life, I will be sure that you lose yours as well," Draco swung his sword at his father.

He fought with ferocity, and forced Lucius back. Lucius tripped on his own footing, and fell to the floor next to Draco's fallen wand. Lucius seized the wand and pointed it at his son. However before he could speak an incantation, Draco kicked the wand from Lucius' hand and raised his sword to finish the battle. Lucius however was not beaten, he still had his sword in his hand. He swung his sword, cutting Draco across his stomach.

Stumbling back, Draco clutched at his stomach. He found himself leaning on Lucius' desk in a great deal of pain. He had dropped his sword and his vision was blurring quickly. It was a fairly deep cut but it not a fatal one, unless it was not mended. There was blood everywhere; Draco could faintly hear his father shouting. He looked up but could barely see anything. He could hear the faint footsteps of his father coming to finish him off.

Draco reached behind him, desperately feeling around the desktop. His vision was far to poor now to see it, but surely it hadn't fallen off. His hand felt something metallic and he gripped it tightly. His father's footsteps drew closer. Draco held up whatever it was he had picked up, hoping against hope that it was what he thought it was. He moved away from the desk, toward the blur he believed to be his father. He brought his hand down and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt something jam into his hand, and something oozing onto his fist. He opened his eyes.

Blood, more blood! This time it wasn't his blood though. He had picked up the letter opener. He and Lucius must have collided and the letter opener had entered his father's chest, near his heart.

Lucius stood with his sword held over his head. Draco looked up at him a blank expression on his face. He released his grip on the sword and it crashed to the ground. Lucius buckled and fell into Draco's arms.

"It would seem," Lucius said weakly, "you've won, but you will never be my son," with those words, Lucius' heart beat for the last time.

Draco dropped his father's lifeless body to the ground. He looked at his bloodstained hands. Suddenly he could hear a maniacal laughter coming from somewhere inside the room. Someone was there! He looked around to try and find the source of the laughter. His eyes stopped at a mirror. It was him! Draco was laughing. Even in death Lucius would not admit that Draco was a son to be proud of.

Draco heard footsteps approaching. His laughter continued unabated. Through the mirror, he saw someone silhouetted in the doorway. There was a scream and they ran into the room and knelt beside Lucius' body. The world around him faded into pitch black. He had passed out because of blood loss.

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His eyes shot open, bright sunlight blinded him. He was lying on his back. He tried to sit up, but soon found he could not move. He was bound to the bed.

"What the- what's going on here!" Draco shouted.

"There's no need to shout dear," a gentle voice spoke.

Draco turned his head to see his mother, holding baby Lucian, sitting at his bedside.

"Mother!" Draco said with relief. "Mother what's going on? Where am I? Where's father?"

Narcissa's eyes filled with tears. "You're at St. Mungo's," she said. "You've been asleep for a long time. You were dreaming."

"St. Mungo's? But...it was a dream? I was dreaming that I killed father..." Draco said, his brain was swimming with confusion.

"You - you did kill him son. You did kill your father."

"What!?" Draco shouted.

"You've been here for months now. You've been dreaming that dream every night, and when you wake up your mind goes blank and you don't remember a thing," Narcissa told him. "I'm so sorry son! If only I had been stronger you wouldn't have had to...and your father..." Narcissa could no longer hold the tears back.

"I - I killed him! I actually killed him!" Draco said as the maniacal laughter came forth again. "I killed that miserable old bastard!"

Narcissa stood and ran from the room in tears. The guards outside the door closed it behind her leaving Draco, alone and bound to his bed, laughing in the darkness.

END