Prologue: A Second Chance from the Dead

Lucius Malfoy knew that he hadn’t lived a good life. People might think that he was blind to what his life’s choices had done to those around him, but he wasn’t. If anything, he only needed to look to his only child to see the consequences of his actions. The other thing that Lucius was very aware of is other people’s perception of him as a father.

He knew they believed that he only saw Draco as an extension of himself and a chance to continue to control his world. The thing they didn’t understand was that Lucius truly loved his only child. From the second the Healer had placed Draco in his arms, Lucius only wanted to be able to give him the world. He and Narcissa had both wanted to give Draco siblings, but it just hadn’t been meant to be.

Serving Voldemort had harmed him in ways that no one had foreseen. It seemed that it wasn’t a coincidence that so many of those who had followed the Dark Lord were lucky to have had one child. It had only been recently that they found that being put under the Cruciatus curse for an extended period of time or being exposed to it multiple times over a long period could cause sterility. Given that it was one of Voldemort’s favorite ways to punish his followers, it was a wonder that any of them had been able to create heirs. Most, like himself and Narcissa, had required magical help to procreate, and some hadn’t even been able to conceive with Magic’s help.

Regardless of the why’s, which hadn’t been known in time, Draco had been there only child and therefore cherished by both of his parents. Lucius could admit that possibly they had spoiled him a bit too much. Maybe they overcompensated for the emotional support they both felt they couldn’t give him by showering him with any possession or item he wanted. Sometimes he wished that he hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps and the closer that he got to death, the more he wondered where the brash young man had gone that swore not to be his father.

And Death was indeed close. It was only a matter of weeks if not days before he found out the eternal consequences to his life’s choices. He was ready. His beloved wife had been killed unexpectedly one day by a victim of Lucius’ ill deeds, and it had broken what little was left of Lucius Malfoy’s heart. Already not in good health, Lucius had accepted that the time to reap his just dues had come. The only thing that had kept him from following his precious wife immediately was Draco.

As much as Lucius loved his son, Narcissa had been the love of his life. Lucius knew that people assumed she just meekly went along with all of his plans, but the fact of the matter was that Lucius’ choice to follow the Dark Lord had been a huge sticking point in their marriage. Narcissa, while sharing some concerns with some of the other pure bloods, did not agree with most of what she called the Dark Lord’s rhetoric and certainly didn’t believe in killing innocents out of fun or to prove some stupid point about blood purity.

While in public she would never let anyone suspect that there was any disagreement between herself and her husband, in private it was a different matter. Lucius knew that his actions had harmed his marriage in a way that he had never been able to fix, and none so more as by Draco being made to take the Dark Mark to save them. As much as Lucius loved his son, in the case of his wife and his child there really was nothing stronger than the bond between a mother and her son. If Narcissa had believed that there was a way that she could have kept herself and her son safe she would have left Lucius behind without a thought the second Voldemort returned from the dead.

Somedays Lucius wished that she had.

Draco’s life was… not one that Lucius wanted. Mostly because of the huge gap that lay between them. The was a tension that Lucius had never been able to span, and an anger in his son towards his father that Lucius had never been able to calm. It didn’t help that it had taken Lucius too long to pull his head out of his own arse after the Dark Lord’s death to realized that his ways would not be able to redeem the Malfoy name. It had gotten to the point that Draco had eventually turned his back on the name Malfoy and legally changed it to Black.

It was a sign so clear as to which parent Draco blamed for his downfall that even a blind wizard could read it.

With a sigh, Lucius pulled the blanket higher up his body as he eased into his chair stretching his legs slightly closer to the fire so that he might feel the warmth of the flames to warm them. Closing his eyes, deciding that a nap was in order, Lucius let himself drift off hoping that for once his dreams would give him some peace.

Opening his eyes, Lucius frowned at his surroundings. Uncurling his hands, he let his palms run over the well-worn wood of the table top. His fingers tracing the mark that he’d put into his during his third year as a dare. L + N = F. Lucius plus Narcissa equals Forever. What he was doing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, Lucius had no clue. Hearing a snort from across the room, Lucius lifted his eyes to see a familiar pair of green eyes glaring at him from the Gryffindor table.

Severus was not the only person who looked at Harry Potter and saw his father. While James Potter had only been a second year when Lucius graduated from Hogwarts, he had heard all about his escapades from both Severus and Regulus Black prior to his death. Unlike his longtime friend though mostly because of Draco, Lucius could see that the son was not his father’s clone.

Lucius remembered that day after his son got his first school robe and the questions he’d had about Harry Potter and where he’d been raised at. At the time, Lucius had pushed away his son’s questions. Rather harshly if his memory was correct due to some issues at the Ministry not going his way, ignoring his son’s concerns. Now though, he couldn’t help but wonder what could have been changed had he but paid attention to his only child’s innocent questions. Or if he’d paid attention to any of his son’s numerous mentions of the Potter Heir over the years and question why this boy had made such a deep impression on his son.

“You know, don’t you?” Came from across the room, and Lucius blinked, not realizing that he’d dropped his eyes to that mark on the tabletop. “You knew they were mates.”

“I didn’t know, but I will admit I suspected. Draco never showed signs that he had inherited the Malfoy Veela traits though. So, I suppose I ignored the possibilities. Why do you care though, Potter? Surely the likes of you would never have wanted your precious son and heir to be attached to the likes of the Malfoys.”

Lucius couldn’t help but sneer at the annoying man who had caused his friend so much grief over the years. While Lucius knew that Severus did his part in that feud, he also knew that often times it was at the very least two against one as Black and Potter teamed up against Severus.

“Draco isn’t you,” James said and suddenly appeared sitting across from Lucius at the Slytherin table. “Just like Harry isn’t me. Our children should have been allowed to be themselves and should not have had to grow up under the expectations your and my name brought them. Besides, I can’t help but see a lot of myself in Draco.”

“As if,” Lucius sneered immediately, but them stopped as he started to consider the statement.

“You know I am telling the truth, Malfoy. The only thing that really kept me from being Draco was that my family was from the acceptable light side, and I had people like Lily and Remus to temper my and Sirius’ uglier personality traits. Like Draco, I was a spoiled, pure-blood heir who had been raised to believe the world was mine and it owed me anything I wanted. I treated people horribly. I bullied Snape, sneered at Lily for wanting to be his friend, and shamed Remus for wanting to get to know the boy better. I had more people around me who thought it was nothing but a great idea to bully Snape and eventually it became too easy to ignore the voices suggesting I was going to far.

“I ended up pigeonholed into a war not because I necessarily believed whole heartedly in what that leader was being said, but more because that was what was expected of me by my family and everyone around me. I let myself be manipulated into doing things I didn’t think were right and wouldn’t have normally done because a manipulative old goat though that it was for “the greater good”. Any of this sound familiar to you?”

“I had no idea that you thought such things about your great leader Dumbledore,” Lucius said side stepping the question at the end, not ready to admit that it all sounded far too close to his son’s life.

When James laughed harshly Lucius just arched an eyebrow at him but stayed quiet letting the dead man’s spirit speak. “When I was alive, I followed Dumbledore mindlessly because I never had any reason to question him. That is one point where Draco was well behind me. While he ended up going along with his fate, it was more because he felt trapped and didn’t think there were any other options if he was going to save his family. Whereas I went along with all of it and never questioned anything because everyone said what a great man Dumbledore was.

“Death though gives you plenty of opportunity to see the reality of things. In the end, I think Dumbledore was at the least as bad as Tom Riddle was and at the worst, he was much more dangerous than Riddle ever was. In fact, I honestly believe that Riddle in many ways is Dumbledore’s fault. Tom Riddle was just another child that Dumbledore manipulated onto the path he wanted him to follow.

“Nothing was more important to Dumbledore than his image and his legacy. Albus Dumbledore wanted to be known as the greatest wizard of all times. He wanted people to think him greater than Merlin and would stop at nothing to achieve it. Apparently including potioning people and ruining the lives of children. If I had known half of the things about Dumbledore when I was alive that I know now, I would have killed the bastard.”

“Dumbledore was potioning people?” Lucius asked horrified and James sneered angrily at the question.

“Nearly all of those thought to be in his “inner circle” were being manipulated with powerful behavioral, obedience, and personality modification charms and potions. McGonagall, Severus, Hagrid, Augusta Longbottom, Filius Flitwick, Madame Pomphrey… hell I am not sure any of the Hogwarts staff wasn’t being potioned in some manner. Remus and Sirius both were. I was but not as badly because Dumbledore had my parents so under his thumb that he didn’t have to. Its obscene the things that man as done to Magical Britain.”

“This is all very eye opening, Potter, but why tell me this now. I am within reach of death, and Dumbledore is on your side with you.”

James just snorted. “Dumbledore isn’t here, or if he is I haven’t seen him. As to why I am here, I have a proposition for you. Call me an ambassador for Merlin and Lady Magic.”

“I’m listening,” Lucius said leaning forward across the table, resting his elbows on the dark wood.

“Because Draco is Harry’s mate and Dumbledore interfered in that, Merlin and Lady Magic can use that to send him back in time to try and fix things,” James explained, and Lucius scowled.

“Then why are you talking to me and not my son? Draco does not exactly do my bidding any longer, as you must know if you have been watching him.”

“Because I convinced them to send you back as well,” James explained with a smirk. “While I think that Draco could succeed on his own, I think that maybe the adults should have done more. If Harry and Draco are going to take on not just Riddle but Dumbledore too, they need adults on their side. Frankly, I would like our children to have much less of a role in the war the second time around than they had the first.”

“Agreed,” Lucius said looking off towards the table where the Headmaster usually sat with the professors. “If I were to go, there is one thing I would need to succeed.”

“And what’s that?” James asked sounding suspicious and Lucius turned his gaze back to the dead man with a smirk.

“A way out for Severus,” Lucius threw back at him with surety and conviction. “If we are to succeed, we need him on our side, and to do so, he needs to be freed of his binds to both of his masters. Frankly, it’s a tragedy what was done to him. If you say Dumbledore potioned people then it would explain so much about Severus, and there is no way that Dumbledore hasn’t been manipulating him since he was a child. Sev loved Lily like she was his own sister.

“Severus hated the word mudblood, and the only time he ever laid a hand on Draco in anger is when he heard my son had used that word against Granger. If Dumbledore was manipulating him though and had potioned him, that would explain that day so much. There is no other explanation for why, even with what you all had done to him, that he would have used that word against her, when he saw her as the only thing he really had in the world.”

James nodded sharply and reaching into his pocket withdrew a vial of liquid that appeared to be radiating light on its own. “Remus has been arguing for Severus’ freedom in all of this and apparently others were listening. Merlin himself brewed this.”

“What is it?” Lucius asked looking at the vial James had set down in front of him.

“It’s called the Purifying Potion. Basically, it purifies whoever drinks it of any potions, spells, charms, oaths, or anything magic that is influencing or binding them in any way. Give it to Severus as soon as possible when you and Draco get back in time. I will warn you that it will be extremely painful, and the potion comes with a risk of death if he is not willing to giving up any of these bonds or influences. That is the reason why it isn’t more readily used to break things like the Dark Mark.

“You have to be 100% willing to purge yourself of all this outside magic, and even then, he will be severely ill for at least a week. However, once it is done, he will be rid of the Dark Mark, his oath to Dumbledore, the potions and charms placed on him and anything else influencing him from being the person that he would have been without them.”

Lucius nodded and tucked the vial into an inner pocket of his evening robe. “I will keep him at Malfoy Manor, and I am sure Narcissa will see to him personally. She has always had a strong affinity for healing magic. Why are you doing this though? What do you want from me?”

“Save my son,” James said leaning forward himself. “Don’t let him be tortured by those muggles any longer. Save Sirius from Azkaban. Let Severus and Remus be happy. Bring down Dumbledore.”

Lucius nodded and gave James his trademark smirk. “Done. Getting Harry freed of those muggles will be my first priority. I would love to see Severus happy, and I am well aware of his feelings for the werewolf. Narcissa will be overjoyed to clear her cousin’s name, and it will be my life’s goal to ruin Albus Dumbledore.”

James nodded and reached out a hand which Lucius took and shook. “I will be around in your dreams on occasion should you need me. I will be your son’s guide through all of this but I will check in with you on occassion. Tell Harry… tell Harry that his mother and I love him and are proud of him, please?”

“I will, James,” Lucius promised quietly. “You have my word.”

And with that, Lucius woke up.

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