Chapter 3
The light was beginning to fade from the sky when someone returned for the boy. Lucius entered the room, glancing around, then looking more carefully, a sudden spike of anxiety when he couldn’t see him at first. He stepped further inside, whipping out his wand and casting a silent ‘point me’ spell. He followed his wand’s lead, and found the boy tucked behind a chest of drawers, crammed in a little gap between the drawers and the wall.
Lucius frowned slightly, but reached to pull the boy out. Potter flinched hard, pressing himself back harder into the wall. Lucius frowned harder, crouching down to face the boy. ‘Come now, Potter. Time for dinner.’ He reached out again and grasped the boy’s hand, pulling him carefully out of the corner. The boy might be the prophesied defeater of this Lord and a son of the enemy, but he was also just a little boy, and Lucius was no beast.
He adjusted his grip to hold the boy’s hand as he led him out of the room and downstairs to the dining room. Lucius was a little unsure about his Lord’s plan to bring the boy out for meals with his followers, but his Lord commanded it, and he would obey.
Entering the dining room, all eyes fell on the pair. Lucius felt the boy stumble and tug at his grip, but Lucius pulled him firmly along, ushering the boy to a seat beside his own.
‘Good evening, my people,’ began the Dark Lord. ‘You have seen our new guest. He has been brought to us by our young Carrick Montgomery, in a most unexpected manner, but a much appreciated one nonetheless! Let me be clear, that the boy is under my protection until such a time as we are prepared to use him to advance our cause. Until that point, I expect no harm to befall him, lest you wish to face my displeasure.’ The Dark Lord’s voice had turned cold, and more than one person at the table shivered in fear.
Food appeared on the table shortly after the Dark Lord’s speech, and everyone dug in. Lucius was focused on preparing his own plate for a while, before glancing down and noticing the boy hadn’t taken anything. He looked at the boy a little more closely, considering. He would be around the same age as his own Draco, and Draco still needed help to fill his plate at times. Lucius began to pile food onto the boy’s plate, giving him a gesture to begin eating, while he focused on his own meal, and the conversation around him.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, Lucius turned to check on the boy. He barely had time to register the untouched plate, before it vanished, and the meal was replaced with dessert. Again, everyone set to filling their plates, while Lucius gave the boy a strange look. If the boy wouldn’t eat his main meal, he ought not fill up on sweets. Lucius piled his plate with fruit and turned back to his own food again. This time, he kept a subtle eye on the boy, who sat like a statue the entire time. He didn’t so much as twitch towards the food. Lucius frowned again, then shrugged it off. No doubt the boy was in shock at suddenly finding himself in a new place with strangers everywhere. It was bound to upset his stomach. Lucius would instruct an elf to bring the boy something simple later in his room. Surely being away from so many strangers and having missed dinner, the boy would be more than willing to eat by then.
Barty took the boy back to his room and warded the door after dinner, then headed for his Lord’s study. It would no doubt be a late night – there were many new doors opened to them, now that the Prophecy Child was in the Dark Lord’s grasp.