Chapter 6
“You want us to WHAT?” His son exploded. Lucius was still looking at his father in law in confusion. He had just explained what his familiar Nagini had revealed to him and asked them to go retrieve the Potter spawn. As expected, his husband did not take the new very well.
“Severus please sit down,” he asked, grabbing the man by his hand as he paced by for the fourth time. He received a glare but did not let go of the man’s fingers. He blew out a sharp breath and plopped down gracelessly beside his lover. Lucius turned his attention to the man across from them.“Perhaps you can explain more.”
So Tom went on to explain again what he had been told.
“So you’ve made Potter,” the name slipped through the potion master’s mouth with disgust. “Into one of your horcruxes?” He finished with an unimpressed looked to his father. The man in question, who was also quite unimpressed with his son’s behavior and attitude about the whole situation raised his eyebrow in retaliation.
“That would be the consensus, yes. And because that is the case the last thing we need is for him to remain in the hands of Albus Dumbledore.” The man leaned back in his chair. “I have no doubt in my mind that Dumbledore already knows of this information and had tucked it away for safekeeping. I am well aware of that forsaken prophecy he now lives by which makes me think that after he trains Potter to ‘defeat me’” he says with air quotes, “if the boy is not already dead by my hand then he will just kill him himself.”
“You think Albus to be so callous?” Lucius inquired.
“I know him to be. That man is a massive manipulator and a spider to boot. A spider who has no qualms about twisting his prey however he sees fit until he is done with them. It's how he’s always been.”
Both Tom and Lucius looked towards Severus who had gone quiet listening to his father. Taking his hand in his, Lucius looked at his husband’s stony features. “Severus?” Said man looked at the blond next to him. “What do you think?”
Snape turned to his father, his eyes still filled with disbelief. “You make a horcrux out of Dumbledore’s golden boy then ask us to house him here? In our place of sanctuary? Knowing what his father did to-”
His tirade of questions was cut off by Tom.
“I am well aware of what the boy’s father and his miscreant friends did to you in the past. I have never approved of it nor will I ever. However,” he said, cutting off any further objection of his son. “This is not to be seen as a personal act nor is it as some form of psychological torture towards you. I am doing this as it pertains to an important matter and I ask you to remove your emotions out of this situation.”
Father and son stared back at one another, red eyes staring into black ones. Lucius looked back between the two and gently squeezed Severus’s hand. The raven haired man said nothing as he rose, his face now void of all emotions.
“If you will excuse me, gentlemen,” his speech was stilted and strained. “I wish to go spend time with my son.” Without waiting for a reply he turned on his heel and retreated from the study. The blond male sighed, running his hand down his face.
“You know how he feels about this.”
Tom turned his gaze to his son in law. “I am well aware and as I said this is not a personal matter. This is not being done as a means to torture him but to preserve and help our side in this war.”
“Are you really trying to recruit children to fight in a war that was started by adults for adults?”
“I have never seen a reason to do such and will not start now. However, just because I don’t does not mean that Dumbledore won’t.” The older slytherin looked at the man who had become like a second son to him. “More than anything we are taught to do things that can help us in some way, we are Slytherins after all. That includes your husband.”
Lucius sighed. “Yes but at what cost?”
“The perks of taking the boy outweigh the cons of leaving him to his own demise. I have never liked Potter, but I will not fault him for spewing that filth that has been whispered into his ear by the first likely person to ever show concern for him.” Lucius raised an eyebrow at that. It was no Tom’s turn to sigh. “You don’t know this and neither does Severus, but the boy is horribly misused and abused. Our connection allows me to see into his mind as well as seeing the things he does.”
“How-”
Tom held up a hand. “Believe me, Lucius, if I knew I would tell you in a heartbeat. But despite what everyone else in this house believes the boy to be like I do not think it is true. It’s easy to be manipulated by those who we seek approval from.”
The blond nodded.
“He is not his father, nor has he ever been. The boy is horribly mistreated and wears his persona better than any Slytherin I have ever met. That includes my own child.” He received a look of astonishment from his companion. “I know, which is why it is crucial to go get him. I know the risks of doing such and I am much more willing to take my chances doing that than leaving him in the hands of Dumbledore.”
With that, the elder slytherin rose from his seat and headed out the door as he knew he had just given his companion something to think about. When the doors to the study closed Lucius exhaled slowly and massaged his temples to fight away the headache he could feel approaching. The man did make sense in his points and regardless of personal feelings there was still a war going on. He knew that Dumbledore would have no qualms about turning children into soldiers. It had been one of the few reasons that he and his spouses had been so wary of sending their son to Hogwarts. They had thrown out other options, better schools where their son could get lessons from some of the finest teachers all while making new friends along the way. In addition he wouldn't have to be ostracized because of who his parents were. Be that as it may, the one major flaw was that when in trouble he wouldn’t have someone in close proximity to help guide him which was why they ultimately decided on sending him to Hogwarts anyway.
As he sat there thinking, Lucius thought to himself how much more comfortable their lives would be if they had enrolled Draco in school in a place like Romania or France or even in the Caribbean. Somewhere that they could all move and simply be happy to live and not be constantly under investigation or suspicion. Lucius looked at the papers stacked on his desk and decided they could wait. He could deal with officials later, right now all he wanted was to spend time with his family and take his mind off of this stress. With that he walked out of the study towards the stairs to go get changed and join his family on their horseback outing.