I found myself wandering the halls once again. Not looking for anything, really. Just looking. A flickering light spilling out into the hall told me that Lucius was in the study. Just like every other night.

The Ministry had carted him off to Azkaban to await trial after the Battle of Hogwarts. By the time the Ministry had been sorted through and the last remaining Dark Wizards were expelled from government, Lucius had been there eighteenth months. When he was brought to trial, I could tell that something within him had changed. His head was held high, just like before, but instead of pride in his eyes, there was hesitation. He offered to give the Ministry every name he could remember in return for being imprisoned in Malfoy Manor instead of Azkaban. There was much debate, but after they realized how many people they missed in their sweep, they were eager to comply. They got what they wanted and Lucius was still out of their way, but they still added some requirements. He was to no longer have a wand, and he would no longer be allowed to use magic in any way. The Ministry agreed to the Wizengamot's stipulations and added that 20% of the Malfoy wealth was to be paid for reparations to the Wizarding World. It was a price we willingly paid.

Upon his return home, he found out that Draco had disappeared. If he was affected, it didn't show. I had gotten the body of my husband back, but his spirit was nowhere to be found. My days passed in reading and wandering the halls. With Draco gone and Lucius absent, I became very lonely. One day, I went to the Ministry and begged for someone to bring my son home. It went about as well as I hoped. 'He's an adult, we can't do anything, if he wants to be away, that's what he'll do…' So I looked the man in the eye and lied. It was much easier than lying to Voldemort. But it was just as necessary. My boy was missing. "He wrote home. He said that he had been contacted by some remaining Death Eaters. He couldn't tell me where he was or they would kill him. But they have offered him renewed membership. He can tell you where they are if you find him." Less than two weeks later, I received a letter saying that one of their best Aurors had been sent to find him. I only hoped the Auror knew what he was doing.

I walked through the door of the study, seeing Lucius on the couch facing away from me. He was staring into the fire like Draco used to do. I sat next to him and laid my head on his shoulder. He smelled of cigars and strong alcohol. I remembered how he used to hold my hand and kiss the top of my head. He may have been ruthless, power-hungry, arrogant, and a wizard supremacist, but that wasn't his entire being. At night, in this study, around the dinner table, out on our Quidditch pitch, there were many facets that no one saw. No one but me and Draco. But in his obsession about the Second Wizarding War, he had lost all those pieces of himself.

I grabbed and squeezed his hand before I got up to go to bed. I had no hope that he would follow me. At the door, I looked back to see him watching me. I wondered what was going on behind those steely eyes, but didn't say anything as I turned back around. I knew that in the morning I would find him in this same spot, but asleep. I also knew that when Draco was brought home, something in Lucius would be renewed and everything would go back to the way it was before Voldemort came back. This was the only thing I could believe anymore.