ansketil: (Joseph II (Amadeus))
[personal profile] ansketil
Ten Things Lucius Malfoy for [livejournal.com profile] aleysiasnape:

One:

Lucius Malfoy understood from a very young age that he was expected to uphold his family's honour and that this meant concealing his feelings and not crying at his mother's funeral. All his cousins watched with equally dry faces except little Cissy Black, who was bawling her eyes out, her blue eyes shimmering with fat tears, and he saw the despair he felt reflected in her. It seemed terrible that the only person weeping in a sea of stoic faces was his four year-old second cousin who had only met his mother twice. Lucius wasn't permitted to weep himself, standing in his stiff mourning robes under the cold gaze of his father... but he knew as he took the young girl's hand that it just might be all right to comfort someone else.

 
Two:

Being a father does not come naturally to Lucius Malfoy, and Narcissa tries to make up for his failings by being too much a mother. When Draco was born, Lucius swore he would make a better parent than his own hated progenitor. But because of his own limited upbringing, he has very little real idea how to go about it. He knows, intellectually, how a father ought to behave. How he should never miss a dinner with his family, for example. How he should pat his son on the head, be strict with him about his allowance and always make sure to take him to things like Quidditch games. Draco loves his father for it, even if it often comes across as overbearing and pompous. As Narcissa often explains: "I'm sure Draco knows you're doing your best, dear."

Three:

Most pure-blood Slytherin boys of Lucius' generation experimented with homosexuality at school. Mainly because pure-blood girls were untouchable before marriage. It wasn't nice, what they used to do to the first year and second year boys who didn't have the status to protect themselves, but Lucius maintains that he did Severus Snape a favour.

Four: 
 
Donating generously to wizarding institutions like St Mungo's is something Lucius actually enjoys doing. It gives him the same purposeful feeling serving the Dark Lord used to do before his fall. Both activities involve him furthering a worthy cause and generate a certain amount of awe. There is an uncanny similarity between sycophantic witches and wizards dancing around his cheque-book and victims begging for their lives. That same wide gaze and impersonal pleading. The same delicious feeling of having all the power. Later in life, he becomes mildly addicted to it as a substitute and gains an undeserved reputation as having turned over a new leaf. Narcissa finds it demeaning that they have to buy peoples' respect, but Lucius doesn't care - he's been doing it all his life, one way or another.
 
Five:
 
Lucius had taught his son the old ways, the things that mattered, emphasizing the natural superiority of pure blood… but he had been vague when it came to the Dark Lord, vague when it came to Abraxas Malfoy – his own father – and vague about what servitude to Voldemort actually entailed. In short, Lucius romanticized events, ensuring his son would still look up to his father with respect: as a heroic champion of purity. After thirteen years, he believed it too.
 
Six:

Lucius was unfaithful to Narcissa when he was younger, because it was expected of him. Of all the things he did just because it was expected of him, he feels most ashamed of that.

Seven: 

He's unsure why women compliment his hair more often than his wife's. He simply wears it long in the traditional style, sometimes out or occasionally tied back with a black ribbon as was customary in his grandfather's time. He feels it gives him a very dignified air and is supremely unconcerned when it begins to go grey.  

Eight:

While drinking a generous amount of Dragon Scotch at breakfast, six months after the death of the Dark Lord, Lucius belatedly realises that Voldemort had turned him into an alcoholic and that neither Draco nor Narcissa had had the heart to tell him so.

Nine: 

Scorpius: a Ravenclaw Malfoy. It took Lucius a long time to come around to the idea, but eventually he decided that it was an excellent thing in post-Voldemort Britain, as the reputation of Slytherin House was currently suffering something of a depression following the war. He likes the confident Scorpius, in whom he sees a rather more bookish version of himself, with none of Draco’s crushing insecurities. He imagines that insecurity must be an inherent part of Draco's character, and doesn't see himself as at all responsible for it. This results in him treating the teenage Scorpius far more like an adult than his grown-up son, which regularly infuriates Draco and Astoria.  

Ten:  

He feels, as the years go by, more and more like an artefact in a museum. Outside everything has changed. People do not wear robes any longer, or only to formal occasions, wizards use muggle devices, some wizards even drive automobiles (Scorpius explained them to him once), and use pens instead of quills. And no one seems to care except him. Society had changed – and they'd lost – he’d lost.

The world of his grandparents and parents, the world he'd been brought up to preside over, was slipping away like sand in an hourglass, outside, he can feel the grains sliding. Inside,he is surrounded by history and lives, for all intents and purposes, as Malfoys have for centuries. Dinner continues to be served at six-thirty, announced by the gong, letters are written with the finest eagle-feather quills, and house-elves receive appropriate punishment. By the time he reaches his hundredth year, he can hardly bear to leave the manor. Narcissa - modern, ever-fashionable, ever beautiful Narcissa - is only too glad to take over his obligations as head of the Malfoy family. They are all a little embarrassed by him: the infamous Mr Lucius Malfoy still in mourning for the world he's lost.

But they still love him all the same, even if Narcissa is the only one who really knows just how much he loves them back.

Date: 2011-05-16 04:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] albumsontheside.livejournal.com
Yes! Just got into a harry potter fanfic drive and--yes! LUCIUS WHO ISN'T EVIL FOR THE SAKE OF BEING EVIL. CRACK TO MY SOUL!! <3

Date: 2011-05-17 03:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ansketil-rose.livejournal.com
Thanks! ^_^

You need to read the AMAZING work of Paper Peals on ff.net, if you haven't already. She is a genius. I just read 'Sins of the Father' and 'Once Removed' - http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2073156/Paper_Pearls

(I love listening to Beethoven Sonatas and reading Lucius Malfoy fanfiction)

Date: 2011-05-16 09:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aleysiasnape.livejournal.com
Thank you for writing this! I love how you explained why Lucius did the things he did in 10 steps. My favorite is #8.

Date: 2011-05-17 03:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ansketil-rose.livejournal.com
Thanks! :)

Eight is so true - the man has a glass in hand in ALL his scenes in DH1!

Date: 2011-05-17 02:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darth-eldritch.livejournal.com
Very good!

It captures Lucius so very well!

Interesting how he relates more with his grandson than his son.

Date: 2011-05-17 03:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ansketil-rose.livejournal.com
Thanks - ol' Lucius really too keen on self-examination. >.>

Date: 2011-05-18 02:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chameleon-irony.livejournal.com
Very good, but nothing like your usual writing style. If it had been posted anonymously I never would have guessed you wrote it.

Profile

ansketil: (Default)
mopsule

December 2011

S M T W T F S
    123
45678910
11121314151617
1819202122 2324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 11th, 2025 04:42 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios