A/N: Written for the Slash It! challenge by Lying In An Angels Arms.

Essentially, this is a drabble between Lucius and Draco. Though this fic is slashy, the slash here is between Lucius and Snape and it doesn't really go into detail, so sorry if you were hoping for smuttiness between Lucius and Snape. Mebbe another time. ;P

Challenge quote: I am the father who's never hugged his son because he's afraid.

Disclaimer: I used a variation of the quote above in this fic and wanted to say that I do not own it. I credit it to Lying In An Angels Arms. I also, obviously, do not own the Harry Potter franchise.

Pairing: Minor Lucius/Snape.

Warning: Minor slash.

Overcoming Nonsense

When my son, Draco, was only a baby, I knew instantly that I loved him and wanted nothing more to protect him from the evil in the world. I knew instinctively that I had to shield him from anything that may taint him for the worst. I broke that promise before I could even make it because I was a Death eater, so I chose to keep my distance from Draco. Maybe I couldn't protect him from the evil in the world, but I could protect him from me. My taint of not evil, but confusion. Becoming a Death eater had been a decision I made out of fear and the pressure of keeping true to my pureblood morals. My decision, however, to befriend and fall in love with Severus Snape, had been on purpose.

Snape was six years my junior and I met him only when we had become Death eaters. Regular gatherings for the Dark Lord, when they were over, we would spend hours talking. Nothing extraordinary at first, but when we realized the things we enjoyed were the same, things between us easily escalated. It wasn't until one day that we found each other leaning closely, about to kiss, that I knew I was in love with Snape. Despite many outside factors, including appearance and status in the wizarding world, I was an equal with the younger man. We shared a love for the same things, we had the same ideals, and even had some our secrets were the same. Married to Narcissa for some time when this happened, I was forced to realize several things. The first was that though I loved her, I would never truly love her and would always be separate from her on many levels. The second, and most major, was that I found I was ashamed and afraid of my love for another man.

When Draco was born, I realized that as much as I longed to protect him, I was too ashamed to do anything but keep my distance. My son grew up, gentle like his mother but with the same sadness and distance in his heart as myself. It wasn't until he was already a teenager that I realized I had never hugged him. Yes, I had held him when he was a babe, but I never gave him a hug. Never showed that I loved him in anyway other then in gifts and small pats. I was a father who was afraid to hug his son. Afraid that by doing so, he would somehow know the truth about me and my shame. It was silly, surely, but the fear was all the same.

The day before I was sent away to Azakaban, I swallowed my fear for the first time, sensing things were amiss. It felt like it would be the last time I would ever see my son again and that fear overshadowed the fear of my truth. I knocked on his door before entering into his bedroom. There he sat at a desk, writing to a friend, I didn't care who. He looked up at me after a moment, surprised to see me.

"Draco, I'm proud of you, you know."

"Yes, father, I know." He replied, a small smile on his face.

"I want you to know that whatever happens in the future, I love you." I said slowly.

Shocked he only stared back at me before giving me a large smile. Coming over to him, I leaned forward and hugged him for the first time ever. In my arms, I could feel him stiffen at first, then hesitantly, he hugged me back.

"I love you too, father." Draco said.

For the first time, I wasn't afraid and hated myself for thinking that he would know all my secrets just from hugging me. Whether I loved another man or was, in a way, evil, didn't matter. So long as my son loved me, I realized I shouldn't fear myself so much.

End