He Came, He Saw, He Went

A HariPo oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. This was done for the Alliterated Pairings Competition in the HPFC. Read, review, and enjoy!

- ^-^3

Pairing: Lily Evans (Potter)/Lucius Malfoy

Song:"Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence

Prompt: Truth

"It never was and never will be

You don't know how you've betrayed me

And somehow you've got everybody fooled"

—Evanescence, "Everybody's Fool"

- ^-^3

It stabbed. The pain—it stabbed. It landed right in the heart of Lucius Malfoy as he glimpsed her in her wedding dress.

She wasn't his.

Merlin, it tore his heart right out of his chest.

Years ago—only a few years ago—Lucius Malfoy hadn't paid much attention to the Sorting. Hufflepuffs here, stupid Gryffindors there, quite a nice drawing of Slytherins… Lucius recalled several good additions to his noble House: Yaxley, Mulciber, even young Snape, who was at first very nervous and unsure about coming to Hogwarts.

Lucius knew he should've paid more attention back then.

He'd been merely a Prefect, thinking about his last three years at Hogwarts and his future after school. He'd spent quite some time recently courting Narcissa Black, his ever-lovely fellow Slytherin and pureblood. Merlin, she was gorgeous. Blond could only work with blonde, you know.

That was until he considered a certain redhead.

Lucius first noticed her when he caught Snape staring glumly at the Gryffindor table. "What are you looking at?" he'd asked the first year.

"Nothing," Snape had replied, casting his dark eyes downward.

"No, really. What?"

"… 'Who.'" Snape pointed to his fellow first year, a redheaded girl sitting next to that blood-traitor, Sirius Black, and his mates.

Lucius didn't say anything at first. He observed right away that she was a cute little thing, with bright green eyes. She seemed not to like Sirius very much, which was a plus in Lucius' book. "Who—"

"Lily Evans," Snape replied automatically. "I know her from before Hogwarts."

"Ah." And that was all the thought Lucius ever gave her…then.

She hadn't left much of an impression on him. All he knew was that she was Evans, Snape's best mate from before school. Lucius didn't have much interaction with her until the game.

It was a simple game of Quidditch, Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. Lucius Malfoy had a bet with one of his fellow fifth years (a Ravenclaw, of course) that Slytherin would win. Lucius was set on seeing it through.

As it was the first Quidditch game of the year, certain first years were astounded as the teams flew out. For the Malfoy heir, the scene caused a wonderful smirk to appear on his face. He knew that it was really only the Mudbloods—filthy Muggle-borns—that couldn't believe their eyes. They didn't know the wizarding sport, so they were assuredly shocked.

That was when, with a curious feeling, Lucius turned his eyes to the crowd of Gryffindors and involuntarily scanned the sea of maroon and gold for a head of red hair. He saw her, and his stomach did an interesting flip. She was gaping at it all. She looked as if she'd crossed paths with a troll.

But he knew that look. It meant she'd never seen anything like Quidditch. She hadn't seen anyone flying before at all. She…was a Mudblood.

And, worst of all, Lucius was even more curious about this witch.

After the game (Slytherin had won, and he'd secured his twenty-Galleon bet), Lucius allowed his feet to stay put outside the Quidditch pitch and wait for her. It wasn't long before she followed Black and his mates out along with some of her female Housemates. She dragged a little behind them, fussing with her scarf.

He stepped in front of her. "May I help you?"

She looked up, blushing a hilarious red to match her hair. "Er, y-yes. Thank you."

He tied her scarf correctly and watched as she didn't let her eyes move from his face. When he turned to leave, she padded softly at his side.

Evans cleared her throat. "I—I'm Lily. Lily Evans. Thank you, again. … You are…?"

"Lucius Malfoy," he answered automatically. He kept his eyes focused on the robes of those ahead of him. Maybe this was a bad idea… If Narcissa or her sister, Bellatrix, saw him consorting with this girl and found out her lineage… It could all go downhill from here.

"What year are you?" she asked.

The wizard pointed to his chest so she could see his Prefect badge. "I'm in my fifth year."

"I'm a first year, just starting. Magic is…so amazing. That Quidditch game was so exciting, wasn't it?" Her smile was magnetic, her eyes brilliant.

"…my team could've done better, but yes, it was." They were almost at the castle now. He knew he'd have to shake her off if he wanted to save face…but she was a peculiar delight, in a way.

"I look forward to the next one." She patted his arm and grinned. "I'll see you around, Lucius," she said with a wave and a batting of her eyelashes as she parted with him first.

She'd ditched him! Well, at least he wouldn't be spotted with her. But he gritted his teeth. "It's 'Malfoy' to you."

But it wasn't "Malfoy" forever.

Try as he might, his fifth, sixth, and seventh years showed that he was not the cat to her mouse. Any time he indulged his curiosity about what made Lily Evans so desirable, she always seemed to get the better of him. He'd ask about Quidditch; she'd say that he looked as if he were built to be a Chaser. He might mention a test or upcoming exams; she'd say she knew he'd do as well as she would—which was very well, indeed. Come her third year (his seventh), he mentioned wanting to visit some store or place in Hogsmeade; she turned up there and managed to engage him in conversation again.

Lucius wondered how he could play games with this young Mudblood. He had Narcissa to think about, with whom he could spend his time. Yet he found himself enjoying Lily toying with him. Unfortunately, he was not the only one.

First and foremost was Severus Snape. Good Merlin, he yearned for her. She liked him, too, but only as a mate. It was unclear whether Lily had any schoolgirl crushes, but she caused schoolboy ones. And Severus probably had it the worst.

Only second to Severus was James Potter. He was a pureblood, a Gryffindor, and an arrogant toad. He had his fair share of hearts captured, but he had eyes only for Lily.

Then, of course, was Sirius Black. Black was Hogwarts' playboy, and he had a new witch on his arm nearly every week. It didn't do anything for the jealous glint in his gray eyes when Lily was seen with another boy, or even Potter, Black's best mate.

Lastly, there was Lupin. Remus Lupin. There were odd rumors about Lupin disappearing once a month, but Lily seemed not to hear them. She was too nice to him. And she'd surely gotten his tail wagging.

But Lucius? He snorted. No, she definitely toyed with him (as much as he loathed to admit), but he wasn't enamored with her. She was too young, too plain, a Mudblood—

She was the perfect experiment.

It was clever, really, thinking that he could test her. Were Mudbloods really all that bad? They were just humans like the rest of the population, separated only by ancestry. Only her blood was the problem, so really, what was the problem?

He mulled that idea over and over as he found excuses to go back to Hogsmeade during the years following his graduation. First, his excuse was Narcissa. When she graduated, he tried stating business at any of the shops in the Wizarding village. He even began getting involved in the government of the school (Narcissa wanted their future children to go to Hogwarts, but she also wanted it safe and sane).

And it was all to see Lily.

In her last year at school, Lucius started to wonder whether he was somewhat enthralled with her, because things had changed. Lily was no little girl anymore. She was a lovely, beautiful witch. She'd decided on her beau, too: Potter. Yet Lucius still made all the time in the world for her.

She made time for him, too, and it served them well during her last Hogsmeade trip.

Lily arrived with Potter but shook him off by encouraging him to hang out with Black and Lupin and some other friend of theirs (Pettigrew? Lucius couldn't remember the name, nor did he care). Then Lily met Lucius at the Hog's Head, and they made their way up to the Shrieking Shack.

The redhead was at her most tempting. Her jacket was snug, her scarf jumbled, her hat askew on her hair. The scarf made him chuckle, something he did rarely (that was right, his chuckle was reserved for Lily only, never Narcissa, it was only family business with Narcissa…). "Your scarf is crooked again," he stated.

Her green orbs darted downward to the knitted wool. "Is it? Oh, ruddy hell. I'm always so forgetful. I never pay attention to this thing." She looked up at him, winking cheekily, much more of a playful character than that Potter (whom she used to hate) was. Maybe Potter had rubbed off on her… Lucius discarded the idea. "Mind fixing it for me, Lucius?"

He hesitated. Severus had lost her friendship long ago. Potter was now her boyfriend. She was changing sides. He should probably have left her then and there…but he couldn't. Not when the frost nipped at her nose and tinged her cheeks a healthy rose. Not when her green eyes burned as he bent down a smidgen to adjust the wool scarf and he hovered near her head a moment too long. Not when she moved forward so slightly and nudged his nose with hers so her lips had a better chance of catching his. Not when she tasted this good.

So, it was true. It really was. Lucius was just another on Lily's list of entranced men.

The sad thing was that he didn't mind at all.

He didn't mind as the years passed, either. He didn't care about her blood. Blood didn't prove anything, it turned out. Lily was Lily, and he couldn't believe that that was all that mattered. Narcissa was still at his side; she was his back-up plan, his chance to uphold his reputation. But she wasn't effervescence personified. She was cool and calm perfection. But Lily was the muse that inspired perfection.

Those years passed too quickly.

It was merely two years—two years!—and then all their fun stopped. Lily just stopped showing up for their outings. Lucius grew annoyed but calmed a little when she took to sending him little missives by owl. She said that she missed him, or that Potter did something that bothered her and made her wish Lucius could've been there to set things straight or make her laugh (yes, apparently someone found him amusing…certainly not the uptight Narcissa), or that life with Potter was too much. She frequently wrote that his mates spent quite a bit of time with them, and her pen nearly pierced the parchment when she wrote that "Sirius just had to come visit James when he and I were planning a night together." A statement like that tended to be followed by her writing that she felt she had decided on Potter too early, that she regretted her choices in her love life now…

Lucius knew what she was saying without having to ask her. All the words she sent him, full of emotions, full of hidden meanings, moaned that she wished she'd tried Lucius for real. Her thoughts of maybe Potter not quite being Mr. Right always led to her asking how Narcissa's Mr. Right was doing. The Malfoy son knew her too well; she was asking whether he was as incorrectly matched as she. Perhaps she had the same feelings as he…

He stopped thinking she wanted him when the letters stopped coming. And then, a year later, he saw her once more.

It had been a normal trip to Diagon Alley. He was going to visit Borgin and Burkes again on Knockturn Alley, and he was heading there, passing the other stores in a blur. Yet, as he blew past Madam Malkin's, he caught a snippet of a scene that took him back to those mischievous times.

Her red hair, her green eyes— They were done up, played up as she fixed a veil to her head. She twirled and tugged at the white dress that fitted her chest and midsection and flowed out on the bottom. She wore a plain, silver necklace around her neck, and she needed little makeup.

Lucius had never seen a goddess until then.

His feet guided him to the window, and his face fell as she grinned and laughed with the two women beside her (he supposed they were old Gryffindor friends). Lily didn't try on any other veil. She passed the veil to Malkin and disappeared into the changing rooms.

The wizard shut his dropped jaw and moved on. He felt hollow as he made a transaction with Borgin, and he still felt hollow as he returned home to Narcissa, who was still only his lover (his fiancée, really, at the insistence of their families, but only his lover to him).

There were two truths. He'd loved Lily. But she hadn't loved him.

…

That night, he proposed for real to Narcissa, and their own nuptials were set in motion, for there were two truths.

And they negated each other.

- ^-^3

Woo! I never imagined myself writing a Lily/Lucius, but this was fun! I can definitely imagine Lily actually being the little minx James thought she was. And Lucius was as stubborn as ever…but nummy. -w- I do love me some Lucius!

Thanks for reading, and please review!

-mew-tsubaki ;)

Thanks to Morghen and papa mew for editing for me~!

2016 note: Huh! This is 6 yrs old, and I still have issues with Lily Evans as a character, but I like this, prolly because this was from Lucius' POV. *has a soft spot for Lucius* If only there had been a part of him that was really like this…