Character: Lucius Malfoy
Pairings: Lucius/Narcissa, Rodolphus/Narcissa
Prompt: Disillusionment Charms
Word Count: 545
Rating: PG-13

)O(

Lucius had suspicions about Narcissa since the earliest days of their marriage. He disliked her perpetual look of polite disinterest, a mask that families of the Black's stature seemed to think befitted their daughters. Lucius had expected the mask to drop after their wedding, but Narcissa looked as bored when Lucius mounted her on their wedding night as she did when they had stood in the church earlier that day and recited their vows.

It had only been natural for Lucius to come to the conclusion that her heart lay with someone else. She never warmed; she never even became angry. He would have preferred her to express anger at her predicament than to go on acting as if she didn't so much as know that her husband existed. When he confronted her and asked outright if she was unfaithful, she said "No" with the same bland carelessness that she always had in her voice. He didn't believe her.

Lucius told Narcissa that he was going away on business. He told her that he was going to be away for days, and that she would have Malfoy Manor to herself. She smiled faintly. She lied and said she would miss him.

He didn't go away.

Lucius lurked in a back room until night fell, and only when it was dark did he place a Disillusionment Charm upon himself and creep to his bedroom, listening for sounds, for signs of another man.

It was too easy.

Narcissa had not even had the decency to close the door.

Lucius could hear noises coming from the bedroom, and he knew what to expect when he stepped through the doorway, but that didn't make the sight of his wife locked in Rodolphus Lestrange's arms any less jarring. Narcissa looked tiny when entwined in her brother-in-law's powerful, sinewy limbs. In the darkness, Rodolphus looked like an animal prepared to devour her.

Lucius lurked in the shadows so as not to be seen by either Narcissa or her lover – and how he hated the word lover, for he knew Rodolphus Lestrange well and doubted this was anything to do with love.

The sound of Narcissa's moans and the sight of her face full of ecstasy made it all too painfully clear that she was happier with this man than she would ever be with her husband.

Lucius had always gotten on well with Rodolphus, but now he loathed him. He would gladly see him dead.

Dead…

Rodolphus's back was to him. It would have been nothing to kill him. Easy. Rodolphus would never know what was happening. Perhaps Lucius could kill Narcissa too, and remove all his problems in one fell swoop. Bellatrix would scarcely be concerned about her husband's death; she cared for him little enough. What was to stop him?

He watched the little session with disgust, but did nothing to end it, and only when Narcissa and Rodolphus were still, lying together in the sheets and dozing off to sleepy kisses and murmured assurances of love, only when their eyes were closed, did Lucius step forward and draw his wand.

Lucius would not let his wife look that happy with another man.

Lucius had his pride.

And if he had to kill for that, then he would kill.

)O(

Fin