TITLE: Brother, Where Art Thou?

AUTHOR: Firestorm17

Brother Where Art Thou
By Firestorm17

The problem was that Draco thought he was an only child. Rather, the problem was that Draco was incorrect in thinking that he was an only child. Certainly, if his son's assumption were true, it would make Lucius Malfoy's life a great deal less difficult. Lucius had allowed his son to grow up believing that he was the only son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Adams Malfoy. Unfortunately, this was only a half-truth. While Lucius was undeniably Draco's parent, Narcissa was unable to have children at all.

The first time Voldemort had risen, Lucius had kept his loyalties secret all through the war. He still remembered the afternoon when a redheaded man had come into his office accusing him of all manner of things, only half of which had been true. It hadn't taken long for the fight to become physical, and before either of them had known what was happening, they had torn each other's robes off. Minutes later, Lucius had found himself flat on his back being taken hard and deep by a seriously irate Arthur Weasley. The pain had only made the pleasure greater. The immediate aftermath of the most intense climaxes of both men's lives had seen Weasley fleeing back to his
nice safe life with his nice safe wife while Malfoy picked himself up from his office floor and attempted to compose himself.

With Arthur avoiding him like he was somehow diseased, Lucius had thought that that was the end of it until about a month later when he'd spent half the morning being violently sick. There was a limit to how long a person could vomit before realizing that something was wrong. Like it or not, Lucius had had Arthur Weasley's unborn child growing under his heart.

The Dark Lord had accepted that the Malfoys were going into seclusion for what they claimed was Narcissa's pregnancy. That wasn't to say that Voldemort had been particularly pleased with the prospect of losing his services. After the curses had finally released his body, Lucius had spent what felt like hours in utter terror waiting for the precious life inside him to stir again. Malfoy hadn't left the manor for the remainder of his pregnancy. The last few months, he'd barely
left his bed, saving his energy for the growing child.

The birth had been difficult on Lucius, which was only to be expected of a body without most of the appropriate equipment. It had required threats to get the midwife to come at all, and the woman had been terrified of him, especially since no one had disabused her of the idea that the child was the Dark Lord's. The stupid bint had run screaming into the night when the baby had crowned. Lucius hadn't understood what she was so upset about. The midwife hadn't been the one whose perineum had just split painfully open.

Thankfully, Narcissa had been both willing and competent to take over, and Draco Mordred Malfoy had come into the world without further incident. The Malfoys hadn't learned until later that while their erstwhile midwife was fleeing for her life, in a house called The Burrow a woman named Molly was giving birth to her sixth child, a boy she would call Ronald.

Once he'd found out about the other new addition to the Weasley family, Lucius had decided that his son would have nothing to do with his sire's family. Draco was the heir to the Malfoy estate, and his legitimacy had to be beyond question. There was a second reason that Lucius would only admit to himself. Arthur's eldest sons were already starting to show hints of the animal draw that had led to their half-brother's conception. Lucius did not dare gamble that the younger Weasleys would fail to inherit the attraction or that his own child would somehow be immune.

Thus, Lucius had been relieved when Draco's eyes had changed from that unnerving shade of blue to match his own grays. He'd been pleased that his son's hair had grown in blond rather than red. He'd thanked the Goddess that had kept Draco out of the sun and unfreckled. Later, Lucius had been thrilled with how readily Draco had absorbed his efforts to poison the boy against the Weasleys. By the time the Malfoy heir was old enough to start Hogwarts, Lucius had convinced him that pureblood or not, his sire's family was practically subhuman. He ought to have been pleased to learn that Arthur had had the sense to return the favor, but somehow that knowledge had stung.

A year later, Lucius had come dangerously close to ruining everything. Through some coincidence, he'd taken Draco shopping at the same time and place as Arthur and his brood. The violent passion between them hadn't dimmed at all in the thirteen years interceding. If not for that giant the old fool at Hogwarts insisted on employing, Lucius and Arthur would have taken each other again in the middle of Flourish and Blotts. Lucius couldn't help but resent the great oaf
for his intercession. Though Goddess knew what that Lockhart fellow and his horde of reporters would have made of that. Lucius's efforts to estrange his family from the Weasleys that time had screwed up his Master's plans very badly, but it had been worth it to make sure Arthur's boys, and girl for that matter, were kept far away from Draco.

Now, everything that he had done had proved futile. The scene he had walked in on was unmistakable. Lucius tried not to look lower than the boys' shocked faces., but he couldn't help but see freckled limbs entangled with his son's unmarked ones. Mercifully, he could not see the place where their bodies joined, but he knew it was there all the same. And to his growing horror, he saw the way Draco's hand had instinctively risen to protectively cover his abdomen.

"Father? Is something wrong?"

FIN