DISCLAIMER: HP belongs to JKR. The story line and all new characters, new character development, new developments are my intellectual property.

'〴- 〠WARNING, Warnung, Attention, Advertencia, Atenção: 〴To pen-bullies, negaters, flamers, self-appointed critics and anyone falling in that category : May You think twice before you waste my time and yours. Let's play together in the sandbox instead〠/\●/\

Note: Only parts of this story will conform to Canon. Lucius is a Death Eater but something will change. He will still be an aristocrat, arrogant, but a straight arrow, and a family man.

NOTE. The two online versions are the same. V1 is just an edited T rated version. Check on the summary for updates to the rating.

Chapter 1: The day Lucius met his mate Chapter 1

Lucius encounter. 1963-1964, Narcissa Black's summer love

Somewhere in the south of France.

The Blacks went to spend part of their summer holidays at the Lestrange's Summer Palace in France. Cygnus had ulterior motives, he wanted to obtain contracts for all his girls, hoping to get down payments on their brides' price. He urgently needed Galleons because he was nearly broke after a series of bad investments. To Cygnus his daughters were nothing more that his most valuable assets, nothing else. Nothing out the ordinary because he was neither loving nor a caring husband or father.

During this visit, eight year old Narcissa was about to meet her first love; his name was Rodolphus Lestrange.

The eight year old Rodolphus was tall, he had long auburn hair, and violet eyes. He took fencing and piano lessons, and was learning to ride. He spoke four languages, and his Latin was nearly perfect; he even wrote poetry, mostly in French. All the young witches liked him. Moreover, it didn't hurt his allure that he was always towing the chubby toddler Rabastan wherever he went. A fact which made the beautiful and studious young wizard, irresistible to witches of all ages.

Bella told them one night that she had tried to kiss him; though she was unhappy, "He pushed me and all because that brat Rabastan cried after I smacked him. He had it coming for whining all the time. I don't care, it is okay by me; he will pay back later. I am going to marry Dolphus. Did you understand that my dear Cissy?"

Cissy had cried all night and finally went to sleep after Andy came into her bed and hugged her.

"It is okay, she is mean, so don't pay attention to her, he likes you best. Besides she doesn't like Rab, and Rodolphus won't like someone who doesn't care for his brother." Andy was very mature and nice. She was Cissy's favorite person on the entire world. Albeit she loved Bella as well, the older she got, the nastier she became; Bella was growing to be a dark, deadly beauty.

Before they left, Dolphus gave Narcissa a small book of French poems. It was the one that she had fancied earlier when they went to a store located in the small village, near the country home. The leather bound volume was an illustrated antique with drawings of witch maidens in love.

"It is but a small token of my appreciation, it is from Rab and I; our thanks for playing with him so much. Mademoiselle, we are both in your debt." And he had kissed her hand in a grown up gesture.

Bella threw the book into the fire upon their return home. "Stay away from my wizard." She warned Cissy.

Lucius Malfoy, 9 years old.

Lucius Malfoy was nine and loved to accompany his father Abraxas Malfoy whenever he wanted to take him. However, today was an exception, and he wasn't happy about it.

"Son, make sure you are nicely dressed. I want you to accompany me to Black Manor. Cygnus has three daughters, and I would like you to meet them."

"Girls? Why? That sounds absolutely dreadful. Let's go to Rome, I want to see the Coliseum. And then can we go for porcini ravioli, fritto misto and gelato?"

Lucius, already tall for his age, not yet interested in girls, but more in food, warriors, brooms, and the things boy wizards like at that age.

"No, your mother is already there. She is having tea with Druella. Be down in fifteen minutes sharp by the main Floo. Ah, wash your hands, brush your teeth, and put a dash of cologne, yours not mine, and don't drown on it." His father concluded with a smirk. Abraxas was proud of his son.

Lucius knew better than to complain, when his father ordered, he'd better obey.

Only one part of the day was memorable and got him in big trouble. Narcissa was eight, and she was breathtaking. He had never thought of girls like that. Dogs, new brooms, quidditch, marzipan, Italian food, gelato, crisps, fish and chips, ice cream, biscuits, cakes, gateaux, croissants, battle gear, books, flying, horses, magical creatures, monsters, magic, curses , charms, ghosts, riding, fencing, mountains, skies, water sports, yes, check; yes to all of those; each of them were a double affirmative, but girls never.

Cygnus Black had expressed his desire to have one of his daughters married to Lucius. Abraxas knew there was only one way that he could agree to it, and he thought that it might be too early to find out; it was possible that one would not be able to tell at such young age. He thought that at nine the interest could just not be detected, and that fact worried him to no end.

It all really depended on Lucius. Nevertheless, he was also getting pressure from Tom. The Dark Lord wanted unions between his followers, and he needed at least to give it a try. It might work. Besides, Cygnus was clever, a marriage with Lucius, and his financial worries would be gone.

"Lucius, son, here are the Black lovely sisters. From the oldest to the youngest here we have, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa." His mother was talking to him from a far away place.

"Bellatrix will be starting Hogwarts in a few days. Her beauty is already talked about it amongst the entire wizarding world."

Lucius reserved and brooding attitude cleared as soon as he shook the young witches' hands. Well, not all the hands, he nearly recoiled once.

Bellatrix approached him with a young tiger's stealth. Her body was starting to develop, and she was truly beautiful; but only superficially because her eyes were cold and calculating. Lucius didn't like her at all. Besides he'd already made his choice. Bellatrix, however, didn't know how to take a hint, even after he courteously shook her hand, she turned her hand around and laid it onto his palm. She was waiting for a kiss.

Lucius knew exactly what she wanted, he had seen his father and other grownups kiss the ladies' hands, and he had learned it during manners' classes. He, however, left her with her hand up on the air and moved on to Andromeda. He overtly wiped his hand on his trousers, as he walked towards the next sister and stuck out his lips in disgust.

His mother introduced them, and he smiled briefly; he liked Andromeda. She had a beautiful smile, and he held her hand a little too long. She was a nice person, and her hands were friendly and warm. He turned her hand, and with a light curtsy kissed the air above her palm. He couldn't complete the gesture, but the only ones who noticed were his father and, of course, Andy.

"A real pleasure to meet you, Miss Andromeda, I hope to talk to you in the future, very pleased to make you acquaintance, your humble servant, Master Malfoy." Andromeda and Narcissa broke out in giggles but not for long.

Then without waiting for a prompt, with alacrity and a graceful move, Lucius was in front of the youngest Black witch.

He didn't say anything and instead kept his eyes on the target, the girl, his witch. He didn't shake her hand, just held it, and gave it a loud smooch with open lips; actually, he licked her, rather gauche. She angrily pulled her hand and pushed him away; and immediately, she dried her hand on her robe.

"Slob, yuck, you wet my hand, I think you licked me, you are very rude, yuck." Lucius let out a chuckle. He had heard his father laughing like that whenever he wanted to irritate someone; he shrugged his shoulders and went to stand by his dad.

His father saw this interaction, he sighed, children's normal reactions nothing special. Perhaps, it wasn't what he'd expected to see, maybe a little disappointing. Then he resigned himself, it had not been bad. He was quasi-satisfied with the outcome; the last thing he had wanted was to break a contract later on; so he decided that the young daughter was the one, and he hoped to be right.

Too bad, he would have preferred Andromeda better; she had a quiet, gentle beauty and seemed very bright. Of course that he was aware of the powerful magic in the older girl but did not like her for Lucius, she was disquieting.

One out of three is not bad, thought Abraxas. Lucius' blatantly rude comportment must have been an indication of his attraction for the younger Black.

Meanwhile, Lucius mind was confused. He couldn't figure out how a girl could elicit such strong emotions from him. He wanted to be her best friend, her only friend. Perhaps, his parents would make it possible to take her home and never let her out of his sight? That would work out perfect.

He had read about brides being raised by the in-laws, thus he would ask his parents to bring her to live with them. After all, his father had wanted him to meet them, and he was sure this was all about a marriage contract. Why not start early? Although, he was not sure what you could do with a girl around all the time? She could go shopping with Mother, leaving him free to do something fun. It was all set on his mind; he would ask his father before they left so she could pack a few clothes.

A strange thought occurred to him, namely, 'I want to cut a lock of her long hair, and maybe a piece of her robe. She smells just delicious; and...I want to taste her blood.'

The thought of blood did not disgust him; not at all, he had tasted his own, it was a little different, but not bad. He had been reading about Dracula, a Muggle book in his father's library, and the bad monster scared him. It wasn't bad, nah, he loved being scared. He had read young boys were like that, nothing out the ordinary. He was a young Wizard, and he was just nine. The blood drinking was interesting, but I am becoming a vampire? That isn't too good.

As soon as he was able, he decided to pull Narcissa into a dark corner. He knew that it would require great stealth and a bit of cunning. Not a problem, he had read a lot and was ready.

The parents had let the four young people alone without a chaperone at the converted nursery. The room was now furnished with couches, chairs, a piano, books, and other amenities for the now growing young women; a place to study and entertain their friends. One of the house-elves came around every ten minutes or so.

Narcissa shared a couch with Andromeda. They sat in separate corners; Andromeda read, while Narcissa drew on a sketch pad; she often lifted her head looking at her sister. Yes, she was probably sketching her.

Bella was reclined on a divan, belly down, elbows bent, feet up in the air, and chin resting on her hands. Her dark locks covered her back, her eyes fixed on Lucius.

She reminded him of Papillon, his father's Kneazle whose pastime was to sit and look at butterflies, after her namesake (papillon is butterfly in French). Sooner or later, the insect would land close to her, and in one fell swoop, swat, smack, and the beautiful insect would lay there torn to pieces. She would then get up and move on to the next one, without looking back.

Lucius stood up between the couch and the divan, displaying all the cool a nine year old could muster. Bella looked at him with anticipation and gave him a knowing smile. Hey butterfly come here, I just want to smash you. Lucius was certain those were her thoughts. He shuddered involuntarily and averted his eyes from the deadly Black girl, and focused on Narcissa.

"Narcissa, hello, sorry for making you upset, I was rude. May I call you by your first name? Let me try again," he had read the line in a few of the Muggle swash buckler books at his father's library. This line never failed with the ladies, the ones the pirate captain had offended before, and he always got a snog or two at the end.

"My damsel, I am Lucius Serpens Malfoy, at your service; would you please allow me to make your acquaintance?" He said gallantly, stretching his hand towards Narcissa as he bowed his head slightly.

Andromeda hid her face behind the book giggling. Narcissa's cheeks turned the shade of a cherry.

Bellatrix jumped with a kneazle's speed and grace, putting herself between the couch and Lucius. She was really a beauty, but at nine he didn't see that; all he saw was a nasty, mean witch. Bella took his stretched hand and turned around on hers, and before he realized her intentions, she rubbed the back of his hand on her cheek, and licked it just like he had Narcissa's earlier. She knew exactly what she was doing, Lucius later reflected upon this day.

"You can call me Bella, it is a short for Bellatrix, it means beautiful in Spanish and Italian." The curly, long haired witch was purring. He heard it. He quickly yanked his hand away from her, her saliva felt like poison, like burning acid, and actually hurt. He looked at his hand, and darned if it didn't look red.

Lucius didn't like her. He knew what happened was some kind of magic and even his body reacted against her. She gave him a bad feeling, "Get away, I wasn't talking to you." And he shoved her back on her divan, where she fell on her bum.

Andromeda, hadn't missed a beat, she was already behind Lucius right before he pushed the dark hair girl. Then with equal feline grace, she intercepted her body between the two, that were to be forever adversaries after this day.

She grabbed Bella's arms, who was getting ready to slap Lucius, "Bella, mother said to let Lucius play with Cissy, let's go get biscuits and pumpkin juice for all of us."

"Call an elf," Bella interjected rather nastily.

"I will tell mother about the stable boy, the squib. I have seen what you've been doing with him." Andromeda told her sternly.

And at that, Bella left with great alacrity.

Lucius seized the chance with equal speed, "Narcissa, I was wondering if you could show me that room on the left hall, the one with the old armors," as he dragged her to the small room in question. They laughed as the children they were on their way to the room. Cissy was glad, for a second, to have one up on Bella. The jovial atmosphere wasn't to last.

Lucius had a good plan. The room in question was away from the adults, and he also had thought the other girls wouldn't look for them in there. He was still not the clever wizard he would later become.

He couldn't see inside Narcissa, who was thinking that she didn't like Lucius. Could he not see she was already taken? Narcissa wanted to tell him about Dolphus.

Lucius didn't pay attention to her body language; all that he cared was to execute his already made plan. He needed to act fast, and that he was what he did. He knew that he would get into a lot of trouble, but he could not have imagined how much; it turned out worse than he expected. Damn Blacks, making a storm in a tea cup.

"Master Malfoy, I am not free to be here with you, I fancy someone else." Cissy had told him. Like he cared, he didn't even try to listen. In his mind, she was a witch soon to be his property.

Hmm, he was rather astute. He had cornered her. He pulled his magical Swiss army knife ready to go. It had been a present for his 8th birthday. He wished for a pair of sharp hair cutting scissors, and that is what he pulled. He knew he wanted a long strand of her hair and went for it.

Darn if it were not that nasty Bellatrix calling Andromeda, and in a second they were upon them, they kicked him trying to get Cissy away from him and also screamed around him. No way, he was blocking Cissy with his body while he completed his mission.

"Away, leave, she is mine, leave the room, or I will hurt you." And that was his biggest mistake, he wished for a large knife, and the scissors turned into a large, sharp knife, which he pointed in their direction. The situation was quickly getting away from him.

He felt a rush of power, he was able to lift Narcissa with one hand, and with the other he pointed the knife to keep her sisters at bay. They ran to get their parents. With great speed, sensing that his time was short, he chopped a piece of her robe, right close to her neck. Her neck smelled of marzipan, one of his favorite sweets, also of some other fantastic fragrances, and of a rich heady aroma, a little like blood.

Lastly, he kissed her ear and realized what he really wanted to do. He lashed his strangely sharp teeth onto her, sinking them just at the base of her ear, barely touching her neck. He wanted just a taste of her. Hopefully, it'd not leave a mark that would later mar her beauty. The ear sounded a safe place, it was just a little of her neck. No, it was a little corner of the ear and mostly her neck.

He went a little crazy and bit her with all his might. A stream{{ of her blood flew into his lips, it was delicious, and he drank it with relish. He licked any blood left around the ear and her neck. Darn, he had done a lot of damage; he had actually dug a big hole right on her neck and damaged part of her ear. There was blood all over both of their clothes. Andy had fainted at the sight.

As he licked the bite, it started to heal, the wounds disappearing on contact. That was unexpected, a bonus, no way, the blood on their robes was all gone, and he felt joyous. How? He still didn't know to this day. It must have been part a result of the magic made to protect his kind.

The elders just Apparated, and found Narcissa sitting on the floor crying. Andy sat by her in an attempt to console her. Bella was Bella; she was relating her own version. Lucius stoically stood by his father; however, all his insides were churning.

He wasn't repentant, only annoyed to have been caught. He still wanted to take the girl home, but knew better than to ask and to stay quiet. The message in his father's eyes and his mother knotted eyebrows, was loud and clear, "Stay quiet or we will kill you."

However, with no evidence of blood, no visible wounds, plus he had hidden the hair quite well, and the scissors had restored the cloth, who could say if he were guilty as accused. Hence without any evidence, they had to let it go.

The Black parents were mad at the girls for lying. Druella was less convinced, but there was little that she could do. Besides Cygnus wanted the union; he wasn't a good father and could care less if something had happened. The girls were just a material commodity, one to be bartered and traded. The contract was going to be signed, and that was all he cared about it. The House of Black needed the Malfoys' fortune, and that was that.

Abraxas knew better, and was looking at Lucius with wonder and apprehension; hence, he insisted they left for home immediately. The Malfoys were glad to leave; well not Lucius, who would have preferred to stay there with Cissy.

His father was quite upset, and his mother would not look at him for days, she thought Lucius had sprouted horns. His great grandfather, Serpens, came to see his father the night of the incident.

He stopped by Lucius' room on his way out. The miscreant had been sent to eat in his room for one fortnight. Serpens hugged and kissed the young wizard.

"Your grandfather Octan would've laughed at your antics today. You'd have made him proud. One day your father will tell you, it is his choice, I cannot do it. Everything will be fine; something tells me you have taken care of the situation on your own." Lucius still thought that it was too bad he had never met Octan; he had died before he was born.

He did ask a few days later to go back, he wanted to approach the subject of bringing her home; however, his father's look told him that it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. This was when Lucius made a decision; he was smarter than the Black girls and would back out, he was too young. He had tasted heaven and was ready for more, all true but he could wait. He did not quite understand what had happened, or whatever it was that had made it possible and right.

A few days after, his father made the marriage contract without saying another word. Cissy had refused to come down for the small celebration afterwards.

The Dark Lord and several wizards from the inner circle attended. Bellatrix had played the piano and Andromeda the violin. Cissy finally came and also played; but, never, not once she looked towards him. Once it finished, she left once again. Actually all the girls had been sent out, and he left with his mother a few minutes later.

Cissy was still a bit put off when reminded of 'the day.' She would, however, laugh when he teased her about her early love for Rodolphus. Invariably, in between kisses, she would tell him that after that day there was only Lucius in her heart. How the night the contract was signed, she was hiding behind a curtain, where she stayed looking at him the entire time.

Lucius was never at ease whenever the Lestrange brothers were around Cissy. She might have put it behind, they hadn't, a fact that was always obvious to him. He didn't like any males getting too intimate with his mate. She never failed to smile when she saw how the tall, powerful wizard glared with great distrust at the two brothers. Years later, their bond with Cissa would be their salvation, and their intervention would be the ruin of their worse enemy.

Next: A Malfoy Tale of the Mate-Kind