"The Dark Lord is Dead"

31 October 1981, 3 months later

The house elves were happiest when helping Serenity. They feared their masters, but she was as kind as a witch could ever be to a house elf. She was not their mistress, and they had no obligation to obey her aside from the direct orders from Lucius, before he left, to obey her. But when the Malfoys were set to host a Hallowe'en ball she turned to them for instruction. Lucius had extended his reach to the ministry as well as finding his way to the Dark Lord's side. With Abraxas away on Ministry business, as well, the final preparations were left to Serenity.

She was pacing the ballroom and kicking the emerald skirt of her dress ahead of her while an elf raced after her trying to focus on tying the velvet bodice around her waist. Her steps stuttered as she felt a sudden tug on her bodice. Reaching around the back, she ran her fingers over the lace, criss-crossing over her back and the neat bow tied at the bottom. Turning around, she looked down at the elf and crouched down, wobbling as her heels adjusted to the shift.

"What's your name?" The elf diverted her gaze, and shuffled away.

"Teeley, Miss." Serenity nods.

"Thank you, Teeley." The elf nodded and promptly scattered back to accompany the other elves. Sighing, Serenity pushed herself to her feet and looked around the room, unsure of what to do with herself.

Exiting the ballroom and approaching the main foyer, she stared down at her bare arms and traced the dark mark. She frowned, which wasn't uncommon when she looked at the mark. In fact, the mark made her blood boil. Every time she saw it on her arm, or on Lucius', all she could see was the identical mark on Dara's arm moments before Merritt died. Merritt, she sighs.

"I must be the luckiest Wizard," lowering her eyebrows, Serenity spun to see Lucius standing at the top of the staircase with his arms stretched towards her and a grin on his face, "to be able to come home to see you in that." Despite the blush on her cheeks, Serenity still couldn't battle her loss for words. He was wearing dress pants and shirt, freshly pressed for the party and, yet, the cable-knit cardigan that hung off of his shoulders cancelled any and every air of formality about him. He descended the stairs, using his cane despite not needing the support. Finally, she smiled.

"I thought you would be at the ministry longer."

"Mediocre business, they didn't need me." Serenity, couldn't resist running her hands through his hair. He must have washed it as soon as he returned home considering it was soft to the touch, unlike his usually slicked back hairstyle. His arm wrapped around her waist as he admired her smile, enraptured by her. "Would you like to style my hair today?" Her fingers stopped, she moved her hands to his shoulders.

"No, I know how much you love to do it yourself." Nodding, he released her hip and stepped back towards the staircase. "You can do my hair if you like." Within seconds, Lucius had grabbed her hand, and they were rushing up the staircase to finish getting ready for the party.

*

An enchanted record player filled the manor with music and Lucius and Serenity were waiting by the entrance to welcome their guests. Many of the death eaters were familiar with Lucius from the Ministry, however, since Serenity often refused to leave the Manor grounds she barely knew any of them... yet they all knew her.

Much to their surprise, Narcissa had arrived alongside Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. While the Lestranges continued towards the ballroom, Narcissa took it upon herself to greet Lucius with a hug and smile at Serenity. Although, in the time it took for her to turn to Serenity, the brunette was staring at the man standing in the doorway, fiddling with the button holes on his blazer. Brushing past Narcissa, Serenity approached Vaughn Floyd.

For a moment, they stood in front of each other and stared. His eyes wavered. Serenity looked at his hand to see his wedding ring still settled on his ring finger. Her breath caught in her throat, and she met the eyes of the husband of a woman she killed. The friend she killed.

"I'm so sorry, Vaughn." He nods, promptly accepting a hug from his friend. Her hold on his arms lingers as she considers offering any other words of support. Instead, she arches her arm and holds it out for him. "Allow me to show you where the party is?" He smiles down at her and links his arm with hers. Upon entering the ballroom, from among the swarm of well-dressed death eaters, a flurry of blonde hair was seen weaving between them and Lakita soon came to stand in front of them.

She had briefly greeted her sister before being distracted by a singular Wizard being directed by Lucius. The music was louder in the room and muffled the squeal Lakita had made upon seeing Vaughn. Unlike Serenity, she was more than excited to see the Floyds once they came out of hiding. Hugging Vaughn tightly, Lakita runs her hand up his back and speaks into his ear. The music drowned out her words before they could reach Serenity, and all she saw was how Vaughn had buried his face into her shoulder in response. With one final pat on his arm, Serenity spun around to return to Lucius.

She watched from the doorway as he pushed the door shut and turned to join the party. It was just the two of them in the quieter hall now, and he hurried to Serenity's side upon seeing her troubled face. He ran his hands up her arms while she hugged herself, the warmth of his skin warming her goosebumps.

"Juliet?" He murmured. Glancing back into the ballroom and seeing Vaughn dancing and chatting with Lakita, Serenity sighs and lowers her eyes.

"He doesn't know how she died, Lucy. You shouldn't know." Lucius redirected her chin to look at him.

"The Dark Lord told you not to say anything. You mustn't disobey him... even if you already have." A moment of silence passed. "Smile, my love. People will talk." With that, the two entered the hall arm in arm. Lucius shared small talk on their way to the centre of the hall to guide Serenity in a dance.

As the night continued, the two danced to two more songs before moving to the side and grabbing a drink. Narcissa, Vaughn and Lakita engaged them in conversation with the occasional interruption.

A clock in the corner of the room attempted to mark the tenth hour under the music and the windows around the hall exploded. A sharp gust of wind knocked the witches and wizards sideways and someone stumbled into the record player. As the music dwindled, everyone looked up from where they had stumbled over to see a dark mass swirling above their head. As it began to speak, glowing green, everyone's dark marks simultaneously began to throb.

"The Dark Lord is dead." The disembodied voice said nothing else and the dark mass disappeared.

Death eaters left right and centre began apparating away. Some took it upon themselves to draw their wands against each other and, suddenly, Malfoy Manor had become a nest of chaos. Serenity was still crouched down, with Lucius looming over her and the two cowered away as a spell hit the table cloth beside them. Looking up, Serenity found herself face to face with Narcissa's wand.

Leaning away, Lucius held a hand out to Narcissa as his other scrambled to find where his cane had rolled away to. The small group stood to their feet, the tension growing thick as Serenity held both her hands up in surrender.

"Narcissa-" Lucius was interrupted as Bellatrix ran up to her sister.

"Cissy, let's go!" Narcissa shrugged off her sister and, soon, the Lestranges had apparated away from the chaos. Vaughn and Lakita were crouched beneath the table, poking their heads out from beneath the table cloth and their wands at the ready.

"I've been waiting for this moment." Serenity stepped back against Lucius' chest, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Seriously? It's been years, Narcissa, get over yourself." Narcissa cast a spell, however Serenity batted it away. "You disappeared two years ago, I would've thought you had moved on from some schoolgirl crush." As the mocking tone in her voice sharpened, Narcissa began to fire a barrage of spells at Serenity.

Pushing Lucius back, Serenity blocked the spells with one hand and drew her wand with the other. She remained on the defence and focused on wearing her opponent down. It was childish, she knew, to be duelling over a boy- no, a man. Yet Serenity knew that Lucius was the one person who had loved her before and after she became a death eater. He, aside from her brothers and sisters, was one of few who had yet to judge her. And she would be damned if she let him go without a fight. Narcissa stumbled after a few minutes, which left room for Serenity to apprehend her.

"Expelliarmus!" Narcissa's wand left her hand and skidded across the floor. Now wandless, the woman looked defenceless. Her blonde hair mimicking Bellatrix's wildness.

"You want to know where I was? Why I disappeared?" Serenity nods, steadying her breathing. "I was pregnant." The room fell silent. What they hadn't realised was that it had been silent for a long time, and the only remaining death eaters were corpses. Vaughn and Lakita had stood from their hiding spot, watching the scene play out. "I had a son." Narcissa smiled, too distracted to register the confusion on Serenity's face, she carried her gaze to meet Lucius'. Lucius shook his head slightly, his eyes warning Narcissa from behind Serenity's back. Narcissa didn't listen to him. "His father is in this room with us."

To begin with, Serenity looked to Vaughn. He, however, was mirroring Lakita's disbelief as they both stared at Lucius. Turning her back on Narcissa, she backed away from him.

Opening his mouth, Lucius found he had no words to say. He shut his mouth.

Gaping, Serenity pointed at him and then at Narcissa. She brought her hand to her mouth and backed away from the two of them, her mind racing.

"I don't- I don't understand." Her finger was still shifting between the two. She then looked up at Lucius. "We were happy," her voice cracked, and he visibly flinched. He shrunk back when Narcissa came to stand next to him, his eyes pleading with Serenity. Upon seeing Narcissa's comfort when standing next to him, Serenity could've sworn she saw red. She held out her hand and soon, Narcissa was on her knees and scratching at her throat as she gasped for air. The others started yelling. They were begging for Serenity to stop and Lucius scrambled for his cane. Narcissa looked up at her, her eyes bloodshot, and her face a hideous shade of violet. Lakita yelled for her to stop.

"Is this how you killed Juliet?" Narcissa managed to choke out. It was enough for Serenity to falter. She blinked, wondering how Narcissa would know. Vaughn looked up as Narcissa gasped for air.

"You killed her?"

Serenity looked to Lucius, how often did he see Narcissa?

"You told her?" Lucius was now pointing his wand at Serenity. His chest hurt, his heart was breaking. Lucius Malfoy was not a liar, yet he was not one for confessing his every wrong-doing. When he told Serenity he loved her he meant it, he still does, but he loves his son, and he is loyal to his family's honour.

"Of course he did." Narcissa struggled to her feet, clinging to Lucius and holding up her hand to flash a ring. A wedding ring. Serenity looked to her sister, who also looked conflicted.

"You killed... you killed my wife?" Finally, hearing Vaughn, Serenity looked at her old friend. Her mouth parted and she felt her face drop.

Suddenly, the room began to fill with witches and wizards, each of them bearing the emblem of the ministry. Recognising a few of the aurors, Serenity promptly apparates from the grounds. Lakita yells out as her sister disappears. Vaughn struggles against Lakita's grip and ends up apparating the two of them out of the manor.

Lucius and Narcissa look around at the aurors.

"Rier," Narcissa announces to them, "she attacked us."