Sophie had not awakened, yet, for Severus had placed a Healing Sleep over the child when she finally began to show positive results from the hourly doses of the anti-venin.

"She'll just sleep for now," Severus said softly as he lowered the lights in the bedroom. "Lucius," he spoke firmly, yet quietly, to the older man that had watched the child like a hawk. "Come. We need to talk."

Unusually acquiescent, Lucius wearily stood and followed his friend from the bedroom, casting one long glance back at his daughter. For a brief moment he watched as her breathing was a gentle hush no longer hitched by the poison.

Severus led Lucius into his study, giving Harry a quick nod to let him know that all was well and they'd talk soon. Truth be told, Severus dearly wanted to take his son into his arms and just hold him. Working on Sophie had stretched his nerves thinly as he worried, just as much for her as for Lucius.

Closing the door of the study, he summoned tea and sandwiches from Dobby, and for a long moment the two wizards ate and drank in silence. It was Severus, of course, who spoke first.

"Would you care to enlighten me as to how you have a four year old daughter when the Battle at Riddle Cemetery was almost three years ago?"

Lucius stared into his empty tea cup and didn't speak until Severus waved his hand, thus filling the cup magically.

"You recall the meeting that Winterbourne called five years ago?"

Severus nodded. Winterbourne had been one of the few Unspeakables that had been a follower, an enthusiastic one at that, of the Dark Lord. No one had known him by name back in the day, and none had ever seen his face. Winterbourne, though, was the silent shadow that Voldemort often sent on missions he did not trust his other elite Death Eaters to perform.

Just precisely what Winterbourne had been to the Dark Lord, none wished to guess. Unspeakables were a breed on their own that most witches and wizards were leery of. They were steeped in the most arcane of wizarding mysteries and practised a form of neutrality that often skirted the edge of Ministry law. Lucius and Severus had both wondered that night if Winterbourne hoped to become the next Dark Lord.

The meeting the Death Eaters had been summoned to by Winterbourne had become a quickly aborted power-play. Considering that the Dark Lord was already making an attempt to return, it had not been a wise move on Winterbourne's part. Theodore Nott senior had dealt ruthlessly with the Unspeakable, catching him off guard with a quick Killing Curse.

Lucius and Severus had left the meeting with the knowledge that Voldemort was returning. No one really knew how, but the signs, the burning of their Dark Marks, was there. Severus had returned to Hogwarts to speak to Dumbledore of the meeting. He learned that night that the mad murderer Sirius Black had breached the castle's wards and had nearly killed Ron Weasley.

"I didn't return home," Lucius began his story. "As you know, my marriage was a sham at that point, and if Narcissa wasn't shopping my vaults into bankruptcy, she was complaining about our lack of a social life with other Death Eater families. I knew the moment she heard about Him returning, I'd not hear the end of it. So I went into Muggle London. I was just walking and rather enjoying the lights, the noise, and even the smell of the rushing automobiles. I love our world, but there's something about the Muggle world that allows one to get lost within it."

The past came to life as Lucius spoke of that night in Muggle London.

Not really paying that much attention to the signs posted, Lucius did allow himself to follow the weak sounds of music. He had transfigured his clothing into a simple pair of jeans, a white, heavy linen shirt, boots, a vest, and he'd tied his hair back into a simple leather cord. Teenage girls, grown women, and even older women smiled at him, or flirted outrageously. Lucius had always played up his looks and his charm, but only on the side of his Pureblooded nature. His superiority had been rather legend.

Smiling relaxedly at the teens, and the ladies, he presented a side of Lucius Malfoy few had ever seen. Hands casually in his jeans pockets, he followed the sounds of life to a club where the patrons were spilling forth from it.

The women were in a variety of dresses from silk to sequins, to modest to outrageous. The men were equally dressed in clothing that ran the gamut from baggy jeans to long, vampire like cloaks. It was a goth club that drew in the pale, white-haired aristocrat as though he were a gothic jewel.

Lucius didn't dance, but just allowed himself to be buffeted by the crowd. They passed him through themselves and after nearly an hour he was back out on the street. His blood was pumping as his heart beat rapidly, and colour flooded his cheeks. He strolled away from the club in a pleasant daze until several blocks later when he was almost knocked into the street by a slight body.

"I'm so...!" The young woman suddenly scrambled over and against his back just as a huge, overly muscled man roared out into the street from the bar they must have been in.

Lucius reacted instinctively and smoothly bounced back up onto his feet and met the Muggle man before he could reach the young woman. Their scuffle was brief as Lucius, trained nearly from birth how to fight with his fists, weapons, and magic, took the large man down. The larger man lay groaning upon the sidewalk as blood dribbled from his broken nose.

"Are you all right?" The sudden attention came from the young woman that had hidden behind him earlier. She had a lace handkerchief out and was gingerly dabbing at a cut on Lucius' cheek. "Dawg really shouldn't drink. He turns into such a monster when he does."

"Boyfriend?" asked Lucius as he remained still for her ministrations.

She smiled wryly. "He wishes." She folded the bloodied cloth and tucked it away. Two men had come from the bar's interior and they were picking up the large man called 'Dawg'.

"Em?" asked one. "You okay?"

"Fine, Billy. Are you and Tully going to take Dawg home?" She asked.

"Yeah, we'll deal with him." Billy glanced at Lucius. "You good, mister?"

"I'm fine," replied Lucius. He wouldn't admit it, but he had found the scuffle rather invigorating.

The young woman, Em, it seemed her name was, chuckled at Lucius' side. "I think you enjoyed taking Dawg down."

Lucius smiled down at the petite young woman. He rather liked looking down at her. Narcissa was a tall woman who could look him in the eye and there were times when he found that gaze of his wife's eerie on top of being haughty.

Eventually he discovered that the young woman's name was Sofiamina, the Squib daughter of the lead tightrope walker, Antonio Davissimo. Her name, Sofiamina Davissimo, was such a mouthful that she preferred the much abbreviated nickname, Em.

Lucius paused in telling his story. "That night... we just talked. Narcissa never just talked with me, but Em did." He tried not to look at his friend, but the deep frown upon the dark-haired wizard's features hurried his recitation.

"A year later I learned that Em was pregnant with Sophie. With Journey's help, I sent Em away to Ireland. I had a cottage there that was under Fidelius that no one knew of. I had planned, if needed, to escape there someday with Draco." Lucius sighed heavily and put down the once again empty cup he'd been cradling loosely between his hands.

"I sent Em away with the expectation that I'd never see her again. Neither did I ever expect to know my child with her. As it was, everything was escalating towards that night in Riddle Cemetery." He shuddered as he recalled the blood ritual that had been performed that night using the blood of the "Chosen One" to resurrect the Dark Lord.

"I recall, when the Order made it to the cemetery, that you were about to curse Potter," Severus nearly whispered.

"The Sleeping Curse. I had not expected that Dumbledore would have put a tracking spell..."

Severus interrupted, "I put the spell on Potter. I suspected that Moody was not who he said he was, yet Albus had been so certain it was the auror. When Potter vanished from the maze, I caught Moody and forced a potion down his throat to reveal who he truly was."

"How did you know Crouch had used Polyjuice Potion?" asked Lucius.

"My personal stores were being reduced," Severus replied, his eyes narrowed sharply. "I had accused Potter of stealing the ingredients since I was certain he had done so in his second year. When I Legilimensed him during our short confrontation, I learned it was not he who had taken them. I already had my suspicions about Moody, and so I made a potion to negate the effects of Polyjuice." He shifted and put down his empty teacup on his desk. "You said you were going to use the Sleeping Curse on Potter. Why?"

"I knew that either you or Flitwick could identify it and reverse it," shrugged Lucius in reply. "It would have kept him alive, I think."

Severus nodded in agreement at the wisdom of the spell Lucius had nearly cast. "As it was, we were soon in the midst of battle and I lost sight of you until I was certain that I saw the real Moody and you trading hexes."

"A considerable opponent, but he is not as fast as he once was," Lucius gave his friend a small smile. "While Moody was disentangling himself from a Tangle Legs Hex I managed to ditch him, and stumbled right into the path of Bellatrix."

Severus sighed and shook his head. He recalled that the mad witch was not at all discerning in the vicious spells she had cast. Her magic struck both friend and foe in her bid to find Potter and kill him for her Dark Lord.

"From there, it's a bit foggy," continued Lucius. "I kept going in and out of consciousness and somehow I was walking in between those times. Everytime I woke, I was hidden in some bush, or behind some building. The last time I woke I was certain I was dead since I saw Em's face over mine."

Lucius smiled gently as he recalled the morning he woke to find himself healed. "I learned later that I'd remained in a coma for nearly a month. Em was beside me nursing our daughter. It took me awhile to realise that I'd forgotten my past with the exception of the time I'd spent with Em." Lucius' brows peaked in a sharp scowl. "I don't know why I didn't lose that time with Em, but I'm glad I didn't. It kept me sane."

"She left Ireland," Severys stated.

"The circus was her family," Lucius shrugged.

"Where is she now?" Severus asked carefully.

"She died last year," Lucius' voice was haunted. "Sophie would have had a little brother but he and Em both died. I had not known that Sophie's birth had been a very difficult one. All I knew was that Em wanted another child. She was so very happy when she did get pregnant, and I fell in love with her all over again."

With his fingers steepled and the two index fingertips against his lips, Lucius was momentarily lost in the past. "Narcissa felt she had to hide herself away in the Manor when she became pregnant with Draco. I have always wished she hadn't because Narcissa was never more beautiful..." It seemed his thoughts drifted away with the memory, but then he asked, "Where is Narcissa?"

"As acknowledged Head of the Noble Family of Malfoy, Draco excised her from the Malfoy family not too long ago," explained Severus. "She has a family home in Italy, I believe, where she retreated."

"A magical excision?" asked Lucius pointedly.

Severus nodded. "Draco hadn't meant to do so magically, but his conviction and intent were strong. The dissolution was recorded at the Ministry within an hour. With your supposed death, and this familial dissolution, I'd hazard a guess that you're quit of Narcissa."

Lucius let out a soft breath of relief. "I had not looked forward to seeing her again." Lucius sat up abruptly. "Does this answer your questions, Severus? I think I ought to go sit beside Sophie while I try to figure out what to say to Draco."

"Just one. A clarification. Is Sophie four years old?"

Lucius rose from his chair as Severus waved his hand to open the door to the study. "She'll be four in the spring. May 4th, to be exact."

Once Lucius had returned up the stairs to his daughter's room, Severus sat at his desk, his fingers drumming slowly on the surface. It really wasn't a surprise that Lucius had taken a lover while still married to Narcissa. Their marriage had been an arranged one meant to tie two families together and to produce an heir to carry on the Malfoy name.

It had been surprising to learn that Em had been a Squib. At one time, Lucius Malfoy had been adamant about having a relationship only with a witch, which was one reason why he continued to tolerate Narcissa, even after she gave birth to Draco. However, these days, Lucius not only worked in the muck of a circus and enjoyed it, but he also rather hated silk these days as opposed to cotton or flannel. Severus smirked and gave a small laugh to the silence of his study.