only the pleasure of a private life [closed]

[malificence]

Who: Lucius and Bellatrix
What: Just a witch and a wizard having a lazy weekend breakfast
When: Over the weekend.
Where: Malfoy Manor
Warnings: Disturbing levels of domesticity. Dark Arts Nerds, probably.

He still goes back and forth between Malfoy Manor and the far more distant and isolated Lestrange property where he had been living - but more of his nights are being spent in his own home, and it has its advantages, no matter how many times he contemplates just moving to the cottage in Cornwall and leaving them to it (a brief and unrealistic fantasy, honestly). One of them, frankly, is his kitchen elves are better than Rodolphus' are - and the spread includes coffee and tea, of course, but also chocolate and almond croissants and his favorite éclairs.

One might posit that after months of breakfasting with likeminded friends, a solitary late breakfast at Malfoy Manor - long after the boys have gotten themselves out of the house - might be lonely. It can be, certainly, Lucius thinks as the coffee pot raises in the air and pours the perfect amount of black French coffee into one cup. But not always.

His arm stretches across Bella's back as he reaches for the sugar. Which obviously he doesn't need to do, either, but. Well. "Cream, darling, or are you too busy stealing books from my library?"

Comments

[scinlac]

Bellatrix does pet the cat, but Tess has found her point of interest in a loose corset strap, pawing at it and making it dance. Really, there is room for the theory that, when she had first become an irregular guest at Malfoy Manor, her main appeal had not been ear-scritches or conjured mice for play or no hesitation to let her sleep on the bed, but rather the fact that nearly nothing Bella wears comes without straps that are bound to be undone and just plain a delight to play with.

“We could have bade our time and waited for another position to open up.” Or open one up by force, but with their luck, it would have been Muggle Studies, and none of them were qualified for that. “But we don’t have forever. Besides, you do make an excellent team.” As of yet, she has no idea just how uniquely suited Lucius would have been for the position, nor does she really see the sexism in sending Alecto. The Death Eaters are arguably a boy’s club, and it is, again arguably, due to the nature of their ideology, and as much as she had to fight teeth and claw to gain a rank that, were she a wizard of equal skill, would have been handed to her on a silver platter by her supposed peers… she agrees with the concept. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black does quite well on the mind-washing front, and Bella’s compartmentalising is truly impressive. She will violate plenty of rules regarding her position – her refusal to have children, her refusal, even, to marry, quiet and secretive and temporary as that is, only stretches to herself.

We all have our defence mechanisms.

[malificence]

It's true that Lucius' clothing is, in a word, less interesting than anything Bella wears. He doesn't even disagree with Tess on this point, as it's quite beyond him to argue with corsetry, garters, loose straps and dangling ribbons. Tess is only a cat and Lucius is only a man.

"We could have," he agrees. But Muggle Studies was the most likely. The others - charms, defense against the dark arts, transfiguration, arithmancy and ancient runes - those are all pure professors and there'd be a bit of an outrage if any of them were removed. Divination does make sense, as it's the most frequently vacated post.

Bella's got no idea how well Divination would suit him, he thinks, and he'd prefer to keep it that way. As close of friends as they are, as tangled as they tend to get together, as many years as they've known each other - there are some secrets to big to keep. A Seer among the ranks of the Death Eaters? Lucius is not entirely certain he wishes to be so useful. "The lesson plans are amusing, at any rate," he murmurs. "My father is rather of the opinion that I ought to have been an academic. Isn't it an amusing thought?" Perhaps in a different life, but there are things he loves more than seeking more knowledge.

Or, well. Ways of seeking that go beyond the pale for academia.