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Lucius regarded the ash tray as a relic from a simpler time. It had belonged to his great-great grandfather. Those times had been different. During those times, things were kept quiet, kept in the dark until the appropriate time. Back then, there was no divorce, marriage had been until death and affairs and such were just swept under the Persian rug that decorated the entrance hallway. Now, it seemed everything had changed.
Some of it for the worse, at least according to some of the pure-blood families who wished to still follow the old ways, to inbreed themselves into non-existence. Lucius smiled thinking about that, about how magic was dwindling in the world among the so called pure families. His had been spared, his son had magic at least. There was the fact Draco had been an only child, although, that was about to change. After Narcissa had left him in the wake of the final battle. Lucius had been a broken man. He spent months in Azkaban, no one had vouched for him as they had the rest of his family. That's where he'd met his salvation, his soul, his love.
Luna had been volunteering, doing he couldn't remember what, something about making sure the prisoners were treated humanely. He'd laughed at the concept, but in reality he was glad to be seen as a person and not another source of misery for the horrid creatures to feed upon. Luna brought him books, muggle books, safe books, nothing that contained any kind of information about escaping or the Dark Arts to which Lucius had once been drawn. She brought him muggle newspapers, with pictures that didn't move. He discovered he quite liked doing the crossword puzzles and soon Luna was helping him with the cultural references he did not know.
Slowly. That's how things had started, slowly. At first it was a lingering glance as Luna laughed, skipping down the dimly lit hallway on her way to deliver books to the other inmates. Then it was sitting across from her in the common area, that part had come as a shock to Lucius, to be allowed out of his cell, to be allowed to socialize. Luna had sat down next to him, her electric purple robes sticking out in the greyness of the prison. He'd been even more shocked when she spoke to him.
“One down is Bond,” she stated, nodding to the paper on the table. Lucius slowly entered the letters, blinking in surprise when he realized the word fit perfectly.
“Thank you,” he said, keeping his voice low. He wasn't sure he was allowed to speak to Luna, the rules were so different from what he'd expected.
“You're welcome, Lucius,” she said, flashing him a smile before rising to her feet and heading off to help someone else. Lucius felt his eyes linger. Luna was the only person who showed him such kindness here, the only person who seemed to see him as a man and not as some sort of animal who deserved to be punished. He found himself looking forward to seeing her day after day.
“They're releasing you,” she said one morning, dropping a book in the tray by his door. “Something about good behavior,” she added. Lucius nodded. He'd heard the same. He wondered what life would be outside these walls. Narcissa wanted nothing to do with him and he'd written Draco only to not get a response.
“I will miss you and the word searches,” he finally said.
“It doesn't have to end, I mean, you can still buy the muggle paper.”
“It won't be the same,” Lucius stated. “I'll still not understand a third of the references.”
“I could come by,” Luna offered. “To help I mean,” she added, giving him that smile. He loved her smile, the way it made it feel like he was standing in a beam of pure light. If it hadn't been for Luna, he had no idea how he would have survived in here, much less managed to get released early.
“I would like that,” he said.
“Good, I'll drop by the manor, you'll be staying there, correct?”
He nodded, giving her one last lingering look before she headed down the hallway and he was escorted from his cell and into the blinding light of freedom.
He pulled his eyes from the ash tray, knowing if it wasn't for the world changing around him, he'd never had found happiness, this happiness.
“Thinking about something?” Luna asked, stepping into the sitting room. Lucius smiled.
“Just you and our family,” he answered, his eyes lingering on the swell of her abdomen, the bump that was their child.
“Good, because Draco's coming for dinner. He owled and said he wanted to talk to you about something, I think he's going to propose to Ginny.”
Lucius nodded. After his release, he'd asked Luna to marry him. Draco had turned up at the wedding, wanting to mend fences and Lucius had happily accepted the olive branch. Luna was right. Everything was good, he had his son back, his wife, and soon, the newest member to the Malfoy name.