Lucius gestured for the old Auror to sit in the empty seat beside him. As he took his seat, Lucius continued to sip his drink. "Alastor Moody. Such an honor it is to see you. I wouldn't have expected the Ministry to go to such lengths as to drag you into this."
"Well, not the Ministry that you serve, Malfoy."
"Maybe not. But still, it is an honor, indeed," Lucius replied as he raised his glass to toast the Auror..
Moody leaned in as he spoke to Lucius. "You know what they do to wizards who meddle with time, Malfoy. You don't want this to turn ugly."
"On the contrary, Moody. I don't intend for that to happen," he whispered to the older man, flashing the same charismatic smile he had greeted him with.
"Well, I don't know what your intentions are," Moody grumbled, "but you are not supposed to be here. Best that you come away from this now, before it gets out of hand, or else you'll get the maximum penalty."
Lucius continued to drink, partly because he was thirsty, but more so because he was trying to buy some time. "If you're referring to Azkaban, I've been there, done that. And considering what I've been through to get here, there's not much that can be worse."
Moody grabbed his hand, but Lucius grabbed Moody's with equal force. "You see, friend, I didn't arrive here on a whim. I have business to take care of, and I intend to handle it before I go anywhere else."
"Malfoy," Moody seethed quietly under his breath, trying not to cause a commotion, "you've taken this too far! You don't know what you are doing! You must turn back now!"
"I cannot," Lucius responded calmly. "To go back now is to go back to the pain and suffering that I've been through. The same pain and suffering that I've put my family through." The words confronted Lucius hard as he spoke them. He swallowed as he tried to keep alump from developing in his throat. Lucius knew he had pushed his family to the brink of destruction; he knew things had gone too far to ever make it right again. Lucius' heart began to break as he remembered the letter. His demeanor started to falter, but he didn't let it show through his smile. "I can never forgive myself for what I have done to them, Moody. But I can ...I will... make it up to them."
"Here's your meal, sir." The chubby young woman put a plate down in front of Lucius. "Can I get you anything?" she asked Moody.
"No. We'll be getting on our way."
"Surely not before we eat? We do have a...long way...to go before we get home." Lucius winked to the old man to irk him further.
Moody grumbled at his cheeky response, but the old man looked like he could use a bite to eat. "Our journey is ...long...indeed. I guess a quick bite before we head out wouldn't be a problem," he responded politely.
"He'll have what I'm having, then," Lucius replied to the woman as he tipped her with the change he'd found in the pants he'd taken from the servant. The woman smiled before she waddled back to kitchen, leaving both men to continue with their disagreement.
"We're leaving, Malfoy!" He grasped at Lucius' arm, but he pulled away before Moody could get a good grip.
"Don't cause a scene! I still have my wand and I'm not afraid to use it if I have to. Besides, it would be rude and illegal to leave without paying for the meal."
" You're one to talk about legalities," Moody laughed.
"Be that as it may -- sit down and eat. We can discuss this later, outside."
Grudgingly, Moody sat with Malfoy and waited for his meal. He looked over to his plate to see what he would be getting. "What is that, anyways?"
"I believe it is boar stew. She says it's particularly good tonight. Why don't you try some?" Without warning, Lucius swung his plate high to make sure it struck Moody’s face. Moody flayed his arms in pain, trying to get the meat and vegetables out of his eyes. Moody was about to reach for his wand when he noticed that Lucius was gone. The commotion had been enough for Lucius to sneak out of the Leaky Cauldron.
When Lucius got far enough away from the inn, he pulled out the history book from his satchel to get his bearings again. "It should be this way," he muttered. After running a few blocks, he came upon what he had been looking for.
An ancient repository stood in the distance. Its rundown silhouette was a beautiful sight to his old and weary eyes. Lucius' heart raced with excitement as he felt himself gaining the upper hand in the situation. Soon, he would have what he needed to make things right in his world.
"All will be as it should," he whispered as he ran to the entrance.
Immediately he lost his momentum as he walked through the entrance and scanned the place. Scrolls and other pieces of parchment were littered through the entire area. He would be hard pressed to find what he needed in this state of disarray.
Feeling frustrated yet still determined, he rested on a pile of old books, wondering how to begin.
"It's in here somewhere, Lucius," he coaxed himself. Yet the burden of proof weighed heavily upon him.
Just then, a strange noise sounded from behind him. Lucius pulled out his wand, readying himself to dispatch the situation.
"You owe me five knuts for the meal." There was Moody, standing with a half-smile on his face.
"Really, five knuts? I don't think five knuts could buy a piece of bread in our time." Lucius kept his good humor as his wand targeted the old man. "Interesting how you keep showing up just at the right moment. I would never suspect a man of your age to be so fast on your feet... or foot." Lucius waved to his mechanical leg. "What kind of training are they giving at the Ministry?"
Moody kept the sarcasm going as he circled Lucius. "Still basic training, but in times like these, it helps if you have this."
A flash of gold caught Lucius' eye. He could tell, from the object in Moody's hands, how he was able to keep up. "Hmmm. I don't suppose those Time-Turners are standard issue now."
"Not really, Malfoy. Yet it does help me keep on the move. But there other things, clues here and there, that made it obvious to me where you were going." The old man pulled out a piece of parchment.
Dear Lucius,
As Lucius reached for his pocket , he realized that his letter must have slipped out in his hasty exit.
"Shall we continue with our discussion?" Moody said in a gentleman-like tone as he rested against the wall. The Auror's eyes narrowed in on Lucius as he waited for his next move.
Lucius still kept his wand targeted at Moody as his mind worked furiously for options. "There's nothing to discuss."
"Malfoy, you are meddling in things no one, not even a wizard, should be meddling in! This is mad, even by my standards! And they call me Mad-Eye!"
"You don't understand!" Lucius yelled as he watched for an opening.
"It's not for me to understand. I have been ordered to protect and serve. To keep time in order. The Unspeakables did not charge me with the task to understand or reason."
"Then you leave me no choice." Running out of options, Lucius cast a spell that caused Moody to sink into the wall.
"MALFOY!"
"I guess they didn't teach you that in training." But Lucius was wrong, for the wall exploded with sudden violence, sending shards of plaster everywhere as Moody liberated himself from its confines.
"YOU'RE GOING BACK, MALFOY! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, YOU ARE GOING BACK!"
Staying fast on his feet, Lucius did some quick wand movements, sending wave after wave of parchment toward Moody. The old man ripped through the first barrage, but Lucius kept ahead of him. In one wicked motion, Lucius conjured a tsunami of books to stop the old Auror.
When the debris cleared, the room fell back to silence.
"That should hold you," Lucius said as he coughed through the dust cloud. Nevertheless, he knew that it wouldn't hold Moody for long. Making another hasty retreat, Lucius ran out of the main room and down a side hall of the repository. As he ran, he came by a door with some familiar writing on it. He consulted his book to refer to the picture of the item he had been searching for.
"Merlin, it must be in here." Lucius opened the door, only to find darkness within the room.
"Lumos!" Nothing. He repeated the charm a few times only to see the same results. The darkness still remained. Other enchantments he tried did nothing to illuminate his situation. The mounting stress threatened to overwhelm him as he stood, helplessly, in the room. "What the devil is going on?"
Determined to get what he needed, he felt along the wall within the dark space. "It's got to be here somewhere." Within a few steps his hand brushed against a knob. He tried to turn it, but found that the door was locked.
"Alohamora!" It didn't work. He tried a few more things, only to be left feeling frustrated by the lack of results his efforts garnered. The room was somehow magic proof. "None of my spells are working."
Desperate for a clue, Lucius scrounged around some more in the darkness, hoping to find anything that would aid him. As he did, he began to hear the rustling of someone else's feet in the room.
"MALFOY!" Moody shouted into the darkness.
"I suppose you were bound to catch up to me sooner or later."
Lucius could hear the shuffling of Moody's feet coming closer to him. Timing it just right, he stuck out his leg, causing the Auror to fall. The loud thud made him realize that, this time, Moody was out cold.
"Old fool. I tried to tell you. I'm not going back just yet."
Lucius frisked Moody's body, taking his Time Turner and the letter he had left behind. He checked his pulse to make sure he was out, but not dead. "Sorry about this, but I'm truly up to good this time."
As he surveyed the man's condition, Lucius noticed the odd position he had landed in. He felt something hard underneath Moody's head. As his hands moved around the object, he noticed that it felt like feet.
He looked up and saw a face in the darkness.
Lucius rolled to his side, pointing his wand in the shadow's direction. He slowly lurched from side to side, seeing if the stranger noticed his actions. As Lucius crept up to the person, he saw how motionless the stranger was. As Lucius walked closer, his tension subsided as he saw that it wasn't a person but a statue..
"This must be it." Returning to the feet, his hands traced the bottom like a blind man reading Braille. Within inches of Moody's head, he found the markings he needed inscribed within the pedestal. Taking a moment to figure out the words, he spoke them aloud, hoping that what happened next would be the key to his survival.
"Enys Gnal Dlua!"
Suddenly, a fury of bright light showered over him before dissipating. When he looked around, he noticed that he was no longer in the room... nor was he at the repository.
"This is not happening!" another voice sounded in the distance. Lucius looked over to see the familiar red hair and green eyes of a woman, along with the distinctive messy black hair and hazel eyes of a boy.
"Child, please. There must be something else," cried the woman.
Lucius' heart leapt out of his chest. "This has to be it. This must be what I've been searching for."
He was hesitant to interrupt their conversation, but under the circumstances, he was left with no choice.
Considering how he'd treated them in the past, he doubted he would receive a warm reception, yet still he pressed on.
He had come too far to turn back.
