Lucy offers his two sickles!

Lucius Malfoy POV

Things were not going well for our movement. I believed the Dark Lord to be capable and powerful wizard, just like my father does, but things were not going his way.

Dark Lord was already a short-tempered individual, and his propensity to scourge your minds to find what he seeks, made him a dangerous person to lie to.

You cannot bear your soul to another individual, and not come to revere him like a deity, and seeing how often Bella spent with him, there was no wonder, how she had become so devoted to him.

If Lucius didn't know any better, he would have believed that Rudolphus was being cuckolded by the Dark Lord. But knowing how much the Lestrange Heir loved his partners young, unwilling and nubile, Lucius doubted the Lestrange man would have minded his own wife sharing her bed with another, especially if the said man was their master.

But things were going downhill, when Lucius heard the news of the attack at the Yaxley manor, where Avery, Nott, Rabastan and Rowle were found killed along with their unwilling enjoyment for the night.

Lucius himself, was invited to the celebration, but Dark Lord had sent him to France to find the Giant's Tribe and invite them amongst our forces.

Now, Lucius found himself thanking for the small mercy, for not being at the Yaxley manor, where now there were splinters and gore of the cooling corpse of his brothers, who were murdered.

The first thought Lucius had was, that it was that blasted Muggle-loving Dumbledore's goons, but this did not seem to be within their capabilities.

They were hypocrites who would let their own people die, and use only non-fatal spells, to try to show their "kindness". The nerve!

But, even the Dark Lord suspected it may be that Longbottom's spawn. Whatever one said about the witch, Augusta Longbottom was a smart broom in the closet, and she knew the difference between Dittany and Moonshine. But even this seemed to be, something beyond her, to attack unprovoked.

Then, this meant, that there was a new player on the board, and he or she didn't play fair. It was revolting to not know of this enemy, who had waged a war on our forces, from the shadow.

If they hadn't attacked the Yaxley manor, the Snatcher forces, the Werewolf tribes and even the thieves and crooks (which Lucius often employed to acquire something for him and his Lord), Lucius could very much see his Lord inviting this individual to join their ranks.

But He had made himself quite a capable enemy, and it seemed this enemy was a far greater threat to his Lord's dominion than Dumbledore and his Mudblood forces could ever be.

This enemy was ruthless, every action made to challenge his lord, every murder committed to spite his master, and every person attacked was one of the trusted person, and part of the exclusive inner circle which Lucius was a part of.

The latest attacks on Black, where the large number of hotel employees were murdered, was another setback to his master, and a blow greater than ever before.

Bella, and her family were all killed, and their wands and vault keys taken, as if to mock the Lord that each capable wand of his is now broken. When Lucius heard of this attack on the Blacks, he attended the emergency Wizengamot meet, where the cruelty of this enemy was further investigated.

Apparently none of the guests alive there, knew that something so sinister was happening on the grounds, and when they heard an explosion, they saw the slaughtered and mutilated remains of the Black family.

Dark Lord was thundering in rage, the entire week, and he had sent his pet werewolf Fenrir Greyback and his trusted hand Barty Crouch Jr. along with a portkey, which would summon the Dark Lord himself, if and when some trails of this murderer was found. But, it had been more than a week, and our Lord's patience was growing thin.

He had started lashing out on us, and with each day, we failed to identify this enemy in the shadows, and force him to prostrate before our Lord, we were all scared at the utterly wrathful Lord, who seemed to redirect his anger at his followers, which included him too.

Lucius had noticed a lot of things in his tenure under the service of his master, but he had learnt one thing. His master may be powerful and ambitious, but he was an incredibly selfish and self-serving master.

His father, Lord Abraxas Malfoy had sworn his fealty to the Master, because he could see the winds were changing direction, and it was better to serve a master, who had your collective interests in mind.

But now, after losing Bella, his Master seemed to grow somewhat desperate. He had seen his master prefer Bella over all his servants, and everyone knew Bella had the favour of the most powerful Dark wizard of all time.

But, after seeing the remains of her body, and her family with it, he could see how Lord was growing a lot violent with his attacks, and even planned a haphazard attack on the ministry itself, to re-establish his fear and terror.

But the fate truly seems to have something against his lord. Greyback and Barty could find no trails leading to the murderer, and this enemy seemed to be quite a shrewd one too, as all his scents and magic was cloaked and hidden and even his Lord could find no traces of his magic.

There was an Unspeakable in the service of his lord, and his lord had hoped to track down the murderer using his magic and travelling methods.

But it seems, this foe was quite capable, as he had used an apparition along with the portkey, and all breadcrumbs from the scene of the crime ran cold.

This was another blow to Dark Lord's reputation, as he couldn't even put a face and a name on this enemy who managed to hit his master where it hurt the most.

And now as he stood in the Ministry Atrium, the cooling corpse of Barty nailed into the wall, and a Black Dagger in his chest dripping blood on a Stele placed below his feet.

And the apparent Epitaph on the Stele was another ringing blow to his master, if there was a sliver of truth hidden in this message.

Narcissa was already broken in tears at the brutal deaths of her family, and now seeing this message, Lucius couldn't help but wonder if he should go into hiding. It seems the reign of his Master is truly nearing its end, and Lucius couldn't help but wonder what end he and his family would meet, when this is all over.