Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe was created by J. K. Rowling.
No monetary profit is being made from this writing
Summary: Lucius Malfoy sees a witch child abandoned by her muggle parents.
Warning: Deals with child abandonment.
Set after Severus Snape left You-Know-Who
Rating - PG
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THE LITTLE WITCH GIRL
His business with Mr Borgin in Knockturn Alley had completed, Lucius Malfoy gathered his snake staff and head off down the street, his silver platinum hair in contrast to the darkness. Malfoy was now in the Muggle world, nothing of which he hated more. He was grateful that a new moon had birthed this night. He hated to draw attention to himself here. Here he felt like a fish out of water ... The one place he feared besides Azkaban, the Wizard prison. He considered himself above all muggles and mudbloods, but in numbers, he feared them and as he had once commented, he would not put it past them to burn him at the stake, despite that harsh, unbelievably cruel and practice being outlawed in the eighteenth century.
A muggle car raced past him, almost knocking him over. Malfoy cursed virulently in Latin, but he daren't use his wand, lest some muggle see, and it would be rather embarrassing to have to explain his loss of temper and the apparent death of a car full of muggles to the Ministry of Magic.
The beige car skidded to a halt and a door flew open. Malfoy watched as a small child was violently pushed onto the street. The child was glowing.
"Evil child!" a man hissed.
"May you go back to the devil from whence you came!" A woman shrieked.
'Mama ..." The child wailed.
"I am not your mother, Spawn of Satan!"
"Daddy!..."
The door slammed and the car sped away.
"Mama! Daddy!" The girl screamed again, thrusting her hand out.
Malfoy's blood boiled so furiously, he thought he would explode. He gripped his wand, but again, he would not risk a Dementor's kiss for the lives of two worthless muggles.
He saw he car speed through a red light to be in the next moment crushed by a massive mack truck going the other way, both passengers killed instantly.
Malfoy glared at the wreckage. "What goes around comes around."
The tall man approached the child. The girl looked up at him, afraid.
"Death?" she asked.
Lucius was thrown by the question a little. "No," he replied. "Death is a little taller and he has a hood and a scythe."
The girl smiled for a brief second, then looked upset. Tears began to stream down her face.
She could not be older than four.
"Why did my mummy and daddy throw me away?"
"You are different from them," Malfoy said, disgusted by the girl's parents.
She looked at her hands. "Is it because I glow?"
Malfoy nodded. "When did you start glowing?"
"Today ... on my fourth birthday..."
Lucius nodded, again appalled how the girl's parents could do this to her on her birthday. "You're and Angelicus," he said.
"A what?"
"An Angel Witch, to use a lay term."
"You mean like magic?"
Malfoy nodded. "Yes, exactly like magic."
The girl nodded, taking it in. To Lucius' surprise she did not seem thrown by the news.
"I always thought I was different ... I always felt different, even before I started to glow..." she said "... Everybody said I was strange..."
"You're not strange," Malfoy said. "You are unique. Angelicus' are very rare."
The Girl smiled. "I'm special?"
"...Yes," Malfoy said, clearly not sued to the idea of comforting a child.
"But why were my parents so mad?"
"Many fear what they do not understand ... Muggles ... non magical folk are like that ... Most of them..."
The girl nodded sadly. "It's not fair..." she wailed.
"No, it's not."
Lucius picked up the very small girl. "Those filthy muggles do not deserve a child ..."
"Where are you taking me?"
"To where you will be safe, Child."
"Mummy told me never to trust strangers, but you seem nice."
Malfoy chuckled. "I have been called many things before, but never that."
Malfoy took the child to Merlina's Orphanage for Witch and Wizard children.
Madame Nagrina opened the door looked with sympathy at the tiny child. She reacted with surprise when she saw the child's hand glow.
"She was abandoned by he filthy muggle patents in the middle of the street," Malfoy hissed.
"How appalling ... Though not all muggles are like that, you know. My parents were Muggles, and decent ones at that ... They knew all about witches and wizards and sent me to Hogwarts."
"Please, please ... no lectures on good and bad muggles ... Will you take the child?"
"Of course we will..."
The small girl looked up into Lucius' eyes. "Don't you want me?"
He looked down at her with sympathy. "I'm afraid I cannot care for you. Things are ... very complicated... You will be safe and well cared for here, I promise you."
"Do you have a name, Little One?" Madame Nagrina asked.
"My parents gave me one... But they were so mean ..." The little girl began to cry.
Madame Nagrina wiped away her tears. The girl looked up at Lucius. "Can you give me a new name?"
The question threw him for a moment. "All right," he said. "How about Lucia or Angelica?"
The Girl smiled. "That's a lovely name ... My name's Lucia Angelica, Madam."
Nagrina smiled. When she took Lucia Angelica from Mr Malfoy, his sleeve rolled up a tad revealing the Dark Mark.
Madame Nagrina almost dropped the child and became terrified. "Ohh my Gods ... you're a Dea.."
Malfoy raised a hand in a non threatening manner. "I bear no ill will to you or this establishment," he said. "I only wish to help this child."
"That ... is very noble of you ..."
"Thank you."
Malfoy turned to leave.
"Thank you for helping me find a new home," the girl said, grabbing and cuddling him.
Malfoy clearly felt uncomfortable, though somewhat touched at the same time.
"The pleasure is mine," he said. "Be Well. I must leave you now."
"Goodbye..."
Madam Nagrina took her inside to feed and bathe he and meet the other orphans and abandoned children. Lucia Angelica never saw the white haired stranger again. Somehow she knew he was far from an Angel but to her, he would always be a hero.
Lucius continued to walk down the dark street. His stomach knotted tight as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I never thought I'd see the day ..."
"Severus ..." Lucius was clearly relieved.
He turned to see his former comrade, seemingly a floating head, the outline of his pitch black robes barely visible in the darkness.
"You'd scare the living death out of someone sneaking up on them like that."
Snape managed a small smile. "I saw what you did."
"I'd appreciate if you keep that under your hat."
"Of course."
"We can't have the Wizarding world thinking I've gotten soft, now can we?"
Snape's chuckle was barely audible. "No, I guess you have your reputation to upkeep. After all you have just saved a little girl ... a Mudblood no less."
"Don’t remind me ... Actually, it reminds me of a muggle tale I heard when I was a child called The Little Match Girl, about a little girl selling matches in the snow. No one wanted her matches and one day she fell asleep in the snow and died ... I remember feeling really sad ... and angry at how the muggles could do that... leave a child to die in the snow, despite the fact that the child was herself, a muggle."
"Strange what moves us, isn't it?" Snape said.
"Even more surprising is how two disgusting muggles could create an Angelicus..."
"Not much surprises me anymore ... But this is an exception ... You saved the girl because you felt sorry for her ... I would have done the same, mind you, but coming from you, that's nothing shot of phenomenal."
Malfoy gave a small smile. "Nice of you to say so."
"It proves you do have a heart after all."
Malfoy scratched his chest. "Maybe ... somewhere..."
Snape smiled again. "There's hope for you yet, Malfoy."
Lucius looked at his dark haired friend. "Gods, I hope not."
*