The Three Broomsticks

"Of course." Arthur smiled. "Weasley's were raised to be gentlemen, I wouldn't think of leaving you without one." He leaned in and kissed Lucius, wrapping his arms around Lucius' waist and holding him close. "Good night, Lucius."

Lucius kissed Arthur back, enjoying the embrace. He smiled at him, though it was small- it was still there. "Thank you for a wonderful evening, Arthur. I'll expect to hear word of our next date from you soon. ...Good night, Arthur." He said and left the room of requirement with a graceful swish of his robes.

-

"You're very late." Severus said as he watched Lucius come into the common room. The blonde sat down beside him, a big smile on his face. "I see whatever it is you were doing was worth it."

"Oh.. oh very much so Severus. We listened to muggle music! He had more records and they were so wonderful."

"I'm assuming he's getting a second date then." Severus got up, leading Lucius up to the dorms.

"You've assumed correctly." He chirped, stashing his record player beneath the bed, before changing for bed. "I can only hope we'll listen to more. Goodnight, Sev."

Severus merely nodded, sliding into his bed. "Goodnight, Lucius. Just be careful- you know what your father would say."

Lucius didn't bother responding, barely letting that thought drift into his mind as sleep took him.

The next morning found Arthur in a fantastic mood. James and Sirius were instantly curious, and unamused that their joke date had seemed to backfire on them.

"Did you get another date?" Remus asked, as the Gyffindors headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He sounded like he might be genuinely interested, while the rest were just being the usual jackasses.

"Did you snog his pretty prissy face off?" James asked, making obscene kissy faces and sucking noises at Sirius. Sirius cringed.

"Yeah, did you snog?" Peter piped up, echoing James's question, but no one seemed to hear him.

"Potter, don't ever direct your exaggerated pretend Weasel-Malfoy snoggings at me. Or any snoggings, for that matter. I'm sorry to break your heart, but dear boy you are simply not my type." Sirius shoved James playfully.

Arthur ignored their questioning. At the Gryffindor table he took the brief moments where those four weren't watching him or questioning him endlessly, to glance over towards the Slytherin table and the blonde who sat there. He couldn't wait until potions class rolled around, and was distracted in his other classes until it arrived. He hurried into the classroom, and sat down next to Lucius.

Lucius kept stealing little glances at Arthur from the Slytherin table during breakfast and lunch, trying to keep his attention on his food but found it difficult.

"Really." Severus murmured to him as they entered potions. "You should be playing harder to get."

"If you listened to the music, you'd understand." He murmured back and took his usual seat.

Before Severus could even sit, there was Arthur sitting beside Lucius. In HIS seat. His upper lip curled in response and he made a move to sit with one of the Mundungus twins. This arrangement between Lucius and Arthur could cramp his existence. He couldn't fault Lucius, there wasn't many opportunities for a Gryffindor to see a Slytherin. So long as he still had his spot beside his best friend at the Slytherin table, things would be alright.

"Good afternoon Arthur." He said with a smirk and removed his hair ribbon from his bag. He always wore it up when he worked on his potions. He pulled up the long silky strands into a ponytail, nimbly tying the ribbon around it. "Seems like the idiot brigade were questioning you at the table. We must be the topic of the day. ...How good are you at potions, Arthur?" He never noticed- Lucius was gifted at them and usually he teamed with Severus to unfairly shift the balance of talent to Slytherin. ...Severus. He had forgotten! He glanced over to him, giving the pale boy a slight wave of which, was returned, complete with a look of contempt targeted at the Mundungus twin he was with.

"Um...well...I haven't melted a cauldron yet, but potions is certainly not one of my strong points." Arthur looked down at the cauldron, and then at Lucius. "I'm hoping you're better at this than I am."

From behind Severus a familiar voice jeered.

"Ooh...what's wrong, Snivellus Greasy? Did Malfoy shove you aside for that goofy Muggle-lover?"

"James, please pay attention...cut this. No not that! This." Remus sighed. James always did this during potions. If it wasn't for Remus, he would no doubt be failing. "Never mind, just let me do it.

From the table behind James and Remus, a third voice piped up.

"Dear oily awful Snivelly, you shouldn't take it so personally. I'm sure Lucius just prefers to sit next to someone who bathes regularly...or at all."

Peter, next to Sirius was carefully pulling wings from dead flies, and laying them into a small pile which he was counting out for their ingredients. Sirius couldn't be bothered with such things. At Sirius' comment, Peter couldn't help but laugh--and then he lost count of his fly wings and had to start over.

"I wonder what this would do?" Sirius snatched a spider up that was crawling across the table. It wasn't meant for their potions, it was simply trying to get out of the way. Sirius flung the spider into the beginnings of he and Wormtails potion. The bubbling potion immediately turned a bloody red, emitted a horrible stench, and began screaming. "Is it supposed to scream?" Sirius asked, only slightly concerned, and mostly amused.

"You're forgetting I'm in the Slug Club, Arthur. Don't worry about it." He touched the other teen's shoulder and then scowled at the Marauders. "All of you... knock it off. Don't talk about Severus that way!" He said defensively. "None of you have the talent he has, and if you knew what was best for you, you'd get a life or eat a big one. Preferably both at the same time, and should you choke, all the better." He snipped and cast a look to Severus.

Severus looked back at him, giving him a thankful look. Lucius often took up for him, good to know that hadn't changed. "Don't worry about it Lucius, I'm not. Their potions work speaks for them..." He wrinkled his nose and covered his ears.

Lucius covered his ears as well. "How do you live in a house with them?!"

Slughorn came back into the room from getting supplies and nearly dropped everything. His eyes rounded on the two Gryffindors. "Black! Pettigrew! What are you doing?" He grabbed a small bottle off of his desk and dumped the contents into the screaming potion. "Sorry lads- you'll have to start out all over again."

Once the screaming had stopped, Lucius grabbed up his carving knife in his nimble fingers. "The key to this root, Arthur, is not the actual root itself, it's the way you carve it. The peel is the most powerful element." He grabbed up the root, carefully peeling it back and depositing the peel in the cauldron. The brew turned the appropriate shade of periwinkle. "So far, so good."

Arthur watched the potion turn the appropriate color, thankful that Slughorn had put and end to the awful screaming that had been coming from a cauldron in the back of the room. Lucius question about how he could possibly live with those four: Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew, was a valid question which Arthur had asked himself on occasion.

"Oh, Remus is actually a nice fellow, I don't know why he's constantly with that lot, honestly. Peter's pretty quiet, but he has sort of a creepy rat look to him which I'm not very fond of. The other two...are constant annoyances."

Arthur watched Lucius carefully as he continued on with the potion. He swiped some of his fiery hair off of his forehead, but it just tumbled back down over the pale skin.

"For our next date...I wanted to take you to a record store. There's one next to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Remus seems rather harmless, but the rest?" He shook his head. Lucius brightened instantly. "A record store! Just where I wanted to go. I want to get more records from people we listened to. Afterward we can go back to the room of requirement and listen to them!" He said in a hushed, excited voice. "I can't wait, Arthur! When can we go?"

"Go where?" Slughorn asked as he made his way over to the table. "Is everyone invited?" He joked.

"We're... we're going on a date, professor." Lucius said with a bit of a smile. He loved Slughorn, the older man doted on him far more than his father ever had.

"A date! Well then, that's wonderful. Good to see you happy for a good reason, Lucius! ...Good to see you happy and not sneering, not to mention it ...Excellent job on the potion as well, beautiful shade of periwinkle. 20 points to Slytherin and Gryffindor for the good work!"

Lucius smirked at Arthur. "Not bad, hmm?" He purred silkily. He saw out of the corner of his eye, Severus working hard with one of the Mundunguses- who was for once, quiet and trying to learn what Snape was doing. This was working out better than expected.

"Well...why wait? How about after our classes are done for the day?" Arthur suggested.

Later that day, Arthur waited at the Leaky Cauldron for Lucius. He had arrived early and sat at the bar with a Butterbeer as he waited, eager to see the proud form and purposeful stride of Lucius Malfoy approaching. Arthur had used a charm to fix the red rose he had worn on their blind date, and then had added a second charm that would keep it from wilting and browning up as all flowers (at least, unenchanted ones) eventually will. He might have been too sentimental but this flower now meant something special to him, and he was going to make a point to wear it each time he and Lucius went somewhere together.

Arthur kept an eye on the door, completely ignoring the flirtation aimed at him by a dark haired man sitting on the bar stool next to him. The dark haired man leaned closer, and nudged Arthur in a conspiratory manor.

"Does the carpet match the drapes?"

Arthur frowned. Why on earth would this man be interested in his carpet?

Lucius pitched a fit all evening. They were supposed to be going on a date to a muggle record store, yet he didn't have anything that didn't really scream "wizard". He bitched, moaned, paced, and shouted at anyone who would listen until the Mundunguses took him upstairs and gave him a fast muggle make over.

He came into the Leaky Cauldron wearing a pair of hip hugging bell bottom jeans with a union jack belt buckle, a Rolling Stones shirt, a pair of big brown sunglasses and his long hair swinging freely around him. Once he spotted Arthur he ran over. "I'm here! And look! Muggle clothes! I'll blend in!" He said almost proudly until his eyes fell on the man sitting next to his date. He sat beside Arthur and made a display of kissing him hello. "Let's go, hm?"

Arthur nearly fell off his stool when he saw Lucius come in wearing--oh those jeans. They fit Lucius in a scandalous way, showing off a pair of graceful legs, curvy hips, and no doubt a very nice arse to match. Arthur coughed, choking for a moment on the rest of his Butterbeer.

Lucius kissed him, and he had barely the wits at the moment to kiss him back.

"Um--oh--er, yes. Go. Let's go." He slid his empty mug away from himself, and left payment. He felt his face had grown hot again, and new his cheeks were probably as red as the enchanted rose that hung from the simple hemp braid he'd fashioned for it.

Arthur followed Lucius outside, glad for the cool evening air against his blushing face. He took Lucius' hand.

"The record store is just this way." He showed Lucius out of the alley and to the left, just next to the pub.

Arthur pushed the door open, and a little bell rang announcing their entrance. He was immediately hit with the strong, sweet, aroma of burning incense and...some other scent he couldn't quite place. Arthur stepped inside, mesmerized by the small store. Up front were t-shirts, many color tie-dyed and others which were support for various causes or bands. There were rows of brightly colored vessels, tall with spouts, varied and interesting in each of their unique forms. Posters, stickers, and flags, hung all over the walls. At a desk in the back of the store was a man with a mane of dreadlocks, his bare feet propped up onto the desk. He was blowing rings of smoke up towards the ceiling, as the girl next to him sat perched on top of the desk in a flowing skirt, a vest, and a tremendous amount of beads and bangles adorning her person. She was playing a beat up guitar, her eyes closed and lost to what she was doing.

But what was best, were the seemingly endless rows of records. There were so, so many. Arthur didn't even know where to start.

"You kept the rose." He reached over and touched it, nodding in approval. "The red rose suits you.." He murmured and then looked up at the store. He was expecting something far more grand than what he saw, he let Arthur go in first, not sure of what they found.

His nose wrinkled at the strange odor. The incense was fine, but... what was that other smell? He shrugged it off and saw a poster for the one Led Zeppelin album he owned. "That's like the cover on my record! ...And here it is on a shirt... And there it is on a button..." So many things- Lucius was totally dazzled. He glanced at the muggles at the back, they were certainly strange ones with state of dress and attitude. He shrugged it off and started moving around through the rows. He picked out several records- more Led Zeppelin, more Pink Floyd, some of the band on the tee shirt he wore, and a few others just because the album cover looked good.

The door opened up and in walked a muggle with a shredded up union jack shirt, leather jacket, and skin tight jeans that hung off his lanky body. He had piercings in his upper lip, all over his ears, his nose, and eyebrow. His hair was spiked into a huge mohawk. He glanced around the store at the ginger and the blonde with the stack of records cradled in his arms. He moved over to them. "'Ey. If you're buyin' records mate, pick up this one." He pulled one from off the rack and tossed it on to Lucius's pile.

Lucius stared up at the man as if he had grown six heads and nodded quickly to appease him. He looked down at it reading off the title. "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols."

"Bloody right! Bout time they got a scratch." He gestures to Arthur. "Ey ginger, is that your bird?" He said motioning to Lucius. "If he likes Zep, ya should take im' down to the concert next week. Won't be back from across the pond for quite some time, best see im' while they're here."

Arthur moved beside Lucius, and took Lucius's stack of records and put them atop his own--Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, and Kiss. He put his free arm around Lucius, carefully balancing the heavy stack of records.

He looked to Lucius, unbelieving, and then to the man with all the shiny things in his face. His hair was quite...remarkable.

"You mean, the people who sing on the record are actually going to be here?" He moved towards the counter and put the wobbling stack of records down. He noticed a couple of bins on the counter, one with many buttons, and the other with various stickers. He thought of how the stickers would look splendid on a bumper--if he had one. "You mean, we could go see them?"

"Blimey- you mean you've never been to a concert, ginger cake?" The muggle punk looked shocked. "Well yeah mate! That's how they make their money! Ya buy tickets, ya stand there, and ya listen to im' play live! Nothin' in the world quite like it. Concert's on the 15th. Ya should take your bird."

"My name is Lucius!" Lucius said rather indignantly.

"Right love, right." The punk nodded. "Ya should go. See ya both there!" He said and waved them off.

"I am not a bird. And I am not a love either." He wrinkled his nose and then turned his attention back on the stack of records. "Oh Arthur- we'll be listening to music forever!" He looked ecstatic when he counted them all up. He had a bunch of muggle money he exchanged with Fletcher- who was becoming his go to man for all things contraband.

The man with the dreads blew a puff of smoke into Arthur's face, and rang up their total. The swirling smoke was beginning to make Arthur feel funny. He rubbed his eyes a bit, and looked to Lucius...having the irresistible urge to giggle at him for no good reason.

"Of course you're not a bird, love." Arthur smiled. "You've no feathers."

Arthur couldn't help the laughter that escaped. He tried to keep it behind his hands which he clapped over his mouth but he couldn't. After a moment he managed to pull himself together a bit, and wiped at his eyes, feeling embarrassed, and yet amused at his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Lucius. I think this smoke is...doing something strange to me." He picked up one of the stickers in the basket, and studied it with a look of grave concentration. He was in fact, holding it upside down.

"You can have that sticker, dude. No charge." The smoking man said, rolling his shoulder indifferently.

"Oh...but I'm lacking a bumper." Arthur stated, squinting.

"Then don't put it on a fuckin' bumper. Who says you have to put it on a bumper?" The girl with the guitar spoke up. "Put it anywhere you want, man. That's the beauty of it, you can put it anywhere you want. Nobody can tell you where to put your sticker in life, man, you know what I mean?"

"Right!" Arthur peeled the sticker off of its backing, and stuck it to his forehead. "How's that?"

"You don't have to put it anywhere they tell you to. You tell THEM where to put it--fuck the man!" The guitar-girl went on. Arthur moved closer to Lucius, waving his hands around at the smoke.

"I didn't know you could put them anywhere." Arthur mused, and looked long at Lucius and his interesting, intense, gray eyes. "I"m taking you to that concert so we can hear Muggles play those amazing songs. I think I would take you anywhere...you don't have to be on my bumper either." He patted the upside-down sticker on his head, failing to make much sense with his last few words.

Lucius wrinkled his nose again at the smoke, waving it quickly away from himself as to not smell it. He listened to the hippie and the girl with the guitar. One thing in particular stuck out in his mind. Who said he had to listen to his father? He didn't have to, it wasn't necessary- Abraxas never listened to him so why should Lucius? "Fuck the man..." He echoed. "We don't have to do anything the man tells us to do, Arthur." He liked that, he liked that a lot.

"I want you to take me everywhere, Arthur- especially to that concert. I want to go, and I don't care who knows." He snipped and took one of the pins out of the container that had an image from one of the Led Zeppelin records he bought. "I'll take this." He said and put the appropriate amount of money on the counter for it. He put it on planning to wear it right underneath his prefect badge.

Because who was going to tell him no? He smirked at the thought. No one was going to tell Lucius Malfoy no. "Come on, let's get out of here- I feel lightheaded and fresh air'd be nice right about now."

The fresh air was nice, and it cleared Arthur's head a little. He took the bag of records from Lucius, and carried them, slipping his arm around Lucius as they moved down the sidewalk glancing at storefronts. They past a hair salon which was closed for the night. Inside behind the big glace pane were rows of chairs, some with large, bulbous, cap-like features that curved up and over from the backs of the chairs. They looked quite nasty, and Arthur wondered what that contraption could possibly be used for. Next was a hardware store. The large window displayed so many things, all of them wrapped in questions, mystery, and intrigue for Arthur Weasley. This store was also closed, and Arthur got the feeling that it wouldn't much interest Lucius anyway. One day he would come back when this store was opened, and he would spend hours looking at things which Muggles used to put their world together.

Next to the hardware store was something even better...a cinema. Arthur's hand rested on the curve of Lucius' hip, a finger hooked into one of his belt loops, as he looked up at the marquee. Beneath broken, unlit bulbs, was advertised a showing for the upcoming weekend: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Lucius wasn't paying much attention to the buildings. He was too busy looking at periodically at their bag of records, imagining what wonderful sounds they held within. He'd glance up to Arthur, watching him look into muggle stores, noting the curiosity on his face. He wondered what the big deal was, why he was so obsessed with everything muggle, but shrugged it off. He put his hand on Arthur's, on the one covering his hip.

Once they came across the cinema though, his eyebrows perked up in interest. "Star Wars: A New Hope." He said looking at the poster. It got his interest- there in the background was some kind of city while two young people were in the foreground, a woman and a man. The man was holding something that looked like a wand. He titled his head to the side.

A bored ticket booth operator glanced over to them from behind the glass. "Move opens up this weekend. Ya want tickets or what?"

He broke away from Arthur. "...Yes." Lucius wandered over and bought two tickets to the show. "We are coming to see this... thing, Arthur. Whatever it is. Here's your ticket." He said and tucked it into the record bag.

Arthur was overjoyed. He slipped the ticket into the back pocket of his corduroy pants, and took out some Muggle money that he'd exchanged with Sirius--who for some reason, had happened to have some. Sirius also made up his own rate of exchange, which left him coming out better than Arthur had, who would not know the difference anyway.

"I can't wait to go--but I'd like to pay for the tickets, you already bought all of the records." Arthur fanned out the crumpled bills. "Let's see...I have used this a couple times before, but I can't really seem to keep it straight, how their money works. Um...here, just take it."

He folded the bills and slipped them into Lucius's back pocket of those curve-hugging jeans. He couldn't help but allow his hand to linger for a moment, inside the pocket against Lucius's firm backside. The moment felt longer in Arthur's mind than what it really was--very quick, since Arthur didn't want to be a creep and a pervert. "Attraction" and "curiosity" seemed like better words.

"Let's get back, and listen to some of these records. I can't wait to hear them! And the movie--the weekend really can't come quickly enough."

Arthur kissed Lucius briefly, feeling much better without that odd smelling smoke making his eyes ache. He had forgotten about that sticker on his head, which was actually a symbol for gay pride amongst Muggles, though Arthur had no idea. The background was rainbow stripe, and in black blocky letters it read (or would have, if it was right-side up) 'Live and let love'.

"Are you sure Arthur- I don't mind-" He paused when Arthur slid the money in the back pocket of his jeans. The other boy gave him a shit eating grin. "You just wanted to grab my ass, didn't you. You could have handed it to me, you know." He looked absolutely amused, and not upset at all.

"Oh I know." He nodded. "I want to listen to.. to the Sex Pistols." he sputtered out, the name alone made him blush a bit. The name was so scandalous alone! "You'll have to keep that record with your things, Arthur. If my father found out I was listening to something called Sex Pistols you'd never hear from me again." He made a face, but it soon melted away into their kiss. Once they parted he reached up and turned the sticker around. He stuck it back to his forehead.

"Arthur..." He cast a look back to the movie theater as they left it behind. "What is a movie anyway?"

"A movie...well it has something to do with people being on this large screen...and the people on the screen pretend to be the characters. The movie tells a story, sort of like a book but done in images, is how it was described to me. I would like to see for myself--those signs for this Star Wars thing looks very interesting. I'm sure it's much better seeing it than having it described."

Back at Hogwarts, the two made their way excitedly back to what was becoming a favorite spot of Arthur's. The record player was set up on the shag carpet, and Arthur placed The Sex Pistols onto the player. He sat back and waited, holding Lucius, for the music to begin.

Lucius laid down on the rug, resting half of his upper body against Arthur's- his arms folded on the leg of his corduroy pants. The music of the Sex Pistols filled the room, and the mind of a young pureblood, groomed to do what everyone told him to do- find a woman, produce an heir, prove to everyone that you're better than them. This music however... This was all about everything he wasn't supposed to do.

Scream and shout, rebel- be loud. The line I want to be... anarchy rang out in his mind, nestling deep as he had never thought of it before. He mouthed the lyric in time when the refrain came up, shutting his eyes in thought. It was like what that muggle woman in the shop said- fuck the man.

"S...So that was punk." He murmured in shock. "I can see why that pierced gentleman looked... the way he did. I.. I liked he message. No one ever said those things to me before. I never... considered rebellion."

"If you do consider it, just...please don't put any of those shiny things in your face, like that Muggle man had. Your face is far too pretty. I suppose you're rebelling anyway; buying Muggle things, listening to their music, being with me...a Muggle lover. I don't think it matters, Lucius. I don't think it's fair that others should be cast as unequals because of what they are. Being born a certain way does not make one any better, or any less. Our births were completely out of our control, it was only chance that we were born as wizards. We could have been born Muggles, or centaurs, or vampires, or slugs! I do have to say, I am quite glad that you're not a slug, or else I might not like kissing you quite as much as I do."

Arthur smiled at Lucius, thinking that the blonds' talk of rebellion made him even more attractive--something that up until now, Arthur wouldn't have thought possible. Maybe it was because they were spending more time together, slowly getting to know each other a bit better, that Lucius was quickly growing on him. Anyway, he didn't care why it was. It just was.

"...Arthur, you have yet to know me but know this- I hate unnecessary pain, and I consider ALL pain to be unnecessary. Those.. metal things look like they hurt like hell." He made a face. "I won't be getting them." He went quiet when he heard Arthur speak. He wasn't sure what to think. It was true though, birth was luck. Pure luck. And for the longest time Lucius thought he was the luckiest.

But should his father find out about everything he had been up to, he wondered what would happen to him. A flicker of worry crossed his face and he looked away from Arthur, feeling slightly ashamed of his muggle clothes but not of his record player. No, never. He could never be ashamed of that. Or Arthur. This brave teen who dared to think things so controversial to his upbringing. That alone in itself, along with the music and the rebel yell pulsing in his veins. Everything felt so emotional, so powerful.

He got off of Arthur, leaning up to kiss him hard on the lips- sliding his tongue in past his lips. He wrapped his arms around his neck, bringing himself into Arthur's warmth.

Arthur parted his lips willingly, enjoying the slick-velvety feel of Lucius' tongue sliding against his. He pulled the blond into his lap to get him closer--it seemed like an automatic response. His teeth gently grazed Lucius' lower lip, and his hand slipped beneath the silken locks of Lucius' pale hair, and tilted Lucuis' head back a bit so he could return the kiss and taste Lucius; whose mouth overwhelmed the lingering flavor of the Butterbeer he'd had earlier on in the evening. He pulled back, not really wanting to stop, but doing so anyway. He didn't want things to get to carried away--unless, maybe Lucius wanted it to. That thought made his heated face even warmer, and he pressed a kiss to Lucius' chin, his fingers stroking soft circles at the back of Lucius neck.

His blue eyes connected with Lucius's gray ones, peering questioningly over the rims of his glasses.

"I don't know how I'm ever going to pay attention in lessons, when I'm going to have that kiss on my mind for quite a while."