Chapter One: I Want to Break Free

Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to JKR. I just borrowed them for a while.

Chapter One: I Want to Break Free

"You really are a bastard, Lucius," growled the dark-haired wizard as he sprawled in his favourite armchair in the library of Malfoy Manor.

"What have I done to offend your delicate sensibilities this time, my friend," asked the elegant blond as he poured his best elf-made wine into two glasses.

"I could have had a peaceful yet heroic death as a martyr. But no, you had to interfere and save me. For what? An excruciatingly slow demise by boredom!" Severus Snape took the glass from his old friend and peered gloomily into its depths.

Lucius Malfoy pondered the complaint. He could understand Severus's frustration. After twenty years dancing with death and torture at the hands of a crazed megalomaniac and a master manipulator had been ended by a simple Expelliarmus, peacetime had become safe, secure, and mind numbingly, bloody boring. Neither he nor Snape would admit they missed the adrenaline highs of the war; they were not familiar with the Muggle term, after all. Their gratitude in the face of absolution and restoration of their social standing remained firmly displayed for all to see; their every action, however, closely scrutinised by sceptics for signs that the public had been duped. But behind closed doors they craved a little excitement, a little relief from marking mediocre Potions' essays, doling out detentions, and shifting Galleons from one burgeoning Gringotts' vault to another.

Snape had returned to Hogwarts after his exoneration, leaving the bureaucracy of the headmaster's office to Minerva McGonagall, and immersing himself in the tediously comforting familiarity of trying to instil Potions knowledge into reluctant teenagers. He had been offered the Defence position again, but the relative lack of Potions experts and the abundance of well-trained, and now underemployed, tutors for Defence had found him back in his dungeons for the past year.

Lucius knew he had been fortunate. His father had instilled in him a deep belief in his own worthiness; being a Malfoy would always be his greatest asset. The early, heady days of Voldemort's first rise to power had affirmed all he had been taught about the superiority of Pureblood wizarding families, especially the wealthy. However, the innate instability of Tom Riddle had rapidly become evident, unfortunately not before Lucius had taken the Dark Mark and committed himself to the life of a Death Eater. By the time he had realised his error, he had a high maintenance, cold wife and a spoiled, demanding son to protect. Malfoys looked after their own, first and foremost.

Looking back, he wondered whether the years of prostrating himself before an increasingly deranged Voldemort; the time spent in Azkaban, which had left an indelible imprint on his psyche; and the increasing stain on his precious family name were worth it. He had long ago abandoned the belief that the Muggle-born were lesser creatures deserving only contempt. He had fought too many powerful Muggle-born witches and wizards over the years in his guise as a Death Eater to cling to that tenet. Certainly, they were not Malfoys and generally not wealthy, and for that he felt a certain smugness, but he did not hate them. His overt disdain for all things Muggle over the years had been his armour against the discovery by Riddle of his loss of faith, the maintenance of his family's safety paramount. After all the dust of the final battle had settled, he had been left with a loveless marriage and a detached son determined to distance himself from his father's sins. So much for family loyalty. He regarded his half-blood friend, who was still meditating on the unfairness of survival. Surly, short-tempered, and sarcastic, but reassuringly present.

"This will not do at all, Severus. What are we if not wizards of the world? Sitting here moping about, awaiting our decrepitude with resigned pouting, does not improve matters," he declared as he poured yet another drink. Rhetoric and action did not necessarily walk hand in hand.

A loud crack startled the two wizards out of their self-pity. The senior Malfoy house-elf, Basil, bowed and presented his master with a roll of parchment. "The mistress insisted that this was delivered immediately, Master Lucius," he said as he handed over the missive. Lucius smiled, pleased at the cultured manner in which his elderly house-elf had spoken, despite his persistence in addressing his master as if he was still in short pants. Since the embarrassing debacle with Dobby some years earlier, he had learned to treat his house-elves with more respect and had reaped the benefits of a more contented domestic workforce.

"Thank you, Basil," he replied, breaking his wife's ostentatious seal.

"Whatever is it, Lucius?" Snape was concerned at the look of dismay which crossed his friend's face.

"She's finally done it. She's divorced me. With no warning." Lucius slumped heavily into a chair as his Malfoy confidence deserted him, albeit temporarily.

"But, I thought you and she had an understanding?"

"As did I. We had agreed that she would consult with me first if she desired a divorce. Not that I am displeased, that woman has been cold to me for far too long. I would simply have preferred a little input as to the timing." Lucius frowned at the offending parchment. "Oh, well. I suppose now is as good a time as any." He reached for a quill and signed the document. With a soft pop as it disappeared, bound for the Ministry archives, he became a free man. "A toast, Severus, to bachelorhood!"

"To bachelorhood... Lucius, is that even a word?"

After Severus had left, Lucius's formidable mind set to the task of their future. Over the past year, he had suffered an endless diatribe of complaints about dunderheads and cauldron explosions. Docking points and handing out detentions did not seem to give the dark wizard the satisfaction it had previously. Lucius himself had wearied of the endless social whirl of the rich and fabulous. Now he was deemed to be good, he just did not feel interesting any more. Supreme wealth and the Malfoy name were simply no longer fulfilling in this egalitarian society in which they now lived. Dammit. It was time for the Malfoy fortune to make itself useful. Reminiscing fondly of the secret, guilty pleasures that he and Snape had indulged in during the first reign of Voldemort gave him an idea. A brilliant idea. Narcissa would have Avada'ed him on the spot, had she still been his wife, but she wasn't...

***

The elegant, blond man dressed in a black dinner suit, pristine white shirt, and bow tie looked a little out of place in the middle of the afternoon in Muggle London. However, Muggles, being Muggles, had seen it all before and simply shrugged at the eccentricity of the very rich and continued on their merry way. Strolling over to the entirely glass-fronted sales room, Lucius surveyed the goods on display with a wealthy man's nonchalance. This should sort him out, he decided as he entered the building, prepared to do business.

***

Severus Snape looked up from his book as he heard a loud, throaty roar descend upon Spinner's End. Puzzled, and not a little anxious, he Disillusioned himself and peered out of the front living room window. The incongruous sight of Lucius Malfoy, dressed to impress in Muggle clothing, stepping out of an immaculate Aston Martin DB5, the 1964 model if he was not mistaken, was something he would never forget. When did his friend learn to drive? Why did his friend learn to drive? And what in the seventh hell was he doing here with a car like that?

"Well? What do you think?" Lucius proudly threw the car keys to Severus.

"This is a car."

"Yes."

"It's a Muggle transportation device."

"Yes."

"You drove it here."

"You do not know everything about me, my friend. I learned to drive many years ago." Lucius smirked at the other man's expression.

"But it is Muggle. You hate Muggle things."

"Not everything. Remember the good old days... well, the bad old days, really. How we used to sneak out of the Manor when Narcissa was holding court with her coven?"

"Oh. Those days." Severus's brain was too occupied studying the magnificent piece of engineering before him to process polysyllabic words.

"Yes. Those days. Queen concerts – that night in Hanover in 1979. Bowie. James Bond..."

"You only enjoyed those concerts after you discovered Freddie Mercury and David Bowie were Pureblood wizards. Anything less and you would have looked down your aristocratic nose and ignored them as beneath your notice." Severus recalled Lucius's fascination with Muggle Bond movies in the seventies, once he had discovered Ian Fleming's true heritage. It had been obvious to anyone with half a brain that the only way James Bond could have escaped some of those scenarios was by judicious use of a wand. "Is this really...?"

Lucius grinned. "The very same model used in Goldfinger, Thunderball, and other movies. But they were the classics. That Muggle, Moore, was never as good as Connery. It took a bit of finding, but the dealer was able to procure it from a gentleman in Tennessee."

"I hope there were no Imperios involved. The last thing you need is the Ministry on your back," the darker wizard lectured.

"Maybe a little Confundus or two. But I paid him a fair price." Lucius was unrepentant.

"How did you pay for it? I don't imagine many classic car collectors take Galleons as payment." Severus glanced at the blond wizard with narrowed eyes.

"Don't be so bloody suspicious, Severus. If there is one thing we Malfoys know, it is money. Wizarding Galleons, Muggle pounds, US dollars, Swiss francs – I'm particularly fond of that currency. My esteemed father, always one for covering all eventualities, opened a Muggle bank account in my name many years ago, deposited a substantial amount of cash, and left it to accrue interest. I daresay I have contributed to the Muggle tax system somewhere along the way." His distaste for that possibility was evident in his expression.

"I went into the bank earlier and obtained one of these little beauties." He waved a gold plastic card with glee. "Money is no object, my friend. The Muggle world is our lobster."

"Oyster, Lucius, I believe the word you want is oyster," Severus corrected.

"Oyster... lobster." Lucius shrugged. "It's all seafood."

Curiosity overcame Severus's misgivings as he peered into the car. "This isn't original. The Muggles didn't have compact disc players in 1964."

"A minor detail. How can we play these without one?" The blond pulled out a box of compact discs from the back seat. Queen. David Bowie. Roxy Music. Pink Floyd.

"Firstly you arrive in a car. Now, you are telling me you know how to operate one of these things?" Severus Snape sank down in the passenger seat of the sports car. Shaking his head as his perception of the Malfoy world rearranged itself, he watched his friend slip a CD into the player and flick the switch to operate the device. The opening vocals of Bohemian Rhapsody surrounded him, the words all too relevant.

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

Contemplating the question briefly, he was jolted back to awareness a few moments later by Freddie Mercury's plaintive lyrics.

... Mama, just killed a man...

Switching the music off, he glared at Lucius. "Are you trying to make my life even more miserable?"

Lucius sighed impatiently. "Don't take it so personally. It's just a song. It's your choice – sit in that dingy place all summer and contemplate your riveting life or join me in a little fun. Remember that? We used to enjoy life once. We can drive somewhere..."

"Where exactly?" Severus still hadn't forgiven him for his choice of song.

"Doesn't matter where. It's a DB5. Who cares where we drive it, just that we do. In style. With Freddie and friends."

"You have been Crucio'ed once too often, my friend. Narcissa would have your balls if she knew what you were doing. The Ministry would have to re-examine all their files. Hell, I'm considering examining you for Polyjuice use myself."

"Narcissa divorced me, remember? The Ministry can go and Avada itself. And you know you want this." Lucius inserted the key and started the engine. The deep rumble of the six cylinder engine, the smell of well cared for leather, the music, all combined to bewitch the reluctant wizard, who found himself strapped into the passenger seat, ready for the complete DB5 experience before his volition caught up with his actions.

"Drive me, you seductive bastard. Drive me." He switched the stereo back on, leaned back in the luxurious, leather seat, and surrendered to his senses.

***

A/N: Lyrics are from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, 1976. According to Wikipedia, one of the original cars used for publicity tours for the movie Goldfinger in 1964 was bought in 1970 for £5,000 from the owner, Sir Anthony Bamford, by a Tennessee museum owner.

Chapter titles are all Queen songs.

This was a gift for the lovely PajamaPants in the recent LM/HG Exchange on LiveJournal. Thanks go to rdholmantx for the beta!