Valentine’s With a Malfoy – Harry Potter Fanfic Short
Harry Potter Fanfic Short Story
A Harry Potter fanfic where Miss Chastain is assigned to work with Lucius Malfoy for the Ministry’s Valentine’s Day event, leading to surprises, tension, and unexpected warmth.
Disclaimer: This short story is a transformative fan work inspired by the Harry Potter series. All original characters, settings, and elements from the Wizarding World belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment. I claim no ownership and receive no profit from this story. Only the plot and original elements are my own.
Assigned to supervise Lucius Malfoy for the Ministry’s Valentine’s Day party, Miss Chastain braces herself for a miserable afternoon with a man she’s feared since childhood. But as they collaborate on enchanted decorations, floating candles, and a mischievous cupid, she begins to see a surprising side of the infamous ex–Death Eater; one that challenges everything she thought she knew.
Valentine’s With A Malfoy
Note: This short story won me 1st Place on a Harry Potter fan site.
My boss has tasked me with supervising one of the most notorious Death Eaters of all time while he decorates the department for Valentine’s Day. I was taught as a small child that Lucius Malfoy is unpleasant to be around. He’s embraced the Dark Arts more than one could count, and I am not looking forward to his scowls or insensitive remarks. I am not even positive that Lucious has a heart. However, my boss has asked me to do a job, so I must do it and do my best.
I clutched my notebook, slung my bag over my shoulder, and left my boss’s office. Lucius followed closely, gripping his cane until his fist reddened. He looked as thrilled as I was to be paired together.
“So—” I started, but he cut me off.
“I don’t need or want your help, Miss Chastain,” he announced. His cheeks were rosy. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
“Same here. But let’s do our job,” I shot back.
“Then we’re agreed. Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. I doubted this would be easy.
“If you’d let me finish, we could plan this Valentine’s Day event instead of bickering.” I shook my head. The hairs on my arms and neck stood up, like when you rub a balloon on your hair. My whole body involuntarily shivered at the overwhelming creepiness of being in the same room as Lucious.
“So, any ideas for decorations?” I prompted.
Lucious walked ahead. He waved his cane at me, indicating I should follow him. Reluctantly, I obliged. His pace quickened slightly every few minutes. “Keep up with me, Miss Chastain.”
I was almost jogging just to stay two feet behind him. I didn’t know where he was leading me. Hopefully, it wasn’t to my death or something. We rounded a corner and entered a long hallway. The walls were barren stone. There were no magical portraits, proclamations, wanted posters, or decorations to be seen anywhere. The hallway lacked intrigue and only made me more nervous as I followed him down what seemed to be the never-ending corridor.
A steel door stood at the end of the hallway. The plaque on the door read ‘The Office of Lucious Malfoy.’ Lucious reached the door a good two minutes before I did. When I finally caught up, he fingered his pockets and fumbled for his keys. When he found them, he opened the door and walked right in. He must have forgotten I was standing there because the door slammed shut in my face. I banged on the door.
“I told you to follow me, Miss Chastain. What are you doing out there?” He gestured for me to go inside with his wand.
Lucius’ office was surprisingly colorful and bright, considering he used to be a Death Eater. The soft blue walls housed magical portraits of his wife, his son, his son’s family, and a few of the more notorious Hogwarts teachers. The portraits, meticulously spaced, appeared to be precisely two feet apart. In the center of the room stood a cherry oak desk, completely organized. The only items on the desk were a stack of writing paper, a blue quill, and an inkwell. He had a white leather, fancy swivel office chair with comfort padding. He pointed at the white leather couch in front of me.
“Sit,” he ordered.
I walked in and sat on the couch. “Now that we’re here, can you share your decoration ideas, Lucius?” I asked, opening my notebook and retrieving an inkwell and quill. My right foot shook involuntarily; I shifted on the couch, hoping it would stop.
“You don’t have to be nervous, Miss Chastin.” Lucious nodded towards my foot. “I’m sure you think I’m this horrid person, but I assure you I’m not the same man I was in my past. You have nothing to worry about,” he said. Lucious shuffled through the papers on his desk until he found the one he wanted. “Ah, here it is,” he announced and slid the paper across the desk for me to see.
At the top, he had written ‘Valentine’s Party.’ Below, he listed decorations and events for the celebration: heart streamers held up by floating Turtle Doves; pink, white, and red floating candles for mood lighting; customizable candy hearts; heart-shaped cookies; love punch; and other holiday-themed ideas. My favorite was the “Happy Valentine’s Day” lettering in the air in pink fire. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by his ideas. I had assumed his vision of Valentine’s Day would be much darker.
“These are all really good, Lucius.” I wrapped my chin in my thumb and index finger in deep thought, still feeling nervous but now with a hint of eagerness. “I have a few things we could add if you’re open to more ideas,” I said nervously.
“What are you thinking?” He asked me and leaned back in his chair.
“Maybe at the entrance, a single dancing, singing Cupid could shoot guests with love arrows. Large speakers could play love songs. We should also have a party game so attendees can have fun and let off some stress!” I said excitedly.
“I think those are great ideas,” Lucius grinned from ear to ear. It was weird to see him react this way, and surprise mixed with tentative hope fluttered in my chest. Maybe he does have a heart, after all. “We should put it together in the Department Lounge,” he suggested.
“That sounds good.” Relief washed over me. Lucius didn’t seem so bad after all. I made a note, closed my notebook, and stood. “What time on Tuesday should we start?” I asked.
“I’ll meet you in the lounge at two on Tuesday,” Lucious said, holding out his hand and pointing at the door. I took it as my cue to leave.
“Alright, I’ll see you then.” With that, I went into the hallway and shut the door behind me. I hated this corridor; it was dreary and unwelcoming.
At this point, I realized that I had a semi-serious problem. I didn’t know where the Department Lounge was. I haven’t been at the Ministry very long, as I usually enjoy lunch at my cubicle. Just as I hoped I’d run into someone who could help me, I bumped into Diana, my boss. All of her books and papers fell onto the floor.
“Miss Chastain,” Diana scowled at me. “Please watch where you are going,” she scolded. Diana bent down and picked up her belongings. I helped her and handed her the pack of quills that had been left behind. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” she asked.
“Sorry, I just left my meeting with Lucious. We agreed to set up the party in the Department Lounge, but I don’t know where that is. I was coming to your office to ask you.” Heat rose to my cheeks. Embarrassed, I added, “I haven’t been here long, so I don’t know where everything is. And I didn’t mean to bump into you.”
“It’s alright. I do understand. Just slow down and watch out for people when coming through the corridors. The Department Lounge is just around that corner, the first door on the right,” she told me, pointing toward the end of the hall.
“Thank you!” I nodded goodbye to my boss and hurried down the corridor. I found the ‘Department Lounge’ sign and entered, breathing a sigh of relief.
The large room housed several rectangular tables for guests to eat. Each table had eight chairs, four per side. A long oval table at the room’s edge held our Valentine’s Day-themed consumables. Floor-to-ceiling double doors stood across from the entrance. The open space was ideal for a celebration event.
A large clock read 5:40 pm—later than I usually left. Walking briskly, I returned to my cubicle, reviewed my notes, packed up quills, inkwells, my notebook, and headed home.
The rest of the week was uneventful except for the water leak in my boss’s office. I attended my usual meetings, kept to myself, and completed any assigned tasks.
Wednesday morning arrived, the day of the Valentine’s Day soiree had come. It was time to complete the Lucious Malfoy babysitting task. I arrived twenty minutes early and found a neatly wrapped present on my desk. The paper was pink and red with a glittery white bow on top. I set my belongings in my chair and looked at the present. I found a card slipped into an opening in the wrapping paper.
“Miss Chastain,
Thank you for meeting with me last week. I appreciate your patience and tolerance. I know I come off as rude and unpleasant at times. Thank you for helping me with the party decorations. Here is a token of my appreciation. I’ll see you again this afternoon, I hope.
Lucious Malfoy”
As I read his words, I felt heat fill my cheeks. I knew I was blushing; I just wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t help but smile as it was the kindest gesture, and I hadn’t received one in a long time. The man I grew up despising wasn’t as horrible as my parents made him out to be. I unwrapped the gift and opened the box. Inside it, a musical snow globe with a dancing cupid presented itself. It was beautiful. I didn’t have time to appreciate the gift; I had a few meetings and some work to complete before meeting Lucious in the afternoon. I set the snow globe on my desk and went about my day.
I entered the Department Lounge at 1:50 pm and waited for Lucious. He arrived and set two large boxes on the oval table. ”Are you ready to start, Miss Chastain?” he asked.
He pulled two heart-filled streamers out of one of the boxes and a gaggle of turtle doves, “Epoximise!” The two streamers, now bonded together, formed one long streamer. “Wingardium Leviosa!” His spell flew the streamer over to the windows, and he used the Hover Charm to make the turtle doves float in place while holding the streamer in three medium U-shapes across the windows. “How does that look?”
“I love it,” I said cheerily. “Turtle doves are known to be birds of love.”
I found some pink, red, and white candles in one of the boxes and set them on the table. I silently cast the hover charm, and the candles floated to the ceiling and hovered there. It still felt strange to use magic outside of Hogwarts. At the same time, it was exciting.
Lucious and I finished setting up the decorations. When we finished, we took a step back to admire our handiwork. The warm light from the candles illuminated the streamers and other decorations. There were enchanted speakers in each corner of the room, belting out love ballads. A medium-sized picture of Cupid posted on the west wall was the home of our Pin the Arrow in Cupid’s Heart game.
The large oval table was home to customizable candy hearts littered on a silver serving plate. It also housed heart-shaped cookies, love punch, and other festive edibles. A vase of pink, white, and red roses sat at each end of the table.
I conjured a singing and dancing cupid and instructed him to shoot his arrows into the hearts of our attendees as they arrived. Everything looked perfect. I looked up at the clock; it was 4:45 pm. “People are going to start arriving soon,” I announced. “I have one more idea if you’re up for it. It does involve your clothes. Do you trust me?” I asked.
“Do I have a choice?” Lucious asked sarcastically.
“Nope.” I pictured how I wanted to see him dressed. “Multicorfores!” Lucious now wore a red tuxedo, a white button-down shirt tucked neatly into his pants, and a long red overcoat. “Perfect!” I exclaimed, “Now you look the part.”
The event went great. Our coworkers were struck with love as they entered the room. The customizable candy hearts were a huge hit among the younger employees. People danced and mingled, looking like they were having a great time. Everyone was pleasantly surprised that Lucious pulled off such extravagance. They were shocked when I told them that most of it was his idea.
As we had assumed, people loved Pin the Arrow in Cupid’s Heart. It gave them a way to wind down and have fun. The party was successful in boosting the Department’s morale.
“Miss Chastain, Mr. Malfoy,” Diana crept up behind us at the punch bowl. “You guys did a fantastic job!”
“We did make a great team,” Lucious announced. A soft smile came over my face. I blushed again.
“Well, maybe you guys can host the St. Patrick’s Day party next month. Though I don’t know if you can top this.” My boss chuckled and joined some of her friends over by the windows.
Happy that the party was successful, a sign of relief escaped my lips. I was going to keep my job, and I made a new friend (I hope) in the process.
