Name: Kate, daysandweeks
House: Hufflepuff
Week: One
Prompt: Taste
Exquisite
If Lucius had to decide what quality drew him to Narcissa the most, it would not be her beauty or family line or refined manners. It would be, rather, her taste.
In so many senses of the word, Narcissa Black was a young woman of taste. She had been this way for the entirety of their acquaintance and no other girl in their respective years at Hogwarts held a candle to her. When she came out after graduating from school, she was declared the bell of the ball for her beauty and charming nature and every man sought to catch the eye of this golden and naïve yet surprisingly sophisticated debutante.
Lucius, however, chased after her for a different reason. In their Hogwarts years, he had seen much of her beauty and little of her taste. In those years, he had paid much attention in order to pick up on these details, though they had always been present. For example, even now she always looked down her nose at those socially beneath her, and yet when someone made a distasteful joke she simply stuck that same small, delicately pointed feature up into the air and walked away with a crisp gate.
He'd spied examples of her refined and proper opinions and manners in other situations as well. Once, in his seventh year, he'd passed Narcissa shopping with friends on a Hogsmeade weekend. Though her friends all originally had chosen garishly colorful dress robes, Narcissa, armed with her superior taste, had led them to the back of the store to order custom made dresses in soft periwinkles and silvers and pastels.
And now that he was courting her, Lucius saw even more of Narcissa's exquisite style and behavior. It was their first date where chaperones had not followed them to the private room in the back of the restaurant that Lucius had demanded for the occasion and Narcissa sat before him, fascinatingly beautiful in a light blue gown. The waiter entered and poured them some champagne—a Muggle drink, but one any wizard, purist or not, with a good sense of flavor should appreciate—and then promptly left them to their business at which point Lucius couldn't help but judge Narcissa for her reaction.
She picked up the champagne flute gracefully and effortlessly, her thumb and first two fingers grasping the cup while her final two rested along the stem, her pinky almost curled around it. She seemed to expect Lucius to drink as well or perhaps to make a toast but when she noticed his eyes on her she realized what he was playing at and raised the glass to her lips, taking a small taste before removing it. She sat there for a few moments before appreciatively smiling and taking another sip, this one appropriate in size for someone enjoying what they were drinking—but not too much.
"How do you like it?" he asked after taking his own sip.
She smiled a broad smile, one not often seen from her in public where she cast small ones upon her many admirers. "It's exquisite," she said. "I can taste the grapes in it and the bubbles though I don't suppose bubbles really have a taste."
Lucius smiled at this and then told her, "It's champagne. A Muggle drink made in France."
She nodded but this didn't seem to bother her much. "It truly is fantastic."
The rest of the meal passed smoothly. They talked of many things and Lucius was not surprised to find that beyond having a good taste in beverages and clothing and jokes and social situations, Narcissa properly appreciated music, the arts, literature, and even Quidditch as well. She ate little of her supper, though he'd noted before that she always ate only small portions. She told him that she found it all very delicious, though, at least nibbling on every type of food in every course that passed their way, including dessert. "Just a taste," she allowed herself, and then dipped her spoon before sticking it in her mouth. He couldn't help but notice the pink of her tongue dash out rather quickly to lick the last of the chocolate off of the spoon.
They left the restaurant after supper and walked slowly down the street. There wasn't much left to do with the night and yet it was so young. It was barely even ten yet and Narcissa wasn't due home until twelve, and so they walked to the park, empty due to the hour, and then through it, admiring plants and wildlife as they went. Narcissa nodded at flowers she found beautiful, let her gloved fingers drift lazily over a rose, darkened in hue by the night, and told Lucius that despite her name her favorite flower was the peony and he couldn't help but smile and wonder if deep down Narcissa housed the same devil-may-care attitude of this flower that she so loved.
"You are smirking at me," she said, raising a delicately arched eyebrow. "I don't mean to make false predictions about your thoughts, but I suppose that you think I'm much more like my namesake, the vain daffodil."
Lucius nodded a bit. "I was simply wondering if there's something in the peony hidden within," he admitted.
She mocked outrage, removing her arm from his in order to place both of her hands on her chest. She was behaving forwardly now, but not improperly so. In fact, it was so fitting and right and appealing. "You mean to say there is no fire within me, Mr. Malfoy?" she questioned him before dropping her arms to her sides.
Lucius grinned. "Whatever misconceptions I held about you have vanished." He walked a few more paces, annoyed that they were no longer in such close proximity, and then sat down on the nearest bench hoping that she would follow suit. She did so, smoothing out her gown and placing her hands quite comfortably in her lap. "As for your resemblance to your namesake," Lucius continued now, "one would expect you to be vain. Whether you are or not is for you to say, but it would be impossible for anyone not to appreciate such beauty."
She turned to him and smiled and her naïve composure returned. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," she managed to say while blushing.
"There is no need to thank me for stating a fact, Miss Black."
She was only a year younger than him and yet when it came to flirtation that year seemed like so much. Perhaps it was because of her superb manners. While most girls would take this as their cue to be kissed, Narcissa, who continued to gaze at him from beneath lashes that were not lowered in the slightest, probably did not. Still, Lucius wanted to kiss her, despite what propriety or Narcissa's innocence demanded. He was reminded, thinking over everything wonderful about her, that it was her taste that had attracted him to her so much, and so wouldn't it only be fitting to physically savor her?
He could tell that she was more interested in him than in her other suitors. He had heard from them that she always claimed to tire easily and asked to go home after the main part of their evening was over, and yet here she was in the shadowy park with him. Hang propriety! Lucius thought, gazing at her parted and pink lips, and then he leaned forward and kissed her.
She did not freeze like he expected her too and instead returned the kiss, her lips soft against his own. He deepened the kiss despite the fact that Narcissa was not supposed to be the type of girl to encourage such things, but she followed his lead, snaking a gloved hand behind his neck.
Lucius was not surprised to find out that not only did Narcissa have exquisite taste, but she tasted exquisite as well.