AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Hello all! Welcome to my Narcissa companion fiction to Lovers in a Dangerous Time, which I wrote some five or six years ago initially on Quizilla, and published on FF in 2008. I'm currently working on the sequel – very slowly, mind you – but the muse for Narcissa's side of the story has been pestering me for ages now.
I don't think it's necessary for you to read one fic before the other. They are companion fictions, so they will be dealing with roughly the same time period, and many of the same issues. However, a lot goes on in Narcissa's world that doesn't even touch Bellatrix, and vice versa, so I'm excited to explore some things that were only mentioned in passing in the other story.
The chapters will be roughly the same length (anywhere from 1500 to 3000 words), and because they are a little on the shorter side, I'd like to think I can write them during stress-filled exam periods when my writing time is limited. I believe I published about 23 chapters for Lovers, and I suspect this one might be either that length or a little longer. There will also be a sequel, which will match my sequel to Lovers, which is Girl Inside the Woman.
Now, when I initially wrote Lovers, I was a huge fail with the ages of the Black daughters. So, just to be safe, I'm going to say Narcissa is in her early twenties. I'm fairly sure I said she was 18 in the original, and Bella was the oldest… Wrong, wrong, wrong, but let's just roll with it for the sake of some contiguity.
The title of the story comes from the song We Are Young, by Fun. It's been my inspiration for the direction I'm taking the story. Now, Lucius and Narcissa are my favourite pairing, and I'm super excited to write this! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!
"I need to sit with Bellatrix for her appointment… Are you sure you don't want me to stay behind for you?"
Narcissa glanced at her mother, her perfectly manicured hands clutching at the dressing gown she had recently changed into, and then shook her head. Her slim legs dangled over the edge of the tables, feet bare, and she appeared to be the exact opposite of her sister that day: nervous, pale-faced, on edge.
No one wanted some foreign doctor poking around in their private parts, but the procedure was necessary to ensure that the Black daughters were married to the proper type of man. Many parents in their circles begun requesting tests done to confirm that potential daughter-in-laws were virgins when they married their sons, and Narcissa Black was, unfortunately, not exempt from the rules.
Lady Malfoy had insisted that Narcissa be a proven virgin after Evan Rosier proposed to her older sister, Andromeda. Perhaps the woman realized that the Black girls were actually of marrying age, or Rosier's mother might have put a word in that if her darling boy, Lucius, continued to date Narcissa, marriage might be in the very near future. After all, the man had been courting Narcissa since she graduated, hesitantly at first, but as the years passed, their love had blossomed into something much greater than she had ever expected. All she hoped for was to become his wife, and if that meant making the obligatory trip to the healer's office to get some silly slip of paper, she was going to do it.
"I'll be fine, Mother," she insisted, giving her a small smile. "They said it will be over before I know it."
"Well, I'll only be in the room down the hall," the older woman remarked kindly, shooting her dark-haired sister a sharp look. "Come on, then. Do not look so sour, Bellatrix! It's unbecoming! You wouldn't need to be here if your results hadn't come up as abnormal. I'm sure you've done something…"
Her sister rolled her eyes dramatically, but before she could say anything, the portly Black matriarch hustled her out of the room and shut the door noisily. There were no men partitioning for Bella's hand – aside from the few that her father deemed unacceptable – and in an attempt to make her more attractive to potential wealthy suitors, their mother thought Bella ought to have her virginity proven too. Unfortunately for her mother, Narcissa was quite sure that her older sister hadn't been a virgin since her Hogwarts days.
But that was Bella's way… Surely, they ought to understand that her sister was going to remain controversial until her dying day.
Once she was alone, she leaned to the side so that she could see herself in the mirror across the room. Taking a deep breath, she pinched her cheeks to produce some sort of youthful blush, and then hastily readjusted her green headband so that it was perfectly centered in her pin straight hair. She pursed her lips a little, and then quickly resumed her previous position when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she beckoned, a little bit of a shake in her voice. She mustered up a smile when a male healer poked his head in. Youthful. Attractive. Short blond hair and a grin that ought to make many of his patients melt, including Narcissa had she not found someone better.
"Miss Black," he greeted, shutting the door quietly behind him. "My name is Healer Benet…"
"Hello," she said in return, watching as he scanned a clipboard in his hands.
"Now, I personally find this procedure a little archaic, but-"
"As do I, sir," Narcissa remarked, a touch more confidence in her tone. She slid off the table, clutching the back of her dressing gown to keep her modesty in front of a stranger, and then rummaged around in her purse. Moments later, she produced a small, jingling sac of gold coins, and then held it out to him. "Consider this a gift for your services from my future fiancé."
"I…" he trailed off, staring at the red bag in her hands. "I don't know what to…say."
"Oh, we can talk about anything you like," Narcissa insisted, nodding her head a little, wide-eyed as she sauntered toward him, hand extended. "However, we won't be doing the procedure today."
"We won't?"
"No, of course not," she told him, glancing down at the sac for him to take. "I too find the procedure archaic, and think my virginity is no one's business but my own. My future fiancé, Lucius Malfoy… I'm sure you've heard of the name..." The coins jingled a little as he finally took the sac. "Well, he agrees too, and would prefer that no other man touch me in such an intimate way."
"I'm starting to understand," the healer remarked slowly.
"Oh, good," Narcissa beamed, fluttering her eyes a little. "I had hoped we would reach an understanding. This is a gift for your services today. My future fiancé suggests that you fill out your little form there-" She pointed to his clipboard. "-and insist that everything was as it should be, and my virginity is intact. When he receives the results from my mother tonight, he will transfer double the sum to your Gringotts account. Does that sound like something that is acceptable to you?"
He blinked a few times, and then glanced down at his clipboard. For a moment, Narcissa wondered if he was going to refuse her offer. Lucius had been so sure that any healer would fall for a huge sum of money, especially because of their rather pathetic salaries. However, perhaps this one was different.
"That… does seem acceptable," the healer finally agreed, setting the sac of gold on a nearby counter and shrinking it down to a size that could fit easily into his pocket with his wand. "You may sit back down, Miss Black, and I will begin the examination."
Narcissa frowned a little, but when he shot her a bit of a wink, she realized he had said it a little louder just in case anyone was listening. She grinned in return, and then eased herself back up onto the examination table, ankles crossed, hands knitted together on her lap. In the meantime, her healer sat on a nearby stool and began filling out the necessary forms, his quill scratching loudly as he wrote.
"What are you writing?" Narcissa inquired curiously, knowing full well that the document would be sealed and given to her mother once he was finished, bypassing her completely. The handsome young healer looked up, and then shrugged.
"Mostly what I can tell just by looking at you," he replied. "Height, weight, eye colour…"
"Oh."
"Otherwise, you seem in perfect enough health for the sake of this test," he continued, resuming his scribbling. "I mean, I saw no trouble when you walked… Your coordination is fine, breathing is fine, speaking is fine… Are you feeling all right?"
"Yes, yes, of course," she replied, nibbling on her lip as he continued to write. "Does it sound believable?"
"In my experience, the only thing most people care about is the last box on the page," he told her, turning the clipboard around and pointing at a small box with his quill. "I write in here if you've still got your virginity or not. If not, I explain what may have caused you to lose it, as I don't think sex is always the key reason."
Her cheeks flamed at the subject, and he resumed filling it in. It wasn't that sex was embarrassing to her personally, but discussing the prospect of it with some stranger, no matter how friendly, was a little more inappropriate than she was comfortable with.
In all honesty, Narcissa was a virgin. She had always been the good one in her family, despite her occasional devious actions, and she intended to see it through until she was a Malfoy. However, that certainly didn't mean she and Lucius hadn't experimented over the years. They had done just about everything but the full act of consummation, and at this point, it was almost becoming unbearable to stop at the appropriate moment. They were both traditional. They both understood why it was necessary not to go much farther, but once she had any sort of ring on her finger – engagement or otherwise, she was sure notions of tradition might be thrown out the window in the heat of the moment. After all, Lucius was a very patient man, and a complete gentleman, but he was still a man, and men would want carnal satisfaction at some point.
"Right," her healer said at last, rousing her from her daydreaming abruptly, "that's that. I've filled everything out… Do you want to read it before I put it in the envelope?"
"I trust you wrote everything correctly," Narcissa reasoned, watching as he folded the paper and sealed it in a cream coloured envelope. "If not, it won't be money that you'll be receiving."
"Understood," he commented, signing the envelope. "I wish you and your… future fiancé a very happy life. Good day, Miss Black."
"Good day," Narcissa said in return. When she was alone once more, she let out a sigh of relief, and then quickly changed back into her clothes: an off-white dress, cinched at the waist with a belt, and a brown traveling cloak. She gathered up her purse and the sacred envelope, and then silently slipped out of the examination room.
Her mother had taken the girls to a private clinic in London, and she was eager to be gone from the facility of white walls and curtains. They were having a party at their home tonight to celebrate the engagement of her sister, Andromeda, and Evan Rosier. The Black and Rosier clans, plus family friends, were both invited, and her mother had been planning the evening for weeks. After all, Andromeda was the first of the Black girls to be engaged, despite the fact she and Lucius had been in a courtship for much longer, and her mother was keen to show just how eager the Blacks were to cement permanent ties to other Pureblood families.
She vaguely heard the sound of two female voices arguing once she was in the hall, and then rolled her eyes when she realized it was her mother and sister bickering. They emerged from a nearby exam room, her mother's face red and eyes narrow, and Bella looking equally displeased. Apparently the results hadn't gone the way either expected.
"Narcissa," her mother cooed, face softening a little when she spotted her. "How did everything go?"
"Oh, just fine, Mother," she replied obediently, holding out the envelope for her to take. "He was a very nice healer, though I'm glad it's finished."
"I'm sure you are, darling," her mother remarked, giving her cheek a pat with her gloved hand. "I know it's uncomfortable, but now we can let Lucius propose to you properly. His mother is going to be very happy."
"I'm sure she will," Narcissa insisted, smiling at her mother as the woman carried on. She fell in tow behind, linking her arm with Bella's, and then murmured, "What's happened?"
"Nothing to worry about," Bella grumbled. "I need a smoke."
She shot her sister a disapproving look. Her mother harped on Bella all the time to quit smoking, and although Narcissa didn't particularly like to side with the woman when it came to fights with her older sister, she couldn't help but agree. In her opinion, each pack shortened her life just a little, and she couldn't stand the thought that one day there would be a world without her protective older sister.
"Tell me," Narcissa pressed. "Tell me before we get home and she tells father."
"It doesn't matter," her raven-haired sister sighed, looking decidedly bored. "They found that I can't have children. Mother is livid… No man will want me now, apparently."
"Oh, Bella," Narcissa gasped, stopping in the hall short of the Floo fireplace to look at her sister, "I'm so sorry! Can they fix it?"
"What a silly question," her sister snorted, shaking her head. "No, no, I think it's permanent. No children for me, and I couldn't care less."
"Don't say that," Narcissa told her, frowning a little. "I'm sure there are other ways."
"I don't care, Cissy," her sister droned, shrugging her cloaked shoulders. "This isn't the end of my world, though I suspect our mother may think differently."
Narcissa frowned, staring at the ground unhappily. Before she could sink too far into her musings, her sister pinched her arm, making her scowl up at her. Bella laughed her usual husky laugh, rolling her eyes a little, and then dragged her toward the fireplace, "Cheer up, Cissy. I'll let you dress me for the party if you promise not to talk about it anymore."
"All right," Narcissa managed, straightening her shoulders a little and forcing her features into something a hint peppier when her mother looked over her shoulder at the girls, snapping for them to hurry up, "but I won't let it go forever."
"As long as you don't talk about it today, I don't really care," Bellatrix hissed, ushering her into the fireplace after her mother vanished in a swirl of green flames, "and if you tell Lucius, all of your shoes might somehow end up in the lake."
"Lips are sealed, sister dearest," Narcissa mused, smirking a little before she too was engulfed in green fire, whisked back to the Black Manor in a blink of an eye.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This entire chapter took place in about… four sentences in the original Bellatrix story? Something like that. I wanted to expand a little, and show just how sneaky Narcissa is; she wasn't a Slytherin for nothing! The next chapter will introduce our favourite Malfoy at a very debonair party… See you there!