Normally, Lily/James stories are my cup o' tea. However, I was skimming through our collection of Narcissa/ Malfoy and found very few I really could believe. The best Lucius story is with the pairing of Lily/Malfoy, and is called something like 'Thought of a Malfoy.' My favorite and highly recommended!
Mine might be even more unlikely, but I had to put my fic in the market. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about 'Velisna', 'Cats' or 'Evil', but this is just a little thing to replace the two deleted 'Werewolf' and 'Krysta' and the two finished 'Phoenix' and 'Arrogant'. My hope is that you all enjoy and tell me how much you loved (or hated) it in a review!
Disclaimer:
Lucius: Say it! holds wand to author's throat
Cylo: I won't! You can't make me!
Lucius: I command you to. smirks amazing smirk
Cylo: Okay, maybe you can! Alright folks, I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Alas…
Lucius: Good Cylo. Below this sentence begins this tale. Now, pathetic Muggle readers, I command you to review. Imperio!
Pride: A Tale of Two Purebloods
'Rule #107- Pureblood witches must have a husband chosen for her for her parents on the day the girl becomes of age. The parents are expected to choose the most eligible pureblood in order to keep our race clean. If the parents of the boy refuse to agree with the marriage, the parents may either try again or disown that daughter.
Rule #108- Pureblood wizards who are of age send requests of marriage to the parents of the pureblood girl in question. There is no limit to the number of offers you may send, as long as they are only sent to females of pure descent.
Rule #109- Once a marriage has been set, it must, in all properness, occur on the female's eighteenth birthday so as there are no marriages when the female is still in school. If no proposal has been accepted at that point, the parents are allowed to either begin offers to distantly half-blooded wizards or send the daughter to a nunnery, where she must spend the rest of her days.
Rule #110- A pureblood witch is not to refuse any command her husband gives her, as long as it does not put hers, his or any other pureblood's life in danger. The husband is officially in charge of the female's wealth and life…'
-An excerpt from Perfect Pureblood Protocol: The Way of Life
Dark blue eyes gleamed from behind several strands of white-blond hair. Narcissa Black brushed away the stray hair with long, silver nails that matched the shade of her silk robes perfectly, and sighed. It seemed that the wait for the Hogwarts Express lengthened each year.
"Must you keep sighing like that?" asked her younger sister with an exasperated sigh of her own. The girl was entering her first year at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was already nervous. Andromeda twisted her short, slightly wavy brown hair around a nail-bitten finger, scrunched up her eyes and nose and turned her brown hair dirty blonde. Though being a Metamorphmagus had its advantages, it also separated Andromeda from the rest of her kin because she was never satisfied with the sharp features that graced every member of the Black family.
"Calm down, Andy," said an older girl from Narcissa's left. "You're going to be fine." Bellatrix was the eldest of the Black sisters and had graduated Hogwarts in Narcissa's second year. Unlike the fair Narcissa, she had sharply chiseled features and heavily lidded eyes that gave her a look of disdain that never seemed to fit her fiery temper. She had short black hair and the olive-colored skin inherited from the Black side of the family.
Bellatrix had offered to escort them to Platform 9 ¾ in place of their father, who was resting after the numerous balls that the wealthy family had attended that week. Narcissa however was aware of Bellatrix's hidden agenda; Bellatrix was only taking them 's Cross so she could sneak over to Rudolphus Lestrange's house afterwards. Narcissa knew that their relationship was stronger than their arragned marriage.
Steam flooded the station as the Express pulled up. Sunlight glinted off its worn scarlet engine and reflected onto the rough concrete of the platform. "See?" said Andy with an annoyed growl. "We waited here for ten minutes and the train's just now arriving!"
"Blacks are always punctual," said Narcissa calmly, quoting her late mother's favorite saying (along with 'Blacks are always presentable, strong, rich and in Slytherin', though the last thing had been disproved by her sixth year cousin, Sirius. Bloody Gryffindor people, corrupting her favorite cousin.)
There was a rush as all the waiting students scrambled towards the train, eager for the start of the new school year. "Maybe its best if I sit alone on the way. Y'know, just to get to know people without the influence of the Black power," said Andromeda, and was gone before Narcissa could protest.
"Write me," said Bellatrix, before disappearing with a loud crack. Narcissa looked over the heads of all the students towards the luggage compartment at the back of the train. She pulled a long unicorn hair wand out of her pocket and waved it at her large, black, dragon leather trunk. It flew over the heads of all the kids and settled itself on one of the racks.
"Seventeen for three weeks and already using magic at every turn," said a cool voice from behind her.
Without turning towards the voice, she said, "Four, not three, weeks, as you well know, Malfoy." The chill in her voice and the ice that suddenly formed in her sapphire eyes clashed with the warm September air around her, like an iceberg in a summer pond.
On the day that a pureblood witch became of age, her parents (or parent, in Narcissa's case), sent an owl to the parents of an eligible boy in order to form an arranged marriage, that would be carried out on the girl's eighteenth birthday so the girl in question would not be married while still in school. The Malfoys had accepted immediately, with neither the consent of the bride nor the groom.
Lucius Malfoy had been her rival ever since she arrived at Hogwarts; both were smart in academics and politics, the leaders of their House in both academics and politics, and extremely proud. Of course, her father cared not that they were sworn rivals. The only thing their parents saw was that they were both completely pureblood and blonde with blue eyes.
"So cold," said Lucius with a small laugh. Still not turning to him, Narcissa chose instead to glare at her engagement ring; a silver ring covered with entwining diamond and emerald stones in the vague shape of a snake.
When he next spoke, he was so close that his breath warmed her pale neck. "Well, darling, scowl all you like, but we're marrying next summer whether you like it or not," Malfoy was whispering into her ear so softly that she could barely hear him. "So you might not want to speak your future surname like a curse. A little politeness wouldn't go astray. In fact, it might even help you when the time comes that we're living together." The veiled threat was not missed by Narcissa; she had given them enough to recognize one thrown her way. She tensed as the whisper came again, but it was a warning of a different kind. "The train leaves in two minutes."
Narcissa jumped and looked at the clock. 11:58! She straightened her back and strode quickly over to the train, aware of Lucius padding along behind her. She stepped onto the train and went forward in the train towards the Head compartment. Still listening to Lucius prowling behind her, she growled, "Do you not need to find your compartment?"
"My lady, I'm joining you in the Head compartment." In a flash he was in front of her, looking down into her dark blue eyes. He was taller than her by four inches at 6'1, with cool dark gray eyes and blonde hair only slightly more golden than her own and almost long enough to brush his broad shoulders. His features were aristocratically handsome; strong features seemingly carved from smooth marble. He was lean and muscular from Quidditch practice, just as she was from nearly nightly swims in the lake.
Narcissa knew he was just messing with her, trying to get the upper hand. She let no surprise cross her features and tried to remain calm and aloof. That was when the tricky hand of Fate caused the train to lurch forward and cause her to fall into Malfoy. He caught her before she could pull him down with her and gave her the infamous Malfoy smirk. She leapt out of his arms as though on fire and quickly walked towards the Head compartment, leaving him to follow, still smirking, behind.
They reached the Head compartment quickly, for Narcissa was walking as fast as possible, trying to stop Malfoy from passing her. McGonnagal stood inside, waiting for them to arrive. She was surrounded by a group of Prefects, several of whom looked as nervous as first years about their new posts. "Glad you could make it," said the professor sharply. Dressed as she was in dark green and with her dark brown hair pulled back in a slick bun, it could easily be assumed that she was the Head of the Slytherin House. Several times, Narcissa had wished it so. No, McGonnagal was in charge of those idiotic Gryffindors and the Slytherins were stuck with Slughorn, the most Hufflepuff-like Slytherin Narcissa had ever seen.
Both blondes nodded and sat together on the pair of recliner seats reserved for the Heads. Narcissa masked her apprehension with cool disdain and leaned back in the comfortable chair. The compartment was charmed so that the rough rocking of the train was undetectable and the windows showed the only sign that they were moving at all.
All around the compartment were familiar faces, whether friendly or not. Old acquaintance Severus Snape, one of the few half-bloods in Slytherin was sitting next to the other sixth year Slytherin prefect Rosalynn Bulstrode. The fifth year Prefects were truly surprising; Glinda Populare and her daft cousin Regulus, who, unlike Sirius, had no backbone at all. Narcissa found that Sirius, with his loyalty and temper held up the Black family line better than his little brother, who was nothing but a wimp. No matter how Gryffindor he was, Sirius was still a Black, and a bloody good one at that.
Letting her blue eyes wander over to the Gryffindor side of the compartment, she saw sixth years Someone Lupin (one of Sirius's stupid marauding friends) and prim looking redhead and fifth years Alice Hall and Frank Longbottom. The Ravenclaw prefects were Laura Patel, Jennifer Something, Greg Knighten and Mark Coffen.
"As I was saying," continued McGonnagal, "the job of Prefect is very demanding, and will take up much of your time. If there are any of you at any time that believe that your Prefect duties are affecting your grades, please tell me immediately. Not now, Mister Abbot, once you start school. Schedules will be posted in my classroom. Let me know if you are going to miss any patrolling nights. Four unexcused misses will cause you to be removed from your post. Any questions? Comments? Good. Off you go."
Quiet chatter filled the compartment as the Prefects collected their things and discussed the new job. Narcissa sighed; listening to the same speech three times got boring quickly.
McGonnagal murmured to the two Heads, "Stay after a while so I can tell you your duties and… things." Narcissa felt her eyes widen. Was it her imagination, or did the calm Gryffindor Gonnagal just say 'and… things?' She leaned back into her chair to wait for the runts to leave. After several seconds, she felt eyes boring into her, watching her. She opened her eyes and looked over at Lucius, who was simply staring at her.
Noticing her annoyed look, he said coolly, "Those robes are from China, correct?"
She nodded and closed her eyes again. She could still feel his eyes on her, but she refused to give the satisfaction of knowing that he unnerved her. He could never know how afraid she truly was about marrying Lucius Malfoy, about him practically owning her.
"There," said McGonnagal as the last group of Prefects exited the room. "That's the last of them."
"Not quite," said Narcissa, and she heard a light echo as Malfoy finished saying, "Not quite," at the same time.
McGonnagal raised her thin eyebrows. Malfoy bowed his head to her and motioned for her to expose them. "Accio Invisibility Cloak," she said carelessly. She had heard the intruders as everyone else packed away, discussing the meeting so quietly that it was obviously not meant to be heard. Of course, Narcissa wasn't prepared for who she saw appear. Ducking behind James Potter, Sirius and Parker (or something like that) Pettigrew was…
"Andy?"
Sirius stepped forward. "Meet my friend, Rosie Jones," he said, motioning the petite girl forward. She had a sharp nose, large gold eyes and dark red hair, but Narcissa was not fooled.
"Liar," hissed Narcissa, rising to her feet and stalking over to them. "Do you really think I wouldn't know my own sister when I see her? She's a different person every day, but you begin to notice similarities between people. That is my sister."
Andromeda stepped in front of her cousin and said, "Sirius offered to take me on an adventure. And, Cissy, he is our cousin, whether Aunt Mirandala will admit it or not."
"I know he's my cousin," she said softly, but quickly getting louder, "but that doesn't mean he can lead you into a restricted area on your first day of school. Before your first day of school!"
"Professor," interrupted Malfoy, "maybe it's time we sent them away? I'm sure Andromeda didn't mean to cause any trouble, right Andy?"
Andy nodded and smiled at Malfoy. During the few visits Malfoy had forced upon the Black household, Andy had grown very fond of him and refused, just like the rest of family, to listen to Narcissa's complaints of him. It seemed no one but Narcissa could see past that mask he put on for the rest of the family.
"Out!" instructed McGonnagal. The four kids scrambled out, and Narcissa couldn't help glaring after them, still on her feet. "Now, as I was saying. As Heads, you will have to organize the balls, feasts, and other such events. You will share a common room in the East Wing of the-"
Narcissa interrupted, "We're sharing our own Common Room? Together? Alone?"
Lucius gave a little smirk that Narcissa easily read as 'What's this? Are you afraid to be alone with me? Is this a weakness I sense?'
"Why yes. It's all part of the package. Of course, you can't tell anyone else the location of the rooms; that's one of Hogwarts' many secrets. Now, here's the directions and password to rooms. Your schedule too will be in my classroom. You can stay here for the rest of the ride or ride with your friends. Your choice." The professor was gone before Narcissa could blink.
Reclining his chair lazily, Malfoy said, "I'm staying here. I'd rather have these luxuries than hang with Crabbe and Goyle. Are you staying, Cissy?"
"Don't call me that!" Narcissa cried. She felt her cheeks flush slightly. The way he said her name…. It was as though he was mocking her determination to stay distant from him. "It… it's just, only my family can call me that," she amended lamely.
"My Lady Narcissa, we are family. Well, we will be next summer."
Rage flooded through her veins in the normal Black way. "Stop it! Just, stop talking about that. I know you oppose to it just as much as I do, if not more."
He opened one gray eye and smirked. "Are you sure of that? Come now, every man wants to marry a beautiful, rich blonde."
"Not one that loathes you," she retorted quickly, praying that he would close his eye. His hawk gaze was almost too much for her to bear.
"Well, I have the rest of your life to change that fact, don't I?" With that, he closed his eye and snuggled deeper into the recliner.
Narcissa held her head high as she sat next to him. She would not show him how uncomfortable he made her. 'I have the rest of your life' he had said. The girl leaned back in her chair, uncomfortably aware of his handsome presence at her elbow.
She gazed out the window, watching but not seeing the sky darken and rain begin to splatter the glass. They passed over streams and muggle roads, unseen by any watcher, muggle or magic. As the rich green pastures filled with drenched horses and cows turned into cold gray stone and mountain valleys, Narcissa felt herself drifting into the mysterious realms of slumber, where she spent the remainder of the ride.
You like? Well then, TELL ME IN A REVIEW! Cough. Well, then, enough said. I'll update as soon as I can.
A/N- This is not Narcissa's usual character, but Lucius brings out the worst in people.