There was always a spot for him at the Malfoys' table, a room for him in their manor. It had its advantages; when he was tired of being alone, tired of living with the ghosts of his past and visions of the future, he knew there was a place for him to go. More and more the halls of Spinner's End were less and less appealing, and he found himself with the Malfoys often. Rather, he found himself with one of the Malfoys often.

She wasn't officially a Death Eater, and couldn't be without the Dark Mark. Before she actually married Lucius, she was given the opportunity to take it. But for reasons she didn't entirely understand herself, she said no. She would stand by her husband, support him and the wizard whose name was feared all over, but she refused to be forced into committing crimes she wished to have no part of. That didn't stop either Voldemort or her husband from coercing her into submission, but it didn't bind her in the same way that the Death Eaters were bound. All but one of them, anyway. He listened, but he also led, and that interested her more than her husband did.

It started out innocently enough; simple fleeting glances at each other that gradually became longer and, at times, neither one wanted to break their stares. He could tell she was damaged, like himself. She could tell he was lonely, like herself. Once he could tell that she was damaged, he wanted nothing more than to fix her. Once she figured out he was lonely, she wanted to spend all her time with him.

He was younger, she was older. He was wiser, she was the more foolish. They both knew to guard their hearts and their emotions, but is the heart always wise? Does the body always listen to the mind?

Narcissa knew the answer to that: no.

Ever since she kissed him for the first time, she decided that she didn't care, either. If it wasn't meant for either of them to live through the war, then at least she could die knowing that someone still wanted her for more than a pretty figure on their arm.

"You've certainly taken to pears lately, Narcissa…" Andromeda looked across the table at her sister, her brow raised slightly. "You know, when I was pregnant with Nymphadora, I couldn't get enough of them."

Narcissa set her fork down and reached for her water, unsure how to answer without making the older sister angry. These lunch dates hardly ever went well - this was, in fact, the longest that they had been able to get without snapping at each other and storming out, and she was loathe to be the one to ruin it. "Oh, how...interesting."

The beat between remarks was thick with things unsaid.

"I forgot… You were too busy terrorizing people." The older witch set everything down, just before Narcissa followed suit.

"Don't you dare." The blonde's eyes flashed. "You have no idea what it was like."

"You made that crystal clear by taking not one but two Death Eaters into your bed." There was another thick pause, one that was filled with anger from both women. "Did you ever stop to think, just for five minutes, about what it was like for everyone else? You didn't have to go through the fear of being associated with muggleborns - the fear that your neighbor was going to be taken and tortured until they gave away your location, even though they knew it would end in your death. Or the fear that you were going to be the reason that all of your friends were dead, just because one twisted man was able to convince everyone else that they were better than all of you. You had it easy compared to that."

Narcissa laughed and the sound, so warm as of late, was chilling instead. "You think I had it easy? Hardly, Andy. The Dark Lord lived in my house."

Andromeda shook her head, looking bemused. "You can't complain about that when you brought it on yourself."

"Brought it on myself?!" Her hand itched to grab her wand. "Find a time-turner, give it a couple spins, and then tell me that I brought it on myself. He didn't show up at the gates to the manor, just looking for a place to stay for a couple days. I didn't open the door and tell him I would set an extra place at the table. When the Dark Lord commanded something, you listened or you were tortured until you submitted."

"And how many people did you kill by listening, Narcissa? How many lives could you have saved if you had done what I did, and left when you had the chance?"

"None." She shook her head, closed her eyes. Narcissa felt Andromeda's eyes on her as she put a hand over her stomach, a practically involuntary movement. It happened every time she thought of Severus dead, as he so easily could have been. And if he had died, their child would cease to be and even more of her life would have begun to unravel. "And none."

Andromeda's eyes followed her sister's hand. "You could have chosen anyone, you know."

"I couldn't. No." Narcissa shook her head.

"But why him?"

In that moment, Narcissa wished she could answer her in a way she would understand. She wished it were that simple, but she loved that it was so complicated. "I didn't plan to get pregnant. I wanted another baby a few years after Draco was born, but Lucius was adamant about his answer and no pleading on my part could change that. It was like trying to convince a dragon to stop breathing fire. I gave up."

And then there was Severus.

They stared at each other across the table, then, and felt something pass between each other. Neither would ever truly understand what the other had gone through, and they may not approve of each other's decisions.

But love conquers everything, after all...and blood is thicker than water.

a/n;

This was written for Round 3 of the Harry Potter Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
I write as Beater 1 for the Montrose Magpies.
Round theme was OTPs.
My position was assigned OTP being negatively received by family members.
My prompts were;
- 5 (word): unravel
- 9 (phrase): crystal clear
- 15 (creature): dragon