The evening was broken by the hushed sound of people talking. If you strained to listen you would hear only a murmur punctuated with a few unintelligible words. The masks they wore to cover their faces from the Fair Ones were lit by the bonfire they milled around, and the spitting of the wood burning and the hissing of the salamanders further masked the sounds of conversation.
It was the last night of October, and the people were gathered to celebrate Samhain, known to Muggles in the modern age as Halloween. Most non-wizarding folk did not know or understand the real meaning behind the holiday.
For as long as can be remembered, the old wizarding families of Great Britain had met at this hill and lit the Samhain bonfire.
Over time, some of the families had been lost or had stopped believing. There were a mere handful of families left that remained faithful to the old ways. Yet even they could feel their time coming to a close here. A darkness was spreading across the lands of Great Britain, and soon it would not be safe to meet like this. This would be the last time.
The fire had been lit, and now they waited for midnight.
One man stood slightly separate from the rest of the group. As with all the others, he wore a mask to hide his face, but he also wore a hood to cover his distinctive blond hair, a shade favoured the the Fair Ones. The hood shadowed the top part of his face, allowing him to examine the gathering without being noticed.
To his right there were the Lord and Lady Potter, Charlus and Dorea. The Potters were one of the oldest families, descended from the Peverells. With them stood a few members of the Light families that he considered beneath his notice.
On his left were the families considered to be Dark. His mother and father stood with the Blacks, the Rosiers, and the Lestranges. They seemed to be discussing something very serious, but kept their tones low in order to not be overheard by those on the other side of the fire.
Unable to hear what they were saying, he instead turned to watch the three young women that stood opposite him on the other side of the fire.
Two of them talked in an animated fashion, giggling and carefree, while the third watched the gathering of the Dark families with a cruel smile. Bellatrix was engaged to one of the young men that stood in the group, one of the Lestrange brothers, and was soon to be wed. Her rather sinister smile told him that she relished the idea of joining the group of adults.
The two other sisters seemed to sense him watching, and looked over at him. Narcissa and Andromeda exchanged a sly glance and then smirked at him. He smirked back at them confidently, and they dissolved into laughter.
Lucius Malfoy smiled as he watched them laugh. The younger of the two was Narcissa, and like him she wore a hood to cover her blonde hair. A lock or two of it had escaped and in the light of the fire, it appeared to be made of gold. Compared to her sisters, she was a shining beacon of light, fair and pure while they were both dark.
He had wanted her for as long as he had known her. Perhaps tonight he would discover if they were meant to be.
The divination rites were an important part of Samhain, though few even know about them anymore, let alone understood them. During the night of Samhain, the veil between the world of the dead and the living was at it's thinnest. For those who had the Sight, it was the best time to most accurately divine the future. Even then, the things divined were minor things; whether or not someone would die in the next year and who would marry. Sometimes the Seer could even divine how many children a woman might have.
A hush fell over the assembled group. It was almost midnight. Soon the Seer would appear.
They all moved closer to the fire, each gripping a silver knife in their right hand. In the wizarding world blood magic was more closely associated with dark magic. As with all magic, it was the intent that mattered, but not many people saw it that way anymore.
Lucius glanced around the group one more time. Everyone was looking at each other. Somehow they all knew it was time.
As one, they each cut their left palm and allowed some blood to fall upon the fire. Long ago, a human sacrifice had been given to the fire to placate the Fair Ones, generally a very beautiful young man or woman. In these times, such a thing was considered barbaric. Instead they gave their own pure blood to the fire in the hopes that it would be enough.
The blood sizzled on the flames, and in the smoke of the fire, the figure of the Seer appeared.
All of the single women stepped forward, so that the smoke was in their eyes and mouths. This year, there were only three; Narcissa, Andromeda and a young Rosier girl. Each held a rosy red apple in their right hand. With their silver knives, still covered in some of their blood, they carefully peeled the apple, trying to keep it all one skin. The Rosier girl broke hers and stepped back with a sigh. This was not her year to be married.
Both Narcissa and Andromeda kept their peel whole. They held their peel to their hearts for a moment, and then threw it over their left shoulders.
Lucius tried to peer through the flames to the apple peel behind Narcissa. Did it look a little like his signature?
The two young women turned to examine their apple peels. Andromeda seemed disturbed by hers, and sent a wary look towards her parents. She then stepped back into the circle of the group and looked at the flames, a contemplative look on her face.
Narcissa, on the other hand, seemed pleased, and picked up her peel and threw it into the fire. Doing so demonstrated that she was open to the match, and wanted the Seer to bless the union.
Lucius felt a surge of jealousy and worried that perhaps it was some other man that she was matched with. Narcissa had never given him any indication that she returned his affections. After all, he was only one of her many suitors.
The Seer motioned to Narcissa, requesting her hand. With a shaky breath, she offered her hand to the Seer, holding it over the hot flames.
With hushed breath and bright eyes, the group watched as the Seer reached above them, seeming to pick something out of the sky. Lucius tried to see what they were, but the fire spat out sparks when he leaned closer. Whatever it was, the Seer placed it in Narcissa's left hand, allowing the last of her blood to coat them.
Lucius gasped as the Seer grabbed Narcissa's hand, closed around whatever they had given her, and thrust it down into the flames. She cried out, turning her face from the flames. However, after a few moments it was evident that she was unharmed, and she turned back to the fire, a look of wonder on her face.
'Open,' commanded the Seer. As always, Lucius was put off by the Seer's voice. The Seer spoke with the voices of a thousand men and women, and the discordance of the many voices was grating.
Narcissa did as commanded. The Seer bent over her, examining what looked to be stones. Lucius frowned, wondering what they were for. He had never witnessed this particular rite before because there were so few young women left in their group.
Suddenly, the fire grew much larger, so that they all had to turn away. Narcissa was engulfed in the flames as the Seer leaned closer to her and told her of the future. Whatever it was, it was for her ears only. Lucius burned with want, as he watched them with narrowed eyes, one arm lifted as if to fend off the unbearable heat coming from the fire.
Just as quickly, the fire died down, and with a rush of sparks the Seer was gone. Lucius studied Narcissa. She seemed pale, yet determined. Whatever the Seer had told her, it did not seem to have swayed her decision.
She returned to the circle, talking to her sisters in hushed tones.
The rites now over, everyone began to drift away from the fire, walking down into the valley where tables and chairs had already been set up.
Here, they would feast and tell stories until dawn, keeping a wary eye out for the Fair Ones. They took off their masks, hanging them on the back of their chairs as they assembled around the food laid out for them.
By chance, Lucius was given a chair beside Narcissa. Looking up, he caught the eye of his father, who nodded his agreement. His father approved of the match, and now he had the opportunity to discover if the Seer had blessed them.
However, before he could strike up conversation with Narcissa, Bellatrix, who was sitting across from them, spoke.
'Narcissa, are you going to tell us what the Seer said to you?' Her sunken eyes were glittering as she smiled at her sister, eager to hear what the Seer had said.
'I'm not sure I should say,' Narcissa said quietly.
Lucius frowned. Though he loathed Bellatrix, he had also wanted to hear what the Seer had told her.
'Nonsense,' Bellatrix hissed. 'You're among family and friends. Tell us about the man you are to marry. Do we know him?'
'Yes,' Narcissa said. Lucius watched her now like a hawk, knowing that she could probably feel his eyes on her face. She seemed nervous and shifted in her seat, though she kept her eyes on her sister.
'Oh come on, Cissy,' Bellatrix said with a sneer. 'Tell us everything. Lucius is almost wetting himself with excitement waiting to hear who it is.'
'Bella,' Andromeda scolded. She sat on Narcissa's other side and was glaring at her sister. 'There's no need to be rude.'
'Don't start on me, dear sister,' Bellatrix said, a malicious gleam in her eyes. 'Or I might start asking you who your suitor is. You didn't seem too happy about it.'
'Let it be,' Andromeda said, though she seemed uncomfortable now.
Sensing blood, Bellatrix leaned over the table with a wicked smile. She looked like a beautiful, deadly spider closing in on her prey.
'Don't tell me it's that filthy muggle you were caught with a few weeks ago,' Bellatrix said.
'Don't call him that,' Andromeda said, clenching her hands into fists as she grew angry.
Lucius sat back in his chair, feeling uncomfortable. While the Black sisters were all beautiful, they were also volatile and very powerful witches. He didn't want to place himself in the middle of this fight.
'Stop it, both of you,' Narcissa said angrily. 'Bellatrix, leave Andy alone. It's none of your business.'
Bellatrix ignored her, instead watching Andromeda with true rage in her eyes.
'Marry that muggle and you will be dead to me,' she said, her voice even and quiet. It made Lucius wary to realise that Bellatrix sounded her most sane when she was threatening another with her death. 'I will hunt you and the muggle down and slaughter you. I will rip you limb from limb and torture him endlessly while you watch.'
Andromeda did not reply. She got to her feet and stormed off into the night. They all watched her go.
'You two would make cute babies,' Bellatrix remarked, as if nothing untoward had occurred. Narcissa and Lucius exchanged a startled look before turning back to Bellatrix. She laughed, and then turned sideways to talk to her intended.
Narcissa sighed and Lucius turned to look at her.
'Sorry about that,' Narcissa whispered.
'Your apology is unnecessary,' he whispered back. 'Do you think Andromeda will be alright? Maybe we should go after her.'
'That's probably a good idea,' she said, looking towards the direction her sister had gone with a worried frown.
The two of them rose and excused themselves from the group. His father smiled at him with approval as Lucius offered Narcissa his arm. She took it with a nervous smile, and they walked out into the night.
After awhile, Lucius decided to break the silence.
'Do you want to talk about it?' He offered.
'About what?' Narcissa asked nonchalantly.
'The Seer,' he pressed, looking down at her anxiously.
Narcissa sighed and looked down at the ground.
'The Seer told me that the man I wanted would love me, and that we would have a son.'
'That's a good thing, isn't it?' He asked, his heart racing.
'The Seer also said that my husband would break my heart every day after my son is born with his actions, and that only great courage would keep my family together,' she said, looking faintly ill.
'Oh,' Lucius said with a frown. That did not sound like something he would do. If he were her chosen, and they were blessed enough to have a son, Lucius did not think that he would put either of them in harm's way. His heart sunk to think that perhaps her chosen was not him after all.
'Do you think that it would be worth it, having that family, even though I might lose them?' Narcissa asked morosely.
'I think that family is always worth it,' Lucius said honestly. He would do anything for any member of the Malfoy family, and longed to have a family of his own.
'You're probably right,'Narcissa nodded slowly, offering him a shy smile.
He returned her smile, and they stared at each other, she with hope and he with longing.
'Narcissa,' he said hesitantly. 'Please, I must know. Am I your chosen?'
'Oh Lucius,' she said, smiling as she stepped closer and put her arms around him. He returned her embrace, his heart thundering as he held her against his chest.
'It's always been you.'