Hello Readers. Welcome to my new story - The Intricacies. It is OC x OC and side-pairings will not always be canon.

There are a couple things you should note before reading this story to understand the plot:

· Some characters are OOC, like the Malfoys and Ron Weasley.

· Narcissa Malfoy in this story is not related to Sirius, Regulus, Bellatrix or Andromeda in anyway. She was never a Black. She is a Selwyn for the purposes of plot. Also, besides Narcissa and my OC, there are no more Selwyns left.

· Not everything will be canon - there will be changes to the original events, e.g. deaths of main characters and such.

· This is a first draft. There will be typos that I have missed. Rest assured that at the end, when I have finished writing this story, I will go back and edit it all.

Enjoy!

Prologue

I knew I was not my father's daughter by the time I was seven years old. I had not my father's hair nor his eyes or any other aspect. Where his hair was light, my hair was dark and unruly. Where my eyes were as grey as a normal London day, my father's eyes were as blue as the purest water. My brother, Draco, did in fact have all of these features – pure blonde hair, blue eyes so bright that they looked grey. All their mannerisms were the same, also. But it was not these differences that allowed for my realisation on that faithful day in February.

Often my mother would whisk me away for a week or so under the pretence of girly days and shopping sprees and mother-daughter bonding. This had never seemed odd to me, even when none of this occurred with Draco, my little brother. During these trips, we would do just that – shop and talk (and gossip) and visit friends and travel to exotic, far-off places. It was on one of these trips that my mother and I ran into Andromeda Black – a blood traitor, my mother had said. I nodded then as if those words held some meaning to me. In truth, they didn't.

Andromeda Black had the curliest hair I had ever seen before, besides my own, and it was this that led me to guess that she had some relation to me. So, as my mum and Andromeda were talking, I engaged in some well-worn habits and asked in the sweetest, innocent voice I had perfected: "Are you related to us?"

My mum looked so startled that I half-regretted asking but the society I had grown up in had taught me to do as you pleased and cover it up later with well-concealed masks and heavy bags of galleons. Andromeda, on the other hand, looked triumphant. She leaned down next to me, not caring about her pretty robes and said, "I think so, sweetheart. Shall we ask your mum?"

I nodded so sweetly that I think she doubted – and still does from time to time – that I had been raised as a Malfoy and bore their name, too.

My mother put a hand on my shoulder and sighed, wearily. "I think it is best that we go somewhere private and talk."

My mother apparated us back to the grand hotel we were staying in for two days until we moved on to our next luxurious location. Andromeda followed easily and they both cast some spells. Severus Snape was my brother's godfather and normally when he visited us, I persuaded him to teach me anything and everything he could about magic and potions and wards. It was because of him that my seven-year-old mind could comprehend that my mother and Andromeda Black (Her surname was really Tonks through marriage but I preferred to call her Black – It allowed a kinship between us that we both enjoyed) were actually securing our hotel room from nosy people.

"Well then," said Andromeda. "Do you want to start, Narcissa?" Narcissa is my mum's name. She had been a Selwyn before marriage and it was because of this that when my grandmother, the last Selwyn, had passed away, she had left me quite a big fortune – big enough to rival my father's (both of them). Andromeda took a seat in one of the long, plush couches and poured herself a cup of tea from the porcelain tea pot.

"Yes, Andromeda. Gemima is your second-cousin," my mum seated herself opposite of my new-found cousin, allowing Andromeda to pour her a cup of tea, also. They both used warming charms to heat them up. "Gemima, darling, why don't you go try on those new clothes we bought today?"

I knew as a good pureblood daughter that I should say, "Yes, mummy" and walk primly out of the room, allowing for the adults to say what they may. But when unnecessary, it had always been hard of me to fit myself into that role, especially as a child. This is why I shook my head and sat beside my mother on the sofa and told her, strongly, "No, you're are going to talk about me. And I have a right to know who my real father is."

My mum re-adopted her startled expression from earlier. "Your real father? Sweetheart, you know Lucius is your real father."

"No, I don't," I had said, stubbornly. "I look nothing like him or Draco and neither of them are related to Miss Black, are they?"

My mum had to place the tea cup back onto the small table standing nearby due to her shaky hands. Andromeda placed her hand over hers to calm her. "She's right, Narcissa. You can't keep her in the dark forever. Eventually, she'll grow up and, as the last suitable heir, it will be her right – maybe her destiny – to claim her heritage if she wants it. She is a Black, Narcissa, you know this."

My mother nodded sharply and, as a rare occurrence, kneeled down in front of me, taking my hands in hers as Andromeda had. "Gemima, your daddy loves you very much, don't you understand?" I nodded. "But before Lucius became your daddy, you had another. I loved him, you see. We went to Hogwarts at the same time and grew up together and I was going to marry him. I loved him. But he was disowned from his family. My mother, your grandmother, wanted me to break the betrothal contact but I couldn't. I was going to marry him no matter what. She disowned me, too."

At this part, Andromeda joined us on this couch. My mum was completely crying now – soft, silent tears running down her beautiful face. I started to cry, too. When I first figured out that my father wasn't my father, I'd dreamt up stories and stories of true love and forbidden romance. My mum and my real dad, together forever. Maybe he'd come back, declare that he loved me and needed me. It was in this moment that pureblood society was revealed to me as a whole – destructive, cold and selfish. More tears slipped out and I threw myself into my mother's arms. She cradled me. When I look back at that moment know, knowing what I do, I realise that I had always been a piece of my biological father to her and, even as she grew to love Lucius in some ways, that was why I was infinitely more special to her than my brother. My brother recognised this as he grew and it strained their relationship but not ours.

"I became pregnant with you, Gemima. He was so happy. He loved you even before you were born. He always said you were a gem in his eyes. So precious and perfect and rare. He chose your name." I wiped the new onslaught of tears away, holding on dearly. "But he died, my darling. And I had to move on. I was only a few months pregnant and Lucius made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He knows the truth, Gem, but he still loves you like he loves Draco. You believe that, right?" I nodded, pulling back to sit on the sofa again, beside my cousin.

From then on, when we'd go on our little excursions, we'd spend four or five days together, bonding and doing girly stuff and talking, and for another two or three days, I'd stay at Andromeda's house and started calling her "Aunt Andy". I met her husband, a muggleborn, Ted Tonks, and their daughter, Nymphadora. I loved them so much and when I couldn't see them, I sent them letters. Draco never found out who the letters went to, but he assumed they were to a friend or something like that. He didn't really care. My dad understood, though, and he allowed the letters to continue. I knew, as time passed, that Lucius really did love me as my mum claimed. These little gestures proved so. He had even claimed me as his first-born, knowing that this would mean that I was the Malfoy Heir, not Draco.

Later on, on that trip in February, after Andromeda had left, I had asked my mum, "What's his name?"

"Regulus Black."