Written for the "A Little Bit of Déjà Vu" Competition as part of Season Three of Quidditch League Fanfiction Competiton.
Round chosen was: Season Two, Round Eight: "Kill 'Em With Fluff".
I chose to write for the position, Keeper, where the prompt was: "Mosmorde", the spell that conjures the Dark Mark.
Title derived from 'Sanctimonia Vincent Semper', the Malfoy family motto, meaning 'Purity Always Conquers'.
The wine bottles were empty, the music had stopped and the guests had all gone home. Lucius and Narcissa swayed together in the centre of the room to the sound of their heartbeats, perfectly in time with each other. Narcissa looked up at Lucius, her new husband, and smiled.
Lucius leaned in to capture her lips in a chaste kiss. "Are you happy?" he asked. He had always been able to drop his facade around her enough to admit he cared. Only her, no one else. If he had ever in his life felt strong when he was wholly himself, it was with her arms wrapped tight around him.
"Yes," she told him, with a certainty that was audible in her tone. "Yes."
"Good."
There was a pause as they stared at one another. They were content together with just being and not needing to speak.
"I wanted to tell you something," Lucius began, his voice soft. Narcissa said nothing in her curiosity, encouraging him to speak. "I'll be offered a promotion soon. It's been arranged for me and there will be more to follow. I've been accepted into His inner circle, Cissy," he told her, and there was no need to elaborate on who he was. He was their promise of a future without complication, of a life unchallenged, unquestioned. He was offering them happiness. She smiled and the corners of her eyes creased a little, happiness etching itself into every inch of her face.
"I always knew you would," she told him.
"Let me show you something," he said, stepping away from her and taking his wand out from his cloak. "This is a promise. This is our future. It's everything we ever wanted. Morsmorde."
As he spoke, green and black smoke billowed from his wand in tantalising swirls. The snakes appeared first, circling the smoke as a shape began to appear. Narcissa saw the eyes first, but as the toothy grin began to appear, she smiled and turned to Lucius, knowing that what she was seeing was no more or less than proof.
Lucius turned to return his bride's smile and took her hand in his own. In that moment, they knew their lives together would be made of happy, long years and prosperity.