Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy have been married 20 years, as of today. Earlier this fine morning, they had exchanged their anniversary gifts with each other. Lucius had given Narcissa the softest nightgown on the planet and a stunning diamond necklace. In turn, Narcissa had given Lucius an exquisite set of dress robes. They were now walking about the gardens arm in arm, merely chatting.

"Cissa, I just can't tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me," Lucius said.

"I bet I love you even more," replied Narcissa, sweetly.

"Impossible," said Lucius, stopping and turning to face her. He touched her cheek affectionately and then pulled her towards him, kissing her. He held her that way for a few moments. When he released her, he looked into her eyes and only broke their eye contact when he felt a sharp pain in his left forearm. Wincing slightly, he spoke: "Cissa, the dark lord is calling me."

"Do you really have to go now?" she pouted. Lucius hugged her.

"I'm afraid I do," he whispered in her ear.

"Be careful."

"I always am." With that, he disapparated. He arrived at an old abandoned house. "My lord," Lucius bowed respectively.

"Lucius. Why so late?" questioned the man who strongly resembled the serpent around his shoulders.

"I—I was with my wife. It's our anniversary, my lord."

"Sorry for interrupting then." Voldemort didn't actually sound the least bit sorry. "Anyways, I called you, to inform you, that I am in need of better premises to hold my meetings."

"My lord, may I ask what you are getting at?"

"I wish to use the Malfoy manor as my base. Surely you will accept this as an honor?"

"Of course, my lord. Narcissa and I would be more than happy to host you in the Malfoy family house."

"Very well. I expect to see you and your wife tomorrow at 6:00pm, sharp. The drawing room will do. Now go!" Voldemort turned and disapparated. When he had gone, Lucius, too, disapparated. He arrived in the country lane leading to the gates of the Malfoy manor. Lucius Malfoy walked straight through the wrought iron gates. It seemed as though they were merely smoke. He went straight to his bedroom to find his dear wife. She was in bed, until she heard him open the door. The second her came through the door, she flung herself around him and pressed her face into his chest. He returned her loving embrace. After a few minutes, he pushed her away a little so he could see her face. He kissed her.

"How did your meeting go?" asked Narcissa.

"It went well. I was the only one called. We will be attending a meeting with him at 6:00 tomorrow evening," Lucius informed his wife.

"Where will—"

"—It will be here," Lucius looked into her icy, blue eyes, "He will be using the manor as a base." She looked into his steel, grey eyes and smiled.

"Why don't you change and come to bed?" He let go of her waist and started undressing. When he had changed, he climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"My Cissa. My beautiful, smart, sweet Cissa," he mumbled as he kissed her. They fell asleep that way.

Narcissa opened her eyes and found herself staring right at Lucius's chest. She gazed up, into his eyes.

"Good morning," she said sleepily.

"Morning," Lucius replied leaning in to kiss her. They got out of bed and changed. It was nearly lunchtime when they were having breakfast. "How about we go out into your favorite rose garden for a picnic lunch, my love?"

"That sounds lovely, darling!" exclaimed Narcissa. She was filled with joy and excitement. Lucius smiled and called a house elf.

"Pack us a picnic lunch," Lucius instructed the elf.

"Right away, Master. Mistress," squeaked the elf. Lucius continued reading the Daily Prophet, and Narcissa went on reading her magazine. Ten minutes later, the elf reappeared holding a picnic basket that the couple knew to contain their lunch. After they answered their mail, Lucius and Narcissa went outside and walked to Narcissa's favorite rose garden. They sat together in the middle of the circle of rose bushes on a bright green patch of soft grass. They fed each other the pasta and strawberries that were packed in the basket. They spent the rest of the afternoon outside together laughing and chasing each other through the fields. Not until 5:00, did they go inside. They changed and went down to the drawing room. Lucius pulled out his wand and moved all the furniture against the walls. Then he took a tissue out of his pocket and transfigured it into a handsome, dark brown dining table. One chair appeared at the head of the table. The couple stood together in silence. Suddenly, a snake like figure appeared out of nowhere, along with his great serpent, Nagini.

"My lord," Lucius and Narcissa said in unison, bowing low.

"We shall be expecting the others momentarily," said Voldemort, as he sat down in the lone chair. Soon enough, there was a "popping" sound, and Bellatrix Lestrange appeared in the room.

"My lord," said Bellatrix as she bowed her head to Voldemort.

"Bella!" Voldemort exclaimed, almost fondly. "How very nice to see you. I would like you seated right next no me." Voldemort gestured to his right hand side, and sure enough, a chair appeared there. Bellatrix took a seat. The others arrived one by one. Voldemort told them where to sit. When the table was filled, Voldemort began to speak.

"My faithful friends! As you all know, many of us were lost in our recent failed attempt to kill the minister. I will be needing more young witches and wizards to replace those who are gone." There was a long silence. "Lucius and Narcissa, I believe Draco is now sixteen." Narcissa looked up at Voldemort. He wasn't looking at her, but at the ceiling. "I would like to give Draco a chance to prove himself."

"Draco will be delighted to hear you are giving him a chance to prove himself!" Lucius exclaimed proudly.

"Good. As for the rest of you, I would like you to put as many aurors as you can under the imperius curse."

"Yes, my lord," they all replied.

"Now go!" All of them disapparated. Voldemort stood and walked over to Lucius and Narcissa. He pulled out his wand and flicked it at the back of Narcissa's chair. It pulled itself out and turned to face him. Voldemort leaned in close to her face and said, "You will not speak of this to anybody! Understand?" hissed Voldemort.

"Yes, I understand, my lord," answered Narcissa, who was successfully hiding all her fear.

"If you do mention it, you shall be punished more than you can ever imagine." With that, he turned and disappeared. Lucius immediately got up and knelt besides his wife who had allowed her tears to run down her cheeks.

"You—how could you let him have Draco! My Draco! He—he is only sixteen! You fool!" screamed Narcissa. Lucius was quite surprised at that. In less than a second, his surprise was replaced by anger.

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am your husband! Do you have no respect for me?" bellowed Lucius.

"I don't care! You have just given my Draco to the dark lord to use!" Narcissa screamed back at him, matching his anger. He could not believe it. Narcissa had never shown him any disrespect—she was a Black! She was a proper pureblood wife! He slapped her as hard as he could. The blow knocked her out of her chair and onto the floor. She looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears. He looked deeper into them and saw they only showed pain and fear. They looked so different, so horrible, compared to when they were filled with happiness and love. A pureblood wife was not supposed to show any emotion, fear, or tears. Their purpose is to produce an heir and serve her husband. Narcissa was a crying, scared, pathetic mess on the floor in Lucius's eyes. He kicked her. She screamed. He bent down, grabbed her hair, and pulled her to her feet.

"You worthless brat!" he hissed in her ear. She tried to pull away, but he yanked her hair. Lucius looked around the room for a moment and then started dragging her down the stairs. They went down and down the spiral staircase until they finally reached the basement door. He pulled her wand from her bun and used it to unlock the door. She screamed in protest, but all he did was laugh: "Maybe you will learn to respect me!" And he threw her into the basement, locking the door. He ascended the staircase and went to his study. He opened his secret drawer wand placed her wand inside. It was a beautiful wand. It had diamonds in the wood where you held it. It was a shiny black. He shut the drawer and withdrew his wand to lock it. He just sat there in silence for a moment. Then, he rose from his chair and went over to his wine cabinet. He looked at all of them and chose one of the strongest ones. He sat back down and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and ink. He looked at the parchment and began writing.

You must go to Hogwarts and talk to Draco about the chance the dark lord has offered Draco. February 13

He read the note over. Satisfied, he picked up the wine bottle, and downed the whole thing.

Narcissa couldn't believe this. She curled up in a ball on the cold stone floor, weeping. Earlier today we were having such a good time together in the rose garden…. Now he has beaten me and locked my in the basement! We were going to spend Valentine's Day together…. She cried herself to sleep.

Lucius Malfoy opened his eyes. He found himself at his desk. He looked down at the empty wine bottle on his lap and transfigured it into a goblet before muttering "agumenti." The cup filled with water and he drank it. After three cups of water, he set the cup on his desk and read the piece of parchment he found on his desk. It was in his handwriting and it was written on February 13. It was February 15. It had only been two days since he wrote it, but he couldn't remember doing it. Then he had a brilliant thought. Maybe I wrote this because I knew I was going to forget something. He thought about how smart he was and disapparated and apparated to Hogwarts. He walked into Severus Snape's office.

"Good day, Lucius! What brings you here?" asked Severus.

"I wish to see Draco. It's about our meeting. Two days ago," replied Lucius. Severus Snape had been at the meeting.

"Very well. I shall fetch him. Wait here." Snape strode past Lucius, out of the room. Five minutes later, he returned. A handsome young man followed him.

"Father!" exclaimed Draco Malfoy.

"Son!" Lucius went over to the boy and shook his hand. Then he turned to the professor. "I will take Draco for a walk. Expect us back in one hour's time." Father and son left the room and strolled out into the grounds.

"What brings you here, Father?" asked Draco.

"I wanted to talk to you. I hope I didn't disturb anything important."

"Oh, no. I was just thinking about writing a letter to mother asking if she was alright because it was rather unusual not to get a box of chocolates from her on Valentine's Day. I hope you don't think I am being greedy, I am merely concerned about her." Lucius froze. He had just remembered he hadn't seen Narcissa. Then he remembered what he had done to her.

"Draco, I… umm… have to go. I forgot to do something at home."

"You okay, father? If it is that important, go and come back later." His father nodded and disapparated. Lucius Malfoy apparated right into the drawing room and descended the stairs to the basement as quickly as he could. He whipped out his wand and unlocked the door. The basement appeared empty, but he could hear quiet sobs. The sound of sobbing comforted him slightly to know his wife was alive. He walked in and saw her pale figure lying in the corner. He ran over to her and kneeled down besides her.

"Cissa? Cissa? Oh, Cissa! I am so, so sorry!" wailed Lucius, cradling her in his arms. He brushed her bruised cheek with his hand. She stopped crying a little bit and he leaned down and kissed her. To his surprise, she kissed him back! He had thought that she was too mad at him to show any kind of affection towards him. He lifted her up and brought her to their bedroom and set her on their bed. He turned to leave the bedroom because he thought she was in need of some time without him.

"Lucius?" asked Narcissa in a whisper that was barely hearable.

"Yes, my love?"

"Will you stay with me? Please?" Lucius was overjoyed that she wanted to be with him.

"Always," he answered smiling warmly. She smiled back. Lucius climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled back for a moment so he could look at her.

"I forgive you, Lucius," Narcissa said smiling.

"We'll celebrate Valentine's Day tomorrow."

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