Author's Note: Lucius and Narcissa are newly married in this story.
Additional Author's Note: There is an attempted rape in this story.
Lucius and Narcissa had just finished eating dinner at one of their favorite restaurants in celebration of Narcissa's birthday, and Lucius was now looking at the selection of wine being offered by their waiter to see which one he wanted to buy for them to drink once they were back at Malfoy Manor.
Narcissa, wanting to give Lucius the chance to surprise her with whatever wine he ended up choosing, told him, "I'll wait for you outside. Take as much time as you need. The weather is lovely tonight, so I'll be just fine."
"Be careful," Lucius warned her after a few moments of hesitation.
Narcissa smiled, knowing that her husband often had the tendency to be overprotective of her. He had been that way since they were children.
"I will be," Narcissa promised. She then gave Lucius a quick kiss on his lips before turning and exiting the restaurant.
Once outside, Narcissa breathed in the fresh air. There was a slight breeze, but it didn't chill her. In fact, Narcissa felt completely comfortable.
It was a night such as this one that made Narcissa understand why Lucius often liked to go out when everyone else was sleeping and just wander around.
Narcissa glanced around in every direction, knowing that was what her husband would want her to do. They were in a wealthy part of the Wizarding World that mostly only respectable Purebloods such as themselves frequented, but Lucius had often told her that even in places such as this the inferior could sometimes be found lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to catch a wealthy Pureblood off guard.
Narcissa, however, quickly saw that she was alone. Now able to relax, she looked up at the night sky.
Since she was a small child, Narcissa had always liked looking at the stars. The stars, after all, were important to her family.
Narcissa gently ran a hand over her stomach, which was finally starting to show a slight baby bump. It was her and Lucius's first of what would hopefully be many children.
Narcissa was thinking about which star would be the best one to name their child after when she was suddenly struck by something. Her arms snapped to her sides, and her legs snapped together as well. Her now rigid, immobilized body then fell down onto the ground.
A moment later, a man with a horribly unkempt appearance and with slightly glazed over eyes (he had clearly been drinking) was standing over her.
The man waved his wand at Narcissa, and her body was lifted off the ground. The man then directed her body to a nearby dark alley. A moment later, Narcissa's body fell back down to the ground. The man was not gentle about her body's landing.
The man pointed his wand at Narcissa's legs. They came undone, but the rest of her body remained immobilized.
The man then got down on his knees and began to pull Narcissa's dress up her legs.
Narcissa kicked at the man, but with a harsh growl, he managed to pin them down to the ground. He then maneuvered her legs so that they were spread as far apart from each other as possible. The man then used his wand to freeze Narcissa's legs in place.
Narcissa wanted to struggle, but all she could move were her eyes. She was completely at this man's mercy.
She should have listened more seriously to Lucius. She should have been paying more attention to her surroundings.
A beam of green light suddenly struck the man's back. The man, now looking at Narcissa with blank, vacant eyes, fell onto the ground.
A moment later, Narcissa found that she was once again able to move her entire body.
Narcissa lifted up her head cautiously and saw that Lucius was walking towards her.
Lucius was looking at the dead man with such rage that, for a moment, Narcissa was terrified. But then Lucius looked over at her, and his eyes immediately softened.
"Are you all right?" Lucius asked gently as he helped her to her feet. "Does the baby feel like it's still all right?"
Narcissa just nodded her head. She then buried her head into his shoulder, and she began to cry.
"I wasn't paying attention, Lucius," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I should have paid more attention to all your warnings."
Lucius made soothing sounds. "It's all right," he said softly. "It's all right, Narcissa. This wasn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. I should not have allowed you to go outside by yourself."
"It wasn't your fault either, Lucius," Narcissa cried. "You know how stubborn I can be. Oh, Lucius, I'm so glad you came when you did. I was so scared."
"I know," Lucius said softly. "I know. But you're safe now. I'm not going to allow anyone to hurt you."
Lucius's eyes then landed on the dead man.
"We were not the only ones in this area tonight," he said, "but we still don't want to risk raising any suspicion."
Lucius pointed his wand at the man's body. The body rose up from the ground and then began to make its way away from Lucius and Narcissa, further into the darkness.
It didn't take long until Narcissa was no longer able to make out even the shape of the body.
A few moments later, Lucius lowered his wand, clearly satisfied with what he had done.
"We should go to St. Mungo's," he said, "just to make sure that you and the baby are both all right. We'll tell them that you were a little light-headed because of the baby, which caused you to fall."
Narcissa nodded her head. She had been light-headed several times since becoming pregnant (and she had nearly fallen more than once), so Lucius's explanation was perfectly reasonable.
Lucius wrapped his arm protectively around Narcissa and held her close to him as they began to make their way out of the alley.
"We'll Floo to St. Mungo's through the fireplace in the restaurant," Lucius said. "I don't want to risk Apparition at the moment."
Narcissa just nodded her head. She was still trembling. She knew how close she had come to being raped and perhaps murdered as well.
And she had also just witnessed her very first murder. Granted, she believed the man got exactly what he deserved, but it still caused her to tremble.
Narcissa looked at Lucius, who smiled reassuringly at her.
Lucius, her husband. One moment, a cold-blooded murderer. The next moment, the perfect, caring gentleman that he usually was around her.
Narcissa was still shaking slightly from the night's recent events, but another part of her could not help but be aroused by the sight of her husband, a man who was clearly willing to kill for her.
He was also the same man who was now looking at her with such tenderness and concern.
A part of Narcissa felt like she was holding the leash to a gorgeous but dangerous monster. She had to admit, though, that it was a very enjoyable, thrilling feeling.