Only one word reverberated through Lucius Malfoy's mind as he watched her from the other end of the long dining table.
Beautiful.
He observed, with an expression of studied nonchalance, as she smiled and chatted amongst her friends. Even from this distance, that guileless smile was enough to make a boy go mad.
The object of his attention was none other than Narcissa Black-the prettiest girl at Hogwarts and his fiancé-to-be. They had been betrothed last summer, but you would have never known it from the way she acted around him. Back home, she had tolerated him enough keep up appearances, but ever since the new term started, she had been avoiding him like the plague.
It didn't help matters that she was constantly surrounded by her squealing little girl friends and her two older sisters, Andromeda and Bellatrix, the latter of whom had a reputation for hexing unsuspecting students at random.
But today, he was going to put an end to this nonsense. He had a plan; he had rehearsed it down to the last, minute detail. He was going to talk to Narcissa today, and nothing, not even Bellatrix Black, was going to stop him.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In her mind, she referred to him as the boy made of stone. Lucius Malfoy, the heir apparent of the powerful Malfoy family, was every bit as impenetrable and unaffected as a marble statue. She had never seen him smile, never seen so much as a flicker of sentiment in those pale, gray eyes. He was perfectly stoic and put-together, and sometimes, she found herself wondering if he even experienced emotions.
Despite his reserved manner, he was one of the most popular students at Hogwarts. Best in his class, Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and devastatingly handsome, he was also a pureblood from one of the oldest and most honored wizarding families in England. She supposed she should consider herself lucky that her father had arranged such a match for her, but she still couldn't shake off the uneasiness she felt whenever she was around him. Every time he looked at her with those cold, gray eyes, she felt a shiver go down her spine.
And so, it was with some trepidation that she accepted his sudden offer to go on a walk around the grounds.
"Are you sure you're ok with this, Cissy?" Bellatrix, her eldest sister, asked. Narcissa noted that she already had her wand out, ready to hex him as soon as she gave the word.
"I'm sure, Bella," she said quickly. "It's alright. Really."
She bid her sisters and friends farewell, then took the arm that Lucius had proffered. They walked side-by-side but said nothing until they were nearing the lake that was nestled on the far edge of the grounds.
Lucius cleared his throat, and she waited patiently for him to speak.
"I wanted to talk to you," he said at last, "about our engagement."
She stiffened involuntarily, then immediately forced herself to relax, praying that he hadn't noticed.
"Yes?" she prompted. Her voice was calm, betraying none of her inner turmoil. As a daughter of the Black family, she had been raised to never show weakness.
"How do you feel about it?"
She certainly hadn't been expecting this. "I…well…" She cast about desperately for an appropriate response. "I am pleased, of course. Our marriage will continue the purity of our bloodline and strengthen the bonds between our two families. Why wouldn't I be pleased about it?"
It was all hogwash, but she didn't know what else to say. She certainly couldn't tell the truth. Lucius merely looked at her with that unreadable expression that made her insides quake.
After a moment's silence, he spoke again. "You're afraid of me, aren't you?"
She felt the look of surprise flit across her face, and she knew that he had seen it too. She could try to lie and cover it up, but it wouldn't do any good. "Yes," she exhaled heavily. "Yes, I'm afraid of you."
There. She had said it. She could hardly believe her boldness and was more than a little afraid of how he would react. Maybe the stony façade would finally crumble.
But Lucius still looked unperturbed. He led her to a grassy spot under a sprawling oak tree. "Will you sit with me?"
She nodded, tucking her robes under her as she sat down beside him. The silence between them seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Occasionally, she stole a nervous glance at the boy next to her, but his eyes were fixed steadily on the lake in front of them.
"I was happy." His voice was soft, almost as if he was talking more to himself than to her. "When I heard about our engagement, I was happy." He finally turned towards her, his usually cool eyes filled with the warmth of his passion. "And I promise you, Narcissa Black, that I'll spend the rest of my life making sure that you're happy too."
She gaped at him, astounded by the depth of feeling that was always so carefully concealed in those incisive, gray eyes. He was looking at her in a way that no boy had ever looked at her before. Sure, she had had her fair share of admiring stares, but this was different. There was love in his eyes, love for her. The realization took her breath away.
He pulled out his wand. "I have something I want to give to you." She watched curiously as he pointed the tip towards the ground. "Herbivicus!"
A ball of brilliant green light leapt out from his wand, and mere moments later, a tiny seedling was sprouting up from the soft earth.
"Ooh!" she gasped with delight as a bulb with fragile pink petals appeared and bloomed right before her eyes. But just as quickly as it had bloomed, it faded, wilting until all but two of the petals had fallen limply to the ground.
"Sorry." Lucius Malfoy, the boy she had thought was made of stone, was grimacing with embarrassment. "It worked better when I was practicing it. I can make another one if you want, I just have to go back to the greenhouse-"
She shook her head, trying to stifle her giggles. "This one is fine. Thank you."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lucius reluctantly handed her his pathetic excuse for a flower. So much for planning every last, minute detail perfectly.
But to his amazement, Narcissa didn't seem to mind. She accepted the droopy plant graciously, holding it tenderly, as if it were an object of real value.
He noted, with satisfaction, that the wall between them seemed to have disappeared. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she was finally looking and truly seeing him. But what really made his heart race was her smile. It was as beautiful as always, but this time, it was a smile that was meant for him, and that made it infinitely more precious in his eyes. It was, he thought with a sigh of contentment, the smile of an angel.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"What are you doing, my love?" Lucius wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and kissed the nape of her neck.
She whacked him on the head playfully. "I was trying to get work done. Or at least I was, until I stumbled across this." There was an old, slightly worn leather book laying open on her desk. "It's a photo album from when I was a girl."
He peered over her shoulder curiously. There were photographs of Narcissa and her sisters, looking much younger than they did now, but what caught his attention was a wilted, rather homely looking flower that was pressed between the pages.
He touched it gently, memories of that day washing over him. "You kept it all this time?" he asked quietly.
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with love. "Of course." She reached up and pulled him towards her. Her lips met his and sent a wave of warmth rushing through him.
He kissed her back fervently, pausing only a moment to murmur in her ear, "And have I kept the promise that I made to you that day, Mrs. Malfoy?"
She broke into a smile, and even after all this time, he still felt his heart leap. There were now more lines on her face than there had been all those years ago, but in his eyes, she had only grown more beautiful with age.
"Yes, my love," she whispered in a voice that was for his ears alone. "You've made me the happiest woman in the world."