Riding and writing were, by far, his favorite things to do. Both were relaxing and, typically (for him, anyway), solitary events. He was a highborn young man, a prince to be exact – private time was hard to come by. When he was younger, guards had accompanied him everywhere he went. The letter from Hogwarts had changed that.
At first, everyone had been terrified. How had the queen given birth to a wizard? Surely he was not the trueborn son of the king? He had to admit that he had thought that at first, too. But at Hogwarts he learned of muggles, and of how they can birth a witch or wizard and all had made sense. He had learned many other things there as well, things that made him itch to learn more. And even though he was not allowed to use magic outside the school until next year, nobody in his company at home knew that. Just the movement to free his wand was enough to have his guards terrified, ready to give him his every wish.
It was a nice arrangement.
The bravest of the guard had almost ruined it, in the beginning. 'I'll tell the king! And the queen! They have forbidden you to go anywhere without us!' But Robb, anticipating that reaction, had – quite brilliantly – worked out an arrangement. He would submit to the decree of having them accompany him at all other times. Riding would be his only time away. One or two of them followed him, he knew, but they only came close enough that they would be able to help him quickly if there were any problems and he supposed he could handle that.
It was better than nothing and since he was due to return to Hogwarts tomorrow, he figured he would take the last day of the break from term as a true 'holiday.' The entire time he had been home, his parents had had plans for him. Social obligations, meetings with other royalty, family affairs…it was tiresome. Last summer's flood hadn't helped matters either.
"I should be back around sunset. Feel free to wait at the edge of the woods for me; my parents will see you if you stay here." He swung his leg over his stallion, patting the horse's neck as he looked at the men. "And enjoy your afternoon off, of sorts."
They nodded but didn't say anything in return, and he turned away. The feel of a horse beneath him was as familiar to him as walking, but he freely admitted that he felt more at home in a saddle than on foot. There was just something about the connection between him and the horse, and if he never quite figured out what it was then that was fine. It was enough just to enjoy it. He smiled as he mulled it over, and gave his horse a little more rein. The grey pricked his ears and his stride lengthened. He pulled on the bit a little more, a polite request to be allowed to move faster, and Robb gave in.
He spotted a fallen tree off the path and put his reins to the horse's neck. His laughter as they soared over it echoed back at him briefly, and then they were out of the woods and in a large meadow. It was here that Robb usually did his writing, and today would be no different.
Or…so he thought.
Honour nickered as he pulled him up, but Robb paid that no mind. It was normal behavior, after all. But as he turned, he realized all was not normal.
There was a girl standing behind him. Or before him, depending upon how one wanted to view it. She was beautiful, there was no denying it. High born like him, judging by her clothes. And he recognized her for some reason, although he couldn't quite name why. "Are you…are you okay, miss?"
"Oh, I'm quite alright." She smiled and her eyes, a most brilliant blue, lit up. "I came to speak to you."
Well, that was unexpected.
"Might I enquire as to why?"
"You might, but I might not answer." She flashed him a sneaky smile. "I have several reasons, for the record."
"Hmm, I see." He looked around them for a moment. "I daresay that you have plenty of privacy to share them in."
She nodded, but withheld a response and instead looked around as he had been doing. The woods were thick, but not so thick as to be frightening, and there was nothing dangerous in this part of them. The part on the opposite side of the castle was where one had to worry about bears and wolves, wild boar, large cats.
"If it would not be too rude, may I ask you to come with me and sit? I do plan to be here for a while," he motioned toward his leather-bound book, "and I like looking at the sky much better than the woods on such a day as today."
"Yes, of course, sir." She followed him several feet from his horse and waited while he spread a blanket out for her, and then lowered herself to the ground gracefully. "You aren't quite who I expected to see. I don't know who that person was…but it wasn't you."
Confusion written across his features, he tilted his head. She was puzzling for sure. "I'm sorry?"
For a brief moment, she thought she had been mistaken about him. But no, he had Black characteristics…and magic was written in the air all around him. "You're a wizard; I was looking for a wizard. But that wizard was not you. It's fairly simple."
"Yes, I suppose it is." He grinned sly. I like this girl. She reminds me of me. "Do you even know who I am?"
"No, not entirely. I do know you're a Black, though."
He shifted his weight to lean back against his arm. "Indeed. Robb Black. And may I ask for your name now, m'lady?"
To shock him, or not to shock him? For a moment she couldn't decide. "Narcissa."
"Just Narcissa?"
She shook her head. "No. Not just Narcissa… Narcissa Black."
The way his eyes widened made her want to replay the scene.
"I don't understand… I've never heard you mentioned before, never met you…"
"You asked why I came to speak to you...and I won't give you all the reasons. However… My cousin, Sirius, and I were enquiring with other members of our family over our winter holiday as to our history. No one could give us satisfactory answers, so we decided to perform heritage spells upon our return to Hogwarts. I had anticipated meeting an ancestor closer to my time, but instead…well…I ended up here. I guess one could call it destiny."
There was silence for a moment as he processed that, and then a most unexpected offer. "It may not be exactly what you were hoping for, but I could discuss my life thus far with you if you would like. And I could show you around Castle Black?"
Narcissa smiled. "I would like that very much."
Robb stood and offered her a hand to help her up, and the witch took it. The rest of his days off would never live up to this one, and it was a shame he couldn't tell anyone about it. As if Narcissa had been listening to his thoughts, she shrugged and he smiled. Together, they headed back toward the castle.
a/n;
This was written for Round 11 of the Harry Potter Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
I write as Beater 1 for the Montrose Magpies.
The overall round setting was 'All Through the Years.'
The year for the Magpies was 1380.
My localized round setting was to write about a vacation day.
My prompts were;
- 1 (word); flood
- 6 (word); destiny
This would not have been possible without my fellow Magpie, firefly81! Thank you so much for your ideas and support, and just for everything!