A/N: This story is for OCDdegrassi's Rare Pair challenge, the Unusual Pairing Challenge on HPFF and the Ficathon Number Game on the rarepair_shorts comm. Hlaf beta'd by Dojh167
Narcissa hurried through the rain, hoping her presence would not be noticed. It would not bode well for either of them if they were caught.
She looked around, making sure that no one was following her, and slipped into an alleyway between two deserted buildings.
As Narcissa walked further down, the light became obscured until it was pitch black.
Someone pulled her into an alcove and put a hand over her mouth as she tried to scream.
"Calm down, love. It's only me," the figure whispered into her ear.
Narcissa sagged with relief. She had thought that she had been caught and was going to be taken to her husband.
"You scared me," Narcissa said angrily.
"I'm sorry, but there have been people coming down here every now and again checking to see if anyone is here. I didn't get the best look at them, but I recognised one. He is a low level Death Eater who has been suspected in several assaults. I didn't want you to get caught," he said apologetically.
Narcissa tried to hide a shiver that went through her.
Lucius would kill them both if he ever found out that they were having an affair. It was the reason that they met in such secrecy, but it seemed as if he had an idea about what they were doing. There could be no other reason that Death Eaters were down the alleyway on that particular day.
"Do you know somewhere else we can go, Fabian?" she asked, trying to keep herself together.
"Yes, hold onto me and I can apparate us there," he replied.
Narcissa wrapped her arms around his waist as she felt the tight, squeezing sensation that accompanied Apparition. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it was over so quickly that it didn't bother her. When they reached their destination, Narcissa started to pull away before realising that Fabian intended to take them somewhere else.
As they appeared at the new place Narcissa had time to take the appearance of her lover in. Fabian wore a set of navy blue robes, and his red hair was tied at the nape of his neck. It would have looked smart if the hems of his robes were not caked in mud, and his hair wasn't sticking out in places. He was a bit rough around the edges, but Narcissa liked that about him. It was a complete change from Lucius who spent more time preparing himself than she did.
"We should get inside," he said, putting his arm around her waist and walking to a small cottage Narcissa had not noticed.
"It's a safe house owned by the Order. There's no one in there at the moment though."
"It's lovely," Narcissa observed.
The cottage looked beautiful. It was made from white bricks and had a small garden out the front with several pruned shrubs and bushes. There were two hanging baskets by the door which had a variety of different coloured pansies. It was somewhere that Narcissa wished she could call come home.
As they entered the cottage, Narcissa tried to pick apart everything Lucius had said and done in the past few days, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Fabian asked, as he pulled Narcissa in for an embrace.
"Lucius," Narcissa replied, laying her head on his shoulder.
"I didn't know that you thought about him when we were together," he said quietly.
"I wasn't thinking about him like that. I was trying to work out how he knew about us. It must have been him behind those people coming and going - it could be no one else," Narcissa informed him grabbing at his sleeve.
She lifted her head and gazed into his brown eyes. They were full of concern and worry. "I love you. Not him, never him. I wish we didn't have to hide this," she sighed.
"I wish we didn't have to either."
He leant down and captured her lips in a kiss.
Narcissa could feel him trying to pour everything he felt into it and reciprocated with as much fervour.
At that moment it didn't matter that her husband had found out, as the world melted away and it was just them left in it.
When they finished kissing, Fabian had pleaded with her, "Run away with me. We can go to the States, anywhere you like away from here. Promise me you won't go back to him,"
Narcissa stood still for a moment.
The question had been on her lips many times, and each time Narcissa talked herself out of asking. It wasn't something she thought Fabian would ever agree to. Narcissa knew it would probably end badly for them, but she didn't care. The few weeks or months with him would be bliss compared to what she would put up with if she stayed.
"Yes. Yes, I will go with you!" she exclaimed and kissed him fiercely.
They spent the rest of the day and night making plans on how to escape without alerting any of their friends or family to what they were actually doing. Narcissa and Fabian hadn't wanted anyone to know in case the knowledge got back to Lucius.
Narcissa felt giddy and couldn't wait to start her life again with someone she knew make her happy. She went to sleep that night in Fabian's arms and with the biggest smile she had ever worn.
What neither of the happy lovers were aware of, was the plans that Lucius had put in place. The moment he had become aware of his wife's infidelity, Lucius had tried to catch them through feeding faulty information to some low level Death Eaters. Nothing had come of it, and it was time he took drastic action. He would inform Dolohov of his predicament and arrange for a way for Fabian Prewett to die at his friend's hand. He didn't trust Dolohov, but the man liked killing enough to do it for him. It also helped that he understood that a pure-blood wife should be kept in line.