Out of the Question
May 1984
"It's out of the question that I will bring a three year old with us tonight, Narcissa!"
"What do you suggest we do then? My parents are in France. Your father's ill. Our nearest friends will also attend this event. There is no one to babysit him!"
Lucius glared at his wife as he tighten up his tie and smoothed out his black velvet dress robe. He had no good answer but in this case she would not get her will through. To let their three year old son accompany them to the Ministry's yearly charity event to mingle with the pure blood social elite? Never.
Narcissa pulled the brush through her brown and blonde hair and sighed at the lack of response. "Lucius, we don't have much of a choice! There is no one who's available to babysit him, and there is no way on earth I would leave my only child in the hands of the house elves. I can trust them with the food and dishes, not with my only child."
Lucius still didn't say anything.
"I take your lack of response as an agreement."
"Bloody Merlin, witch, I'm thinking!" he burst out.
She shrugged and turned to face the mirror again. They had been arguing about this almost the whole day. The idea was that Lucius' father, Abraxas, would after great length look after Draco, but he had announced himself ill only a few hours ago. Narcissa reached for some hairpins and started fixing her coiffure. "The only other option we have is that I'll stay home with him."
"Wha- You can't stay home. How would it look if I showed up at this event alone tonight?"
"We don't have much of a choice, Lucius. I stay home or we'll bring him with us."
"For the last time! He's not comming with us! I can't show up with a child, how would that look?"
Narcissa remained silent for a few moments, still looking at her own reflection in the mirror, pondering if she would say the words she had on mind. "It's always about you, isn't it?"
Her words struck him. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it again. He turned to face her completely "About me!?" he eventually burst out. "You think I'll go to this charity event for my own sake?"
"Yes, yes that is exactly what I think!" she spun around in her chair "You are at least not doing it for the charity."
"What the bloody hell is your point of this conversation, Cissa?"
"Don't you 'Cissa' me. Not now, when I'm crossed with you."
"If this all are about why I'm not taking Draco with us, you're just being silly. There is no way we're bringing him!"
"And why not that? Are you too inflated by yourself to see that he's a perfectly well behaved little boy. What are you afraid of? That he will embarrass you in front of your so called co-workers? Your not even an employee at the Ministry, Lucius! You're just running back and forth-"
He shot back, "At least I'm not just sitting home in some wingback reading old books whole day!"
Narcissa's eyes darkened. She put down the hair brush on the dressing table and put on a forged smile. "By second thoughts, it would be lovely to go out tonight, it was after all a long time ago since I've had a pleasant evening. And who knows, perhaps I could get in some well mannered conversation for once." She rose and checked her hair one last time in the mirror. "I'll just get Draco ready."
"He is not, coming, with us." Lucius clarified, his voice was strained and his fists clenched.
"Oh, don't you worry, darling. Your not so capable wife will take care of him all evening, just as usual,"
"I haven't said that you're incapable of anything, Narcissa."
She continued as if she hadn't heard him "it is after all always me who gets up in the middle of the night if he cries, it's I who plays with him, reads stories for him and oh, there was something else, oh right! I gave birth to him as well."
"Are you trying to say that I'm not capable to take care of my own son?" he snarled and clenched his fists again.
She walked slowly towards him and crossed her arms "I haven't said that you're incapable of anything, Lucius." she said haughtily.
He reached forward and grabbed her wrist to pull her closely to him. "Then please do tell me what is it you want me to understand?"
She whimpered at his sudden lunge. Her attempt to seem unaffected and callous began slowly to languish as she tried to withdraw her hand from his firm grip "I don't want- Lucius- let go of me."
"Answer me!" He shook her and tighten his grip.
"Don't you dare take that tone towards me!" She stared him in the eye "Your not a bad father! Is that what you want to hear?! That there is no other man I ever would want to have a child with, accept you, Lucius! Just- please- let go of my wrist!"
He released her as if she had burned him. Narcissa took a few steps away from him, she rubbed her wrist with her other hand and her eyes were glossy. "We only have one child, and we won't have any more. I'm asking you to take care of these few years as we have as parents of a young child, or you'll regret it later, believe me."
Lucius stood like paralysed, he didn't know what to say. Narcissa turned and walked back to the dressing table and started to fiddle with some necklaces. She then sighed and left the bedroom.
Ohoh, cliffhanger. I just want to state a few things: Firstly, in my stories Narcissa have the hair colour that she had in the movies because I think it suits her better, like it or not. Secondly, in this event that they're eventually going to, the Minister of Magic is Cornelius Fudge, THOUGH he didn't became Minister until 1990, in order to make it fit with my storyline we'll just have to get along with that. Thirdly, I don't own Harry Potter and all rights belongs to J.K Rowling.
Thank you for reading this far. Next chapter will be up soon.
