QLFC Finals Round 2 – Name, Place, Animal, Thing;
Cannons, Captain – N: Narcissa Malfoy, North Tower, Niffler, Nightgown.
AN: Thanks to Sam, Autumn, and Dee for betaing :)
this makes us even (at least, it should)
The sound of sniffing filled Lucius' ears and he sighed. He loved patrolling North Tower late at night—it was so high up that he felt like he owned the castle despite only being in his fifth year (and none of the other prefects ever bothered patrolling the area so he had it to himself). He was always alone on his patrols, too, by request. Other people tended to bring him down, and by the sounds of it, this one would be no different.
"Who's there?" he asked, channelling as much superiority into his voice as he could muster. "Reveal yourself."
The only reply Lucius got was a girl sniffing, followed by a stifled sob.
He sighed, wrestling with the decision whether to leave the girl and spare himself the torture of having to deal with her tears, or whether to march around the corner and dock points from her house for being out of bed.
"Hello?" the girl asked, startling Lucius out of his thoughts.
"It is past curfew, young lady," Lucius started, hoping that when he marched around the corner he would see some petrified first year eager to get back to her house. "What do you think you're—Narcissa?"
He stopped short when he saw the blonde hair and pale skin of the youngest Black sister. He knew her, of course, from the events thrown by the pureblood crowd his parents were friends with, but as he was an only child, his parents had insisted he spend more time with the older children, such as Bellatrix, and so Lucius had never had much cause to speak to Narcissa before. He did have to admit, she was the best looking of the three. Lucius had a sneaking suspicion that his father planned to have him marry one of the girls, and if Lucius had any say in it, he would probably choose Narcissa.
"Lucius," she said, her voice wavering as she attempted a cool tone and hastily wiped away her tears. "What are you doing up here?"
Lucius chuckled softly. "I'm a prefect. I think the better question is why are you up here?"
"I needed a bit of peace and quiet," Narcissa said. Lucius knew she was lying, but he marvelled at how easily the lie spilled from her lips. "One of the girls in my dorm snores and the common room is always far too busy so I came to find a quiet corner on my own. I guess the time must have slipped away from me."
"Allow me to escort you back to the common room," Lucius offered as he checked his watch. "It's coming to the end of my patrol so I should be returning myself."
Narcissa hesitated, she looked unsure whether to accept or not, so Lucius added, "This way you won't get in trouble for being out past curfew. We couldn't have one of the teachers finding you alone and docking points."
"Shouldn't you be docking points from me?"
"From my own house?" Lucius asked in mock horror. "I wouldn't dream of it."
Narcissa smirked a little. She looked like she'd cheered up somewhat from when Lucius first arrived, and he couldn't help but be pleased that he had something to do with it.
"So," he started as Narcissa stood to join him. "What really brings you to North Tower at nearly midnight?" When Narcissa looked at him with a mix of alarm and confusion he added, "If you just wanted some peace and quiet there are places much closer to the common room you could have gone."
Narcissa sighed. "I wasn't in the common room," she admitted. "I was near Ravenclaw tower I… I just split up with my boyfriend and needed to be by myself for a while. Or, I thought I did." She shrugged. "Then you came along and cheered me up a little so maybe I was wrong."
"Mr Malfoy, Miss Black, what on earth are the two of you doing wandering around the school this late at night?"
They were both startled by the sudden appearance of Professor Slughorn as they rounded the final corner on the way down from North Tower.
"Apologies, Professor," Lucius said immediately, flashing a charming smile at his Head of House. "I was on patrol tonight and Narcissa here asked if she could accompany me as she felt the need to get some air. I offered to take her to the hospital wing but she assured me she was feeling quite alright so I let her accompany me around the castle. I figured if she did start feeling unwell then I would be able to take her to the hospital wing instead of leaving her to go on her own. We were just on our way back to the common room now."
"Excellent, Mr Malfoy. It's a comfort to know my students are looking out for one another. Ten points to Slytherin!"
"Thank you, Professor," Lucius said, barely managing to hide his surprise. He knew Professor Slughorn was a little gullible, but he wasn't expecting to wrap the man around his finger quite so easily.
The pair hurried off, and as they made their way to the common room, conversation flowed naturally, leaving Lucius with a sense of longing when they eventually parted ways. He hoped he'd see her again soon, and he found his mind wandering to his earlier thoughts about marrying her, only this time it wasn't just because of her beauty.
"Narcissa, you have to see this," Tabitha Bainbridge said as she ran into the room. She was laughing more than Narcissa thought she'd ever seen the other girl laugh before.
It was the middle of the day, and Narcissa had been trying to write her Potions essay in the peace and quiet of her dorm room while she had a free period. She wondered what on earth could make Tabitha run and fetch her like this—they were friendly since they shared a dormitory, but they weren't exactly close.
Placing her quill back in her ink pot, Narcissa rose and followed the girl out of the dormitory. There was a lot of noise coming from downstairs, which was surprising—the common room had been nearly empty when she had gone up to her room.
The sight in front of her as the staircase opened up into the common room was almost enough to make Narcissa lose her composure and double over with laughter. Luckily, her mother had taught her better than that, and she merely let out a small giggle.
Lucius Malfoy was stood on top of one of the large, oak tables in the back corner. His brand new watch was clutched tightly in his hand and he was holding it up high away from the small, black creature that was clawing its way up the table leg—a creature Narcissa recognised as a Niffler, one that had probably escaped after the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Around the room, several Slytherins were watching the event unfold, some doubled over in laughter, some just with a smirk on their face. In the corner, she saw Lucius' dorm mates finding the whole thing hilarious.
Shaking her head, she strode confidently across the room and took the Niffler in her hands, petting it softly with one hand as her other gripped it tightly.
"This, Lucius, is a Niffler. They really are delightful little creatures and happen to be quite fond of shiny things. I assume you didn't take Care of Magical Creatures; you wouldn't be running away from it if you had." A few of the Slytherins observers chuckled and Narcissa chided herself—she actually quite liked Lucius, she didn't want to humiliate him in front of their housemates. "Come here," she demanded.
Slowly, Lucius got down off the table and made his way over to Narcissa, standing just out of arm's reach (probably in case she decided to do anything to him with the Niffler).
"You'll have to come closer than that," she told him, and reluctantly, he did. "Stroke it."
Lucius looked at her in alarm, but then his eyes softened and his hand (the one not clutching his watch) tentatively crossed in front of Narcissa and made contact with the Niffler.
"See," she said. "It's not so bad."
They stood there for a minute, Narcissa holding the Niffler and Lucius, standing incredibly closely now, stroking it. A blush, barely visible, crept its way onto Narcissa's face as she noticed how Lucius' eyes were beginning to soften. She stepped back quickly.
"Well," she said, hating how her voice was beginning to shake, "since you're the prefect here, I'll let you take it to Professor Slughorn to deal with."
Lucius looked alarmed once more but quickly pocketed his watch and nodded.
As Narcissa passed the Niffler over to him, she whispered, "I suppose this makes us even; you've seen me at my lowest, and now I've seen you at yours."
Narcissa hated the nighttime—she found it near impossible to fall asleep most nights. She supposed if she had enough patience she'd be able to drift into an easy sleep eventually, but she just couldn't bring herself to try. It was for that reason Narcissa found herself wandering down to the common room at nearly two o'clock in the morning.
Well, wandering wasn't exactly the right word for it; she wanted to read but the other girls didn't like having a light in the dorm room while they slept (and Narcissa hated sitting in her bed with the curtains drawn while she was reading).
The fire was still dimly lit, and Narcissa settled herself in the armchair closest to it. She supposed she could have used this time to finish her Potions essay after she'd been distracted from it earlier in the day, but there was just something so peaceful about reading late at night that Narcissa loved.
She hadn't been reading very long, not even having completed a chapter, when the noise of someone coming downstairs startled her.
Who on earth is up and about at this time?
Narcissa slipped her bookmark between the pages and gently closed the book, laying it in her lap. Half turning in her chair, she looked to the stairwell and saw that it was Lucius, fully dressed and looking irritable.
Well, there goes my peace and quiet, she thought, before slowly standing up to greet him.
It was as she stood, however, that Narcissa realised she was only wearing her nightgown. Mentally cursing herself for not bringing a dressing gown with her, she did what she could to make the flush that was spreading across her face disappear.
"Lucius," she said, thankful that her voice remained calm. "What a surprise to see you up so late."
Lucius jolted as Narcissa spoke, his head snapping around to face her. Recognition settled in his eyes, and Narcissa could see him visibly relax slightly. She couldn't help but wonder if that was because he was pleased to see her, or if it was because he was avoiding someone else.
"Narcissa," he said, a soft, gentle tone to his voice that she had not heard him use before. "I, er—" Lucius faltered as he noticed that she was wearing nothing but a nightgown. "I find the common room peaceful at this time," he managed to say, his voice now sounding a little strangled and his eyes darting around looking anywhere but at her.
Narcissa was surprised to realise that she was disappointed he wasn't looking at her.
"It is, isn't it," she said. "Well, I should probably be going to bed. Goodnight, Lucius."
Narcissa tried to hurry past him and up the stairs to her dormitory, but then he spoke, stopping her in her tracks momentarily.
"You look beautiful, by the way," he said quietly. "Red suits you."
Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in his words, but unable to find a way to respond, she just hurried up to her room. She didn't look in the mirror as she passed it on the way to her bed, but if she had, she would expect her face to be the same bright scarlet of her nightgown.
"What on earth are you wearing?" Narcissa asked, her voice laced with laughter.
It was their first time sharing a bed together having only moved into their new house—well, manor was probably a more apt description for it—that day. She didn't know what Lucius normally slept in, she assumed flannel pyjamas like most males she knew, but it certainly couldn't be this monstrosity.
"It's my nightgown," he told her, a serious look falling across his face. "It's nighttime, so I decided to put on my nightgown."
There was a pause of three or maybe four seconds before both Lucius and Narcissa could no longer contain their laughter.
"Is this for…?" Narcissa started.
"When I saw you in your nightgown in the common room, yes," Lucius said. "We have a habit of keeping even, and I couldn't let this be any different."
"I'm not sure this counts," Narcissa said. "It's hardly embarrassing for you."
"What was there to be embarrassed about?" Lucius asked. "You looked stunning."
"I was fourteen and you saw me in my nightgown in public!"
"Shouldn't have been such a brash fourteen-year-old then," Lucius said, then his face dropped when he realised he'd gone too far. "Cissa, I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine," she told him, her voice sickly sweet. "We'll get even one day."
Word Count: 2,246.
This is for:
Hogwarts 2018 Event – Fanfiction Resolutions;
10. Write a pairing you've never written before.
Hogwarts 2018 Event – Insane House Challenge;
57. (pairing) Lucius/Narcissa
Hogwarts 2018 Event – 365 Prompts;
305. (style) Third Person
Hogwarts January Event – Stickers;
Malfoy Manor – write about a pureblood.
Hogwarts Weekly Event – Happy Newt Year;
Wine Glass – (character) Lucius Malfoy
Hogwarts Writing Club – Character Appreciation;
(house) Slytherin
Hogwarts Writing Club – Showtime;
To Break in a Glove – (word) Patience