"Lucius? Lucius," Narcissa Malfoy's voice echoed in the din of the foyer of the family manor.
Her husband, a Pure-blood wizard of the Old order, blinked, keeping his grey eyes fixated on one of the front windows, facing out onto the manor grounds.
"Ciss-" his murmur was swallowed in thought.
The lady Malfoy stiffened, catching the master with an expression of deep concern. Lucius continued to evade her, the visible side of his face a macabre bone-white, made even more beastly by his white-blond hair that hung unbound around his shoulders.
He still exuded the princely air she had first noticed, when they had first met, proud and hot-tempered. She was no foil either, and the pair had become the match of the ages. But tonight, her prince looked like a shade with a haunted face.
"Lucius," Narcissa tried again, approaching her husband to rest a hand upon his shoulder.
"Draco will be needing you," he answered dismissively.
"He can wait," she countered.
"Narcissa, go," Lucius' voice sharpened to a fine edge.
"Lucius, you are not the only one who has lost," she answered quietly.
Lucius shivered and glared down his shoulder at his wife. Narcissa, meanwhile kept her place and met him with a cool gaze.
"How, Narcissa? He was just a boy; a baby," Lucius wondered hollowly. "His father was little more than a ragtag prankster. And the mother…"
"Yes…" she could not word a suitable reply.
"There must be some mistake; a hoax. This is unbelievable."
"And the Ministry?"
"Oh, they're climbing all over the news!" Lucius spat, tightening his fists. "They've already been searching."
Narcissa flushed pale.
"And?"
"Karkaroff, MacNair, Goyle, Crabbe," he ticked the names down, growing more bitter with each one.
"And us, Lucius?"
The wizard inhaled and slowly eased the tension in his shoulders.
"Not tonight; everyone is swarming Godrick's Hollow. Tomorrow, likely."
"And then?"
"We will be fine. I have made arrangements. Nothing shall befall you or Draco."
"What of you?"
Lucius smirked and bent low to tease his wife with a kiss.
"I will play my hand; it will be more than enough with the Ministry doldrums. They will do anything I want them to."
"Of course, but watch that hawk above your head."
"He is dead," Narcissa; what have I to fear?"
Narcissa sighed and smiled disbelievingly.
"Magic always leaves a trail, and you can be sure the Dark Lord's power has done the same."
"That's obvious," Lucius retorted.
Narcissa frowned.
"Watch where you tread, and whom you tread with."
