Author's Note:: Half this story takes place before any of them became Death Eaters, just so you know. I'd like to think that they acted much differently when they were younger, and before they had to commit any of the crimes that the Dark Lord put them up to. That doesn't mean that any of the characters will suddenly become campy or whatever, just that their outlook on things will be slightly different. First chapter will be in first person, everything after this will be in third.
This entire story will be completely DH compliant, for everyone's information. As much as I adore Severus, I don't think there was any way to avoid that incident of which I loathe to speak of and acknowledge.
That being said, I hope you leave reviews for me. :3 This is just the prologue, so don't fret! Chapter one will be coming up right after! I loooooooove reviews, and my writing is rusty, so any and all handy hints you may or may not want to hand over to me would be appreciated. Love you all and hope you enjoy!
This story begins in a very unassuming way, in a mostly unassuming room. Well, I take that back, any room in the Malfoy manor is incredibly intimidating and so far from unassuming it's ridiculous. It did start that way though, with an average card game..
Cissy had invited me over to play cards at her fiance's house, since she was practically living there full time now simply for the reason that she wanted to keep an eye on Lucius. She loved him, but it would be folly to trust him and his roving eyes around other females. Her mother and his parents had agreed. So we were here, in one of the many dens of Malfoy Manor, playing poker. Generically speaking, it's a muggle thing, but don't ever tell Bella that, she takes offense.
"Megghan.......it's your bid," She ordered automatically after placing her cards on the table, I was absentmindedly thinking about something at the moment, so she felt the need to snap her fingers in my face and make me jump. Blinking, I frowned, looking around at the two Black sisters in bewilderment, then down to my cards. With a nod, I laid them out with pursed lips.
"This is good....right?" I asked, unsure of myself. I'm not much of a card player like Bella and Cissy are, though I do love muggle Blackjack and roulette tables. In answer of my question, Bella apparently found it appropriate to huff and throw her cards down in frustration. I'd been having beginners luck all evening, and apparently this hand was no different from the past four. She scrutinized me, raising an eyebrow and then standing up abruptly to pat me down, much to my surprise. "Wha---Bellatrix! What in Merlin's name are you doing!?"
She frowned, standing back upright and holding her chin. Like this, I realized that while not as pretty as Narcissa, she did cut a stunning figure. I'll never know what she saw in that Lestrange boy she was dating right now. He was brutish, and had none of her more aristocratic features.
"Well then....seems you aren't cheating….pity. I wanted to play a penalty game……would've made you go hit on Abraxas," she regarded, shrugging her shoulders playfully and giving me one of her naughty smirks.
Rolling my eyes, I wondered why I adored my friends so much. They're really a silly lot. Ever since we were children, and Bellatrix and I had declared 'I don't like you' to each other's faces upon meeting one another, the Black sisters and I had been neigh inseparable. I'd been crushed to find out that Bella was older than us and wouldn't be attending all of our years at Hogwarts together, and she'd made it up to me by catching an alley cat and putting a bow on it to cheer me up. But in the present, she was shoving my shoulder with a smile all the while Cissy laughed, until someone put their hands over my eyes and made the lights go out.
"Oi! Lucy, get off!" I demanded, batting away the unmistakably male hands that were covering my face only to turn and see a bewildered Severus handing Lucius five galleons. Lucius, looking somewhat smug as usual, only ruffled my hair like he'd been doing since Hogwarts, much to my chagrin. Severus though seemed to be the only one who caught on, and shaking himself out of being shocked, gave Lucius a deliciously wicked smile.
"Lucy? You let a woman call you by a feminine endearment?" he teased, his voice sarcastic as always as he walked around the chair to stand on my right side. It was funny for a moment to see Lucius pale, but then his eyes became uncharacteristically cold, something that had been happening per his father's tutelage more often than I'd like lately. With a sneer, he turned from playfully cajoling his friends to something much colder and darker in a matter of moments. I cannot say I liked this slow transformation in him, as I'm sure his father was pushing him towards it as the Dark Lord became an ever more prevalent figure in their household, but oddly enough no one else seemed to notice as he slipped back on the mask of his usual playful self.
Growing up with the Dark Lord in our lives constantly, I cannot say it ever bothered me much. The Cromwell family never heard much from the Dark Lord, since they were mostly neutral and kept to their stables and Gaelic magic in Ireland. Father had been approached twice by Death Eaters when I was younger, but upon explaining that he was training his only child, regrettably a daughter, to take over the family business he was otherwise unable to make time to tame the magical beasts the Dark Lord wanted to use to his advantage. They had left back then, both times they'd approached us, without so much as a Crucio in their wake.
Lucius had grown up with it as well, though his father was much more eager to push him into being a Death Eater no matter how bright a future he might have had at the Ministry. Bellatrix and Narcissa were much the same, though their parents muggle-hating fervor was much more subdued when it came to pushing their children into being Death Eaters. At present, none of us were yet, save for Lucius undergoing his 'trial period' to determine whether or not he was loyal to the cause, which really meant if he was brainwashed enough to follow Voldemort into the depths of hell for a reward he probably would never get. Severus was considering it, though I never thought it was a good idea. Severus was so kind and noble, and so incredibly brave, but his heart was wounded badly. He hadn't shared his personal pain with anyone but myself, and while I felt honored and so much closer to him for it, I knew it was something that would push him over.
"You're always staring off into space, Maggie……I wonder what you're thinking about sometimes…..you just missed the entire argument between Lucius and Bell," a soft, gentle voice that could only belong to Cissy informed me, snapping me out of any and all thoughts. Severus, still towering above me, nodded with a frown. I felt a small tug in my head, and glared up at him and his clumsy Legilimency skills. He was getting better, and was already a skilled Occlumens, but you could still tell when he was trying to figure out what was going on in your head. Elbowing him in the side of his gut, I huffed, crossing my arms in the chair.
"Nothing of much importence…..just thinking about how things are changing, that's all….what were they arguing about this time?" I feigned indifference, but at the last moment I must've have let my eyes give it away, as Cissy just smiled at my natural curiosity and Severus managed a small smirk. Sweeping around me to take Bella's abandoned seat, he folded his hands delicately in his lap.
"His nickname. Bellatrix thought it would be a good idea to tease him further about it…..obviously Lucius disagreed," he informed me with a solemn nod, some of his midnight black hair falling into his face. I blushed and looked away to hide this.
You see, the one thing I haven't divulged yet is that by this time I was more than enamored with Severus Snape. His aristocratic features, his pale skin, his tall stature that seemed to block any and all horrible things from getting you when he stood near you, the way he was slowly beginning to gain confidence and a sort of swagger to his step. The air of command he was quickly getting from working his potions apprenticeship and being put in charge of all the others due to his natural skill, even his greasy hair didn't bother me much, since I knew it was because of all those fumes in a potioneer's lab doing it to him, nor did I mind his nose though I did tease him about it from time to time.
I was irrevocably his, not that anyone knew, and that is where our story really begins.