Ring
Narcissa Black Malfoy, being perfectly level-headed, had known that being a Death Eater had its fair share of risks.
Yet she still couldn't quite beloeve that this had actually happened.
She sat on the fine black sheets of her canopied bed, watching the fire on the hearth dance restlessly. It was not a living thing, but that didn't stop it from being free-willed, without a slightest care in the world. It was almost taunting.
The woman looked down from the fire. Her blue eyes slid across the floor, around her legs, then to the hands that were placed in her lap.
Circling one of her fingers was a ring.
It was made of silver, very much intricate and expensive. At its head was a dark stone with a design akin to a skull overshadowing it, fashioned from the same silver that made the band.
Her breath reeled, her sight glazing over it for an unbidden eternity. Then slowly, deliberately, she raised her hand, palm facing outward, as if seeing how it looked on her for the very first time.
The day she had put it on her for the very first time. . . What a glorious one it had been.
The proposal had been simple, but elegant. She and her future husband had shared a tasteful dinner together before he had gotten down to one knee.
She had seen the ring for the first time.
Then came the words. Four of them.
It had been one of the only times that she'd truly, genuinely smiled.
Lucius.
He had his flaws, but she still loved him with all of her heart.
To think that he was gone, in Azkaban. . . Sure, he could be broken out, but the Dark Lord wasn't exactly on the best terms with him after his failure at the Department of Mysteries. As if that wasn't enough punishment, he was using Draco . . . Draco . . .
An image came, unbidden.
The contents held a stone-cold, rigid body of a young Slytherin, lifeless eyes staring up at nothing at all-
She shoved the image aside as soon as it came.
No. No. No. No.
She wouldn't have it. Draco was young! He still had much to learn, an entire life ahead of him! She would not let the Dark Lord take that away from him!
Her family was breaking. Heck, she'd already lost Lucius. Narcissa would never forgive herself if Draco was lost as well.
She had to do something. . .
The idea came.
It was a bit risky, but after mulling it over, she decided it was the best option she had. It was certainly better than sitting there and doing nothing when Draco's life was in danger.
Her lips became a firm line of resolution. Her eyes hardened and the creases in her face deepened. She drew in a clump of air and subsequently projected it out.
Narcissa stood up and prepared to make her way over to Spinner's End.