Narcissa Malfoy

"One must never interfere with the Dark Lord's punishments"

Spring had settled upon most of Central Europe, accompanied by the budding flowers of Fairy Slippers, Snowdrops, Goldenrods... Narcissa Malfoy listed the endless varieties of flowers silently to herself as she followed her husband through the long corridor of the Dark Lord's manor. One hand held his as the other rested on top of her stomach, swollen with six months of pregnancy.

"When will we plant our garden?" She asked curiously.

"What?" Lucius asked in returned, looking at her sharply over his shoulder as if to warn her against asking such silly questions while in the presence of Voldemort, even though they had yet to see the powerful wizard himself.

A horrid scream echoed off the walls of the thin hallway, stopping the young couple in their tracks. Lucius held Narcissa's hand tighter and the woman closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before she opened them again. Each feeding off of the comfort of the presence of the other, they continued on towards the source of the wails. Yarrow, Snapdragon, Aubrieta...

The woman remembered all the times they had come here, arriving in the midst of someone's torture. It had at first been unsettling to say the least, but after just a few meetings Narcissa realized what a blessing it was if that person wasn't one that she knew or cared about. Tonight, however, she would have to endure the horrific scene of her own husband- the father of her unborn child- crippled with pain at the Dark Lord's feet. Perhaps she hadn't been grateful enough.

Lost in thoughts of fear and anxiety, she hardly noticed her husband's pace slow until he came to a complete stop a mere few feet away from the door, behind which the rest of the Death Eaters were likely already settled around the table with the Dark Lord at the head. The scream reached a painfully high pitch until it died completely.

"Narcissa, look at me," Lucius said. When her attention lingered on the door instead- horrified by the silence that followed the screams- he took her face in his large hands and forced her to look at him. "Are you listening? However the Dark Lord decides to punish me, I don't want you to watch it."

She wanted to question the request, but seeing as it was something she had already been planning on doing, it was all too easy to simply oblige and allow him to believe that it was for the sake of his pride rather than the sake of her sensitive stomach. "I won't," She promised.

Her husband pursed his lips as if he wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the large ebony clock at the end of the hall striking eleven o'clock. In a sudden hurry, Lucius grabbed her hand once more and walked the rest of the way to the door. Tardiness would only add to his list of mistakes.

"Lucius, you've come at last," Tom greeted, inclining his head to look at the couple. Ever so slightly, he nodded at the woman. "Narcissa."

Feverfew, Salsify, Periwinkle...

"My Lord," Narcissa returned, bowing slightly before she was waved on with permission to go to her seat beside her sister. Her eyes watched her feet intently at they shuffled across the floor.

"You're late," Bellatrix whispered.

"We are not."

"Are too. He's going to kill him."

"Is not," The younger woman murmured, though she felt her mouth go dry at the words. She assured herself that there were people among them now who had done worse than Lucius, and yet they remained intact and breathing.

A sudden pressure in her stomach drew her attention away from the current situation, allowing the voices of the Dark Lord and her husband to fade into the background. She put a hand on her stomach and rubbed the spot the baby's foot had just kicked. Everything's okay, Draco, She wanted to whisper to her son. Daddy's okay.

Yet, even the sentimental and slightly nauseating movement in her stomach couldn't distract Narcissa from the sight of her husband falling to his knees in the corner of her eye. A soft gasp escaped her mouth. She knew it would happen during the meeting, but she was hardly expecting it to happen so quickly! Closing her eyes firmly, she reminded herself of her husband's request for his punishment to go unseen by his wife. When she opened her eyes again, she watched only the other Death Eaters around the table, whom watched the punishment as if it were a form of entertainment. And then, the screaming began.

At first, it didn't even sound like Lucius, but the woman knew it could be no one else. His painful screaming was worse than any way he had ever yelled at her before; worse than anything she had ever even heard before. Each second it continued felt like daggers in her heart. The pain it felt to hear her love in pain must have been all too real because in just a moment the baby was kicking so ferociously inside of her that she feared something was wrong.

Angelica, Andryala, Columbine...

Bella's words rang in her mind. 'He's going to kill him...'

"Please!" Narcissa suddenly shouted. Her outburst surprised Voldemort so that he dropped his wand back to his side, temporarily pausing Lucius's screams. Still, the blonde man laid crippled on the floor. "Please, stop," She continued, much meeker than before. "I beg of you to stop."

"Cissy!" Bellatrix whispered in an appalled manner.

Voldemort, however, seemed vaguely interested in the woman who, up until now, had sat quietly through the meetings. "You beg of me to stop what, my dear?"

"Stop torturing my husband," Narcissa answered. Fearful of disrespecting him further, she added, "Please, my Lord." She lowered her eyes to her lap respectfully, but the older wizard pursed his lips at the woman. "He will not disappoint you again."

"Boy or girl?" He asked, and as Narcissa looked up she saw that he was pointing his wand at her stomach. Protectively, she placed a hand over top of it.

"...Boy."

"You're lucky," Tom warned. "If it were a girl, I would kill it." His cold eyes met the woman's for a long moment as if to prove just how serious he was, until finally he turned away, pointing the end of his wand at Lucius again, who had just managed to lift his head to watch the scene unfold.

"Mr. Malfoy," Voldemort tsked, shooting a bright string of painful magic in the man's direction. The magic elicited a deep groan of pain as his body seemed to once again cave in on itself. "Perhaps you are just as bad at teaching your wife manners as you are at completing assignments."

Back at the table, Narcissa didn't dare to move or say another word. Instead, she squeezed her eyes tightly to hide the tears from Antonin Dolohov, who sat directly across the table and watched her with disgust. In attempt to steady her breathing and hopefully help calm the baby inside of her, she counted silently to herself until her husband's torture finally ended. 1, 2, 3... Wallflower, Vetch, Sea Rocket...

Finally, everything went silent. A moment later, Lucius seemed to find his ability to breath again; taking in a breath so large he made himself cough and sputter on the hardwood floor. Narcissa opened her eyes.

"Let this serve as another lesson to you all: Do not disappoint. That is all for tonight. You may leave," Voldemort permitted. He sat back in his seat as the rest of the table stood and removed themselves from the room, all except Mrs. Malfoy. The woman rushed forward to help her husband from the floor, but as she came near him she seemed to grow hesitant.

"Lucius..." Narcissa whispered.

"Leave," The man demanded through gritted teeth. Crawling to the table for support, he pulled himself back to his feet. Still, his wife did not leave his side.

"Lucius, I'm sorry-"

"I said leave, Narcissa!" He snapped. With tears pooling from her eyes, the young mother-to-be hurried from the room as fast as she could waddle. Just like that, the two wizards were left alone. "I apologize for my wife's outburst, my Lord. I warned her of what was going to happen-"

"I could have killed her," Voldemort said simply and slowly, as if considering a missed opportunity.

"I'm thankful you spared her, my Lord, and our unborn son."

"Yes... I should have killed her."

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! Another chapter will be coming soon but until then; constructive criticism, feedback, and suggestions for anything else you would like me to write about are welcomed and highly appreciated! Next chapter: Antonin Dolohov