AN: I do not own the Harry Potter universe. I am simply borrowing it for a fic. Enjoy!
For Amber (Cheeky Slytherin Lass)
Title Swap Competition—Character: #53 Narcissa Malfoy
The Happiest Day of My Life
It was winter at Hogwarts. Narcissa was in her second year and was eating breakfast in the great hall. Excited whispers were travelling up and down the Slytherin table, making her smile. The Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw snowball fight had been long anticipated. She had tied up her hair for the occasion and was wearing her outdoors robes. A quick glance at the rest of her table and the Ravenclaw table showed that they had also thought about the same things. She couldn't help but smirk at the confused glances both tables were getting, however, she wasn't going to give anything away. The teachers simply thought that the students were going to eat their breakfast and go to their first lesson. Of course, the students had a snowball fight planned between now and then.
A few people at a time, the students left the great hall. Breakfast had only begun fifteen minutes ago so the teachers weren't going to finish anytime soon. None of them were stupid though. Once more than half of the students left, the teachers would be up and investigating. That was why it was important to get things underway—quickly.
She exited the castle with her small group: Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy and her sister, Andromeda. The moment they stepped onto the snow covered ground, a barrage of snowballs came flying towards them. Before she could register what was happening, she found herself pushed behind a wall with Rodolphus pressed against her.
"That was not fair," said Rodolphus with a grin that belied the words he spoke.
"It wasn't," she agreed with a laugh. "It all happened so quickly; I thought we were prepared."
"We clearly underestimated our competition," he said with a snort but he quickly turned serious. "We need to go back out there and beat them. It looks bad if we're just hiding back here." He pulled away from her and the cold hit her for the first time. She hadn't realised just how close they had been standing until he had pulled away. She almost missed his warmth.
She was soaked through. "We won!" came a shout from behind her. Rodolphus, who was stood next to her, let out a large whoop and wrapped her in a bear hug. She couldn't feel the ice cold water anywhere near as much anymore.
They all rushed to their common rooms to dry off and change before first lesson begun. "Fifteen minutes!" someone called out. Rodolphus turned to her with a smirk, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him as he ran, laughing all the way.
They reached the stairs going down to the dungeons when Narcissa stopped, her hands on her knees. Rodolphus laughed. "You can't be tired already!"
Narcissa lifted her head up, only having the energy to give him a look that said 'what do you think?' before letting it drop again. She heard Rodolphus sigh and gasped as she was lifted up and held in a fireman's lift. "Rodolphus! Put me down! I look so undignified," she groaned.
"Oh, don't ruin all the fun with talk of being dignified," he said and Narcissa could hear the smile in his voice. "I have enough of that at home. Let us all be free and live the happiest days of our lives."
Narcissa did the only thing she could and smacked his back. "Don't be so overdramatic," she said with a giggle. "I'm sure you have plenty of fun at home."
"If you count balls that are seemingly endless as fun then I have plenty of it."
"Balls are fun!" Narcissa exclaimed. "You get to buy new clothes and dress up—"
"You're such a girl!"
"What's wrong with that?"
She felt Rodolphus shake his head. "Nothing at all," he said, setting her down on the floor. They had reached the common room. "Got your breath back?" he asked.
Narcissa laughed and nodded. "Yes, now let's hurry up before we're late."
"As you wish…" Rodolphus trailed off with a teasing smirk. She knew from the time she had spent with her sister's as he helped them through their homework that he was of the rebellious sort. She knew that him and Bella had landed in detention together more than once but because she was younger than them, she had never been a part of his plans. However, this smirk was telling her that this may be about to change.
"What?" she asked, carefully. He was now sporting a full on grin and turned to her. It was definitely about to change.
"Well, I have some homework I need to catch up on…"
Narcissa giggled. "Don't lie, Rodolphus."
"I'm not!" he exclaimed, dramatically clutching his chest and feigning hurt.
"Rodolphus," she groaned. If he was going to fake hurt then she was going to fake impatience.
"Fine, fine! And please, call me Rod—I was thinking we could take the day off…" He seemed to be examining her, carefully waiting for her reaction.
"But we could get into so much trouble—"
"Oh, don't act like anything serious would happen! Your sister gets into detention all the time and she's still fine." She tried not to grin at the older boy. He really wanted her to take the day off with him.
"Fine," she said with an exaggerated sigh.
"Oh, don't be too eager," said Rodolphus sarcastically. Narcissa only laughed and they entered the Slytherin common room.
Once she had changed, she left the girls dormitory to find Rodolphus sitting in the common room, tapping his foot impatiently. "You took your time," he said.
"I was soaked through!"
"I was only teasing," he said with a grin. "Why do you care so much about what I say?"
Narcissa could feel a blush creeping onto her face despite knowing that Rodolphus was only teasing. "I don't," she said.
Rodolphus only laughed. "You know you love me really."
She rolled her eyes. "Are we going to be waiting here all day?"
"Not at all," he replied, standing up and offering his arm. She chuckled at the formal gesture but took his arm anyway to humour him. "Ready?" he asked.
"More than ready."
They had left the Slytherin common room and he had led her to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. He had gestured for her to move forward; she had complied and her eyes widened when she saw what was behind it—a secret tunnel.
"Where does this lead?" she asked. Rodolphus simply shook his head and kept his lips sealed. Hesitantly, she stepped forward into the tunnel, bending almost double to not hit her head on the low tunnel roof. She finally reached the end of it and Rodolphus moved closer behind her, making shuffling noises. In the darkness she could not see what he was doing, but once he lifted up the trap door a warm glow filtered into the dimness of the tunnel. His arms were raised above his head, a triumphant grin taking over his face and she didn't need to be told what to do. She stepped forward and, with a little jump, got out of the tunnel and entered a… storage basement?
Hearing Rodolphus climb out after her, she asked, "Where are we?" She hoped she would get an answer this time.
Rodolphus grinned, looking incredibly satisfied with himself. "This is the basement of Honeydukes!"
"How did you find out that you could get here from school?" asked Narcissa.
Rodolphus smirked. "Now that, my dear Cissy, is a long story. Would you care to take a walk with me whilst I answer it?"
Narcissa shook her head with a laugh, trying to dispel the feeling of butterflies in her stomach at the endearment Rodolphus had used. "I would love to."
Narcissa sat on Andromeda's bed and tilted her head back so her big sister could finish styling it. She tried not to wince as the pin Andy pushed into her hair scratched her scalp. "Stay still, Cissy," the older girl huffed.
"I'm trying," Narcissa said through gritted teeth. Was having a nice hairstyle really worth this much trouble? She was only going to spend the day with Rod after all. Oh who was she trying to kid? She wanted to impress Rodolphus. Despite him seeing her in various states of disarray, she wanted to look good for today.
"You're going on a Hogsmeade date with an older boy who has loads of girls after him already—and they're his age, might I add. So sit still otherwise your hair will go wrong and he'll find someone else to go out with."
Narcissa stiffened immediately, knowing this had been Andromeda's intent. "It's not a date," was all she said.
Andy snorted. "Who are you trying to lie to? Yourself or me? It's pretty obvious that this is a date—or just as important as one to you. You wouldn't have been trying so hard to impress with all of this if it wasn't." Narcissa grumbled but didn't say anything else; she knew her sister was right.
After ten minutes had passed, Andy finally moved her hands away from Narcissa's hair. "Now it's time for makeup," said the older girl with a grin.
Just as she was opening her drawer to pull out the cosmetics, the door to their dormitory burst open and in walked a girl with wild, black hair. "What's going on here?" Bellatrix asked, plonking herself down on the bed.
"Cissy's off on a date," said Andy with a teasing smile and Narcissa gasped.
"I am not going on a date!" she protested.
"Oh, who's the lucky man?" Bellatrix asked with a laugh. "I don't know how he's going to manage the rejection." She added, shaking her head in mock sorrow.
Narcissa huffed. "It's not a date and I'm not rejecting anyone—"
"Not even—"
"No! I will always reject him," Narcissa hissed, cutting Andy off before she could say the first year's name. They—Andy and Bella—had teased her with the random boy ever since he had arrived at the school. She had no idea why. They just found that saying it pushed her buttons so they continued. "And I'm actually going with Rodolphus," she said and glared at her sisters.
"Rodolphus is courting my little sister and I didn't know?" exclaimed Bellatrix.
"Bella!"
"I'm joking!" she said, chuckling.
Snorting at Narcissa's sulky face, Andy said, "Come on, I'll do your makeup now."
Narcissa walked down to Hogsmeade with her friends; they parted ways once they reached the village, her friends going into Madam Puddifoot's and her going into the Three Broomsticks where she and Rodolphus had arranged to meet.
Upon entering the small pub, Narcissa immediately spotted the person she was looking for. He was looking around, his body language indicating nervousness that she felt herself. Then he turned around and saw her, and his stiff demeanour immediately melted into a relaxed one.
They were now in a music shop that Narcissa had never entered before but Rodolphus seemed familiar with. The way he tugged her hand to encourage her to come to the back of the shop proved it. Before her was a record player; she had never used one before but others in school spoke of the appliance often enough. It used a vinyl to play music… that was about all she knew.
Rodolphus seemed to sense her confusion and he smiled gently, pulling out a vinyl from the shelf beside him. He slipped the black disc out from its thin cardboard packaging and placed it on the record player where it started to spin. Narcissa watched as he lifted the arm and lowered it onto the black disc.
There was a pause for a moment, then the music began to play; the sound of it was dark and melancholic but it felt absolutely perfect, seeming like it was drawing the dark clouds outside, closer together.
Narcissa's attention was drawn back to Rodolphus when he sat down, cross-legged, on the floor. He leaned his head back against the wall and gestured for Narcissa to come and join him.
"What does it sound like to you?" he asked, tilting his head towards her.
Narcissa thought for a moment. "It sounds like… it sounds like what it feels like to be in the forest just after it has rained." Narcissa held her breath, waiting for Rodolphus' reply; she feared that her answer may have been more convoluted than was necessary.
"It reminds me of the rain too. Only for me, it reminds me of when I'm tucked up and cosy with a good book with the only noise being the rain tapping the windows."
Narcissa closed her eyes with a smile, and the two of them only listened to the sound of the music and the steady beating of their own hearts.
Narcissa's hands shook as she put down her hairbrush. "It's okay to be nervous, miss; you're getting married." Narcissa jumped at the voice, belonging to the girl who had been hired to do her hair and makeup. "But don't worry too much. It's the happiest day of any woman's life!" The young girl grinned toothily at her, and Narcissa smiled back. It felt like more of a grimace.
"What's your name?" Narcissa opted for another topic. The girl seemed chatty enough to distract her from her thoughts.
"It's Emily, miss." Narcissa nodded, tilting her head back. Now that she had taken out the knots in her hair, Emily could begin working.
Whilst Emily worked, there was no conversation. The only sound was that of the rain hitting the windows, a rhythmic tap, tap, tap that made the fair hairs on the back of her neck stand up and goose bumps run down her arms. She suppressed a shiver; it seemed the girl could concentrate more in the silence. And as much as Narcissa wanted a distraction from her errant thoughts, she didn't want her hair to be ruined. Her mother would be livid.
Good. It was the treacherous voice inside her head. The one that had begun speaking on the day her marriage was arranged.
Tap, tap tap. She tried not to think of who the sound of the rain reminded her of; she tried not to think about how the mournful music playing a floor below made her feel.
Her mind flicked back to the day she had been betrothed.
She had been sat with her back straight and a smile pasted onto her face. Whenever her smile faltered or her posture was anything less than perfect, her mother's scowl would fix the issues. Lucius Malfoy sat on a chair near his parents, his own grin looking every bit as forced as her own felt. Did he not want to get married to her? Their parents discussed everything from invites to lineage but only one thing was running through her mind. Rodolphus. She knew, as well as he did, that their pairing wasn't possible. He had been betrothed to her older sister for a few months now.
"I tried to tell my parents that I preferred you but… but they said it wouldn't be right. That there would be a scandal for your family, and mine, if I were to be promised to you whilst your older sister was still single."
It was what he had told her when she had asked him why he hadn't tried to stop the entire thing. She and her family had visited the Lestrange's after the betrothal had taken place to give congratulations and gifts as was customary. He had pressed his lips to hers and she couldn't stop her eyes from welling up.
"Whoever gets married to you will be the luckiest man in the world. And, I hope, that your wedding day will be the happiest day of your life."
That was when she had let the tears flow freely, clutching to the man she loved in a dark room in his labyrinthine house.
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