Author's Note: I don't know when exactly Lucius was born, so I decided to make his birthday during the Christmas holidays (I just like the idea of him being born when the weather is cold).
Additional Author's Note: This fic takes place during the Christmas break in Lucius's fourth year and Narcissa's third year. Andromeda has not yet been disowned by her family.
"Cygnus," Abraxas greeted. "Thank you so much for coming."
"My family and I are happy to be here," Cygnus replied. "Narcissa is especially thrilled. She has been wanting to celebrate Lucius's birthday with him for some time now."
"I bet she has," Abraxas smiled. The smile, however, didn't reach his eyes.
"We have always wondered when you would finally hold a birthday party for your son," Cygnus continued.
"Well, both Lucius and I decided that it was finally time to celebrate this happy occasion," Abraxas responded. He then turned to look at his son, who was standing by his side. "Isn't that right, Lucius?"
"Yes, Father," Lucius replied in a toneless voice.
Abraxas then nodded his head at Druella and her three daughters, but he didn't say anything to them.
Lucius, however, took a step forward and stretched out his arm towards Druella.
Blushing slightly, Druella gave Lucius her hand, which he kissed gently.
"Welcome, Mrs. Black," Lucius said. "I hope that you enjoy yourself tonight."
"Oh, you are such a sweet boy, Lucius," Druella smiled. "I am so glad that you will one day be my son-in-law. Narcissa is really going to have such a wonderful husband."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but fortunately neither of her parents noticed.
Abraxas, however, did notice. He frowned at the eldest Black daughter.
Bellatrix smirked at Abraxas and met his eyes.
Abraxas's eyes narrowed and hardened dangerously, and despite herself, Bellatrix found herself looking away.
Bellatrix quickly composed herself, however, and she was able to register Lucius's greeting.
Lucius was smiling pleasantly at her, but his eyes spoke a different story.
"Bellatrix."
"Lucius."
"Andromeda."
"Lucius."
Lucius then directed his attention to Narcissa. He did not smile at her like he usually did, but he did take her hand and kiss it.
Narcissa looked closely at Lucius. She had known him for several years now, but she still found it hard to read him sometimes. She could tell, though, that he was upset about something.
"Narcissa."
"Lucius."
"Why don't you all go and enjoy yourselves?" Abraxas suggested, motioning for the Blacks to join the guests that had already arrived.
Cygnus and his family walked past Abraxas and Lucius.
As Narcissa passed by Lucius, she gave him a warm smile. He smiled back at her, but it wasn't the usual warm smile that he reserved only for her. There was definitely something bothering him.
Before Narcissa could reflect any further, Druella grabbed her hand and dragged her into the ballroom.
"You're smiling like some silly Muggle girl," Druella hissed at her youngest daughter. "You are a Black. You are not filthy or common. You must be proper in every way, so that Lucius will find you to be a pleasing wife."
"Yes, Mother," Narcissa replied.
Behind her parents' backs, Bellatrix smirked at Narcissa. She always did love it when Narcissa got lectured instead of her.
For several hours, Narcissa wasn't able to reflect on what could possibly be bothering Lucius. Between concentrating on eating ladylike and socializing with the other guests like the proper hostess she would expected to be one day, she just didn't have the time.
Eventually, though, Narcissa was finally able to politely excuse herself to get some punch. As she sipped from her glass (completely ladylike), she looked around the room and noticed that Lucius was nowhere to be found.
Narcissa had to find out what was going on. This was Lucius's birthday celebration. He shouldn't be missing. He should be in the room, enjoying himself.
Since Narcissa had not been at Malfoy Manor that often (as Lucius was usually the one to come visit her at her family's manor), she set off from the ballroom with no clear direction in mind. She just hoped that it wouldn't take long to find Lucius. As grand and luxurious as Malfoy Manor was, there just wasn't any feelings of warmth or comfort within its walls.
Narcissa lost track of how long she walked through the various hallways, checking each room with an unlocked door for Lucius (she didn't feel right checking in rooms that were locked, even if there was a chance that Lucius was in one of those rooms). She had been better raised than that.
Eventually, though, Narcissa finally found Lucius in a dark hallway, which was lined with portraits of various Malfoy ancestors on one of its walls.
The only light in the hallway was coming from Lucius's wand. Narcissa, knowing that Malfoy Manor (like Black Manor) had spells cast on it that allowed for underage magic to be used without the Ministry's knowledge, pulled out her wand. Moments later, there was another source of light in the hallway.
Lucius didn't acknowledge Narcissa's presence. There was definitely something wrong with him.
Narcissa stepped closer to him and noticed that he was looking at one of the portraits in particular.
Narcissa instantly recognized Abraxas Malfoy. He had already been an old man when he had married, and he had been even older when Lucius had finally been born.
Narcissa, however, didn't recognize the woman (who was considerably younger than Abraxas) standing beside him; but she did see some of Lucius's features in the woman's face.
The woman had to be Lucius's mother.
Neither Abraxas nor his late wife expressed any emotions. Both of their faces, in fact, looked cold and hard. But that was the norm for Pureblood portraits.
Narcissa looked at Lucius and noticed that he was holding a beautiful emerald necklace in one of his hands.
It was clearly a woman's necklace.
Narcissa looked at the portrait again. Lucius's mother was wearing the same exact necklace.
And Lucius still didn't acknowledge Narcissa's presence.
"Lucius," Narcissa finally spoke, no longer able to stand the silence.
"What are you doing here, Narcissa?" Lucius asked, not taking his eyes off the portrait of his parents. "Shouldn't you be at the party?"
"I could ask the same question of you," Narcissa returned, "especially considering that you are the birthday boy."
"Don't remind me of that," Lucius snapped, his eyes still on the portrait of his parents.
Narcissa was dumbfounded for several moments. Lucius was rarely snappish at her. In fact, he was usually very pleasant and warm towards her.
"Lucius, what's wrong?" Narcissa asked. "What are you doing up here all alone?"
"I got tired of pretending that this party is some happy occasion," Lucius sighed.
"But it's your birthday," Narcissa said in a confused voice.
Lucius finally turned his head to look at Narcissa. "You don't know how my mother died, do you?" he asked.
"No, I don't. My parents have never talked about it to me."
Lucius looked away from Narcissa and once again directed his attention to the portrait of his parents.
"She died in childbirth," Lucius spoke softly. "She died giving birth to me."
"Oh, Lucius, I'm so sorry," Narcissa responded. Now it was clear to her why Lucius wouldn't find his birthday to be a cause for celebration.
"This party," Lucius snarled, "was my father's idea of a sick joke. I'm finally getting too big for him to beat up, especially since I'm now strong enough to fight back. So, he has had to resort to more creative ways to keep me in my place."
Lucius looked down at the necklace that he was holding. "As you can probably tell by looking at the portrait, this was my mother's necklace. My father gave it to me as a present. For as long as I can remember, my father has always given me a piece of my mother's jewelry for my birthday. They're all in a box in my room."
"How can anyone be that cruel?" Narcissa asked in both disbelief and anger.
"This is my father we're talking about," Lucius smiled unpleasantly. "He doesn't need a reason for anything that he does. He doesn't want me to ever forget that I was born a murderer. It's also his way of reminding me of how weak my mother was. He loves to say that whenever I really disappoint him. Nothing gives him more pleasure than telling me, 'You are just as weak as your mother, Lucius.'"
Lucius held up his mother's necklace as if making a toast. "Happy birthday to the murderer."
"Don't say that, Lucius," Narcissa said. "Don't let your father's words get to you. It's not your fault that your mother died, and you most definitely are not weak. Your father is just a bitter old man."
"And one day he will see just how strong I can be," Lucius promised. He then looked at his mother's necklace one last time before placing it in one of his robe's pockets. "But as for tonight, I'm not going to let that old bastard win this game. I'm going to enjoy my birthday for once, and I'm going to make sure that my father sees that I'm enjoying myself."
Lucius offered Narcissa his hand. "Will you dance with me at my birthday party?"
"Of course," Narcissa replied as she took Lucius's hand.
Lucius and Narcissa then walked down the hallway, looking like the picture of a perfect gentleman with his perfect lady.