Warning: This story includes sexual content, coarse language, domestic abuse, rape, and marital infidelity. Reader discretion advised.
Narcissa Black had everything a girl could ask for. She was a wealthy pure-blood, blessed with beauty and good health. Beauty was quite the commodity among old, pure-blood families. Her smooth, platinum blonde hair reached just past her shoulders. Her skin was so pale, she sported blue undertones that nearly match her eyes. Any girl would be ecstatic to be Narcissa...But in all of her twenty four years, she had never been more unhappy.
Tonight, there was a party at her family's estate, celebrating her engagement to Lucius Malfoy. How could she even begin to explain him? He was rude, stuck up, arrogant, greedy, selfish...Worst of all, she did not love him, and she knew he did not love her. They were being forced into an arranged marriage by their traditional families. Malfoy's parents had pushed him to propose. Narcissa's parents had pushed her to accept his offer.
Her duty as a woman of the Noble House of Black was to marry the most wealthy, high-status pure-blood bachelor that would have her. She was bid to wear the facade of happiness for society, and then produce as many healthy heirs as possible, particularly sons. For sons carried on the sacred family names of their forefathers.
Though Narcissa, being the romantic that she was, had always dreamed of finding love. Narcissa didn't even like Lucius, let alone love him. They'd gone to school together, had talked a few times. In reality, they were next to strangers. Lucius had never paid much attention to her because he was too busy trying to gain the favor of her eldest sister, Bellatrix, not unlike countless others. She was commonly referred to as the prettiest of the three Black sisters, and had been sought after aggressively by many.
Bellatrix had chosen Rodolphus Lestrange among the sea of suitors. Rodolphus and his younger brother, Rabastan, had fought over her like rabid dogs in their younger years. It was only natural that she ended up with one of them, and Rodolphus was the more handsome of the two.
Since Lucius couldn't have Bellatrix, he was content to settle for Narcissa. She was the next best thing after all, and he had been dead set on bonding his family with The Ancient House Of Black. Though the thought of taking the middle sister, Andromeda, had not even crossed his mind. He found her boring, plain, and only half as beautiful as her sisters. Even if he or someone else did want her, she was no longer available since she ran off with a mud-blood, much to the Black family's humiliation. That whole ugly mess had put extra stress on Narcissa to find a suitable husband. The Blacks were not as respected as they used to be, due to a few recent scandals, Andromeda eloping with a mud-blood being at the top of the list.
Narcissa was sitting in front of her vanity, running a comb through her hair as tears streamed down her face, leaving streaks of mascara. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which startled her. She had not been expecting anyone to bother her, as she figured they would be busy at the party. She sniffled, then cleared her throat, hoping that whoever was outside the door wouldn't hear her crying.
"Who is it? I'm rather tied up at the moment." Narcissa called.
"It's me. I'm coming in." replied a husky, purr of a voice that she easily recognized.
Bellatrix shuffled in the room, not at all surprised to find Narcissa in tears. Her baby sister was so predictable. She came to stand behind her, and placed her hands on her shoulders, then kissed the top of her head.
"Don't cry. It's not so bad. You could have it a lot worse. Be brave, Cissy. You'll grow fond of him in time." Bellatrix whispered, in an attempt to comfort her.
Narcissa whipped around and hugged tightly hugged her sister in response.
Meanwhile, the party downstairs was coming along quite nicely. Everyone was drinking hideously expensive champagne and chattering mindlessly. They all seemed to be in a good mood. This engagement had been the topic of many recent conversations among high society pure-bloods. The union of the Black and Malfoy families was a smart match, they said.
Lucius was standing near the staircase, waiting for his bride-to-be to come down and join him. Though really he was waiting for her sister...He knew she was up there with Narcissa.
"Good party, huh?" asked Severus Snape, who came to stand next to Lucius.
Severus had been a friend of his back in school. Not a close friend, but he was someone Lucius wanted at the party, and even at the wedding. Mainly just to show off, but he had to admit that Severus was kind of cool, and he was a fellow Death Eater. A very intelligent one at that. Lucius would rather be on his good side than his bad side. He just nodded in response to Severus, his eyes glued to the staircase, still eagerly awaiting the Black sisters' arrivals.
"Congratulations, by the way. Narcissa is really something." said Snape, before taking a sip of champagne.
He was dreamily content to be thinking about Narcissa, for he'd had a huge crush on her for quite some time. Though it was not as if ever acted on it, or even told anybody. Surely one of the beautiful Black sisters would never be interested in an awkward, poor, skinny half-blood. He figured he'd saved himself quite a bit of embarrassment by keeping this a secret.
"Oh...yeah. Thanks. Narcissa will be a good wife, I'm sure." Lucius said, not the least bit excited or interested.
Snape was quick to pick up on this, and gave Lucius a look that said just that. Why in the name of Merlin would anyone be unhappy about marrying Narcissa?
"Between you and me, I always wanted Bellatrix." Lucius whispered.
Truth be told, that didn't surprise Snape. He'd seen the way he used to chase after her before she married Lestrange. Snape would give anything to be Lucius...
"Uh...She's pretty hot." Snape replied, after realizing that he'd been silent for too long.
He figured it was a good idea to agree, as to not seem suspicious. Sure he'd noticed that the eldest sister was easy on the eyes, but Narcissa always had his attention.
'Narcissa deserves better than this stuck up jerk.' he thought.
But what could he do about it?
Just then, there were several gasps from the party guests. They all clapped as the two Black sisters came to the foot of the stairs, Narcissa in powder blue and Bellatrix in red. Lucius went over to greet his fiancee, with an insincere hug and a peck on the cheek. Then he took her out onto the dance floor, while cutting his eyes at Bellatrix as he walked past.
Snape went back over to the alcohol and poured himself a tall glass of firewhisky, watching the perfect blonde couple dance as sheer envy blazed through every muscle in his body. He figured just maybe he could just stand there until Lucius danced with Bellatrix, then he might be able to squeeze in a dance with Narcissa. It was socially acceptable for family and friends to dance with the future bride at her engagement party.
"Pour me some?" asked the voice of a woman.
Snape turned his head to see Bellatrix with a smug smile plastered on her lovely face. His eyes flickered up and down her body, and were stuck on her cleavage for a moment.
"Never mind. I'll pour it while you stare." she stated, nonchalantly.
"Uh.. no! I got it." he sputtered, quickly pouring Bella some firewhisky.
She snatched it from his hand, then blew him a kiss before slinking onto the dance floor. That sure was weird...Perhaps she'd had too much to drink or something. Severus took a large gulp of alcohol, relishing the burning sensation in his throat as it made its way down.
He could look at nothing but Narcissa as she moved so gracefully. Her hips were swaying in perfect sync with the music, her slender legs were twisting about with such skill, and her supple, blonde hair moved along with her. Lucius sure was a lucky guy, even if he didn't know it.