Narcissa

Lucius's initiation night...

I was happy. For the first time in months I was genuinely ecstatic. And of course, Lucius had everything to do with that. Silly Cissy Black was finally being treated like an adult, and it was all because of whose arm linked with my own as we walked through the corridors of the Ministry. Nobody would question the judgement of Lucius Malfoy.

And yes, finally, I had succeeded in catching his attention. After years of inking his name onto my parchment and studying his every shift in movement when we were in the same room, we were finally a bona fide item, and I was on top of the world.

That was, until I heard him bustling about in the library of my large family estate. I knew it was him, because I heard a low oath and recognised the voice instantly. I had crept down the stairs, hoping to assist in any way possible, just eager to spend time with him.

At the foot of the stairs, I stopped dead.

"Lucius...?" I gasped, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of me.

My boyfriend, the man I had worshipped obsessively since I was eleven years old, was covered from head to toe in blood and dirt. Spatters of deep crimson created intricate patterns on his shirt and were reflected in his troubled grey eyes by the light of the dwindling fire.

"Narcissa!" he cried softly, jumping backwards with the guiltiest look on his face I had ever seen. I just blinked at him, stunned. Repulsed was perhaps a more accurate description.

"Lucius, what happened to you?" I demanded, glaring at him in a mixture of trepidation and fear.

"Narcissa, I can explain..." he pleaded desperately.

My eyes narrowed. "I certainly hope so."

Four Years Previously...

"And then he told me that he'd missed seeing me, and he was just... Narcissa, are you even listening to a word I've said? I've been talking about Solomon Flint! And me! Why are you not more excited?" Callisto Selwyn pouted at me from across the Slytherin table as I sipped at my pumpkin juice with a glum expression. I glanced up.

"Huh?" I asked absently.

"Merlin, Narcissa, what's wrong with you?" Callisto shook her head.

"Sorry, Callie, I'm just... distracted. You were saying about Solomon?" I widened my eyes and forced myself to pay attention as Callisto launched into a long story about the Flint boy in our year, analyzing every move he had ever made and breaking it down into his exact motives and intentions.

Out of habit, my eyes scanned the Great Hall, skimming over every face on the Slytherin table. The one person I was searching for was still a no-show.

"Cissy!" A voice barked, and I jumped up guiltily. A girl in her late teens with dark, shining mahogany hair and eyes a deep rosewood glared down at me, her beautiful face wearing a disdainful expression.

"Y-yes, Bella?" I swallowed, mentally chastising myself for being so ridiculously afraid of my own sister.

"I have a question for you." She made it sound like she was about to accuse me of killing her hamster. I took a deep breath. Okay, Narcissa, you just turned fourteen, and Bella is nearly eighteen. She won't hit you, so get a grip. There.

"Okay?" It came across as a question. Not the confident start I had hoped for.

"Have you seen Andromeda today?" she demanded, and I paled. Yes, I most certainly had seen Andromeda today... kissing her mudblood boyfriend in an empty classroom. But I wasn't going to tell Bellatrix that.

"No, nowhere," I replied innocently, shaking my head slowly from side to side.

"For Salazar's sake!" she tutted, throwing her hands up in the air in a gesture that made me flinch.

"I'm sure she's around," I tried to appease her.

"Oh, yes, obviously!" Bella snorted, tossing her long hair behind her shoulder in a quick flick.

"Bella, calm down, I think..."

"Merlin, that girl is nowhere to be seen these days! Ugh!" She pursed her full lips, tapping on them with her index finger as she pondered something. "Here's an easier one. Where's Malfoy?"

I squeaked a little in protest. Bella's eyebrows shot up towards her hairline as she rapped her foot against the stone floor impatiently.

"M-Malfoy?" I faltered, already beginning to feel the inevitable blush creep up my cheeks and heat them alarmingly.

"Yes, Malfoy. Lucius. Tall kid, blond hair, self-involved, fifth year. Ring a bell?" Bella was deliberately talking in clipped, short sentences now. I didn't want to make her irritated. She wouldn't take too kindly to it.

"Oh... yeah... um... I don't know," I admitted in a whisper.

Bella scoffed so loudly that several people turned their heads to stare. "Please! If anyone in this damn school knows Malfoy's whereabouts at all times, it's you! You stalk him, don't you?"

My face burned. "No... Sshh! I- I don't..."

"Don't kid yourself," she sneered.

"I suppose he's probably..." I trailed off, my expression hardening slightly. "What do you want with him?"

Bella's face was completely incredulous. "And you think it's any of your business because...?"

I hung my head. I had absolutely no right to question her, of course. She could speak to whoever she wanted. But did it have to be Lucius...?

"I... it's none of my business, I should butt out."

Bella clapped her hands together once. "Excellent. Couldn't have put it better myself. Now, Malfoy would be...?"

"In the common room?" I suggested timidly, bracing myself for my sister to snap at me again.

I wasn't disappointed. She adopted a mocking, frosty look and said sarcastically, "You know, I would never have thought to check there! You should be an Auror!"

I pressed my lips together and said nothing, flinching once more when Bella snapped her fingers an inch from my nose.

"Narcissa! Suggest something that actually sounds like you have brain cells please! I know it's hard..."

I winced at the venom in her tone. "How about by the oak tree at the lake? He usually sits and reads under there on a nice day..."

"Wow, you really are a stalker. Thanks!" She reached across to pat me on the shoulder, and I suddenly noticed the stain on her hand. The deep red stain.

I seized her wrist so suddenly that she couldn't pull away, even though she was stronger and quicker than I was.

"What the...?"

"Bella, what is that on your hand?" I hissed, as she tried in vain to twist out of my grip.

"Get off me, Cissy!" she spat at me, attempting, this time successfully, to wrench her hand from my grip.

"Is that blood?" I demanded, my voice shrill.

She glared blackly at me, and I recoiled. "And so what if it is? What do you care?"

"I... Bella, that isn't your blood," I whispered, my voice hollow and frightened.

"Yeah. Your point?" she growled, backing away from me slightly, as though she were the one becoming skittish.

"You... you've been doing something for... for Him, haven't you?" I accused, my voice still barely audible. Bellatrix's colouring got a little greyer as she regarded me.

"So what?" she challenged. I had no answer, so I merely dropped my gaze to my shoes and chewed my lip.

"Is everything alright?" A pleasantly smooth, slightly haughty voice broke up our tense discussion. I jumped about a foot in the air as I recognised that voice.

"Ah, Malfoy, you're just the person I was looking for," Bella recovered swiftly, fixing him with a winning smile. I saw Lucius's eyes widen approvingly, and I seethed with jealousy. Of course he thought Bella was pretty. She was gorgeous. Nobody was immune to her charms, not even... Him. Or that's how it seemed to me, anyway.

"Bellatrix, how can I be of assistance?" he asked politely, and I swooned slightly at his well-mannered speech. Sometimes my hopelessness frustrated even myself.

"Well, I have a... message to pass on." Her expression darkened at the notion of being a messenger. She clearly did not like the idea.

"What is it?" he prompted.

"He wants you to meet him in Hogsmeade next weekend. You know where. It's important." Bella clucked her tongue impatiently.

"Tell him I'll be there, naturally."

"I'm telling him nothing else! You can just show up and he'll know. Do I look like an owl to you?" she snapped, and stormed away without further ado, leaving both of us staring perplexedly in her wake.

"She's a strange girl, your sister," Lucius said knowledgeably, and my gaze flickered back to him, the realisation suddenly sinking in that Lucius Malfoy was actually addressing me directly for the first time ever. Surprise, surprise, I blushed.

"Um..." I answered inadequately, feeling pathetic.

"I didn't mean to offend you Narcissa, sorry." His apology was unnecessary but sweet. I smiled at him as best I could, enjoying the way my name sounded in his voice, and he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. Then something inside me froze as I gazed into his handsome face.

"Are you alright?" he asked in alarm. "You've gone as white as a ghost."

"You... you... you're one of them, aren't you?" I whispered, fear surging through my veins.

"What are you talking about?" he frowned.

"You're a..." I lowered my voice and leaned towards him slightly so that nobody that could potentially be ear-wigging would hear. "You're a Death Eater."

I heard his sharp intake of breath, and it was all the conformation I needed.

"Narcissa... I..." His grey eyes were suddenly filled with panic. "Please don't tell," he begged. "Don't tell Dumbledore."

I narrowed my eyes. "Do you really think I would sell you out? My own sister is a Death Eater."

Lucius swallowed nervously, running a hand through his platinum hair.

"Well... thank you."

He shifted his weight, looking incredibly uncomfortable. I decided to give him an escape route.

"You can go and hang out with your friends now if you want to, you don't have to stay and talk to the silly third year. I promise I won't spill the Every Flavour Beans on you."

He nodded gratefully, and turned on his heel to sweep away down the table. Before he had even taken three steps in the opposite direction though, he turned towards me. "Narcissa?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for being trustworthy. Really."

I smiled wanly. "No problem."

But as he walked away, I knew I was lying to myself. Lucius was fifteen... he was too young to be caught up in that sort of thing. It was ridiculously dangerous, not to mention just... beastly. I would get in huge trouble if word got out that I knew.

Though there was a tiny selfish part of me that thought that maybe it was worth it. He had smiled at me.

Yes, it was worth it.