Disclaimer: I forgot to do this for the last chapter. I'm not making money off this, all the characters you recognize belong to a certain JK Rowling. You may have heard of her.
Narcissa sat stiffly in her chair. This was always the very worst part of the holidays.
Tea with her grandmother.
The elder Mrs. Black, now a widow, was none for being extremely critical of everyone, and being extremely old fashioned, especially when it came to young ladies. She was dressed completely in black, as usual, this time in soft cashmere robes that were long and elegant, even on the ancient woman. She no longer lived in the Black manor, but instead on a 'modest little' estate that she had inherited from her own family. It was customary, once the eldest man of the family died, to leave the Manor to his oldest son, and the widow, if she was still alive, would move to another house or stay with her son and his family. Narcissa was very glad that her grandmother did not chose to stay at the Manor, but rather moved away. She would have probably strangled the old witch if she had to see her every day.
Beside Narcissa, Bellatrix and Andromeda sat equally still. All three sisters were dressed in fine, modest robes, their hair in simple buns, wearing only a few small jewls. They all sat perfectly straight, knowing they would be scolded of they weren't. As Grandmother looked them up and down, making sure they were all whole and proper, they did their best to be completely still and didn't utter a word until Grandmother announced:
"Well, you all could be worse off. But please, Narcissa, wear robes that are less low-cut. And Bellatrix, your hands, they look awfully coarse and common. Take better care of them. As for you, Andromeda, your hair looks so shabby. Do have it cut as soon as you can."
"Yes, Grandmother." They said in usnison. A house elf popped into the room with a lod crack, carrying a tray with a a teapot and three cups. Another elf appeared with a tray of sandwiches. Granmother ignored them as they prepared the tea, and immediately launched into her interrogation. She began with Andromeda.
"Do you have a suitor, my dear?"
"No, Grandmother, none at the moment."
"And how old are you know?"
"I turned twenty in August."
"My, my, Andromeda, you know that Black women are expected to be at least engaged by the time they turn twenty-one. I shall think about some suitable candidates, and I can assure you one of them will be escorting you to the Christmas Ball."
"Grandmother, it is not necessary – "
"I must disagree. Andromeda, if I think something is necessary, then it is. I am only looking after your best interests. Now, your father tells me you are still in school to become a Healer. Wat kind of nonsense is that? I thought you would have given up by now. You are a Black, not some common worker."
"But I love it, grandmother, and you have always told me that keeping the mind open is important."
"Yes, that is true, but I did not mean go looking for a career. It is important to read, and be skilled in running a household, and playing an instrument, and being intelligent enough to keep up a conversation with anybody." She continued with a list of atributes that Andromeda should have instead been working on. Andromeda looked like she was going to jump up and kill Grandmother. Not that Narcissa would have particularly minded, but it would have put a damper on the holiday season.
When she was finally done with Andromeda, she moved on to Bellatrix, questioning her about school, about her new boyfriend, Rodolphus Lestrage (she actually approved of him) and about what she planned to do when she graduated from Hogwarts. She ended with a final "please remember to keep that temper of yours hidden this season. I don't want any more temper tantrums from you, and it is not ladylike to hex people, especially at balls. I will be extremely unhappy if word of that reaches my ears, do you understand me?"
"Yes, Grandmother."
"Good." She turned her attention to Narcissa, who hadn't spoken yet. "Now, young lady, this is the year you do you OWLs, correct?"
"Yes, Grandmother, in June."
"Very good. A great deal is expected of you, so study hard, but don't study too hard and look exhausted. There are plenty of eligible bachelors at Hogwarts, particularly in the Slytherin house, so always be on your best behavior and look your best." She looked her over. "Yes, although you inherited your mother's looks, you hold yourself like a Black, and you are quite pretty. I imagine the boys are all begging for a chance with you, now that you are fifteen?"
"Not begging, exactly, Grandmother, but yes, they are interested. They ask me on dates, expecially when there is a Hogsmede weekend." She did her best to sound wide-eyed and innocent.
"Do you date any of these boys, Narcissa?"
"Sometimes, yes. But only on Hogsmede weekends."
She nodded, satisfied. "Good. We don't want any rumors about you sneaking off with wizards. Hogsmede is a good place to be asked to. But make sure the wizards are suitable. Nobody has yet caught your interest, then?"
"No, not yet."
The questions continued. Boys, grades, friends, what they did in their free time, it was all covered. The yearly interrogation was always lengthy and very thorough. They each ate one delicate sandwhich, sipped their tea carefully, and prayed that it would be soon over. When Grandmother finally announced that she was tired and wished to retire, they all stood up quickly and went to kiss her on the cheek.
"Goodbye, Grandmother, see you on Christmas Eve." Narcissa curtsied properly and kissed her wizened cheek.
"Yes, my dear, and remember what I told you about low-cut robes, please."
They were all silent all the way to the large fireplace in the front entrance, where they threw in floo powder and wizzed away to their communal sitting room.
"I hate that woman!" Andromeda burst out, collapsing onto a chair. The sitting room was in their personal wing of the Manor. There was a sitting room, and a large balcony attached to it that in the summer they ate many breakfasts on, enjoying the view of the grounds. There were four rooms attached to the sitting room; a bedroom for each of them, and a dressing room for when they were getting ready for balls. There were mirrors all around, a fridge full of champagne, and elevated stands where they stood when their gowns were getting adjusted. "She's a senile old bitch." She grabbed a few shortbread cookies off a platter and shoved them in her mouth angrily.
"Don't be such a drama queen, Andy." Bellatrix drawled, dropping her emerald cloack on the ground. "We all hate her. She's the same every year. Its about time you got used to it."
Andy scowled at her. Before a full scale brawl errupted between them, Narcissa thought it would be wise to intervene. "Come on, let's not bicker about Grandmother, she isn't worth it. It's the holidays – can we at least pretend we all like each other?"
Neither of them answered, but they didn't yell, either. Satisfied, she retreated to her large, beautiful room, enjoying simply being in it and not in the Hogwarts dungeons. It had two large floor to ceiling windows, and in the middle a door that opened to a small private balcony. There was a little sitting area beside the bookshelf, as well as a large vanity with an assortment of make-up and creams and hair products. It was ancient, but well kept; white in colour, with a very kind mirror who only ever said nice things. All her jewelry was safely locked in the drawers of the vanity. There were framed pictures and knicknacks on several small end tables throughout the room, and an old desk dear one of the windows. The biggest thing in the room was the giant, king-sized four-poster bed, full of fluffy pillows. The curtains were light, almost transparent white, and in the summer when the winds were open they waved merrily and usually put Narcissa comfortably to sleep. She had a huge attached closet, with a impressive shoe rack, a long mirror, and hundreds of pieces of clothing. There was also a bathroom, made in all whiter marble, with a big, sunk in bathtub, a shower large enough to fit half a dozen people in it, and a large, immaculate sink.
Narcissa picked out a book, stripped off the uncomfortable robes, and slipped into a green silk nightie. She was exhausted. The last few weeks before break ag Hogwarts had been caotic, and she barely slept last night because they had gone out for dinner directly from the train station and had risen early for some breakfast with a few of their close family friends. After that they had to prepare to go see Granmother, and then there was the actual tea with her… she was sure her mother would pop in soon to see how it had gone, but for now, all she wanted to do was crawl under her soft covers, and curl up with her book.
"So, you'll be there then?" Rosaline Greengrass' excited face piered up at her from her fireplace. It was the following afternoon, and Rosaline had flooed her to invite her over to her house to get ready for Malfoy's party with her. The girl was practically peeing herself with excitmenet over the party.
"Yes, I will, at seven." Narcissa replied, wishing the girl would go away already. She didn't feel like small talk. "I'll floo over. See you then, Rosaline."
"Bye Cissy!" She was gone with a pop. Narcissa pulled her silk robe closer around her and called for a house elf. She had risen late, and spent over an hour soaking in the bathtub. Her skin was beautifully soft now, like only the soaps and lotions of her own home could do for her, and she smelled like lavender.
"Miss Black, Polly at your service." The little elf bowed. "What does miss need from Polly?"
"I'm hungry, Polly. I want some of my favorite salad, and perhaps some bread and butter. And bring me a coffee. Oh, and tell my mother that I will not be attending dinner tonight, as I am going to Rosaline Greengrass' at seven and I need to get ready and look my best."
"Polly will do that all, Miss. Is Miss needing anything else?"
"No, Polly, that is all. You may go now."
The elf bowed and was gone with a crack. Narcissa settled back on her bed, but the moment she did she was once again inturrupted. A huge grey and white owl was waiting for her outside her balcony, carrying a letter and a package, tapping against her window impatiently. Recieveing mail was nothing strange to Narcissa, but the package was. It wasn't her birthday, and all the gifts she would be recieveing for Christmas were delivered to the front of the hosue and placed under the christmas tree by the house elves. The prospect of the the package was enough to pull her out of bed, and she opened the window and let the bird fly in with a gust of chilly air. She shut it quickly, shivering, and turned her attention to the proper, haughty looking owl. Once she had relieved it of its delivery, the owl flew up and demanded her to open the window immediately. It wasn't waiting for a response, it seemed.
Narcissa sat down on her bed and opened the envelope, which simply had Narcissa written on it. There was a short letter inside.
Dear Miss Black,
As I'm sure you've guessed, the package contains a christmas gift for you. Don't open it until Christmas Eve, please, in the privacy of your room or place it under the tree if you like.
Merry Christmas!
There was no signature, and she didn't recognize the elegant script. Frowning slightly, she turned her attention to the little package. Wait until christmas? Whoever had sent her the gift was crazy, and obviously didn't know her well. She had very little self-restraint when it came to gifts.
She undid the purple bow and let it slide off the navy wrapping paper. She paused for a second, wondering if it was some kind of prank, or something nasty for someone who didn't like her. But aside from some jealous girls, there weren't too many enemies she had, since she was a fairly nice and well behaved person, and didn't pick fights with anybody, even the Gryffindors, for no reason.
She tried to pull of the wrapping paper, but it wouldn't budge. After several minutes of failing to open it, she gave up. Maybe the person who sent it to her did know her a bit better, after all, and had taken necessary precautions.
Crack. "Polly has come with your lunch, miss." The little elf squeeked. "Where is miss wanting to take her meal?"
"Just put it on the breakfast table, Polly." Narcissa motioned to the little round coffee table by her favorite arm chair.
"Does miss need anything else before Polly goes to talk to Mistress?"
Narcissa hesitated. "Actually, yes, can you try to open this package? It looks like its sealed with magic and father would be angry if he found out that I was using magic." She handed the little elf the sealed package. She was beyond curious to know what was inside. The elf tried by hand first, and then tried with some of her strong elf magic.
She squeeled and dropped the package as if it had burned her. "Miss, the package burned Polly's hands. Polly will try something else"
Narcissa sighed. "No, Polly, its alright, it looks like whoever sent me this really doesn't want me to open it until Christmas Eve. You can go now."
"Thank you, Miss, Polly is sorry she couldn't help."
She spent the rest of the day doing nothing except relaxing. It was nice. She didn't even mind when Bellatrix invaded her room and demanded to know what she was wearing to Malfoy's party. She pointed at a loose black silk sress with a silver zipper all the way down the front and two long frills on wither side of the zipper. It was short sleeved and short.
"I need to borrow your grey boots. The heeled ones."
"Go for it. You know where they are."
"Thanks, Cissy! You better be wearing those black heeled knee-high boots you got the other weekend. The ones you showed me that have suede on the top?"
She nodded. "I think I will. Are you going with Rody?"
"Yea, and some other friends, we're going to Lucius' early to help him set up."
"Help him drink, in other words."
"Well, that too. Wanna come with us?"
Cissy was pleasantly surprised by the offer. "I'd love to but I told Rosaline Greengrass I would go with her and some other girls."
"Oh, come one, ditch them! It will be much more fun with me." Bellatrix came over and grabbed her hands. "You simply must! Just floo Rosaline and invent some reason that you have dinner tonight, late, so its easier if you come with me."
Narcissa smiled. "Alright, I will." When Bellatrix was nice, she could get anything she wanted. The girls, when they were younger, had been extremely close, but as they got older they had grown apart. They never bickered like Bellatrix and Andy did, and shared secrets whenever they were at home and actually had time.
"Perfect! We're going to get ready in here. You're vanity is nicer. I'll be back in a bit."
Narcissa rolled her eyes but didn't comment on her sister's bossy attitude. She flood Rosaline, but instead got her house elf to take a message (much to Narcissa's delight) and soon after Bellatrix came into her room with a bottle of champagne for them to share while they got ready. When they were finally dressed, made-up, and jewelled up, they took their jackets and matching cashmere scarves (Bellatrix's was grey, to go with her black wool jacket, and Narcissa's was emerald, to go with her grey wool jacket) and went to say goodbye to their mother. They were both a little tipsy from the champagne and kept giggling.
"What time will you be home, girls?" Their mother asked from her usual perch in the parlour, a cup of tea at her side and a letter in front of her.
"Tomorrow. We're sleeping there." Bellatrix said firmly. Narcissa would never be able to get away with such a straight-forward answer. "Don't worry about us, mother."
She sighed. "Very well, but be home by noon. Our christmas dinner is at five o'clock and there will be tons to before that."
"Yes, mother."
"Now behave, girls. That includes you, Bellatrix." She looked at them sternly. Narcissa had inherited all her looks from her. She was already in her mid fourties, but still a very beautiful woman, with her figure intact and only a few wrinkled around her pretty blue eyes.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes and grabbed Narcissa's arm, pulling her towards the big fireplace. It was the best one to floo in and out of since it was the biggest and cleanest of them all. Bellatrix stepped in first and announced "Malfoy Mannor." She was gone in seconds. Narcissa took her place, and with a final wave to her mother, she too disapeared in a haze of green smoke.
They arrived in a large, airy blue room, with a wall of windows facing the swimming pool. The majority of the party always took place in this large, relativly empty room. They didn't want to use the ballroom – they spent enough time there. There was a large bar on one side of the room, and a dance floor. Fake snow was falling from the ceiling and evaporating once it reaches the hight most people where. There were ice sculptures around the room as well, and in the middle of the room a silver champagne fountain with glasses all around the rim of it. Malfoy and a big group of his friends were sitting around a table made of ice, several bottles of firewhiskey in front of them.
"I brought my baby sister." Bellatrix announced loudly. Narcissa suddenly felt a little out of place amongst all the seventh years. Two brunettes gazed at her coldy, something Bellatrix didn't miss. "Don't mess with her. You'll all be blown away by her charm, I'm sure." She threw herself into a chair beside her boyfriend, and proceeded to give him a very thorough hello.
Malfoy caught her eye and nodded to the empty seat beside him. Relieved that he didn't glare at her for even showing up, she quickly walked over to the chair and sat down.
He noticed that she was still wearing her jacket, and frowned. "Toles!" he barked. A nervous elf appeared infront of him quickly. "Take this young lady's jacket and scarf, and put hang them up in the skating room."
Narcissa quickly shrugged off her jacket and handed it off to the elf, who left with another crack.
"You better be coming skating with me later." He told her. "Its quite fun."
She shrugged. "I've never really tried, it looks hard, and slippery."
Malfoy leaned closer to her. His breath smelled like firewhiskey. "Don't worry, I'll teach you a spell that makes it as easy as walking." He poured a glass of firewhiskey for her.
Yaxley called from down the table. "Malfoy, do you really think little miss perfect can drink that much? We wouldn't her throwing up right away." He gave her a nasty grin. Narcissa resisted the urge to reach across the table and smack him.
Instead, she glared at him coldy, and drank the contents of the glass, careful not to look disgusted go cough. She set the glass down slowly and continued to glare at him.
"Shut up, Yaxley, she can obviously hold herself, she's my sister." Bellatrix said proudly. Narcissa gave him a smirk and turned back to Malfoy.
"Ignore him, he's a brute." He advised. "I'm sorry in his behalf. There's nothing wrong with being little miss perfect you know. Lots of people love that about you." He gave her a small smile. Not a smirk, but a real smile. He poured her another drink. "Drink up, peopl should be here soon."
On cue, three or four people apperated in the middle of the room and began crossing it to join them at the table. The fireplace began letting out people in many hazy green puffs. The party was starting.
A/N: here's another chapter. The next one won't be up so fast, I'm in a giant mess of papers and exams right now. Please review! It gets me going.