The fire glinted, lighting a soft glow on the right hand side of her face as she pulled her feet onto the leather sofa she had settled into in the common room. He sat down next her, one leg folded over the other. For a moment, his positioning made it appear more like a business meeting than him 'getting to know her'. He relaxed a little and slumped down slightly into the chair. Being around midnight, they were completely alone; it was almost bizarre that the common room should be so still and silent. Narcissa balanced a book across her knees, the spine flopping slightly, destroyed from being read extensively.
"You read a lot don't you?", he was patronising her, not exactly inviting her to stay put.
"I like reading; it means I don't have to pay attention to real life...", she raised her eyebrows as she tried to continue reading, not even giving him the satisfaction of having her eye contact.
"You're rather feisty too..", he nudged the book so it toppled onto the floor. She caught his eye and glared, unimpressed.
"It seems you don't really want me here..", she got up to leave but had barely left where she'd been sitting when he leapt forward a little too enthusiastically to grab her arm.
"Please don't leave.. I'm sorry, I don't do this sort of thing well..", a small smirk played on her lips before she straightened up and turned around to him.
"I've found it... Lucius Malfoy's weakness - who'd have thought it", she sat back down facing him, a little closer than she had been before. The intrigue she'd developed after the short conversation with Caspar earlier resurfaced. The desperation she'd just heard in his voice suggested there was another layer to him than the steely surface. Maybe she'd just scratched it, left a faint line in the shine. He looked knocked, like she'd stepped into his personal space where only he knew his secrets and everything he held behind his eyes. He tried to straighten up, hoping she hadn't seen the fault in his facade. A silence weaved it's way between them for a moment or two, before Narcissa pulled away it's web.
"I read a lot at home...", her voice was merely a whisper but he caught onto it, leading his eyes to see hers dropped to her hands which were fiddling with each other. He didn't press for a further explanation, he could tell she was working her way towards it as she sighed.
"I read to get away from everyone else. From my parents.. From Bellatrix... From the dysfunction that is the Black house...", she brought her eyes back up to his, glistening slightly as she snuffled and held back any tears which threatened. He turned towards her more, resting his head in the hand that belonged to his right arm; propped up against the back of the leather chair. Again, he didn't utter a sound, hopeful in the fact that she might open up to him more; take a chance to tell him everything she appeared to be holding back. His new intrigue comforted her, oddly enough. Someone cared for once; someone who didn't know her and so had no premeditated opinions of her or how she did things.
"Bellatrix turned out 'wrong' as my Father says... She disgraced the Black family name in only a matter of months after coming here. She's out of control. And so I'm expected to be the proper one.. The normal one...", she raised her eyebrows and scoffed quietly as she remembered her parents exact words; 'you will not be the disappointment Bellatrix has been'. Not much on her shoulders then? Ha. Now even her own mind was mocking her.
"And so I read. As a distraction. When I read, it's just me and I can be whoever I could possibly dream of being... And then someone comes along and snaps it shut...", she gently prodded him playfully, her face coming round to finally smiling, "and I have to come back into the real world. Where all I hear is yelling downstairs, or my Mother going on about being a 'proper young lady'", she pulled a face, imitating her Mother and Lucius smiled gently, his lips softly turning at the corners. He took one of her hands she'd been fiddling with and pressed his fingertips against hers, stretching their hands against one another. Her heart gradually began palpitating, something she always tried to control, just as she did now. He wasn't speaking, so it was a little easier.
"You don't have to be perfect for me you know... You already are...", his hand paused and she gently brought hers back into the safety of her personal perimeter. Her face had drained of the earlier smile and was now filled with a look of trying to understand, an almost bizarre situation, replaying itself in her mind as she tried to grasp onto what he'd just said. Without realising, his liquid voice had drowned her efforts of trying to control the beating and now it began pacing itself at high speed. He moved closer still, until their noses were parallel to each other. They were suddenly vulnerable to each other but willing the other to make the next move. One of them almost did, but the exchange was quickly interrupted by another student who clumsily banged through the common room door, obviously running a lot later for bedtime than planned.
"I should probably be.. Er..", she collected the book back and quickly stood up, trying to fathom the rest of a sentence. Lucius raised himself to her level and kept his hands in his pockets.
"Goodnight Narcissa...", he slowly leant forward and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, leaving her flushing in the firelight as he left her alone.
She nudged him with her elbow and leant into him slightly as she giggled with him. Caspar always had a way of helping her see the lighter side of life. Lucius watched them from farther down the table, his face thunderous again as he caught their eyes and they simmered down. As the hall was dismissed for first lessons, he held back and watched them as they left off together. Jealousy surged through him again, tinged with anger.
She led him to her favourite, well hidden table, just as she had done with Lucius. She sat in the furthest seat and Caspar sat opposite her, watching her with intent.
"What lessons do you have today?", his laughter somewhat subsided as he asked her a more serious question. She looked up through dark lashes, the dark flicks of eyeliner at the corners contrasting against the espresso shading of her eyes.
"Charms..", she rolled her eyes upwards an the smile reappeared on her face as it did his.
"You know, when you don't roll your eyes like that, you can be rather charming too..", he smirked at her and she hit him gently across the forearm with the nearest book.
"It's a shame the same can't be said for you...", she poked her tongue out at him as she reached for her charms handbook and flicked to the relevant page. She attempted to immerse herself in preparation for the following lesson but Caspar had other ideas.
"So has anyone caught your eye yet this year?", he leant back and winked at her, sarcastically hinting to himself.
"No, Caspar", she tried to keep her face serious but failed as the smile showed itself yet again. He'd never fail in this department.
"Not Malfoy then?", as she looked up, she was expecting to see him mocking her again, but she was only met by a seriousness from him; something she very rarely saw. She frowned but kept quiet. "I was serious the other day Narcissa.. He's bad news", he broke the eye contact and also took a book to begin reading. She closed it on him and held her hand over the cover as he looked back to her. He concentrated on her hand, the delicate length of her fingers, the perfectly manicured nails, the porcelain skin which laid itself flawlessly over over each tendon.
"So why are you friends with him?", her eyes pressed him for an answer.
"Because being friends is okay.. I just don't want you to get hurt Narcissa.. He always gets these girls and never stays with them for more than a couple of weeks... I don't want you to be one of them", her hand slowly left the book as she tried her own thoughts for a response.
"I won't get hurt Caspar.. I'm not that stupid..", she tried a smile in the hope it might lighten the mood; he just shrugged his shoulders and started to get up to leave, turning to her again before leaving the table.
"I hope you're right..", as he turned to leave again, Lucius stopped him in his tracks.
"Leaving so soon, Caspar?..", Caspar widened his eyes at him, pushing past him without any further facial expression. Lucius replaced his seat at the table.
"What were you two talking about?", Narcissa peered up from behind the book she'd been trying to follow and paused before closing the book and resting her arms over it.
"You...", she looked down to avoid seeing his reaction.
"Me? And what did Caspar have to say about me?..", she kept her stare low, unwilling to make eye contact with him.
"He says.. He said.. That you're bad news..", she dared to look up and found him fronting a very neutral expression, but she could tell that beneath he was simmering; potentially ready to explode. She was momentarily terrified that the outburst might happen here and he might over turn the table. He certainly looked as though he was considering it. She carried on, not knowing whether that was the best route to go down.
"He said you're always 'getting the girls', I don't know, I wasn't really listening to him", she quickly opened the book again, hoping that the conversation might end there.
"I wouldn't hurt you Narcissa..", he'd leant in towards her, whispering across the table to keep their exchange more private, although the bookcase they sat behind was also helpful in that sense.
"What do you mean? I'm not interested in you..", she gently shook her head and even her own words made her heart sink. Maybe she was interested and maybe she did want him. She kicked her own heart silently in her mind for wanting such a ridiculous thing.
"But you're interested in Caspar... I've seen you, the way you are with him...", she shook her head more violently, re-closing the book yet again, making it slam as to put an end to his outrageous remarks.
"Lucius, you have really gotten this all wrong.. Caspar is just a friend and you are someone I barely know anything about... Let's just leave it at that", she collected the books and gave him a firm look before leaving him, seething.
Lucius slammed down his Arithmancy books next to Caspar, not making an effort to acknowledge him. Taking a seat, he turned himself slightly away, frosting over the atmosphere.
"What the hell is the matter with you now?", Caspar, always the civilised, tried to start some sort of conversation; he wasn't going to spend the entire lesson like this.
"What do you think?", Lucius swung around to look him dead in the eye.
"Lucius, you'll just hurt her.. You know you will.."
"No I won't!", he was whispering loudly through gritted teeth as their professor made a rushed entrance into the lesson. "I just want to get to know her..", he hushed himself as the teacher started the lesson.
"I know what that means Lucius and you do it everytime and then change your mind...", Caspar was referring to the numerous girls that Lucius had 'had his eye on' or had merely asked out, perhaps for the status of simply having a girlfriend. Only to later decide they weren't for him and left them sobbing.
"There's something different about her..", Caspar rolled his eyes, shaking his head and opened his book. He took a quill and began writing, not wanting to fuel the fire. Lucius slumped over, leaning onto his arm which he had propped under his chin. He tried to concentrate on the lesson, the figures being taught to him but they wouldn't fit together and they refused to work out correctly. As the lesson eventually came to an end, he collected his books back up, leaning in closer to Caspar as he was about to leave.
"I'm serious... She's different..", he pushed past him, deliberately knocking him and left the classroom.
