It did not take Regulus long before he started to feel disgusted by his older brother's selfishness. In about a year, Flora, Georgina, and Nicola were going to be forced to marry men whom would never be able to possibly offer the three young ladies the happiness and the love that they deserved, but all Sirius could talk about was how miserable he was.

"I can't believe Father and Mother forced me to come here," Sirius complained yet again.

"Well, you can only be 'sick' so many times before people start to gossip," Regulus snapped. "Is it really your goal in life to bring shame to our family name?"

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Sirius smirked.

Regulus didn't bother to reply to that. Instead, he stood up and walked over to his parents and waited until they noticed him before speaking.

"Father, Mother, may I walk around for a while?" Regulus asked. "I promise that I will stay in this room."

Walburga looked at her husband, and he nodded his head.

Both Orion and Walburga knew that Regulus was mature beyond his years and that, unlike his older brother, he could be trusted to stay out of trouble.

The two older Blacks also knew that their youngest son would probably eventually end up in Lucius's and Narcissa's company, and there was no denying that those two were both the definitions of proper, respectable Purebloods.

"Of course, dear," Walburga smiled sweetly. "Just return to us before it's time to go."

"I will," Regulus promised before walking off into the crowd, feeling Sirius's jealous glare following him.


Lucius and Narcissa were both standing in a shadowy corner of the huge ballroom in order to avoid drawing attention to themselves. They had to struggle to not laugh when they once again caught sight of Druella making her way through the crowd, no doubt looking for her youngest daughter so that she could show off to everyone just how stunning Narcissa looked in her new dress.

And Narcissa did look stunning. It really was a shame that the dress's only purpose was to try to make her friends jealous.

Narcissa looked over at Lucius. In his new dress robes, he was as handsome as Narcissa was beautiful.

Abraxas believed that everyone else, even other Purebloods, were inferior to a Malfoy.

Narcissa couldn't help thinking that if Abraxas didn't think so lowly of women, including even Pureblood women, he and her mother would have made a perfect couple.

"Why are you two hiding in the shadows?" a woman's voice suddenly asked. "Well, for you, Lucius, this is normal behavior. But you, Cissy, now this isn't normal behavior for you."

"Hello, Bella," Narcissa greeted.

Lucius just nodded his head at Bellatrix, and she gave him a slight incline of her head in return.

Narcissa wasn't surprised that her older sister had been able to see them, and Lucius didn't look surprised either. Bellatrix, after all, was a Death Eater; and being able to see people whom were trying to hide was definitely a useful skill for a Death Eater.

"You do realize that Mother has been looking for you for the past hour, right?" Bellatrix said to her younger sister.

"Are you going to tell her where she can find me?" Narcissa sighed.

"Why would I want to do that?" Bellatrix responded. "Like I really want to spend the rest of the night listening to Mother bragging to everyone about what a beautiful little doll you are."

"Where's Rodolphus?" Narcissa asked, not wanting to listen to another one of her sister's tirades about how Druella favored the perfect little baby of the family over her.

"Around," Bellatrix spoke in a bored voice.

Narcissa hesitated for a moment before saying, "Bella, does Rodolphus ever make you happy?"

"Are you honestly still living in that fairy tale land, Cissy?" Bellatrix sneered. "Fairy tales are for Muggles, Mudbloods, and Blood-Traitors."

Narcissa didn't need to ask her sister why she had placed such emphasis on the word 'Blood-Traitors.' Narcissa knew that Bellatrix had been referring to their other sister, who had gone and married a Mudblood because she loved him.

"Watch it, Bellatrix," Lucius said in a soft but dangerous voice. He had never cared for Andromeda, but he knew that despite everything, a part of Narcissa still cared about and would always care about her disowned sister.

Bellatrix sneered at Lucius, but she didn't press any further on the matter.

Bellatrix then turned back to Narcissa. "I find Rodolphus to be tolerable. He also happens to be a wonderful partner whenever we go on missions. We make a good team. Not as good of a team as I make with the Dark Lord, of course, but still good enough to get the job done."

Narcissa didn't doubt that. She knew that both Bellatrix and Rodolphus had twisted minds, and that they both took pleasure out of the suffering of others.

It also didn't hurt that Rodolphus didn't seem to mind that Bellatrix wanted to be the dominant one in their relationship. There wasn't much that affected Rodolphus, and he only rarely showed any sign of emotion.

"I am quickly finding this party to be boring," Bellatrix spoke lazily. "Nott may think that his home is impressive, but this little cottage has nothing on Black Manor."

Indeed, much to both Lucius's and Narcissa's disgust, Nott had insisted that his manor be used for the party meant to announce his official engagement to Flora.

Bellatrix walked off without another word.


Narcissa began to scan the crowd, and she noticed that Georgina and Nicola had just politely excused themselves from Goyle's and Crabbe's company. Both men just nodded their heads dully at their future wives. It was as if they didn't care that Georgina and Nicola no longer wanted to be with them, which was most likely the case.

"I can't hide forever," Narcissa said to Lucius. "Mother will eventually start to make a scene if I don't make my presence known."

Lucius, who had also spotted Georgina and Nicola, nodded his head. "And even though your mother brought you that dress for all the wrong reasons, it still would be a shame for you to keep it hidden forever."

Lucius scanned the crowd some more, and he caught sight of Nott, whose hand was drifting farther and farther down Flora's back with each passing second as he talked cheerfully with several other Purebloods.

Flora's response to this was just to look down at the floor.

Narcissa also noticed the exchange between Nott and her friend, and her face tightened in anger. On a Pureblood social level, Nott wasn't doing anything improper, but Narcissa knew that his actions weren't that of man showing genuine affection for the woman that he loved. No, his actions were that of a man who was making it clear that the pretty young lady beside him belonged to him.

In their society, however, a Pureblood male acting like that would not be considered improper. It didn't matter if the female was also a Pureblood.

"Leave Nott to me," Lucius said to Narcissa. "I know how much you want to speak with Georgina and Nicola, especially before your mother finds you."

"I also want to speak with Flora, without Nott being right there beside her," Narcissa responded.

"I will make sure that happens," Lucius returned.

Lucius knew that Narcissa was a capable witch, more capable than she gave herself credit for, but Lucius also knew just how dangerous Nott could be. Lucius had been on several missions with Nott. Narcissa, on the other hand, had only ever been around the older man in social situations in which there had been others present.

Nott acted much differently under his Death Eater mask then he did when he was in public with respectable company.

Narcissa saw the worry in Lucius's eyes, even though she doubted that anyone else would have been able to notice it. She and Lucius had always been able to read each other exceptionally well.

Narcissa knew that Lucius had more personal experience with Nott than she did and therefore would be better able to deal with the older man than she could.

Narcissa nodded her head at Lucius. She then began to make her way towards Georgina and Flora, while Lucius began to make his way towards Nott and Flora.