Narcissa

"Well..." he began, biting down on his lower lip. I hated to see this in Lucius. I hated it when he came to see me and I could smell burning on him, or I could taste blood in his mouth as he kissed me. I hated it when I ran my fingers along his left forearm and felt the smooth skin there, shuddering when I realised that it would soon be raised with the ugly tattoo that my sister so proudly sported; the true sign that a person belonged to the Death Eaters. The Dark Mark.

Their war was noble, as was their cause, but their means... of course wizards were better than muggles, but that didn't mean the muggles deserved to die. I was a vegetarian because I couldn't bear the idea of killing a cow, let alone a person. And magic or no magic, muggles were people. Inferior people, but people with thoughts and feelings and families just like us. It would break my heart to think of how many people my sister had torn away from their families. At least I could console myself with the knowledge that Lucius hadn't. He couldn't have. His forearm did not display the skull and snake that would mean he had stolen the life of another.

"Well?" I asked anxiously, not entirely sure that I wanted to hear another story about torturing a member of the Order of the Phoenix, or about giving another muggle a black eye. Thuggish behaviour was not something I liked to hear about, either. Not that Dumbledore's stooges didn't deserve what they got.

"Narcissa, I am so sorry... I didn't... I didn't want to burden you with this. With me. I wanted us to... this should have been different. Do you remember when we were still at Hogwarts, before we ever..." he swallowed, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down visibly. "You told me... you asked me to get out. To try and get off the path I was on..."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Seeing Lucius so distressed, it made my eyes start to burn, as if tears were beginning to collect themselves in my eyelids.

"I'm sorry, Narcissa." His grey eyes were filled with a self-loathing that made me want to comfort him, to smooth the hair away from his forehead and assure him that everything was going to be alright. But I stayed still, too frightened by his pleading to do anything.

"Lucius, I know, I know you couldn't get out, you explained," I whispered hoarsely.

"But I kept getting pulled in deeper," he answered, stressing the last word and burying his head in his hands.

"What do you mean?" I begged him to tell me something, anything. The panic I was feeling was raising a lump in my throat.

Slowly, he began to roll up the left sleeve of his white shirt. I blanched, all the colour draining from my face as I held his stony gaze. I didn't want to see; I already knew what would be there. I already knew what he had done.

It was against everything I believed in, but as I gazed into his eyes, I knew I could never hate him for what he had done, or what he would do. I loved Lucius with all my heart.

It was with this thought that I forced myself to look down, to take in the red ink seared into his pale skin, to watch the skull and the snake as they leered up at me. A constant reminder of Him.

"I love you, Narcissa, and I'm sorry. I never meant for it to get this far."

I couldn't draw my eyes away from the symbol etched into his skin. The Dark Mark.

Three Years Previously...

Christmas in the Black household this year was a horrible affair, for no other reason than Andy had finally told our parents that, now that she was seventeen, she was moving out and marrying Ted Tonks.

Bella was furious. In fact, whatever Bella was feeling stretched far beyond fury. She was one year out of school, so she had no idea that Tonks and Andy had gone public with their relationship within the walls of Hogwarts and the protection of Hogsmeade, but she was fuming now that the unpleasant discovery had finally been made. Seeing Bella angry was always something that had terrified me, for as long as I could remember. She tended to throw things, and scream and send curses flying at the mirrors. She had been doing all of that and then some since she found out about this latest scandal.

It had been awful. Andy hadn't even been home for a full day before she had gotten in a fight with Mother about Ted, declaring that she loved him more than any obligations she had to our nobility, and that she was moving out, to hell with what her elitist family thought. I had cried for six hours after she left. Bella had raged hurricane-like for six days.

And now it was a fairly miserable Christmas Eve.

We were nestled around the fire, Mother, Father, Bella and I. It was one of the rare moments when the four of us were in synch since Andy began to distance herself from us. We were just quietly talking, my head in Bella's lap and her stroking my hair, when the doorbell rang out suddenly, making us all jump.

"Andy?" I cried out hopefully, just praying my sister might have come to her senses and decided to return.

"We can only hope," Bella muttered, stroking her wand threateningly.

"Get the door, Bellatrix," Father instructed in his dreadfully commanding way. Bella huffed and clambered to her feet, stalking towards the door as though she would dearly love nothing more than to murder whoever was standing on the other side of it.

She threw it open wide, and her expression transformed into one of ecstasy almost instantaneously. There was only one person in the world that could make Bella look like that. My blood ran cold.

"Good evening, Bella." The high, cold voice of the Dark Lord rang out through the foyer, and I repressed a shudder. Not again.

"Good evening, my Lord," Bella gushed.

I didn't know why she became so excited whenever she saw him. He was one wizard who scared me to death.

Bella returned to the sitting room, accompanied by two tall figures in long black cloaks. The first drew his hood down instantly, and I recognised with a thrill of fear the pale, exceedingly handsome features of the Dark Lord, his dark eyes sweeping across the room as a lazy smile stole its way across his face.

"Druella, your home is beautiful," he said politely. "Forgive the intrusion, Cygnus, but I just wanted to convey to you and your family a Merry Christmas... particularly to my young Bella here."

Bella blushed furiously at his sentiment. I resisted rolling my eyes, but it was a close call.

"Anyway, I hope this is okay with you both." He gave a nod to my parents. Like they would ever disagree, I thought sourly. Like you'd give them the option.

His dark eyes flashed to me, and a smirk played about his lips, reminding me irresistibly of Lucius. His smirk grew wider. I suppressed a shudder again as I stared into his deep brown eyes. It was as though he could tell exactly what I was thinking... like he could see into my soul...

"Who is your companion, my Lord?" Bella asked breathlessly. My parents and I froze, completely astounded that Bella had the audacity to ask him a direct question in such an impertinent way. Surely she would be punished...

Instead, the Dark Lord laughed carelessly, sending shivers down my spine. He gazed seriously into Bella's eyes.

"Do you really want to know, hmm?" he murmured, his voice as soft as a feather.

"Yes, master," Bella replied reverently.

"Are you sure? It may frighten you..." he purred, and Bella blushed once more under the intimacy of his gaze.

"Nothing frightens me, my Lord... apart from you..." The way she spoke to him made me nauseous. It was like she was in love with him or something.

He chuckled chillingly. "You have nothing to fear from me, my Bella... for the meantime."

"No, master," she replied sycophantically. He took her hand in his and traced something on her forearm softly with his long, pale index finger, murmuring something I couldn't quite hear to my sister. Her eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree as she listened to what he had to say, and he had a slight smile on his flawless face. I realised, with a slight shiver of revulsion, that he was tracing the patterns of her Dark Mark.

They stared at each other, completely oblivious to their audience for a moment, until the Dark Lord seemed to become aware of the other occupants of the room. He diverted his gaze swiftly to the other side of the room, and it was as though Bella was released from some sort of vice.

"Anyway," he began in a bored drawl, "It is merely Lucius."

My heart faltered a little at the name, and I was sure that the Dark Lord heard it from the way his eyes flickered quickly to mine, then back to the hooded figure.

"Lucius, dear me, are you going to hide your face under your travelling cloak now that Cygnus and Druella have so graciously invited us into their home? How very rude of you..." His tone was mocking, but in a way that made me think that he was merely teasing him. The sparkle in his eye told me that the Dark Lord liked Lucius. Perhaps he didn't have quite the same regard for him as he had for Bella, but...

Lucius raised his pale hands and slid back his hood, to reveal his rain-darkened tangle of silvery blonde hair, his customary smirk already in place. Why was his hair wet if he had been wearing a hood?

"My apologies to you all for my rudeness," he said quietly, and his deep baritone made my heart stutter again. The Dark Lord pressed his lips together, as though he was fighting the desire to laugh. I was positive he had heard this time.

"That's quite alright, dear," Mother dismissed, seeming far more charming now than she ever usually was.

"You're Abraxas Malfoy's boy?" My father asked, his eyes raking over Lucius's tall frame approvingly. I could tell he was sizing Lucius up as a potential suitor for one of us. It couldn't be Bella, surely, seeing as she already had a fiancé. So... me? No, he was probably thinking of Andy, when she came to her senses. Not that Lucius would ever marry me anyway.

"Yes, sir," Lucius responded politely.

"Excellent chap, is Abraxas. Good pure-blooded wizard. You're from decent stock, I assume?" Father grilled. Lucius smiled sheepishly, seeming to also guess my father's intentions.

"Yes, sir. I'm pure-blooded, six foot one, blond hair, grey eyes, seventeen years old, a Slytherin, I passed my apparition test first time and I'm a second circle Death Eater. Is that enough information?"

The Dark Lord, Bella and I all burst out laughing at his fact file. Even my mother cracked a smile. My father honestly didn't see the joke. He merely nodded his head, the picture of seriousness, and muttered to himself.

"Have you met my Narcissa?" he asked shamelessly, and Lucius laughed gently as I turned a boiling scarlet.

"Father!" I hissed, mortified as I felt everyone grinning at me.

"Yes, I believe we've ran into each other once or twice," he answered politely, catching my eye and winking. Bella smiled appreciatively.

"Then I suppose you wouldn't mind keeping her company whilst I speak with Bella and her parents, Lucius?" The Dark Lord turned towards his protégé with a lazy grin. Lucius nodded in silent acceptance.

"If you could take Lucius into the library, dear," Mother requested, although it was more of a sugar-coated order. Well, that was me dismissed.

One glance at Lucius showed that he seemed to be thinking the same thing. We smiled simultaneously.

"It's this way," I mumbled, gesturing in the direction of the foyer. Lucius nodded and swept from the room, me stepping on his shadow as I made my own way out. "Just up to the left," I instructed.

"Where? Up the stairs?" he called over his shoulder to me.

"No, that door there," I replied, pointing to the door in question. Lucius started towards the staircase, and was three steps up before I noticed what he was doing. "Luc-"

He turned to me and placed a finger softly on his lips, warning me to be quiet. He then jerked his head backwards, as if to say, up here. After frowning confusedly at him for a few seconds, I quietly tiptoed towards the stairs and began to climb up behind him.

When we reached the landing, he turned to me and whispered, "Which way is your room?"

My eyes widened, and I was glad he couldn't see my face. I recovered myself as quickly as I could, and gestured to the left. "The last door," I whispered back.

Lucius crept along the corridor to my bedroom door, twisting the handle, inlaid with a serpent like the others in the house. I slipped into my room after him, grateful that I had bothered to tidy up this morning. He looked around at the vomit-inducing girlyness that was my bedroom and raised one eyebrow at me.

"Nice," he said, with only the barest hint of sarcasm. I stared woefully at my pink chiffon drapes.

"I know, it's awful."

"No, really, I like it. It's very... you."

I cringed. So all he thought of me was that I was a ridiculously fluffy child. Terrific.

"Have I offended you?" he asked, seemingly chagrined. "I don't know what I've said, but I'm sorry, whatever it is." He smirked.

"You just... is that what you think I'm like? All fluffy and pink and brainless?" I had blurted out the question without pausing to think about it. He smiled wryly.

"That wasn't exactly what I meant. When I said it was you, I meant because it's so... presentable, and feminine and... harmless."

"Harmless?" I puzzled over his choice of words.

"It's kind of comfortingly sweet. Which is like you... its pretty," he decided, staring straight into my eyes. I felt a blush creeping up my neck under the scrutiny of his gaze.

"Um... thanks?"

He laughed freely, before striding over to my bed and sprawling out on his back across it. The amount of times I had wished on all my lucky stars that Lucius would be in my room... and now he actually was. It was surreal, to say the least.

"So... Narcissa..." he dragged my name out, but I loved the way it sounded in his voice.

"So what?" I asked.

"Your dad wants to marry you off to me, huh?" He grinned at me upside-down.

I blushed. "Ignore him," I pleaded.

"Why would I want to do that?" he asked wickedly, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. My heart began to thud a little louder.

"I..." I had no idea what to say, so I just shut my mouth.

"See, I think your dad might be onto something," Lucius said boldly, pushing himself into a sitting position. Although he was sitting down and I was standing up, I was only about a head taller than him.

"Huh?" I murmured breathlessly, reminding myself of Bellatrix when she was speaking to the Dark Lord.

"Well, the idea of me and you... it's not a terrible one, is it?" he asked, leaning forward to grasp my hand and tow me towards him a little. I could barely breathe.

"Lucius, are you drunk?" I whispered, hoping that the answer was a resounding no. He laughed again, and this time I felt his sweet and alcohol-free breath wash across my face.

"No. Sober as a judge. Why would you think that?" he murmured directly into my ear. I shivered slightly as his breath whispered across my skin.

"Because you're being really... unlike you."

Lucius smiled. "It's Christmas, Narcissa. Lighten up," he pointed his wand out in between up and murmured something incoherent. A sprig of something blossomed from the tip of his wand, but he snatched it before I could properly see. He held it up high above our heads, and I figured out what it was as I glanced upwards.

"Mistletoe," I breathed, smiling widely.

"Yup," he agreed.

"You know, it might be infested with Nargles," I joked, remembering something that Xenophilius Lovegood once told me in Herbology. Lucius frowned.

"Eh?"

"Never mind," I dismissed, giggling giddily to myself. "I just..."

My words were cut off as Lucius's lips connected softly with mine, and my eyes flew open in shock, before fluttering closed. As my lips began to move in tandem with his, I felt my heart beginning to hiccup in a way that gave me head rush. I had imagined this a thousand times, but this kiss, our tongues dancing together, it wasn't what I had imagined it would be.

It was a million times better.

Lucius pulled away tantalizingly slowly, gazing into my eyes, his own steely grey ones smouldering in the lamplight.

"Merry Christmas, Narcissa," he whispered, before pressing his lips to mine once more.