There, locked in each other's arms, nothing could touch them. It was warm and safe, skin on skin, cheek to cheek.
"Why did you come here?" he asked.
"I don't know," she whispered. "Why did you let me in?"
"I don't know. Or rather, I didn't."
"But you know now?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe," she repeated as she traced her finger up and down his arm.
"I want to sleep here," he said, "but I can't."
"I know. I'll be here in the morning. Don't worry."
Lucius released her, and stood. Ginny burrowed deeper under the covers, watching him get dressed. Halfway through, with his pants still hanging open and his shirt only half buttoned, he turned back to her.
"It's not right for you to be trapped in here like this."
"I'm here of my own free will."
"Still. Just come out and have dinner with me. It doesn't really matter, there's no one here." Desperation tinged his voice.
"But what if someone were to come? Draco, or a Healer?" She was already halfway out of the bed, despite her protests.
"The Healers knock, and Draco doesn't come unannounced anymore." Lucius's face creased at this, as if it were difficult to say. "However, if anyone sees, say you're from the Ministry and you're investigating my artifact collection, or some such thing."
Ginny smiled.
"So we'll lie?"
"To get away with something like this?" He was smiling too. "We must."
Ginny was wandering around the Manor alone when it happened. Lucius had given her free reign of the whole house and grounds, after a short tour, the night before and she was eager to begin exploring. She was sure that she was far, far away from the family's private wing when she opened the door at the end of a long hallway, but apparently she was wrong. There lay Narcissa, frail and swallowed whole by the giant bed. Everything about her was white: the sheets, her nightgown, her hair, her papery skin. She turned her head as Ginny entered, and smiled slowly.
"Hello," she said, in a sweet sort of voice, very different from the few times Ginny had heard her speak before. "Who are you?"
Ginny remembered the lie she and Lucius had developed as she fought the urge to scarper. Her eyes darted around the room; Narcissa's wand lay abandoned on the bedside table, and on the dresser there were stacks of medical supplies and many half-empty potions bottles, though otherwise everything was neat. A chair was pulled up next to the bed, and Ginny could picture Lucius sitting there during the hours he was not with her.
"I'm so sorry Ma'am, I'll leave straight away. I'm here on a little Ministry business and I got turned around. I hate to have disturbed you."
"Easy to do in this big old house, I'm afraid. I don't think I ever learned all the passages, at least not as well as my husband," Narcissa said, smiling with her eyes half closed, as if she could see herself wandering the halls at another time. "He'll be back soon, and he can show you the way to where you're going. But why don't you sit? I don't get many visitors, not like when I first got sick."
With a forced smile, Ginny sat in the chair by the bed, and stared down at her feet. They sat in silence while Ginny considered whether or not it would be stupid to ask how Narcissa was feeling.
"Such pretty hair," Narcissa murmured, and Ginny chanced a glance over at her. It was clear she was falling back to sleep, body relaxing into her stack of pillows. "It reminds me of a girl I went to school with. She and I weren't friends, though."
Ginny just kept smiling, hoping that Narcissa would fall asleep and she could escape.
Behind her, the door clicked open, and then shut. Soft footsteps came in, and she chanced a glance over her shoulder. Of course it was Lucius, and at his entrance Narcissa stirred slightly, seemingly self-conscious.
"Lucius, this girl needs your help."
Ginny stood and moved away from the bed, switching places with Lucius. He took Narcissa's hand and rubbed his thumb across it.
"Yes, darling. Rest now, and I will return."
He bent to kiss her, and Ginny felt a twinge in her heart. Narcissa's eyes opened slightly, and she looked to Ginny. A fog seemingly glazed her eyes.
"You must take care of him, dear."
Ginny just stared, beyond unsure of what to say. Lucius turned back to her, and gestured for her to leave.
On the other side of the door, Lucius grabbed Ginny's hand, and as they stood chest to chest her eyes welled with tears.
"Lucius," she said in a strangled kind of way, "what happened to her?"
