Chapter Nine
"So, Cissy, Nalini, Severus, do you want to know what Britt said?" Ari was bouncing her feet up and down rapidly. Even when she sat down, she couldn't keep still. As of the moment, Narcissa, Ari, Nalini, Severus, and Lucius were sitting in miss-shaped circle on various pieces of furniture in the Slytherin common room. Ari had been waiting all day to say this, and she acted as if she were about to explode. But even when she was this excited, she pointedly ignored Lucius. She swore to Narcissa that she would always hate him, no offense or anything. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Ari," Severus muttered sarcastically. "'Cause we're all friggin' dying to know. C'mon, we don't have all night." Ari shot an evil glare at him.
"I know you can't wait Severus, and if you're going to be rude, get outta here." Severus got up without another word and went up into the boy's dormitory. He didn't come back down. "Oookay then. So anyway, after he pulled me off those bitches, I mean, he literally had to pull me off, but then, he totally didn't get me in trouble, but he could have, you know, since he's a prefect and all. So then he says, he says: 'Ari, you shouldn't have done this,' and at this point I'm like, oh shit, he hates me, but no, then he says 'Ari listen and I know this may sound strange now, but, I don't like them. They're air heads, all of them. I don't care about them; I care about you.' And, oh, this was so sweet, the best part, he says 'Ari, when you're out of Hogwarts, save me a date.' And I said 'Don't expect to get rid of me that easily.'" She stopped talking and smiled. She looked at Nalini, then Narcissa. Slowly, her eyes traveled down Narcissa's arm and the grin slid off her face. Narcissa looked down and realized that she and Lucius were sitting hand in hand, and her cheek rested on his upper arm. Narcissa sat up quickly, more surprised than embarrassed, to be honest. She hadn't even noticed, until Ari had looked at them like that. It just felt so…natural. "You know what; I've got homework to do. I've got to go." Ari shot them one more quizzical look, and went and sat down at a near by table, shooting them odd glances every so often. Nalini soon followed suit, leaving the two alone.
"Narcissa?"
"Yes Lucius?" She replied, a bit awkwardly. She was beginning to feel embarrassed, as if she had done something wrong.
"There's something I've been meaning to show you. Would you like to come see?" Narcissa smiled, feeling oddly relieved.
"I suppose so. What is it?" Lucius gave her a mysterious smile.
"Ah, but that is the surprise. But you'll find out soon enough." He stood and offered her his hand. Narcissa smiled, still rather confused, but charmed by his enigmatic behaviour. After she got up, Lucius didn't release her hand, but instead led her out of the common room, through darkened corridors, and up countless flights of stairs. The whole time, neither of them spoke a word. Finally, they reached a small door that, when Narcissa touched it, felt like it radiated cold. "Alright, now close your eyes," She did as she was told. She heard Lucius open the door, and immediately felt a strong gust of icy wind.
"Oh! Lucius, I'm freezing!" She heard a slight rustling sound, and felt Lucius's own cloak draped over her shoulders. He led Narcissa forward a few more steps, muttered a quick spell, and touched her shoulder.
"Alright, open your eyes." She did. But when she saw what surrounded her, she shut her eyes tight, and willed what she had just seen to leave her mind. She stumbled back a few paces, tripped over the long hem of the cloak, and fell in to Lucius arms. By now, she was crying from fear. "Bloody hell, Narcissa! What's wrong?"
"L-Lucius, I'm t-terrified of h-heights!" She stammered through her tears. "Please take me b-back d-down!" Narcissa begged.
"No," Lucius said, firmly, but still gentle.
"P-please?" She pleaded again. Instead, Lucius gently pulled her down, so that he sat cross-legged, and she sat in his lap. He wrapped his strong arms around her trembling body, giving her both warmth and a sense of security.
"Open your eyes, Narcissa." He said calmly. Narcissa, whose hands still covered her face, just shook her head. "Narcissa," Slowly, very slowly, she opened her eyes a tiny slit. I wasn't much, just enough to see why Lucius had brought her here. The view was spectacular. They sat in the center of a railing-less tower, which seemed to hover above every other turret on top of the castle. Narcissa looked up. An endless expanse of inky black heavens lay before her, scattered with millions of infinitesimal sparkling stars, with the occasional brightly lit planet, shining like windows to a different world.
"Oh Lucius," She whispered, her breath clouding out before her like silver fog. "It's… amazing." Lucius smiled and bent his neck so that their cheeks touched, his cool one against her flushed one.
"Isn't it? Look around." She did so, however reluctantly, and gasped. Tall mountains surrounded them on all sides, rising up in the distance. Much closer, the Hogwarts grounds proved to be a thing of beauty, even at eleven o'clock at night. A delicate frost covered the grass, which glittered in the light of a full moon. The Lake, which was home to countless marine creatures, including the giant squid, quivered as if it was alive. Lucius followed her fascinated gaze, and smiled again. "They say that it's never still, that there are too many things living in it." Narcissa simply nodded. She was too overwhelmed to speak. She looked then to the castle itself. They rested on a platform, high above the rest of the magnificent school, which was only about ten feet in diameter. Once more, Narcissa was seized with terror, and clung to Lucius. "Relax." His voice had a soothing effect on her, and she soon fell fast asleep, gazing at the stars. Silently, Lucius carried Narcissa back to the common room. It was a long walk, down many flights of stairs, and Lucius could have simply levitated her there, but he chose not to. He didn't fall, or even stumble once. He gently laid her on a long couch in the Slytherin common room, and covered her with a blanket. Then he sat down and watched her. She was his goal in life, after making a name for himself. At least, that's what his father said. Lucius looked at the sleeping child, so small, so innocent. True, she was only a year younger, but Lucius had never been allowed a childhood, and though at times he had been unhappy, he didn't regret it. At the age of twelve, Lucius was more mature, and more informed, than many of the students that were years older than him. He looked at the beautiful little girl, and did not envy her. She would grow up to be a beautiful, classy woman, true to her pure blood. But for now she was just a confused, eager-to-please preteen girl, who was still searching for whom she was. Lucius smirked with the knowledge that he had, the knowledge of not only who he was, but of who she would be as well. You will be my wife. He stood abruptly, and, with one last glance at Narcissa, he turned and walked silently up the steps to his bed.
"Gooood MORNING NARCISSA!" Narcissa was jerked out of her peaceful sleep by Ari, who was grinning from ear to ear. She groaned, and rolled over away from her devilish friend.
"Nice try Cissy, but I am not leaving you alone until you tell me what you and Lucius were doing all night." It took her a second, but as soon as she caught the meaning of Ari's words, she sat up, and shamelessly smacked her hard across the face.
"You bitch!" She cried, and then clapped her hand to her mouth, ashamed that Ari had driven her to swearing. And though she hadn't said it in a funny way or as a joke, Ari began to laugh. Narcissa scowled and pouted, but the laughter wouldn't stop.
"B-bloody hell, Cissy!" She giggled. "Was it really that bad?" Her humour was infectious. Narcissa leapt at her, and the two began to roll around in a mock fight. It just so happened that this was the moment Lucius decided to appear at the bottom of the stairs. The girls sat up, pale-faced and embarrassed. Their hair was messed up, their robes were rumpled. Lucius raised one delicately arched eyebrow, and made it quite clear how inappropriate he thought their behaviour was. Narcissa glanced at Ari, and Ari bit her lip. Narcissa's shoulders began to shake. Suddenly, all three of then were convulsing with laughter, nearly maniacal. Narcissa and Ari had tears streaming down their faces, when a sharp crash brought them to their senses.
"Miss Xannon, come with me please." Professor Slughorn stood in the door way, his jaw set. He did not look pleased.
"Yes, Professor. May I question as to why?"
"¿Por qué? ¡Porque usted lastimó a mis amigos, usted pequeña perra!" Lolita, Aston's Spanish slut, came marching into the common room, with Aston following close behind.
"Lolita, darling, let's be sensible. I'm sure-"
"¡Ella los lastimó, Aston! Y ella paga mejor él, o haré su paga mismo." She was glaring and pointing angrily at Ari, and, much to Lucius surprise, Aston seemed to understand every word she spoke.
"Let's not be drastic, Lola. I'm sure Professor Slughorn can handle the problem."
"¡Mierda de bull¡Mierda de bull¡Él no puede hacer una cosa maldita! Déjeme en ella..."
"Lolita!" Cried professor Slughorn sharply. "That is quite enough! Adrienne, please. We can discuss this matter in my office, Lolita, Aston; I'll ask you two from now on to kindly not concern yourselves in such an irresponsible in matters that don't involve you."
"But, Professor," Lolita whined. "It does concern me. That little twit hurt my friends, just because they were letting her know her place! I mean, there's absolutely no excuse for what she-"
"Leave!" Slughorn was extremely irritated now. Pouting, Lolita spun on her heel and slaked off, followed by an apologetic Aston. Slughorn led Ari from that room. Lucius and Narcissa turned and looked at each other.
"Bloody hell. What did she do?" Narcissa explained what the other girls had said, and what Ari had decided to do about it. Lucius raised his eyebrows in grudging respect. "She knocked the shit out of four fifth year girls?"
"And one sixth year," Narcissa added. Lucius sat down and let out a low whistle.
"Damn." He grinned. "She's screwed. Maybe she'll get expelled…" Lucius laughed at the thought. "Maybe…"
But she wasn't. All she got was a month of detention, which, Slughorn assured Ari, was being merciful.
