A/N: *inserts shameless advertising* If you like this fic, go read my other WIP: How To Become A Malfoy. Oh, and uh… Review here too, of course. Reviews make me want to update faster. =D

Chapter Ten:
Perhaps Now's Not The Best Time

After the first five months without successfully conceiving a child, Narcissa was unsettled. It wasn't happening. Was something wrong with her? She went back to the healers at St. Mungo's who had previously declared her perfectly healthy and able to carry a baby. After accusing them of being wrong, insisting something had to be wrong with her, they had supplied her with fertility potions and sent her on her way.

Four months after that and still with no success, she was about ready to pull her hair out. Not so much over the fact that they hadn't managed to have a baby yet, but because she knew what it meant if they didn't: Lucius wouldn't need her. He'd undoubtedly leave, get a divorce and site irreconcilable differences. He needed children that she couldn't provide. No one would blame him. It wouldn't be as humiliating as it would be if they had broken apart because of the affair she'd had. She went back to St. Mungo's and got something stronger, along with a few other potions to make a cocktail.

By the thirteenth month of trying for a baby, of being solely with one another whilst they made the attempt, they had become rather happy with their lives. No, there was still no baby. But things between them had never been better. Lucius seemed genuinely happy, managing to constantly come up with excuses for why they weren't having a baby any time soon, reassuring her that it would happen soon enough. He wasn't terribly worried; of course he wasn't. He knew the problem. Not that he was willing to share.

When she had started throwing up, being pregnant wasn't the first thing to jump to her mind. The first thing had been that it was a stomach bug. It would go away. A week later when it hadn't, she thought that perhaps it was food poisoning. But didn't food poisoning come with horrid stomach pains? It wasn't until she finally noticed a week later that something else was missing. It took a few days to build the courage before she finally took the test one morning, before Lucius woke up. Positive. She nearly fainted on to the toilet with the relief this came with. After a few more minutes, she was giggling a bit before calming again. Once she was sure that she didn't still look hysterical, she headed out of the bathroom and summoned an elf to order breakfast before catching sight of a sleepy, confused looking Lucius, looking at the empty side of the bed before looking around and frowning at her slightly.

"Come back to bed," he groaned slightly, holding out a hand.

She grinned and headed over, stopping just short of the bed so he could wrap said hand behind her knee. "Are you up for the day or are you up just to tell me to come back to bed?"

"Just to tell you to come back to bed," he yawned, sliding his hand up before reaching out his other hand to tug her back down in to bed beside him.

"And are you telling me to come back to bed because you would like to sleep next to me a little longer or because you would like to sleep with me?" she asked as she settled in up against him, pressing kisses in to his jaw.

"Well, I wanted to actually sleep, but the other one sounds fun too," he decided, rolling over on to her so he could actually kiss her.

"Mm. That's what I thought," she said with a nod, grinning lightly. "I ordered breakfast already. And I was rather hoping we could talk first. And then see about other activities."

Talk? He frowned at that. "Talking never turns out very good for me. Do we have to talk? Can we not and say we did, then see about other activities and breakfast?"

"No. We need to talk," she said a bit more sternly, still smiling at him as he pulled a face and rolled off her with a pout to sit up. She moved over to sit on his lap. "Don't be like that. It's a good talk."

"Is there such a thing?" he asked, brows raised as his arms went around her loosely.

"There is," she said, distracted for a brief second as breakfast was brought in and put at the foot of the bed. "I was sick again this morning."

"How is that good?" he asked, a bit confused as he leaned around her to grab a strawberry off the tray. "Perhaps you should consider seeing a doctor?"

"It's a good sick," she reassured him, smile growing a bit bigger by the second. "And I won't be sick for long. And then when the sick goes away, we'll be so happy with what we have."

His frown deepened and he pulled back away from her for a second, eyeing her form. She wasn't… was she? "You're not turning bulimic, are you?"

"What? No! I'm not!" she snapped, smacking his arm and looking down at herself critically. Was that an indication that she should lose weight? But she couldn't, not right now. Getting pregnant was not a good time to decide to go on a diet.

"Good," he said quickly, wrapping arms back around her. "If it helps any, I think you look fantastic the way you are. You really don't need to lose any weight. I'm not a fan of sticks. They lack curves."

She glared at him slightly one more time before shifting. "Like I was saying, it's a good sick. And we'll be happy when it's over. And while being sick won't last long, the results of it will last the rest of our lives."

He gave her a funny look. It was a good sick, they'd be happy when it was over – well, who wouldn't be happy to stop throwing up? – and the results of this sick would last the rest of their lives? He shook his head. "Darling, it's too early for riddles. Stop being mean to me."

She stared at him blankly. Really, she thought he would have gotten it then. "We've been working on it for the past… year or so?"

He glanced around the room for a second before giving her another frown. "Our relationship?"

"It's for the looks, right? And the money? That's why I'm still here? Surely it's not the intelligent conversation," she asked herself, earning a sharp poke to her side. "Let's just hope the baby gets my brains."

"I told you, it's too early. If you want me to know what you're talking about, just tell me already," he said, a bit grumpily. Too early for riddles and now she was picking on him. Wait, what? Hope the baby gets her brains? He stared at her. "Wait, what?"

"Lucius," she said with a bright grin now. "I'm pregnant. After about a year of trying, I am finally pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

He stared at her. Pregnant. They were going to have a baby. But… that wasn't possible. He shook his head, moving slightly to get her off his lap. "How are you pregnant, Narcissa?"

She cocked an eyebrow at him. Yes, it was early. But really? "Well, it's basic biology, Lucius. You see, when a girl and a boy get together and-"

"I know basic biology," he snapped, interrupting her as she seemed about to explain the birds and the bees to him. When would she have had the time, though? "What I want to know is who is the boy?"

Alright, now that confused her. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head slightly. Who is the boy? "Wow. Way to make me feel remembered. Was that a dig on my skills that you can't remember a single time we've been together over the past year?"

"It's not mine, Narcissa, and don't treat me like an idiot," he snapped. "I have been taking a contraceptive potion this entire year. There is no way that it's mine. So now the question remains: who have you been screwing with?"

"You've been what, Lucius? You are…" Things were calculating slowly. He'd been… what? She stared at him before getting off the bed. She paused a moment to take a deep breath. Didn't help. "You have been making me thing there was something wrong with me that I can't have kids for a year? And constantly reassuring me that it'll happen when it happens while knowing why it wasn't and that it wouldn't! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!"

"There is nothing wrong with me!" he snapped back, getting out of bed as well. Why let her have the advantage of height when it was rightfully his? When he was the one who had the right to be furious? "Now is merely not a good time for a brat! I'd rather have my child when I'm sure I'm not going to die in battle or be caught. And I wanted to have it with you, but clearly you had other plans. I'd rather the mother of my child be loyal to me."

"You're a real piece of work, Malfoy. You really are," she snapped as she headed for her dressing gown. She couldn't be in here, not with him. Not when she so wanted to throttle him. First lie to her, insist he wanted a child now. And then accuse her of cheating on him? She had only done that once before and it was well over.

"I may be, but I'm nothing compared to you, darling," he sneered before summoning a house elf. The order was simple. "Pack Mrs. Malfoy's bags. She'll be staying in the town house until I decide what to do with her."

Narcissa froze. He wasn't… he was not – was not – kicking her out. He couldn't be. She'd misheard him. "You cannot be serious. You are not kicking me out."

Lucius laughed slightly, a rather hallow, unnerving laugh. "Oh, I am. You're not staying here; you most certainly are not staying with me. As soon as that thing is born, we'll legally establish it's not mine and the divorce proceedings will be quick enough. I'm not raising someone else's bastard."

"Can I help you?" she asked stiffly, eyebrows raised. It had taken a few weeks to become accustomed to the town house and she hated it. What right did Lucius have to do this to her? Where did he get the right to make her have feelings for him, and then banish her at the first opportune moment? And what the hell made him think he could visit? She crossed her arms over her chest in the foyer, making entirely sure he understood how not amused she was.

"Nope," he replied nonchalantly as he brushed passed her, tossing his cloak on the side and heading for the dinning room.

Her arms dropped and she looked after him. It took her a moment to regain enough sense and follow after him. "What are you doing here, Lucius?"

"Having lunch with my wife in my town house," he said with a shrug before giving the elf the order.

"No. No, you're not," she said with a shake of her head, incredibly confused. "What makes you think that you can just waltz in here and have lunch with me?"

"Well. This is my town house. I could easily evict you from here as well and have lunch by myself in my town house," he offered, brows raised as he took his seat, leaning back and folding his hands in his lap. "Have a seat."

He would, wouldn't he? Her expression was rather pinched, but she slowly sat down as well, straight backed and uncomfortable. The silence stretched on, awkward for her and comfortable for him. The elf brought the lunch in and left. When she couldn't stand it anymore, she shook her head. "Okay, I give. Why are you insisting on having lunch with me?"

He remained silent for a few minutes, rearranging his silver wares. Just when she was about to as her question again, he shrugged. "You're still my wife. And I have a proposition."

"A proposition?" she echoed, brows raised. Whatever he had to propose, she doubted she had much interest in.

"Yes. A proposition," he repeated, nodding lightly. "See, I feel like we could get along better. We were, after all, getting along spectacularly until this little, uh. Bump here. And I am rather fond of you now. So, rather than letting this get in the way, I've deciding to give it a chance. No one knows you're pregnant yet; it hasn't even hit the gossip section. Just… admit what you've been doing. Admit this isn't mine. And we'll go to South Africa. We can terminate the pregnancy away from the prying eyes of loving friends and family. And when we return, no one will be the wiser. Admittedly, I'll be keeping a much closer eye on you, but I figure we can live with that while we figure out how to make this work."

She stared at him. She shook her head. "Lucius, I was not having an affair. The child is yours. I don't know how else to say this to get you to comprehend it. It's. Yours. And I am certainly not going to terminate the pregnancy."

"No, Narcissa, it can't be mine. It couldn't possibly be," he said with a shake of his head, determined to remain calm.

"Have you ever thought that perhaps you had a bad batch of potion? Perhaps you forgot to take it? Or that maybe, finally the cocktail of fertility potions I was on was just a bit stronger than yours?" she asked.

"Not possible. Just admit it. You've admitted to it once before and yes, it's a bit more complicated now, but there's no reason as to why you can't admit to it again when I'm obviously not going to punish you for it," he pressed, not quite willing to give in.

Narcissa made an 'oh' expression as it all began to dawn on her. She licked her lips before shaking her head. "That's what this is about? I admitted to it once before because there was something to admit to. And… I cheated on you because at that point in our marriage, we weren't exactly happy, were we? We were happy this time, though. Why would I cheat on you now?"

"I don't know why you would cheat on me now, that's really only a question that you can answer," he said, sitting up a bit straighter to begin eating lunch as if their discussion was nothing more unnatural that discussing the weather. "The sooner you admit to it, the sooner we can get this taken care of and you can move back in to the manor."

"I am not going to admit to something I didn't do. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can get over this and I can find it somewhere in me to forgive you for kicking out your pregnant wife while moving back in to the manor," she said plainly, not touching her salad.

"This isn't a negotiation, Narcissa," he said with a frown. "I've given you your options. You can either comply with today's compromise or we can continue on the path we've already laid ahead of ourselves with a divorce being in the future."

She stared at him for a minute before reaching her decision. He'd be biting his own words in eight months time anyway. "Get out."

He sighed and got up from his seat. "Fine. Have it your way."

She wasn't used to being alone. She had certainly never lived alone as she had gone straight from her parents' home to Malfoy manor. It had been two weeks since Lucius's visit and ultimatum, two weeks with no company other than the elf attached to the town house to clean and cook for her. It was enough to drive her mad. When she couldn't stand the silence of being in the town house alone any longer, she got dressed and headed out. But to where? None of her friends seemed like a good idea, considering they weren't exactly those types of friends. There was a very big difference between sitting around a table with cups of tea, gossiping as women did, and going to one of their homes for comfort.

She wasn't sure when, exactly, she had decided where she was going. She didn't recall deciding at all, almost as if her disapparation had merely carried her there on it's own. It wasn't a good idea. She knew that very well. But hormonal pregnant women who were rather distressed over their situation could hardly be counted upon to make a sensible decision.

After standing out on the sidewalk for about ten minutes, debating her decision and staring at the mansion, she pushed open the gate and headed up the walk slowly. Once she'd reached the door, she rang the bell. This wasn't right. Not at all. Right when she decided to leave though, the door opened.

"Narcissa?" Xavier asked, brows raised, rather surprised. The surprise left quickly enough to be replaced with a grin as he leaned lazily against the doorframe as he regarded her. "Pleasure to see you. Coming in?"