Thanks everyone who is reading and following! Reviews are always welcome, hope you enjoy this next chapter.
James couldn't sleep, after events of the previous day. His mind was too full of thoughts and questions, and concern for a certain slytherin. With that he glanced over to where Narcissa slept in his bed, her hair gleaming in the early sunlight. She certainly hadn't had any problems sleeping, but then again given her state yesterday that wasn't surprising.
He had snuck her in the back entrance of his house late last night, avoiding any awkward questions from his parents. Luckily in the large country Manor he lived in it was easy enough to sneak things (or people…or magical creatures) past his parents when he needed to. Even Narcissa had seemed impressed by the size of the estate. It had turned out that the Black family had sold their largest buildings a couple of generations ago, opting for more manageable houses. It was something James often wished his father would do, their estate was impressive but it was cold, draughty and empty. Especially with only the three of them living there now.
Taking one more glance at the sleeping girl, James decided to venture down to the kitchen to try and convince the house elves to make them some breakfast. He should probably pop in to say hello to his parents, he supposed, to assuage any suspicions they had.
It turned out he didn't need to find his parents, as he wandered into the kitchen he found his mum sitting there, eyebrow raised, looking at him rather questionably.
"What happened to you yesterday?"
"What do you mean?" Oh yes brilliant response prongs, he thought to himself trying to decide what to say.
"Well you disappear for half the day, come home and don't even say hello." She asked, staring at him unnervingly.
"I was meeting up with Sirius; holidays always depress him because he's stuck with his family."
"And the girl you have hidden in your room?"
Oh crap "It's not what you think. She's having problems with her family and needed a place to stay."
His mum held a hand up with a wry smile, silencing James as he was getting ready to launch into a fully fabricated story.
"First, who is she? Second, not that I object, but why are you the one giving her a place to stay."
It was an odd moment for James, swaying between truth and…a slightly more convenient version of the truth. "Narcissa Black," he finally admitted, "we've been…seeing each other."
By the time James had finally escaped his mother's questioning he was exhausted, he had given her a somewhat edited version of the past two night's events, although she still wanted to meet Narcissa. A meeting James wasn't sure he was looking forward to.
Making his way up the long wooden staircase James could hear signs that Narcissa had woken up.
"Cissa, I brought breakfast," he said, opening the door only to be greeted by a large Tawny owl swooping past the door. "What's with the owls?" He asked, managing to grab his tray before its contents spilled over his carpet.
"The one that swooped past you is for you. It looks like Medusa so it'll be from Sirius. This one," she said gesturing to the Eagle owl next to her "is from Bella."
"What's she saying?" James asked, trying to wrestle the message from Sirius' owl as it pecked his arm. "I swear this things trying to kill me."
"Medusa's never been too friendly, Bella's just asking me if I'm okay, where I am and telling me to come home, that our parents aren't angry at me. Ooh is this French toast? I thought you were useless in the kitchen?"
"Mum made it," James explained as he read Sirius' letter, asking James if he was with Narcissa, and if so, was she was okay. "What are going to say?"
"I'll just tell her I'm safe. I don't know how she would react if I told her I was here. Although she does seem worried about me, she said please twice."
"I'll let Sirius know where you are. And that you are okay. How are you feeling?" He asked as he fitted a response to the irritable owl's leg.
"I don't know. Better now that I've slept, but I still feel numb about what happened. I still can't believe I just left,"
"Hey," James responded, reaching out to pull Narcissa closer to him, "You'll be all right, you can stay here as long as you want. You don't have to go back there if you don't want to."
"Thank you," she choked, voice muffled with tears again, "I will be okay, I just need to not think about it."
"Well my parents would like to meet you. If that will take your mind off it," James half joked, he wasn't sure if Narcissa would really be up for it, but his mother had been quite insistent.
Narcissa sat in a large drawing room, trying not to act as nervous as she felt. The settings certainly didn't help. With the grand rooms and antique furnishings, Narcissa felt more like she was in a castle than a home; she could understand why James hadn't been as enthusiastic about his house as she was when she first saw it.
"Narcissa may I introduce my parents." James introduced as Narcissa held out her hand to his parents, hoping it wasn't shaking.
"Pleased to meet you both, I'm sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself last night," her mother's etiquette lessons, drilled into her since birth. Looking at James' parents she could see some of the boy she knew in both of them, his mother's brown hair and hazel eyes matched her sons, whilst his father's face and mannerisms matched James almost exactly. They were much older than Narcissa had expected though, with both of them greying, their faces lined with age.
"Not at all dear," his father replied, "James tells us you have had a difficult few nights. I happen to know Cygnus, I could speak to him if you like." She couldn't help but wonder if there was anything James' father would be able to say to plead her case.
"Thank you for the offer, really, but I think I am better off speaking to him myself." If he'll listen she thought to herself.
"Are you planning on going back home?" James' mother asked, her eyes piercing into Narcissa's skull.
"I…I don't know." And she didn't, despite Bella's letter she wasn't convinced her father would even let her through the door after she had disobeyed him. She wanted to go back, even after what had happened; she just wasn't sure what she was going back to anymore.
It was as if all that uncertainty radiated from her body because she could feel James hand reach out to hold hers, "Narcissa shouldn't have to go back there."
"If I can't go home I'll go back to school, that would probably be for the best," Narcissa didn't want James to feel as though he had to take care of her for the rest of the holidays. Besides, she could only imagine how her parents would react if they found out that she had stayed at James'.
"No, don't be silly," James' father interrupted, "of course you can stay here. We'll have the house elves set up a spare room though; we wouldn't want your parents getting the wrong impression."
"Still Narcissa, you should contact your parents and talk to them about whatever it was that happened. James didn't give us the full details, but they are your parents. I'm sure they are worried about you." His mother chimed in.
Not likely, Narcissa thought to herself. If they had been that worried about her their owl would have joined Bella and Sirius' this morning trying to find out where she was. They were probably more worried about what the Lestrange family thought of them now. "I'll owl them and let them know I'm alive and well," Narcissa finally conceded under the older woman's gaze, reminding her eerily of Professor McGonagall.
When Narcissa finally escaped from her meet-the-parents experience she felt drained. James' parents had been nice enough, but she had spent the whole time thinking of what to say, trying to make the best impression possible.
"Hope that wasn't too traumatic for you Slytherin?" James asked, smiling as he leaned in to hold her.
"No…not really. Both you parents seem nice," if scary, "Besides it was only proper that I introduce myself after staying in the house."
That made James laugh, "Honestly after everything you've been through and you're still worried about what is proper. But thank you for speaking to them. I know my mum can be a bit intense at times."
"A bit? I was having flashbacks to being interrogated by McGonagall," she half joked.
"Why don't I take you out for lunch then, make it up to you? It would be nice to do some normal couple things."
"That would be lovely. I'll owl my parents first and then get ready." Narcissa replied, before catching a glimpse of a large owl at the window.
As James let the large Barn owl into his room, Narcissa felt her heart drop. "That's Proteus, it is Aunt Walburga's owl…Oh God, she's burnt me off the family tapestry. No, no, no." She could feel herself trembling as she backed away from the owl. She couldn't imagine any other reason for her Aunt to contact her; she had certainly never shown Narcissa anything other than a passing interest. Another girl when it was boys that carried the family name.
She expected James to go to the owl, to tell her that she was wrong, that the letter was about something totally different. Or even that she was right, but that it didn't matter because he loved her. But instead James pulled Narcissa close to him and kissed her, passionately and deeply and leaving her totally breathless. James hadn't touched her since she had told him about Rabastan. She suspected he was worried there was more to the story than she had let on. Sure, he had hugged her, comforted her, but he hadn't kissed her like this, hadn't made any romantic advances. Narcissa knew it was a mark of respect, of not pushing her but right now that kiss was exactly what she needed, to feel wanted and loved.
"Shall we go see what your Aunt wants?" James finally asked when they broke apart.
"After that I'm not even sure I care," Narcissa joked, although there was still a knot of anxiety in her stomach.
James half glanced at her but reached out to take the letter from the owl's leg before letting out a nervous laugh. "It's from Sirius."
"Oh," Narcissa felt her cheeks flush, why hadn't she considered that? "What is he saying? And why isn't he using his own owl?"
"I don't know about the owl, but he wants to meet up with us later on today, if you are up for it?"