Ch10: Weekend
"What can I do for you, Narcissa?"
"Minerva, I'd like to know if I may spend the weekend with my husband."
The headmistress seemed confused. "You want to go to…" She suddenly remembered. "Oh, you mean Harry! Of course you may."
She then looked at the younger woman suspiciously. "I thought it was just a convenience marriage," she noted.
"I thought so as well. I only wanted to give an heir for the Black dynasty and I hoped to experience some of the thrills I missed when I was younger." Her face turned redder. "I didn't expect this to happen."
"What do you mean by 'this'?"
"I miss him terribly since returning to Hogwarts…"
"Well, he is about the same age as your son, Draco."
"I know. I don't miss him as a son; I miss him as a man…"
Narcissa looked no longer like the aloof, stoic Mrs. Malfoy, as Minerva had come to know her. She looked more like one of the sixth or seventh year students, coming for advice on matters of the heart. Minerva wondered what caused the change. 'Dear Harry, you have more than one kind of love to give,' she thought fondly.
She then turned her attention back to the younger woman.
"According to your contract, you only have to stay the weekend in the castle every six weeks. Otherwise, you may spend your weekends wherever you like, as long as you are back before your first lesson is due on Monday."
"May I take the coming weekend off, then?"
"You have already spent all your weekends in school before Christmas. It looks like you won't need to spend another weekend at the castle unless you want to."
"Thank you, Minerva. I really appreciate this."
Minerva looked at her, somewhat pensive. "I was wondering about something. It may be too personal, so you don't have to answer. How are you going along with Hermione? "
Narcissa smiled. "I was quite worried about this as well. I wasn't sure if she wouldn't object to Harry producing a child with me to start with. I was very surprised when she actually encouraged him and then when she insisted he spent the first night after the wedding with me. She seems to be more concerned about him performing his duties as Lord Black then he is. I believe we are going to become very good friends."
"That is really good. I was worried that having a second wife would create tensions between them. I'm very glad that is not the case."
Narcissa left the headmistress office with a smile. She then went to the library, knowing it was the most probable place to find Dianna. She found her there, studying along with Lillian and Andrew. She watched them for a few minutes, enjoying the way Dianna interacted with her stepsister and noticing her closeness to Andrew as well. She then approached the table.
"May I have a word with you, please?" she addressed Dianna. The girl stood up, intending to follow her mother somewhere more private.
"It's nothing very private. Your friends may hear it as well," said Narcissa, motioning her to sit back and sitting on a spare chair herself.
"You all know I've been recently married to Lord Black. I've just checked with the headmistress and I've found out that I may take most weekends off, so I could spend them with my husband."
"That's wonderful, Mamman!"
Lillian smiled brightly as well.
"Yes, it's wonderful. It also means that we should reschedule our weekly meeting. When do you have a free afternoon?"
Dianna checked her schedule. "Tuesday after lunch – I have two free hours, or we may set it any day after dinner."
Lillian checked her schedule as well. "I have a lesson Tuesday afternoon," she said. Narcissa didn't miss the tone of disappointment in her voice.
"Let's schedule it for Tuesday evening then, so you can visit me alone or with your friends, however you think is best each time."
Both girls smiled warmly at her, as did Andrew.
"Thank you, Mom, and I'm glad you're getting closer with my new Dad," Dianna told her.
Narcissa left the castle as soon as she finished teaching on Friday. She walked outside the gates of Hogwarts and then apparated directly to the house at Godric Hollow, where Hermione was already waiting for her.
The two women greeted each other with a hug and Hermione led the way to the master bedroom.
"I thought I'll stay in the room I used during Christmas vacation," Narcissa commented.
"You were a guest then. Now you are Harry's wife and you should sleep in his bed, just like I do. I also have to leave soon for my night shift at the hospital. I'm very glad not to leave Harry sleep alone."
The room had been changed since New Year. Its bed had been widened, to comfortably accommodate three people, and the night stands were also widened accordingly. There was also an additional wardrobe connected to the room. "I hope you find this room to your taste," Hermione said.
Narcissa was speechless. She just looked around, too thankful to trust her voice, and then hugged Hermione with tears in her eyes.
Dinner was over. Andrew bid the girls goodnight and left, but Lilly and Diana were still busy talking. "Don't you like to see how your mother is getting along with Dad?"
"I would like to do it, but unlike Mom, we are stuck here."
"No, we aren't. We can now apparate."
"I thought Hogwarts had anti-apparition wards. Nobody is supposed to apparate at Hogwarts or into or out of it. I read this in 'Hogwarts – a History'."
"Normal wizards can't. They apparate in a different way, yet house-elves do it easily, and so can we."
"Are you sure?"
"I've done it many times already. We just need to find a hidden passage so nobody will notice."
Dianna followed her skeptically.
"This is a good place," said Lilly, grabbing Dianna into a passage blocked by a statue.
"Now what? I'm not so sure I can do it," Dianna said.
"Try and apparate just to the other side of the gates. Nobody will notice you at this hour. Go now!"
Dianna disappeared with a very soft "pop" and Lilly followed suit a second later, meeting her at the gates.
"Wow! That's COOL!"
"I told you so. Now we need to make ourselves invisible and apparate home." Lilly turned them both invisible and they disappeared with two soft pops.
They landed in the entrance hall of Potter home. Lilly silenced their shoes and they proceeded to the sitting room.
"Harry, I'm leaving you in the capable hands of your new wife. I'll see you both in the morning." Hermione kissed his lips lightly, grabbed her purse and her overcoat and walked out to the car. She couldn't apparate into a muggle hospital.
Narcissa was sitting on the couch, not very close to Harry. Lilly could feel her reluctance to get closer, as if forcing Harry into something, while Harry was just reading some papers, oblivious to the feelings of the woman besides him. Lilly made Harry shift his position, moving closer to Narcissa.
Still reading, he absentmindedly lifted his hand and put it on her shoulders. Narcissa moved closer and put her head on his shoulder. His hand moved to her hair, caressing it. He then lifted his head in surprise.
"I'm sorry. I somehow forgot Hermione was gone and I grabbed you this way…"
"No need to apologize. I actually like it." Narcissa set her head into the crook of his neck. "I really do."
Harry seemed surprised. "You do? I thought you only wanted to assure the Black existence…"
"I thought so as well, but then I started to know you a bit better. Now I feel like I want to know you a lot better and to make you a significant part of my life."
"Maybe I should also get to know you better…"
He continued caressing her hair, but didn't go back to his reading. They started talking softly with each other, so softly that none of the girls could hear the words, even when standing as close to the couple as they dared.
A while later, Harry put his papers aside and stretched. "Shall we go to bed?" he asked.
"Sure, my dear husband," Narcissa replied, smiling at him.
He grabbed her hand and they walked towards the bedroom.
"Would you like to follow them?"
"No. I can see Mom is going to have a wonderful weekend."
"And Dad as well…" Lillian smirked.
Dianna yawned. "I think we should go back now. I'm already tired."
"Fine. Let's go back to that secluded passage, OK?"
Once back at Hogwarts, Lillian escorted Dianna to the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower, making her visible just at the door, and then returned to her dormitory.
Harry was lying in bed, waiting for Narcissa to join him. She finished her preparations in the bathroom and then slipped into bed, wearing only a flimsy nightgown.
Harry turned to her and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight," he said, caressing the cheek with his thumb. Narcissa responded by kissing his lips. "Goodnight, Harry," she murmured.
He turned the lights off and then turned his back to her. Narcissa shifted closer, molding her body to his in a "spooning" position and putting her hand over him, caressing his chest.
"You don't have to do it just because we are married," Harry told her, without turning around.
"I'm doing it because I like doing it, Harry. I barely know you and I've already fallen in love with you. Isn't it weird?"
Harry turned around, facing Narcissa. "What do you mean?" he asked her, quite bewildered.
Narcissa traced his lips with her fingers. "I never thought I could fall in love. I had a crush on some boy when I was thirteen. I then learned that I've been betrothed to Lucius Malfoy and I had to quench any attraction I had for any boy. I felt no love to Lucius and couldn't afford loving anybody else. Now, after living as a Malfoy for more than two decades, I thought I was not even capable of feeling love anymore. I'm glad to say I was wrong."
Harry looked at her, still not sure of his understanding. Narcissa continued talking, as if trying to make herself understand as well.
"The only love I could feel was the love for my child, and even it was tainted, as Draco turned out to be too much like Lucius. Yet it was this love that made me lie to the dark lord about your death."
Harry didn't like hearing about the war. He still suffered occasional nightmares caused by that period, but he felt that Narcissa needed to talk.
"I was devastated after the war. I knew that my dark mark would send me to Azkaban, along with Lucius. I only hoped Draco would be spared due to his age. You may understand the surprise I felt when you testified on my favor and practically saved me from that horrible jail. It was then that I started looking at you not just as a boy the same age as Draco or a celebrated war hero but as a young man with deep sense of justice and a lot of compassion."
Harry noticed her cheeks becoming flushed and her lips becoming redder. He actually liked what he saw.
"You then told Minerva that she could trust me as a teacher. I wasn't sure why you did it. My past had no record of people helping others just because they thought it was the right thing to do. You stayed a mystery to me until Lillian became Dianna's best friend, knowing perfectly well of her origins. I could see you in your daughter. Then, at Christmas, I got to know you first as our host and then as a man and I liked everything I found out about you. It was just inevitable that I fall in love with you," she concluded, still caressing his face.
Harry felt a need to praise her as well. "If I hadn't known the truth, I could easily think that you are just a few years older than me. You look more like Hermione's big sister than like one who could be her mother."
Narcissa didn't let him talk. She kissed his mouth passionately and directed his hands to the hem of her nightgown. They were both naked before they knew it and they let their passion dictate their actions before they finally fell asleep hugging each other tightly.
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