October 1982
One Year On...
Recently, the world we live in has been dealing with the capture and imprisonment of those who were suspected of following the dark wizard, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and whilst some have been cleared of all charges, others have been given life sentences in Azkaban. One year ago, You-Know-Who set out to kill Lily and James Potter for unknown reasons, some speculate that he was trying to recruit them to his forces, and he succeeded. Their one year old son, Harry, is the only person in living history to survive the killing curse but also managed to defeat the darkest wizard in history without having any developed magic(that we know of).
Today we remember the bravery of two young souls who were against You-Know-Who's regime and beliefs. I, Rita Skeeter...
Narcissa chucked the newspaper to one side, silently cursing Rita Skeeter; the journalist who currently wrote the paper's gossip column. It had been over two months now since she had moved out of the Manor with Draco and had moved back into her childhood home with her parents and things between her and Lucius were still tense. Her husband would come and pick Draco up and take their son out for a few hours before dropping him back for dinner, speaking with her how their day had been before departing back to Malfoy Manor. It was tough and she hated how things were between the two of them but she was still adamant that Lucius needed his space and some time to come to terms with everything that had happened before they could reconcile; and today, she had a feeling would be troubling Lucius.
"Everything alright Cissy?" Cygnus asked, picking up the discarded paper.
Narcissa shrugged, "To be honest father, I'm not sure. That Skeeter woman likes to gossip on the one year mark of the Dark Lord's downfall, I honestly don't know why the paper employed a shrew like her!" she complained.
Cygnus chuckled lightly, "My contacts at the Prophet have told me that they're promoting her to Quidditch correspondent soon because their readers have increased a lot thanks to her reports." he noted.
She rolled her eyes, "More likely that she'll be digging into the players personal lives like she has done since she started writing that wretched gossip column." Narcissa muttered.
"What are your plans for the day? Maybe you should go and see Lucius?" Cygnus suggested, turning the front page.
"My marriage is hardly at the point of fixing when my husband has a lot to do before that point comes. Lucius knows where I am and we've both agreed that when he has come to terms with everything that has happened, I will be here to talk about us." Narcissa replied.
"Still, today is a tough day for all of those who were followers. I dread to think how your sister is coping in that Merlin forsaken prison but I can't reach out to her, Bella made her choice and Lucius made his. Reach out to him Narcissa, before it's too late." he encouraged.
"I've tried, many times over the years father. Why should I be the one to always try and fix our problems when it's my husband who hasn't dealt with those problems?" Narcissa questioned.
Cygnus took a sip of his tea before turning another page, all the while not looking at his daughter throughout their conversation.
"My darling girl, you haven't dealt with these problems either; you are running away from them. By all means continue to live here and don't feel that you're a burden because you aren't, this is your home. But by coming to stay here with me and your mother, you aren't dealing with the problems that you and Lucius have together. You might be giving Lucius time and space and that to yourself too but you won't be able to deal with everything without working through it with your husband." Cygnus pointed out.
Narcissa didn't know how to reply to her father's assessment of her time apart from Lucius, in a way he was right. She did need to work through the problems together with Lucius but she was still adamant that she would give him as much time and space that he needed, for once he was going to come to her rather than her go to him to talk through their issues.
"Perhaps you are right father but Lucius knows where to find me when he's ready to talk." Narcissa replied.
Cygnus made a slight 'hhmmm' before putting his attention into the newspaper, leaving Narcissa to turn at the sound of footsteps entering the dining room. Her mother placed Draco in the seat opposite her before Druella took to her own seat besides Cygnus. Druella handed Narcissa a letter before helping herself to some breakfast. Narcissa looked at the envelope, recognising the familiar handwriting of her husband.
She opened the letter, eyes focussing on the writing:
Dear Narcissa,
I hope that you and Draco are well and that our son hasn't been playing up too much for you. I hope that your parents are well also but the reason for me writing this quick letter is to ask if you could spare some time to return to the manor today, I would really like to see you.
Send your reply back as soon as you read this.
Lucius.
Her eyes rolled at the briefness of the letter but she guessed that Lucius would prefer to speak to her face to face rather than in a letter which could be read by anybody. She made sure that it was okay for her parents to watch Draco for a little while before leaving the dining room for her father's study, sending her reply back that she would be at the Manor shortly.
