October 1978

Narcissa awoke after hearing something crash into a metal bench in the grounds below her bedroom window. She lit the tip of her wand and looked at the alarm clock on her beside table. It was three in the morning and she doubted that it had been a house elf crashing into a metal bench at this hour, the crash had been too loud for that. She summoned her dressing gown over to her and pulled it on before leaping out of bed to see what had caused the crash from her bedroom window.

She found herself rolling her eyes as she recognised the back of Lucius's head resting on the bench whilst the rest of his body sat on the gravel path. She pocketed her wand and closed her bedroom door and tried to walk as quietly as she could down the staircase. She hoped that her parents hadn't been woken up by Lucius's crash.

Narcissa walked through the dimly lit living room and opened the terrace door. She ran towards Lucius and knelt before him, the gravel pathway flowing a little stream of blood from Lucius. Her eyes widened as he looked at her, concern overtaking her as she wondered who had hurt him. She helped him to his feet and carefully shifted his weight onto her as they slowly walked back to the house.

Once inside the warmth of the manor, she sat Lucius on the sofa and lifted his leg up onto the coffee table to examine his wound. His trouser leg had been torn and a long gash gave away the place where the bleeding had been coming from. She summoned an elf to bring her some water, a cloth and dittany so that she could heal him. He didn't speak as she tended to his leg, merely smiling gratefully as her soft hands worked. Once his leg had been healed by the dittany she noticed that he was covered in blood all over, but the question was that since she couldn't see any other wounds on his body, whose blood drenched his clothes?

She began to roll up his right sleeve, washing off the blood that had seeped through his shirt, again he said nothing. Once finished she began to try and roll up his left sleeve, but his hand gripped her wrist to stop her. Narcissa looked at him questionably, his eyes telling her to stop. She refused and rolled up his sleeve, his grip on her tightening. Then she gasped and her eyes widened in horror as she saw the skull and snake mark move on his arm. He was a Death Eater. Narcissa jumped to her feet, dropping the bloodied cloth to the floor. Lucius tried to rise too, but she pushed him back down onto the sofa.

"Narcissa, let me explain-

"You don't need to explain, the evidence is right in front of me." Narcissa said curtly.

"I had no choice," he defended.

"You always have a choice," she hissed.

"I chose this path a long time ago, after Charlie died. If I back out now, he'll kill me!" Lucius said desperately.

"Are you insane? You could be killed regardless!" Narcissa yelled.

Lucius pressed a finger to his lips and let out a shushing sound, indicating for her to be quiet. Her parents were asleep upstairs and they shouldn't be woken up to her yelling at an injured Lucius. She looked at him in disbelief, she didn't understand how he could've joined the Dark Lord after his best friend had been killed. Narcissa knew that her sister and brother-in-law were Death Eaters and understood perfectly why, Bella had always been into all of that stuff. Rodolphus joined because he was desperate to win his wife's approval and affectionate. But Lucius, she didn't understand.

"Lucius, let me be clear, I've already lost one boyfriend. I can't afford to lose another," she said firmly.

"You won't lose me, Narcissa." he whispered.

She sat down next to him, seeing that he was desperate for her to be close to him. He pulled her towards him and she rested her head on his shoulder as he gently stroked the hair that had fallen out of her bun.

"You can't promise me that," she cried.

"I keep my promises, Narcissa." he growled in her ear.

Narcissa looked up at him through watery eyes, his eyes seemed to be full of the truth and because of that, she couldn't doubt his word. She slowly kissed him and he kissed her back assuringly. She pulled away and looked him in the eye once more.

"I don't like it," she admitted.

"I won't ever talk to you about it, my life with you will be separate." he vowed.

"Is that so I won't fear you?" she asked.

"No. If I don't talk to you about it, it means that you won't be tainted by what I'm forced to do. It means that you are protected from it." Lucius explained.

Narcissa nodded, still not completely understanding his reason why he had joined up in the first place.

"Why did you join?" Narcissa questioned him.

Lucius looked at her and hesitated. She had said long ago that she wasn't ready for the full story.

"Are you ready for the whole story yet?" he asked.

She frowned at him for a few moments before she got what he was talking about. She shook her head, she wasn't ready for the whole story just yet. But she guessed that the whole story about Charlie's death and his reasons to join the Death Eaters were connected.

"Let me know when you are and then I will explain everything," he promised.