Chapter Fourteen
A/N: Thank you for reviewing, .
For the next few months at least, life in the Malfoy household was as good as it could be. Lucius had been working shorter hours, Narcissa had discovered a hobby of horse riding to occupy her daytimes at the manor and the pair spent every spare moment together. And so, the pair was completely and utterly happy. For now.
Then, one night, everything changed.
Lucius had been working slightly later, an ominous thing at the best of times, when the incident had happened. Flames had risen into the air, fanned upwards by the howling wind, the sound of which was only penetrated by the screams echoing across Diagon Alley.
Through the blazing firelight, figures cast in shadow moved across the street, causing just as much terror as the explosions had done, due to just how badly publicised they had been. Narcissa's worst nightmare had finally come true.
Plucking the Daily Prophet from the table on which it lay, the blonde woman lay it down across her knees, which were curled up into her lap on the velvet loveseat she normally shared with Lucius, allowing her eyes to drift down to the words once again, not caring that they had near shattered her heart the first time she had done so.
'DEATH EATERS STRIKE IN DIAGON ALLEY
Earlier tonight, the well-known Wizarding shopping destination, Diagon Alley, fell to an attack by the self-styled Knights of Walpurgis, more commonly known as the Death Eaters.
Eye witnesses state that there was no sign of an impending attack whatsoever, that it was sudden and completely unexpected. Then, all of a sudden, a huge explosion erupted, around the area of Eeylops Owl Emporium, destroying half of the street in the blaze. No casualties have been reported, although Aurors are still searching through the rubble.
It has been rumoured by many that Pureblood supremists were at the heart of the plan, and this seems to be a sensible conclusion to come to, as Eeylops' owner, Magdalena Williams, is Muggle Born. The Death Eaters are also known to be huge supporters of this ideology, believing that Muggle Borns had stolen their magic from Squibs, and that was why they are so. This idea is chemically flawed, but the old families will not be told of this.
We are currently receiving hourly reports from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and we shall keep you updated as often as is possible.
Remain vigilant, loyal readers, against these terrorists we call Death Eaters.'
Once again, Narcissa placed down the paper, tears streaking her cheeks. Things had changed now. Of course, Lucius loved her no less and still showed as much affection to her as ever, but his involvement with the group had increased, to the point where he was out almost nightly to commit crimes such as this. It was tearing the woman apart.
The silence of the manor had never been so obvious to the woman, nor, in a way, so deafeningly loud, but now it was all that she noticed, all that she could hear, sat alone beside the fireplace in her beautiful home, which became a shadowed prison when Lucius was far away. 'Maybe he won't come back.' she thought, as tears streaked down her face.
If she spoke truthfully, it was not the first time Narcissa had thought such things while Lucius was out on missions and, regretfully enough, she had no doubt that it would not be the last. The Death Eaters were becoming more and more active by the day, and Lucius more absent with them. It was becoming hard for the woman to keep herself from telling her husband not to go. But she knew that she could not do that. Not if she wished to stay alive.
The leader of the Knights of Walpurgis, the one who had taken her Lucius from her that night, was a man named the Dark Lord. The name was self-styled, the woman knew that much, but she did not know of his true identity. That was one of the things he told no one.
Still, no matter that she did not truly know anything about him, Bellatrix had been smitten with the mysterious man from the moment she had first laid eyes on him. Narcissa, on the other hand, could not say that she agreed with her sister in the least. To her, the man was simply terrifying.
'And yet…' Narcissa thought, wiping a tear from her expressionless face as she glanced into the fireplace, watching the flames dance around each other and wincing as they did so. 'My darling Lucius chose to join them. He chose to become a cold hearted killer. He may not act like so in my presence, but I know that he has done so. I just know.'
As if in answer to the cries of her heart, the click of a key in the lock of the front door reached her delicate ears. 'Even if he has been out on a spree of killing innocents, at least he has the decency to come in through the front door.' Narcissa told herself, more than a little bitterly.'At least there is a chance I won't have to see him tonight.'
Unfortunately, the chance was made much smaller, as the doorknob of the mahogany door began to turn, revealing the battle torn face of Lucius Malfoy from behind it.
As soon as he caught sight of his wife sat beside the fire, a wide smile broke out on the man's fatigued features, his tiredness fading away as care flooded into his features. Unfortunately, that smile had soon disappeared, as, in the reflected firelight, the blank expression on Narcissa's face clear did not match the joy of his own.
"Narcissa?" Lucius asked her, the concern evident in his tone. The woman did not respond. "Narcissa, what is the matter with you? Cissa?"
"Leave me alone." The words were simple, but the message that the younger blonde conveyed was evident, so much so that Lucius obeyed without no argument, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
The moment she heard his retreating footsteps, Narcissa broke down into sobs, clutching desperately onto the silver tasseled pillow she was sat beside. The one she had given Lucius all those years ago.
"Why has this happened to me?" she questioned herself, in a pained whisper. "After all we've been through together, after I have loved him for so long… why has everything gone wrong?"
A/N: Another thing that the filler chapters will explain. I'll try and get those up soon as well, but for now, please review!