Chapter Twenty-Five
"This isn't going to work!" Narcissa hissed as they approached the gates of Hogwarts. They were the last two students, and no one had yet noticed her uninvited presence.
"Trust me Narcissa, it'll be fine. You worry too much." They paused in front of the lone man checking the students. He shuffled nervously with the papers.
"Er… Names?" The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had arrived only yesterday, and didn't know any of the students, names or ages. Just as Lucius had planned.
"I'm Lucius Malfoy, and this is- Well, her name won't on that list." The man frowned.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let her go with out permission." Lucius gave an exaggerated sigh.
"She's been left out of so many things this year…" Lucius looked at Narcissa pityingly. "She doesn't speak English, see, she came over from France this year, and her parents didn't know about permission forms. Narcissa's eyes flicked from Lucius, to the teacher, and back again.
"Je porte les chaussettes vert. Vous les aiment?" Lucius nodded at her apologetically.
"She's really quite upset that she's not getting to do any of the things she came here for." Narcissa glanced hopefully at the professor.
"J'aimerais acheter un paon." He looked nervously at the two students.
"Are you absolutely sure she's allowed to go?" Lucius glared at him indignantly.
"Do you doubt me? I mean," He gestured to Narcissa. "Would she lie to you?"
"Un paon s'il vous plaît!" Narcissa stated insistently. After a moment, he seemed to relent.
"Alright. I suppose…"
"Thank you," Lucius cut in coolly. She appreciates it, professor…?"
"Ah, Swyson. Professor Swyson. Go have fun, you two." Narcissa flashed him a quick smile, but Lucius quickly ushered her away. When they were out of earshot, he smirked.
"What'd I tell you? Although, if he were a bit more perceptive, he would have noticed that you knew exactly what he was saying the whole time, and that you started grinning like a maniac as soon as he said you could go…" Narcissa giggled.
"Well, then we're lucky he's clueless, aren't we?" Lucius grinned and slipped one arm around her waist.
"I suppose. But just you wait until classes on Monday. Let's hope he's as forgetful as he is dense."
(A/N: Je porte les chaussettes vert. Vous les aiment? - My socks are green. Do you like them?
J'aimerais acheter un paon- I would like to buy a peacock.
Un paon s'il vous plaît! - A peacock please!)
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Narcissa and Lucius sat in a far corner of the Three Broomsticks, Narcissa sipping Butterbeer while Lucius drank what she sincerely hoped was Butterbeer. She was a bit nervous with all the other Hogwarts students who could easily recognize her, but most of the ones who disliked her enough to tell a teacher about her were afraid of Lucius. The rest didn't seem to care. Except, of course, Bellatrix.
"Having fun you two?" She slid into the seat across from them, grinning wickedly. Narcissa glanced nervously at her sister, and then to Lucius, who chose to ignore their guest. Bellatrix hated to be ignored.
"Professor McGonagall knows you're here Cissy." Narcissa gasped.
"She does?" She cried in alarm, already getting up to leave. Bellatrix smirked.
"No, but she could very easily, if someone let it… Slip." Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Tell us what you want or leave Bella. We're not exactly interested in your company."
"Oh, of course your not. But I'm bored with the Lestranges and Evan. And Avery. And McNair. And Nott. And-"
"Okay, we get it Bella. Make your point. Now." Bellatrix sighed.
"I just… Need to talk to Lucius. Right now." Her voice turned suddenly serious, and Lucius frowned.
"What is it?" Bellatrix gave Narcissa meaningful glance.
"You'd prefer it if I didn't say it in front of impressionable children." Lucius rolled his eyes and stood.
"I'll be right back Narcissa." Narcissa watched Bellatrix lead Lucius into a corner, but nothing else. If they were going to go off and discuss something obviously far too secret for her to hear, she was fine with it. She slipped out of the Three Broomsticks into the cool September air. There weren't as many students on the street, and Narcissa decided to visit the shops for which Hogsmeade was famous.
Two hours later, Narcissa returned to the castle empty handed. Fortunately, there was no security when re-entering the school. She had planned to go directly to the Slytherin common room, but heard someone shouting her name.
"Cissy! He-y! Cissy!" She looked over and saw Ari waving to her frantically from the lake shore. Narcissa smiled and joined her. "Where were you Cissy? You've been gone for hours." Her smile faltered slightly.
"I was… Er… In the… Library." Ari wrinkled her nose.
"You're very bad at lying, just thought you should know. So, where were you really?" Narcissa sighed.
"Alright. Hogsmeade." Ari was on her feet in less than a second.
"Oooh, with Lucius? Tell me everything!"
An hour later, the rest of the students had returned to Hogwarts. All except one. When Bellatrix entered the common room, she'd taken one look at Narcissa reading on the couch and burst into hysterics. By dinner, Lucius still hadn't returned, and Narcissa asked Bellatrix, again, if she knew where he was. Her response was the same.
"No, Cissy, at the moment I'm not quite sure." She'd answer loftily, with an infuriatingly knowing smirk. At ten, Narcissa finally gave up and retired to her dormitory, hoping that he was alright. But even after she showered, dressed for bed, and at last slipped into bed, she found that she was wide awake. Still, she drew the curtains around her bed, and ignored Ari's questions as to if she was awake. By 11:00, all the other girls had fallen asleep, yet Narcissa still stared at the ceiling. Finally, at 11:30, she was relieved to hear a familiar voice from below.
"…The entire bloody place! I swear! I even-"
"Relax Lucius!" Bellatrix sounded as if she was having a difficult time controlling her glee. "She's upstairs." There was a moment of silence, and a bang as the dormitory door flew open. Then, without warning, the hangings on Narcissa's bed were thrown open, revealing Lucius. He was disheveled and furious, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Where were you?" He hissed. His voice was barely above a whisper, but she winced as if he had shouted.
"I-I left. I didn't think that-"
"You obviously didn't think! If you had, I wouldn't have been looking for you for the past ten hours!" Narcissa's jaw dropped. Had it really been that long? Assuming they'd left at nine that the morning…
"Oh, Lucius, I had no idea, and I'm sorry, but I didn't know-"
"Did you really think that if you just disappeared that no one would care what happened?" He snarled.
"Lucius, I said I'm sorry, but-"
"Lucius! Get out of here! You can't justcome waltzing in the girl's dormitory at midnight so you can yell at Cissy! Can this wait until the morning?" A sleepy but angry Ari emerged from her own bed. "Don't blame her for leaving; you shouldn't have gone with Bella in the first place. I'd have done the same thing. Cissy made the right decision. You can't expect her to have to tell you everything she's doing it and when she does it. Now please Lucius, we're trying to sleep!" A heartfelt speech indeed, which Lucius chose to ignore. After a cursory glance over his shoulder, he turned back to Narcissa indifferent to what Ari had said.
"You weren't allowed to be there in the first place; it wasn't safe. Someone could have seen you." He had calmed considerably, but his words enraged Narcissa.
"Not allowed to be there? Lucius, you were the one who said I should go, you were the one who said I wouldn't get caught, you said that no one would notice! I can't believe-! You know what?" She jumped out of bed, glaring up at him. "Ari's right. Get out. Now!" She placed both hands on his shoulders and pushed him back, not to make him move, but to prove her point. Lucius looked both surprised and amused.
"Alright Cissy. I'm gone." As he exited the room, Narcissa saw him fighting a back a smile. Narcissa stomped her foot in frustration, and felt her fingers curl around the nearest thing to her- a porcelain box from her grandmother- and hurled it at the closed door. It shattered, and after a moment, the door opened.
"I think you were a second or two late… Want to try again?" Lucius grinned cockily from the doorway. "I'll give you a free shot-"
"Out!" There were two voices, not one. Lucius gave a playfully hurt look before leaving for a second time. Ari and Narcissa exchanged angry looks.
"I can't believe that he would-" Ari began.
"Me neither." Narcissa finished, suddenly feeling very tired. "I'll see you tomorrow."
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It was Monday morning, and Lucius was sitting in the back of the Transfiguration classroom, congratulating himself for blocking out McGonagall so completely. He wondered if Narcissa would give up on her silent treatment towards him, which was, in his opinion, entirely underserved. Not that it mattered. She'd forget it soon enough. Her little tantrum had been funnier than upsetting, but it still bothered him slightly. Apparently she was spending far too much time with her dear friend Adrienne…
"Malfoy! Answer the question please! And take your feet off that desk!" Professor McGonagall addressed him sharply from several rows back. Lucius didn't even turn.
"You and I both know that I can't answer the question because I wasn't listening. We also both know that it doesn't matter, because I never pay attention in your class, and still manage to get perfect marks. So it would be convenient for you to stop testing me with all these questions; it'll get you nowhere." He drawled lazily. The Slytherins laughed at this remark, but the Gryffindors seemed offended. Good, he thought. She's your head of house.
"Detention of Friday, Malfoy, and twenty points from Slytherin. I will not take such disrespect!" Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Slytherin's never going to win the house cup anyway, and I already have a detention Friday with Slughorn." A lie, of course. Slughorn was too afraid of Abraxas to give his only son detention.
"Thursday, then." She hissed through gritted teeth.
"Detention with Binns." Another lie. "But I'm free Tuesday. No detentions on Tuesday yet. But you're free to give me one; I'll pencil you in." He continued dryly. More laughter from the Slytherin side of the room.
"You will stay after class. We will discuss your punishment then." Lucius smirked.
"Oh, goodie, I get to miss potions?" At that moment the bell rang, saving McGonagall, in Lucius's opinion, from further embarrassment. After the rest of the students were gone, McGonagall turned back to Lucius, who still sat with his feet up on his desk, and folded hands resting on his stomach.
"Your lack of respect and classroom decorum needs to change! Immediately! I will be contacting your parents-"
"They won't care." Lucius interrupted, completely disregarding her previous statement. McGonagall glared at him icily before continuing.
"Nevertheless, I will still inform them. Now, will you please remove your feet from that desk?" Lucius stared at her insolently.
"Why?"
"Enough! To the Headmasters office!" Lucius slid languidly from his seat and stood before her.
"Am I too much of a problem for you to handle, Professor?" He spat, adding sarcasm to the last word.
"I will not take this much longer, Malfoy! You try my patience. I'm warning you, you'd do best to watch yourself. There are people in positions of higher power than you. I think you forget that you are a thirteen year old student here!"
"Of course, professor. But might I ask, would you really that you were patient in the first place?"
When they finally reached the headmaster's office, Lucius was commanded sternly to wait outside while McGonagall entered to "discuss the inexcusable behaviour" that Lucius showed in her class. Lucius smirked and as soon as she closed the door, leaned forward to listen.
"… Need to discuss some problems that a certain student of mine has been causing." Dumbledore answered calmly.
"And what might those problems be, Minerva? I've never heard you complain of a student's misconducts in class before."
"It's the Malfoy boy, Lucius. He is blatantly disrespectful to me, he distracts the other students, and the discourteousness that he shows towards his classmates is appalling as well! Albus, I honestly cannot deal with him at the moment. Maybe you can get through to him. I'm getting nothing but offensive comments from him."
"Very well Minerva, send him in." Lucius quickly stepped back, just as the door opened.
"The headmaster will see you now, Malfoy. I hope you show a bit more respect towards him." Lucius gave her a deigning glance before walking into the large office as casually as if it were his own bedroom. He collapsed carelessly into one of the seats across from the formidable man who was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.
"Afternoon, professor. Lovely day, is it not?" He asked jauntily, a brash grin on his face. Dumbledore gave him a reproving stare that had intimidated many men older and in positions of higher power than he, but Lucius didn't so much as flinch.
"I have been speaking to Professor McGonagall-"
"Yeah, I heard. You really ought to consider putting silencing charms around the doors." Dumbledore frowned slightly, obviously unused to being treated so flippantly by a student.
"Well, Lucius, I prefer to trust that no one who is uninvited will be listening at my door." Lucius shrugged.
"Suit yourself." The older man raised his eyebrows.
"Indeed I shall. Now, if you heard what she said, do you care to explain your behaviour?"
"I already know what she's teaching anyway; there's no point in listening." This seemed to surprise Dumbledore.
"Oh really? And how might you have come across such knowledge?"
"Best tutors money can buy." Lucius said flatly. Dumbledore nodded knowingly.
"Of course. I should have guessed. But is that really any reason to disrupt the rest of the class?" Lucius shrugged.
"Makes no difference to me whether they pass or fail." Again, the headmaster frowned.
"I'm sorry you feel that way Lucius. This school was built on a foundation of unity and-"
"Can you skip the lecture and just give me a month of detention, take points from Slytherin, write to my parents, whatever? I'd really rather not sit through some long-winded sermon on the brilliance of this place and all its inhabitants. I get the point." Dumbledore peered at him quizzically over the rim of his glasses.
"I see what Professor McGonagall meant about you impertinence." Lucius smirked.
"I prefer to think of it as 'wit'." Dumbledore sighed.
"Wit is educated insolence, Lucius." He said patiently.
"Better to be educated and insolent than ignorant and submissive." Lucius fired back.
"But what of educated submissiveness? Would that not be a wiser path in your case?" Lucius sneered.
"Why? She can't make me. Sure, I can get detentions, suspensions, hell, I could get expelled-"
"Language, Lucius. Please." Dumbledore interrupted. Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. The point is, as long as I'm getting good grades, you can't make me take remedial anything; you can't make me repeat any classes. Again, the worst punishment you could possibly give me would be to expel me, and so what? I'd go to Durmstrang." Dumbledore removed his glasses, carefully polished them, and then returned them to his face.
"Well Lucius, I think you've made your point. Have your parents considered moving you up to a higher level of education? Perhaps to a fourth year class?" Lucius shot him a look of distain.
"You think I haven't tried? My bloody parents insist-"
"Lucius please." Dumbledore chided.
"-That I should stay with peers my age, graduate at the same time, all that sh-"
"I see." Lucius was abruptly interrupted. "I think you've made your point. Now Lucius, I'm not going to punish you this time, but if I hear anymore complaints, I'm going to be forced to have you removed from the Slytherin Quiddich team until your behaviour improves." Lucius scowled.
"Favoritism towards the Gryffindor team?" He growled. Dumbledore shook his head sadly.
"Not at all Lucius, but this has to stop. You may leave now."
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The entire school was packed into the Quiddich stadium, eagerly anticipating the Quiddich match between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Narcissa was surprised to learn that her cousin's friend James Potter was the new seeker, but personally thought that Lucius (although she still wasn't talking to him) could do a much better job. Not that she knew much about Quiddich. But she knew enough to hate it. The though of being suspended hundreds of feet in the air on a flimsy little pole made shudder, and she didn't see how anyone could enjoy watching people risk their lives in such a way, but since the whole school was assembled, she didn't have much a choice. She watched as the two captains shook hands briefly, then winced slightly as the whistle blew announcing the start of the match.
Lucius kicked off the ground and immediately began circling. Aston had told him to be sure to keep a close eye on the new seeker, but he trusted his own abilities much more than Potter's. He had counted on Potter being a bit nervous in his first match, and wasn't disappointed. He was distracted immensely by the crowds, was overtly wary of the Slytherin team members, and seemed uncomfortable if he was within fifteen of Lucius. What Lucius hadn't counted on was the Gryffindor's beater's strategy: aim the bludgers at Lucius; no one else. The two beaters kept the bludgers coming at him, and while dodging the speeding balls was no problem, it was a bit difficult to find the snitch under such conditions. The Slytherin beaters helped some, but they were constantly getting in Lucius's way. The match proceeded this way for some time, and though Slytherin lead 50 to 20, Lucius was becoming impatient. After dodging what seemed like the millionth bludger aim at his head, he started to become a bit unfriendly towards the two beaters supposedly defending him.
"If you're going to be beaters, would you try to actually hit the bloody things once in a while and stop flying around like the drunken idiots that you apparently are?" Malicious was a more accurate word. Aston, as captain, seemed to find it wrong for Lucius to be shouting at his own teammates, and in turn, Lucius began yelling at him as well. Soon, a shouting match had broken out between the two of them, and the rest of the team began to get angry.
"Aston! ¡Párelo ahora!" Lolita shouted as she flew by. "We're going to lose if you two keep it up!" They ignored her. Suddenly another bludger came speeding at Lucius. He saw it coming, but this time, he didn't try to dodge it.
(A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but an extra-super-duper big thank you to Suzie, my 100th reviewer! YAY!
nicky black: I try to keep up! Glad you liked the chapter
Death Eater Malfoy: So maybe I didn't up date so quickly… But I'm happy you thought it was funny at the beginning… Sorry that you were crying… (;
MANGA DEVIL: Okay, at the ending, that was Caliva begging Abraxas not to disown Lucius for running away over the summer. And he wasn't feeling too forgiving at that moment…
badgal-13: Thanks! And… Tah-dah! Finally, the next chapter!