Well surprise, I'm still alive! Barely, thanks to this past semester, but here I am. I'm so sorry for being rather MIA but it turns out I can't really write this and be fully devoting myself to uni at the same time. As you can tell by the start of this chapter, I began this way back in the end of August when I was melting. I'm on Christmas holiday now so I hope to be at least a little more active than I have been! The next chapter will jump forward in time a little bit jut to get the ball rolling again. xx

It was altogether too hot to be indoors, but with the cooling spell Druella had placed on Narcissa's room it was bearable enough for the mother and daughter to do the necessary packing for the new school term. Druella had been prattling on for some time and Narcissa was perfectly content to let the words wash over her, giving a small "mm" or "oh yes" whenever appropriate.

Her mother was currently using her wand to neatly fold and pack the garments Narcissa chose from her wardrobe, floating the pieces across the room in a graceful assembly line. Andromeda was just as adept at the folding spells as their mother – much more so than Narcissa or Bellatrix – and had been willing to help, however Druella claimed to have wanted this last bit of alone time with her youngest before sending her off to her last year of school.

For all that this sentiment of her mother's was sweet, Narcissa could hardly help herself from fixating on how in less than forty-eight hours she would be further away from Lucius than she had been in over a year. It was silly, she knew (and kept reminding herself), to get so sentimental about physical distance. It meant nothing other than they would see each other a little less than they were used to for the past while, which would be best for the both of them – absence makes the heart grow fonder, the old saying went, and time apart also served to prolong the time before people started properly hounding them about marriage.

Of course logical thought on this means nothing¸ Narcissa sighed to herself in frustration, pulling her school robes out from the back of her wardrobe. She would miss him, and that was that.

Words from her mother finally broke through her veil of thought, and they snapped her attention back to her room.

"…and sweetheart, do try to make friends this year."

Narcissa looked over at her in surprise – out of all three of the girls Andromeda was by far the best at making friends, however not always with people her parents would approve of. Narcissa had forever been the best with who she remained close friends with. "Mum, you sound as if I'm a hermit in my room all year. I have plenty of friends."

"Female friends, Narcissa."

She shrugged. "I mean I suppose many of my friends are boys, but I do have female friends. I have Ama –"

"Other than Amanda Burke and your sisters. Soon you will be in the real world, in a society which calls for you to spend a great deal of time visiting other ladies of your class. Well," Druella paused, her wand in midair. "As close to your class as they can hope to be."

"Mother –"

"All I'm saying is that you should get your head out of those books. Your grades are superb; they don't need any more work."

Narcissa turned away from her mother once again so that the older witch could not see how hard she was trying not to grit her teeth. Surely packing had never taken so long before. "My grades are 'superb', mother, because I work at them."

"Yes, and it is high time for you to shift your focus to something that will benefit you in the future. Who you know will do so. Grades do next to nothing to help a lady's status." Druella guided the final piece of clothing into the trunk and magically closed the heavy lid with a thunk. She stood up and straightened her skirt, walking over to Narcissa. "Now, I take it you plan on seeing Lucius this evening?"

"Yes, mother," Narcissa nodded, her voice quiet.

"Oh child," Druella took her daughter's face in her hand, a sympathetic smile on her face. "I truly am sorry about some realities in life. I wish you could do just whatever you please. But you know why you can't – why none of us can."

"I do, mum."

Druella appraised Narcissa's face, her smile becoming softer yet more sincere. "You are so beautiful, petal. Lucius better believe that you lit every star in the sky, for no matter what your namesake is you surely shine as bright as all of them combined."

Narcissa couldn't help but smile at the use of her old nickname along with her mother's praise. Druella, a very beautiful and proud woman herself, was not someone easily impressed by other women's looks. This included her daughters. Narcissa, however, had always seemed to be closer to their mother's version of perfection than her sisters – her fairer colouring paid homage her Rosier genes while her facial and bodily structure was all Black. She was a walking representation of the two bloodlines her mother thought to be the purest in the world. Now only if Druella took such pride in her daughter's intellect and academic prowess as she did in her looks.

"Speaking of him, I should get going," Narcissa finally spoke, forcing herself to stop basking in her mother's approval.

Druella cleared her throat, blinking as she came back to the present. "Yes, of course. You're all packed and ready for tomorrow – it will just be your sisters dropping you off at the train as your father and I have brunch with the minister and his wife."

"I know, mum, it's no issue."

With that, Druella gave a curt nod before turning and exiting the room. Narcissa could hear her heels clicking down the hall until she was left in silence. She sighed before donning what she knew to be Lucius' favourite perfume and also made her leave without a backwards glance at the room.

"Now, don't study too hard, Cissy," Bellatrix drawled as the three girls strode arm-in-arm down the train platform. "Your seventh year is about making the most fun of your remaining time – any question over whether you run the school is now negated that you hold seniority. Don't waste it on such a trivial thing as grades."

Narcissa snorted, replying before Andromeda could snap back, "Careful – you're sounding like mother now, Bella."

"Am I?" Bellatrix's brow creased and her gait slowed. "Well then fuck that, study harder than ever."

Narcissa laughed appreciatively as Andromeda smiled and squeezed her little sister's arm with her own. "She's right, Cissy, study harder than ever. This year is about really… finding yourself more than anything, and if that is through grades for you then so be it."

She rolled her eyes – for all that her sisters whole-heartedly meant well, she hardly felt as though she needed their words of 'wisdom'. "Both of you stop it with the advice, honestly. I'll go to school, I'll study, I've act as I always do. I was without either of you all last year too, remember?"

"Yes, and you wound up attached at the hip to Malfoy," Bellatrix sneered. "You obviously have deep-seeded emotional issues and should not be left on your own. I'll help you get over him, don't worry."

"Speak of the devil," Andromeda gestured with her head to behind Narcissa, and when the blonde turned around she gasped to see Lucius walking towards the three of them, dressed in a smart black suit despite the heat of the day. He was never one to let something has trivial as the weather dictate what he was to wear.

"I told you not to come," Narcissa admonished when we drew close

"Oh, I was in town anyways." His reply was cool however his grey eyes held endless warmth for the girl in front of him. Narcissa needn't know this was a lie, and that he in fact had the day off and no reason to come to London other than to see her. He had spent the previous evening in her company – with a considerably amount to privacy, thanks to the angel of a mother he had – but already he had begun to miss her something awful. In all honesty, he wasn't all too sure of just how he'd fare over the next nine months of being apart.

"Well then, as long as it was convenient for you," Narcissa sneered back, eyes twinkling mischievously. Her mind was drifting back to the previous evening, which they had mostly spent alone in each other's company, and suddenly her already thin blouse was much too warm for her.

Bellatrix made a scathing noise in the back of her throat as she examined her nails. "Stop fucking with your eyes, would you."

"That's not fucking, Bellatrix, that's having genuine human emotion. I understand you're foreign to the concept," Andromeda quipped. Bellatrix stuck out both her tongue and her middle finger, Lucius' face remained entirely impassive, and Narcissa couldn't help but smile fondly at them all. It was funny, she mused, how three of the most important people in her life could be so inexplicably different from one another.

"Well thank you, all of you, for putting up with each other long enough to see me off." The train's whistle blew loudly just then, and she pulled her sisters tightly to her, burying her face in their thick hair before kissing their cheeks and turning towards Lucius.

As she and Lucius shared their kiss Andromeda looked away politely, equally pleased to see her sister so happy as she was uncomfortable with the match she had chosen. Bellatrix just stared at the two of them, evidently bored and not able to care enough about their privacy to avert her eyes. At the train's second whistle Narcissa hurriedly boarded, turning around to wave as the train began chugging into motion. They all waved until Narcissa was a small blonde shape amidst the other waving students, and as the train rounded the bend in the tracks the three of them stared after it a moment longer before they all turned and walked back towards the barrier, each of them an uncomfortable amount of distance apart from each other.

"Well," Andromeda smiled politely – unfailingly polite, she was, Lucius noticed, especially when she was less than pleased with her company. "I'd best be off. Will I see you at home, Bella?"

Bellatrix snorted. "Unlikely. But then again, you're never really there yourself are you deary?" She cocked a dark, angled eyebrow and stared Andromeda down with a look that could turn you to stone.

Andromeda looked at her sister, un-phased and unimpressed, before turned to give a quick nod to Lucius, which he returned. Bellatrix glared at her sister's back as she walked away, and only when she was fully out of earshot did she turn to Lucius. She spoke low and quickly.

"Alright princess. You are to report to this location at six-o'clock," Bellatrix pressed a folded piece of parchment into his hand. "This will burn itself to nothing within the hour, so memorize it."

Utterly bewildered, Lucius spluttered, "What? Whatever for?"

"You'll understand when you get there, however if you value your life you will be there at six sharp. …. I personally don't give a damn if you decide to not show, however if you were to suddenly, miraculously disappear my sister would be beyond distraught, and I can't have that. So be there." With no further explanation she turned and strutted away, winding through the crowd like smoke.