WRITTEN FOR THE HOUSES COMPETITION, YEAR 7, ROUND 9
House: Ravenclaw
Class: Potions
Standard
Theme: Friendship
Prompt 1: [Character] Narcissa Malfoy; 2: [First line] She never knew that a simple run in the morning could change her life, but it did.
Word Count: 2886(google docs)
Thanks to CK and Abby for the beta!
She never knew that a simple run in the morning could change her life, but it did.
Not that what happened could be called a "simple run". She was Narcissa Black, after all. Blacks didn't run. Ideally, that was. Narcissa had been taught from the tenderest age that some behaviours were fitting for a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and some weren't. Running was something that plebeians and cowards did, and Narcissa was neither. She was a young lady of good station, and so she should be composed and graceful. Running wasn't contemplated. Not for silly games, not away from enemies.
/
That particular morning, Narcissa would have loved nothing more than to live up to House Black's exacting standards as she usually did, but desperate measures called for unorthodox solutions. Narcissa had been strolling peacefully by the Black Lake when a young man intruded upon her solitude. All it took was the time of a spell, and it all went wrong. Suddenly, Narcissa was being chased by a seventh year after the most powerful shield in her repertoire had failed against one of his curses. Established that she couldn't stay and fight, she ran.
She wasn't proud of it, but her self-preservation instincts were well-developed, and Narcissa was sure that she would be just fine if only she made it to the castle.
The cold air of the early morning had felt refreshing when she first began her solitary excursion but now burned through her lungs as she pushed herself to run faster. After that day, Narcissa didn't think she would be up for any more early-morning walks around the Black Lake — for the remainder of her third year at least.
Narcissa swerved to avoid another flash of light. Her feet pounded against the dewy grass, and in a small corner of her mind, Narcissa wished she could be surprised by such an attack. The truth was that her fellow students had gotten more brazen with her as she aged. She only grew more beautiful, and after her sister Bellatrix graduated the previous year, many people found an untapped courage within themselves. Andromeda was still at Hogwarts, and she was respected in their House, but she simply didn't have Bella's fearsome reputation. Still, Narcissa would have no qualms about running to Andromeda and tattle; just as soon as she left behind the craven boy who had cornered her by the far side of the lake.
Narcissa swore in a way that would have shocked her mother when her shoes clipped the front of her school robes and almost made her trip. She couldn't afford to fall. The doors of the castle were already in sight.
Then the young man — Macnair, she was almost certain — screamed something, and Narcissa had to duck to avoid a purplish spell. She had no idea what it would have done, and she hiked up her robes and tried to run faster even as sweat marred her brow and her breath came in pants.
It was as another spell almost clipped her side that someone yelled from the castle's open doors, "Hey! Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?"
Narcissa was quick enough to recognise the yellow and black trim on this other boy's school robes before shamelessly taking refuge behind his back.
Macnair came to a stop before them, and Narcissa observed, her lips curled in distaste, as her Housemate panted and sneered.
"Scram, Hufflepuff. It's nothing that concerns you," Macnair growled.
The broad boy Narcissa hid behind didn't back down.
"I wouldn't say that!" he said, sounding almost offended. "You seem to have been hurtling curses at this young lady! I'm sure the professors—"
Macnair spoke right over him.
"Slughorn deals with in-house matters, you daft git. No one else would care."
The Hufflepuff became slightly more subdued.
"Your… Housemate can't be older than fourteen. I'm sure Sprout would hear me out if I took this matter to her."
Macnair sputtered, but the Hufflepuff stood tall, then turned in a way that pointedly freed the way to the doors but kept Narcissa behind him. Macnair took the hint with ill grace and stalked back inside, growling under his breath.
Narcissa and the boy who had helped her stared at Macnair until he turned a corner, then the Hufflepuff turned kind eyes towards her.
"Are you alright, miss?"
Narcissa straightened up as best as she could in the circumstances, when her breath had barely returned and she lacked a mirror, but she had the wherewithal to nod her head appreciatively.
"I thank you for your aid, Mr…?"
"Oh," the boy said sheepishly, offering his right hand. "I'm Ted Tonks. Call me Ted!"
Narcissa stared before gingerly slipping her hand in his grip.
"Then I thank you… Ted."
Tonks freed her hand to scratch at the back of his head in quite the uncouth manner.
"Oh, it's nothing. That Macnair is a real piece of work. I'm only sorry you got caught up with him. Are you… hurt anywhere? Do you need Madam Pomfrey?"
"No, no, I'm quite alright."
"Phew, that's great to hear. It would've— well, no need to think about it, now! Oh, er, I didn't catch your name?"
Did he have to ask? Was he just trying to be polite? Narcissa stamped down on the frown that wanted to form between her brows and played along.
"I'm Narcissa Black." She saw no recognition on his features and the question bubbled out of her. "Are you a Mudblood?"
He stiffened.
"Ah, no, yeah. I think I get it now. Bellatrix Black's little sister, aren't you?" Narcissa nodded, still staring at him curiously. "Well, I hope nothing happens to you. Er, have a good day." He turned abruptly, and Narcissa looked puzzledly at his back as Tonks walked away, mumbling under his breath, "have a good… what was I… Merlin's beard…"
For Narcissa, that entire, strange episode concluded when she told Andromeda about the encounter with Macnair and subsequently did her utmost best to forget all about it.
/
/
A few days later, Narcissa headed to the library after her lessons, having to stamp down on the need to frown every few instants. She loved magical creatures, she did. Many were majestic beasts, like unicorns and hippogriffs, but who cared about Chizpurfles? Professor Kettleburn, evidently. And Narcissa would have to research and write an entire foot of information about them. Pity that Chizpurfles were the ugliest, most useless creatures she had had the displeasure of seeing. And even that had been hard, as they were only a twentieth of an inch high! She hadn't joined CoMC to study parasites, but Narcissa refused to let her grade suffer because of the professor's poor choice in subjects. So she carefully avoided the cantankerous Madam Pince and headed to the Creatures section of the library. As she neared, she heard a familiar voice mumbling, "Dragons, dragons… Ah, Norwegian… No, isn't it— Mh…"
Ted Tonks was standing in front of the shelf marked "D" but his broad shoulders managed to block the section Narcissa needed as well. She cleared her throat lightly. She had not expected Tonks to jump in fright, tilt forward and almost knock his head against a row of books. If she had been expecting it, she would have prepared herself to keep in the laughter.
Tonks turned towards her, a hand on the shelf to keep himself up, and smiled tentatively when he saw her big grin.
"Miss Black," he greeted. "Were you looking for something?"
Narcissa slowly managed to get her expression back under control, and nodded elegantly.
"Indeed, Mr Tonks. I'm l—"
"Oh, no. Call me Ted, please. I offered the other day and everything."
Narcissa tried not to be offended at the interruption.
"Well, Ted, I'm looking for information on Chizpurfles." And she stared pointedly at the shelf he was still half-blocking.
"Oh, right! Yes, of course, all yours."
"Thank you," she said, quite primly.
After a few seconds of eying the books, Narcissa determined that, of course, the tome she needed was on the second-highest shelf. Glaring at it was having no discernible result, and Narcissa was almost ready to get her wand out and risk Madam Pince's ire when one of Ted's long arms entered her visual field and he grabbed the exact tome she wanted.
"Here you go, Miss Black." He handed it over with an easy manner, and Narcissa accepted the book from his hand with a gracious smile that was almost natural. The Hufflepuff had offered aid without even being prompted. Narcissa tilted her head to one side and reconsidered what she knew about Ted Tonks.
"You may call me Narcissa," she conceded.
Ted smiled widely.
It wasn't exactly an imposition, then, to share a table as they worked. It took Ted another twenty minutes to find the right book, but his muttering wasn't a bad background noise as Narcissa paraphrased the chapter on Chizpurfles for her assignment.
/
It wasn't supposed to be the start of anything. Narcissa hadn't exactly thought that it'd be a one-off, but only because she hadn't thought about it at all. Why would she have? It was nothing.
Then Narcissa went back to the library to get some work done for runes — her two new classes, the electives, seemed to be everything she studied, lately. It may have something to do with her end-of-term exams.
Most tables were occupied, but Ted was sharing one with a Hufflepuff underclassman completely buried under a small mountain of Divination tomes.
Narcissa barely hesitated when she saw the free chair by Ted's side; it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.
Ted looked up from A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration long enough to greet her, then dived right back in. They were all quietly engrossed in their own pursuit, and it was blissful. Until Narcissa reached the third tablet in her runes handbook.
Her eyes got gradually wider as the line went on and on without pauses or punctuation. How was she supposed to make sense of that mess?
Narcissa carefully blanked her face. There was no reason to let the book know she was intimidated. She wasn't, she thought with a frown. She was going to understand it all, and the Runes Professor would praise her insightful understanding of the subject. Narcissa was a Black, after all, and she would accept nothing less.
Her conviction lasted about thirty minutes, then she bowed her head, stopping herself from slamming her forehead against the book because she was a lady. She tried to focus on the passage but her eyes traced the runes with no understanding.
Merlin in a skirt, it was impossible.
"Why don't runes make sense?" Narcissa whispered, mostly griping to herself, but Ted rose from the depths of his transfiguration homework like he had been summoned, blinking at her owlishly.
"What?"
Narcissa sighed.
"It's nothing. Just a passage here…" Ted didn't even hesitate, pushing his work to the side and leaning over to see what Narcissa was having trouble with.
"Ah, yes, I remember how that can be tricky," he said, then proceeded to spend almost an hour helping Narcissa with her rune homework. At the forty-minute mark, she started to genuinely believe that the teacher would be impressed with her. It was a good feeling.
/
/
The hallway was empty except for Narcissa and Travers, and that was a travesty.
Narcissa smiled and nodded gracefully, but if she had to listen to another word out of Travers's mouth her daydreams about his murder would become a lot more vivid. Then she heard someone come up from behind her, and as the student passed her by she recognised his black and yellow robes.
"Excuse me," she said, already heading swiftly towards Ted, calling out to him. When he turned to see what was going on, Narcissa placed her hand in the crook of his arm and kept walking forward, forcing him to follow. "Ted, how fortuitous it is to meet you! I wanted— no, I truly needed to ask you about that rune problem—" Narcissa kept up the chirpy demeanour until they turned away from the corridor, then she sighed slightly and her hold on Ted's arm went slack.
"Of course I'll tell you all about runes if you want, but are you alright?" Ted asked, looking at her with his soft brown eyes.
"Hufflepuffs," she scoffed, and Ted had the audacity to bump into her, purposefully!
"Hey, this Hufflepuff just saved you, if I don't miss the mark. Don't dismiss my House!" Ted said with a smile, nudging her again.
Narcissa chuckled lightly, deciding to let his poor behaviour go. He had helped her out, after all. They talked about runes until they parted ways.
/
Over the next several weeks, Narcissa and Ted sharing a library table, often with some other Hufflepuff, became a normal sight. As exams neared, no one had the mental capacity to worry about a Slytherin third year and a Hufflepuff upperclassman studying together, and Narcissa was happy to take advantage of the free homework help. That was how she put it to justify it to herself, at least. The truth was closer to the fact that she… enjoyed spending time with Ted. In their interactions, Narcissa had found a surprising respite from Slytherin House's constant struggle to be on top of the social structure. It was something Narcissa didn't know she needed or wanted, but once she'd experienced it on the regular, she realised it was like a breath of fresh air. Hanging around a Hufflepuff was surprisingly uncomplicated, and Narcissa didn't have to keep a mental tally of favours owed to avoid reprisal.
/
Narcissa and Ted were working on their own things side by side when Andromeda turned around a bookcase and immediately recognised the blond hair.
"Cissy, are you—? Oh."
Narcissa raised her head, as did Ted, and observed as Andromeda stopped and stared at the sixth year cosily sharing a table with her little sister.
Narcissa only looked coolly unaffected by the chance encounter, while Ted took a good look at Andromeda and smiled widely.
"Hey! You must be the other sister! Ted Tonks," he said, extending a hand cumbersomely over the stack of books on the table. "A pleasure."
Andromeda stared at the offered appendage like she didn't know what to do with it, then looked over at Narcissa, who stared back expectantly.
"Andromeda Black," she said, accepting the Hufflepuff's hand. She went on before Narcissa could go back to her reading, "Cissy? May I speak to you for a minute?"
Narcissa nodded but didn't even bother packing up her things as she rose from the table. She clearly didn't think their talk would take long.
Andromeda led Narcissa behind another row of books and quickly set up a silencing ward.
Then her older sister fixed her with a stern look.
"What was that?"
"Pardon?" Narcissa asked mildly
"Don't try to play coy, now. Why were you sitting with... Tonks?"
Narcissa held Andromeda's gaze for a few long seconds, trying to convey how much she didn't need to explain herself to her sister. When Andromeda didn't back down, Narcissa avoided scoffing only because it was beneath her.
"He has OWLs in Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Sitting by him has been profitable," she affirmed with calm conviction.
Andromeda studied her, unimpressed.
"Profitable. I see," Andromeda said, sounding like she didn't see at all. Then she put a hand on her hip like Mother. "Narcissa, have you been making friends?"
Narcissa had been ready to be contrary on principle, but the question briefly stumped her. "Friends?" She had to pause to reflect on the word choice. "Mh. I suppose we are at that."
Andromeda seemed shocked that she would admit it so easily.
"You're friends with a— a—"
"A Mudblood?" Narcissa offered.
"A Hufflepuff three years your senior," Andromeda stated with a hard look in her direction. Then she capitulated, "And yes, a Mudblood."
Narcissa stared at her sister from under her lashes.
"He dealt with Macnair." She didn't give Andromeda time to come up with a response and kept talking even as her sister's eyes widened in shock. "In a terribly Hufflepuff way, of course. Still."
"He…" Andromeda trailed off, then looked towards the table Narcissa had abandoned like she could make out Ted through a wall of books. Slowly, Andromeda started sporting an incredibly intrigued look. "Tonks — dealt with Macnair."
"In a—"
"A Hufflepuff way," Andromeda interrupted her. "I heard you the first time." She barely looked at Narcissa as she continued. "Still."
And that was the end of it.
Or at least Narcissa thought so. She kept studying with Ted, realising as she did that Andromeda's assessment of the situation had been accurate. Between discussions about runes, creatures and Houses, she and Ted became friends, to the point where Narcissa would snub her Slytherin peers if she was meant to meet with Ted.
It was incredible that even after admitting their friendship to herself, she was completely blindsided by what happened later.
Narcissa never saw it coming.
Her life changed irrevocably when Andromeda left home to marry a Muggleborn, who Narcissa had befriended, and it had all started with her "morning run" around the lake.