Authors note: This was written for QLFC Season 9, Round 6: Link 'Em Up. I am the Seeker for the Tutshill Tornados.
My chosen character: Lucius Malfoy. My pairing is: Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black.
Word Count: 1094
Trigger Warnings: canon mentions of blood purity and politics of the Dark
My thanks to Tres for having the patience to read through this (as I wrote it lmao) and to my long-suffering sister, Elizabeth who gave it a final read-through before posting. Any remaining mistakes are my own!
I hope you enjoy it!
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The Slytherin common room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was surprisingly comfortable, with large fireplaces combining with warming charms to ward off the chill of being under Scottish ground in the dead of winter. They also provided an ambience of unexpected cosiness: dim circles of privacy surrounded by flickering shadows where students or the Head of the House could wind their way through the room in relative secrecy. It went unsaid that simple charms that were passed down to First Years immediately after their Sorting, allowing anyone to peer through the shadows.
Near one of the fireplaces, the largest, of course, Lucius Malfoy sat in an emerald green wingback chair, an open book balanced perfectly (negligently) on one arm. It was a position of power within the room, proper for both the heir of the Malfoy family and the Head Boy of Slytherin; not only was it the most sumptuous fabric, but it was the largest and most comfortable in the common room, as well as the most strategically placed. He was well aware of how striking he was in that position, flames dancing across alabaster skin, pale blonde hair glowing against the velvet of his chair. From there, Lucius could watch the other Slytherins for infractions against the code of honour of the House.
Today, the teenage Heir wasn't watching the room at large. Instead, he was focused on a single point: the loveseat on which Narcissa Black was sitting as she read her Transfiguration book. The youngest of the Black sisters was perfectly, subtly made up, even this late Saturday afternoon, clad in a dark green dress, pale skin unmarred as one finger delicately trailed down the lines of her page. If it wasn't common and below the House of Black, Lucius was sure that the Sixth Year would be mouthing along with the text as she attempted to ensure she was prepared for the test two days hence.
The young woman in question was his betrothed since two years past. A marriage contract written between their fathers, Abraxas Malfoy and Arcturus Black, had been forged as each man came to the Head of the Family in an effort to permanently link the two houses in blood and politics. As the male - and therefore the dominant partner in the Wizarding patriarchy - Lucius had his choice between the three Black sisters.
The eldest, Bellatrix, had always been a bit off her rocker. Four years his senior, the Black Family Madness had been well-hidden before she had begun her Hogwarts education. It was an instability that the Malfoys wanted nowhere in their family line and marriage to Bellatrix would guarantee its presence. The young woman had pledged her life to Lord Voldemort as soon as possible, the youngest ever to receive the Dark Mark, and she had proudly shown it off to others with the same Dark affiliations under Dumbledore's nose. Her love for their Lord was fanatical, and Lucius was sure that that would have everything else in her life coming below him in importance.
As it should be, he acknowledged to himself. He would, however, hope that whomever he married would see their child, who would become the Malfoy heir, as more than a stain under the Dark Lord's boot.
Andromeda Black, only a year ahead of him at Hogwarts, was perfectly sane and focused on her studies, to the point that Lucius was surprised she wasn't a Ravenclaw. It was unheard of for a Black to be Sorted into any house other than Slytherin - at least until Sirius Black, the Black Heir, had been sorted into Gryffindor. Andromeda would make a perfectly suitable Lady Malfoy… except for her unfortunate friendships with a few Muggle-borns in her year. Unmarked though he was, Lucius' life was already pledged to the Dark Lord. A wife who was a sympathiser of mudbloods and muggles was not acceptable.
He could only imagine the arguments behind the closed doors of the ancestral Black home.
That left the youngest of the Black sisters: Narcissa. A year younger than Lucius himself, she was unarguably the most striking of the three, if only because of her two-tone hair. She was also the most poised. Narcissa had been entrenched in her family's blood purity traditions from birth, as had the rest of her siblings, but she was the quietest follower. No anti-muggle tendencies from the Dark Side overtly showed for the girl named equally after the most delicate flower and one distinguished for their beauty. As Bellatrix's mad cackle echoed through the halls and Andromeda quietly ignored her family's teachings, Narcissa soaked up the teachings of Walburga Black and strove to learn not only her Hogwarts curriculum but also what she needed for the Lady of the House duties she had decided she was destined to fulfill.
It also helped that she was beautiful, his male hind-brain added helpfully.
As he watched, Severus Snape stopped less than thirty centimetres away from Narcissa, the Firstie waiting for acknowledgement before sitting next to the young woman. At her short nod, the taciturn half-blood joined her on the loveseat, leaning over slightly as he gestured to a specific point on the page before Narcissa closed the book. He could hear her tinkling laugh as she reminded the boy that the time when he learned advanced Transfiguration spells would come. She assured him that McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor though she was, was a Mistress of her field and was quite capable of teaching the boy anything he wished to learn.
As she spoke, Lucius stood from his seat, levelling a glance around the common room. Sending a cold glare to any of his year-mates who might dare to usurp his chosen spot, he left his book on the arm before making his way to where his betrothed was sitting. A warning glance towards the Firstie, and Snape was immediately vacating his spot to settle elsewhere, though Lucius noted that he remained as close as possible to the pair.
A shared glance between Lucius and Narcissa later, he pressed a rare kiss on her smooth cheek, content that his honour and her purity would remain unquestioned in the company of the disowned Prince. That he was further staking his claim on the beautiful Sixth year was a bonus.
Beginning a conversation with Snape on the subject of Potions, the gaunt sallowness of his face flushing with pleasure and passion about his favorite subject, Lucius mused that there might just be more than one profitable link to be made in his last year at Hogwarts.
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I hope you enjoyed it! Any feedback is appreciated!