Narcissa hadn't meant for it to happen in the manner it did. It was toward the end of her third year at Hogwarts, and she was studying for her Potions final, while Lucius studied for his Transfiguration final. Andromeda was busy preparing for her O.W.L. exams, while Rabastan, Rodolphus, and Bellatrix were off somewhere. Surprisingly, Narcissa and Lucius had the common room to themselves, as everyone else was either in their dorm room, the library, or an exam.

The room was silent as the couple analyzed their material, but they were comfortable with silence between them at this point in their courtship. There were plenty of opportunities for intimate conversations on trips to Hogsmeade, as well as various events at either Malfoy Manor or the Black Estate. Of course, she also had her own life outside of the courtship, so some of her free time was spent with Victoria as they had the same class schedule, minus the fact that Narcissa had chosen Ancient Runes, while Victoria was taking Divination. Narcissa looked at the time and noticed she had to leave for her final. She shoved her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions into her bag. "I have to get going, or I'll be late for my Potions final. Good luck on your Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures finals."

Lucius nodded, and Narcissa headed to the Potions classroom for her final. She took a seat next to Victoria, and Victoria said, "You should do well on this final, Cissy. You seem to be naturally gifted at Potions."

"I guess it runs in the family. Mother, Father, Bella, and Dromeda are all gifted in Potions."

"I haven't seen you all weekend. Where were you?"

"With Mother, Bella, and Dromeda shopping for wedding dresses. Bella finally found one. But only after a grand argument with Mother over the color of it. She wanted black; Mother wanted the traditional white."

"So what color is it?"

"White. Mother won in the end. But guess whose bride's maids' dresses are black?"

"Yours and Dromeda's?"

"Exactly."

Slughorn stood at the front and announced, "Wizards and witches, for your final exam, you are required to brew a potion as best as you can from memory. You will have two hours to complete this task. I will assess your work and give you your grade after those two hours are up. You may begin." Narcissa began concocting the first potion that came to her mind and quickly gathered the ingredients she would need for it. The two hours sped by quickly, and Slughorn soon shouted, "Time's up. Supplies down." Slughorn went around the dungeon, assessing everyone's efforts. He reached Victoria, though she had only gotten halfway through her Shrinking Solution. He finally reached Narcissa and began to inspect her potion. "Is this Amortentia, Narcissa?"

"I…yes," Narcissa stuttered.

"That's very advanced. I don't cover it until my sixth year N.E.W.T level class, especially since it's banned here at Hogwarts. Where did you learn it?"

"Well, sir, I spent some of the summer reading Bellatrix's copy of Advanced Potion Making. I remembered the recipe for Amortentia. I also remember reading about Veritaserum."

"Well, if you keep up the good work, you'll most definitely achieve an O and be able to enroll in N.E.W.T level courses, milady," said Slughorn.

Slughorn walked away, and Victoria asked, "So what do you smell?"

"Roses from Mother's garden, fresh-baked Pumpkin Pasties, and…" Narcissa trailed off before she said, "I'm not sure what the third smell is."

The two witches gathered their things to go back to the Slytherin common room. "Seriously, what was the third smell?" asked Victoria.

"Some sort of musk scent, but I don't know where I remember it from," admitted Narcissa.

They arrived at the common room, and Victoria said, "Purity." They entered the room, where Lucius, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bellatrix were all seated on the couches. "So, the big day is coming up. How are you both feeling?" Victoria asked Bellatrix and Rodolphus.

"Great. We can't wait to graduate and move on with our lives," answered Bellatrix.

"I think Vicky meant the wedding, Bella," said Narcissa.

"Oh," said Bellatrix. "Vowing to spend the rest of my life with someone, but then a night of socially-approved shagging. You win some and you lose some."

"Cissy, Vicky, we were just discussing going to this rally tomorrow," said Rabastan, showing them an ad in the newspaper. "Did you want to join us?"

"I have my Divination final at that time, unfortunately," said Vicky.

"I also have a final," Narcissa lied. She didn't really, but she wasn't too keen on the idea of what appeared to be a rally for that rising figurehead of the new pro-blood purity group.

"Suit yourselves," said Rodolphus. "Bella, Rabastan, Luce, and I are all going. Feel free to join if you change your mind." Narcissa figured he must've used Legilimency on her to know she was lying. She didn't know about Victoria.

"I'm going to dinner. Vicky, are you coming?"

"Sure," said Vicky. They left for the Great Hall. "But seriously, what was that third smell?"

"Let it go, Vicky."

The next day, Rodolphus, Bellatrix, Rabastan, and Lucius were preparing to leave for the rally. Narcissa still wasn't sure about any of them going, especially Lucius. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan were all over seventeen, so they would be able to legally defend themselves from any Mudblood and Muggle sympathizers if needed. But while Lucius was a bright student and one of the top fourth years, he wouldn't be able to use magic without risking expulsion. Not to mention with the rubbish Defense Against the Darks Arts material, he hadn't learned all of the proper Dark Magic spells yet. As she heard them getting ready to leave, Narcissa ran down the stairs to the common room. While she had learned long ago that she couldn't control Bella or the Lestranges that much, Lucius valued her opinion. "Luce, wait!" He turned to face her. "I don't think you should go to this rally."

"Why not, Cissa? It's someone who wants to stand up for Wizard purity. We've discussed this idea in the past."

"I know, but there could be counter-protestors there, and it could be dangerous. You can't use magic without getting expelled, and I know you. You're going to be a great wizard. You can't afford to get expelled from here, or worse, killed."

"Cissy, Bella, Rod, and Rabastan can defend me if needed," said Lucius.

"Still, I don't think it's a good idea. I'm not saying you can't eventually fight for the cause. I just think you should wait until you're older. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you, you idiot!"

Lucius stood there stunned, but slowly turned to the other three and said, "You all go ahead without me."

"Are you sure?" asked Rodolphus.

"Cissy's right. Father would kill me if I went out to something like this and subsequently got expelled, no matter how important the cause is. Let me know how it was." The other three shrugged and left the dorm. Lucius turned back to Narcissa and took a few steps closer to her. "Remind me again what you said to me, Cissy?" He wanted to make sure he had heard her correctly.

"I said…look Lucius, I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Didn't mean for what to happen?"

"I began courting you to see if we would be compatible for a proper pure-blood marriage and to be certain I could be affectionate toward you for the rest of our lives. I didn't mean to fall in love with you." A few tears slid down her cheeks. "It's okay if you don't love me back, or if you want to end the courtship, but I'm not going to apologize for it." Narcissa couldn't deduce what Lucius was thinking, as his face was expressionless. She swallowed to keep the bile from coming up her throat. He took her hands in his, but he remained silent. "Lucy, please say something."

"I love you too, Cissy." He wiped away the tears.

"Really?"

"Really. Like you, I was afraid you wouldn't love me back, and you'd want to break it off."

"No," she chuckled. "If anything, it makes the idea of possibly marrying you even more appealing."

"Good." Lucius breathed a visible sigh of relief. "I have this funny feeling I'd never hear the end of it from Father if I made the decision not to wed a witch from the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."

Narcissa bit her lip and stepped closer to Lucius. He wrapped his arms around her, and the pair swayed back and forth. "This is pointless since there's no music," Narcissa commented.

"It can't be pointless if I'm with you."

Narcissa took a deep breath, content in Lucius's arms. She took another whiff, a particular aroma registering in her mind. "Is that a musk scent I smell?"

"I use musk-scented shampoo. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."