Chapter Three

Narcissa hurries to class, holding her quills and parchment close to her chest. She slips into her potions class, sinking into her chair besides Severus Snape and letting out a relieved breath.

"Cutting it close there," Severus notes.

Narcissa rolls her eyes and she straightens out her papers on her desk. She didn't particularly like the slimy looking boy, but he was the best in the class and Professor Slughorn always paired her with him. Slughorn had a particular talent of sorting out potential. Of course he had seen the potential in Narcissa. Narcissa had been cultivating her presentation since an early age. Her mother had cemented in her brain the need for pureblood perfection since an early age and she had taken to it far better than Bellatrix or Andromeda. Narcissa was obsessed with portraying the idealized pureblood lady and she had quite the talent from it. She had a talent for burying her emotions deep inside her and keeping a perfectly controlled expression on her face. This allowed her to construct representations of any response and provide the perfect reaction to nearly any situation. On top of this, Narcissa had a predilection towards studying and that made her a favorite of most of her teachers.

Severus, on the other hand, just had a bloody good natural talent at potions. Because of this, Slughorn always put the two together so that he could call on either of them and feel satisfied as a teacher, leeching off of their talents.

Narcissa hated Slughorn for this, for feeling like she was merely a prop to him, but there was a usefulness to his attention. He always held secluded parties for those he deemed talented or of worth, and these made networking particularly advantageous for her. So she tolerated Slughorn and she tolerated Severus. Afterall, if Slughorn saw potential in him, he may just come in handy one day.

"Did you finish the homework?" she asks quickly before class starts. "I couldn't find if the revive potion needs the tossle root to be crushed or juiced."

"Crushed," Severus says definitively, not looking towards her.

Narcissa nods and quickly fixes her homework.

"Alright class," Professor Slughorn says as he walks into the classroom, brushing back his already-thinning hair. "Everyone pass your homework to the end of the table and we'll begin our lesson. I have a delicious little treat for you all today. We'll be discussing the truly scrumptious topic of love potions, truly one of the most alluring and forbidden of topics, so I do hope we can remain mature about this topic and, er, composed."

Narcissa lets out a groan as she passes her homework over to Severus, rolling her eyes. The other girls in the class let out a chorus of giggles, turning to each other to gossip in excitement over the potion topic. Truly, Narcissa didn't know why they even needed to learn about love potions. Any girl who couldn't charm a man based on her own skills and talents wasn't worth her salt. And any guy who resorted to using a potion… Well, that just made Narcissa's stomach turn.

As Slughorn began the class, Narcissa let her mind wander. Love potions were relatively simple and she knew she could afford a bit of daydreaming. She couldn't help but let her thoughts wonder with the repetition of the word "love" throughout the class. Narcissa had kept herself guarded. She had many friends, of course, but they were all surface level. She didn't let anyone in too close. She had kissed a few boys as well, but she never let it go farther than that. It gave her control to keep people at a distance like this. She was in charge of how much of herself she let others see. She controlled how much of herself was exposed and was known. But sometimes, if she was being honest with herself, it made her lonely.

Despite appearances, Narcissa was a romantic at heart. It was perhaps her most closely guarded secret. Not even Bellatrix or Andromeda knew. Narcissa would sneak romance books into textbook covers and read them secretly at night. She would collect poetry books that she hid in a secret cupboard in her room and only read by candlelight. It made her heart weak to think of some handsome man rushing into her life and sweeping her off her feet.

Narcissa knew that modern relationships were a far cry from the romances of the fairy tales she read as a child, or even the romance novels she read now, but she couldn't help but longing for something akin to the epic love stories filled with beautiful women and brave men. There was magic in this world. Spells and potions and curses… surely true love existed, too. And Narcissa would find it. She wouldn't accept less. Class went on and Narcissa took notes, even though her mind was far from studying. In her mind's eye, she was picturing a strong and heroic man riding through the grounds of Hogwarts, hair loose and flowing in the wind. He stopped in front of Narcissa, bending down with a devastating smile.

"My love…" he would say, holding out a hand for her. "My lady."

Narcissa smiled at the silly little fantasy. It was just a little fancy, but she indulged in it for the moment.