Lucius grins to himself as heads back towards the castle, slipping his hands into his cloak pockets. He shakes his head, smiling to himself. He had never really noticed before how pretty Narcissa was. Well, clearly he had noticed. She was unmistakably beautiful with her long blonde hair and delicate features, but it had never really registered in Lucius's brain before this afternoon. Perhaps it was her demeanor at school that had kept him from noticing. She was cold and restrained at Hogwarts. Not unfriendly, but not exactly warm and inviting. She was always polite, but it was in such a measured response it was off putting.

Out there in the water, alone, however, Narcissa had been different. Lucius had watched her for a few minutes as she floated through the water, and the image of her was nearly mesmerizing. He heard her hum softly to herself as she swam through the water, laying back in the waves and letting the water lap against her body. There had been a moment, too, where her pale wrist broke from the dark water to shade her eyes from the sun. Dark drips of water fell from her fingertips, sliding down her face. He had watched far longer than was appropriate, sure, but he was honestly a bit enchanted by the sight of her. Narcissa Black was the last person he had expected to see breaking the rules in such a brazen manner, and seeing her so relaxed and with all her guarded walls down had been illuminating.

He couldn't help but prickle her a little, as well. That was just his nature.

She had been up for the challenge, too, keeping her wits about her despite Lucius's fervent attempts to unbalance her. He'd had the advantage, though, and it was enjoyable to see the calculated girl at a loss for words for a minute or two. She was quite pretty with a spark of annoyance in her eyes and a flush in her cheeks.

In fact, Lucius was realizing that he found the girl quite interesting altogether.

And then there was this smile on Lucius's face. He couldn't seem to get rid of it. What was worse, he didn't want to get rid of it. He was enjoying this feeling.

Rodolphus snorts when Lucius arrives in the commons, scooting his younger brother out of the way so that Lucius can sit by them. "Off to see that skank of yours again, then?" Rodolphus asks. "Looks like Circe put a smile on your face. I hope it was worth it."

"I wasn't with Circe," Lucius snorts. He fishes out Rabastan's textbook that was tucked into the couch and throws it at the younger boy. "Now shut up. I've got a question for you."

Rodolphus pulls out a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it with his wand. "Can't very well answer your question and shut up," he mutters with the cigarette between his lips, the little bud wagging as he talks.

Rabastan snorts, only half paying attention to their conversation.

Lucius rolls his eyes. "Tell me about Bella's sister," he says.

Rodolphus looks to Lucius, his interest piqued by the question. "Andi or Cissa?"

"Bella's got two sisters?" Lucius says with a frown. "I've only ever noticed Cissa before."

Rodolphus nods, sitting up and puffing out a cloud of smoke that dances around the table. "Andi's a quiet one. I think. More of, she's an odd one. Always disappearing at the dances and parties and doesn't make much of an impression when she does show. I mean, sure, she's pretty and all that, but there's something off about her."

"Well, nevermind about her. Tell me about Narcissa."

Rodolphus looks at him curiously. "Why?"

Lucius shoots a sharp look at him. "Because I'm asking." He waves away the smoke tendril that is making its way towards him. "And put out that damn cigarette. It's stuffy enough in here without you bloody smoking, you ass."

Rodolphus grins but puts out his cigarette on the coffee table. "I'll make you a deal. Tell me why you want to know about little Cissa Black and I'll tell you what I know about her."

Lucius rubs his chin for a moment, torn between not wanting to admit his interest in the girl and his sudden obsessive need to know everything about her. "I ran into her recently and had an interesting conversation," he admits through gritted teeth. "I realized that I don't actually know that much about her. Now come, you're dating her sister. What do you know about Cissa?"

Rabastan looks up from his homework, his eyes darting across Lucius's features quickly before going back to his book. Lucius looks to him, studying him for a moment. Despite staring at the textbook in front of him, it was clear that Rabastan was no longer reading it. Lucius lets out a breath. He didn't like strangers knowing things about him, especially not things that Lucius hadn't quite figured out about himself yet. But Rabastan was harmless and Lucius was too anxious to find out some new trivia about the blonde girl with the icy eyes.

A slow victorious grin crosses Rodolphus's face. "Hmm," he says, staring at Lucius. "Well now."

"Just tell me what you know," Lucius grumbles.

Rodolphus rolls his eyes, but keeps the smile on his face. "First thing I can tell you is that Bella is mighty protective of her little sister. Cissa is her favorite. Probably her favorite person in the world, myself excluded. She scares off any boy who's interested, but even if they got past my lovely little guard dog, Cissa doesn't care much for the boys around here. At least, that's as far as I can tell. So if that's what you're after, you're barking off the wrong tree. Bella would castrate you before you got within a foot of her, and even if you managed to supersede her, Cissa would have nothing to do with you."

Lucius snorts. "Forget all that, what do you actually know about her? About her personality?"

Rodolphus shrugs, sinking back in the chair. He flicks his cigarette bud aside and searches his pockets for a new one, ignoring Lucius's glare. "She likes horses, I know that. And quidditch, I think. Bella mentioned something about her and their pa going to all the big old quidditch games. God, Lucius, I don't know. She's just Bella's kid sis. You can ask Rabs if you want to know more. They're actually in a few classes together."

Lucius's eyes shift to the younger boy who has visibly stiffened.

"I don't know about her," Rabastan says quickly, not looking up from his textbook.

"Sure you do," Rodolphus argues. "You two have Herbology together, don't you? And I've seen you two eat lunch together multiple times."

Rabastan shrugs. "Don't know her too well," he mutters.

Lucius looks at him suspiciously, not believing him, but not pushing it. "You two are bloody useless," he concludes, sitting back in his chair.

"Your turn to answer a question for me," Rodolphus states. "Are you interested in little Cissa? Is that what this is about?"

Lucius shrugs, not letting on anything. "Don't know yet. She caught my eye, that's all."

"Poor little Circe. She's going to have her little heart broken." Rodolphus lets out a long puff of smoke, letting the trail of it dance out. "Now, Lucius, I think it's rightly my place to tell you this next bit. Be careful when it comes to Cissa. She's not like those floozy things you've dated before. I mean it when I say Bella is protective of her. She really will castrate you if you hurt her. If you're looking for a fling, stick with Circe, or some other girl who knows what she's getting into when it comes to you. I like Cissa. She's a sweet kid and I feel right brotherly towards her. I will not like it if you mess with her. I might just sic my girlfriend on you myself."

Lucius rolls his eyes. "I don't have any intentions when it comes to Narcissa Black," he defends. "She raised my interest, that's all."

That wasn't quite true and the words fell flat on all three boys' ears. Even now, in his mind, Lucius was picturing that slip of white wrist breaking through the dark water and the trace of curves against her wet cloak. And that twisting long blonde hair. And those pale blue eyes. Lucius was more than just interested in Narcissa Black. He could feel some strange unknowable feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, twisting its way through him.

"Careful, old friend," Rodolphus warns, letting out another long puff of smoke. "Careful."