"You look like a goddamn idiot," Rodolphus notes as Lucius walks heads down the hallway towards his bedroom. He's leaning against Lucius's door, smoking a cigarette. The smile that had been on Lucius's face fades to his stoic rigidness.

"No one likes you when you smoke, Lestrange. Put that disgusting thing out. Especially if you're going to do it by my door. You'll burn the place down."

"And where was his highness last night?" Rodolphus continues coolly, taking another long drag and ignoring Lucius's protests. "And before you go trying to lie to me, I recognize that outfit from yesterday and your creaking your neck like you spent the past few hours asleep on floorboards."

"And if I say it's none of your business?" Lucius says, purposefully snarling and pushing Rodolphus aside so that he can get into his room. He sighs as Rodolphus follows him in, but decides to ignore him as he changes his shirt and tie.

"Well, then, I'd say that that isn't quite true," Rodolphus says. He raises the cigarette back to his lips but Lucius shoots him a dirty look.

"If you smoke that in this room, I will snap your neck," he growls threateningly.

Rodolphus rolls his eyes, but puts his cigarette out against Lucius's night stand. Lucius gives him a scathing look which he ignores. "Bella was telling me that you've got yourself an infatuation towards her kid sister."

"She accompanied me to Hogsmeade," Lucius says plainly. "And then she decided that that was enough for her tastes."

"Hmm," says Rodolphus mockingly. "If only I could believe that was the end of things. But I do recall a conversation that we had, oh, how long ago was it? Three, four days ago? A conversation, if you recall, where you claimed you weren't interested in little Cissa Black before immediately pursuing her."

"We spent a couple of hours together, that's all," Lucius growls. "I don't understand why you're interrogating me."

Rodolphus moves to where Lucius has taken off his old shirt, leaning in and pinching something together between his fingers. "Aha!" he says with accusation, turning back to where Lucius is trying to button his new, clean shirt. Between his two fingers is a long golden hair. He holds it up to Lucius's hair to inspect it. Lucius waves his hand, trying to shoo him away. "Too long to be yours, Lucius. And too blonde, too. Not your particular shade of deathly white. No, if I'm not mistaken, this particular hair belongs to a pretty little Black sister. Narcissa Black, to be exact."

Lucius snaps and spins toward him, grabbing the hair. "You should let this conversation die right now," he threatens. "I'm not above murdering you."

"But I haven't finished summarizing all the clues," Rodolphus says coolly. He steps back from Lucius and sinks onto the other boy's bed, lounging carelessly. "And you're going to listen to every bit of it. Here are the facts. Just the other day you were asking after Narcissa Black. Next, the two of you were seen on a date together in Hogsmeade. After which, I personally noticed the two of you talking together in the commons, followed by a public-albeit rather staged- breakup. Ah, so it's over between the two of them! Or so a lesser man would think. But I did a bit of snooping, and found when I innocently came to your room to borrow a bottle of firewhiskey for me and my girl to share, that one Lucius Malfoy was not in his bedroom despite the late hour and a bottle of his prized champagne was missing. Now, finally, I find the culprit sneaking back into his room early in the morning with a long blonde hair on his shirt. Mmm, want to take a guess the conclusion to this little story?"

Lucius growls and grabs a fistfull of Rodolphus's shirt in his hand. "If a word of what I'm going to tell you next leaves this room, I will in fact murder you, Rodolphus, do you understand?"

Rodolphus snorts but nods. "You're seeing her, then? That's the truth of it."

Begrudgingly, Lucius nods. "She doesn't want Bellatrix to know. Your sister has a tendency to act a bit crazy. And protective, like you said, when it comes to Cissa. So we're keeping it low key until we can figure out what to do about her sister."

Rodolphus shakes his head. "I can't believe you're this much of an idiot. I told you, Lucius. Cissa isn't like the other girls you've dated. You can't just use her up and toss her to the side. Her sister will murder you. Dammit, her family will murder you. You don't go messing around with pureblood girls like this."

Lucius sighs and sinks into his arm chair. "I like her, Rods. No, I… I really like her. And I know I'm fighting against my reputation here- trust me, I've been fighting against that since step one- but this isn't a game for me. I genuinely and sincerely am crazy for her."

This elicits a snort from Rodolphus. "That's why you slept with her last night?"
Lucius shoots a dangerous look at him. "I didn't sleep with her," he says gruffly. "Well I slept besides her, but I didn't sleep with her. I… Oh, bloody hell. We spent the night talking, Rods. And I…" He lets out a weighty breath. His voice takes on an enchanted tone as he recounts the events of the previous night. "We spent the whole night talking. About anything. Everything. Things I've never talked about with anyone. Dreams and secrets and things I'm ashamed about, things I hope for. I can't even tell you how she makes me feel, Rods. I'm not messing around. I'm really not this time. You were the one telling me that I had to get serious and find a girl, and she's it. I'm sure of it. She understands me like no one else does. Even now, when we haven't spent much time together yet. And she's beautiful. God, she's beautiful. Her neck… She's got a lovely neck, Rods. A thin little thing. And her legs. They're heavenly. I want to remain between them for the rest of my life."
"I thought you said you hadn't slept with her yet."

"I haven't," Lucius snaps. "But I know it'd be heaven. It's more than that, though. Of course I want to sleep with her. I'd be an idiot not to, the girl is stunning. But it's more than that. I don't know how to explain it. It's more, Rods. I swear to god."

Rodolphus takes it all in, letting Lucius say his piece. "You really like her?"
"I do," Lucius says with a sigh. "I really do, Rods. So I'm asking you. Please, pretty please, don't screw this up for me."

Rodolphus pulls out another cigarette and this time Lucius doesn't stop him. He lights it with his wand and takes a drag. "What're you going to do about Bella?" he asks with a puff of smoke spilling from his lips.

"Convince her I'm not going to use her sister and toss her away," he sighs. "But until I can do that, we're going to have to keep our relationship a secret. Which means, I need you to not go blabbing all this to your girlfriend."

Taking another drag, Rodolphus thinks about this for a moment. "First, I'm going to have to threaten you."

Lucius sighs but nods. "Let's hear it, then."

"If you hurt this girl," Rodolphus says, leaning forward, "I will have to kill you. I'm the closest thing to a brother that she's got, so the burden falls on my shoulders. I won't enjoy it, but it must be done."

"I understand. And if it's any consolation, I'm not going to hurt her. I think she's the one."

Rodolphus puffs out more smoke but nods. "I'll keep your little secret, then, but only if you promise me one thing."
Lucius rolls his eyes but waits to hear it.

"Don't sleep with her until the two of you have come clean to Bella."

Lucius looks at him in shock. "What? No, I'm not going to do that. I don't need Bella's permission to sleep with her. That's between me and Cissa and no one else, not even you, Rods."

"That's my one condition, take it or leave it."

"Leave it," Lucius snarls. "I'm not agreeing to that."
"Then I'm off to tell Bella you've been trouncing around with her precious kid sister, the girl she loves most in the world and would kill to protect..." Rodolphus says easily, getting off the bed and standing up. He stretches, biting the cigarette between his teeth.

"God, fine," Lucius hisses. "You win, you bloody ass. We'll come clean to Bella before escalating. You happy, you goddamn asshole?"

"I'll know if you break your promise, Lucius. I'll know." His voice is stoic and knowledgeable in a way that Rodolphus rarely is. "And I will tell Bella if you do and she will murder you. I think it'll be a bloody good thing for you to wait a bit this time round. To prove that you're serious about her, especially to yourself. It'll actually make you think with that thick head of yours rather than that little prick you're so proud of."

Lucius rolls his eyes. "Ass," he mutters.

"Glad we could have this talk," Rodolphus says, heading for the door. He puts out his second cigarette in the same spot of the night stand where he had the first, this time leaving the smoking bud.

Lucius glowers until the door shuts behind Rodolphus. His mind turns back to Narcissa. He thinks about her, laying on his blanket, the straps of her black dress falling down her shoulders suggestively. The smile that continued to play on her lips, tugging the corners up further and further as she talked. Her long cascading blonde hair, slipping down around her, like golden sunlight on a waterfall. The way her lips puckered. The beating of her lashes as she slowly fell asleep. The way her lips pressed against the glass as she sipped the champagne. The hint of her leg as the dress rode up to her thighs. The warmth of her arm around him. The peek of cleavage as her shoulders concaved when she laughed. The way she titled her head back, exposing the length of her neck, when he made her laugh particularly hard.
And the way she moaned, "Mr. Malfoy," into his ear.

Lucius felt himself grow hard against the restraints of his pants. This was the image that sent him over. Well, it was that image coupled with the new knowledge that he couldn't have her. Not yet at least. He didn't doubt for a moment that Rodolphus would know if he were to try anything with Narcissa. He had proven his deductive skills today already. God, though, did he want her. He couldn't help but picture the straps of her dress falling down further on her shoulders, slipping down, down, down her body until it was on the floor. Her smiling at him, holding out a hand invitingly. "Mr. Malfoy…."

Lucius growls, panting heavily. The erection in his pants throbbed desperately. Lucius peels off his clean shirt and undoes his pants, taking them off and getting into the private shower that connected to his room. He needed a long, cool shower to drown out the consuming thought of Narcissa Black.

There had been a moment, though. Lucius had seen it in her eyes. There had been a moment where Lucius could tell that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

It was too soon. As great as last night was. As much as they both wanted each other. It was too soon. Lucius considered for a moment going to Circe. She'd be more than obliging to take care of this erection for him. And he could pretend. He could close his eyes and pretend that it was Cissa. Cissa with her lips and her blue eyes and blonde hair.

"No," Lucius says out loud to himself. "No, dammit. We're not doing this." He wasn't going to hurt Narcissa like this. He could wait. Sex wasn't the end-all be-all. He could wait. And it wasn't like it'd be forever. He just had to solve this Bellatrix problem. That's all. Just solve this Bellatrix problem.

He turns on the cold water, letting it splash all over himself. Indulging for a moment longer, he lets his thoughts turn back to Narcissa. It was her in the lake that he pictured this time, her clothes in his hands. The sight of her wrist breaking from the water to shield her eyes from the sun. The sound of splashes as she walked out of the lake, naked behind him. The brief glimpse of her naked body as she took back her cloak. And then the way the material clung to her skin, hugging every curve of her body, almost as revealing as when she was naked.

Waiting was going to be hard. Infuriating, even. He had to figure out how to solve the issue with Bellatrix. He wanted Narcissa more than he had ever wanted a girl before.

He had to figure out this Bellatrix problem.