Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Remus itched at the collar of his dress robes. The Potters were putting on a magnificent ball in celebration of James finishing Hogwarts and of course that meant he had to attend. He didn't understand all of the ceremony and frankly, he didn't care for it. It was much too lavish and formal. He sighed and resumed fussing with his clothes. He was wearing deep blue robes that Lily had bought him for his birthday. They were his only set of dress robes.

If only he could find Sirius. James and Lily had disappeared and Peter wasn't even there yet. Finally he spotted a familiar head of hair amongst the guests and made a beeline for him.

"Pads! There you are I've been looking everywhere!" He stopped at the sight of her. Her long white-blonde hair seemed to shimmer under the lights. Her silk violet dress robes flowed elegantly over her petite frame. She turned her gaze to him and he had the urge to pull at his robes again.

"Remus, you remember my cousin Narcissa." Sirius said in a bored tone.

He certainly did. She had only been at Hogwarts his first two years, but he remembered her. Who didn't? She was beautiful. The years certainly hadn't changed that.

"Of course." He replied. She smiled at him.

"Lucius at ten o'clock." Sirius teased her. She pursed her lips and turned to Remus.

"Would you care for a dance Remus?" He stared at her for a moment too long and she grabbed his arm impatiently and lead him to the dance floor. Numbly, he took her hand and put his other one around her waist.

"What?" He managed to ask. He was so bewildered he didn't even know where to start.

"Lucius and I have become betrothed." She informed him with a look of distaste. "Unfortunately that means he has taken to sticking to me like a barnacle. Sure he's handsome, objectively, and rich, but I would rather not end up married to him. He was supposed to marry my sister until she ran away and stuck me with him."

"My condolences." Remus offered.

She smiled at him then, and he had never seen anyone so beautiful. He shook himself. He could admire but never permit any feelings for her. Falling for Narcissa Black was not something he would allow himself to do. To his relief and disappointment their dance was cut short.

"May I cut in?" Remus turned and stared into the dangerous grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy. They were nothing like Narcissa's dazzling silver or Sirius' warm grey, they were cold, pure and simple. Remus thought they rather looked like stones that had been covered in ice. Hard and sharp enough to cut.

"Of course." He nodded at Narcissa and went to rejoin Sirius, who had found the bar. He turned to Remus with a raised eyebrow but said nothing of his dance with his cousin. He drank his firewhiskey and the two of them watched the dancing guests. Without meaning to, Remus found himself watching her. She turned and grimaced at him over Lucius' shoulder. He grinned back before looking away.

The rest of the ball was extremely boring. Peter arrived but refused to dance with anyone, Sirius got drunk, and James and Lily appeared near the end but they disappeared to Remus didn't want to know where once it was over.

After three hours of putting drunk Sirius to bed, Remus had escaped to his own flat. He wearily removed his dress robes lay in bed and promptly fell asleep. He dreamt of chasing a beautiful woman. Every time he got close to her she would disappear, blonde hair whipping out of sight.

Two days later he knocked once and entered Sirius' flat. James had just moved out to live with Lily and Remus worried his friend would be lonely. Sirius evidently thought the same thing because he had agreed to having dinner with Remus tonight.

"Pads? You here?"

He entered the living room to find Sirius deep in conversation with a woman. He grinned and shook his head. Old habits die hard, he thought.

"Sorry, I'll just be going."

"Whatever for?" The woman asked, turning around. Remus gasped softly. He hadn't spared her much of a glance earlier and hadn't realized who she was. "Hello Remus." She smiled.

"Hello Narcissa." He managed.

"I was just going to pick us up some food, are you staying Moony?" Sirius asked him. Remus looked at Narcissa. He was curious as to why she was there. Her and Sirius weren't exactly close. And he had planned to have dinner with Sirius tonight.

"Sure. If I'm not imposing."

"Of course not." Sirius scoffed. Remus realized he probably found it awkward to be alone with his cousin. "Be back in a jiff." He assured them.

"Just visiting Sirius?" He asked her lightly, trying to figure out why she was there.

"Yes. We used to be very close until he got blasted off of the tree and I stopped speaking to him. But then Andy ran away and I realized that it didn't matter whether they were disowned, they're my family. And I wasn't going to lose them because other people told me I had to."

Remus was intrigued. "Do you visit your sister?" She was silent for a moment, causing him to add hastily: "I'm sorry you don't have to tell me."

"It's alright. Yes. And my niece and my brother-in-law." Their eyes met and he knew what she wasn't saying. Ted's blood status didn't matter to her like she pretended it did. He smiled.

"That's wonderful, truly." At that moment Sirius reappeared.

"Food!" He declared. The three of them had a wonderful time. Narcissa was surprisingly funny and unsurprisingly shrewd, intuitive, and smart. She even seemed to be genuinely interested in Remus' job as a muggle history teacher. He had gone there for work because no one in the wizarding world would employ a werewolf.

It got dark much too quickly for Remus and, after clapping his friend on the shoulder, Remus found himself standing on Sirius' front stoop with Narcissa.

"Well, goodnight." He told her awkwardly. He began to turn on the spot to apparatus home.

"Remus." She said. He stopped himself from disappearing at the last minute and spun foolishly in circles before finally coming to a stop. He felt his cheeks flame in embarrassment but Narcissa ignored his discomfort.

"I am fixing my relationship with Sirius, but he wasn't the one I wanted to see when I came here tonight." He stared at her in confusion. She laughed and he couldn't tell if she was amused or irritated.

"I'd like to see you again." She stated clearly, as if speaking to a child.

"But, Lucius." He protested.

"Screw Lucius. I'll be in Hogsmeade tomorrow. I hope I'll see you there." And with that she disapparated.

Remus stood there, stunned. Why on earth would she want to see him? There was no way she actually liked him. This was a joke, a way for her to bond with Sirius. At the very most she just wanted to be friends. That was it.

And yet what had she said? Sirius wasn't the one she'd wanted to see when she went there tonight. Try as he might, Remus couldn't dislodge those words from his mind. Or the way she'd looked at him as she said them.