Fright threatened to dance within Narcissa's eyes, until she let them land on the culprit. L-Lucius? Oh no, not again… At least her fear could safely disappear. Concern fell onto her face, as she slowly approached her husband. Another flashback, was it? She questioned in back of her mind, silently observing him. Her steps were careful, so she wouldn't startle him, since he was shaking while pointing his wand at the Gate.

"Lucius," she whispered, careful not to say the name any louder.

Hazy eyes met Narcissa's. He was still within the flashback. "Luciu—" She attempted again, but was soon interrupted.

"Are… Are you here to save me?"

What? "Dear, you're at Malfoy Manor," she said just as equally as gently before. She moved a touch closer, maneuvering slowly around the busted gate.

"Malfoy… Manor?" Lucius muttered, eyes seeming to calm slightly at that. It was a familiar place. A good place.

Now, was a good time, Narcissa decided. The Black stepped forth, doing one of her slight touches on his wrist with her hand, which seemed to joustle him somewhat, making him flinch the slightest bit, but it did clear his vision which Narcissa had hoped for. She smiled, hiding her pain from seeing her husband so broken. "That's right, dear," she confirmed, being patient.

"How.. long," He asked, sliding his eyes shut for the briefest moment, focusing on staying in the present.

His wife instantly knew what he meant by that—"If I had to guess? About thirty seconds, maybe a bit before the main event?" The patriarch looked confused, which she quickly supplied, "Look."

That doesn't tell me anyth—he cut himself off upon seeing the damage on the ground. Oh. Lucius grew frustrated, finally stealthing his wand back into his cane. No, no time for emotions just yet, though his heartrate was still steadying dropping. "H-How many of these… in oh, about two weeks?"

"This would be about the third, now." Narcissa said after thinking for a little bit.

He set his jaw. "F-Fantastic," he mumbled, sarcastically, now moving past the gate further into the grounds. "The Ministry will be able to see one of their former workers in shambles."

Something occurred to her. "Do they know about what is inflicting you?"

A disgruntled expression. "They… could potentially for next time. Y-You remember that representative?"

"Ms… Paxson, correct?" Narcissa said slowly, trying to recall the correct name, as she only met the woman once before.

Lucius nodded, letting out a shaky sigh, leaning a bit heavily on his cane as he stood there, feeling bit tired from his sudden outburst. "I… had a previous outburst when dealing with her earlier, actually," he admitted, almost flushing knowing he had to act strictly cool during meetings like that. Not that Wilson had helped with that…

"A flashback?"

The patriarch immediately shook his head. "No. Too many mentions of…" he trailed off, grey eyes meeting hers, hopefully being able to communicate what he meant.

Recognition caught in her eyes, and she nodded.

Azkaban.

Her tone was quiet, "…do you think they'll ask about it?"

"My therapist. Potentially. But not if I can help it," he said determined, as he forced himself to walk forward-

Dishelved. That was ONE way to put it how he looked, and felt.

The atmosphere felt absolutely dreadful despite the dementors having left to join by the Dark Lord's side… A shiver went through the new prisoner, as he took in the simple surroundings of his cell, a far cry from what he was used to.

Such a new environment…

T he shock of it left him to try to grab for his cane, but dread filled him as he knew it wasn't by his side anymore, as his hand hit the cobblestone floor.

He felt… too vulnerable.

Lucius curled up into a ball, peering outside of his cell, wondering if the guards were at least semi-decent, though that seemed too much to ask for from Aurors, usually. Not for Death Eaters. Verbal abuse might be a commonplace.

Pure loneliness… That threatened to hit the platinum blonde, but before he fully could let his mind explore that, he heard a voice he would surely come to absolutely loathe over the next year. His eyes flicked up, hearing his family name being called out. He kept quiet, knowing his silvery tongue had no use in a place such as this.

"Remember me?"

Recognition filled Lucius's vision as he recognized the blue-streak within a pile of black-haired man standing in front of him with a smirk. Oh bloody hell. Not one of the bullies and classmates from when he was in school…

"Rave Swisser."

The name sounded fuzzy in back of his mind, perhaps purposefully by his subconscious so he wouldn't trigger another panic attack. He snapped to, realizing he had been standing in the foyer for some time, as he casted a look over to a patient looking Narcissa, which he flashed a small smile towards. "Just… memories, this time," he explained.

She went over and gently kissed his cheek. "Let's get a shower together." It would hopefully calm him, and they could potentially have some closeness before he started this whole mess.

"T-That'll be nice," he mumbled, now letting her pull him along.

It wasn't long, but they were able to get into the shower without much issue. Lucius still managed to cover up his neck, knowing that permanent tattoo there…

"Dear?" Narcissa called out through the slight loudness of the water stream, which startled him a bit, as he was still easily getting lost within his thoughts. "That… should remind you of what you were able to get past, not what necessarily happened." Gods. He looked so vulnerable there, it almost broke her heart. Confusion had spread across his face, as he attempted to absorb her words.

"Y-Yeah," he whispered, not fully understanding still but decided to at least box those words up for another time. He slowly moved his hand away, and she gently touched his face, which he almost squirmed away from, but kept himself there.

"I love you so much, Lucius…" she said, kissing him on the lips, so desperately wanting to press their bodies together. Oh, how she missed that.

"I love you too," Lucius breathed out, allowing himself to get the slightest bit closer, but not fully, but enough to ran a hand across her torso, exploring her body. All the curves… Oh, how he missed this. This was the first time they were able to get into the shower together in over such a long period of time.

Narcissa stood there, now letting some water run through her hair. Grabbing some shampoo, she squirted some into her hand and lathered up her hair, smiling towards her husband. "One step at a time," she said.

"Yes, one step at a time," he repeated, letting himself watch the show. Granted, he wasn't ready for anything sexual again yet, but it didn't hurt to be pleased by his wife's appearance. Finally after what seemed like a little while, he sighed through his nose, sliding his eyes shut, as he simply turned a bit and let the water stream down his hair now. "…I suppose this is as good as any other time…"

Narcissa froze as she got out of his way. "…Meaning?"

"I…I.. won't be able to be around you much starting tomorrow… Paxson says there's a Monthly stay at St. Mungo's."

Her voice was suddenly cold, "T-They can't possibly do that!"

Lucius gave a weak smile. "Sadly, they can, I-I couldn't very well Imperio the entire Ministry…"

"They can go sod—"

She was cut off by a sudden hug from her lover, feeling the slight shudders from the other. "You've helped me through a lot of this," he mumurred into her neck, as he breathed in her scent.

"I-I'm glad…" His wife stammered back, flushing as her husband chuckled. It felt good to hear him laugh—It almost sounded care free, but not quite. It made her smile a touch.

"I'll… think of you when I'm in St. Mungo's," Lucius promised softly.

"You'd better," Narcissa emphasized, knowing he will. Another chuckle, and a cough soon followed after it. A roll of his eyes, as he parted from her.

"No, I'll think of your sister," he teased, before finally washing off and dipping out of the shower before Narcissa could slap him. A Malfoy knows when to retreat!

ZZZZZZZZ

Dinner.

Draco looked up from his spot, grey eyes linking with the other grey eyes sitting at the Head of the table. Awkwardness wanted to so openly creep into the atmosphere, but Lucius attempted to clear his throat as if it could clear it all up. "Draco, you're going to be the Malfoy Head until I get back…"

The slightest bit of restrained anger appeared in the teen's eyes, as he attempted to speak, "Don't tell me, you're—"

"No," Lucius cut him off abruptly, knowing where that train of thought probably would have gone. He swallowed, shaking his head. "No," he repeated, "I'm sure your mother's told you about it—" He paused, to catch them looking at each other. Least they were closer with each other, but where did that leave him? "—But I'm doing this Rehabilitation program through the Ministry."

"W-what? But that won't change anything," Draco stated boldly, and Lucius steeled his eyes and sent a warning through them to his son, who flinched the slightest bit at that.

"Honey, your father's doing this so we can be a family again," Narcissa looked over as she finished scooping some of her favorite pasta onto her plate from the centerpiece plate, which Draco also distracted himself with.

Cursewords about his father wanted to spring up badly to the teen's lips, but he shoved them down. "B-But he… did this, what gives him the right to try?" He said, careful to keep his tone level, and his eyes vulnerable too. He didn't want to cause a fight; this could easily be considered disrespect if not handled correctly.

Narcissa sighed, and was about to answer, but Lucius beat her to it. "…Do elaborate, Draco," he said, anger clearly in his tone, but he held it back. He's… right, at least.

Concern forced itself onto Draco's face. "Y-You.. hurt us a lot, Father.. Respectfully, of course," he added hastily to cover his tracks. "I… don't know how to trust you." There, he said it.

At first, the Malfoy patriarch was silent. He wanted to be angry, because that did feel like a sword stab right through the stomach. Just like his mother, he knew what words to use to maximize their effect. How convenient he chose this time to say all this. Okay, maybe his anger felt like it threatened to turn into rage—That's when he felt a gentle hand on his wrist, and he casted a brief look towards his wife. A sigh escaped from him. Perhaps he could let it slide… He cleared his throat, again. "Be as that may.. This is a step in the right direction… so don't be a disappointment while I'm gone," he stated coldly. A little scathing, but understanding nevertheless.

Narcissa smiled, continuing to aid, squeezing his wrist a bit stronger before letting go. "You'll do great, Draco," she encouraged, flicking her eyes towards the boy.

I got off light, Draco noted as he studied his father briefly. "Thank you Mother- I won't, Father." I hope I won't be.

"I'll be gone for a month, apparently the Ministry wants me to be in-patient at St. Mungo's," Lucius finally felt the need to shift the conversation, which the information made the young Malfoy to lift an eyebrow.

"That's… strange. Is this whole thing new?" He asked after chewing and swallowing some food on his plate.

Lucius nodded. 'I believe so."

Draco quietly debated on what exactly to say. "…Good luck, Father."

Lucius's eyes flashed a bit recognizing it and said a quiet 'thank you', as the elder Malfoy got back to his meal. Nice, home cooked food… Might not be that different from hospital food due to house elves there potentially, but… it probably won't be the same. Lucius sighed at this, deciding to eat slowly. His heart panged knowing he'd be missing out time once again from here—

He had to force it out of his mind.

Rest of the evening went by calmly enough, and soon the couple found themselves relaxing in bed, while Lucius stared up at the ceiling, and Narcissa was reading a book, humming to herself. The male let out a sigh, as he now finished up his nighttime tea, placing the teacup back onto the tray. "…You'll come visit me often as possible, right?'' He said quietly, making her do a doubletake.

She shook her head, picking her head out of her book. "What, dear?" Oh, how she hated that… Interrupted in middle of a page is the worst thing ever. Tch.

Lucius hesitated to ask it again, "…you'll come visit me as much as possible, right?"

"Sorry, dear, I had earplugs in—"

Lucius sighed, getting irritated, " I SAID—"

Narcissa then giggled. "I'm just joking, Lucius. Yes, I've heard you…" Effectively made the blonde roll his eyes. She brushed a hand onto his cheek. "We will. You'll have to owl us the Visitor Hours, which I'm sure they'll have."

Lucius smiled sadly. "T-This time… I won't be missing my family as much.."

That panged at her heart a bit, causing her to frown the slightest bit. "You're right… Much more freedom."

A bit of silence, until— "It won't be as dark."

Narcissa this time smiled a touch, settling down a bit into bed again, drawing her book closer to herself. "It really won't be."

A small smile fell onto Lucius's face, as he found himself starting to fall asleep.