TW: This chapter will introduce a storyline involving infertility that will continue in the future of the fanfic.

"Eleanor feels it would best to hold your wedding in the gardens at the Manor. There's plenty of room for guests, it's a beautiful setting, and it's an important tradition for Malfoy wizards to marry at the Manor," said Druella.

"Mother," Narcissa groaned, "Lucius and I just became engaged last week."

"But this wedding will be extremely important to the Wizarding community, Cissy," said Druella.

While Lucius was preparing to officially join the Death Eaters and Narcissa was concentrating on completing her schooling, their mothers had taken it upon themselves to begin planning the most lavish wedding worthy of front-page news coverage. "Mother, Lucius and I do want a say in planning our wedding," Narcissa asserted. "We both understand the significance of a wedding combining the Black and Malfoy families, but we also want to make it personal for us as individuals, not just our surnames."

Druella huffed in frustration, but decided against arguing with her youngest daughter. Narcissa was quite a strong personality when she wanted to be. The family continued to consume breakfast, with Cygnus skimming various newspaper articles. Daisy came into the dining room and announced, "Daisy has mail for Master and Mistress."

"Thank you, Daisy. Now bring me some more tea," ordered Druella. Druella browsed through the mail—invitations to balls and Ministry events, a few periodicals, and an occasional junk advertisement—before she stumbled across something else. Druella furrowed her brow. "It's from Hogwarts. I don't know what it could be. Your supplies list for seventh year already arrived last month." She handed the envelope to Narcissa.

Narcissa opened the piece of mail and pulled out the letter.

Dear Ms Black,

First, I offer my heartfelt congratulations on your engagement to Lucius Malfoy. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together.

Narcissa scowled at first, but then realized Dumbledore had probably read the formal engagement announcement published in The Daily Prophet.

It is with great honour for me to appoint you to the position of Head Girl for the 1972-1973 academic year. As Head Girl, you will be responsible for instructing House Prefects of their duties as well as having authority over other Hogwarts students. You will also have other duties as assigned by either myself or other professors. It is a combination of your academic achievements, stellar reputation, and hard work which has earned you this position.

Congratulations, again, on being appointed Head Girl. I will see you on 1 September.

With warmest regards,

Albus Dumbledore

Narcissa placed the letter down and said, "Dumbledore has appointed me as Head Girl."

"Let me see," Cygnus said, taking the letter into his hands. "Merlin, he really did. Congratulations, Cissy. Merlin knows you've earned it."

"You're on track to be valedictorian, you've been chosen as Head Girl, and you'll soon be wed to Lucius Malfoy. I don't know what Father and I did to deserve a daughter like you, but we are so proud of the woman you've become."

"Merlin, I have to tell Lucius,"said Narcissa excitedly.

"Finish your breakfast first, Cissy," said Cygnus.

"Yes, Father."

After breakfast, Narcissa fixed her hair and makeup before Apparating to Malfoy Manor. She ran up the path to the front door and knocked the brass doorknocker. She waited a bit impatiently for a few moments before Abraxas answered the door. "Narcissa, I didn't know you and Lucius had an outing planned for today."

"We didn't, sir. But I have some good news. May I enter?"

"Yes, Lucius is in the drawing room, preparing his speech to give to the Dark Lord during his initiation."

Abraxas stepped aside, and Narcissa stepped into the foyer. It took her a while, but she finally found the drawing room. She really needed to learn her way around the place since at this time next year, the Manor would be her home. Narcissa knocked on the door frame, and Lucius stopped his pacing to face her. "Cissy," he said and smiled. He came over to her and pecked her on the lips. "I wasn't expecting you today."

"I know. Your father let me in," said Narcissa. "I have wonderful news."

Narcissa handed Dumbledore's letter to her fiancé, and Lucius scanned the text. "Dumbledore has appointed you Head Girl?" he asked for confirmation.

"I can hardly believe it myself," Narcissa answered. Lucius stayed silent, and Narcissa asked, "You're not mad, are you, Luce?"

"No, not at all. I couldn't be more proud of you. I'm just astonished that Dumbledore chose a witch from Slytherin to be Head Girl. I was certain that the only reason he chose Prefects from Slytherin is because he has to since there are six from every House at a time. Merlin knows he hates our House." Lucius wrapped his arms around Narcissa's waist and pulled her closer to him. The pair kissed long and hard before Lucius pulled back and said, "But that just proves what a great witch you are. Even certified Slytherin-hater Dumbledore had to recognize your achievements."

Narcissa beamed. "Merlin, I'll be Head Girl, and I'm your fiancée. Every witch at Hogwarts will be wishing they were me."

"Speaking like a true Malfoy already: someone who's extremely proud of who she is."

"I love the sound of Narcissa Malfoy," said Narcissa.

"So do I." Lucius and Narcissa sat down at the long, ornate table in the drawing room. "But before you officially become Narcissa Malfoy, we have a wedding to plan."

"My mother and yours are already sharing ideas. I've been too focused on school, to be honest."

"I've been busy preparing my speech for my initiation into the Death Eaters."

"Did you want me to come with you tomorrow?"

"Ah, well, the Marking Ceremony is for members and new initiates only. Unless you want to take the Dark Mark tomorrow, you cannot come."

"No, I don't want to officially take the Mark."

"Good." Lucius breathed a sigh of relief. "To be frank, I don't want you to either. I'd leave the decision up to you and the Dark Lord if you change your mind, but one of us being on the front lines is probably more than enough."

"Who's taking the Mark with you tomorrow?"

"Avery, Nott, and Rosier. But like I said before, one of us will need to be home after children come along." Narcissa gained a somber expression, and Lucius asked, "What?"

Narcissa took Lucius's hand. "Lucy, may we talk in the garden?"

They held their most intimate conversations in the garden, so Lucius knew something was wrong. "Okay."

Lucius took her hand and led her to the bench in front of the fountain. They sat down, and Narcissa took a shaky breath. "I don't even know where to begin."

"Take your time, Cissy," Lucius said and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Narcissa swallowed and said, "Toward the beginning of last school year, I stopped getting my monthly cycle regularly. At first, I thought it was from the stress of Dromeda betraying us and Sirius being sort into…Gryffindor," Narcissa spat out. "I didn't tell Mother because I knew she would think I was with child. I tried looking through medical books, potion recipes, charms, anything that could make them start again. After several months of not having one, I finally went to Mother for help. She took me straight to St. Mungo's for a pregnancy test, even though I told her we haven't been intimate. The test returned negative, obviously; the Healers ran a few tests, and they couldn't determine a cause. I had my cycle two months ago, so I thought it would come back regularly, but then it stopped again. I went to see a Healer again, and she said to monitor my cycles and how many months pass before I have one again. She asked some questions about my family history and my relationship status. I told her we're engaged, of course she knew already, and that we plan on having children." A tear slid down Narcissa's cheek. "She said that if my cycle doesn't regulate, then this issue might affect my ability to have children. Pregnancy could happen, but it will probably be much more difficult than we anticipated." Narcissa began to cry even harder.

Lucius scrubbed his hands over his face as he absorbed the news, but soon wrapped his arms around Narcissa and said, "It's okay, Cissy. Everything's going to be okay." He rubbed her back.

"You don't know that, Luce. I really shouldn't even be telling you all of this…"

"Cissy, we're going to be husband and wife soon. We need to have these conversations. Our marriage is doomed to fail if we don't communicate with each other and don't have difficult discussions."

Narcissa wiped away the tears and said, "I know I should have told you earlier, but after I got my cycle again, I thought it might have been stress. But then I skipped a few cycles again, and I was terrified to tell you. I accepted your proposal thinking of only me and my love for you. But now, I've had the opportunity to think about it a lot, and I…I understand if you want to break off the engagement."

"Absolutely not," Lucius asserted.

"Lucius, it's your job to provide your father an heir to the Manor and a son to carry on the family name. Your wife needs to be able to bear a child for you."

"But your Healer didn't say it's impossible." Lucius stroked her cheek. "Cissy, I'm glad you told me. But right now, we need to focus on getting to that point in our lives. Let's focus on you finishing your education and then us getting married. Then, we'll face the journey to parenthood together when we can fully focus on it. We'll do everything we can to make it possible. I'm not promising it won't be difficult for us, but we'll be going through it together. I love you, Cissy. Nothing will make me love you any less."

"Not even if I state that my hair is prettier than yours, and that you're way too obsessed with the idea of getting peacocks after we get married?"

"Don't push it."