The Pale Boy's Secret

by Asleep

NOTE: This is from Narcissa's point of view while she was at Hogwarts. Please give me a chance and wait until I can develop this a bit. And please review and give me helpful suggestions--I need them.

Love, Sophia (Asleep)


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Chapter Two: Narcissa - Secrets and Invisibility


Narcissa Baker, a Gryffindor fifth year, stared out the window of the dormitory. Autumn light flowed through it, warming her face, which she had cupped in her hands.

The girls with whom she shared the spacious room were eating lunch. Narcissa never ate lunch; it had become a habit of hers over the years at Hogwarts. She needed time to think, and most times during the day other than lunch she spent with her friends. She'd explained this to them and they'd accepted it and it had gradually become a custom for Narcissa to stay behind when the rest of the Gryffindors went down to lunch.

Narcissa heaved a sigh and sank onto her bed. She felt guilty about the fact that she never told her friends what she thought about, not even her closest one, Lily Evans*. Lily knew about the things that had happened to Narcissa during her younger years, but the secrets she had, the ones that no one else knew about besides Aunt Clio, were much too personal--she wasn't ready to share them with anyone. Not yet.

Aunt Clio. Narcissa had not thought of her for a long time. Instinctively, she put her hand to the left of her, half expecting to touch the sleeping figure with whom she had shared a small bed of straw for so many years. Narcissa still slept far to the right of her bed out of habit. For in instant, Narcissa was back where she had come from, back in the musty yet comfortable barn with Aunt Clio, lovely Aunt Clio. Clio was telling a wide-eyed Narcissa stories, vivid ones about vampires she had known and fairies she had been friends with...

Narcissa shook herself violently as an involuntary tear slid down her cheek. Aunt Clio is gone, you idiot, she told herself angrily. She is gone and no matter what you do, she is never coming back. At this, she let out a choking sob that she could no longer restrain. And, she mind reminded herself, as though she wanted to hurt herself as much as possible, it's all your fault.

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"Narcissa...Psst!"

Narcissa jumped, startled; she had fallen into a thin sleep. She rubbed her eyes groggily and stared up at the canopy of her bed for a few moments before she realized that something had woken her up. She looked sleepily around.

"Who is it?"

"Psst!" said the voice again. "Over here!"

Narcissa peered in the direction of the voice and saw nothing. She heard hearty giggles. Now, she was beginning to get angry.

"Listen, whoever this is, I'm really not in the mood to be laughed at." And with that, she drew the hangings of her bed closed with a jerk.

There was a moment of silence, and then the hangings were slowly pulled apart. Narcissa was facing the other way, but she recognized the voice of the person who spoke next.

"Er...Narcissa, are you alright?"

Narcissa gave an indignant sniff. She lifted herself onto her elbows and turned her head to look at James Potter.

"James, what the hell're you doing in the girl's--aaayiiiieee!"

Narcissa yelped and backed as far away from what she saw as she possibly could. She shut her eyes, but when she opened them, it was still there, as clear as ever--there was James, but he was missing a great deal of his body. In fact, his head seemed to be levitating in mid-air!

James laughed at the look of mingled terror and confusion on her face. In an instant, he was back to his normal self; Narcissa watched him materialize out of thin air and suddenly he was standing in front of her (but with all of his body parts this time). She saw that he was holding something liquidy-silver in his hands.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" James held it out for her to touch.

But Narcissa seemed far too angry to notice the beauty of this object. She seemed to be unable to speak. As a matter of fact, she looked so utterly stone-faced that James figured he had better explain himself before she started throwing punches.

"It's an invisibility cloak," he said, holding it up. "That's why you couldn't see me before...erm...pretty good joke, huh?"

This was apparently not the correct thing to say at the time. Narcissa looked as if she could have hit James, and he thought she was going to for a moment. He was surprised, however, when she started laughing. He was even more surprised when she pulled him into a tight hug (but, perhaps, more relieved than anything), still laughing hard.

"I'm so glad I have friends like you..." she said. Or, at least, that's what James thought she said; her voice was muffled because she had buried her face in his shoulder.

James, who didn't know why she had said that, just smiled. It was a few moments before he realized that his friend was crying.

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Sorry, that was a bit weird. Have faith, though...more will be revealed later. Please tell me what you think and give me suggestions--I need lots of those.
*Sorry about Lily's last name. Frankly, I wasn't sure whether there'd been a last name mentioned or not. Thanks noyb and thanks everyone for the great reviews!