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Sunrise-chick - Glad you liked the chapter. Narcissa did handle it well, but then we must not forget that she is a Slytherin and she is capable of coping when she gets her head together properly! Glad you're excited for this chapter, I am too actually I can't wait to see what my reviewers make of Sev. Ok, he's pretty much the same as he was in Wedding Bells but still I want some feedback on him. I hope this lives up to your expectations! Thanks for reviewing!

Dark Comet - Sev's here! Sorry it took so long for him to get here! I'm glad you thought chapter 11 was good, I wrote it because of Draco's comment to Harry and Ron while they're pretending to be Crabbe and Goyle about the ministry raiding his house and I just thought it'd be interesting to see Narcissa handle something well for a change! The woman is capable of being practical and serious, just not too often unfortunately! I cried in both "Before the Kiss" and in "Fang", also in "When Irish Eyes Smiling" and "The Memorial". I think I cry too easily! Fang is just the sweetest thing, I already loved Percy but after reading that I was just head over heels for the boy! Sorry to be evil but I'm not telling, you can guess, maybe, sooner or later but I'm afraid I won't tell you if you're right because I don't want to spoil to plot! Of course, you may not think it's cute you may think it's awful but I'm rather fond of what I was talking about. Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths? Gosh that is mad, though I have some friends who did very similar options. Personally I'm more arts based with History, English Literature and R.E. I also did sociology at AS level and I hope never to go near the subject again! There appears to be no difference between AS's and A levels other than AS's come first and A levels get even harder, basically it's just another way to torture us poor sixth formers! Thanks for reviewing and now you can read the long awaited Sev chapter!

A/N: I would like to say I was re-watching the Philosophers stone the other day and if you pay attention to baby Harry in the flashback Voldie at Godric's Hollow sequence then you notice that baby Harry's eyes are a bluey grey colour, not green! You'd think they could have at least got that right. I know all babies are born with blue eyes but Harry was a year old when this happened and I'm sure they have their permanent eye colour by then. He also has blue eyes on the front cover of the video. OK, just nitpicking, on with this chapter!

I Built My Life Around You

Chapter 12

On the 12th of December Narcissa apparated to Hogsmeade to meet Severus, Lucius was busy supervising the house elf in it's packing for their upcoming trip. Draco had been livid when he had found out that he would not be coming home for Christmas but Narcissa hoped it would do him some good to see the results of such violent prejudice being taken out on his classmates.

She strolled through the streets of Hogsmeade with the hood of her winter cloak up to obscure her face. She had no particular reason to hide as she had told Lucius that this was where she would be, without mentioning Severus of course, but she had learnt over the years to be cautious.

She turned into the Three Broomsticks at ten to four, ordered a port and lemon from the bar and sat down in a corner. Severus arrived ten minutes later and sat beside her, nodding in greeting.

"You not drinking?" she observed.

He merely shook his head, "It's a good idea to stay alert on these outings, you never know what the students, giddy at the thought of freedom and the approaching holidays, will get up to."

She laughed, "It's been too long, I missed your cynicism."

"It has been a while. How have you been since we last met?"

"Awful! Lucius and I are getting along as well as ever!"

"That bad?"

She nodded, "Oh and I realised that due to lack of practice Draco is probably more accomplished with magic than I am."

"I would advise you to rectify that," Snape said, seeming half amused and half concerned.

"I am doing," she replied. "Did you hear about the fight Lucy had in Flourish and Blots?"

"No, what was that about?"

"Well he insulted Arthur Weasley and got a taste of the Weasley temper. That and a book in the eye!"

Severus snorted in amusement, "What happened?"

"Oh nothing, they were separated by that idiot Hagrid. No one even noticed I was there."

"What have you got against Hagrid?"

"Other than he's a fool? You should have heard the things he said about my family. About how no Malfoy was worth listening to, that it was 'bad blood'. I mean what gave him the right to say those things?!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm, he's a fool and probably wasn't thinking what he was saying."

"Oh and that makes it alright?!" she snapped.

"What makes it all right for your son to call muggle born students mudbloods?!" he raised an eyebrow as though challenging her to disagree with him.

"That's different, he's just a kid who doesn't know any better!" she protested.

"He's old enough to know better."

"He's been brainwashed!"

"And Hagrid hasn't? The entire wizarding world thinks that way about your family, he is as much parroting other people's opinions as Draco is."

"Draco's a child, Hagrid is an adult. He is the one who should know better!"

"We both know he's hardly the brightest tool in the box but he would never discriminate against your son because of his father, the only problem is your son acts exactly like Lucius sometimes, you cannot say his accusations were entirely unfounded."

"And me? Do I act like Lucius? Why does no one seem to remember that I exist?"

"Perhaps because you hide in Lucius' shadow. You never speak out against him so people assume you share his views."

She snorted, "I'd like to see them oppose him in my position!"

"Narcissa, this argument isn't getting us anywhere."

She sighed and slumped into her chair, "No, it isn't. God Sev, it was like I was invisible. I don't mean to sound arrogant but I'm used to people sitting up and paying attention when I speak, to walking in a room and having people look in my direction. When did I become his shadow? When did they stop seeing me?"

"I don't know. Maybe at the same time as you became so afraid of him you simply did his bidding."

"Maybe," she quietly conceded.

He looked at her with more sympathy, "It isn't entirely your fault."

She smiled at him, "Thanks, but I didn't come here to talk about Hagrid, or my social standing."

"Then why did you come, your letter sounded urgent."

"I wanted to ask you about these attacks."

"Why? You don't believe Lucius had something to do with them do you?"

"I don't know, but that isn't what I meant anyway. I wanted to ask you if you felt it would be safe for me to leave Draco in school over Christmas."

"He's a pureblood, I don't think he's at risk, but why would you want to leave him there? To be honest it may not be the most pleasant of places at the moment."

"That's what I'm counting on. I'm hoping that he'll see first hand what blind prejudice can achieve, I'm hoping that he'll start to feel sympathy when it's his own school mates being attacked."

"You're hoping for rather a lot."

"I know, but at least it'll be two more weeks he doesn't spend with Lucius."

"Well, I think he'll be perfectly safe, he may not appreciate it though."

"He doesn't have to appreciate it. It just has to work."

"Very well, I'll keep an eye on him, but how do you intend to get Lucius to agree to this scheme?"

"Already done, we're going to Moscow he has 'business' and wants a pretty wife to hang off his arm."

"Then why's he taking you?"

"Severus!"

The man laughed at her indignant face, "Oh dear, Narcissa you vain creature, someone certainly knew what they were doing when they named you."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Yes you are. You always were."

"It's a matter of self respect. Lucius has taken everything from me but I refuse to give in because of him. By looking after myself it means he hasn't won! I know that's a daft way to see things but it makes me feel better. I look in a mirror and I feel good about myself, which is more than what I feel when I look inside my own mind."

The woman looked so serious Severus had not the heart to mock her any further. She finished her drink and he glanced at a clock on the wall.

"I have to go and round the students up soon, enjoy Russia."

"I'll try, I do enjoy travelling though so it shouldn't be too bad if I can ditch Lucy!"

They both rose from the table and Narcissa pulled a small package from her bag, "Merry Christmas."

Severus took the gift looking surprised, "I didn't get you anything."

"Oh it's nothing much, just something I came across and thought you might like. All I want from you is for you to keep an eye on my son."

He nodded, "I will. Can I open this now or should I wait until Christmas day?"

"Open it now!" she said like an excited child.

He removed the green paper, opened up the box inside, and removed a fading photograph in a silver frame. "Thank you," he said quietly.

The picture was of a quidditch team in green robes. There were three girls and four boys including a tall, slender boy with shoulder length black hair and dark, intelligent eyes. In the middle were two girls, both tall and pretty, one blonde, one with black hair dyed a startling purple for the bottom three inches or so, the two of them were holding a silver cup triumphantly above their heads. All the people in the photo were laughing and cheering. The boy with the black hair and blonde girl were almost unrecognisable as the two adults who now faced each other across the table in the pub.

"It's the year we won the cup, mine and Morgana's last year."

Severus smiled rather sadly, "I remember, Morgana was overjoyed, she worked us so hard all year for that. I wonder what she'd have done if we'd lost?"

"Killed us," Narcissa said matter of factly, "Quidditch wasn't a matter of life and death to her, it was much more than that!"

They laughed but Severus noticed Narcissa's eyes were cloudy with unshed tears.

"I should let you get going," Narcissa said, pulling herself together and wiping her eyes with her hand, "Goodbye Sev."

"Goodbye Narcissa, and thank you for the gift. It was much appreciated."

"It just struck me as one of the few good memories we shared. See you round."

He nodded and she left, walking back out into the snow but wishing all the time that she could stay in the warm pub with her friend and never go back home.

*******

A/N: The tall girl with the black and purple hair is Morgana, her hair was dyed, it was naturally brown but she usually had it like this to be more interesting. She was the captain of the quidditch team and played keeper, Sev and Narc were both chasers. Some of that information is already in this story somewhere but I thought I'd mention it again here. As for how quidditch obsessed Morgana was, think Oliver Wood in female form! For anyone who doesn't know who on earth I'm talking about read Wedding Bells Just Turned to Rust, to which this is the sequel, she was Narcissa's best friend at Hogwarts.

Review Please!! I only got two reviews for the last chapter! It makes me want to write more!!!