Disclaimer: I just own the plot!

Review Responses:

Sunrise-chick - You're about to find out what she needs the wand for! Thanks for reviewing and my exams are going to over at the end of next week so the updates should come a little more regularly rather than being a bit all over the place. This is being posted quite quick but it may slow down a little till exams are over and I have to admit Wedding Bells was poster much faster! Thanks for reviewing!

Trillium - Wow, four different reviews from you! Glad you liked my portrayal of the Slytherins in Wedding Bells and I hope you'll like them just as much in this. As for the review to chapter three about you seeing her losing it, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest the woman's not very well balanced! I can so see her demanding Lucius' help in assassinating Dumbledore, it's not a plot line I'm following but that's hilarious! Dumby shouldn't mess with her son! I want to go and see Lenin's corpse! That's a funny story but a cinder in the eye had to hurt! No Narcissa isn't going to destroy something exactly...you'll see in this chapter! I know what you mean about Draco and I can't make up my mind about that scene. Is he warning them? As Narcissa isn't there when that happens I don't address that in this story but I have often wondered. Is there something more redeemable in him than people realise? Thanks for all the reviews!

Headmaster Cromwell - Glad you like this. I tried going to your website but I got a site not found message, maybe I got the address wrong. Cromwell? Anything to do with Oliver Cromwell? Thanks for reviewing!

Lune Project - You're about to see exactly what she's got planned! She is doing it for Draco's sake and for her own, I think you'll find that what will change is her own confidence rather than anything more substantial but I think it's important. She is determined, she won't go down without a fight! That is sad, I hate the idea of abused Narcissa, thought that makes no sense as I write about that! I hope she doesn't turn out to be uncaring about the events in the wizarding world and what her husband gets up to. I want her to either be a nice person or for her and Lucius to be irredeemably evil but adorably in love with each other, I think they could be really cute! Ok, I'm dumb! How did I not get Jo was Joanne Rowling? As for who else could kill Draco, I have a habit of thinking of them as real people, my psychiatrist says to keep going with the pills! Grieve? There'd be mass suicide if she killed Draco! She cannot kill Draco! Thanks for the info on Draco's name and the belief about the stars, that's really interesting. Did you know that historically Draco was an Athenian politician from the 7th century BC. The laws he created were notoriously severe, it's from him we get the term draconian meaning particularly harsh. I love the way you read so much into the names Jo uses! Thank for reviewing and don't worry about leaving long reviews, I love them!

1235 - Thanks for reviewing, glad you like the idea I'll update again soon!

Professor Charlotte Snape - Thanks for feeding the cat! I think Narcissa has more power than she realises, then again the events of this chapter seem to indicate that she has! Ooh yes write a Narcissa fic, she's never written about! Humour or angst? That's a tough one, her life lends itself to angst but also to humour! You could try mixing the two? That's what I tried anyway, but it's a lot more angst than humour! Narc can be hilarious, I mean think about it she's married to Lucy! Lucy, bleach blonde hair and a velvet bow. Too many jokes, not enough time. Except my Lucy has short dark hair because I picture him as Richard E. Grant! How is it that Jason Isaacs is the only man on earth who can carry off bleach blonde hair and a velvet bow and still look damned good! I still think of Lucy as Richard E. Grant though, he just is Lucius. But then I do adore Jason Isaacs, ok you didn't review to hear my dilemma about Richard E. versus Jason Isaacs as Lucy! Sorry about that little rant! I didn't really answer your question as to humour or angst but I think you should write whatever you think you're best at! Thanks for reviewing!

Dark Comet - The kitty says hi, he's glad you like cats, he likes reviewers! I have to say I like cats too and I hadn't even thought about Crookshanks! I so want to see him done well! Knowing the film makers he'll have transformed into a grey tabby or a Siamese! The loss of Peeves and Penelope and Oliver is unforgiveable, I truly fear for Percy, Neville, Seamus and Dean, I mean the last two are hardly in it anyway but at least they're there at the moment! Where will this tyranny end?! The twins definitely don't get enough screen time and what happened to the fight scene in Flourish and Blotts? Don't even get me started on the fact Alan Rickman is never on screen! The film people are indeed lousy! Yeah, go Narcissa! Well, you'll see what she's got planned, I really hope you all like it because I'm getting terribly nervous about this chapter! I hate the vulnerable wimp Narcissa, or Narcissa the airhead who cares for nobody! I must say I kind of like demon bitch from hell Narcissa! I like it best though when she's nice, my Narc is capable of being a bitch but she can be nice as well. It would be good to see her kick Lucy's arse in the books but I doubt it'll happen, come on we know Harry's going to do it all single handed! I wouldn't mind Arthur taking down Lucy but I will admit to a fondness for the Molly Weasley drags Lucy off to Azkaban by the ear (or maybe the hair) scenario! Personally I think it might be a good twist if he once again got away with it even if Voldy does fall, just to show that evil is not that easy to destroy! The nazis didn't all go down with Hitler, I doubt all the deatheaters will go down with Voldemort. Does anyone else see the parallels between the deatheaters and the Nazis? Pureblood, Aryan? I'm just drawing parallels! I'd quite to see Lucy and Narcissa turn out to be spying for the ministry or something but that won't happen! The only member of that family I have hope for is Draco and I have very little of that. I just don't think J.k. will ever redeem him, her characters are too black and white, she needs to step back and think about why they are the way they are. I realise I am criticising a genius who is most kindly not suing me for stealing her characters but the prejudice in her books astonishes me! And I don't mean in regards to the deatheaters and all the pureblood crap. I mean the stereotypical, Gryffs=good, Slyth=bad! She's just teaching kids that you can judge people by who their families are or by who they might have been at eleven years old. There's nothing wrong with being cunning! Woah! Going to stop now, why do I always rant in review responses? Thank you for the kind review and for wishing me luck, I have six exams this week, one last week and three next week! Good luck in your exams!

Serepidia - Thanks for reviewing and feeding the cat! Lucy does indeed deserve anything that comes to him, as for what that is you're about to find out! Thank you for wishing me luck, I'll need it!

I Built My Life Around You

**Narcissa's Thoughts**

Chapter 15

Narcissa arrived home before her husband and son and carried her purchases down into the dungeons as there was an old potions lab there which Lucius had used during the days of Voldemort's power. Severus had used it too on the odd occasion if her memory served. **God knows what sort of condition it's in now, Lucius and I always buy potions ready made these days.**

She lit a candelabrum and proceeded through the wine cellars and down a corridor until she found the room she was looking for. There were still torches in brackets around the walls and she lit them with her wand, before setting up a cauldron and sorting through the ingredients for the potion. She set them up and placed the instructions on the table. It was a complicated potion, but nothing she couldn't manage she was sure of that.

The potion was finished in just under two and a half hours and she extinguished the flames underneath it to allow it to cool. She hadn't realised how quickly the time had gone, it had been just like being back in the Hogwart's dungeons again in a potions lesson. The potion was a sickly yellow colour and there was clearly more of it than she needed. Narcissa used a quick charm to transfer some of it into a tall jar without spilling any. She then tightened the lid on the jar and set about neutralizing and disposing of the excess.

She finished just before Lucius and Draco returned home and hid the potion under one of the floorboards in her bedroom which had a polished wood floor with a luxurious rug spread across the boards. **Now, I just have to wait.**

*******

Narcissa did not come down for dinner that night, claiming she was still unwell. In truth she simply could not sit across the table from Lucius and Draco knowing what she was about to do. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and Narcissa was wide-awake. She walked into her husband's room, her bare feet making no noise on the thick carpet. He was asleep, the moon was high in the night sky and it's pale light was spilling into the room through the open drapes at the window. She crossed over to the bed, wand upraised. **Now or Never.**

**It would be so easy. And who would ever know? No one would dare suspect me.**

She hesitated by the bed; she'd never killed anyone. **It's no more than he deserves! After everything he's done to me and the Weasleys and all the terrible things he did as a deatheater! All the terrible things I let him do, funny how I never objected until it affected me. What gives me the right to dole out justice? And why do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself that I'm doing the right thing, if I were I wouldn't need convincing.**

She sighed and dropped the unicorn heartstring wand to her side.

**I won't become a murderer for you. I don't need blood on my hands and I, I just can't do it. It isn't right, it's not up to me to punish him for his crimes, crimes I stood back and let him commit. Gods Lucius, I'm sure you'll get what you deserve one day and who knows maybe it will be at my hands but right now it's enough to know that I could and yet I didn't. That makes me better than you; because, positions reversed, you wouldn't hesitate.**

She turned and left the room, glancing back at the sleeping figure that hadn't moved since she'd entered. She closed the door quietly behind her and leaned against the wall, suddenly aware that she was trembling in the warm night air. It took a minute or two for her to pull herself together but then she stood up straight and slowly made her way back to bed.

*******

The next day she awoke to find the wand still lying on the cabinet by the bed. She looked at it and knew she would never use it, it just wasn't right and even if it were she doubted she could have found the strength the carry through with it. **So am I being compassionate or weak?** She sighed and got up and dressed. She still had the potion to destroy the wand with hidden underneath the floorboards in a corner of the room and, after locking her bedroom door, she pulled back the expensive rug and lifted the loose board. The potion was still there and sealed; she let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. **Right, well I can't do this in here.** She put the wand under the boards with the potion and unlocked her door, glancing out into the corridor. There was no one there so she made her way to her son's room and knocked on the door.

He opened it, "Good Morning," he yawned still in pyjamas.

She smiled, "Morning sweetheart, what have you got planned for today?"

"Nothing."

**Damn, I need him and Lucius out of the house! Particularly Draco, Lucius could be distracted easily enough but Draco's likely to come looking for me.**

"Oh, well do you fancy a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah! That sounds great!"

"Brilliant, I'll see what your father says."

Narcissa was feeling surprisingly good, the incident had served to prove to her that she was not as defenceless as Lucius liked to think. She went down to breakfast chatting cheerfully with Draco and smirking at her husband, causing him to get a very disconcerted expression across his pointed features. **Expected the little woman to be afraid of you did you? Sorry to disappoint.**

It didn't take long to convince Lucius that they should take a trip to Hogsmeade and Narcissa made it seem as though it were a peace offering, a family outing to apologise for questioning him and making him angry. **Fat chance!**

She had a plan and once in Hogsmeade suggested they go their separate ways, as she 'wanted to spoil her two favourite boys without ruining the surprise'. Draco looked excited and Lucius looked like he was going to be sick. She smiled at the look on his face but he didn't stop her going so she walked quickly away. Once they were out of sight she turned down an alleyway and apparated home. She wouldn't have long, she had promised to meet then in an hour and a half and she'd have to do some shopping in that time as well so as not to raise suspicion.

She ran into the house, up to her room and changed from her robes so as not to stain them, as a clothes change would be a little difficult to explain away. She pulled on some old muggle jeans and a sweater, perfect for surviving the cold of the dungeons. She grabbed the potion and the wand and made her way carefully down to the dungeons and through the corridors to the old potions lab. She placed a lighted candelabrum on the table and opened up the beaker containing the destructive potion. She picked up the blackthorn and unicorn heartstring wand and lowered it slowly into the potion. There was no hissing, fizzing or reaction of any kind; the wand simply dissolved when it touched the liquid. **Ok, now I know why he told me not to touch the potion.**

She pulled the paper with the instructions on from a pocket in her jeans. There were instructions for neutralising the potion at the bottom so that it could be disposed of safely. She glanced at her watch; she'd have to work quickly. She went to the cupboard where she had left the ingredients she would need, the neutralizing potion had to be used within three hours of being made so it was no use making it in advance. She conjured up a fire and placed her cauldron on it, pouring in the liquid from the beaker. She spent the next twenty minutes adding ingredients and stirring the liquid, watching it change from a sickly yellow to a royal blue. According to the recipe it was now safe and could be poured away down a sink. Having already neutralised the excess the previous day she was confidant that it was right and carried it to a cracked old sink in the corner and poured it carefully away. **Mission accomplished! Now I just need to change, clear all this away and get back to Hogsmeade, buy presents for Draco and Lucius and I've got just under an hour to do it in. Damn!**

She made it back to Hogsmeade with fifteen minutes to spare before she had to meet her husband and son. She dashed round the shops looking for something suitable and came up with an eagle feather self-inking quill for her husband and a new wizard chess set for her son. The chess set was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship made from marble and obsidian. The quill was a bit showy for her tastes but she knew Lucius would like it and self-inking quills were still a fairly new idea, expensive and difficult to get hold of.

She was two minutes late to meet them in the Three Broomsticks for lunch but they didn't seem to notice, particularly once given their presents. They both seemed very pleased and at the look of appreciation on Lucius' face she felt a stab of regret for what she had almost done. She then remembered what he had done to Ginny Weasley and how he had threatened her, **How can that be the same man that I married?**

*******

A/N: To anyone who thinks she might have been overreacting with the whole trying to kill him thing, think long and hard about everything he's done. I'm not advocating murder I don't think she had the right to kill him but her actions are every in keeping with the way I am portraying her character, as J.K. didn't give her a character!

To those who think she should have done it, I wasn't comfortable with her killing him in cold blood like that and it would have disrupted JK's plot! I hope it wasn't too anti-climactic, at least not in a bad way! I just wanted to show that she's desperate and has the means to do something huge if she wanted to, but she's still a compassionate human being under all that with enough common sense to know when something's a bad idea.

Ok, I am now trying to justify myself to my wonderful reviewers, I think the exams have got to me, I'm getting paranoid! I really hope people like this chapter!

In case anyone was wondering Narcissa needed another wand to kill him not because her own wasn't powerful enough (It is) but because she couldn't use her own for fear of discovery like that thing they do with Harry's wand after the dark mark is sent up at the world cup. She could hardly go to Ollivander's because he might tell the ministry that she'd been in buying a new wand.

Because I'm nice I've given you two chapters at once this time, also because it allows me to put up Sev chapter sooner. You should see that this coming weekend hopefully!