Disclaimer: I just own the plot.

Review Responses:

Lune Project - I always figured the best way to get to Lucy would be to humiliate him, that and it's terribly fun! He's as vain as she is I think at times! Eep! You in red and your sister in green, that could have been embarrassing! I am totally in love with Alan Rickman! He's great for Snape but he is a little too old in my opinion too! I'm so pleased you like my Sev, I love writing him but I have to be careful to keep him in character. I think the twins could well destroy Hogwarts if they tried, probably if they didn't try as well! Who could blame Narcissa, not just with having Lucy as a husband but when Sev's the teacher what sane woman could resist? I know Narcissa isn't particularly sane but she was drunk and it was just one kiss, though God only knows what she'd have been up to given a bit longer at that party and a bit more alcohol! Then again any more alcohol and I think she'd have passed out, directly into his arms of course! Fidelity in marriage is important but Narc and Lucy don't have much of a marriage anymore and given the opportunity she'd leave Lucius at the drop if a hat, then again given enough provocation Lucius would probably kill Narcissa at the drop of a hat! Glad you like Dippy I came up with it because it just suits her so well, she's Dippy by name and Dippy by nature, dippy being British slang for mad and that house elf is crazy! Ooh, I like the Figg Potter connection, I think she's watching over Harry for Dumbledore or something, Arabella means yielding to pray? I hadn't heard that but it's intriguing. Woah, I knew there was a reason I got creeped out by Olivander! I never saw that anagram before and she's used them before with the Tom Marvelo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort thing. Gosh, I hope that's coincidental but remember his whole thing about Voldemort being great in the first book, it's true Voldy did do terrible yet great things but to say that to Harry Potter seems a bit dodgy. Horrible teacher? I think we had another breakdown in communication, I meant a horrible exam paper coming up, at least I think that's what you're talking about. Good luck with that paper of yours it sounds really tough! Perhaps when I have time I should try other sorting hat websites but I have to admit that though I want to be in Slytherin I think Ravenclaw's the next best thing! Don't be sad at being a Huffleuff, I love the Hufflepuffs! Just think of the loveliness of poor, noble Cedric! I, for the record, am terribly clumsy and frequently fall over my own feet much to the amusement of my friends! It's true that none of the houses are bad, they all have good people, apart from Ravenclaw who just seems to lack people that Jo mentions, I really want to know who their head of house and resident ghost are. I too hope Draco will be safe and I share your fears for Ron. I get the nasty idea they may kill him but that would just be a crime! Now you've got me worried, personally I think if one of the trio were to die it would be most interesting if it were Hermione as Harry's a bit obvious and Ron always rushes in without thinking you never expect Hermione to die, not that I particularly want her to, though rather her than Ron. I am surprised English is not your first language you speak (or rather write) it very well! I was taught German for five years and French for one and I dabbled in sign language for quite a while till my teacher got too busy with other things but the only language I speak fluently is English. I gave up French after one year in school and can say very little in it and I only carried German on for five years because I had to do at least one language for that long. Sign language is the only language I genuinely enjoyed learning. I wish they'd teach other languages from when we were very young in this country though apparently they are starting to, I'm amazed at people who can speak more than one language! I never thought about having to translate the Harry Potter books I guess I just expected them to come ready translated or something which I know make no sense but I just didn't consider it. I wonder why the English versions cost more, maybe there's less demand for them? It's no problem to e-mail you, I understand the desire to know what she's going to do in this book, I'm going mad over here waiting for this Friday! It's actually perfect for me as my exams finish that morning then Harry Potter comes out at one minute past midnight Saturday morning, though I keep thinking of it as Friday night. Perfect way to wrap up exams! You can expect an e-mail some time next week, I'm a pretty fast reader and I almost certainly won't be able to put the book down so I'll probably get through it in a couple of days. Heck we all dream about HP from time to time! I wish I could get my copy signed but I'd end up with a restricting order for asking her too many questions and refusing to leave her alone! I hope you can get your own copy by the end of the year, in the meantime Fanfic and my summary will have to keep you going! Yes, how is Narc going to deal with having kissed Sev, well this chapter sees her put her foot in it again! Pansy, who you brought up in your review, will be mentioned in the next chapter for the first time, you will hear about her looks from Draco but not just yet that'll come in a letter to his mother just before the Yule Ball. Lucky for narc Lucy doesn't know about the Sev incident! I actually have a fair few chapters ahead of this ready written but if I post them all at once then you'd have to wait ages before I could post again, this is why I manage to update so frequently because I always have a good few chapters of a story written before I start to post it, I'd never be able to average writing two or three chapters a week! No one's mentioned getting mad with my long review responses so don't worry about it, if it gets on anyone's nerves I could always start putting them at the end of a chapter instead of the beginning! Actually I'll think about doing that it might be a good idea! Is it really amazing? Thank you so much, I see the e-mailing of the summary of book five as a way to express my gratitude for the nice and informative reviews! Thanks again for the nice reviews!

Dark Comet - I know, she's bound to kill someone we all love! I really hope it isn't Lupin, though my money wouldn't be on him, I don't think she's had enough time to develop his character yet. I'd have thought she'd use him a bit more before she killed him off. Oh well, I don't know! I do know however that if she lays one finger on Neville or Severus I may have to go round to her house with a gun and make her re-write the whole book to my specifications! You said you were doing your GCSEs so I'm assuming from that that you're British, on BBC2 on Thursday night Jeremy Paxman's doing an interview with Jk in which she's going to talk about the next book. You've probably already heard about this but I thought I'd tell you just in case. I love Dippy too! She's just naturally crazy, though the cheering charm at birth idea would certainly make sense! I needed a Dobby replacement so I decided to use the opportunity to inject some humour into a very angsty story. I'm glad you liked Narc's behaviour, wonder what Lucius would think if he knew the worst of it? Or what Severus thinks? I think I'll update on the Wednesday (25th June) and then again perhaps on the Saturday (28th June) as I'm going away for a few days on the 29th but I won't be gone long, only three days or so, so the next update shouldn't take longer than usual. Oh god! Who's she going to kill? I'm going mad thinking about it, I have a bad feeling it'll be a Weasley personally and I want to bring back the death penalty for that heinous crime, (though I am opposed to the death penalty normally, I feel that killing a Weasley or Neville, Severus or Oliver merits a cruel and unusual punishment!) Thanks for reviewing! Gah! Fifth book! Wahoo! Oh and honest_iago thanks you for wishing her a happy birthday.

Professor Charlotte Snape - I'm glad you liked chapter seventeen so much I'm very fond of that one myself! Narcissa isn't half strange when she's drunk! As for Dumby, it really would have been courteous for him to send her a howler back but no! Yeah, she kissed Sev, who wouldn't given the chance?! But come on, how much affection do you think she gets from Lucius who she hates anyway and doesn't want within twenty miles of her at any given time! I think Sev was as shocked as you were. Lucius is a very mean git! I still kind of like him though! Harry Potter/Dragonheart crossover? Well, I haven't seen Dragonheart but I know the gist. I'm sure it makes for an interesting combination. Thanks for reviewing!

Emmies - Glad you like it and you will certainly be seeing more of it! Thanks for the review!

HarryandGinny - Yay! I changed your views on Narcissa! I just liked the idea of her being a good person. I haven't got anything yet where she finds out what happened with Buckbeak, she might disown Draco for gross stupidity if she did! LOL! Oh Molly and Narc will stay friends though they won't see much of each other for a while, but their friendship will prove important one day! Narc is very different from Lucius particularly in her relationship with their son. She isn't as bad as him when it comes to prejudice but she can be a terrible snob! She's a nice person underneath that though, well most of the time, she is capable of being a little unpleasant! She may not hold the house elves in high esteem but she sort of likes them and she doesn't like seeing pain inflicted! I'm continuing, here's two chapters at once because I'm in a good mood with book five coming out! Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you like the story and particularly glad you liked the last chapter as I was nervous as to how such a light hearted one would come across.

Serepidia - Narc is a funny drunk, but she can't half take her alcohol as she did take two and a half bottles of champagne without passing out until they were in the car! Oh, she's mortified! My non-existent cat won't eat Dippy, she's not fit for human or animal consumption! She's not on drugs unfortunately that's just her normal personality, but at least she's happy. Hope she didn't annoy you, she'll be back but not in a staring role, Narcissa won't go near her if she can help it! Lucy isn't exactly wining any awards for maturity! Glad you liked the clashing robes I needed a way for her to embarrass him in a way that could look accidental! I don't think Narc is amused by the fact she kissed Sev but it was funny, the poor woman, who could resist Severus Snape? Here's the next two chapters! More updates will come soon, see end of chapter 19 for further information on that. Thanks for the review!

A/N: Ok I think those reviews responses were almost as long as this chapter! Oh well, don't be mad with me people you're getting two chapters this time!

I Built My Life Around You

**Narcissa's Thoughts**

A/N: The stuff in the **[ ]** is Narcissa's thinking while reading the letter, they are not part of the letter!

Chapter 18

Lucius was in a perpetually bad mood for weeks after the ministry party and he generally took it out by mocking Narcissa for her less than sober appearance that night. Narcissa herself was mortified and could not bring herself to speak to Severus to attempt to apologise or explain. Lucius gleefully related the entire tale to Draco when he came home for Christmas, provoking Narcissa to let slip that his father had not only lost the head boy's position to Arthur Weasley when he had been at Hogwarts but that he had also been involved in yet another undignified brawl with said Weasley.

Narcissa noted sadly that in the fight for their son's allegiance the gloves were definitely off and Lucius was just as determined as she was not to lose. She wondered if Draco understood what was happening but he gave little indication either way. He neither sided with her against Lucius nor looked particularly scandalised when Lucius put her down, **there are days when I think he just doesn't think much of either of us! Then again I couldn't blame him if that were the case!**

It was clear Draco deeply respected his father, but then Narcissa was the one he laughed with, played chess with and cried to on the odd occasions he allowed himself to show he was upset. **So what does that mean? Maybe it's just the typical conjugal roles, the mother's there for emotional support but it's the father who gets the respect and who will be followed and will ultimately win the battle. I thought feminism had got us further than that!**

She had been tempted to buy him a Firebolt for Christmas but had ultimately decided against it, he couldn't constantly blame his quidditch performance on his broom. His enthusiasm for the game itself was minimal compared to his enthusiasm for beating Potter. **If he just relaxed and enjoyed the game he might have a better chance of winning.** In the end she had spoilt him rotten, perhaps even more so than usual, as if trying to compensate for the unfriendly atmosphere of Malfoy Manor.

Draco was busy gloating at the fact that the Dementors had arrived at a quidditch game causing Potter to plummet from his broom which had then proceeded to hit the Whomping Willow and be utterly destroyed. Narcissa remembered the Willow being planted at the start of her third year she'd always thought it was an odd choice of tree for a school grounds particularly as several students had been injured by it through playing chicken with the branches. She remembered there'd even been a club amongst the second years whose initiation ritual was to get close enough to touch the trunk. They had been forbidden to go near it after someone nearly lost an eye and she could imagine what it would do to a broomstick.

Christmas was strained, it had become blatantly clear that no one was enjoying themselves and yet they were all acting as though things were fine. A delicate balance was being maintained in order to keep up an illusion they had all seen through but didn't want to end. Narcissa knew that if they ever admitted that they knew it was as illusion then her safety in the house would no longer be assured, not that it was particularly assured as it was.

Draco seemed more like his father than ever, even if he didn't run Narcissa down in the way Lucius did. His attitude to life and to other people was the same as Lucius'. For the first time since he was old enough to walk and talk Draco slept in on Christmas day, uninterested in the decorations or the dinner and not really that interested in his gifts. Whatever magic had existed in their previous Christmases together had clearly dissipated. Draco responded to her greeting of merry Christmas with a "Yeah, great."

Altogether Narcissa was half pleased to send Draco back to school, his attitude hurt her and caused her too many sleepless nights. He had been writing to her less frequently of late and when he did write it was always to complain, he never did ask how she was doing.

*******

The new year inspired no feeling of hope in her but as the weather improved her spirits improved with it, instead of the rainy mush they had been inundated with over Christmas the weather had become cold and crisp, refreshing, bracing. **Definitely my kind of weather!** She began to cheer up a little, after all, this was not over yet. Draco was fourteen years old he would grow up and he would change. There was no point in thinking that his future was set down in stone, by thinking that she just fell in to the trap of doing what everyone else did and writing off her son because of her husband and she had long ago decided she would never do that.

Her mind returned to the previous October and she still cringed at the memory of her behaviour at the ministry party where she had seen Severus. Lucius had avoided taking her to any similar functions since, **Can't imagine why.**

The incident was brought to mind one afternoon when she was sat in her study with a fire blazing in the grate catching up on her own finances, she was wealthy in her own right and as she usually spent Lucius' money her finances were quick to sort out as she rarely ever withdrew money from the account. A tapping at the window attracted her attention and she saw a tawny owl outside carrying a letter. She opened the window and it flew in, looking grateful to be in the warmth. The letter was sealed with a Slytherin crest and was clearly from Hogwarts but she was unsure as to who would have sent it. The only person who would use a Slytherin crest would be...**Severus. Oh dear.**

She broke open the seal, her hands trembling a little at what the letter might say. She took out the parchment and set it on her desk, but as she was about to read it the owl began demanding attention.

**Bugger, I think it's hungry!**

She went into Draco's room and found a bag of owl treats, **this is what comes of hiring a house elf you can't stand to have near you, you end up having to do everything yourself!**

The owl was placated with the treats and flew off again, it clearly hadn't been told to wait for a reply.

She once again turned her attention to the letter and realised from the handwriting that it was indeed from Severus. **Ok how bad can it be? Well, I got drunk, kissed him, told him that trying to kill him was all in good fun and generally made a complete fool of myself! Yeah, I'm thinking I'd rather not know what's in this letter.**

Dear Mrs Malfoy, **[bit formal, is that good or bad?]**

Guess what your prat of a son's done this time. You don't know? Well let me enlighten you! He and three other Slytherin students dressed up as Dementors and made their way on to the quidditch pitch in the middle of a quidditch game in which Gryffindor were playing Ravenclaw. **[I see, or rather I don't see.]**

It appears that they were attempting to take advantage of Mr Potter's severe reaction to the Dementors in hopes that he would lose his concentration and therefore the game. They have all received detention and point reductions but I thought you might like to be informed of your son's new propensity for dressing up.

Draco seems to cause trouble wherever he goes and I for one have had enough of it. Please remind him why he goes to school. In case you've forgotten, (or are perhaps too drunk to remember), **[Ouch! That was a bit below the belt!]**, that is to learn, not to torment the Gryffindors tempting as it must be for the boy in his simple minded state. All it remains for me to say is that I sincerely hope your son hasn't inherited his mother's ability to tolerate excessive amounts of alcohol or he won't be easy to deal with in a few years time.

Yours as ever,

S. Snape

Head of Slytherin House

P.S. You said not to be a stranger.

Narcissa was left fuming. **Ooh, I'll get you for that one Sev! And do you actually think Draco's easy to deal with now?! Dressing up is it? Well, I suppose he never had a chance of growing up normal living in this house!**

She sighed and put her head in her hands and then much to her own surprise began to laugh. The whole thing was just too ridiculous! She laughed till tears flowed down her face, the image of Draco dressing up as a Dementor really was just too funny for words. She eventually calmed down enough to draft a letter to her son about the issue.

Ok Drake, dressing up as a Dementor now is it? I suppose boys all deal with puberty in different ways, some sulk in a dark corner, some turn into hormonally charged time bombs and you choose to dress up as a Dementor; well whatever helps you cope dear. I just wanted to let you know that I will always support you through these difficult times.

Your loving mother (who, by the way, had better things to do than read letters about your misbehaviour!)

She giggled as she re-read the note and sealed it in an envelope. **Now I just have to find a way of replying to Severus that doesn't involve me losing all dignity! Ok, so that's not possible but it couldn't hurt to try.**

Dear Severus,

I have admonished my 'prat of a son' for his behaviour and hope you will forgive his propensity for troublemaking. I would like to add at this point that trouble seemed to follow you and your friends at school as well and you have no right to talk about tormenting Gryffindors! I was not drunk when I received your letter, nor is being drunk a usual occurrence for me I was merely feeling a little beyond caring that night so I decided to do what I felt like for once! Sorry if I offended your sensibilities and I am truly sorry for the comment about the Dementor incident being all in good fun.

On a more serious note, don't be too hard on Draco, Christmas stank and I don't think he's very happy at the moment.

Yours sincerely,

N. Malfoy.

It was only after she sent the letter she realised the ambiguous nature of the line, 'I did what I felt like for once'. **That was meant to refer to getting drunk but it could just as well be read as being why I kissed him! Damn. I knew this couldn't end well, why did I kiss him? Oh yeah, I wanted to!**

*******

Next chapter we see letters from Draco and a mention of a certain incident involving Potter's head!