Disclaimer: I just own the plot.
Review Responses:
Trillium - You were the first three times running now! I don't know how you seem to find my updates so quickly but I'm certainly not complaining, I love reviews! Perhaps Dumbledore was hoping to show the children the true horror of the dark side in hopes of shocking them away from it. I don't think it worked somehow! Also he knew they might end up facing them one day, still it seems a bit odd! Oh God, Draco imitating Lockhart! Then again he is fond of his hair! Of course he imitates Sev, he's the perfect father figure for Draco! Thanks for reviewing!
Slytherin Starr-Athena - Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I read your story and left a review! I know how encouraging reviews are! Interested to see where your fic's going, you'll have to keep updating! Thanks for reviewing me!
Dark Comet - Yes I think a maternally enraged Narc would be very dangerous! Hey, all we need to do is get Voldemort to threaten Draco and all Harry's worries would be over, Voldy wouldn't stand a chance! LOL! Ah yes, I can just see her with a halo, though I think it would be more accurate to give her horns and a pointy tail! Christmas is nearly here! Christmas day itself is next chapter but we get up to Christmas eve with this one! Does Narc like Pansy? Well, they've never met and the only things Narcissa knows about Pansy herself is what's already mentioned in Draco's letter's though she probably knows more about Pansy's family. That doesn't really answer your question does it? She's reserving judgement till they've met which won't be for a very, very long time! I can't tell you whether she'll like her or not as it's got to do with the plot a bit but at the moment she's neutral towards her, now if Draco started showing more of an interest then she'd probably try to find out more about her. She would definitely not be pleased were Draco to take up with someone she disapproves of and I pity the gold-digger who tries to get her claws into the Malfoy heir! All I can say on the Pansy subject is that she and Narcissa will meet, with Draco there as well and it will all depended on Pansy's loyalties as to whether Narc likes her or not but you'll see in good time, well a fair way into the third part of this fic actually but you'll see. Thanks for reviewing, hope my answer to your question wasn't too useless!
Professor Charlotte Snape - Brilliant? You flatter me, but I'm not complaining about that! I've read and reviewed your second chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Lune Project - Don't worry about reviews being late you just get better! I have to admit Narcissa was acting out my own desire to slap Moody in that chapter! You're right Moody (or rather Crouch) is way out of line and as a teacher should have thought before he acted. I actually wondered in the book why Draco's parents never mentioned the incident and tried to cause trouble like they did with the Hippogriff and stuff, it's kind of worse when your son's turned into a ferret! Narc is cool, nobody messes with her son! I think Sev probably meant it affectionately when he called her hot-headed and emotional, after all he can't be caught being openly nice! Narc has reason to blame herself, it has to be said her judgement is not brilliant! She can also be rather cold and uncaring, for instance the fact she doesn't really feel guilt over leaving poor Sirius in Azkaban, granted there's little she could have done but she doesn't even feel that bothered by it! It's true though that her mistakes are not as horrible as her husbands and at least she recognises them! I don't think she'll stop blaming herself but one day some one's going to have a little conversation with her about exactly how much to blame she really is, but that's a fair way in the future yet! I'm glad you think my Draco's charming, I'm rather attached to him myself! Hopefully he will begin to understand life's value but I think it would take quite a lot to make him do that! I like the quote! Life is something to be kept and Narc would certainly agree that it is. Thanks for your review I am in the process of answering your e-mail. Get well soon!
BellatrixBlack - Glad you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for the review!
I Built My Life Around You
**Narcissa's Thoughts**
_emphasis_
Chapter 29
Draco continued to write to his mother about various things, mainly that people were still teasing him about the ferret incident though at least the Slytherins were sympathetic. She was slightly worried when he mentioned that Moody had been teaching them to throw off the imperious but then she supposed that it would be no bad thing to know how to do, she didn't fancy the idea of someone being able to control her son. The other schools involved in the Triwizard tournament had arrived at Hogwarts and the champions would be announced at the Halloween feast. Narcissa was not terribly interested in the tournament thinking that it would probably liven Draco's years up a bit but be of little interest to the wizarding community in general but she received a letter from her son on November first which made her realise that this event would probably be all she would hear about in the wizarding press for a long time.
Dear Mum,
They've picked the three Triwizard champions, or should I say four. Don't ask me how this happened but Hogwarts has two champions! Viktor Krum's the Durmstrang champion and some girl called Fleur Delacour's the champion for Beauxbaton. Now this is where it gets weird, or should we say life at Hogwarts continues as per usual with Harry Potter being perpetually in the spotlight. A Hufflepuff called Cedric Diggory was announced as the Hogwarts champion and then another name was announced from the Goblet they used to choose the champions and it was, big surprise, Mr. 'look at me, look at me, I have to be the centre of attention' Potter.
Can you believe it? Well, of course you can, I feel so stupid for temporarily forgetting that the world revolved around Harry Potter! The teachers didn't look best pleased, no one even knows how he got his name submitted as Dumbledore drew an age line around the goblet. Anyway, I'm sure the Gryffindors have gone back to their common room to celebrate the fact that, once again, Harry Potter has grabbed the limelight for them, or should I say for himself!
So, everything's pretty normal here, how are things at home?
Love Draco
**That child really doesn't know how to blend into a crowd does he?** She burst out laughing suddenly, **oh I bet the look on Sev's face was priceless!** It was only after she had recovered from her fit of hilarity that she began to feel slightly uneasy about what had happened. **That goblet is an intensely powerful magical object, no fifteen year old wizard could fool it and I'm sure that the last thing Dumbledore would want is to have Harry Potter risking his life in a daft competition, so he certainly didn't allow him to slip past his age line. Drawing his name out of there is equivalent to signing a magical contract, a contract Potter can't break, I somehow don't think that however his name got in there it was done for a joke! Why don't I like this? Am I just getting paranoid? Or am I right? At least this time I know it wasn't Lucius, the man's far too busy worrying about his dark mark to think about anything else even another attempt on a child's life. Poor Lucy, he's deprived of all life's little pleasures!**
*******
A few weeks after she originally heard about the champions in the tournament there was an article all about them in the Daily Prophet, well it was supposed to be an article about them what it turned out as was some kind of Harry Potter publicity stunt courtesy of Rita Skeeter. Draco sent her the article along with a note, **clearly he has forgotten that I do get the Daily Prophet!**
Dear Mum,
Have you seen the article in the Prophet, I sent you it just in case you hadn't seen the paper. Can you believe it? It hardly mentions the other champions at all, I bet Potter's loving all this! As for it saying he's one of the top students in the school well all I can say is Professor Snape probably has a different perspective on _that_ matter! That bit about Granger was funny though! Besides anything else anyone can tell she's got no interest in him at all! As for stunningly pretty? I don't know who said that part but they need their eyes checked, they should have seen her after she got hit with that curse I was trying to aim at Potter outside of the potion classroom! She looked like a beaver! I still can't get over Snape letting me get away with that, better still Potter and Weasley got detention! Anyway, thought you might want to have a laugh at this as frankly it's the funniest thing the Prophet's printed in years and that includes the piece about the Weasel's father facing an inquiry at work!
Got to go,
Draco
P.S. Did you notice it referred to her as a Muggle-born, do you think they'd have said anything about her bloodline if she were a pureblood? They wouldn't have said Harry Potter's dating a stunningly pretty pureblood. It wouldn't seem politically correct, they're so using the whole Muggle-born issue to show how tolerant Perfect Potter is and how he thinks nothing of the issue.
**Well that last part certainly provides an interesting perspective but I doubt that they were, ok so they wouldn't have said stunningly pretty pureblood but I don't think they're using her heritage as an attempt to make Potter seem tolerant. Then again, it's the Daily Prophet we're talking about, anything's possible! Though frankly it sounds like my son's beginning to develop his father's own particular brand of insanity! Sev can be so cruel sometimes, that poor girl! I wonder if there is anything between her and Potter, I'll have to get Sev's opinion next time I see him!**
*******
Time seemed to whiz by for Narcissa with the first task upon them in what felt like a few days rather than a few weeks.
Though she couldn't claim to be particularly excited about the outcome of the task she was curious to see if any attempt would be made against Potter's life, then again if some did want to kill him it was quite conceivable that they were simply waiting for the tasks to finish him off despite the new safety precautions. She received an excited letter from Draco on the 23rd of November, the day after the task. Apparently Potter was in the lead with the champion from Durmstrang.
Dear Mum,
Well the first task is over and guess what, Potter's tied for first place! Typical, one of the judges even gave him a ten when he got hurt! He and the Weasel haven't been talking much lately for some reason, perhaps Weasley finally realised even he could do better than Potter for a friend! However, now it appears the dream team is back together! Joy! That, in case you didn't notice, was sarcasm. Anyway they had to get past a Dragon and get hold of one of it's eggs, well it wasn't one of it's eggs it was a golden one that had been placed amongst them.
Potter used his firebolt to get the egg; it wasn't overly impressive really. I thought the others were better! Anyway, that's the news.
Love Draco
**Typical, not only is Potter in the spotlight again he is, as usual, doing better than everybody else. I suppose it must take some talent on a broom to get past a dragon though. Draco sounds jealous, at least he can't complain about the quidditch matches this year!**
*******
At the beginning of December Lucius informed her that he would be going away over Christmas, he had 'business' abroad, Narcissa had an idea that his business was an attempt to find out anything he could about Voldemort's last known whereabouts and if it were possible that he could indeed be back. **Not a trip I think I want to tag along on.**
Draco wrote to her continually harping on about Hagrid's new pets, which apparently could sting, burn, bite and suck your blood. Narcissa had looked up 'Blast-ended Skrewts' in every magical creatures text in the library and had found nothing about them. **Sounds like Hagrid's been cross breeding magical creatures, I doubt that'll end well. Then again, it's still an improvement on the Dragon!**
Draco's next letter was about the Yule Ball, to be held on Christmas night in the great hall.
Dear Mum,
It's a couple of weeks to the Yule Ball and I asked Pansy to go with me. She said yes, of course. She's a pretty good friend, she's not exactly beautiful but I suppose that doesn't matter that much. Pansy's devious and spiteful but fun with it, typical Slytherin girl! She's been picking my dress robes to pieces though, she insisted on vetting what I was wearing, is that normal in women? Anyway, she hates them! I didn't criticise her robes! Ok, so her robes are better than mine and Dad has bad taste! I admit I'm laughing at myself but I'm dreading what I'm going to look like out there! Do you think I'll look alright? Oh well, at least I have a date even if she doesn't like my robes! I wonder if Potter'll manage to find a date? I bet Weasley asks the mudblood and I think she'll say yes, you know ever since that article in the Daily Prophet I've been thinking and I reckon she's got a bit of a thing for the Weasel! I suppose it's a step up from Potter, though not exactly a huge step, then again for her I guess she's not exactly going to do any better. Do you think Pansy'll expect flowers or something and if so what kind? Roses seem too serious but I can hardly give the poor girl a cheap bunch of Carnations! Write back soon and do me a favour, the next time we go shopping for dress robes don't allow me to get the ones that make me look like a vicar!
Draco.
**Oh dear!** Narcissa couldn't stop laughing. **I don't believe it, he sounds nervous about this! I wonder if he likes that girl, isn't she the one who read my letter out to the common room, made the other Slytherin's laugh at him and thought I was mad? Well, I don't suppose I get to criticise anyone else's tastes, I married Lucy! So he wants advice for his first date! That is so sweet!**
"Flowers," she muttered. "Now what would a teenage girl appreciate?"
She scrawled a quick note.
Draco, leave the flowers to me, I'll send them to the school on Christmas Eve. Do you know if there are any she particularly likes? Don't worry about your robes, you'll still be the most handsome boy there! As for her not liking your robes, so long as you don't clash with her it'll be fine and black won't clash with anything. Unless she's wearing black. Is she wearing black? Do you like her? I mean do you have a crush on her? Oh, my little boy's all grown up!
Love Mum.
Narcissa received a reply from her son the very next day, but it wasn't exactly happy.
Your little boy's all grown up? Mother, what are you on? When Blaise got hold of that letter he asked me if madness was hereditary in our family and how long would it be till I checked into the loony wing of St Mungo's! Just because his date likes his dress robes! I don't know if she has a favourite flower. Thanks for offering to sort all that out, send the owl to my dormitory not to the Great Hall or the Common Room I want to surprise Pansy. She's not wearing black, she's wearing pale pink. I do not have a crush on her and I can't believe you'd ask me that! Particularly in a letter that arrived at the dinner table!
Draco
**Whoops! I think I was a little overly sentimental for his tastes. A trip to Diagon Alley should sort the flowers out easily enough!**
She wrote a quick return note.
Sorry to have embarrassed you, tell Blaise I used to date his father then maybe he'll stop thinking I'm mad. I'll send you a bunch of flowers to your dormitory on Christmas Eve, they'll be wrapped properly in cellophane with a ribbon or something so all you have to do is write the card and leave them with the ends of the stalks in water overnight. Don't forget to give them water Draco or they'll die!
Mum.
*******
Narcissa dutifully went out on Christmas Eve and bought the flowers, they were beautiful and smelt wonderful, wrapped in a green transparent cellophane with a green and silver bow around the stalks. **Perfect! Any girl would love them. Hmm, this Pansy sounds like she has a thing for my little boy. Well she better not hurt him! Then again I'm not sure that he has any interest in her so that may be irrelevant. Hope he isn't messing with that girl's heart!**
Narcissa decided to keep several miles distance between herself and her son's romantic life and sent the flowers with Osiris at around midday and received an answer late that night.
Thanks mum, you're the best! I didn't tell Blaise you used to date his father; they don't get on! He'd really think you were crazy if he found that out! Then again, it sounds like his father's crazy so I guess he's got no right to talk really and he didn't mean it unpleasantly or anything, the guy's a bit weird anyway! Like father like son probably and his dad really does sound crazy! What was he like when you went out with him? Anyway I'm sure Pansy'll like the flowers, I'll write you a letter tomorrow night telling you how the dance went.
Love Draco
**Poor Greg, I thought he'd at least have his son even though he did lose Isabella! Poor Blaise as well, it must be terrible for him having to grow up without a mother and with a grief stricken father. I miss Greg, I miss having someone around to talk to, I don't see nearly enough of Sev. Well, with Lucy away no reason I can't play!**
Narcissa wandered into her study and grabbed a quill and parchment.
Dear Severus,
Lucius has gone away for the holidays and I chose not to go with him as, well do I need a reason? That means I'm all alone for Christmas, if you're not doing anything then why don't you drop round Christmas night for a mince pie and a glass of sherry.
Doesn't matter if you don't feel like it, I just felt like some company besides that of our crazy house elf!
Happy Holidays,
Narcissa
Smiling, she ran outside to find her owl.
*******
Narcissa waited impatiently, staying up until late into the night for Severus' reply. At length Osiris returned. She tore open the note:
Narcissa,
Thank you for the invitation but I can't make it. I'm sorry but I have to chaperone the Yule Ball tomorrow night. Maybe I could drop by on Boxing Day?
Merry Christmas,
Severus
**Damn! Looks like I'm alone on Christmas day.** She sighed and scrawled an answer.
You can come on Boxing Day if you like.
Narcissa.
**Not that you'd want to! I have to chaperone a dance! Please! _Lucius_ could have come up with a better excuse!** She snorted and threw the note down on the coffee table, **I'm going to bed!**
*******
A/N: Ok, I personally think that the Gryffindors may be exaggerating Pansy's looks when they make the pug references, because they dislike her but I decided to go with her being not good looking because I liked the idea that Draco can see beyond appearances! Actually I like it in the book that goes with someone who clearly isn't the prettiest person in their year, I think it shows depth! People always make the bad guys ugly and usually dumb as well, the bad guys are always more dangerous when they look fair and demonstrate intelligence.
Talking of depth, something interesting about Pansy's name. The word Pansy comes from the French 'Pensee', which means 'thought'. I wonder what that means for her character as I always figured JK would paint her as an airhead (Not that I wanted her to)? I just thought I'd mention that because I found it interesting.
Ok, lecture over. Next chapter it's Christmas! But will Narc be happy about that?
Update should be Saturday or Sunday.
Please Review!!
Review Responses:
Trillium - You were the first three times running now! I don't know how you seem to find my updates so quickly but I'm certainly not complaining, I love reviews! Perhaps Dumbledore was hoping to show the children the true horror of the dark side in hopes of shocking them away from it. I don't think it worked somehow! Also he knew they might end up facing them one day, still it seems a bit odd! Oh God, Draco imitating Lockhart! Then again he is fond of his hair! Of course he imitates Sev, he's the perfect father figure for Draco! Thanks for reviewing!
Slytherin Starr-Athena - Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I read your story and left a review! I know how encouraging reviews are! Interested to see where your fic's going, you'll have to keep updating! Thanks for reviewing me!
Dark Comet - Yes I think a maternally enraged Narc would be very dangerous! Hey, all we need to do is get Voldemort to threaten Draco and all Harry's worries would be over, Voldy wouldn't stand a chance! LOL! Ah yes, I can just see her with a halo, though I think it would be more accurate to give her horns and a pointy tail! Christmas is nearly here! Christmas day itself is next chapter but we get up to Christmas eve with this one! Does Narc like Pansy? Well, they've never met and the only things Narcissa knows about Pansy herself is what's already mentioned in Draco's letter's though she probably knows more about Pansy's family. That doesn't really answer your question does it? She's reserving judgement till they've met which won't be for a very, very long time! I can't tell you whether she'll like her or not as it's got to do with the plot a bit but at the moment she's neutral towards her, now if Draco started showing more of an interest then she'd probably try to find out more about her. She would definitely not be pleased were Draco to take up with someone she disapproves of and I pity the gold-digger who tries to get her claws into the Malfoy heir! All I can say on the Pansy subject is that she and Narcissa will meet, with Draco there as well and it will all depended on Pansy's loyalties as to whether Narc likes her or not but you'll see in good time, well a fair way into the third part of this fic actually but you'll see. Thanks for reviewing, hope my answer to your question wasn't too useless!
Professor Charlotte Snape - Brilliant? You flatter me, but I'm not complaining about that! I've read and reviewed your second chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Lune Project - Don't worry about reviews being late you just get better! I have to admit Narcissa was acting out my own desire to slap Moody in that chapter! You're right Moody (or rather Crouch) is way out of line and as a teacher should have thought before he acted. I actually wondered in the book why Draco's parents never mentioned the incident and tried to cause trouble like they did with the Hippogriff and stuff, it's kind of worse when your son's turned into a ferret! Narc is cool, nobody messes with her son! I think Sev probably meant it affectionately when he called her hot-headed and emotional, after all he can't be caught being openly nice! Narc has reason to blame herself, it has to be said her judgement is not brilliant! She can also be rather cold and uncaring, for instance the fact she doesn't really feel guilt over leaving poor Sirius in Azkaban, granted there's little she could have done but she doesn't even feel that bothered by it! It's true though that her mistakes are not as horrible as her husbands and at least she recognises them! I don't think she'll stop blaming herself but one day some one's going to have a little conversation with her about exactly how much to blame she really is, but that's a fair way in the future yet! I'm glad you think my Draco's charming, I'm rather attached to him myself! Hopefully he will begin to understand life's value but I think it would take quite a lot to make him do that! I like the quote! Life is something to be kept and Narc would certainly agree that it is. Thanks for your review I am in the process of answering your e-mail. Get well soon!
BellatrixBlack - Glad you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for the review!
I Built My Life Around You
**Narcissa's Thoughts**
_emphasis_
Chapter 29
Draco continued to write to his mother about various things, mainly that people were still teasing him about the ferret incident though at least the Slytherins were sympathetic. She was slightly worried when he mentioned that Moody had been teaching them to throw off the imperious but then she supposed that it would be no bad thing to know how to do, she didn't fancy the idea of someone being able to control her son. The other schools involved in the Triwizard tournament had arrived at Hogwarts and the champions would be announced at the Halloween feast. Narcissa was not terribly interested in the tournament thinking that it would probably liven Draco's years up a bit but be of little interest to the wizarding community in general but she received a letter from her son on November first which made her realise that this event would probably be all she would hear about in the wizarding press for a long time.
Dear Mum,
They've picked the three Triwizard champions, or should I say four. Don't ask me how this happened but Hogwarts has two champions! Viktor Krum's the Durmstrang champion and some girl called Fleur Delacour's the champion for Beauxbaton. Now this is where it gets weird, or should we say life at Hogwarts continues as per usual with Harry Potter being perpetually in the spotlight. A Hufflepuff called Cedric Diggory was announced as the Hogwarts champion and then another name was announced from the Goblet they used to choose the champions and it was, big surprise, Mr. 'look at me, look at me, I have to be the centre of attention' Potter.
Can you believe it? Well, of course you can, I feel so stupid for temporarily forgetting that the world revolved around Harry Potter! The teachers didn't look best pleased, no one even knows how he got his name submitted as Dumbledore drew an age line around the goblet. Anyway, I'm sure the Gryffindors have gone back to their common room to celebrate the fact that, once again, Harry Potter has grabbed the limelight for them, or should I say for himself!
So, everything's pretty normal here, how are things at home?
Love Draco
**That child really doesn't know how to blend into a crowd does he?** She burst out laughing suddenly, **oh I bet the look on Sev's face was priceless!** It was only after she had recovered from her fit of hilarity that she began to feel slightly uneasy about what had happened. **That goblet is an intensely powerful magical object, no fifteen year old wizard could fool it and I'm sure that the last thing Dumbledore would want is to have Harry Potter risking his life in a daft competition, so he certainly didn't allow him to slip past his age line. Drawing his name out of there is equivalent to signing a magical contract, a contract Potter can't break, I somehow don't think that however his name got in there it was done for a joke! Why don't I like this? Am I just getting paranoid? Or am I right? At least this time I know it wasn't Lucius, the man's far too busy worrying about his dark mark to think about anything else even another attempt on a child's life. Poor Lucy, he's deprived of all life's little pleasures!**
*******
A few weeks after she originally heard about the champions in the tournament there was an article all about them in the Daily Prophet, well it was supposed to be an article about them what it turned out as was some kind of Harry Potter publicity stunt courtesy of Rita Skeeter. Draco sent her the article along with a note, **clearly he has forgotten that I do get the Daily Prophet!**
Dear Mum,
Have you seen the article in the Prophet, I sent you it just in case you hadn't seen the paper. Can you believe it? It hardly mentions the other champions at all, I bet Potter's loving all this! As for it saying he's one of the top students in the school well all I can say is Professor Snape probably has a different perspective on _that_ matter! That bit about Granger was funny though! Besides anything else anyone can tell she's got no interest in him at all! As for stunningly pretty? I don't know who said that part but they need their eyes checked, they should have seen her after she got hit with that curse I was trying to aim at Potter outside of the potion classroom! She looked like a beaver! I still can't get over Snape letting me get away with that, better still Potter and Weasley got detention! Anyway, thought you might want to have a laugh at this as frankly it's the funniest thing the Prophet's printed in years and that includes the piece about the Weasel's father facing an inquiry at work!
Got to go,
Draco
P.S. Did you notice it referred to her as a Muggle-born, do you think they'd have said anything about her bloodline if she were a pureblood? They wouldn't have said Harry Potter's dating a stunningly pretty pureblood. It wouldn't seem politically correct, they're so using the whole Muggle-born issue to show how tolerant Perfect Potter is and how he thinks nothing of the issue.
**Well that last part certainly provides an interesting perspective but I doubt that they were, ok so they wouldn't have said stunningly pretty pureblood but I don't think they're using her heritage as an attempt to make Potter seem tolerant. Then again, it's the Daily Prophet we're talking about, anything's possible! Though frankly it sounds like my son's beginning to develop his father's own particular brand of insanity! Sev can be so cruel sometimes, that poor girl! I wonder if there is anything between her and Potter, I'll have to get Sev's opinion next time I see him!**
*******
Time seemed to whiz by for Narcissa with the first task upon them in what felt like a few days rather than a few weeks.
Though she couldn't claim to be particularly excited about the outcome of the task she was curious to see if any attempt would be made against Potter's life, then again if some did want to kill him it was quite conceivable that they were simply waiting for the tasks to finish him off despite the new safety precautions. She received an excited letter from Draco on the 23rd of November, the day after the task. Apparently Potter was in the lead with the champion from Durmstrang.
Dear Mum,
Well the first task is over and guess what, Potter's tied for first place! Typical, one of the judges even gave him a ten when he got hurt! He and the Weasel haven't been talking much lately for some reason, perhaps Weasley finally realised even he could do better than Potter for a friend! However, now it appears the dream team is back together! Joy! That, in case you didn't notice, was sarcasm. Anyway they had to get past a Dragon and get hold of one of it's eggs, well it wasn't one of it's eggs it was a golden one that had been placed amongst them.
Potter used his firebolt to get the egg; it wasn't overly impressive really. I thought the others were better! Anyway, that's the news.
Love Draco
**Typical, not only is Potter in the spotlight again he is, as usual, doing better than everybody else. I suppose it must take some talent on a broom to get past a dragon though. Draco sounds jealous, at least he can't complain about the quidditch matches this year!**
*******
At the beginning of December Lucius informed her that he would be going away over Christmas, he had 'business' abroad, Narcissa had an idea that his business was an attempt to find out anything he could about Voldemort's last known whereabouts and if it were possible that he could indeed be back. **Not a trip I think I want to tag along on.**
Draco wrote to her continually harping on about Hagrid's new pets, which apparently could sting, burn, bite and suck your blood. Narcissa had looked up 'Blast-ended Skrewts' in every magical creatures text in the library and had found nothing about them. **Sounds like Hagrid's been cross breeding magical creatures, I doubt that'll end well. Then again, it's still an improvement on the Dragon!**
Draco's next letter was about the Yule Ball, to be held on Christmas night in the great hall.
Dear Mum,
It's a couple of weeks to the Yule Ball and I asked Pansy to go with me. She said yes, of course. She's a pretty good friend, she's not exactly beautiful but I suppose that doesn't matter that much. Pansy's devious and spiteful but fun with it, typical Slytherin girl! She's been picking my dress robes to pieces though, she insisted on vetting what I was wearing, is that normal in women? Anyway, she hates them! I didn't criticise her robes! Ok, so her robes are better than mine and Dad has bad taste! I admit I'm laughing at myself but I'm dreading what I'm going to look like out there! Do you think I'll look alright? Oh well, at least I have a date even if she doesn't like my robes! I wonder if Potter'll manage to find a date? I bet Weasley asks the mudblood and I think she'll say yes, you know ever since that article in the Daily Prophet I've been thinking and I reckon she's got a bit of a thing for the Weasel! I suppose it's a step up from Potter, though not exactly a huge step, then again for her I guess she's not exactly going to do any better. Do you think Pansy'll expect flowers or something and if so what kind? Roses seem too serious but I can hardly give the poor girl a cheap bunch of Carnations! Write back soon and do me a favour, the next time we go shopping for dress robes don't allow me to get the ones that make me look like a vicar!
Draco.
**Oh dear!** Narcissa couldn't stop laughing. **I don't believe it, he sounds nervous about this! I wonder if he likes that girl, isn't she the one who read my letter out to the common room, made the other Slytherin's laugh at him and thought I was mad? Well, I don't suppose I get to criticise anyone else's tastes, I married Lucy! So he wants advice for his first date! That is so sweet!**
"Flowers," she muttered. "Now what would a teenage girl appreciate?"
She scrawled a quick note.
Draco, leave the flowers to me, I'll send them to the school on Christmas Eve. Do you know if there are any she particularly likes? Don't worry about your robes, you'll still be the most handsome boy there! As for her not liking your robes, so long as you don't clash with her it'll be fine and black won't clash with anything. Unless she's wearing black. Is she wearing black? Do you like her? I mean do you have a crush on her? Oh, my little boy's all grown up!
Love Mum.
Narcissa received a reply from her son the very next day, but it wasn't exactly happy.
Your little boy's all grown up? Mother, what are you on? When Blaise got hold of that letter he asked me if madness was hereditary in our family and how long would it be till I checked into the loony wing of St Mungo's! Just because his date likes his dress robes! I don't know if she has a favourite flower. Thanks for offering to sort all that out, send the owl to my dormitory not to the Great Hall or the Common Room I want to surprise Pansy. She's not wearing black, she's wearing pale pink. I do not have a crush on her and I can't believe you'd ask me that! Particularly in a letter that arrived at the dinner table!
Draco
**Whoops! I think I was a little overly sentimental for his tastes. A trip to Diagon Alley should sort the flowers out easily enough!**
She wrote a quick return note.
Sorry to have embarrassed you, tell Blaise I used to date his father then maybe he'll stop thinking I'm mad. I'll send you a bunch of flowers to your dormitory on Christmas Eve, they'll be wrapped properly in cellophane with a ribbon or something so all you have to do is write the card and leave them with the ends of the stalks in water overnight. Don't forget to give them water Draco or they'll die!
Mum.
*******
Narcissa dutifully went out on Christmas Eve and bought the flowers, they were beautiful and smelt wonderful, wrapped in a green transparent cellophane with a green and silver bow around the stalks. **Perfect! Any girl would love them. Hmm, this Pansy sounds like she has a thing for my little boy. Well she better not hurt him! Then again I'm not sure that he has any interest in her so that may be irrelevant. Hope he isn't messing with that girl's heart!**
Narcissa decided to keep several miles distance between herself and her son's romantic life and sent the flowers with Osiris at around midday and received an answer late that night.
Thanks mum, you're the best! I didn't tell Blaise you used to date his father; they don't get on! He'd really think you were crazy if he found that out! Then again, it sounds like his father's crazy so I guess he's got no right to talk really and he didn't mean it unpleasantly or anything, the guy's a bit weird anyway! Like father like son probably and his dad really does sound crazy! What was he like when you went out with him? Anyway I'm sure Pansy'll like the flowers, I'll write you a letter tomorrow night telling you how the dance went.
Love Draco
**Poor Greg, I thought he'd at least have his son even though he did lose Isabella! Poor Blaise as well, it must be terrible for him having to grow up without a mother and with a grief stricken father. I miss Greg, I miss having someone around to talk to, I don't see nearly enough of Sev. Well, with Lucy away no reason I can't play!**
Narcissa wandered into her study and grabbed a quill and parchment.
Dear Severus,
Lucius has gone away for the holidays and I chose not to go with him as, well do I need a reason? That means I'm all alone for Christmas, if you're not doing anything then why don't you drop round Christmas night for a mince pie and a glass of sherry.
Doesn't matter if you don't feel like it, I just felt like some company besides that of our crazy house elf!
Happy Holidays,
Narcissa
Smiling, she ran outside to find her owl.
*******
Narcissa waited impatiently, staying up until late into the night for Severus' reply. At length Osiris returned. She tore open the note:
Narcissa,
Thank you for the invitation but I can't make it. I'm sorry but I have to chaperone the Yule Ball tomorrow night. Maybe I could drop by on Boxing Day?
Merry Christmas,
Severus
**Damn! Looks like I'm alone on Christmas day.** She sighed and scrawled an answer.
You can come on Boxing Day if you like.
Narcissa.
**Not that you'd want to! I have to chaperone a dance! Please! _Lucius_ could have come up with a better excuse!** She snorted and threw the note down on the coffee table, **I'm going to bed!**
*******
A/N: Ok, I personally think that the Gryffindors may be exaggerating Pansy's looks when they make the pug references, because they dislike her but I decided to go with her being not good looking because I liked the idea that Draco can see beyond appearances! Actually I like it in the book that goes with someone who clearly isn't the prettiest person in their year, I think it shows depth! People always make the bad guys ugly and usually dumb as well, the bad guys are always more dangerous when they look fair and demonstrate intelligence.
Talking of depth, something interesting about Pansy's name. The word Pansy comes from the French 'Pensee', which means 'thought'. I wonder what that means for her character as I always figured JK would paint her as an airhead (Not that I wanted her to)? I just thought I'd mention that because I found it interesting.
Ok, lecture over. Next chapter it's Christmas! But will Narc be happy about that?
Update should be Saturday or Sunday.
Please Review!!
