Disclaimer: I just own the plot!

Review Responses: First of all a huge thank you to everyone who's ever reviewed this fic, I've never had so many reviews for anything before!

Dark Comet - How could you tell where this was headed? I can't say more specifically than that here but you're right! I suppose that idea is just too perfect not to write about and there've certainly been enough hints! Poor Narcie is stressed but now she's got it out of her system and that does her good! I like the idea of your plot bunny I could quite imagine her doing that! You had an exam question on soy sauce? That's different! Exams are evil! They try to trick you and make you fail I swear it! Yes, this is the last and I'm quite sad about that too, but the split had to be here because its after this that it goes off canon, though really I suppose it's been off canon ever since the fifth book came out! I'll post the first chapter of the third part to this on the 27th of August most likely! It's already written along with a fair few chapters after that I just need to get them in the right format! The title will be from a song again and it will be called, "I Found a Little Courage to Call it Off". Hope you can wait till then! Thanks for reviewing! Good luck with those results!

Bonezz - Yep, this is the last chapter! But the next part will be out on the 27th of August, which is next Wednesday! The story ID for Before the Kiss is 1153038. I love that story but it makes me so sad! Thanks for the review and I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this chapter!

Lune Project - Thank you for your congratulations and don't worry about reviewing two chapters at once, I don't mind! Yeah, I can see why people might expect Narc to go berserk after what happened to her son but she's a good mother and though she doesn't like people hurting Draco she thinks he sort of deserved what he got this time! Narcissa is shocked to see how much Draco wants to hurt those Gryffindors, she knows how serious rivalries can become if they're never resolved. I too wanted to shout at Draco to behave himself but you might be less angry with him in this chapter! He does think Narcissa would agree with what he's doing, on the one hand seeming to support Lucius gives her son the wrong idea about her and on the other it could be what's saving her son by allowing her to remain safe to look out for him. Sev in muggle clothes was just something I thought would look very good indeed so I put it in! I'm glad you liked the dialogue in that chapter and that you think I'm improving but I think I'll hold off on the movie script for another few years! LOL! Narcissa is very alone in the world and you'll see that again in the near future, i.e. in the next part of this story. Don't worry she'll struggle, she's a fighter and things are going to happen soon to make her need to fight. You didn't interfere with my plotting don't worry! Lucius has enough ways to drive her mad as it is but that doesn't mean he won't come up with more, for instance feeling rather sorry for himself at a very inappropriate time! You'll see that in the next story too! Thank you for your e-mail I'm working on the reply! Of course I don't mind you sharing your impressions of the 5th book, I love your e-mails! Yep, Europe's been hot but it's cooling down a bit now, at least it is here, what's the weather like where you are? Thanks for reviewing!

PrincessJedi - That chapter was a bit emotional but this one's a little bit calmer. Thanks for reviewing!

ilovesporks - Thank you for your congratulations! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and the next story will be here on Wednesday 27th September at the latest! Thanks for the review!

I Built My Life Around You

**Narcissa's Thoughts**

Chapter 37

The night of Severus' visit Narcissa sat alone in her study, it was late but she didn't move. **Hmm, sitting alone in the dark in a creepy old manor, I've finally fulfilled my role as the storybook mad woman, all I need is a wedding dress and I could be Miss Havisham. Sitting here 'til I rot. Or alternatively drown in my own self-pity, I sound so melodramatic; it's this house, it has a bad effect on me, if it didn't feel like something out of a gothic horror novel then I wouldn't act like I was in one.** She heard soft footsteps padding down the marble floor of the hallway and a quiet knock on her door. **Something wicked this way comes.**

"Come in," she called.

Draco, clad in black pyjamas, opened the door slowly and crept in apologetically, "I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither," she said, "How did you know I was awake?"

"You weren't in your room."

**He came to find me?** "Why couldn't you sleep?"

He shrugged, "It's too warm and I guess I was thinking too much. Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Same, too many thoughts."

"Is Dad..." he trailed off.

"He's out." They shared an understanding look, Lucius had not yet returned from his last summons to the Dark Lord.

"Are you worried about him?"

"No. Your father can take care of himself."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly that."

"Oh, ok."

He sat down in one of the deep blue armchairs across from his mother. She noticed that his hair wasn't gelled back but fell around his pale face making him look younger again. **He looks like butter wouldn't melt.**

"Is everything going to be alright?"

**The classic child to adult question, one which we learn to refrain from asking later in life because we become too afraid of the answer.**

She shook her head, "I don't know. I just don't know."

"You said Potter'd be dead before graduation, do you really think that?" he sounded hesitant and unsure of himself.

"No. I don't know, maybe. It's certainly a possibility."

"What are the other possibilities?"

"Truth and light triumph, translation: Dumbledore wins somehow. Or we could end up in a long and bloody war in which neither side is gaining much ground."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Do you fancy a cold drink?"

"Yes please."

Narcissa pulled on a blue, velvet bell pull and seconds later Dippy appeared. "Can I is helping you?"

**Oh God! Even Dobby had better grammar than that.**

"Yes, fetch a pitcher of ice tea with lemon and a couple of glasses."

The little elf bowed and disappeared. Draco was looking out of the window at the new moon, it was so bright the grounds were almost floodlit and Narcissa's study was quite light despite the candles remaining unlit. Dippy reappeared with a tray and set it down on a small table. Narcissa poured out the tea and handed a glass to her son.

"Thanks." He drank some of the tea then looked her in the eyes, "Mum what did you mean when you said Diggory didn't do anything wrong?"

"He didn't, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So that could just as easily have happened to Krum or that veela girl?"

"Yes."

Draco looked slightly troubled, **but not troubled enough.**

"Mum, what's going to happen now?"

"I don't know, I guess everybody's waiting for someone to make a move. The Ministry won't even acknowledge that the Dark Lord has returned, something which I think they will come to regret."

"Will they try and get Potter this summer?"

"I doubt it, he's protected by some powerful magic at his muggle relatives'."

"How come he escaped?"

"I don't know, from what I heard it was the priori incantem effect."

"The what?"

"The magical core of his wand must have originated from the same source as the magical core in the Dark Lord's wand, therefore they refused to work against each other, the two both said a spell at the same time and it triggered a reaction causing the Dark Lord's wand to regurgitate echoes of past spells. That gave Harry time to escape."

"So it was just dumb luck?"

"I'm not sure, there might have been more to it than that, he certainly seems to have kept his head in a situation where many full grown wizards would, and for that matter have, gone pieces but whether he is anything special beyond being a little mature for his years only time will tell."

"Are you scared?"

**Is that his way of telling me he is?** "Yes, I suppose I am."

"I don't like seeing you scared."

"Can't say I particularly enjoy being scared. Are you?"

"What?"

"Scared."

"No," he said, but he didn't sound too sure of himself.

"You should be," she said quietly.

He gave her a concerned look and impulsively reached across and held her hand in his own, "We'll be alright mum, I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

Narcissa was transported back to when he had glared at Severus because he thought he had upset his mother. He seemed to be looking at her with an understanding in his eyes that suggested he knew more about the position she was in than she would have expected. She smiled and squeezed his hand, "You're a good kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Oh yes you are and I'd value it while it lasts if I were you. But aren't I supposed to tell you I'm not going to let anyone hurt you?"

He smiled, "Well maybe we can look after each other."

"That sounds like a good idea."

They both turned their attention back to the ice tea. The conversation had taken several turns Narcissa had not anticipated. Draco's concern for her was touching but at the same time deeply incongruous when looked at against his seeming support of the deatheaters and their ridiculous leader.

Draco seemed to be thinking as well and eventually he put down his glass and stood up, "I think I'll go back to bed. I'm tired."

She smiled at him, "Got a few less thoughts now?"

"No. Actually I think I've acquired a few more but I need sleep, I can always push them to the back of my mind until I'm awake enough to deal with them."

**I wonder what he means, at least I've given him something more to think about,** "I'm going to stay here for a while."

He nodded, "Goodnight mum."

"Goodnight sweetheart."

Draco left, closing the door behind him and she sat there, alone in the darkened room listening intently to the noises of the night. She could hear the family's owls hooting outside as they hunted, the sound of her son walking down the corridor, the creaks of the house that always sounded at night. She remembered that the house had once made her feel uneasy when she was alone at night but now she was used to it.

She must have sat there for over half an hour until she heard someone moving about on the floor below. **So he's back.** She briefly considered going down and asking why he was so late back but she was sure she didn't want to know. She should have gone down, she should have cared but she didn't. She couldn't do either anymore. Whatever Lucius had been doing and whoever he had been doing it to it wasn't her fault, she needed evidence but she could miss the account of one occasion besides goodness knew what kind of mood he'd be in. She unlocked the drawer of her desk and withdrew the notebook. She cast a strong locking charm on the door and began to write in the book, the runes as familiar to her as English. She smiled and remembered her lessons in them at school, at least something of her education had paid off. She noted down the time Lucius had returned and closed the book, it had been a long day but she didn't want to sleep so she sat there and stared out of the window at the moon. She sat there for a long time, thinking over the day's events. The conversations with Severus and her son, Lucius' as yet unknown activities, **If someone had told me at eighteen that I'd be sat here in this situation at thirty-seven I'd never have believed them.** It was a long time before she eventually went to bed that night and even longer before she went to sleep.

*******

I've been afraid of changing,

'Cause I built my life around you.

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

And I'm getting older too.

*******

Miss Havisham is a character in a Charles Dickens novel who was left on her wedding day and has sat in her wedding dress ever since, her house still laid out as it was with a rotting wedding cake and all sorts. She's an old woman by the time you meet her in the novel and the whole thing's pretty creepy and yet rather sad.

Well, that's it. What do you think?

I'll start putting up the next and final part to this story very soon, it should be up on Wednesday 27th at the latest. It will be called, "I Found a Little Courage to Call it Off," and it's part of a song again! Anyone care to guess which song? It's quite easy actually!

Please review, it's your last chance!!

************************************************************************

Had to move the below from chapter 38 because of fanfic's new rule that chapters cannot be entirely author's notes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE FINAL PART TO THIS STORY IS NOW UP! YOU CAN FIND IT BY CLICKING ON MY PROFILE OR LOOKING UNDER ANGST AND NARCISSA AS THE FIRST CHARACTER WITH SEVERUS AS THE SECOND.

THANKS TO EVEYONE THAT REVIEWED, REVIEW RESPONSES TO CHAPTER 37 CAN BE FOUND AT THE START OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE NEXT PART WHICH IS CALLED:

'I FOUND A LITTLE COURAGE TO CALL IT OFF'.

PLEASE COME AND READ AND REVIEW IT!

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ 'I BUILT MY LIFE AROUND YOU' AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.

WEASLEYLOVER1