Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.

Lucius' Plan

Ryua woke up the next morning aching. Her shoulder hurt the most of all, and her skin still pricked from her Father's static hex. Her head pounded, and to top it all off, she had a stomachache. Groaning, she levered herself up, throwing back her covers. Much to her shock, she saw blood on her sheets. What did he do to me? I don't remember getting cut...She summoned Toppy to take care of it, and went off to her private bath to see what was going on. At this rate, that shoulder's never going to heal. Her bruise was deep purple again, spreading from her collarbone halfway down her back and arm. Disconcertingly, she could see a pattern of what looked like giant fingers in the discoloration. For a change, none of the curses he used left welts of any sort, so there was at least one thing she didn't have to worry about. Her headache would disappear with rest, food, and water; it was similar to a hangover. What really worried her was the fact that her stomach ached. That was new, and it appeared to be linked to the blood leaking from inside her. For the first time, she didn't know what to do. This could be something serious, although she couldn't remember a curse her Father used with that effect. She took a shower first, to relieve some of her shoulder aches and clean her legs of blood. She was just stepping out when her mother walked in, giving Ryua quite a start. She couldn't ever remember her mother visiting her room before, or wearing quite that expression. "Mother, what are you doing here?" she asked, wrapping a robe around herself before Narcissa could get a look at her back. She couldn't do anything about the bruise on her shoulder though, but pretended not to notice her mother looking at it. "Ryua, I understand you've just gotten your first cycle. This is marvelous news!" "What are you talking about?" Ryua wasn't in the best of moods, and she couldn't think straight thanks to the pounding in her head. "Toppy has just been to see me. You've started your monthly cycles, you are now a woman." Ryua closed her eyes and tried to think. She vaguely remembered something she'd read in a potion manual about menstrual blood, had heard some older girls talking about a cycle of some sort... lovely. All she knew about the subject was that the fluid could be used for powerful spells, and it seemed to make girls uncomfortable once a month. "So? What's the big deal?" "Now, you will no longer be treated as a child. It is a wonderful thing to happen, Ryua." Mother seemed to be making up for lost mother-daughter time. "Okay. Fine. What can I do about it?" Ryua had no real patience for this sort of thing. Family ties hadn't been very strong before, and she didn't really see any reason why that should change now. Mother sighed, and started explaining different charms and things. Ryua privately hoped she could get these charms to work. Mother had always been better at charms and lighter spells than Ryua. As much as everyone involved refused to admit it, Ryua was very much her Father's daughter. Poor Father, Ryua thought bitterly, He so wanted a son to take after him. Probably, that was why they were so cruel to each other. After embracing Ryua for the first time since she was an infant, Narcissa walked out of Ryua's rooms.

(Narcissa, Lucius' study, five minutes later)

"Lucius, I need to speak with you." He put down his quill, intrigued. Narcissa rarely, if ever, requested something. "Yes?" Narcissa took a moment to compose herself. She didn't do this often. "Ryua has become a woman now. As such, I believe it time for us to stop treating her like a child." She stopped talking, waiting apprehensively for Lucius' response. Oddly enough, he didn't become angry at all, just thoughtful. "Indeed. I believe you are right, my dear." Narcissa nearly melted with relief. She was exactly the kind of woman Lucius expected, meek and fearful, and not one to stand up against him. "We must find some way to make her accept her new role, some way to calm her down." "Quite right, husband." Narcissa was amazed that he was actually agreeing with her. She'd wanted to make Ryua's life easier for a while now, just hadn't been able to find some way to go about it. Anyway, the girl had seemed to be quite capable of handling herself, with the exception of that quidditch injury. Her shoulder looked just awful. "What do you propose?" "Actually, that is exactly what I am thinking." "What, marriage? Lucius, she's too young..." "Yes, of course. I'm not stupid, woman." Narcissa flinched at his tone. Seemingly satisfied with that response, he continued, "She is not too young, however, to start an arranged engagement." "But Lucius, with whom? As the firstborn, she must have a suitable match..." He almost lost his temper at the mention of Ryua's status. He managed to calm himself, however, and started talking through pureblood families. The Crabbes and Goyles, although they both had sons the appropriate age, weren't nearly desirable enough for Lucius' taste. He completely ignored anyone who was involved with quidditch, hoping to influence her away from it, not that she was likely to break her agreement to stop playing next year (Narcissa was sorry for that, as Ryua actually seemed to like Marcus Flint). The Weasleys were out of the question (although they undoubtedly had enough eligible bachelors), the Snape family had no sons, neither did the Lestranges. Avery, perhaps, or Nott... Narcissa gulped. She really didn't want her daughter forced into a Death Eater marriage, as she had been. She wasn't about to say that, however, so she had to go about it softly. "Lucius, what about the Zabinis? I believe they have a boy, Blaise I think." He actually thought about it, which was more than Narcissa had dared hope for. Although the family wasn't fully tied to the Dark Lord, they were respected, and had a sufficient amount of wealth to make a suitable match. "Hmm, that's not too bad an idea. He's in their year, I believe, and was turned off the quidditch team as well. I will owl his father immediately." "Immediately?" Narcissa had hoped Ryua would be allowed some time to herself now she wasn't a child. She bit her tongue as Lucius stared up at her remark, however, and said, "Yes, yes of course..." At least, she thought, it's a good match. Blaise seems like a good boy...

(Ryua, her bedroom, twenty minutes later)

"What?" she shrieked. "You're marrying me off? That's illegal!" "Actually, dear, it isn't. Not the engagement, at any rate. And Blaise Zabini is..." "What?" Ryua was getting more worked up, not at all the reaction Narcissa had hoped for. "Blaise is an ignorant, strutting, peacock! He has no personality, no endearing qualities... How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?" "If you'd just calm down..." Privately, Narcissa was glad her daughter didn't have her wand. She was getting the same look in her eyes that Lucius did when he was feeling particularly incensed. "I will most certainly NOT calm down!" Regardless of the fact that Lucius had kept her wand after the 'talk', Ryua was starting to gather magic. Narcissa flinched as Ryua's forgotten parchment and books started to stir on the table, and a glass of water on the bedside table shattered, spraying water and glass shards across the room. "You would dare to do something like this, without my permission..." Narcissa didn't even give her a chance to finish the sentence. She fled the room, flinching again as Ryua's quill embedded itself in the door where her throat had been two seconds ago. Oh, dear... that didn't exactly go as planned...

Author's note: Wow, thanks to all my reviewers, especially the new ones. Actually, especially my faithful ones too. Thanks to everyone, actually. Although, I'm still trying to come up with spells, people, and anything to fill out the fourth book. The Slytherin house doesn't come into it a lot, so I'll have to make it up as I go along. At this point, I doubt it'll be a very long section, so please give me any ideas you can find.