The Female of the Species

Chapter 4

As Narcissa Malfoy already knew before Griphook unlocked the heavy reinforced oak door, a quick tally of all the gold in her vault soon revealed that she did not have the sum she needed. She told Griphook that she wished to withdraw all her money, and requested the bank staff to bag it up neatly for her, and have it sent by magical transport to Chang Jade Holdings for the attention of Mark Chang.

She then gathered all the jewellery she had stored in her vault, and put each of the velvet-lined boxes into a large tapestry bag she had brought with her. She sighed inwardly as family heirlooms from both the Blacks and Malfoys were added to the many gifts she had received from Lucius and her various lovers. There were pieces in gold and Slytherin silver, set with precious and semi-precious stones in many colours, for each jewel held a meaning for Narcissa: emeralds, olivine and malachite for the green of Slytherin; sapphires, turquoise and aquamarines to complement her blue eyes; rubies and garnets the colour of blood; diamonds for their icy brilliance; Australian opals for their milky rainbow hues and hidden fire; and pearls from the Malfoy Scottish pearl beds, where water sprites deliberately and painstakingly set irritants in freshwater mussels to produce softly glistening gems with a pinkish lustre.

While the staff were busy packing her gold, Narcissa sat at a vast oak table in the main banking hall, and penned a note to accompany her payment. Its composition took such a long time, as she weighed each word with care, that the letter was not finished until all her galleons were waiting for her in row upon row of leather bags.

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Alan looked up as Suzy came into the workroom, where he was busy sewing Cornelius Fudge's jacket. "There's a scary-looking woman asking for you," she told him. Alan smiled ruefully. An extra pair of hands was very useful during Cho's absence, but Suzy was rather scatterbrained, and sometimes checking up on her meant that she did not really save him any time at all. "Did it occur to you to ask her name?" he asked, not particularly expecting a positive reply. Suzy shook her head. "I didn't dare."

Alan walked into the shop, and saw Narcissa Malfoy standing haughtily by the counter. "Mrs Malfoy, I believe you were asking for me?" Alan wondered what she wanted, although he thought he could guess. He noted with slight amusement that she had obviously dressed very carefully indeed. Her midnight blue cloak was thrown back over her shoulders to reveal a crushed velvet gown precisely the colour of her eyes, its cut extremely décolleté, revealing a great deal of her alabaster white breasts. Alan missed nothing, and deduced her use of belladonna. When he looked into the brilliant blue eyes he saw that their pupils had dilated so much that, were he less easily fooled, he could almost believe she desired him.

"Mr Forbes," Mrs Malfoy said, smiling in a seductive way, "I believe we got off to a bad start when we met last time. Perhaps we could start again?" She gave him a most winning smile, and leaned even further forward so that the view down her dress almost reached her toes. Alan found it hard not to stare, for he appreciated beautiful women, in a purely aesthetic way naturally. He tore his eyes away from Narcissa's bosom, and looked directly at her.

"Mrs Malfoy," he said in reply, "You are a very beautiful woman," Narcissa's eyes gleamed in triumph, "but I should tell you before you say anything you may later regret, that firstly I have a partner at the moment, and secondly that his name is John."

Her reaction was immediate. Quick as a flash, Narcissa pulled her cloak more closely around her, and stood up straight. At first, she glared at Alan accusingly. Then, as she realised that this would not achieve anything, he saw her make a great effort, and rearrange her features into a pleasant expression, as she laughed at herself deprecatingly. "Thank you for preventing me from making a complete fool of myself, Mr Forbes. Although, if I had thought about it for a moment, I would have guessed that your tastes lay elsewhere. Please accept my apologies. But you must see that I only did it because I really need to know - Mr Forbes, please tell me, what exactly do you know about what is in the dungeons at Glen Moy Castle?" The huge blue eyes looked at Alan pleadingly once more.

Alan had been rehearsing his reply should she ask this question again. He was still unsure of Mrs Malfoy's motives. Was she really ignorant of Lucius' recent activities? When it was common knowledge that the Dark Lord was alive but weak, there had been no doubt that Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy had worked together to aid his return. Lucius had been the more visible Death Eater, but it was well known that Narcissa had carried out a few dangerous missions herself. The two of them were perfectly matched in evil and lust for power. However, since the demise of He Who Must Not Be Named, many pure blood wizards had claimed that they had never been Death Eaters, or they had been so merely under duress. These witches and wizards had been accepted back into the wizarding world with varying degrees of success and suspicion. It was possible that Mrs Malfoy had, chameleon-like, adapted to this new situation so completely that Lucius had kept her in ignorance of the true state of affairs. Or perhaps she remained a true Black, and Lucius was merely protecting her by not telling her what she did not yet need to know.

The effect of any revelation on Cho remained Alan's primary concern. He had asked himself what he really knew, and it was very little. He knew that the Dark Lord had used legilimency on Cho and tried to rape her, but he did not know for a fact that this had taken place in the dungeons at Glen Moy Castle. He had merely deduced this from the attack on Lucius, presumably carried out in furious retaliation for his timely rescue of Cho. But Lucius Malfoy had modified Cho's memory so that she would not remember anything of the attempted attack. Alan had gently probed her recall of events at Glen Moy Castle each time she raised the subject, and Lucius had done a very good job. He had left all her memories intact of the good times she and he had enjoyed together, and removed her ability to recall those final terrifying events so skilfully that Cho had no confusing gaps. So far as Cho was concerned, she had left the castle during the morning of the attempted assault because Lucius had some important work to do. She had been very ill because she had mistakenly taken an overdose of an extremely potent poison, and she had been hurt and stunned when, following her recovery, Lucius had quietly and firmly told her it was all over between them.

Alan felt that it would be very unwise to mention anything of Cho's real experience to Lucius Malfoy's wife. He guessed that Mrs Malfoy's public nonchalance over her husband's behaviour was a carefully cultivated front. He could not risk her using this knowledge to hurt Cho, deliberately or otherwise. Also, he did not see why Narcissa's own life should be in any danger from the Dark Lord. She had done nothing to annoy him, and he suspected that her feminine wiles might work very well with He Who Must Not Be Named, given that Lucius had said he was starved of female company. Would he feel guilty if Mrs Malfoy were attacked in the manner devised for Cho? A little maybe, but Cho mattered much more to him than any former Death Eater.

Alan now turned to Narcissa, and said, "Mrs Malfoy, I know nothing at all about your dungeons. Have you asked your house elves?"

"Of course I've asked the house elves, you stupid boy!" shouted Narcissa impatiently. Alan raised his eyebrows at her, and shook his head almost imperceptibly: such a display was not going to get Mrs Malfoy anywhere. He watched her rearrange her face again. Really, Mrs Malfoy was quite the consummate actress. He wondered if any of her apparent emotions were real. Yes, one at least was real: she was worried about Lucius, and if he was any judge, she loved him deeply.

"Mrs Malfoy, Cho and I are very good friends indeed. I am, as you probably guessed, frequently her confidant. However, she never told me any details of what happened between herself and your husband. You see, when Cho cares for someone, she stops sharing. It's too personal for her. I could tell that she cared very much for Lucius. So she did not tell me anything about her trips to Glen Moy Castle, except superficial things such as taking a walk up Ben Foy, or what she had for dinner. So I can't help you." Alan hoped that by stressing the fact that Cho had been in love with Lucius, he could distract Narcissa from her quest. He hoped she would not press him, as he could not explain away his reaction the day before when she had asked Cho about the dungeons.

Alan then took a deep breath before he added, in what he hoped sounded like a more conciliatory tone, "However, you obviously think that there is danger of some sort in your castle dungeons. I hope that you are not intending to expose Cho to this danger? I'm relying on your honour as a member of an old wizarding family, and your duty as a hostess. Please take good care of Cho while she's at Glen Moy Castle."

Narcissa Malfoy regarded Alan steadily. "Your loyalty does you credit, Mr Forbes," she said drily. "I'm sure many women would love to have a friend like you. I believe you're not telling me the whole truth, but I can see you're not prepared to say more. Naturally Miss Chang will be accorded all the honour due to a guest. I'll bid you Good Day." With the ghost of a smile, and a flash of blue eyes, Narcissa turned around, and Alan watched the back of her elegant blonde head as she walked purposefully out into Diagon Alley. He exhaled slowly, recognising as he did so the gradual release of tension in his shoulders.

But Alan knew he would not stop worrying until Cho was safely back home.

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The sun was low in the western sky, painting it with abandoned shades of orange and carmine, when Narcissa arrived back at Glen Moy Castle. She apparated in the grounds so that she could stand for a moment and drink in the view. She took a few deep breaths, and tried to relax as she thought over the events of the day.

After leaving Cho's Chic, Narcissa had been to Malfoy Manor and collected the rest of her jewellery, the pieces she wore most frequently. She had then returned to Diagon Alley to see Ruby Argent, ostensibly for an up-to-date valuation of her pieces, but Ruby was a very astute woman, and Narcissa knew she was not fooled. She could tell her customer needed ready cash, and valued the pieces accordingly. Narcissa had wondered, should she visit other merchants to obtain more prices for comparison, so that she could play one off against the other? She would have done this if everything were normal: but it was not - if all were normal she would never have parted with her treasures - and she did not have the luxury of time. Then a thought had suddenly occurred to her: she could take her jewellery to Goudbollen. She had never been into his premises in her life, it was the place for wizards whose fortunes had taken a turn for the worse, but there was a first time for everything. Narcissa smiled at Ruby, informed her of this plan, and said she would part with her jewellery to the higher bidder. Ruby looked at Narcissa with new respect, and upped her offer considerably.

Narcissa had then walked to the far end of Knockturn Alley, and turned into a narrow wynd. The buildings here were run down and poorly maintained, with peeling paintwork and dirty windows. If businesses occupied them, it was impossible to tell their nature, for there were no signs over the windows, and no name plates beside the doors. But it was easy enough to spot Goudbollen's shop: it alone looked occupied, and hanging over the door was the universal sign of three golden spheres. Taking a deep breath, Narcissa entered through the solid door, which creaked loudly as she stepped over the threshold.

Behind the counter stood a man in dusty brown robes, who looked up briefly to check who had entered, and then immediately put aside his copy of The Daily Prophet, took off his gold-rimmed glasses, and shambled forward to greet his customer.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy. Goudbollen at your service. I don't believe we've had a Malfoy in here since your father-in-law gambled away most of his fortune on a dragon fight."