Chapter Nine

"Do you have any water? I'm so thirsty!" Narcissa asked Severus, once they were inside. Severus summoned water with a flick of his wand, and Narcissa took it from him and drank deeply.

"I'll be right back, just going to the bathroom. Don't touch anything," Severus said, as he left the room. Narcissa set her cup down and wandered around the room, her mind elsewhere. As she returned to where she had been standing before, her hand brushed the cup she had been drinking from, and it fell to the ground with a clash. Her foot, which had been in the process of taking a step forward, came down on one of the broken pieces, and she fell to the ground seconds later. Rubbing her wounded places, something shiny caught her eye. It was under the couch.

She reached for it and after much groping, she was finally able to bring it out into the light. It was a small album. She opened up to the first page and couldn't resist a smile. In the beginning there were just pictures of her, as she was in her first years of Hogwarts. She was laughing, surrounded by friends or family. She turned the page again. More pictures, but she was older, and she guessed they were taken in her fifth year. She got impatient, and turned the pages more quickly. Finally, she arrived at a page where there were solely pictures of her and Severus, as a couple, as well as just friends. She smiled, remembering different moments in time. She fingered the necklace around her neck. She turned the page and gasped. It was a picture of her and Severus, torn right down the middle so that they were separated. Her side was distorted and ugly, and she guessed a spell had been cast to make it look the way Severus had been thinking of her the day they broke up.

She turned the page again, not able to look at the picture any longer. Next was a small newspaper clipping. She read the headline: Malfoy: #1 richest family yet again! Underneath, a long list of names followed. She looked at the circled name, #2 on the list. It was hers. So that was how he found out. No wonder he hated her. She sighed, and flipped the page. There was a picture of her and Lucius, at their wedding. She flipped the page again. A picture of Draco, taken at Hogwarts. She felt a small pang of pain at the thought of his death.

"You always did like to snoop around other people's belongings," a voice said from behind her. She jumped.

"You scared me," she said, shivering.

"Sorry," he replied sarcastically.

"Severus, please, just listen to me, just this once…" Severus remained silent. Narcissa took it as a sign to go on. "I didn't know my family wasn't broke, honest… I didn't find out until after the wedding!"

"You could have gotten a divorce," Severus said quietly.

"I would have! Don't you think I wanted to?"

"What stopped you?" he interrupted briskly.

"By the time I found out, I was pregnant with Draco. I didn't want to be blamed for taking him away from his father, and he needed a mother. Besides, I wasn't sure you would take me back even if I left Lucius…" she paused for breath. "Don't you see, Severus? I was manipulated by my family…"

"So you're saying that you would have picked me over Lucius, given the choice, knowing that you'd be living in this place?" he gestured to the house distastefully.

"I've lived with money all my life. But the only time I was actually happy was when I was with you," she said softly. They looked at each other intently for a few minutes. Severus spoke first.

"Do… do you have it?" he croaked. She nodded, bringing out the necklace from underneath her dress so that it sparkled in the somber surroundings. Severus stepped closer to her and she stood up, setting the album down carefully.

"Severus," Narcissa whispered. He came closer. They were almost touching now.

"Narcissa," he replied, his voice dripping with emotion. "I—"

"Avada Kedavra!" a flash of green light barely missed him as he jumped out of the way. Standing in the doorway, with her wand raised, was Narcissa's mother. Narcissa simply stood there, not understanding how she could wish so much ill upon one person. Astounded that after all this time, her mother was still trying to ruin her life.

"Petrificus totalus!" her mother shrieked, and Narcissa fell to the ground, powerless.

"Narcissa!" Severus shouted, ducking behind the couch as Narcissa's mother aimed spell after spell at him. Fury on Narcissa's behalf drove him onwards.

"Tantallegra!" he shouted. His spell was deflected and he ducked behind the couch as she sent another killing curse at her.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" he screamed at her, but she laughed as she dodged it with surprising speed. She was closer to Narcissa now and therefore closer to him too. Severus didn't know how many more of it he could take. He aimed a curse at her but nothing seemed to hit her. He suspected that an invisible barrier spell had been cast upon her. But who would do it? It required a blood relative to cast the spell, and it only lasted up to an hour. Which meant there was no way he could do this. Alone. He cast a silent spell to free Narcissa, and at the same time he had to throw himself behind a chair, as the couch was no longer existent. He could see Narcissa moving, slightly. She was free of the spell. But why wasn't she doing anything? He had no time to ponder this as the chair was destroyed too. He had nowhere left to go on that side of the room. Hurry up, Narcissa! he thought, but Narcissa remained immobile. Narcissa's mother was standing about a meter away from him now, a smirk on her face. He was doomed.

"You have been really hard to deal with, Severus. Well, glad that will be over soon. And it won't be hard to get Narcissa to marry again, someone even richer than that idiotic Lucius. Goodbye, Snape!" she winked, and aimed her wand at his head. He tried to back away and found he was cornered.

"Avada—"

Narcissa threw herself at her mother, knocking her down to the floor and snatching away her wand.

"I don't think much of your style," Severus sniffed. Narcissa glowered.

"How else was I going to get her? She placed an invisible barrier spell on herself… obviously the only way to defeat her would be to hurt her physically," she reasoned.

"Charming," he said. "Now what do we do? We still can't hurt her magically… do we just… keep her here?" Narcissa's mother coughed.

"You could let me go?" she said hopefully. Narcissa and Severus laughed.

"We're not stupid," Severus said.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have left the door wide open," Narcissa's mother said, scornfully.

"Shut up," Narcissa said threateningly.

"Narcissa, I'm your mother. Can you really do anything to me with a clear conscience?"

"I'm your daughter, but that didn't seem to make a difference to you when you ruined my life."

"Oh grow up," her mother said brusquely.

"Watch it," Severus growled. Suddenly there was another flash and Bellatrix walked into the room.

"Having a nice little get together?" she said, mockingly.

"Bella, quick, stop this nonsense. They're trying to kill me!" Narcissa's mother pleaded. Bellatrix's eyes narrowed.

"Actually, I was here to pick up you. You see, when the Dark Lord searched Lucius' mind, he found no evidence of Narcissa having helped him. On the other hand, he was able to find quite a few instances where you helped him." She turned to Narcissa and Severus. "Do you have her wand?" They nodded.

"Excuse me then, I think it's time for me to go," she said smoothly. Grabbing hold of the old woman's arm, she gave them a mock salute and apparated out of the room.

Narcissa and Severus stood shyly next to each other.

"Severus?"

"Uh huh?"

"Do you think we can ever start over?"

"I don't know Narcissa. But we're sure as hell going to try," Severus said, looking out the window, where it had stopped raining. "After all, you have to put up with the rain to get the rainbow." And with that, he took her in his arms and they shared the best kiss of their lives, a kiss filled with sweet memories and the promise of a great future.

THE END