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They were people too
James was sitting in the leaky cauldron, drumming the table with his fingers. He didn't know why he was so anxious, he was only waiting for Sirius. Well he did…it was this meeting with Narcissa and her parents. He couldn't help but wonder what was in store. Would he be able to hold his tongue? Would they hate him, and ban him from ever seeing their daughter again?
And if they did, would it work? Would she go back to being the silver haired Slytherin Queen who he never spoke to.
He shook off those questions as he saw his friend entering the front of the pub, shaking the rain off his hair. The downpour had started three days ago and showed no signs of letting up. So much for summer, eh?
"Sirius, I've got you a butterbeer," he greeted his friend, sliding the drink across the table.
That made his friend grin. "This stuff? It's for kids." He practically laughed. "So what's with this sudden meeting? Not that I'm complaining."
"Narcissa has arranged for me to go to dinner with her and her parents."
He hadn't been expecting Sirius to half choke on his drink in surprise. Although it was always amusing to catch Sirius off guard. "Bloody hell Prongs, that'll be fun," Sirius retorted before dissolving into a flood of laughter. He seemed to finally realise James wasn't laughing as well. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Well…Narcissa thinks it's a bad idea for you to be there – "
"And she is right. My uncle hates me almost as much as mum does. Thinks I'm a disgrace to the family name."
Charming, James thought to himself. Why was he deliberately socialising with these people again? The image of Narcissa came to him. The things I'll do for love. "I wasn't going to ask you to come." Well he was, but that wasn't the point. "I just wanted some advice about your aunt and uncle. Is there anything I shouldn't say?"
"Well don't call him a pompous old windbag, and you'll be doing better than me." Sirius paused, seeming to realise that he wasn't helping his friend's general state of nervousness. "Seriously mate, it'll be fine. Stick to small talk, don't talk about politics, or the war, or anything muggle related. And don't let him know you've been sleeping with Narcissa or he demand you marry her."
"Seriously? People still do that? Bella made her way through half the pure-blooded population of the school and never had to marry any of them."
"That's because she wasn't stupid enough to take any of them home to meet the parents…Seriously, it'll be fine."
Sure it would be. How difficult could it be to stick to small talk for an entire evening?
"No politics, no war, nothing muggle related," James whispered to himself as be made his way up the pathway of a grand townhouse. It had become an ongoing mantra as he had been getting ready for tonight. His parents had both remarked on how smart he looked until he mumbled something about meeting Narcissa's parents.
"James my son," his father had beckoned him over, "meeting your mother's parents was the most nerve wracking moment of my life. Your grandfather was an intimidating man – "
"What your father is trying to say James, is that it will be fine. Just avoid any contentious subjects." His mother interjected, with a knowing look in her eye.
"Avoid any contentious subjects," he breathed, before knocking on the door. It was a grand building, and James had no doubt he was at the right address. The place practically reeked of pure blood privilege, with the impressive Edwardian style, and dark brickwork. Not that James was in much position to judge, given that he lived in what was, basically, a small palace.
"James!" Narcissa exclaimed, throwing herself into a hug. "Thank you so much for this," she whispered into his ear, before taking the flowers he had been holding from him.
"Happy to be here," he lied through gritted teeth, although Narcissa's half pitying smile, acknowledged the lie.
James found himself being guided into the dining room, a room adorned with expensive, and dark coloured furniture. He had to wonder if there was a pure blood guide to decorating.
"James, this is my father, Cygnus," Narcissa explained, gesturing to a gentleman with dark hair, greying at the temples, and grey eyes. All in all, James thought he looked eerily like Sirius would in twenty years' time. "And my mother, Druella," she explained, as the older women, with lighter hair and pale blue eyes smiled at him warmly. "And of course, you know Bellatrix," as her older sister waved to James, pouring herself a glass of wine.
"Sir, mam," James greeted Narcissa's parents, feeling far too formal as he shook their hands. His palms clammy with nerves.
"It's good to finally meet you James, Narcissa has told us a lot about you," Druella said. Looking at Narcissa's mother, he was struck with the similarities between the two. They had the same nose and smile, although Narcissa's colouring was lighter and the eyes were different.
"All good things I hope," he half smiled, feeling like an idiot even as he said it. They all murmured their agreement, except for Bellatrix, who just rolled her eyes and kept drinking.
"So how is your father?" Cygnus asked, as they all sat down to the table, "I haven't seen Fleamont in a few years. Is his health still good?"
"Yes sir, he just prefers spending time in the garden now, as opposed to coming down to London anymore."
"Fair enough, the politics in London is starting to make me think about retreating to my garden as well."
"Yeah, I think the only thing dad is missing is the quidditch gossip."
"Ah yes, he won't have heard then that Puddlemere are finally going to replace that useless manager of theirs."
"They got rid of Rowle? Took them long enough. That loss to the Cannons was just embarrassing. Never understood how he even got that position."
"Family connections of course," interjected Bellatrix, with another eye roll.
Quidditch, James realised, was a universal language, as they descended into a conversation about the various teams. James was relieved to discover that that agreed on most of the major subjects; that the Cannons' glory days were long behind them, the tornadoes seemed to have resorted to jinxes and bribery to climb the ranks, and that the Falmouth Falcons were doing spectacularly thanks to their impressive beaters.
It was odd to realise that Narcissa's parents were, in fact, people too.
"So Narcissa mentions that you're a talented quidditch player yourself James." Her mother finally broke into the conversation. She had remained relatively quiet so far.
"Eh…" He flushed, glancing at Narcissa, who just shrugged.
"I just mentioned that you were the reason Slytherin hadn't won the house cup in the last three years."
"Well, I don't like to brag…" James lied, grinning widely. He had never heard Narcissa acknowledge his quidditch skills before. She rolled her eyes at his smile, and had never looked so much like her sister.
"Why not," Cygnus declared, "If you have the skills, don't be bashful. A team is only as good as it's players."
"Thank you, sir."
"Please, call me Cygnus," it had taken him long enough, James had been calling him Sir for half the evening. "So are you planning on playing professionally once you leave school?"
"I thought about it," he replied, before biting into a forkful of the steak pie in front of him, this food was excellent, "But no, I think I'd like to be an auror." Crap.
Avoid the war, or contentious topics, and James had just told Narcissa's parents he wanted to be an auror. Well done Prongs, just brilliantly done, he thought to himself.
"Well it's a good career. Although not the safest one in today's climate," Cygnus replied, after a heavy silence. His response almost causing James to choke on his food. Not what I expected to hear.
"Yes. Well I'd like to do something important." He said, pointedly avoiding Bellatrix' piercing eyes as he said it.
"Narcissa mentioned that you are friends with my wayward nephew, maybe you could convince him to pursue as valiant a career. Last time I spoke to him he wanted to be a rock star…or a mechanic."
James couldn't help but smother a laugh at the idea of Sirius as a mechanic. The rock star though, that he could see quite easily. "I don't think anyone could convince Sirius of anything."
"Well, no, probably not. I'm friends with Barty Crouch, I'm sure a boy with your name has his own connections, but if not I should be able to pull some strings and help you into the auror department, if that's what you still want after school."
"Really?" James half choked, causing Cygnus to laugh at his surprise.
"We protect our own here, now if you'll excuse me for a moment."
As Cygnus got up to leave the room James had to consider what the older man had just said. We protect our own, would being with Narcissa turn him into one of the very people that his best friend sought to leave behind? It was strange, because he had wanted her parents to like him earlier, but now he wasn't so sure.
"So, as an auror, what would you do if you had to arrest someone you knew? A friend?" Bellatrix suddenly asked. It had been odd seeing her with her parents, the girl who was usually so brash and proud was far more subdued.
"Got anyone in mind, Bella?" He asked drily, before Narcissa gave him a warning glance. "I don't know, but it would depend on the situation, and the person." It wasn't something he had ever really considered before. He would now though.
"Well, what about –"
"Enough Bellatrix, I'm sure James would only be arresting those who had done something wrong," Druella interrupted, a message was there in her voice. James had a feeling he had stepped into something, but he wasn't sure what.
As he glanced at Narcissa, to question it, she just shook her head. "I'll talk to you about it later," she mouthed at him, as her mother and sister continued to glare at one another from across the table. James was just glad he wasn't the cause of whatever this friction was about.
When dinner had finally ended, James sat with Narcissa on the wall outside her house. It had been an odd night, one that had totally surprised him.
"Narcissa, I'm-," he started to say, before the blonde haired girl kissed him. He leaned into her, cupping her head in his hands, before remembering where they both were. "That went a lot better than I thought it would," he finally admitted to her.
"You know what happened to the Fawley's?"
"I heard they were killed pretty nastily," although no one had yet come out and said it was the work of Voldemort, it wasn't like there were any other suspects.
"Yeah…" Narcissa, agreed, putting her head to her hands. He hadn't realised that Narcissa knew the family, but it had clearly upset her. "They were friends of mum and dads, neither of them are happy that they were killed…by him."
"Why were they targeted?"
"Who knows? Someone claimed it was because they were descendants of Rowena Ravenclaw…what bullshit. They must have done or said the wrong thing. But it's made mum and dad reconsider some things. They seem to think…Voldemort…isn't living up to expectations. That he's causing the deaths of more purebloods than he is saving them." They've suddenly realised that they're not automatically going to be on the winning side of this war, James realised. "Anyway they think Bella should distance herself from him, and you just walked in on it all."
Ah, "Well they weren't as bad as Sirius described."
Narcissa laughed, "That's because Sirius sits at the dinner table, respecting no one and acting like we're all evil. You were polite and respectful, and into quidditch, I think my dad was just pleased you weren't another Sirius." She leaned into him, as James put his arm around her, protecting her from the cold. "Thank you for that."
"It feels weird though, I'd expected them to hate me."
"Well I told them about you a while ago, so they've had a chance to get used to it all. And besides, my dad always wants us to look good in front of guests."
"So it was all a façade?"
"No, dad really is into all that quidditch stuff. But it just takes a while, before you start to see everything that's underneath the exterior."
"How has he been with you? Since that stuff with Rabastan?" James didn't know why he was suddenly asking. Perhaps it was because he was trying to reconcile the man he had just met, who claimed to protect his own, to one who could let his daughter get attacked and do nothing.
"Fine," Narcissa said, shaking her head at the same time, "We just act like it never happened. He was worried though, about me. I could see it when I came home. He actually apologised."
James wasn't convinced, but at least Narcissa seemed to be able to forgive her father for his crimes.
"I better go now," He kissed Narcissa gently on the head, "But I'll see on the Hogwarts Express next week?"
"Of course."
"I love you Narcissa." If he hadn't he wouldn't have sat through that dinner. And Narcissa seemed to know it as well.
"I love you too, James."
