Note: This story is actually an edited excerpt of a work-in-progress novel, made into a short story because I thought this part would appeal to those who wonder what happened to Luna at Malfoy Manor.
The Spider and the Fly
PART ONE: It Was Time to Implement the Plan
"Narcissa, this is going to work in our favour. It will show our loyalty and that we are still an influential force in the world."
She looked doubtful and fearful.
"But who reads...the Quibbler?"
Lucius put his hand on Narcissa's shoulder.
"Enough people that the Dark Lord considered it a matter to be dealt with in the first place."
Narcissa nodded, but remained downcast. "Have you heard directly of any plans for release of the captured girl? And Draco tells me she has a reputation for madness."
Lucius ignored the first question. "She can't be completely irrational, or she wouldn't have been selected for Ravenclaw."
"That's true."
Narcissa handed Lucius her wand with a sigh, but he returned it to her hand. "No, I want you to talk to her first, Cissy."
"I...what do you mean?"
PART TWO: Execution
Lucius and Narcissa sat together on the blue-patterned sofa in their small upstairs sitting room. Several baked goods and pastries, a pitcher of tea, and three cups sat on the low white table. A small purple footstool and armchair to match, faced it opposite, nearest the entrance to the bathroom.
Pettigrew entered from the main door, and dropped his burden.
"Anything else, sir?"
"No, you may return to your bedroom."
He pattered away.
The girl didn't move. Narcissa went to her and slowly removed the black sack from over her head.
She seemed to be sleeping. Or pretending to be. Though Lucius knew this routine, he would leave his wife to it first.
"Come now, wake up, Luna."
Narcissa gently pulled her into a sitting position. The Lovegood girl flipped her eyelids open with one single decisive motion. Immediately she put a hand on her breast pocket, and then as if satisfied something was in place, she gave a slight smile. Looking around at the room and taking them in, she seemed not to blink at all.
"No matter what you do to me, I'm not going to be useful. I don't know where Harry is, and I wouldn't tell you if I did."
Her voice had an annoying wispiness to it, like she had a detachment from her surroundings.
"What would we do to you, girl?" Narcissa spoke softly, and put her arms around Luna from behind.
"I've been so worried about you. Please take a more comfortable seat."
Narcissa helped Luna rise to her feet and guided her to the small armchair. Luna then turned her blue-gray orbs directly upon Lucius.
"You might put the Cruciatus Curse on me. That's what happened to Mr. Ollivander. I suppose I will learn what it feels like, as I have never encountered it."
She talked as if discussing the weather. Since the mad girl was speaking to him directly, Lucius decided to go ahead and begin the conversation.
"That's not at all what we brought you up here for. Why don't you have a cup of tea?"
Lucius poured from the pitcher, and his wife joined him on the sofa.
"Sugar?" Lucius asked, after adding spoonfuls to his own cup. Luna's eyes seemed to grow, if possible, wider as she spotted the third cup on the table.
"I refuse to drink."
"Now, now, such rudeness." Lucius scolded gently.
"I'm not an idiot. I know all about your family's involvement in the illegal poison trade of Knockturn Alley."
That was one of the few conspiracy theories published by the Quibbler to have a sound basis in fact.
Lucius raised his cup into the air, and clinked it with Narcissa's. After they both took sips, he smiled.
"Alas, my reputation precedes me."
No response. Luna moved her gaze over nearly every inch of the small interior room, as if studying a textbook.
"Would you like to go home?" Narcissa offered, as if supposing Luna was looking for escape routes.
"Yes, but it seems unlikely that I ever shall."
Now Lucius wondered if the girl was getting genuinely sleepy, with how soft her voice had become. But her eyelids never seemed to droop.
"That doesn't have to be the case." Narcissa took an ice bun, and breaking it in two, began to eat half of it.
Lucius offered the other half to Luna.
"Why would I poison you?"
He could tell she was hungry by the way she moved her mouth at the sight of the pastry. Lucius had not starved her and the other captive, but apart from Christmas had certainly not given them all he would have considered satisfactory either.
"Maybe you're tired of keeping me." But Luna reached for the bun, as if involuntarily, and as soon as it was in her hand, stuffed it in her mouth and chewed.
"Do eat up." Narcissa encouraged. "I can tell you are very distraught, child. You must be so weary of hardship. "
Luna said nothing but reached for a Pumpkin Pastie upon finishing the ice bun.
"Do you want to bathe?"
Luna nodded to her question, and then spoke with her mouth full, "But I won't."
Narcissa gestured to the bathroom, where a hot bath had already been drawn.
"Please. We will give you your privacy."
The girl stood, and Narcissa did as well. Since Luna seemed unsteady on her feet, she took her hand and walked with her to the bathroom.
"I can help you if you need me to." Luna shook her head. Narcissa then pointed her wand into the bathroom and cast an Anti-Slip Charm on the floor, and another in the tub.
"And for you…"
Luna froze, but Narcissa just put a Cheering Charm on her, one of the side effects of which was alertness. No visible change affected the Lovegood girl's expression, but surely the increase in cheerfulness would show itself soon.
"I suppose the tea isn't made from Gurdyroots?" she asked, and entered the bathroom and closed the door without waiting for an answer.
Narcissa raised her eyebrows at Lucius. "Gurdyroot tea would be so revolting."
She raised her voice. "Luna, please leave your clothes by the tub. I will return them to you laundered. You will find a white dress hanging there to put on when you have dried."
No answer, but a dreamy humming. Lucius looked at Narcissa.
"Good work on the Charm."
Narcissa smiled. "Thank you. It feels so much better to be doing something. You were right that the girl will likely see reason."
They waited in silence, until their captive emerged once more.
Luna seemed transformed by the simple elegant dress, from a waif into a young lady.
To business.
"You know the reason for your captivity, Luna?" Lucius began.
Immediately her eyes fixed upon him again.
"Most likely because you all want my father to stop telling the truth in his magazine."
Lucius smiled at her again. "You are an intelligent girl, Luna. You understand the importance of the images the press can create. Most of what your father has to say is harmless amusement. But you know, we...the followers of the Dark Lord, myself among them...object to only one little theory he has been publishing. That Harry Potter is the Chosen One, and it is our duty to help him."
He refrained from adding that Xenophilius had not advanced this view since her imprisonment. First, he would test the waters.
"He is the Chosen One, and it is our duty to help him." Luna stated maddeningly.
"My dear girl, even he no longer holds that view. Mr. Lovegood has restrained himself since his daughter has been our guest here."
Observing her closely, Lucius noted Luna retained her steady composure.
"But everyone already saw what he wrote, so he doesn't need to say anything more about it."
Narcissa gestured to the pastries. "Please have some more if you like."
Luna sat back down, and took the smallest cupcake.
"Why are you being nice to me?" she asked, after swallowing it in one mouthful.
Delighted that they had reached the point, Lucius met her steady eyes with a stare of his own.
"Why wouldn't we?"
Narcissa stood, and moved behind Luna's seat. Examining Luna's hair, she whispered, "You know, it really looks as if your hair has not been brushed properly for some time. I love your long hair. So traditional. You mind if I give it a bit of attention?"
Silently Luna shook her head.
Narcissa Summoned, in turn, several combs of different sizes, and a Hair Detangling Potion, all of which she set on the footstool. Opening the bottle, she lathered her soft white hands and touched Luna's scalp.
For the first time, it seemed, the girl let her eyelids fall down. She raised them halfway and seemed to keep them there, and remained still.
"You wouldn't be nice to me for no reason. You are a cruel man, Lucius Malfoy." Luna stated quietly.
"That's not true, child." Narcissa worked her hands through the girl's tangled dirty blonde locks. "Until I married him, I do not think I knew what it was to be treated with kindness."
Lucius felt a warmth all over him. "My dearest." He stood, and kissed the back of his wife's head.
"You were going to kill me and my friends at the Ministry," Luna continued. Since Narcissa had started on her hair, she seemed to have lost much of the certitude her dreamy voice previously held.
"`You can kill the others if necessary.'" that's what you said."
Lucius made his gesture to Narcissa indicating he wanted her wand. "If you don't mind, I'll fetch that reclining chair for her so you can sit down."
He Disapparated and quickly returned. Luna gave no resistance when Narcissa transferred her from her armchair. Narcissa then took her seat on the sofa behind her. Lucius sat close to his wife who continued her work on Luna's hair.
"You have a good memory, Luna. You recall that I commanded the use of lethal force only if necessary. Certainly I did not desire you or any of the young to be harmed. It was very foolish of you to accompany Harry Potter to the Ministry."
Luna said nothing for some time, and Lucius hoped the girl was reflecting on what he had just said to her.
"It was important, because the Ministry was ignoring You-Know-Who's return. They always try to cover up everything. And I wanted to help Harry, my friend."
Lucius glanced at Narcissa and laughed softly. "Oh, we hated Fudge's regime as much as you did."
He helped himself to another pastry and then placed the plate in Luna's lap. She took a roll.
Luna again paused for a long time before speaking. "I want to go home to Daddy, but neither he nor my mother would like it if I betrayed my friends, as you must want me to do somehow, or I would be back in the downstairs chamber. As I'm sure I shall be before long."
Narcissa spoke with intensity. "Luna, what does it mean to be among friends? Surely all of us of the pure blood are one family, are we not?"
Luna lay weakly on the reclining chair. Narcissa began to dry her hair now with the Hot Air Charm, braiding it in a way she had often done her own.
"I do not want to take you back to that nasty dark place, Luna," said Lucius.
For a second, Luna's eyes returned to their previous width of openness.
"But you're going to."
Trapped, Lucius returned, "Not if you cooperate with us."
Narcissa jumped in to defend him, "Many times duty requires us to do things we don't want to, or may find unpleasant, Luna."
"What do you want me to do?" Luna asked.
Full of hope, Lucius laid it out. "We need you to write a message to your father, which we will send and can help you with. How you have decided not to be friends with Harry Potter anymore. You've realized instead how important it is to be loyal to your pureblood family, and hence, the pureblood cause. The Dark Lord unites all us purebloods, and we must serve him. Your dear father needs to do his part and urge this view to his readers. And, Luna,"
Lucius fixed her in his most intense stare himself. To his surprise, as he now believed her an invincible match, the girl looked down and away from him. So he softened his expression.
"You must mention us? Tell your father how grateful you are for what we've done for you, and what you've learned here. How much he needs to write about us. That, thanks to the Malfoys, he realizes the danger of Mudbloods and the wrongness of mixing wizard and Muggle blood, and that thanks to the Malfoys, the Quibbler will stand with the Dark Lord in his control of the Ministry, and thanks to the Malfoys, the Quibbler urges its readers to turn Potter in to the Snatchers."
Luna said, "That would be a lot to learn in one visit with you, I think, and in one letter for Daddy."
Lucius spoke kindly but firmly. "I have plenty of books on the subject. We are not too pressed for time, so I am more than happy to provide you the intellectual background you need to be convinced of the truth of pureblood superiority."
"Yes, we know that Ravenclaw House teaches you to have an open mind," said Narcissa.
"Though I have to say us of Slytherin have an advantage in that we are often able to...ah...learn more quickly. Particularly when new ideas we confront are backed up with power." Lucius couldn't resist putting in his bit for his own House.
"You want Muggle-borns to die?" Luna asked.
"You speak crudely, but yes, in a properly ordered world, they will become non-entity of their own accord. If the lesser forms don't pass away, how can the higher forms evolve, Luna?" Lucius asked.
Narcissa continued braiding the girl's hair. Lucius poured Luna a cup of tea again and placed it on the tray with the pastries.
"I am friends with a Muggle-born…"
She didn't touch the cup.
"Ah, that would be Hermione Granger. Harry Potter and those who follow him are a threat to decency, Luna. No one should be allowed to challenge the Dark Lord in any way."
Luna asked quietly, "Do you really believe that? Not in the slightest?"
Narcissa took a sip of tea, and answered, "He is the greatest of us all, Luna. Us purebloods were given pride again and he would lead us. All the problems at the Ministry, you know, did stem from Muggles. We needed his sovereignty over us. To make things right, we all had to...give ourselves to him. Each in one's own way."
Lucius showed Luna his Dark Mark. He couldn't tell the girl's feelings about it.
"To many, Luna, this is a sign of fear, but to those of us he counts on, places under his protection," Lucius put his arm around his wife.
"It is a sign of belonging," he continued. "That is what we want to offer to you and your father, Luna. That protection in exchange for your help. It is very important to us that the Dark Lord knows what we have gained for him in the two of you, with your influential publication. What we did for him."
Luna said nothing. Narcissa spoke.
"You don't need to worry about what you call friendship, child. Blood runs thicker than water. The sadness you will feel...it will fade. These friends, my dear one...do you know how they feel about you, if you are of real importance in their lives?"
Luna closed her eyes.
"There, there, it doesn't matter...only family matters. You are family to us, little pure one." Narcissa's hands on her hair were as scrupulously perfectionist as if Luna were the daughter she would never have.
Lucius knew his wife spoke the truth. He added,
"If you do this for us and yourself and your loved ones, you can stay upstairs in a very nice bedroom. You can eat our food with us as a family, until the Dark Lord gives permission to have you taken back to your father, which will be soon, if he can count on his support."
Luna opened her eyes, but remained perfectly still and silent.
"Do you think my son Draco a handsome boy?" Narcissa teased.
"I suppose so. In his way." Luna answered.
Both Lucius and Narcissa laughed.
"Do you want to marry him?" Lucius asked.
"No." Luna quickly said.
"Now, Lucius, I hardly think that a joking matter…" Narcissa recovered herself. "I thought you had decided we wouldn't talk about that...till...he was of age."
She realized where she had arrived, and stopped, unwilling to continue.
"When...all things are in their right season." Lucius reassured her.
"Anyway, our son will be home soon for the Easter holidays. If you are now embracing the rewards and duties of your lineage, he will be very happy to count you a sister or cousin, and I'm sure you will have a good time together."
"It's almost Easter?" Luna managed faintly.
"Yes. Probably it will be a little time for the articles to go to press, so you'll be spending a bit of the holidays with us. But maybe by the day itself you can be home with your father," said Narcissa, as she finished Luna's hair and surveyed her handiwork.
"If it takes a little time for him, and you're still here, we will make sure you feel at home. We put great store on holiday traditions in this family," said Luciu s.
Narcissa went to her dressing room to fetch a looking glass for their convert.
Luna sat up. "What about Mr. Ollivander?"
Lucius was curious if she knew anything more about why he was imprisoned.
"We greatly desire his release as well, many have been the hours my wife has spent in his shop with him, enthralled with the lore of wands...we are waiting for the Dark Lord to finish his business with him."
"Do you know anything about the business he has with him?" Luna asked.
"We are not always free to discuss what we do or do not know, Luna," said Lucius. "Now, what do you know about it yourself?"
Luna took a quick breath.
"Don't even think about quoting my own words back to me. You are free to discuss it with us, you are under no oath of secrecy to anyone, and if you were, the needs of the Dark Lord's servants would trump such a pact."
Lucius took a drink from his tea cup. "You know, I do keep a supply of Veritaserum on hand. Yes, I know that its private possession is, or was, illegal; I have never allowed the Ministry to restrict my right to own whatever I desire."
Luna nodded. "Yes, that's good practice..." she uttered.
"I'm afraid I don't yet know how much we can trust you. So...you'll need to interrupt your meal for a moment…"
Lucius grabbed the tray off her lap, and held it out of reach.
"What would you most like to have? You shall, when I have added a little of my potion. It tastes like nothing."
Luna didn't look at him, but it seemed to Lucius more fatigue than shiftiness. "I don't think I know anything that you would find useful...if You-Know-Who hasn't told you why he tortured Mr. Ollivander, I don't think my telling you, would be any use, or harm, to you or You- Know-Who."
Narcissa returned with the mirror, but didn't immediately let Luna see her reflection. She placed it backwards in the corner.
"Cissy...I need you to fetch Veritaserum from the store cupboard in the secret passage…"
Narcissa Disapparated. Neither Lucius nor Luna spoke while she was gone. When she returned, she pressed a bottle into Lucius's hand.
"How much was left?" Lucius asked.
"The cask was scarcely touched."
"Very good."
They both laughed. That bet Severus Snape had lost to Lucius, on a Gobstones game, about ten years ago…the first and only time...resulting in Lucius claiming this lifetime's store of illegal potion, brewed to top of the line quality. Severus greatly appreciated all Lucius had done for him anyway, and in their friendship, Lucius had always been able to rely on the great potioneer to supply him with any complicated potion he needed, though usually not to that quantity.
Lucius, again borrowing Narcissa's wand, Transfigured a pastry into something a little more substantial, a bowl of beef stew. Luna opened her mouth longingly. After Lucius poured from the bottle into it, he handed it to her, with a spoon.
Luna ate it without hesitating.
"Very glad you are being sensible and I needn't resort to anything else."
Lucius pondered her. "This will be quick. After I've asked you about the wandmaker, and Potter, and you've given me your word that you will fulfill my requests, I will.."
He looked at Narcissa and she continued, "Take you to your new bedroom so you can rest by yourself until dinner. Tomorrow we'll help you with your letter to your father."
Lucius nodded to the girl. "Yes, we are conscious of the inherent indignity in being under the effects of this potion, and will let you be alone until it wears off."
Reactions to Veritaserum varied, but Lucius had never noticed so little a contrast between the misty, straight-ahead look brought on by the potion and the drinker's usual expression.
"All I know about Mr. Ollivander...You-Know-Who asked him to describe Harry Potter's wand to him, and asked him many questions about wands. He was tortured many times, but did not tell me much about why."
"I see. I know Potter's wand is phoenix feather core, can you recall what wood?" asked Lucius.
"Holly. I think You-Know-Who already knew that."
Lucius corrected her mildly. "You should call him your Lord now that you are following him. But thank you for telling us that. Potter?"
"I don't know where he is." She seemed sad.
"Thank you, Luna. Now would you like to see your hair? No, wait...I've got just the right touch…," said Narcissa.
She went to her dressing room and fetched a moon-shaped hairpin, studded with blue gems. "In my family, we were named after stars, but this is perfect for a darling child of the Moon!"
She fixed it in Luna's hair and then held up the looking glass. Luna lifted her head and stared at her reflection.
"Do you like it, Luna?"
Luna answered, "Yes...I have never had anyone...do my hair like...a mother. I always tried to do it myself, but it never quite turned out how I wanted. I used to ask other girls about it, but I found it difficult to understand their explanations."
"I'm sorry," said Narcissa.
She looked away from her reflection and upon turning, Luna seemed to have been filled with strength. Her eyes were back to their almost popping out unblinking gaze.
"It's so beautiful. Thank you so much, Mrs. Malfoy."
"You're very welcome. The hairpin is a gift."
"There, there, are you ready to be a good girl and tell us you will write that letter? I can bring you something to read while you are alone to help you understand even more." Lucius decided he liked Luna well enough.
"I will be a good girl... and never do that. Me and Daddy have always, and always will, fight for the rights of every creature!"
Lucius bit his lip in bitter disappointment. "You know this means I'll have to…"
"Take me back down to the prison chamber? I'm eager to get back, Mr. Ollivander will be worried about me." Luna stuck her head in the black sack, but not before shyly placing the hairpin back in Narcissa's hand.
"Thank you for the braids," she repeated.
Narcissa nodded stiffly.
"Almost a waste of time." Lucius said, and called Peter Pettigrew to take her back.
"I apologize for your having to put up with this impertinence." Lucius said to Narcissa.
His mood didn't improve later when Narcissa screamed from the bathroom. Luna had left her clothes in the place she was told, but a spider had crawled out from her pocket. Most likely the lunatic was trying to set it free or something.
PART THREE: In the Failure of the First Resort, There Were Other Measures
There wasn't even really much he could do to the brat in retaliation for all her disrespect, except starve the two captives for a couple days in return for the stolen food. Dealing directly with a hostage without authorization was playing with fire, when that hostage was very effectively guaranteeing at least the neutrality of a magazine. The Dark Lord would rid the wizarding world of Mudbloods, Yaxley would make sure of that. Probably another generation of educational correction before the blood traitors were gone as well.
Lucius thought he could still have broken Luna under torture but he knew it would probably be tougher to do so than with many adults. Narcissa's wand had always worked well for him, but he had never put it to the test with the Dark Arts, those spells of which were difficult at the best of times, with one's own wand...
Any dragon heartstring wand, though, would have an affinity to the emotional disassociation and re-association which he had found was key to the Unforgivables, even though he did not believe it had ever cast one.
Maybe you're just getting soft now, like your son…
The thought came to him unbidden, and stayed with a wretched tenacity. Before dinner, Lucius had made his decision.
He penned a note on a sheet of his very finest parchment.
My Dear Luna,
I am sure you are not very familiar with the internal matters of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters. Then you will not have heard of a policy I developed during the First War, which allowed us to conquer with remarkable effectiveness. I take much pride on what I have been told is its streamlined simplicity, as merciful as it is ruthless. The policy is known as SWICAK, to be deployed against all adversaries deemed to be useful to the Dark Lord.
The acronym stands for the order in which specific measures are to be used by a Death Eater in such a scenario. The first step is the attempt to Sway the witch or wizard to our side. The next...each of the three Curses, deemed by the Ministry to be Unforgivable, in order. I would also inform you that in practical experience, it was discovered in many cases to be unfeasible to cast the Imperius Curse, because of the difficulties in long term monitoring. It has now long been established practice in most cases for the Death Eater to simply proceed to the next, unless he has a grave reason for the Imperius, and circumstances favourable to continued application, neither of which describes my situation in relationship to you.
Perhaps your traitorous words were spoken in youthful ignorance and you would like another chance to write a letter to your father?
If so, send me back a reply to that effect with Wormtail. If not, I regret that our next meeting will not be as pleasant.
Lucius Malfoy
He gave the letter, and another blank sheet, to Wormtail with a quill and ink, and orders not to waste time.
And a pain seared through his lower arm, nearly blinding him. Lucius knew his master wanted him immediately...whether to walk all the way through the house or to get Narcissa's wand from her in the parlour nearby so he could Apparate...he knew he mustn't delay but he hated drawing notice to his use of his wife's wand...or really, now, bringing her to the Dark Lord's attention in any way.
Lucius rushed through the halls, and only broke into a run on the stairs. He found the door to the wing open, and the Dark Lord standing in the first sitting room. Nagini slithered around in the corner.
"At last, Lucius! I thought I taught you a lesson about acting WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION!"
Before he could speak a word, the curse fell on him, and Lucius opened his mouth in agony, but it stopped after a few seconds.
On his knees, Lucius forced himself to meet the Dark Lord's eyes.
"My Lord, I only meant...if we get the Quibbler on our side…"
"Silence!" cried the Dark Lord, and bore his eyes into Lucius.
"I will suppress all dissidents, but how do you think the direct support of the Quibbler would make us look to the public, Lucius?"
He made no answer.
"I only wanted that crackpot's neutrality and silence, nothing else...As a matter of fact, he is now controlled. He has been regularly bothering some of my Death Eaters with scatter brained ideas, and just recently had Harry Potter under his roof, but let him get away. He is now imprisoned in Azkaban. I expect more intelligence from you, Lucius. Wormtail informed me what you were up to." The Dark Lord paused, and searched Lucius's eyes.
"And you questioned that girl about Ollivander, did you not? Now why would you want to know about my private business with a WANDMAKER?"
Lucius knew there was no use hiding. "My Lord, I thought...when you release him...I could serve you more effectively...if I…"
The Dark Lord paced back and forth and twirled his wand in his hands. When he spoke it was soft. Lucius feared this more than he feared Lord Voldemort's outbursts of rage.
"Did you not understand, Lucius? I asked for your wand, because I didn't...want you to have one! 'When I release Ollivander'...surely you know that his devotion to his craft is why he is here? Else how could he have made a lovely new wand for my faithful servant Wormtail?"
"I…was...unaware…my Lord."
The Dark Lord turned away from him. "If I had heard the prophecy, Lucius, I might still at this time think of you as worthy to be considered a wizard, but the memory of the disgrace haunts me. All over the papers! The Dark Lord's servants humiliated by a bunch of students! How dignified an image...I might wish to forgive you, Lucius, but I cannot."
Lucius hated it, but his eyes were watering from the tension and shame. "Master, I am sorry...words cannot express… "
"Then silence!" The Dark Lord said again.
Lucius obeyed him and didn't rise from his knees. Eventually the Dark Lord Disapparated. Not wanting to be left alone with the Dark Lord's snake, though he knew she didn't devour anyone without orders, he made his way back upstairs.
AFTERWARD
"Lucius...did he…"
Even with Narcissa, Lucius didn't want to discuss it. This meant the death of his plan to get back in the Dark Lord's esteem, until he could come up with another one. Lucius had to analyze this situation until he could manipulate it, and he was not going to simply accept that his family would never have a life other than that of effective prisoners in their own home.
Narcissa massaged Lucius's shoulders. They sat in the upstairs sitting room again, and he wondered if she had finished dinner.
"Yes, briefly, that happens sometimes, you know. How was dinner?"
She gulped. "It was well. Wormtail came up and gave me this."
Narcissa reached for the table, and handed Lucius the letter she picked up.
"Oh, it's not important now," said Lucius, waving it aside.
He wasn't going to eat and Narcissa knew better than to try to convince him to touch the plate she had saved for him. Lucius stared at the room, trying to think of anything.
"Are you going to even open it?"
He didn't move. I can't take anything but your soft hands right now, Cissy…
"You acted like that letter was very important. I think I shall open it, if you don't mind…"
He didn't stop her.
Bewilderment and horror flooded Narcissa's face. She handed the letter to Lucius, and then again placed both her hands on him. He felt the tension in every sinew of her fingers.
Sir, it never ceases to amaze me how many elaborate ways there are to put into words, "Do what I say, or I shall hurt and kill you." SWICAK, indeed!
I can think of a few ways to describe those utilizing such tactics towards a little girl. (And their parentage). I am afraid the expression "valued customer" doesn't come to mind.
Yours respectfully,
Garrick Ollivander
House of Ollivander
Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C.
The interior room was completely still, except for the hands on the clock, and Narcissa's hands on Lucius's shoulders.
After about three minutes had passed in silence, Narcissa whispered, "Lucius...I know...there are...it shouldn't be, but maybe…"
Another minute ticked by.
"I mean, there are other wandmakers."
Lucius put his face in his hands. That was the obvious solution, but as it was unthinkable that a Malfoy should have anything less than the finest, he had pushed it from his mind.
But the Dark Lord had said he didn't want him to have a wand, didn't think of him as worthy...
Obtaining a wand would be disobedience, and put them all in danger.
"No...I won't resort to that…somehow...we must change the Dark Lord's mind. Then...he will order Ollivander to make me a wand. He did that for Wormtail, I take it. I suppose since he's never liked Apparition, that's why we didn't notice."
Narcissa walked over to the other side of the table, and Lucius missed her touch immediately, but didn't have the heart to ask her to return her hands to his back.
"Lucius, I've been up here since you left with the letter...something unsettled me."
She picked up the moon hairpin which she had set on the table, and stared at it in her hands before placing it in her pocket, probably to return to her jewelry cupboard in her dressing room later.
He tried with all his might to follow this conversation. How can I change his mind and make him pleased with me, how? how?, was all that was in Lucius's head.
Lucius nodded. "I am sure."
"Lucius?"
He put his letter on the table and shrugged.
Narcissa walked closer to him and bent down so her head was level with him, seated in the chair.
"Lucius...I only heard Bellatrix's description of what happened, on that awful night before...everything. She said you were disorganized, but not once did I believe her. I know her tendency to throw out insults in the heat of battle, and likely that she disobeyed orders to keep that in check, as I knew you needed for a safe capture of Potter…." Narcissa paused and blinked back tears.
Breathing heavily, she continued "Would that I had been there to silence her by force…"
He returned to awareness of the present so fast it was maddening.
"Narcissa…"
He grabbed for both her hands. She dropped to her knees and looked at their hands entwined in his lap.
"Duty would demand no less of me!" she finished.
"Cissy, I think you know what duty demands of you this instant, for your husband to feel better…" drawled Lucius.
"Of course. Everything, anything," said Narcissa, and smiled at him.
Lucius reached for Narcissa's arms. Running his hands down them, trying to offer her the feeling of what protective capacities he still possessed, and the promise of regaining it in actuality. He felt his strength returning to him, and his eyes came to rest briefly on his own signet ring, and wedding band.
"For all time, Narcissa, for all time."
Note: Thank you, hope you enjoyed!
