Narcissa shivered even as her skin flushed. The unfamiliar magic racing through her felt like fire under her skin. Closing her eyes, she fought to focus on her power. The need to hold it close surged within her. She felt the small hairs on the back of her neck raise. She frowned and felt a reassuring surge of coolness flow through her, but it wasn't hers. Other sensations glared and shifted. The fire burned again and again. She tried to count the burning sensations, but each circuit came faster. The whirl picked up, flashes of sensation pulling through her and tearing bits of her apart. She was part of the maelstrom.
"You can do this, my love." Lucius spoke to her from beyond the circle.
The magic of the circle was consuming her. She, a witch in her prime, couldn't stand up to these girls. She couldn't stand with them. She felt her muscles quivering and her spine bow.
"Narcissa, day born Black, named for a flower, and a flower you are. Beautiful and graceful. A gift after long winter." Lucius' words cut through the insanity trying to rip her to shreds. "They didn't see you. They didn't see the power growing in you. I did. I still do. Every day. They didn't see you. The love and the passion. I do and I always will. I am nothing without you."
The cacophony of magic rose up and she lost the ability to focus on his words, but she could hear him. His voice, his tone, his devotion.
He anchored her and she felt her magic slide into place in the circle, a part of the whole. She could feel the others, hear their words in her mind even as his filled her ears. It was bliss.
She opened her eyes and looked into her son's face. The runes began to glow beneath them. Trails of light swirled up from the array and caressed her. She could feel it against her skin. She took a deep breath and felt a pulse within her. It felt almost like the first flush of desire, but it was too foreign, too other for something so base as desire. She felt it build until she felt words forming on her lips, falling off her tongue. They weren't words she knew or even a language she knew. She focused on Draco.
The spill of his blond hair across his forehead, the breadth of his shoulders, the new smile that usually graced his lips was missing. Hermione.
Curls and wild magic. Willful and and strong. Longing. A flash of orange fur and a swirl of silver. The pain as she was sprawled across cold marble. The screams that wouldn't end. Begging and tears and no mercy. The burning of every nerve ending as she clung to the hope that Harry would be rescued. More pain. Each breath burning. Bellatrix.
No. Narcissa took a deep breath and pushed forward the image of her son dancing with his witch. She saw images the others offered up. The girls dancing in a fountain. Hannah and Neville hugging Hermione between them. Luna tossing a ball composed of water at Hermione. Millie laughing as they shopped. Susan bent over an artifact with the brunette. Augusta's warm hug. The image of her running head long toward the battle between two witches that were all too familiar. Other images began to flicker moving too quickly for her to comprehend them. She felt the power breaking free from her and surrendered to it.
There was passion and joy. There was laughter. There was life.
Narcissa felt her magic coming back and felt pieces of it sliding back into place. Some of it felt foreign. She blinked and felt her eyes focus on the real world again. Her husband's hair brushed against her hand. She smiled up at him. She was standing, her back pressed to his chest. He was still so strong.
"You, my love, are as brave as any Gryffindor." He pulled her closer against his chest. "They said you should eat some chocolate."
"It will take a few days before you feel like you again." Luna chuckled and approached them with a big smile across her face. "Chocolate doesn't help as much as they think, but lots and lots of sex does."
Narcissa smiled at the young blonde. She felt the magic within her tingle and rubbed her fingers together to avoid grabbing the witch. Luna smiled again and wandered off toward Millicent.
"You're one of us now. Not purely, but it is enough." Hannah touched her shoulder from the side and she felt it deep under her skin. Her magic rose toward the connection. "It will always be there. Those pieces of us that live in you and the pieces of you that live in us. Gotta love the greater magics."
"Draco's in with the Longbottoms." Susan grinned up at her from her place on the floor. "Lucky you, you have such a strapping man to support you. You never hit the ground."
Susan rubbed the back of her head and glared at the approaching mediwizard. Hannah pushed the fool away and knelt next to her friend. Narcissa grinned as the girls embraced. Part of her wanted to join them on the floor, but it would be unseemly for a witch of her years.
"Draco will be out soon." Millie frowned and stumbled as she approached them. "He wanted to check on you, but Hermione needed him. She's shaking like a leaf. How do I know all of this?"
"You are one of us." Luna slung her arm around Millie. "It's weird. Each major casting draws us closer. The odd bits of knowledge fade over time."
"I'm different." Narcissa heard her own voice and blinked. Why did it sound so foreign?
"You aren't at the same stage we are." Luna shrugged. "You belong to another group, but we are linked. Circles within circles. Like a puzzle ring. It only makes sense to us when it is all in place, but it is what it is in any form. Sex helps put you back together faster. You really should try it."
"You just like sex." Susan smirked at the blond and flicked a blue flame at her. Luna caught it and let it dance on her hand for a moment.
"I'm sticking with chocolate until after my wedding." Millie glared at Luna.
"Mum." Draco leaned out of the room and smiled at her. "Dad. Come in."
Narcissa frowned and stepped back from the four witches now propping each other up on the floor. She felt the tangle of their powers loosen with each step she took away from them.
Narcissa grabbed Lucius' hand and felt the thrum of his power brush against hers. She fought the urge to laugh. Luna wasn't half as dotty as she appeared.