This is short but OMFG COFFEE MADE IT HAPPEN SO IT HAPPENED

~Naralanis


The steam rising from the hot water of the Prefect's bath was thick enough to make the entire bathroom look fuzzy and opaque. Beaming through the stained-glass windows, the last vestiges of the day's sunlight refracted into a hundred different colours through the dense fog.

By the side of the magnificent tub and its innumerable golden taps sat a well-tailored set of school robes, methodically folded, a gleaming silver Head Girl badge sitting atop a carefully rolled Slytherin tie. A plush white bathrobe had been discarded to the side with a little less care, gathered into a haphazard pile.

Narcissa Black lowered her full body into the rosy waters of her bath, relishing in the feel of the scented soaps and oils after a long, stressful day. It was dinnertime, which made it the best possible time for a long, relaxing soap without any unwanted interruptions. Granted, the Prefect's bath was already quite exclusive, but she preferred absolute solitude in these occasions.

She swam – for the extravagant tub was in fact as large as your average swimming pool – to the other side, re-emerging only when her hands touched the marble of the opposite end. She turned another of the taps, and soon bubbles began to form, quickly spreading to cover the entire surface. Satisfied, Narcissa leaned languidly against the cool marble, closing her eyes for a moment of tranquil bliss.

Which did not last long.

"I thought I'd find you here, Black."

Narcissa's eyes snapped open at the familiar, utterly infuriating tone that she came to know so well two years prior. Of all people that could possibly interrupt her only time of relative peace, Lily Evans was surely the worst.

The redhead eyed her triumphantly through her emerald gaze, smirking smugly as she stood by Narcissa's discarded clothes – and wand, the blonde realized with an internal hiss.

"Evans." She said coolly, making sure the inflection of her voice made the name sound like the worst possible insult. It was a talent she had perfected over the years, but it hardly seemed to have any effect on the Gryffindor before her.

Lily's smirk stretched out, victorious. "You're a damned hard woman to get a hold of." She quipped, strolling disconcertingly close to the pile of clothes Narcissa had left at the other end.

"I suppose I must be, to riff-raff like you. Your company is not exactly the kind I choose to keep." Narcissa responded evenly.

"Oh, how you wound me," Lily bemoaned dramatically, bringing a hand to her chest in an exaggerated impression of mock hurt. She kept pacing in the general vicinity of Narcissa's clothes, and the young Slytherin was getting tired of whatever Evans was playing at. Weren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?

"What do you want, Evans?" She drawled, inspecting her nails and choosing to treat the other girl interrupting her relaxation as if she were a bug on the tile – one that she would squash with her heel later.

"To talk to you. I've been trying for weeks, but your little bodyguards wouldn't let me. Which is why I've had to resort to sneaking in on you while you're in the bath" Lily explained, her smug grin becoming impossible wider. "So really, you brought this upon yourself."

Narcissa quirked an eyebrow, but couldn't help a smug smirk of her own. How useful were her little pawns, all so eager to do her bidding – anything for the Princess of Slytherin, the fabled Narcissa Black. Bella had her ways of achieving notoriety in the castle, but Narcissa had never been one for violence. She had always preferred the subtlety of manipulation. "And why the sudden obsession with my person?"

The question clearly annoyed Evans, which made Narcissa supremely happy.

"Are you kidding? Our Potions assignment. The one worth a whole chunk of our grades for the term?" She shook her head. "I thought you'd have learned from our debacle fifth year."

Narcissa sighed dramatically. "I learned how exhausting you are to be around."

Lily huffed angrily, a reaction that Narcissa enjoyed immensely. The redhead could certainly talk a big talk, but keeping one's head about them was never a quality granted to Gryffindors.

Lily's foot stomped down onto the marble, a sound that would have been a lot more dramatic had it not been muffled by the absurd humidity created by the steam. To Narcissa, the other girl looked comical.

"This is not a joke! It takes a month to brew Amortentia, and we have not even started our project analysis!"

Narcissa rolled her eyes, annoyed at Slughorn for assigning them the idiotic potion. Severus and Rosier got Veritaserum, but she got to work on a love potion, of all things, with Lily Evans, of all people. She would have even taken something as mundane as a Pepperup Potion if it meant she wouldn't have to work with the self-righteous Muggleborn again.

Fate – and Slughorn – were seemingly not on her side.

"Well!?" Evans hissed, her eyes wide and hands on her hip. Narcissa let out another sigh.

"If you really wished to speak to me so urgently..." she remarked, languidly swirling the water with her hands and still not sparing the redhead another glance as she smirked. "You could have sent an owl."

"Ugh!" The other witch grunted, and Narcissa revelled in the satisfaction of knowing Lily Evans was out of her depth. How fun.

"I'm not going to send you an owl when we're in the same sodding school!" Lily said through gritted teeth. "In fact," she continued, determined. "We're both right here."

Narcissa had no plans to look up, but the sudden swish of fabric – of clothes being swiftly removed and discarded without much care – made her head turn abruptly, just in time to catch a glimpse of Lily Evans' nude form climbing into the tub, as graceful as a lame fawn.

"What in Salazar's name do you think you're doing?" Narcissa fumed, feeling the tremors of anger running through her body the moment the other girl was in the water.

"Me?" Evans said innocently, draping her arms along the edge of the tub as she leaned back. "Seeing as I am a Prefect, and this is the prefect's bathroom, I am taking a bath." She made a big show of sniffing the air. "Go easy on the eucalyptus, I don't want to smell like a damn forest."

"Get. Out!" The blonde seethed.

"Make me." Evans bit back. "What's the matter, Slytherin Princess? Is the water too muddy for you?"

"Not just the water" Narcissa snapped back. "You've polluted the very air with your foul presence."

"Tough." Lily quipped, making a big show of stretching her arms as far as they could reach, as if showing Narcissa she aimed to take as much space as she possible could just to spite her. "Water's a little on the cold side, no? But who's surprised, since the Ice Queen's the one taking a bath?"

Narcissa took a deep breath before levelling the other girl with her most withering glare. "Get out now, Evans, before I make you regret it."

"I'm not going anywhere" Lily said adamantly, a wicked gleam in her eye. "But if my presence is so polluting," she enunciated the word with a great deal of mockery, gesturing toward the grand doors many paces behind her. "You are always welcome to leave. Of course, that might be a little difficult without all of these," she jeered, reaching out and unfurling Narcissa's Slytherin tie, letting it dangle from her hand inches above the foamy water.

Narcissa's blood boiled. "Take your filthy hands off my things." She hissed. The nerve of that girl!

"As you wish." Lily replied, unceremoniously tossing the tie back onto the pile. "But now that you're here, I figured it would be a wonderful time to discuss our upcoming project."

The Slytherin did not deign respond; she was too furious, and Lily was happy to keep talking.

"I think we have to start with creating an ingredient list; I know of a place in the forest where we can gather Moonstones for our powder. We can set a few controlled magical fires and leave them unattended for a few days, hopefully that'll yield us enough Ashwinder eggs for a hearty batch. If..."

"For Salazar's sakes, just stop talking" Narcissa suddenly interrupted, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. Who did this girl think she was talking to? As if Narcissa Black would go traipsing about the forest to gather rocks. "What is this, the Dark Ages? I have the list; I'll send it for my Apothecary to look at in the morning," she said, hoping resolving the issue would make the redhead go away faster. She needed to draw a fresh bath.

Lily raised an eyebrow in question. "Your Apothecary?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "My family's Apothecary. If you think for one second that I am going to prance about the woods to harvest pebbles, you are sorely mistaken. No, I'll buy the ingredients like a civilized person."

Lily's brow furrowed. "Not everyone can afford to buy those ingredients – they can be quite costly – it doesn't mean they're not civilized."

"Luckily for you, I'm a woman of means and practicality." Narcissa bit back, not caring for a lecture on morals from some sanctimonious Gryffindor. "I'm sure you'll find some other way to be useful."

The redhead pouted, looking like she wanted to argue, but clearly was unable to say anything against the sheer convenience of having their ingredients ordered in. That took a good week off their lengthy project.

"Fine," she finally conceded. "I guess that gives us a little more breathing room. But the brewing itself still takes a month to..."

"Two weeks." Narcissa interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, is there mud blocking your ears as well? I said two weeks."

Lily did not rise to the bait. "I heard you. Care to explain that time frame – half of what is dictated by the actual creator of the potion?"

"Laverne de Montmorency was a fool" Narcissa stated, looking at her fingers, which were beginning to prune. So much for a relaxing bath – all of it had been thus far spent in the company of Lily Bloody Evans. "Her Moonstone powder was coarse and ineffective. The one I plan on buying is much finer and purer. As such, it does not need as long to be rendered into the potion. With the powder I'll get, plus my copper cauldron, I am confident I can half the brewing time."

She expected Lily to try to argue against that particular course of action, to tell her it was insanity to go against the potion's very creator, but the other girl looked... intrigued.

"You're sure?" the Gryffindor asked, clear interest showing in her tone.

"I'm positive." Narcissa said with an air of finality. She was the best in her year – bar Severus, perhaps.

Lily kept staring at her with an unreadable look. It drove Narcissa insane after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"What?" She finally barked, crossing her arms over her naked chest under the bubbles, annoyed.

"Y'know," Lily began, playing with a handful of foam. "If you weren't such a stone-cold bitch, I think I would have very much liked to be friends with you."

Narcissa did not know what to say to that – like she would ever choose to be friends with a mudblood – but something in her expression must have shown, because Lily laughed.

"You're so smart, and talented, and you can be so funny sometimes. 'I am a woman of means and practicality'" she mimicked with another laugh.

Narcissa scoffed. "I call that being well-rounded, and I would not be wasting it in your company."

That only made Lily chuckle more. "There's the stone-cold bitch we all know and hate!" She declared humorously. "You're so different from your sister."

"I certainly am" Narcissa agreed, thinking of how Bella would not have hesitated from blasting Evans through the wall for the attitude. "Count yourself lucky I am much more well-mannered than Bellatrix."

"I don't mean Bellatrix" Lily said matter-of-factly, "you're not so different from her at all. I meant Andromeda."

Were it any other person, Narcissa would have asked how she and Bellatrix were at all similar, because everyone knew they were polar opposites, but this was the insufferable Lily Evans, and she didn't want to waste any more of her time.

"I met her this summer with James. Andromeda." Lily continued, as if Narcissa wanted to know – she didn't. She did not want to hear another word about her traitorous sister. "And your niece, too. She's really cute."

Narcissa gritted her teeth. Andromeda and her little band of rejects. Meeting with the likes of Lily Evans and James Potter and Sirius, no doubt. Mudbloods and blood-traitors, the lot of them, undoubtedly scheming against everything Bella and Lucius and the others were working for. Meddlesome little pests.

"Andromeda told me she writes to you. She was thrilled to hear we're paired up again in Potions," Lily added smugly.

"Enough." Narcissa said through gritted teeth. What did Lily Evans aim to accomplish by rubbing her relationship with Narcissa's disowned sister in her face? Whatever it was, the Gryffindor was about to be greatly disappointed.

"She seems to think there's still something redeemable about you" Lily pressed on, not heeding the warning that came from Narcissa's tempestuous gaze. "Head Girl, top grades... if only you didn't have a total shit-stain for a boyfriend – her words, not mine."

"Lucius is my fiancé," Narcissa said, because that was the first thing that popped into her head.

"Ha!" Lily chuckled. "Does your little band of merry bodyguards know that? You know they only want a shot to take you to the altar... and the marriage bed."

"If you're finished with your nonsense," Narcissa sniped, "of course they know. It'll be the wedding of the century – not that someone of your... lineage could even begin to comprehend that."

"So, are they already getting a piece of what Lucius thinks he's getting, or are you the one giving them a hand, so to speak? I mean, what other reason would they have to stick around, aside from your sunny disposition?" Lily goaded, adding a rude gesture for good measure.

"Enough!" Narcissa seethed, nearly standing in her rage. "I will not tolerate this vulgarity!"

"What are you going to do, deduct points?" Lily prodded.

"I very well could. I'm Head Girl!"

"Only because I turned down the position." The redhead quipped smugly. "Yeah, that's right. Headmaster Dumbledore sent me the letter – badge and everything – and I turned it down."

Lily straightened, looking all-consumed with triumph at Narcissa's expression of utter bewilderment. "How does it feel, to know that a filthy little mudblood was first pick over you, huh?" She settled back against the marble. "Enjoy the authority while it lasts, Head Girl; it'll be the last time you have control over anything. Unless..." she drifted off, swirling the water by her side.

Unless what Narcissa wanted to ask, heart beating a mile a minute. The pride she had felt when she received the letter announcing her as Head Girl disintegrated; she had been second pick over a mudblood.

Lily continued, either oblivious to her inner musings or relishing in her silence. "Unless you pull an Andromeda."

All the frustration Narcissa had felt with the redhead up until that point evaporated into thin air. Her body was overtaken by a numbness the likes of which she had only felt when she read the letter Andromeda had left on her pillow, explaining her elopement.

But unlike the last time, the numbness faded away quickly. It was replaced by searing hot wrath.

"I see now." She said hotly, each word a sharp, venomous bite. "The Potions project was nothing but a pretext for you to try to do Andromeda's bidding and recruit me to your little merry band of fools!"

"Recruit?" Lily tried to laugh it off, but Narcissa could tell by the look in her eyes she had been caught in her true motive. "You make it sound like some kind of army. She's just trying to tell you to rethink the company you keep."

"And whose company ought I keep, then? Hers? Your own? You disgust me. Get out of my sight!" She hissed, hands balled into fists under the rose-coloured water and foam. Narcissa had humoured this insolent mudblood for far too long. If Evans knew what was good for her, she would remove herself from the vicinity immediately. With her ire boiling so hot in her veins, she was itching to try some tricks Bella had drilled into her since her work for Riddle had begun.

"What are you going to do, Narcissa? Hex me? Your wand's right here" Lily patted the pile of clothes next to her, deliberately letting the water from her arms drip onto the Slytherin uniform excessively. "Plus, we both know I'm the better duellist" she challenged, eyes gleaming.

Narcissa's hands trembled, but now she felt power, her power, reminiscent of so many lessons with Bella, at her fingertips. She looked at the Gryffindor with a gaze shrouded in disdain.

"You're assuming" she said, shifting her voice to its smoothest, silkiest, deadliest tone "that I would need my wand."

Lily looked ready to quip back with a retort, her mouth agape in its formulation. Her eyes, however, widened in pure terror as she felt an invisible force abruptly pulling her down deep into the water, submerging her completely in the blink of an eye.

Narcissa furrowed her brow in concentration, willing the spell to keep the other girl down; bubbles began to form upon the surface where Lily's head of fiery red hair had been just moments before. The Slytherin could feel the other girl struggle in her magic. In a bold move, she concentrated deeply on a spell she had only recently learned, bolstered by her wordless, wandless success.

Suddenly, the walls of Lily Evans' mind were open to her, like they were made of paper. She didn't prod – she had no wish of seeing what the other girl had in her mind – she only wished to send a message to the only place where Evans would hear her at the moment.

I could hold you under for two, three minutes. More. Can you make it that far, Evans?

In the end, Narcissa released the Gryffindor after about fifteen seconds – just enough for Lily to resurface, panting and gasping and utterly terrified. Her eyes were red and she coughed profusely as she reached tremulous hands to the edge of the tub, scrambling to climb up, naked but too afraid to remain in the water after what had just transpired.

"You... you insane bitch!" She spat, bloodshot eyes finding Narcissa with a gaze of pure venom. "How did you do that?! How did you get inside my head?!"

Narcissa stood, so empowered by what she had just been able to do she could not even bring herself to care about her nudity. She walked towards Lily with purpose, leaving a trail of water and suds in her wake – the Gryffindor trembled with fear, but her gaze was defiant.

Narcissa wandlessly summoned her robe before kneeling to gather her clothes. She took the opportunity to level the redhead with her iciest glare.

"Stay out of my way, mudblood."


Narcissa realized she was dozing in the bath when she jerked awake in the tepid water. The temperature was more enough to tell her she had been in the water long enough for the warming charm to wear off and for her fingers to prune excessively.

She shuddered as she wandlessly recast her warming charm, half from the cold of the water, half from the memory her subconscious had decided to rifle through. She banished all thoughts of Lily Evans – and a younger version of herself – to where they would not resurface.

Despite the memory stirring some less-than-pleasant emotions, Narcissa felt... relaxed. That was certainly a first for March. She was under no illusion that Hermione's comfort at her sister's grave had nothing to do with it.

It had been... pathetic, yes, but also something inexplicably more complicated. Narcissa had accompanied the brunette there with every intention of being a source of strength for Hermione. She had assumed the Transfiguration Professor would need it in such an environment, surrounded by the biggest demon from her past.

Instead, the tables had turned completely. Narcissa blamed herself – she should not have visited the mausoleum. Every time she had visited Bellatrix's tomb, she did so in her Animagus form. Feelings, emotions, and even memories became much easier to compartmentalize and thus internalize. It was a handy little trick; an unexpected perk of transformation.

Being there without the shield of her fox form, with Hermione of all people, ended up being a little much to her system. Somehow, whenever Hermione was around, Narcissa had much more difficulty keeping her walls up and strong.

She couldn't let that continue. Or rather, she shouldn't, but there was something about the brunette's presence that was just so... exhilarating, that Narcissa could not help but let her guard down.

It could only end badly, she was sure of that.

Her musings were interrupted by knocks coming from the door to her private quarters. Speaking of the devil; Hermione's muffled voice came through all the way to the bathroom.

"Narcissa? It's me – sorry, the door was open. You won't believe what I found!" She quipped excitedly, no doubt already making her way in. Narcissa could only smile at the excitement about research and discovery. Now that was something she could partake in.

"Give me a minute, I'll be with you shortly." She called back, her grin widening as she heard a racket – Hermione probably knocking into something.

"OK! Sorry, I think I dropped some books." Came Hermione's embarrassed voice.

"Of course you did." Narcissa said to herself, thoroughly amused as she rose and summoned her bathrobe, eager to make her way out and get yet another opportunity to pick Hermione's phenomenal brain. Their shared interests and the laborious research on the Black Manor wards had created a tentative friendship, and considering everything, Narcissa had to admit she was grateful for the young witch's companionship.

Another tumble came from her sitting room, and she heard Hermione cursing.

There was nothing wrong with companionship. Nothing at all.