Narcissa had never imagined that she would return to Hogwarts under these circumstances. Just hours ago, she had received an owl informing her that her son had been savagely attacked by a hippogriff during his Care of Magical Creatures class. Not even bothering to read the letter fully, she immediately made her way to the school..
When she arrived, she found that thankfully, Draco had only been scratched by the large beast. She had talked to both the headmaster and Madame Pomfrey extensively to ensure he would be perfectly fine and that there wouldn't be any scarring or long lasting effects. She thought briefly about demanding the professor be fired and the animal put down, but she figured Lucius would want to do all that when he found out. Today had been stressful enough and she was just relieved that her son would be okay.
Leaving the infirmary, Narcissa had every intention of heading straight to the ministry to tell Lucius everything. Sure, Draco only had a small laceration from the incident, but it could have been a lot worse. Her only son could have been gravely injured or killed. If she allowed this school to continue this barbaric teaching method, who knows how many more students would suffer the same fate. She had every confidence that Lucius would agree with her and call a meeting with the Board of Governors to have the beast as well as the professor dealt with.
She had almost made it to the great hall when she heard someone call her name.
"Narcissa!"
Curiously, she turned around to see Remus Lupin hastily making his way towards her. Narcissa wondered why he was even at the school, let alone calling out for her. Surely, he wasn't qualified to be teaching. Nonetheless, she waited for the man to catch up to her.
While doing so, she had a moment to look over his appearance. He looked almost exactly like he did while they were at school together, though he did have a few more visible scars then he did in his youth. His hair was also a bit longer. It almost looked like he hadn't combed it since the last time she saw him. His robes were old and worn and looked slightly too big for him. Overall, he looked completely out of his element. She almost wondered if Dumbledore was doing him some sort of favor by giving him a job here.
When he finally reached her, he ran his hand nervously through his shaggy brown hair, "Narcissa, I've been meaning to get in touch with you. I wanted to see how you were doing. When I heard about Draco, I was hoping you would be coming so I could talk to you in person."
Narcissa scrunched her face in confusion, "talk to me about what?"
Remus shifted, uncomfortably, "well...I...I didn't know if you had anyone to talk to about...ya know...and he is...was...my friend...and I thought maybe…"
"What the hell are you rambling about?" She sneered, quickly becoming irritated with this conversation.
"Sirius…" he whispered, almost as if he didn't want anyone to hear him.
Sirius Black was Narcissa's cousin and to her knowledge, one of Remus' best friends. After he was arrested for his part in the Potter's murders, he was sentenced to a life in Azkaban, at which point she had guessed that Remus had cut all ties with him, much like everyone else.
Since he had made his escape this past summer, the wizarding world was abuzz with rumors of where he was. The school had also taken appropriate measures to ensure that he wouldn't be able to get in. Narcissa guessed that was due to a rumor that he was looking to kill the Potter boy.
If she was being honest, since she had found out about Sirius' escape, she had been nervous. Nervous for her family and all the attention it would put on them. Nervous for her son, knowing that Sirius would try to find Harry and in doing so, might run into Draco, and nervous for Sirius. Narcissa knew that if he was caught, he would get the kiss. Even though she wasn't the closest to Sirius, he was still family and she didn't wish death upon him.
She always wasn't completely sold on the idea that Sirius played a part in the Potter's untimely demise. She had grown up with Sirius, she knew how close he was to both James and Lily. James had even taken him in when he had run away from home when he was sixteen. If she knew one thing for certain about her cousin, it was that he was a loyal friend and she very much doubted that he would sell them out. That just wasn't him.
Despite all that, Narcissa was still a fiercely private person. Remus might have wanted to come clean with his feelings about the situation, but she definitely didn't want to. Who was Remus Lupin to her anyway? As far as social standings go, they weren't even in the same universe. Narcissa knew all too well that walls have ears and she did not want her name or her families associated with any of this. She had already been through a similar scandal when Lucius was almost convicted after the war and she wasn't too thrilled with the possibility of being back in that negative lighting. How dare Remus approach her and ask how she felt about the media circus that was Sirius Black!
Narcissa gave a caustic laugh, putting on her haughty pureblood persona, "why should I care about Sirius?"
Remus stood there awkwardly. "I just thought…"
"You thought what? See, that's your problem, Remus. We're not friends. You don't know me. So don't try to talk about me like you might know how I feel," Narcissa growled, becoming defensive. "And better yet, why do you care? Sirius killed your friends, if I remember correctly." She paused, stepping closer and scanning the man's face menacingly, "Unless you want to kill him before the dementors do? Though you don't exactly strike me as the revenge type."
Remus, who had been looking at the floor for the past few minutes, gave a quick smirk before tilting his head up to meet Narcissa's leering eyes, "You go to great lengths to hide your true feelings, don't you? What are you so afraid of, Narcissa."
"That's funny you mention fears," she scoffed, not missing a beat to deflect the question, "I heard a nasty little rumor recently that you're not too fond of taking long walks in the moonlight."
She could tell her comment struck a nerve. Remus took a step back from her, tilting his head to the side in confusion. She couldn't tell if he was too shocked to say anything or if he was just trying to play it off. Either way, Narcissa took his lack of reply as a way to escape.
"Listen, I really couldn't care less about Sirius, but you can give him my best if you find him."
As she made her retreat, she could hear him calling after her.
"Come on, Narcissa! I know you care about him...I just want to help!" he yelled.
"Sorry," she taunted over her shoulder, not wanting to continue this conversation any further, "I don't associate with wanted criminals."
He waited until she was far enough away to mutter, "Yet you married one."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" She said as she whipped around, an animalistic grin on her face. She would make him regret that little comment.
"Narcissa…"
"No, really? Who are you" she began, getting close enough to get in his face, morphing her grin into an intimating expression, "because the last time I checked, Remus Lupin was a nobody drifter, clinging on to some sort of hope that his life would actually amount to something...or have I got that all wrong?"
Remus opened his mouth before quickly shutting it again. It looked as though he was trying to come up with some sort of answer for her, but just couldn't.
"Hmm, why don't we just leave it at that then," she sneered
As she made her retreat, she had to admit that that comment was a bit of a low blow, but she couldn't exactly say she was sorry for it either. She had given up apologies long ago, especially when it came to someone that was a threat to her or her family. She was a Malfoy now and that's where her loyalty lied.
Turning the corner, she looked back at the man one last time. He was still rooted in the same place she left him, only now, his head hung down in shame. A pang of guilt suddenly hit Narcissa before she sighed and continued on her way out of the castle. Perhaps when she told Lucius about her visit, she would leave Remus Lupin out of the story.
