p class="p1"span class="s1"strongA/N/strong/spanspan class="s2": Thank you, Sephiroth Cresent-Valentine, for your review! I will try my best to update as soon as I can, but, as you may know, the inspiration to write comes and goes when I least expect it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em"I hate and love. And why, perhaps you'll ask./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"emI don't know: but I feel, and I'm tormented."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em― Catullus/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em"Did you ever stop to think that even if I am a monster, I might be your soulmate anyway?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em― Julie Johnson, Erasing Faith/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The train had arrived in Hogwarts without a hitch. Although the ride may have been smooth,span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthe air inside Lucius' compartment was not. Otto and Lucius were smiling as if they have found friends in each other, but the air crackling between the two said otherwise. No one, not even Bellatrix, was fooled by their outward appearance. As soon as Narcissa stepped out of that suffocating compartment she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The atmosphere inside felt like it could have literally choked her to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, Otto was still there. He wasn't a ghost coming back to haunt her, or a memory that had escaped her dream to devour her. No, he was still alive indeed, and he looked happy, smiling at something Bertha said to him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em At least one of them was able to smile freely/em, Narcissa bitterly thought./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Are you coming, love?" Lucius looked back at her with a questioning gaze. She smiled a little bit at him tugging at their entwined hands, obviously impatient, but it was subtly endearing, and so she let him lead her towards the exit of the train. There were many students who were also exiting their compartments, but they all made way when they saw the couple in their class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius gave them all a faint smile, but all Narcissa saw was a man drunk on power. Lucius has had everything handed to him on a silver platter, Narcissa being one of those courses. But over those many years of being with him, after seeing the ugliest and most atrocious side of him, she can't seem to bring herself to truly hate class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She searched his face as they stepped outside the train. Perhaps, after knowing him all her life, he may have won the battle after all./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em2 Years Ago, A Month After The Engagement/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Cissa!" Lucius slammed the door open leading to Narcissa's bedroom, with Bellatrix behind him./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix was pulling on his arm. "GO AWAY, LUCIUS! Didn't I tell you Cissy's sick? You don't want to catch whatever she's got, do you?" She shouted hysterically, forcing him to leave her room./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em But Lucius did not budge. Ignoring Bellatrix's shouts, he strode across the room and stopped in front of the chair facing the window, where Narcissa was sitting primly on./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Never in his life had Lucius seen Narcissa in such a disarray. She was alway so clean, and classy, that her appearance at that very moment shocked him very much. Her hair was in a messy braid, her grey eyes were muddy and bloodshot, and the dark circles under her eyes had become prominent. What surprised him the most, though, is her blank expression. Even as she looked up to his face, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, behind those usually disarming grey eyes./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix let go of Lucius and went to Narcissa, fiercely hugging her. "I'm so sorry, Cissy!" Bellatrix sobbed. "He was just so persistent! Please don't get angry with me!"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius made a look of surprise when Narcissa gently stroked Bellatrix's hair. "You may leave now, Bella." Her voice sounded extremely raspy, which made Lucius wonder if maybe Narcissa really was sick all along./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix looked at her younger sister then silently nodded, retreating from the room in haste./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa looked out of the window once more. "What do you want from me, Lucius?" She asked him without facing his figure./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her chair, forcing her down her four-poster bed. He locked her wrists above her head and took a good look at her face. Now that he had a closer view, he could see that her eyes were swollen and puffy, and that her eyes held a barely concealed pain. "What happened, Cissa? Why are you like this?" Lucius asked with a hint of worry in his voice. He has always been a proud man, but it was hard to remember his high-born position when the woman he loves looked so pitiful in front of him./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa avoided his gaze. "Didn't you hear? I'm sick, Lucius. So it would be best if you stayed as far away from me as you can—"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius slammed his lips onto hers, causing Narcissa to make a whimpered class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Was I really that terrible in bed? Is that it?" Lucius uncharacteristically blushed a bit. He was morbidly embarrassed at the thought of not having been good enough in bed for his future wife, although he had read and asked about its intricacies years before they were even together. But it was better he knew now than later, so that he could correct whatever his mistakes were./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa's eyes started to water. Even in situations like this, Lucius still believed everything was about him. "Please, Lucius, let go of my wrists. You're hurting me," She whispered. Almost immediately, he let her go, and where his hands were a few seconds ago, red marks now appeared on them. He always had trouble with his temper, and when he gets riled up, much like at this very moment, his actions were very unreliable. She had to learn that the hard way./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa rubbed her wrists gently. "I did not mean to ignore you for such a long time, Lucius," she softly said. Narcissa stood up and went back to the window, but only to stand near it and gaze outside, her eyes landing upon the carefully tended Black class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius followed her lead, and when he was directly behind her, he put his arms around her waist. "Please come back to me, Cissa, I don't know how much I can take being away from you for so long," He breathed through her messy hair./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa blushed but did not move away. "I'll always be yours, Lucius." She took one of his arms entangled around her waists and squeezed it. This was something she had a difficult time accepting, especially after she met Otto. But now he was gone. He had made his decision, and it was time she accepted her fate. She knew, deep in her heart, that family is everything, and that she cannot pull off something as brash as what Otto did, running away from all of this./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em And so, Narcissa faced Lucius, his face still clearly showing worry, but there was also adoration in his eyes. If Narcissa were to be honest with herself, that was how Lucius had always looked at her, ever since they were kids./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em For one month, she had been out of it. She refused to be with someone if that someone was not Otto class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em But as she was face-to-face with Lucius, the boy she'd known all her life, the boy who was not afraid to show his feelings for her in public for everyone to see, the boy who was endlessly possessive but cannot be faulted for it because his family had always made him feel like he was entitled to everything his entire life—Narcissa knew that this was her place. She gently cupped his face and softly kissed him. "Lucius, please, make me feel better," She whispered./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em A small smile escaped from his lips as he led her back to her bed. "As you wish, my love."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em. /em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "How was Durmstrang, Otto? Are the boys there truly as big as they say they are?" Bertha giggled. Lucius and Narcissa almost immediately left their compartment as soon as the train stopped, much to his confusion, but he can't help but feel the tension leaving with them as they left. Now it was just him, Bertha, Bellatrix, and Severus. Rodolphus silently crept out of the compartment, probably to avoid the incessant chatter of the two women in front of him. Otto couldn't blame him; he would do the same thing if he didn't have any manners./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He sighed but still managed to put up a smile. "That's just a rumour, Bertha,"span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanHe stood up to leave, and Bellatrix stood up with him. "I'll walk with you until the exit," She announced./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He looked at her and nodded. Bellatrix had always been the spontaneous one out of the three sisters, so he merely went along with whatever antic she makes, and he was quite sure that this was definitely one of class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "See you later, Otto!" Bertha giggled. He gave her a slight wave, then the two left the compartment side by side, but he kept a respectful distance from her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Why did you transfer to Durmstrang?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto continued to face forward, not wanting to look at her curious eyes. "It wasn't my choice, Bella, you know that. It was my father's idea."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Bellatrix rolled her eyes at that. "That's a poor excuse, Otto, and you know it."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He clenched his teeth before replying. "Will you just leave it alone, Bella?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I hope you don't do anything silly to Cissy, Otto," She said with her fluctuating voice, causing Otto to snap his head to her. Bellatrix merely looked at him with a smug expression. Only a select few know about the relationship he and Narcissa had, and Bellatrix was one of those people. She might have kept their secret, but Bellatrix never hid the fact that she did not like Otto. She knew, she emknew, /emhe wasn't the right one for Narcissa. "She's engaged to Lucius now, and you know that's always been her place. That's her emdestiny. /emAnd now she is none of your business, so I suggest you find somebody else to fuck with," She smiled at him then, a sugary sweet smile pasted on her face./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto clenched his jaw, refusing to give in to her bait. He knew she was trying to get him to talk, but he would never give her that satisfaction./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Soon enough they reached the exit, along with the other Hogwarts students. He sighed with relief when she quickly left him for her Slytherin friends, which was predictable enough. Otto ran a hand through his hair in frustration. This was not the way he intended to appear in front of Narcissa after two years of not seeing each other. He did not intend to witness Lucius claim possession over Narcissa in such a greedy manner. Otto began seeing red just at the thought of Lucius touching Narcissa in places only Otto had touched class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He was supposed to get her to a quiet place, emalone, /emand explain everything to her. He needed her to understand why he left her. He needed her to understand that he still loved her, even if he left her. He needed her to understand that he simply cracked under pressure./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He needed her, period./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em I was only fifteen years old at that time, and I was heir to a vast amount of fortune and all the time in the world, marriage would never even appear in my thoughts, and I wanted my freedom,/em He angrily reasoned in his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" But she had always patiently explained to him her future, that she was bound to marry a pureblood, and that pureblood was most likely to be Lucius Malfoy, unless someone with more wealth or more aristocratic blood was to offer marriage to her. The Malfoys may have more aristocratic blood in their veins, but the Bagmans are known for their excessive wealth. Otto could have had a talk with Narcissa's father and knew he had a very good chance of being class="Apple-converted-space" /spanBut he chose not to propose for Narcissa's hand in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Instead, he ran away./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He clenched his fists as he slowly made his way towards the castle. emWhat a bitter feeling towards a bitter defeat, /emhe thought. There was no irony there; he simply deserved what he had coming for him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" And yet, and yet, he was back in Hogwarts. Perhaps a foolish part of him still believed that second chances do exist after all./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Otto!" He looked beside him to see Natalia Wrentior holding his arm with a worried look on her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She searched his face. "Are you all right? Where have you been? You were gone for the entire ride! I hope you didn't go back to this secret girlfriend of yours again! Not that I mind, but we're your friends too you know—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto gave her a sad smile. "She isn't my girlfriend anymore, Talia."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He knew she was trying her best to look sad, but he saw her eyes light up when he said those words. "Since when?" She asked./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" They had reached the massive doors entering Hogwarts. "Shortly before I left for Durmstrang," He sighed. Natalia Wrentior's a fifth year student from Ravenclaw, like Otto. The two of them were good friends, along with Fabian Prewett, despite the three of them not being in the same year. Otto would probably be closer with them now had he not left Hogwarts for Durmstrang./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Oh, that's… that's too bad," Natalia glanced at him. Many students had already seen Otto inside the train, but now that he was in full view for everyone to see, they had all sorely missed his easily good-looking features. Many, many girls had come up to him before to ask whether he would like to go to Hogsmeade with them over the weekend, but he would always politely refuse them all. Most of the girls gossiped that Otto and Natalia were in a relationship, but had chosen to keep their love life to themselves. Of course, none of them knew of the secret relationship Otto and Narcissa had that lasted for three years. No one had a clue./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Seeing the two of them now as they strode across the hallway on the way to the Great Hall, it wasn't hard to make that presumption. Many Ravenclaw girls were envious of Natalia's long blonde locks, full lips, and curvy figure, but most of all, they went green-eyed with the attention Otto always gave class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Fabian Prewett caught up with them as they entered the Great Hall. "Where have you been, mate?" He asked Otto./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I was inside Lucius' compartment," Otto nonchalantly said. Fabian raised his eyebrows but said two of them sat beside each other as they arrived in the table for Ravenclaw, with Natalia sitting across from them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Why on earth were you there?" Natalia asked as she grabbed a piece of bread./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto waved to a few of the other people in their table. "Perhaps he wanted to recruit me," He joked. But that topic was no joking matter at all. Natalia looked at him darkly but wisely chose to not ask anymore questions./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" There have been rumours, even in Durmstrang, or maybe, emmost especially /emin Durmstrang, about the rising of the Dark Lord. Otto knew a lot of the students there secretly wished to become one of the infamous Death Eaters, but Otto stayed far away from all that. Fabian, however, had told him all about it when he came to visit his home during their summer vacation. He innocently mentioned that he overheard a few Slytherins talking about Lucius and his fate to become a Death Eater. Otto did not like that piece of information at all. He worried for Narcissa's future with that troublesome bastard./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Perhapsem," /emFabian broke the silence. "Perhaps Lucius thinks you've got potential to be his friend after all?"br / Natalia laughed at his remark while Otto smacked his friend in the head. "You shut up, you wanker."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Language, please, Mr. Bagman," Professor Flitwick had arrived to their side of the table with a slight frown on his face./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto had the grace to bow his head to Ravenclaw's Head of House, despite his very small stature. "I'm sorry, Professor Flitwick."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He shook his head and smiled. "You're not going to get in any trouble tonight, Mr. Bagman." He looked across the table, where Natalia was sitting. "Ms. Wrentior and Mr. Bagman, if you please, follow me. We have important matters we need to discuss."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto looked at Natalia and smiled. So, her prediction was right. He knew were this was going to lead them: the two of them were going to be prefects this year after all, regardless of Otto's two-year absence from Hogwarts./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto stood up, along with Natalia, and waved a goodbye to Fabian. The two of them hurriedly followed Professor Flitwick's quickly diminishing figure towards the exit of the Great Hall and to the winding staircase./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "You owe me an order of butterbeer." Natalia whispered to Otto as the three of them stopped in front of a portrait. Otto shrugged at her. "I'll buy you two of those if you're so bloody thirsty." He whispered right back to her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Natalia glared at him. If Flitwick wasn't in front of them, she would have surely smacked his arm by class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Flitwick murmured the password, causing the portrait to open, leading to a straight path./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Well," Flitwick smiled at the two students. "Off you go then, kids."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "If I had known that Italian wizards could be emthat /emdreamy, I would have told my parents to go there every summer vacation instead of going to bleary France all the bloody time!" Bertha made a loud class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa's eyes slightly narrowed at Bellatrix. "And how did you find the time to meet these Italian wizards that you speak of, Bella?" Her cold voice cut through the warm air. She wasn't irritated at the fact that she missed the action, but she did not like the fact that Bellatrix did not invite her to escape from all the boring tea parties their mother held in their house in Italy. She and Bellatrix may not have been the closest sisters, but they had the same interests, that is: they believe in blood supremacy. Bellatrix may have taken it up a notch by wanting the eradication of mudbloods, but Narcissa didn't exactly mind if that happened, either. And they were family./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Family trumps everything./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Bellatrix waved her off. "Perhaps someday you'll learn my ways, dear sister." She giggled, with Bertha joining her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius, who was sitting beside her all this time, but had been talking to Severus who was on his other side, whispered to her ear. "Would you like me to demonstrate to you how the Italian men treat their women?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa took a deep breath, then exhaled. "If that is what you wish, Lucius." She smiled at him, even though in her mind she wanted to scream at his face for saying such improper things in public, even if it was only she who heard those words./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She had perfected this smile already, after years and years of practice. That is, her smile that portrays interest and politeness all at the same time, but betrays none of what she truly feels on the inside. It was a shame, however, that Lucius knew all about her fake smile. There was one other person who could see through her facade, but Narcissa refused to let her mind wander off to those hazelnut eyes./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius gave her a teasing smile before facing Severus once more. So, he was poking fun at her manners once again, that was it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa reached for his hand under the table and gently squeezed it. Perhaps she should act a bit kinder towards someone who will be her future husband. Narcissa knew that the two had a long, long way before they might see each other eye-to-eye, but sometimes, she was tired of fighting it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Narcissa, Lucius, Evan!" Professor Horace Slughorn, Slytherin's Head of House, rushed over to their side of the table./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Evan Rosier sat a bit farther from Lucius and Narcissa, but he heard his name nonetheless. "Good evening, Professor Slughorn," Lucius politely greeted the rushing professor. It was no secret that Professor Slughorn had appointed Lucius as Head Boy as it was his final year in Hogwarts, and his academic performance coupled with his position in the Quidditch team were equally astounding. Narcissa would never admit it, but she knew that Lucius deserved the title. He was always a dedicated man, although sometimes he strayed from Narcissa's bed—but that was all her fault, so she never blamed him for any of that./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Please, you three follow me. We're already late as it is!" He gestured for us to stand up, then rushed towards the exit of the Great Hall./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sent a questioning look towards Lucius. She had a feeling he had some part in whatever this is. "Lucius…" Her voice sounded like a warning./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius merely smiled and pulled her up from her seat. "Didn't you hear the man? We're going to be late."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The three of them quickly exited the hall, with Evan silently following behind them. They followed Professor Slughorn without a word, and eventually, the four of them stopped in front of a portrait where two knights were holding each other's shoulders, laughing at something the other knight had said. The two of them gave a friendly wave before laughing once more./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Professor Slughorn murmured something inaudible to them, and the portrait swung open, revealing a class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Follow me." Slughorn smiled at the three, before stepping inside the path./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius put an arm over Narcissa's shoulder as they followed their Head of House. He bent his head near her ear and whispered. "I'm so tired, Cissa. Can you sleep with me tonight? You know I sleep better when I'm with you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa avoided his heated gaze. "If you're in your best behaviour tonight, then I will consider it." she quickly whispered to him, worried that someone might overhear them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The path led to what appeared to be a common room. It was bigger and grander than the onespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthey had in the dungeons, Narcissa observed. A striking fireplace was set in the wall that was elaborately decorated with exorbitant symbols of each of the houses in Hogwarts. Surrounding the fireplace were three very long couches, all of which looked high-priced. Narcissa approved of this room. Off to the back of room were two winding staircases at each opposite end, and both presumably led to the wizards' and witches' quarters, she guessed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius led her towards one of the couches to sit down. Professor Slughorn was right; they were indeed late. It would seem that Headmaster Dumbledore had already begun talking to the other students when they entered the grand room, and now that they were all seated, he spoke in continuity as if they had heard his speech before they arrived./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "All of you will be sleeping here from now on. The rooms have already been appointed; two students shall occupy one room. Boys and girls are separated, of course." He winked at all of them. "If any of you have questions, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Macdonald, our new Head Boy and Girl, will be more than willing to answer them. Have a splendid night, my students!" Dumbledore dubiously smiled, and then retreated from the room, with all the other professors in tow./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius took his hand off her shoulder to stand in front of all the students gathered in the apparent prefects' common room. There were fourteen of them all in all, and Narcissa was mildly surprised that she knew them all. All of them either had aristocratic blood, or belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Europe. From Gryffindor, the prefects were Remus Lupin, Molly Prewett, and Dirk Cresswell; The prefects from Hufflepuff were Emma Vanity, Gideon Prewett, and Eddie Stebbins; The ones from Ravenclaw were Otto Bagman, Natalia Wrentior, and Davey Gudgeon; and lastly, Narcissa, Evan, and Rodolphus were the prefects from class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa had to turn her head in a way that, even in her peripheral vision, she would not be able to see Otto. She didn't want to see even a sliver of his hair./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Lucius' deep and alluring voice caused everyone to stop talking to listen to him. "My name is Lucius Malfoy, and I will be your Head Boy for this school year. I congratulate you all on being chosen as prefects among the hundreds of students in Hogwarts," He gave Narcissa a smile, but she kept her face stoic. "Tomorrow after class, we will discuss each of your duties in detail, but for tonight, please enjoy your rooms and perhaps, get to know your new roommate."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" With that, he took out a note from one of the pockets in his robe and read its contents out loud. "Here is the list of pairs and trio that will have to share rooms: Narcissa Emma, Natalia Molly, Remus Otto, Dirk Evan, and Rodolphus, Eddie Davey." He folded the note and returned it back to his pocket. "We shall resume the meeting tomorrow. Please, enjoy your new rooms."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Almost immediately, the prefects stood up and made their way up the staircase, surely eager to check out which of the rooms were the best and and quickly put their claim on it. Natalia was dragging Otto by his hand as they were walking up the stairs, but he was blatantly distracted by the fact that Narcissa and him were in the same room and, not even once, did she look his way. He would know, because he could not keep his eyes off her the as soon as she entered the room, even with Lucius' arm around her shoulders./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "C'mon, Bagman, you and your pair are going to get the worst room if you don't hurry up!" Otto snapped his attention back at her and class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "It's just a room, Talia."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Natalia rolled her eyes at him, but reciprocated his smile. "Sometimes, you're such a meek idiot." The two of them laughed at each other, and it was obvious to anyone's eyes the easy friendship the two had./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When Narcissa felt that most of the students had already gone up, it was only then that she stood up from her seat. She wasn't exactly eager to see her room; nothing in this school could ever compare to grandiose bedroom, so for her, Narcissa's future room would merely be a place where shespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanwould sleep./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius went to her side. He didn't move from his position after his announcement, even after most of the students had gotten up from their seats and left. He was only waiting for Narcissa./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He took her hand and guided her towards the staircase and upward, to the rooms. Once in the second floor, the hallway splits into two: the left wing is where the male prefects and Head Boy reside, and the right wing is for the female prefects and Head class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa was about to separate from Lucius to go to her new room, but Lucius tugged on her hand and directed her to the left wing./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Where are you taking me, Lucius?" She asked coolly, but inwardly she was already feeling uneasy./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He gave her a teasing smile but did not class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" They reached the end of the hall, with a door in front of them. "One of the many perks of being the Head Boy," Lucius opened the door. "Is that I get to have my own room."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He led her inside his room and closed the door behind him. It wasn't as spectacular as Lucius' own room back at his manor, but it was certainly spacious and quite impressive. Unsurprisingly, green was the predominant colour of the room, and Narcissa instantly felt envious. She knew her room wouldn't be nearly as big as his, and in Hogwarts, this was as grand as it's going to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius led her towards a couch facing the fireplace and made her sit on his lap. "This is certainly better than last year, isn't it?" He nuzzled her neck and kissed it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Last school year, even though it was blatantly against the rules, Lucius always made Narcissa sleep in his room. She didn't like it, of course, because she was afraid her family would find out, but Lucius had been very, very careful, so they were never caught. Lucius had only been a prefect then, meaning he was still sharing his room with someone, so he had to always cast silencing charms so that no one would hear the noises they would make./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa gave him a weak smile. It was useless to keep her face blank with Lucius whenever they're alone. He knew her expressions too much that hiding anything at all would show in her face and that he would definitely catch it. They have become too familiar with one another, and even someone as strong-willed as Narcissa becomes vulnerable towards someone with such a strong connection with her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius wrapped his arms around her, his hard-muscled arms encircling around her slim waist. "Sleep with me tonight, love." He gently commanded her as he began leaving soft kisses on her neck./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa moved her neck so that he could have better access to it. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Lucius," she class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius leaned back. He narrowed his eyes at her."And why is that?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She sighed and put both her hands on his cheeks. "Because, Head Boy," she reminded him of his position. "I have a new roommate, and she'll worry if I'm not sleeping in my own bed on our first night back in Hogwarts."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius continued to glare at her. "You're lying to me," He seethed. "Is it because that Bagman is back here in Hogwarts?" He forcefully cupped her chin and brought her face close to his. "I did not forget Bella's comments about your relationship with him, Cissa." Lucius then slammed his lips onto hers, making her lips start to bruise./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She gasped at the sudden force, enabling his tongue to enter into her mouth. Lucius grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in, deepening the kiss even further. Narcissa couldn't contain the whimper that escaped from her mouth, and that prompted Lucius to stop his attack on her lips. "Lucius, please," Narcissa heavily breathed. She was starting to see stars in the background because of how deep that kiss had been. "He was just a friend, Lucius, I promise you." She didn't gaze away from his intimidating eyes, even more so that he was aggravated. She willed away all those memories of him, forced her mind to not think about any of them at that moment. If a memory, any memory of him at all, came across her mind, he would see it through her eyes, and then it will all be over for her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" His eyes hardened once more. "Go to your room and change. Meet me back here if you're done meeting your new roommate." He gestured for her to stand up since she was still on his lap. Narcissa's voice turned to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "If that is what you wish, Lucius." She stood up, and neatly patted her robes. Lucius stood up after her, then gently trailed his finger down her cheek, making Narcissa flinch. He glared at her because of her reaction before turning his back on her as he went on to get his things. "Don't keep me waiting, love." He waved her off with a hand, presumably dismissing her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa clenched her teeth and quickly left the room. Once again, Lucius had done his best to humiliate her. She hated, no—she emdespised /emhim. Every single fiber of her being was aching in anger, but she kept her cool. She would not break down in the middle of the hallway, not where anyone would hear her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She reached the right wing with ease and spotted a room that now had a label written 'emBlack Vanity'. /emNarcissa could only assume that room to be her new room, so she politely knocked a few times before entering, trying to keep her emotions in check./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She was right, of course; her room was indeed smaller than Lucius' room. there were two moderate-sized beds at two opposite walls, leaving enough space to move around in between. On one of the beds sat a girl with long brown hair and an eager smile; she looked like she was waiting for Narcissa to come inside their new room./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Hello," the girl said cheerfully, bouncing off the bed. "I'm Emma Vanity!" She reached out a hand./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa shook it politely. "I'm—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Narcisa Black, I know! You're the ice princess, are you not? I'm so jealous, you're engaged to Lucius! Oh what a dream!" She sighed. Emma then put both hands on her shoulders, much to Narcissa's disgust at her overfamiliarity. "You must tell me everything about him—you have to! It's only fair, I mean, you're already emengaged /emto him, for Merlin's sake!"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She brushed her hands off her shoulders and took a step back to get back her personal space. Narcissa decided that she did not like her new roommate at all. She was loud, and could not shut up about Lucius. Did she have any manners at all? Does she know who she's talking to? Narcissa knew of the Vanitys, they were a pitiful bunch. It's true that their blood is pure, but they're known to be such horrid social climbers that even the usually compassionate Bagmans don't feel any pity for them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "You emwill not /emtalk to me like that as if we are friends," Narcissa glared at her. "We are not friends, and I don't plan on becoming your friend. You may be a pureblood, but your severe lack of manners is making me want to vomit all over your bed." Emma stepped back in shock at Narcissa's ruthless words. She didn't care; she was angry. Lucius had sparked her anger, and then Emma became the catalyst for Narcissa to unleash her anger on her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Emma's eyes began to water. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to sound so forward and nosey, it'sspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanjust I was just so excited to meet someone so popular like you and I didn't know what got over me, I'm so sorry!" She turned her back on Narcissa and ran out of the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sighed. She was finally alone. She took her wand out of her robe and used magic to get everything out of her luggage and into place, but she did so in a hurried place. Narcissa did not want to go back to Lucius' room, but she knew that making him wait will just make it worse for her, so it wasn't worth the risk./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When everything was all set up and Narcissa had changed into a silk night gown, her hair now neatly tied in a braid, someone knocked on the door./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Thinking it was Emma, she sat on her bed and called out. "You may come in," she commanded./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" It wasn't her—not even close. It was Otto Bagman in the flesh once class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa suddenly felt conscious of her outfit and straightened her back even further. She was expecting Emma to come in, and Narcissa wanted to apologise to her. She didn't do anything wrong, but she had to be civil towards someone she's going to spend an entire year with, whether she liked it or not./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" But it was Otto who was in front of her, with his hands in his pockets. His hair still a beautiful caramel brown, his eyes an iridescent hazelnut colour. She noticed that he was still wearing the school robes, and wondered why for a second before her thoughts became nothing when their eyes met each other./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He looked like he wanted to devour her; and in that moment, Narcissa was truly scared. She wasn't scared because of the look in his eyes, no; rather, she was scared because she couldn't hide the same look from her face any longer./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Otto," she whispered. He was so close, yet so far—he was standing directly in front of her with only a few inches of space in between them, while Narcissa was still sitting on her bed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Immediately, she remembered Lucius. Her heart began to race. "You're not supposed to be here!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto sighed. He chose to sit beside her on the bed, which Narcissa thought was a really terrible idea, now that her heart was beating incredibly fast. "Can I not say hi to an old friend?" He gave her a sweet smile, and it took all of Narcissa's will to not attack him then and there when his signature dimple appeared on his left cheek./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "But we already saw each other… back in the train." Narcissa was in a daze. She felt intoxicated by his nearness after being away from him for so long. She didn't know if she could control herself any longer./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto put his hand over hers and kept his head down. "But I miss you." He looked up at her then, his eyes burning her soul./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa couldn't hold it in any longer; she leaned forward and softly kissed him. A barrage of memories started appearing on her mind because of the remembrance of that kiss, making her close her eyes and reminisce about one specific memory./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em2 Years Ago, A Few Months Before The Engagement/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2" em"Otto! Narcissa! Where are you two?" Bagman Sr.'s voice echoed in the hallway as he entered each of the rooms in his humongous manor. He sighed. "Those two must be off in their own world again," he huffed, then deciding to give up on his search. If the two of them wanted to be found, they'll appear before him. He supposed he should just let them be. Besides, they're just teenagers, and his son was a good boy; he wouldn't do anything out of line, especially to the daughter of the esteemed Blacks. He had complete trust over his son's decisions./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa giggled as Bagman Sr.'s voice disappeared. "This is so silly," she said to Otto, but couldn't contain herself from giggling once class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em The two of them were hidden inside Otto's closet. "Shh, love, shh," Otto tried to shush her, but he couldn't help but chuckle at her unusual behaviour. It was very rare for Narcissa Black to laugh, let alone class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa put her arms around his neck and grinned, although Otto couldn't see it because the closet was pitch dark. "This is so exciting," she whispered to his ear, giving him tingles all around his body./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em He grabbed her by her waist and held it tightly. "Do you know what muggles do when two people are inside of a closet much like this one?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa momentarily tensed but relaxed when she realised that only she heard what he said. "Will you show me?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto smiled devilishly before taking his mouth with hers. She slightly opened her mouth, and his tongue met with hers, engaging in a seductive battle./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Mmm," Narcissa moaned. The two suddenly found themselves lying on the floor of his closet, lips still locked on to each class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto moved away from her mouth and started kissing her neck, as his hand touched the end of her sun dress, slowly lifting it up./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Are we really snogging inside your closet, Otto?" She whispered to him, her breathing erratic./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Her dress was now above her waist, and Otto stopped. "Doesn't this excite you, love?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em His hands went down to her hips, and to her thighs, before slowly moving his left hand upwards. Narcissa grabbed the back of Otto's head and roughly kissed him to stop herself from moaning out loud./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When his hand found the spot it was looking for, it was already soaking wet. "I suppose this answers my question about you being excited then," He grinned at her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto felt her glare even as they were shrouded in darkness, but he didn't care. He put his fingers on the waistband of her lace panties and swiftly took them off. He started kissing her once more, then let his finger circle around her entrance./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa gripped his shoulders tightly. "Otto," she whispered to him, and that was all it took. He swiftly thrusted his finger to her, making her back arch in pleasure./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When he was sure that she was close, he stopped what he was doing and took the entirety of the dress off of her, leaving her with just her bra. Otto quickly took that off, too, leaving Narcissa shivering in her sudden nakedness. He leaned his entire body towards her and whispered in her ear. "Do you need me to warm you up, love?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa whispered back at him. "I think that you might need to."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto took off his clothes, and before she knew it, he was also stark naked and towering over her once more. "I love you so fucking much, Narcissa Black. You drive me crazy," He purred, before slamming his entire length inside her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa couldn't hold in her gasp; she had to rake her fingers across Otto's back so that she didn't have to shout as much as she wanted to. He kept it in that vigorous pace and did not stop—he had to keep his mouth on Narcissa so that she wouldn't make too much noise./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When he felt so close to his release, he heard her moan out his name. He closed his eyes and gave her one final thrust before releasing himself inside her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto collapsed beside Narcissa, and both of them were heavily breathing. "That was amazing," Narcissa murmured to him as she cuddled up on his chest. He gave her a lazy smile./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa put a hand on his cheek and softly kissed his lips. "I am so helplessly in love with you, Otto class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Please don't ever leave my side."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Someone knocked on the door, making them both jump away from each class="Apple-converted-space" /spanOtto stood up and went to the other bed with a distraught look on his face. "Come in," Narcissa commanded, but with more steel on her voice this time than before./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" It was Emma, and she looked scared out of her wits. "Narcissa, I—" she stopped her words when she saw Otto near her bed. "Otto? What are you doing here?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto coughed before offering her an easy smile. "I just dropped by to say hi to an old friend," he said, repeating his words from earlier./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Emma looked between the two of them. "I didn't know you two knew each other before today," she had a confused look on her face. Even when Narcissa and Otto were in a relationship, no one had a clue that they knew each other, let alone that the two were in a relationship that lasted for two years./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto walked towards her and patted her shoulder. "Well, now you know, Emma. Good night, ladies," he waved goodbye over his shoulder as he exited the room./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa shivered at the loss of his warmth but nonetheless kept her face cool. "Emma, I should apologise—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "No, please, don't. It was all my fault for being nosey." Emma turned away from her, but Narcissa could hear the quiver in her voice. "I promise I won't bother you again, Narcissa."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sighed. "Just please don't ask anything personal from now on, is that clear?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She whimpered away to her bed. "I won't be rude from now on," she nodded./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When Narcissa was sure Emma was tucked into her bed, she quietly left the room, making light steps as she made her way towards the room where he would be waiting./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When she closed the door behind her, the fire was already blazing, but Lucius was leaning against one of the four posters attached to his bed, his entire body facing the door, clearly awaiting her arrival./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa strode across the room, towards where he was, and hugged him so fiercely that Lucius could only return the hug because of his surprise./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Hold me, Lucius," She whispered to him as she felt his hard, muscle-defined body surround her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius didn't even question it; he let go of her embrace and brought her to his king-sized bed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She willed her mind to close and focused on the sensations Lucius were making her feel. She was so frustrated, partly at Otto for appearing in her room like that, but mostly at herself, for falling prey once more to his charms./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She fell in love with him once; it was so deep that, until now, she still needed time to find her way back to the surface, but she needed to keep her mind focused. She was with Lucius now—she's not going to whore around with Otto knowing she was bound to marry Lucius in a few years. She would never forgive herself if she did that./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When it was all done, Narcissa's mind and body were exhausted. She felt extraordinarily guilty because she cheated on her fiancé, and she was never good at handling her own guilt. Perhaps that's the reason why she so willingly went into Lucius' arms that night./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I know something's bothering you, love. You can't hide it from me."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa craned her head to look up at Lucius as she was resting on his chest. The two were completely naked; the only thing covering their bodies was his duvet. "And how are you so sure that it isn't you who's bothering me?" She murmured./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius laughed at her snide remark. "You're feisty tonight, aren't you," he twirled his finger around her black hair. "Basing from the sounds you were making a while ago, I think that you rather enjoy my company." he smirked at her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He moved a little bit so that the two of them were now face-to-face. "Seriously, love. Tell me what's on your mind."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" His usually menacing eyes were a gentle blue at that moment, and she knew that she was the only person he showed this side to, and only when they were alone. Her face softened at his concern for her. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Lucius, I assure you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He didn't respond; he just formed a tight line with his lips. "Do you not trust me, Lucius?" She raised an eyebrow at him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I do," he slowly said. "But I'm unsure if you've been completely forthright with me, love, that's all."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa was annoyed that his eyebrows were all scrunched up, so she used her fingers to ease them out. "What do you mean, Lucius?" He smiled at her gesture. Narcissa was never one for romantic gestures, not even the little things, but, even before then, she always liked to run her fingers over his eyebrows to stop him from scrunching them class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I wish you had told me about Otto Bagman. I felt like a fool back in the train," he mumbled. If he wasn't so spent from what they just did he would definitely release a bit more of a tantrum on her. "You never mentioned his name back then, not even once."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Stop pouting!" she laughed softly at this creature who was lying beside her who could not possibly be Lucius. "I didn't tell you about him because I knew you would drive him away, and he was the only other one my mother let me hang out with." It was easier to lie this time, because she was giving him half of the lie and the truth./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius was still unhappy, being the possessive boy that he was. Narcissa kissed him on the lips. "You're my fiancé, not him. So please stop frowning, Lucius."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He sighed, giving in. "You know how I am, love, but why do you still torture me like this?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa wrapped an arm around him and cuddled closer to him. "Go to sleep, Head Boy. We have classes and emduties /emtomorrow, if you will remember."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius chuckled. "Yes, emprefect, /emI am perfectly aware of my duties as the Head Boy. I am also perfectly, aware as your fiancé, of how beautiful you are bathed in moonlight, so how could I close my eyes when such you're such a sight to behold?"br / Already used to his sweet words, Narcissa only rolled her eyes. "Good night, Lucius." He kissed the top of her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Good night, class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" I love you."/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"Reviews are very much appreciated! x/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em"I hate and love. And why, perhaps you'll ask./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"emI don't know: but I feel, and I'm tormented."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em― Catullus/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em"Did you ever stop to think that even if I am a monster, I might be your soulmate anyway?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em― Julie Johnson, Erasing Faith/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The train had arrived in Hogwarts without a hitch. Although the ride may have been smooth,span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthe air inside Lucius' compartment was not. Otto and Lucius were smiling as if they have found friends in each other, but the air crackling between the two said otherwise. No one, not even Bellatrix, was fooled by their outward appearance. As soon as Narcissa stepped out of that suffocating compartment she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The atmosphere inside felt like it could have literally choked her to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, Otto was still there. He wasn't a ghost coming back to haunt her, or a memory that had escaped her dream to devour her. No, he was still alive indeed, and he looked happy, smiling at something Bertha said to him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em At least one of them was able to smile freely/em, Narcissa bitterly thought./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Are you coming, love?" Lucius looked back at her with a questioning gaze. She smiled a little bit at him tugging at their entwined hands, obviously impatient, but it was subtly endearing, and so she let him lead her towards the exit of the train. There were many students who were also exiting their compartments, but they all made way when they saw the couple in their class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius gave them all a faint smile, but all Narcissa saw was a man drunk on power. Lucius has had everything handed to him on a silver platter, Narcissa being one of those courses. But over those many years of being with him, after seeing the ugliest and most atrocious side of him, she can't seem to bring herself to truly hate class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She searched his face as they stepped outside the train. Perhaps, after knowing him all her life, he may have won the battle after all./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em2 Years Ago, A Month After The Engagement/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Cissa!" Lucius slammed the door open leading to Narcissa's bedroom, with Bellatrix behind him./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix was pulling on his arm. "GO AWAY, LUCIUS! Didn't I tell you Cissy's sick? You don't want to catch whatever she's got, do you?" She shouted hysterically, forcing him to leave her room./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em But Lucius did not budge. Ignoring Bellatrix's shouts, he strode across the room and stopped in front of the chair facing the window, where Narcissa was sitting primly on./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Never in his life had Lucius seen Narcissa in such a disarray. She was alway so clean, and classy, that her appearance at that very moment shocked him very much. Her hair was in a messy braid, her grey eyes were muddy and bloodshot, and the dark circles under her eyes had become prominent. What surprised him the most, though, is her blank expression. Even as she looked up to his face, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, behind those usually disarming grey eyes./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix let go of Lucius and went to Narcissa, fiercely hugging her. "I'm so sorry, Cissy!" Bellatrix sobbed. "He was just so persistent! Please don't get angry with me!"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius made a look of surprise when Narcissa gently stroked Bellatrix's hair. "You may leave now, Bella." Her voice sounded extremely raspy, which made Lucius wonder if maybe Narcissa really was sick all along./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Bellatrix looked at her younger sister then silently nodded, retreating from the room in haste./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa looked out of the window once more. "What do you want from me, Lucius?" She asked him without facing his figure./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her chair, forcing her down her four-poster bed. He locked her wrists above her head and took a good look at her face. Now that he had a closer view, he could see that her eyes were swollen and puffy, and that her eyes held a barely concealed pain. "What happened, Cissa? Why are you like this?" Lucius asked with a hint of worry in his voice. He has always been a proud man, but it was hard to remember his high-born position when the woman he loves looked so pitiful in front of him./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa avoided his gaze. "Didn't you hear? I'm sick, Lucius. So it would be best if you stayed as far away from me as you can—"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius slammed his lips onto hers, causing Narcissa to make a whimpered class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Was I really that terrible in bed? Is that it?" Lucius uncharacteristically blushed a bit. He was morbidly embarrassed at the thought of not having been good enough in bed for his future wife, although he had read and asked about its intricacies years before they were even together. But it was better he knew now than later, so that he could correct whatever his mistakes were./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa's eyes started to water. Even in situations like this, Lucius still believed everything was about him. "Please, Lucius, let go of my wrists. You're hurting me," She whispered. Almost immediately, he let her go, and where his hands were a few seconds ago, red marks now appeared on them. He always had trouble with his temper, and when he gets riled up, much like at this very moment, his actions were very unreliable. She had to learn that the hard way./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa rubbed her wrists gently. "I did not mean to ignore you for such a long time, Lucius," she softly said. Narcissa stood up and went back to the window, but only to stand near it and gaze outside, her eyes landing upon the carefully tended Black class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Lucius followed her lead, and when he was directly behind her, he put his arms around her waist. "Please come back to me, Cissa, I don't know how much I can take being away from you for so long," He breathed through her messy hair./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa blushed but did not move away. "I'll always be yours, Lucius." She took one of his arms entangled around her waists and squeezed it. This was something she had a difficult time accepting, especially after she met Otto. But now he was gone. He had made his decision, and it was time she accepted her fate. She knew, deep in her heart, that family is everything, and that she cannot pull off something as brash as what Otto did, running away from all of this./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em And so, Narcissa faced Lucius, his face still clearly showing worry, but there was also adoration in his eyes. If Narcissa were to be honest with herself, that was how Lucius had always looked at her, ever since they were kids./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em For one month, she had been out of it. She refused to be with someone if that someone was not Otto class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em But as she was face-to-face with Lucius, the boy she'd known all her life, the boy who was not afraid to show his feelings for her in public for everyone to see, the boy who was endlessly possessive but cannot be faulted for it because his family had always made him feel like he was entitled to everything his entire life—Narcissa knew that this was her place. She gently cupped his face and softly kissed him. "Lucius, please, make me feel better," She whispered./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em A small smile escaped from his lips as he led her back to her bed. "As you wish, my love."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em. /em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "How was Durmstrang, Otto? Are the boys there truly as big as they say they are?" Bertha giggled. Lucius and Narcissa almost immediately left their compartment as soon as the train stopped, much to his confusion, but he can't help but feel the tension leaving with them as they left. Now it was just him, Bertha, Bellatrix, and Severus. Rodolphus silently crept out of the compartment, probably to avoid the incessant chatter of the two women in front of him. Otto couldn't blame him; he would do the same thing if he didn't have any manners./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He sighed but still managed to put up a smile. "That's just a rumour, Bertha,"span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanHe stood up to leave, and Bellatrix stood up with him. "I'll walk with you until the exit," She announced./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He looked at her and nodded. Bellatrix had always been the spontaneous one out of the three sisters, so he merely went along with whatever antic she makes, and he was quite sure that this was definitely one of class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "See you later, Otto!" Bertha giggled. He gave her a slight wave, then the two left the compartment side by side, but he kept a respectful distance from her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Why did you transfer to Durmstrang?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto continued to face forward, not wanting to look at her curious eyes. "It wasn't my choice, Bella, you know that. It was my father's idea."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Bellatrix rolled her eyes at that. "That's a poor excuse, Otto, and you know it."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He clenched his teeth before replying. "Will you just leave it alone, Bella?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I hope you don't do anything silly to Cissy, Otto," She said with her fluctuating voice, causing Otto to snap his head to her. Bellatrix merely looked at him with a smug expression. Only a select few know about the relationship he and Narcissa had, and Bellatrix was one of those people. She might have kept their secret, but Bellatrix never hid the fact that she did not like Otto. She knew, she emknew, /emhe wasn't the right one for Narcissa. "She's engaged to Lucius now, and you know that's always been her place. That's her emdestiny. /emAnd now she is none of your business, so I suggest you find somebody else to fuck with," She smiled at him then, a sugary sweet smile pasted on her face./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto clenched his jaw, refusing to give in to her bait. He knew she was trying to get him to talk, but he would never give her that satisfaction./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Soon enough they reached the exit, along with the other Hogwarts students. He sighed with relief when she quickly left him for her Slytherin friends, which was predictable enough. Otto ran a hand through his hair in frustration. This was not the way he intended to appear in front of Narcissa after two years of not seeing each other. He did not intend to witness Lucius claim possession over Narcissa in such a greedy manner. Otto began seeing red just at the thought of Lucius touching Narcissa in places only Otto had touched class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He was supposed to get her to a quiet place, emalone, /emand explain everything to her. He needed her to understand why he left her. He needed her to understand that he still loved her, even if he left her. He needed her to understand that he simply cracked under pressure./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He needed her, period./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em I was only fifteen years old at that time, and I was heir to a vast amount of fortune and all the time in the world, marriage would never even appear in my thoughts, and I wanted my freedom,/em He angrily reasoned in his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" But she had always patiently explained to him her future, that she was bound to marry a pureblood, and that pureblood was most likely to be Lucius Malfoy, unless someone with more wealth or more aristocratic blood was to offer marriage to her. The Malfoys may have more aristocratic blood in their veins, but the Bagmans are known for their excessive wealth. Otto could have had a talk with Narcissa's father and knew he had a very good chance of being class="Apple-converted-space" /spanBut he chose not to propose for Narcissa's hand in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Instead, he ran away./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He clenched his fists as he slowly made his way towards the castle. emWhat a bitter feeling towards a bitter defeat, /emhe thought. There was no irony there; he simply deserved what he had coming for him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" And yet, and yet, he was back in Hogwarts. Perhaps a foolish part of him still believed that second chances do exist after all./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Otto!" He looked beside him to see Natalia Wrentior holding his arm with a worried look on her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She searched his face. "Are you all right? Where have you been? You were gone for the entire ride! I hope you didn't go back to this secret girlfriend of yours again! Not that I mind, but we're your friends too you know—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto gave her a sad smile. "She isn't my girlfriend anymore, Talia."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He knew she was trying her best to look sad, but he saw her eyes light up when he said those words. "Since when?" She asked./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" They had reached the massive doors entering Hogwarts. "Shortly before I left for Durmstrang," He sighed. Natalia Wrentior's a fifth year student from Ravenclaw, like Otto. The two of them were good friends, along with Fabian Prewett, despite the three of them not being in the same year. Otto would probably be closer with them now had he not left Hogwarts for Durmstrang./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Oh, that's… that's too bad," Natalia glanced at him. Many students had already seen Otto inside the train, but now that he was in full view for everyone to see, they had all sorely missed his easily good-looking features. Many, many girls had come up to him before to ask whether he would like to go to Hogsmeade with them over the weekend, but he would always politely refuse them all. Most of the girls gossiped that Otto and Natalia were in a relationship, but had chosen to keep their love life to themselves. Of course, none of them knew of the secret relationship Otto and Narcissa had that lasted for three years. No one had a clue./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Seeing the two of them now as they strode across the hallway on the way to the Great Hall, it wasn't hard to make that presumption. Many Ravenclaw girls were envious of Natalia's long blonde locks, full lips, and curvy figure, but most of all, they went green-eyed with the attention Otto always gave class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Fabian Prewett caught up with them as they entered the Great Hall. "Where have you been, mate?" He asked Otto./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I was inside Lucius' compartment," Otto nonchalantly said. Fabian raised his eyebrows but said two of them sat beside each other as they arrived in the table for Ravenclaw, with Natalia sitting across from them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Why on earth were you there?" Natalia asked as she grabbed a piece of bread./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto waved to a few of the other people in their table. "Perhaps he wanted to recruit me," He joked. But that topic was no joking matter at all. Natalia looked at him darkly but wisely chose to not ask anymore questions./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" There have been rumours, even in Durmstrang, or maybe, emmost especially /emin Durmstrang, about the rising of the Dark Lord. Otto knew a lot of the students there secretly wished to become one of the infamous Death Eaters, but Otto stayed far away from all that. Fabian, however, had told him all about it when he came to visit his home during their summer vacation. He innocently mentioned that he overheard a few Slytherins talking about Lucius and his fate to become a Death Eater. Otto did not like that piece of information at all. He worried for Narcissa's future with that troublesome bastard./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Perhapsem," /emFabian broke the silence. "Perhaps Lucius thinks you've got potential to be his friend after all?"br / Natalia laughed at his remark while Otto smacked his friend in the head. "You shut up, you wanker."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Language, please, Mr. Bagman," Professor Flitwick had arrived to their side of the table with a slight frown on his face./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto had the grace to bow his head to Ravenclaw's Head of House, despite his very small stature. "I'm sorry, Professor Flitwick."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He shook his head and smiled. "You're not going to get in any trouble tonight, Mr. Bagman." He looked across the table, where Natalia was sitting. "Ms. Wrentior and Mr. Bagman, if you please, follow me. We have important matters we need to discuss."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto looked at Natalia and smiled. So, her prediction was right. He knew were this was going to lead them: the two of them were going to be prefects this year after all, regardless of Otto's two-year absence from Hogwarts./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto stood up, along with Natalia, and waved a goodbye to Fabian. The two of them hurriedly followed Professor Flitwick's quickly diminishing figure towards the exit of the Great Hall and to the winding staircase./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "You owe me an order of butterbeer." Natalia whispered to Otto as the three of them stopped in front of a portrait. Otto shrugged at her. "I'll buy you two of those if you're so bloody thirsty." He whispered right back to her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Natalia glared at him. If Flitwick wasn't in front of them, she would have surely smacked his arm by class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Flitwick murmured the password, causing the portrait to open, leading to a straight path./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Well," Flitwick smiled at the two students. "Off you go then, kids."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "If I had known that Italian wizards could be emthat /emdreamy, I would have told my parents to go there every summer vacation instead of going to bleary France all the bloody time!" Bertha made a loud class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa's eyes slightly narrowed at Bellatrix. "And how did you find the time to meet these Italian wizards that you speak of, Bella?" Her cold voice cut through the warm air. She wasn't irritated at the fact that she missed the action, but she did not like the fact that Bellatrix did not invite her to escape from all the boring tea parties their mother held in their house in Italy. She and Bellatrix may not have been the closest sisters, but they had the same interests, that is: they believe in blood supremacy. Bellatrix may have taken it up a notch by wanting the eradication of mudbloods, but Narcissa didn't exactly mind if that happened, either. And they were family./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Family trumps everything./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Bellatrix waved her off. "Perhaps someday you'll learn my ways, dear sister." She giggled, with Bertha joining her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius, who was sitting beside her all this time, but had been talking to Severus who was on his other side, whispered to her ear. "Would you like me to demonstrate to you how the Italian men treat their women?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa took a deep breath, then exhaled. "If that is what you wish, Lucius." She smiled at him, even though in her mind she wanted to scream at his face for saying such improper things in public, even if it was only she who heard those words./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She had perfected this smile already, after years and years of practice. That is, her smile that portrays interest and politeness all at the same time, but betrays none of what she truly feels on the inside. It was a shame, however, that Lucius knew all about her fake smile. There was one other person who could see through her facade, but Narcissa refused to let her mind wander off to those hazelnut eyes./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius gave her a teasing smile before facing Severus once more. So, he was poking fun at her manners once again, that was it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa reached for his hand under the table and gently squeezed it. Perhaps she should act a bit kinder towards someone who will be her future husband. Narcissa knew that the two had a long, long way before they might see each other eye-to-eye, but sometimes, she was tired of fighting it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Narcissa, Lucius, Evan!" Professor Horace Slughorn, Slytherin's Head of House, rushed over to their side of the table./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Evan Rosier sat a bit farther from Lucius and Narcissa, but he heard his name nonetheless. "Good evening, Professor Slughorn," Lucius politely greeted the rushing professor. It was no secret that Professor Slughorn had appointed Lucius as Head Boy as it was his final year in Hogwarts, and his academic performance coupled with his position in the Quidditch team were equally astounding. Narcissa would never admit it, but she knew that Lucius deserved the title. He was always a dedicated man, although sometimes he strayed from Narcissa's bed—but that was all her fault, so she never blamed him for any of that./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Please, you three follow me. We're already late as it is!" He gestured for us to stand up, then rushed towards the exit of the Great Hall./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sent a questioning look towards Lucius. She had a feeling he had some part in whatever this is. "Lucius…" Her voice sounded like a warning./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius merely smiled and pulled her up from her seat. "Didn't you hear the man? We're going to be late."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The three of them quickly exited the hall, with Evan silently following behind them. They followed Professor Slughorn without a word, and eventually, the four of them stopped in front of a portrait where two knights were holding each other's shoulders, laughing at something the other knight had said. The two of them gave a friendly wave before laughing once more./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Professor Slughorn murmured something inaudible to them, and the portrait swung open, revealing a class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Follow me." Slughorn smiled at the three, before stepping inside the path./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius put an arm over Narcissa's shoulder as they followed their Head of House. He bent his head near her ear and whispered. "I'm so tired, Cissa. Can you sleep with me tonight? You know I sleep better when I'm with you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa avoided his heated gaze. "If you're in your best behaviour tonight, then I will consider it." she quickly whispered to him, worried that someone might overhear them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" The path led to what appeared to be a common room. It was bigger and grander than the onespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthey had in the dungeons, Narcissa observed. A striking fireplace was set in the wall that was elaborately decorated with exorbitant symbols of each of the houses in Hogwarts. Surrounding the fireplace were three very long couches, all of which looked high-priced. Narcissa approved of this room. Off to the back of room were two winding staircases at each opposite end, and both presumably led to the wizards' and witches' quarters, she guessed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius led her towards one of the couches to sit down. Professor Slughorn was right; they were indeed late. It would seem that Headmaster Dumbledore had already begun talking to the other students when they entered the grand room, and now that they were all seated, he spoke in continuity as if they had heard his speech before they arrived./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "All of you will be sleeping here from now on. The rooms have already been appointed; two students shall occupy one room. Boys and girls are separated, of course." He winked at all of them. "If any of you have questions, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Macdonald, our new Head Boy and Girl, will be more than willing to answer them. Have a splendid night, my students!" Dumbledore dubiously smiled, and then retreated from the room, with all the other professors in tow./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius took his hand off her shoulder to stand in front of all the students gathered in the apparent prefects' common room. There were fourteen of them all in all, and Narcissa was mildly surprised that she knew them all. All of them either had aristocratic blood, or belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Europe. From Gryffindor, the prefects were Remus Lupin, Molly Prewett, and Dirk Cresswell; The prefects from Hufflepuff were Emma Vanity, Gideon Prewett, and Eddie Stebbins; The ones from Ravenclaw were Otto Bagman, Natalia Wrentior, and Davey Gudgeon; and lastly, Narcissa, Evan, and Rodolphus were the prefects from class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa had to turn her head in a way that, even in her peripheral vision, she would not be able to see Otto. She didn't want to see even a sliver of his hair./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Lucius' deep and alluring voice caused everyone to stop talking to listen to him. "My name is Lucius Malfoy, and I will be your Head Boy for this school year. I congratulate you all on being chosen as prefects among the hundreds of students in Hogwarts," He gave Narcissa a smile, but she kept her face stoic. "Tomorrow after class, we will discuss each of your duties in detail, but for tonight, please enjoy your rooms and perhaps, get to know your new roommate."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" With that, he took out a note from one of the pockets in his robe and read its contents out loud. "Here is the list of pairs and trio that will have to share rooms: Narcissa Emma, Natalia Molly, Remus Otto, Dirk Evan, and Rodolphus, Eddie Davey." He folded the note and returned it back to his pocket. "We shall resume the meeting tomorrow. Please, enjoy your new rooms."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Almost immediately, the prefects stood up and made their way up the staircase, surely eager to check out which of the rooms were the best and and quickly put their claim on it. Natalia was dragging Otto by his hand as they were walking up the stairs, but he was blatantly distracted by the fact that Narcissa and him were in the same room and, not even once, did she look his way. He would know, because he could not keep his eyes off her the as soon as she entered the room, even with Lucius' arm around her shoulders./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "C'mon, Bagman, you and your pair are going to get the worst room if you don't hurry up!" Otto snapped his attention back at her and class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "It's just a room, Talia."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Natalia rolled her eyes at him, but reciprocated his smile. "Sometimes, you're such a meek idiot." The two of them laughed at each other, and it was obvious to anyone's eyes the easy friendship the two had./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When Narcissa felt that most of the students had already gone up, it was only then that she stood up from her seat. She wasn't exactly eager to see her room; nothing in this school could ever compare to grandiose bedroom, so for her, Narcissa's future room would merely be a place where shespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanwould sleep./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius went to her side. He didn't move from his position after his announcement, even after most of the students had gotten up from their seats and left. He was only waiting for Narcissa./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He took her hand and guided her towards the staircase and upward, to the rooms. Once in the second floor, the hallway splits into two: the left wing is where the male prefects and Head Boy reside, and the right wing is for the female prefects and Head class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa was about to separate from Lucius to go to her new room, but Lucius tugged on her hand and directed her to the left wing./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Where are you taking me, Lucius?" She asked coolly, but inwardly she was already feeling uneasy./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He gave her a teasing smile but did not class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" They reached the end of the hall, with a door in front of them. "One of the many perks of being the Head Boy," Lucius opened the door. "Is that I get to have my own room."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He led her inside his room and closed the door behind him. It wasn't as spectacular as Lucius' own room back at his manor, but it was certainly spacious and quite impressive. Unsurprisingly, green was the predominant colour of the room, and Narcissa instantly felt envious. She knew her room wouldn't be nearly as big as his, and in Hogwarts, this was as grand as it's going to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius led her towards a couch facing the fireplace and made her sit on his lap. "This is certainly better than last year, isn't it?" He nuzzled her neck and kissed it./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Last school year, even though it was blatantly against the rules, Lucius always made Narcissa sleep in his room. She didn't like it, of course, because she was afraid her family would find out, but Lucius had been very, very careful, so they were never caught. Lucius had only been a prefect then, meaning he was still sharing his room with someone, so he had to always cast silencing charms so that no one would hear the noises they would make./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa gave him a weak smile. It was useless to keep her face blank with Lucius whenever they're alone. He knew her expressions too much that hiding anything at all would show in her face and that he would definitely catch it. They have become too familiar with one another, and even someone as strong-willed as Narcissa becomes vulnerable towards someone with such a strong connection with her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius wrapped his arms around her, his hard-muscled arms encircling around her slim waist. "Sleep with me tonight, love." He gently commanded her as he began leaving soft kisses on her neck./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa moved her neck so that he could have better access to it. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Lucius," she class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius leaned back. He narrowed his eyes at her."And why is that?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She sighed and put both her hands on his cheeks. "Because, Head Boy," she reminded him of his position. "I have a new roommate, and she'll worry if I'm not sleeping in my own bed on our first night back in Hogwarts."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius continued to glare at her. "You're lying to me," He seethed. "Is it because that Bagman is back here in Hogwarts?" He forcefully cupped her chin and brought her face close to his. "I did not forget Bella's comments about your relationship with him, Cissa." Lucius then slammed his lips onto hers, making her lips start to bruise./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She gasped at the sudden force, enabling his tongue to enter into her mouth. Lucius grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in, deepening the kiss even further. Narcissa couldn't contain the whimper that escaped from her mouth, and that prompted Lucius to stop his attack on her lips. "Lucius, please," Narcissa heavily breathed. She was starting to see stars in the background because of how deep that kiss had been. "He was just a friend, Lucius, I promise you." She didn't gaze away from his intimidating eyes, even more so that he was aggravated. She willed away all those memories of him, forced her mind to not think about any of them at that moment. If a memory, any memory of him at all, came across her mind, he would see it through her eyes, and then it will all be over for her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" His eyes hardened once more. "Go to your room and change. Meet me back here if you're done meeting your new roommate." He gestured for her to stand up since she was still on his lap. Narcissa's voice turned to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "If that is what you wish, Lucius." She stood up, and neatly patted her robes. Lucius stood up after her, then gently trailed his finger down her cheek, making Narcissa flinch. He glared at her because of her reaction before turning his back on her as he went on to get his things. "Don't keep me waiting, love." He waved her off with a hand, presumably dismissing her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa clenched her teeth and quickly left the room. Once again, Lucius had done his best to humiliate her. She hated, no—she emdespised /emhim. Every single fiber of her being was aching in anger, but she kept her cool. She would not break down in the middle of the hallway, not where anyone would hear her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She reached the right wing with ease and spotted a room that now had a label written 'emBlack Vanity'. /emNarcissa could only assume that room to be her new room, so she politely knocked a few times before entering, trying to keep her emotions in check./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She was right, of course; her room was indeed smaller than Lucius' room. there were two moderate-sized beds at two opposite walls, leaving enough space to move around in between. On one of the beds sat a girl with long brown hair and an eager smile; she looked like she was waiting for Narcissa to come inside their new room./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Hello," the girl said cheerfully, bouncing off the bed. "I'm Emma Vanity!" She reached out a hand./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa shook it politely. "I'm—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Narcisa Black, I know! You're the ice princess, are you not? I'm so jealous, you're engaged to Lucius! Oh what a dream!" She sighed. Emma then put both hands on her shoulders, much to Narcissa's disgust at her overfamiliarity. "You must tell me everything about him—you have to! It's only fair, I mean, you're already emengaged /emto him, for Merlin's sake!"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She brushed her hands off her shoulders and took a step back to get back her personal space. Narcissa decided that she did not like her new roommate at all. She was loud, and could not shut up about Lucius. Did she have any manners at all? Does she know who she's talking to? Narcissa knew of the Vanitys, they were a pitiful bunch. It's true that their blood is pure, but they're known to be such horrid social climbers that even the usually compassionate Bagmans don't feel any pity for them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "You emwill not /emtalk to me like that as if we are friends," Narcissa glared at her. "We are not friends, and I don't plan on becoming your friend. You may be a pureblood, but your severe lack of manners is making me want to vomit all over your bed." Emma stepped back in shock at Narcissa's ruthless words. She didn't care; she was angry. Lucius had sparked her anger, and then Emma became the catalyst for Narcissa to unleash her anger on her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Emma's eyes began to water. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to sound so forward and nosey, it'sspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanjust I was just so excited to meet someone so popular like you and I didn't know what got over me, I'm so sorry!" She turned her back on Narcissa and ran out of the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sighed. She was finally alone. She took her wand out of her robe and used magic to get everything out of her luggage and into place, but she did so in a hurried place. Narcissa did not want to go back to Lucius' room, but she knew that making him wait will just make it worse for her, so it wasn't worth the risk./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When everything was all set up and Narcissa had changed into a silk night gown, her hair now neatly tied in a braid, someone knocked on the door./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Thinking it was Emma, she sat on her bed and called out. "You may come in," she commanded./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" It wasn't her—not even close. It was Otto Bagman in the flesh once class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa suddenly felt conscious of her outfit and straightened her back even further. She was expecting Emma to come in, and Narcissa wanted to apologise to her. She didn't do anything wrong, but she had to be civil towards someone she's going to spend an entire year with, whether she liked it or not./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" But it was Otto who was in front of her, with his hands in his pockets. His hair still a beautiful caramel brown, his eyes an iridescent hazelnut colour. She noticed that he was still wearing the school robes, and wondered why for a second before her thoughts became nothing when their eyes met each other./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He looked like he wanted to devour her; and in that moment, Narcissa was truly scared. She wasn't scared because of the look in his eyes, no; rather, she was scared because she couldn't hide the same look from her face any longer./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Otto," she whispered. He was so close, yet so far—he was standing directly in front of her with only a few inches of space in between them, while Narcissa was still sitting on her bed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Immediately, she remembered Lucius. Her heart began to race. "You're not supposed to be here!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto sighed. He chose to sit beside her on the bed, which Narcissa thought was a really terrible idea, now that her heart was beating incredibly fast. "Can I not say hi to an old friend?" He gave her a sweet smile, and it took all of Narcissa's will to not attack him then and there when his signature dimple appeared on his left cheek./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "But we already saw each other… back in the train." Narcissa was in a daze. She felt intoxicated by his nearness after being away from him for so long. She didn't know if she could control herself any longer./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto put his hand over hers and kept his head down. "But I miss you." He looked up at her then, his eyes burning her soul./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa couldn't hold it in any longer; she leaned forward and softly kissed him. A barrage of memories started appearing on her mind because of the remembrance of that kiss, making her close her eyes and reminisce about one specific memory./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em2 Years Ago, A Few Months Before The Engagement/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2" em"Otto! Narcissa! Where are you two?" Bagman Sr.'s voice echoed in the hallway as he entered each of the rooms in his humongous manor. He sighed. "Those two must be off in their own world again," he huffed, then deciding to give up on his search. If the two of them wanted to be found, they'll appear before him. He supposed he should just let them be. Besides, they're just teenagers, and his son was a good boy; he wouldn't do anything out of line, especially to the daughter of the esteemed Blacks. He had complete trust over his son's decisions./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa giggled as Bagman Sr.'s voice disappeared. "This is so silly," she said to Otto, but couldn't contain herself from giggling once class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em The two of them were hidden inside Otto's closet. "Shh, love, shh," Otto tried to shush her, but he couldn't help but chuckle at her unusual behaviour. It was very rare for Narcissa Black to laugh, let alone class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa put her arms around his neck and grinned, although Otto couldn't see it because the closet was pitch dark. "This is so exciting," she whispered to his ear, giving him tingles all around his body./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em He grabbed her by her waist and held it tightly. "Do you know what muggles do when two people are inside of a closet much like this one?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa momentarily tensed but relaxed when she realised that only she heard what he said. "Will you show me?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto smiled devilishly before taking his mouth with hers. She slightly opened her mouth, and his tongue met with hers, engaging in a seductive battle./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Mmm," Narcissa moaned. The two suddenly found themselves lying on the floor of his closet, lips still locked on to each class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto moved away from her mouth and started kissing her neck, as his hand touched the end of her sun dress, slowly lifting it up./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Are we really snogging inside your closet, Otto?" She whispered to him, her breathing erratic./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Her dress was now above her waist, and Otto stopped. "Doesn't this excite you, love?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em His hands went down to her hips, and to her thighs, before slowly moving his left hand upwards. Narcissa grabbed the back of Otto's head and roughly kissed him to stop herself from moaning out loud./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When his hand found the spot it was looking for, it was already soaking wet. "I suppose this answers my question about you being excited then," He grinned at her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto felt her glare even as they were shrouded in darkness, but he didn't care. He put his fingers on the waistband of her lace panties and swiftly took them off. He started kissing her once more, then let his finger circle around her entrance./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa gripped his shoulders tightly. "Otto," she whispered to him, and that was all it took. He swiftly thrusted his finger to her, making her back arch in pleasure./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When he was sure that she was close, he stopped what he was doing and took the entirety of the dress off of her, leaving her with just her bra. Otto quickly took that off, too, leaving Narcissa shivering in her sudden nakedness. He leaned his entire body towards her and whispered in her ear. "Do you need me to warm you up, love?"/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa whispered back at him. "I think that you might need to."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto took off his clothes, and before she knew it, he was also stark naked and towering over her once more. "I love you so fucking much, Narcissa Black. You drive me crazy," He purred, before slamming his entire length inside her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa couldn't hold in her gasp; she had to rake her fingers across Otto's back so that she didn't have to shout as much as she wanted to. He kept it in that vigorous pace and did not stop—he had to keep his mouth on Narcissa so that she wouldn't make too much noise./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em When he felt so close to his release, he heard her moan out his name. He closed his eyes and gave her one final thrust before releasing himself inside her./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Otto collapsed beside Narcissa, and both of them were heavily breathing. "That was amazing," Narcissa murmured to him as she cuddled up on his chest. He gave her a lazy smile./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em Narcissa put a hand on his cheek and softly kissed his lips. "I am so helplessly in love with you, Otto class="Apple-converted-space" /span/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em "Please don't ever leave my side."/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2"em./em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Someone knocked on the door, making them both jump away from each class="Apple-converted-space" /spanOtto stood up and went to the other bed with a distraught look on his face. "Come in," Narcissa commanded, but with more steel on her voice this time than before./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" It was Emma, and she looked scared out of her wits. "Narcissa, I—" she stopped her words when she saw Otto near her bed. "Otto? What are you doing here?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto coughed before offering her an easy smile. "I just dropped by to say hi to an old friend," he said, repeating his words from earlier./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Emma looked between the two of them. "I didn't know you two knew each other before today," she had a confused look on her face. Even when Narcissa and Otto were in a relationship, no one had a clue that they knew each other, let alone that the two were in a relationship that lasted for two years./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Otto walked towards her and patted her shoulder. "Well, now you know, Emma. Good night, ladies," he waved goodbye over his shoulder as he exited the room./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa shivered at the loss of his warmth but nonetheless kept her face cool. "Emma, I should apologise—"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "No, please, don't. It was all my fault for being nosey." Emma turned away from her, but Narcissa could hear the quiver in her voice. "I promise I won't bother you again, Narcissa."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa sighed. "Just please don't ask anything personal from now on, is that clear?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She whimpered away to her bed. "I won't be rude from now on," she nodded./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When Narcissa was sure Emma was tucked into her bed, she quietly left the room, making light steps as she made her way towards the room where he would be waiting./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When she closed the door behind her, the fire was already blazing, but Lucius was leaning against one of the four posters attached to his bed, his entire body facing the door, clearly awaiting her arrival./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa strode across the room, towards where he was, and hugged him so fiercely that Lucius could only return the hug because of his surprise./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Hold me, Lucius," She whispered to him as she felt his hard, muscle-defined body surround her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius didn't even question it; he let go of her embrace and brought her to his king-sized bed./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She willed her mind to close and focused on the sensations Lucius were making her feel. She was so frustrated, partly at Otto for appearing in her room like that, but mostly at herself, for falling prey once more to his charms./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" She fell in love with him once; it was so deep that, until now, she still needed time to find her way back to the surface, but she needed to keep her mind focused. She was with Lucius now—she's not going to whore around with Otto knowing she was bound to marry Lucius in a few years. She would never forgive herself if she did that./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" When it was all done, Narcissa's mind and body were exhausted. She felt extraordinarily guilty because she cheated on her fiancé, and she was never good at handling her own guilt. Perhaps that's the reason why she so willingly went into Lucius' arms that night./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I know something's bothering you, love. You can't hide it from me."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa craned her head to look up at Lucius as she was resting on his chest. The two were completely naked; the only thing covering their bodies was his duvet. "And how are you so sure that it isn't you who's bothering me?" She murmured./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius laughed at her snide remark. "You're feisty tonight, aren't you," he twirled his finger around her black hair. "Basing from the sounds you were making a while ago, I think that you rather enjoy my company." he smirked at her./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He moved a little bit so that the two of them were now face-to-face. "Seriously, love. Tell me what's on your mind."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" His usually menacing eyes were a gentle blue at that moment, and she knew that she was the only person he showed this side to, and only when they were alone. Her face softened at his concern for her. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Lucius, I assure you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He didn't respond; he just formed a tight line with his lips. "Do you not trust me, Lucius?" She raised an eyebrow at him./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I do," he slowly said. "But I'm unsure if you've been completely forthright with me, love, that's all."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa was annoyed that his eyebrows were all scrunched up, so she used her fingers to ease them out. "What do you mean, Lucius?" He smiled at her gesture. Narcissa was never one for romantic gestures, not even the little things, but, even before then, she always liked to run her fingers over his eyebrows to stop him from scrunching them class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "I wish you had told me about Otto Bagman. I felt like a fool back in the train," he mumbled. If he wasn't so spent from what they just did he would definitely release a bit more of a tantrum on her. "You never mentioned his name back then, not even once."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Stop pouting!" she laughed softly at this creature who was lying beside her who could not possibly be Lucius. "I didn't tell you about him because I knew you would drive him away, and he was the only other one my mother let me hang out with." It was easier to lie this time, because she was giving him half of the lie and the truth./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius was still unhappy, being the possessive boy that he was. Narcissa kissed him on the lips. "You're my fiancé, not him. So please stop frowning, Lucius."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" He sighed, giving in. "You know how I am, love, but why do you still torture me like this?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Narcissa wrapped an arm around him and cuddled closer to him. "Go to sleep, Head Boy. We have classes and emduties /emtomorrow, if you will remember."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" Lucius chuckled. "Yes, emprefect, /emI am perfectly aware of my duties as the Head Boy. I am also perfectly, aware as your fiancé, of how beautiful you are bathed in moonlight, so how could I close my eyes when such you're such a sight to behold?"br / Already used to his sweet words, Narcissa only rolled her eyes. "Good night, Lucius." He kissed the top of her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" "Good night, class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s2" I love you."/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p1"span class="s2"Reviews are very much appreciated! x/span/p