Narcissa was waiting with her parents and her sisters in the entrance room as Abraxas and Lucius were shown into the manor by a house-elf.
Proper greetings were exchanged.
Druella then suggested that they once again go the drawing room as they had done the first time because Lucius and Narcissa had clearly "connected" with each other.
"Please excuse me for being so bold, Mrs. Black," Lucius said politely, "but would it be all right with you and your husband if your daughter gave me a tour of your beautiful manor instead? I am very interested in knowing as much as possible about my future wife and the history of this great and noble family, and as charming as Miss Black is in speech, just talking about it with her is not enough to give me the full picture. Some things I just have to see with my own eyes. But only if it's all right with the both of you."
Druella turned to Cygnus.
"I don't have any problems with that," Cygnus spoke. "You honour me with your interest in my family, Lucius."
"I am the one who's honoured, Mr. Black," Lucius returned smoothly. "It pleases me more than I could ever express with words that I will one day be united so directly to you and your family."
Cygnus then turned to Lucius's father. "Would that be all right with you as well, Abraxas? You truly have a fine son."
Abraxas looked over at Lucius and gave him a clear warning glare, even though he made sure that none of the Blacks noticed it.
Abraxas then placed a pleasant smile on his face and said, "I don't have any problems with that either. Your manor is one to be proud of, Cygnus."
"Perhaps one day you will invite us over to your manor, Abraxas," Cygnus suggested. "It would be nice for Narcissa to see the place where she will one day be living."
"I will keep that in consideration," Abraxas replied. "I take great pride in Malfoy Manor, as does Lucius."
Lucius nodded his head in confirmation, even though Narcissa noticed that he didn't look happy or pleased by his father's words.
"If you will follow me, Mr. Malfoy," Narcissa offered to Lucius.
"It would be my pleasure, Miss Black," Lucius returned.
Lucius followed Narcissa out of the room.
As they were walking through the manor, Narcissa told Lucius stories about some of the things that she and her sisters had done in the various rooms.
Lucius just nodded his head. It was clear that he was bored.
Narcissa stopped suddenly in her tracks. She stopped so suddenly, in fact, that Lucius was barely able to keep himself from bumping into her.
"Is something the matter, Miss Black?" Lucius drawled.
"Why did you ask me to give you a tour if you weren't really interested?" Narcissa asked, her voice a combination of hurt and anger.
Lucius looked at her for a moment in surprise. But he then quickly composed himself.
"We already know more than enough about each other's family trees," Lucius said in a toneless voice, "and I did not feel like trying to come up with something else to talk to you about just to please your mother."
Narcissa was now more hurt than angry. Had she just imagined the slight smile that Lucius had given her when they had last seen each other? Had she been a fool to think that she and Lucius could actually learn to one day at least tolerate each other's presence?
"Well, I'm not going to give you the rest of the tour if that's not what you really want to do," Narcissa finally said, "especially after you were kind enough to pretend to be interested in me at our first meeting. My mother was very happy, so I thank you for that."
Lucius just nodded his head.
"What would you like to do?" Narcissa then asked.
Narcissa hoped that Lucius would not request that he and his father be allowed to leave immediately because she seriously doubted that they had been gone long enough to convince her mother that she was indeed still managing to keep Lucius charmed and pleased with her.
Lucius seemed to have noticed the worry in her eyes because he said, "I would be interested in any books that this manor may have. My father takes great value in his collection, and I would like to see if your family has any books that I could possibly suggest that he purchase."
Narcissa did not always have her nose buried in a book, but she did like to read. And it would help to pass the time.
"I can do that for you," she said. "Follow me please."
Lucius did not show any outward emotion when they entered Narcissa's favorite study in the manor, but Narcissa did not allow that to affect her. It was more than clear to her by now that the words "Lucius" and "emotions" just did not go together in any situation.
Lucius began to browse the shelves.
Narcissa, meanwhile, grabbed her favorite philosophy book from its usual place and sat down on the couch to read it.
Aside from Narcissa flipping the pages, it was quiet in the study for several minutes.
Purebloods prided themselves on their ability to move silently and gracefully, but none of those Purebloods had anything on Lucius. He was the very embodiment of Pureblood silence and grace.
Narcissa occasionally looked up from her book to look at Lucius, but he seemed to be completely ignoring her. All of his attention seemed to be focused on the books.
Narcissa was completely taken by surprise, therefore, when Lucius suddenly sat down beside her.
He wasn't that close to her, but he wasn't sitting on the other end of the couch from her either.
Narcissa could not help but look at Lucius. It was clear that he was trying to see what she was reading.
Narcissa held up the book just enough so that Lucius could see the title.
It was probably just her imagination, but Narcissa swore that she saw Lucius nod his head in approval. Well, Abraxas Malfoy had mentioned that his son was interested in philosophy, so it was at least a slight possibility.
Narcissa wanted to ask Lucius if he wanted to discuss some of the theories in the book with her, but she knew better than to push her luck. Even if Lucius did like philosophy, there was still the strong possibility that he considered talking about it to be "needless conversation."
"Did you see any books of interest?" Narcissa asked instead with perfect politeness.
"Your astronomy collection is huger than the one my father has," Lucius said, "but considering that your family has the tradition of naming their children after the stars, that's not too surprising. I sometimes wish, though, that my father was more interested in the stars. I find them to be rather fascinating."
Narcissa could not imagine Lucius being truly fascinated by anything, but she had been raised to be nothing but polite to those that were equal to her status. And it was clear that her parents saw the Malfoys as being their equals. Only the best, after all, would ever be allowed to marry their daughters.
She was also slightly hurt at what was perhaps Lucius's unintentional reminder to her that she, unlike her other family members, had not been named after any of the stars.
Narcissa noticed that Lucius was looking at her with a somewhat curious expression on his face, as if he was indeed wondering why her name was not a star's name.
Lucius, however, had the grace not to remark on that. Instead, he just continued to sit quietly, not making a single sound. Was he even breathing?
Narcissa, meanwhile, kept the majority of her attention on the philosophy book still opened in front of her. She could not help, though, occasionally giving Lucius a brief glance.
She hoped that it wouldn't always be this silent between her and Lucius.
But Narcissa also knew that she just might have to prepare herself for that very possibility.