Narcissa listened as her aunt, Walburga Black, once again reminded her two young sons of the importance of them acting proper and dignified when the Malfoys arrived. They were close family to Narcissa, which meant that their behavior impacted how she was viewed.
Regulus nodded his head seriously. He and Narcissa had always been close, more like brother and sister than cousins, so he definitely didn't want to do anything that would make Narcissa look bad.
Sirius, on the other hand, looked bored and completely uninterested. He and Narcissa had never cared much for each other. Narcissa saw him as being a spoiled brat, and Sirius saw her as being weak and fragile.
"I mean it, Sirius," Walburga hissed dangerously, seeing the expression on his face. "You better be on your best behavior tonight."
"I will be, Mother," Sirius sighed in a slightly annoyed voice.
Walburga glared at her oldest son for several moments before finally turning away.
Narcissa knew it was only because the Malfoys were expected to arrive at any moment, and it wouldn't reflect well on the Black family if it was obvious that Sirius had been punished.
Which probably was the reason why Sirius was being even more of a brat than was usual, even for him.
The adults then moved closer together to talk some more before the Malfoys arrived.
Bellatrix, Andromeda, Narcissa, Sirius, and Regulus all gathered together as well.
"My parents have been talking about how wonderful the Malfoys are all day," Sirius remarked with a roll of his eyes, "and it left me wondering, Narcissa, how you ended up being arranged to one day be married into such a great and noble family."
Sirius didn't even try to hide the scorn or the sarcasm in his voice.
Narcissa flushed in anger.
"Don't be so mean, Sirius," Regulus spoke, drawing himself up to his fullest height. However, he was still significantly shorter than his older brother, even though they were only about a year apart in age.
"Oh, look, Narcissa," Sirius laughed, even though he made sure that it wasn't loud enough for the adults to hear, "you have such a scary admirer. I'm frightened."
"That's quite enough, Sirius," Bellatrix growled dangerously, reaching for her wand.
Sirius immediately backed away, bowing his head submissively. Even he knew better than to mess with Bellatrix when she was angry.
Bellatrix pulled her hand away from her wand, even though she still looked warningly at Sirius.
Narcissa, meanwhile, touched Regulus on his shoulder in appreciation. They shared a warm smile with each other.
There was suddenly the sound of a crack, and the house-elf Kreacher appeared in the room.
"The Malfoys are approaching, Master and Mistress," he said to Orion and Walburga.
"Go greet them, Kreacher," Orion ordered, "and make sure they feel welcomed. They are honoured guests."
"Yes, Master," Kreacher bowed respectfully before disappearing with a crack.
Walburga gave the children a warning look, and all of them (even Sirius) immediately stood up as straightly as they possibly could.
It wasn't long before Kreacher walked into the room, closely followed by the Malfoys.
"Welcome to Grimmauld Place," Orion greeted.
"We are honoured to be here," Abraxas responded, "and we appreciate the invitation."
"It was no problem at all," Orion replied. "You and Lucius are one day going to be close family, after all."
Orion and Walburga (especially Walburga) then fussed over Lucius, who responded back to them with his usual polite, mature charm.
It truly was amazing how Lucius always sounded like an adult, especially considering how young he was. He was, after all, only about a year older than Narcissa.
Orion then introduced Abraxas and Lucius to his two sons.
Sirius and Regulus both nodded their head politely, even though it was clear that they were both a little intimated by Abraxas.
Narcissa couldn't blame them for that. There was something imitating about Abraxas Malfoy. Even Bellatrix didn't have her usual boldness whenever he was around.
The adults then moved away a bit.
"It's nice to meet you, Lucius," Regulus smiled warmly.
"Likewise, Regulus," Lucius replied, his voice not revealing anything.
Regulus shifted slightly on his feet. Then, he said, "Forgive me for being so bold, Lucius, but I need to know how you feel about Narcissa. She is my cousin, you see, and I care greatly about her."
Lucius looked surprised for a moment. However, he quickly composed herself.
"I find her to be very brilliant and charming," he then said.
Narcissa flushed in embarrassment. She couldn't remember anyone ever calling her brilliant before.
Sirius, however, snorted at Lucius calling Narcissa "brilliant."
Lucius gave Sirius a dangerous glare. "You clearly are another one with a defected mind."
Sirius flushed angrily, but he didn't say anything. Lucius, after all, was quite a bit taller than him.
Bellatrix also flushed angrily, knowing that Lucius was referring to her as well.
"What's wrong with you, Bellatrix?" Sirius sneered, seeing the expression on his cousin's face.
"It's none of your business, Sirius," Bellatrix growled.
"Please, you two, don't start," Andromeda pleaded.
Sirius, who had always liked Andromeda, nodded his head at her.
Bellatrix sneered at Andromeda, but she didn't say anything.
"I'm going to see what our parents are discussing," a bored-looking Lucius said.
Before anyone could say anything, Lucius was gone.
Abraxas was the first to notice Lucius's approach.
"I'm so glad you came over here, Lucius," Abraxas smiled. "We were just discussing the negative impact that our current Minister has been having on the Wizarding World."
"That's no surprise" Lucius sneered. "There is no way that a Mudblood can truly understand our society. None of them were raised as we were."
"So true," Walburga agreed. "This Minister is a disgrace to our kind. Mudbloods should never be allowed to have such positions of authority and importance. It's disgusting."
"They're already changing our world for the worse," Abraxas remarked. "Hogwarts no longer teaches its students about the Pureblood culture. Apparently, Dumbledore is more concerned about the Muggle culture. He wants our children to understand Muggles. Well, what about us? Shouldn't the Mudbloods have to learn about us as well? What makes Muggles so much more important than us?"
"Dumbledore has always been a fool," Bellatrix sneered as she approached them, closely followed by Andromeda, Narcissa, Sirius, and Regulus.
"So true," Druella smiled at her oldest daughter.
"Sirius, Regulus, it's good for you two to be over here," Walburga spoke. "We were discussing our current Minister, a Mudblood."
Andromeda shook her head in disgust before turning and walking away.
She was closely followed by an annoyed-looking Sirius.
Walburga frowned at her oldest son's retreating back, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to draw attention to his "shameful" behavior with the Malfoys being around.
Regulus, meanwhile, listened on in interest.
Walburga smiled warmly at her youngest son.
"I doubt our beloved Minister will last for long," Narcissa remarked, a look of disgust on her face. "He probably was only elected so that the Ministry could pretend that they were trying to do something about the Dark Lord and his anti-Muggle ways."
"No, he won't last for long," Abraxas smiled unpleasantly at Narcissa.
Lucius, meanwhile, was looking at Narcissa with what could possibly be considered an impressed expression.
It really was hard to tell what Lucius was really thinking.
"I did not know that you were into politics," Lucius said to Narcissa in a quiet voice.
"Not really," Narcissa replied, "but I do listen to the conversations that my parents have."
"You can learn a lot by just listening," Lucius responded.
"Indeed you can," Narcissa returned.
"And listening is a big part of politics," Lucius said. "That is why so many people are horrible at it. They know how to talk, but they don't know how to listen."
"It looks like we now have something new that we can talk about," Narcissa smiled.
"And that could definitely be a good thing," Lucius smiled back.
Narcissa didn't need to have a mirror around to know that she was beaming happily.
Author's Note: The Minister being referred to in this chapter is Nobby Leach. He was the first Muggle-born Minister of Magic. He was Minister from 1962 to 1968. He left the office prematurely after he contracted a mysterious illness. According to conspiracy theories, Abraxas Malfoy was involved. The source of this information is Harry Potter Wiki.