Chapter 35 - Possessed
Narcissa Malfoy walked along the gravel drive in front of the house; she looked up at the impressive building, with the perfectly designed windows which made the house totally symmetrical. The white peacock wandered across her path and she smiled admiringly. It was a beautiful day, the only sound in the beautiful Wiltshire country side was the sound of birds twittering and the crunch of the gravel beneath Narcissa's shoes.
Narcissa opened the large front doors of the house and stepped into the cool hallway. Her eyes travelled across the room and landed on the portrait of herself. Well…there had been a portrait of her…now it had been replaced with a painting of a woman with brown hair. Brown hair and red highlights; dressed in Narcissa's robes, smirking down at her. Narcissa's blood ran cold. A door opened and Lucius stepped out.
"Lucius what is the meaning of-"
Her husband walked straight past her as if she never existed, he made his way up the stairs where to Narcissa's horror stood Susan Shard, dressed in the same exquisite emerald robes as in the painting. The brown hair piled onto her head, her brown eyes glaring down at her laughing with delight. Lucius walked up to this woman stood behind her placing a hand on her shoulder.
"What are you doing here Narcissa? You don't belong here" Lucius said calmly "Please leave me and my wife alone"
"Your wife?" Narcissa questioned
"Yes my wife…and our son"
At that moment Draco came running out of the same room as Lucius had entered from,
"Mummy!" he cried cheerfully
Narcissa turned to her child, but he too ran straight past her with his arms outstretched. He ran up to the woman on the stairs and wrapped his arms around her. The three looked down at her smirking.
Narcissa shot up screaming with terror, she clutched the white duvet close to her body her blonde hair around her shoulders, sweat pouring down her back. All she could do was scream, scream and kick her legs. She screamed so hard and loud that her throat stung and her eyes watered. She kicked so hard that her legs ached and beat against the thick covers.
Her bedroom door was thrown open, and a very dishevelled Lucius came running in with his wand lit
"Narcissa? Narcissa?" he yelled in a loud whisper "What on Earth is the matter?"
Narcissa continued to scream, and thrash in her bed.
"Narcissa you will wake the whole house" Lucius said throwing down his wand and trying to hold her still with his hands.
Narcissa stopped screaming but continued kicking the duvet
"GET HER OUT" Narcissa burst out "I WANT HER OUT OF THIS HOUSE!"
"Hush hush, what on Earth are you talking about? Get who out?"
"YOU KNOW WHO!!! THAT SLUT!! THAT HUSSY!! STEALING MY LIFE!!"
"Narcissa if you don't silence yourself right now I will do so myself"
Narcissa struggled in his grip, and tried to hit him
"Let go of me!" she growled
"Narcissa, you had a nightmare now please calm yourself…Dobby!"
A bruised, sleepy looking house elf appeared with a crack
"Yes Mister Malfoy?" it said restraining a yawn
"Go fetch your Mistress a calming potion! Quickly!"
The house elf nodded and disapparated.
Narcissa continued her struggling
"Narcissa, please…. a nightmare is not worth all this fuss, what has possessed you recently"
Narcissa bared her teeth in frustration
"I have a good mind to send you to St Mungos for some serious help unless you calm down right now"
Dobby reappeared holding a potion
Lucius immediately swiped it from the Elf and attempted to pour it down his wife's throat.
Narcissa struggled to move her face away from it, but Lucius gripped her face around her cheeks in such a way it was impossible to move or keep her mouth shut. Lucius poured the potion into her mouth and quickly closed her mouth to stop her spitting it out.
Narcissa had no choice but to swallow the revolting liquid.
However, she instantly felt a feeling of warmth sweep through her body, it became somewhat of a struggle to be bothered to kick her legs and punch her husband. Narcissa lay back on her pillow, her forehead running with sweat.
Her eyes wavered slightly as she looked at Lucius and his dishevelled appearance.
"Better?" he asked. Narcissa made a nod like movement "Good…Dobby go see that my son is asleep, if he is not make sure he goes back to sleep"
"Yes Mister Malfoy" said Dobby disapparating.
Narcissa looked around the room which seemed to be filled by an orangey glow, not only by Lucius' wand lying stationary on her bed but by the light from the hallway which the open door revealed.
"Now….Narcissa" Lucius said sitting up straight and running a hand through his white blonde hair. "What has happened to you recently?"
"Hmm?" she said looking up into his eyes
"Today you break into my study, and half destroy it while searching for Merlin knows what" Lucius muttered "I later hear from your friends that you are terribly unhappy about the tutor or some rubbish, and now you have a nightmare and scream like a banshee….what is this all about?"
Narcissa's eyelids fluttered slightly with tiredness. She had no wish to discuss the matter with Lucius right now; all she could picture in her head was the way Susan looked in her robes, with her husband, with her son. The images in her nightmare seemed plastered in her brain like a permanent sticking charm.
"Where do you go…early on Wednesday morning?" she asked
"What?" Lucius frowned
"Why are you so insistent on hiring that tutor?" Narcissa continued
"What on-"
"Why were you acting funny at dinner the other day? Why were you in Diagon Alley when you told me you were at work? Who was the present for?" she asked each question one after another
"Narcissa, please…what are you implying?" he said turning his head ever so slightly.
Narcissa let out a deep breath
"Are you having an affair with that woman?" there…she had asked it.
"Narcissa….are you…are you completely insane? How? How could you accuse me of such a thing?"
"Well…are you?" she asked
"Of course I am bloody well not, that girl is only 19 years old. And did I not tell you I would never sleep with another woman so long as we were married? Didn't I?"
"Yes but-"
"No yes but, Narcissa, where is this coming from…….let me guess…Frankie put these ideas in your head" he said coldly
"Leave my friends out of it…why have you been lying to me about where you've been…what's with all the snooping, secrets and lies?"
Lucius opened his mouth and then closed it again. He sighed and said almost reluctantly
"Very well….Narcissa…get up, we're going for a little walk"
Narcissa frowned, gripping the dressing gown around her body, her soft soled slippers making a slight pat as she walked across the hall, Lucius' hand over her arm; as if to make sure she did not try to run away. He walked slightly ahead of her, with his wand outstretched, lighting the way through the dark corridor.
The Malfoy Manor was a large home; it was called a Manor but was truly more the size of a mansion or stately home. When it had been first built several centuries ago it had been smaller, but over the years the occupants had expanded it, building extra extensions when the Malfoy family purchased more of the surrounding land. The name Manor had remained the same. As the house was so big, there were many rooms and corridors which were rarely explored. When Narcissa had first married Lucius, before Draco was born, she would entertain herself by trying to explore the many different rooms and corridors, examining the different pictures on the wall as she past. It was now that Narcissa realised that they were walking down one of these hallways which she may have past all those years ago and never bothered returning to.
The corridor looked slightly more neglected to the rest of the house, it was not dirty but it was clear that the house elves did not spend nearly as much time cleaning these hallways as they did on the frequently used rooms.
Narcissa wondered why Lucius was taking her down this corridor, in order to explain himself.
When the two reached the end of the corridor they came to a large, black, velvet curtain it hang long and thick and faded. (She could not remember if she had past it before or if not, either way it had never made much impact on her) Lucius stopped and looked up at it. Narcissa looked at it too, she glanced at Lucius to see if there was anything particular on the curtain that made him stare…evidently there was not.
"Lucius…why are we staring at a curtain?" Narcissa asked
Lucius closed his eyes slowly then reopened them; he moved away from her and pulled on a large chord beside the curtain, slowly pulling it apart to reveal a painting. It was large, like the curtain covering. It was of a tall woman with sleek silver blonde hair draping far down her back, arrogant features with high cheek bones and full lips painted scarlet. Her eyes flashed silver-grey as she gazed down at her viewers from her vast height.
It was the woman in the photograph.
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