Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.
Celebrating
Narcissa might have appreciated the Slytherin victory if it hadn't given her oldest sister the excuse to act inappropriately in the middle of the common room. The air was filled with good spirits and triumph, a simply elevated state of the house's usual feeling of supremacy. It was the type of thing Narcissa should be enjoying, but instead she was playing babysitter, Andromeda was talking to some girls from her own year, and Lucius Malfoy hadn't even had the decency to seek her out yet.
A part of Narcissa died in mortification as Bellatrix kissed Rodolphus a little too eagerly.
"Mmm," Bella murmured when their glistening lips finally separated. "That's for knocking the Gryffindor filth off his broom."
Rodolphus was apparently unaware or didn't care that Bellatrix's little sister was sitting in the chair closest to them as he pulled Bella onto his lap. He ran his nose down Bellatrix's; Narcissa resisted the urge to make gagging noises. She heard him reply, "A mudblood, no less…"
Bellatrix's dark grin matched Rodolphus's perfectly. "Oh, you're too good to me," she snickered, meeting his mouth again.
The couple became a tangle of green, silver, and black as they continued to kiss. Narcissa ignored their overzealous celebrations as best she could. But then Rodolphus's hands began to wander in and out of Bellatrix's robes and Narcissa had enough. "Um, hello? I'm sitting right here." She repeated herself several times before either seemed to notice her; though, she suspected Bellatrix was just ignoring her. Bella was very good at that.
Finally, Bellatrix pulled herself away from Rodolphus, jumping off his lap. She walked around behind the armchair to place her hands on Rodolphus's broad shoulders. With a sigh of boredom, Narcissa watched Bellatrix kneed his neck muscles, abandoning her usual roughness for an uncharacteristic display of care. Narcissa rolled her eyes; Bellatrix was never nice unless she wanted something.
Catching her little sister's stare, Bellatrix shot, "If it bothers you so much, then go away, Cissy."
"I was here first," she grumbled back, folding her arms over her chest, daring Bella to make her move. She really could have cared less about moving; common room parties bored her in comparison to the elegant galas of pureblood high society. It really came down to hoping Lucius might take note of her and abandon his crowd of giggling girls to sit with her. If they were going to be any sort of respectable, Lucius would come to her. Not the other way around.
So lost in her daydream of being held in the strong arms of the polished Slytherin keeper, Narcissa didn't realize Bellatrix had addressed her.
"What?" she asked over the racket.
Bellatrix laughed, so she must have been making fun of Narcissa with her obnoxious boyfriend. Really obnoxious, Narcissa thought as Rodolphus glared unpleasantly at her.
"Geez, Narcissus. Bella's always sticking up for you when anyone suggests your brain's as light as your hair, but you seem to prove her argument wrong… consistently," he taunted offhandedly.
Bellatrix smacked Rodolphus's head swiftly as she addressed his rudeness, "Don't talk to my sister like that."
Narcissa was smug for about a second until Bella turned her focus, "Really, Cissy. I think it's time you go to sleep anyway; it's probably past your bedtime."
Scowling, Narcissa marched away from the infamous laughter of the scandal prone Slytherin couple. She was warmed only slightly by the fact that Bellatrix apparently cared a lot more than she was letting onto if she stuck up for Narcissa's intelligence on a regular basis. But the thought grew less comforting when Narcissa realized that there shouldn't be any reason for such defense of her cleverness in the first place. She was a Slytherin, after all. A title that she thought was very well-deserved.
"Ms. Black," the familiar voice called with such a quality that his words washed over her like silk sheets, proving that her assumptions were not misplaced.
She turned around slowly so that her hair might cascade into place gracefully upon facing the handsomely arrogant face of Lucius Malfoy.
As she had predicted, he was standing amongst a cluster of the most eligible pureblood girls, safe for her. She smiled back, managing both smugness and delicacy in the curve of her mouth as replied simply, "Mr. Malfoy."
He gave her a look as though he wanted her to join the group of girls. If those were his intentions, Lucius was sadly mistaken. Narcissa had learned better than to be collected as a mere decoration and not the centerpiece, no, an ice sculpture; something that every guest admired but few had the audacity to touch for fear of breaking it. And Lucius was familiar with ice sculptures.
With an appreciative chuckle, he separated himself from the hopeless girls and closed the gap between him and Narcissa. "I hadn't seen you," he said, taking her hand to kiss it, "If I had I would hardly have wasted so much time with females whose beauty could never compare to your own."
Narcissa, the ice sculpture, melted a little, even as she heard her sisters' he is so full of it.Lucius grinned as if realizing how out of place his lofty, but never abandoned, manners were. Her eyes twinkling in spite of her efforts, Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think we're overdoing it a bit? A mere common room celebration hardly compares to one of your own events."
"Hmm, perhaps," he drawled, surveying the crowd of silver and green. "The circumstances are certainly less appealing. But what else do you expect of me? Or would you prefer we make a spectacle of our selves like your sister and Lestrange never fail to do…?"
"Was that a comment against my sister?" Narcissa leveled him coolly.
Lucius corrected himself quickly, "Forgive me. I meant only that you have quite a different idea of fun than your sister."
Narcissa shrugged. She'd never admit it to anyone, especially not Bellatrix, but she wouldn't mind snogging Lucius heatedly for the whole common room to see. That would at least put a stop to some of the tarts who had the nerve to flirt with Lucius. It was common knowledge that Lucius had chosen Narcissa as she had chosen him even if they weren't officially together. With this was the very common knowledge that Narcissa was Bellatrix's sister… and to scorn one of the Black Sisters was to scorn them all. Some people had no respect for politics, though.
Ignoring his last comment, she said, "You played very well today."
Lucius laughed lightly, pushing a strand of blond hair behind Narcissa's ear. "I didn't know you took an interest in Quidditch."
Narcissa smiled coyly as she replied, "Well, it wasn't exactly Quidditch that caught my interest."
This time they both laughed with usual smugness. Lucius took Narcissa's hand and led her to a quieter section of the common room. After shooing a couple of first years away, Lucius offered a seat to Narcissa which she accepted with a smile.
"Would you like something to drink?" he asked, staring fixedly into her face.
Narcissa was caught off guard by the intensity of his gaze that she faltered for a moment before answering. "Butterbeer?" she suggested, for want of something to say rather than real want of the drink.
Lucius summoned two of the drinks with a wave of his wand. Narcissa laughed as he floated her glass over to her. He was just showing off and she knew it, but she would have him no other way.
Narcissa barely sipped her drink, though, as they talked easily. The length of their conversation was measured by their surroundings. Eventually the majority of the students dispersed and the fanfare died down a bit. Only the rowdiest of the house remained, and they would surely carry on into the wee hours of the night.
Lucius and Narcissa were now sitting on the same loveseat, holding hands, flirting with the same self-centeredness that drove the rest of their actions.
"What are you thinking about," Narcissa asked softly as their eyes locked, noses almost touching.
"You…" Lucius replied.
Narcissa raised an eyebrow at such obvious display of sappiness.
"Just that, you don't look a thing like anyone else in your family," he clarified.
"I look like my mother," Narcissa noted.
"Perhaps… in any case, you're a fair contrast to your sisters."
"They're pretty enough when they try," Narcissa said, defending them reflexively.
"Well, in any case… you're prettier," Lucius whispered, closing the gap between their lips.
Unfortunately, the tender moment was ended abruptly as a familiar voice shouted.
"Hey! Lucius, you've been hiding all evening," Rabastan said. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something my father informed me of."
Looking peeved, Lucius asked, "Oh? What might that be?"
Rabastan stared pointedly at Narcissa. Lucius sighed, kissed Narcissa's hand and said, "forgive me". Narcissa rolled her eyes as they left her. Somehow, Rabastan taking Lucius away from her only gave Narcissa more reason to hate Rodolphus.
With a sigh, she got up and began to look for her sisters, slightly curious to what business Rabastan had with Lucius. Finally she found Meda talking to the same group of girls she had been talking to earlier.
"Where's Bella?" she asked after Andromeda had pulled herself away from a gaggle of silver and green laughter.
Andromeda shrugged. "I don't know… I think her and Rodolphus were going to sneak down to Hogsmeade to bring back more firewhiskey."
Narcissa frowned. "But that was over an hour ago."
Andromeda grew strangely red in the face as she stifled a laugh, "Yeah, well… these things take time."
"Getting liquor?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow.
"Um, no… not exactly."
Narcissa sighed at Andromeda's apparent lack of concern. "Meda, what if they got locked outside of the castle! What if they got caught?" she worried.
"Merlin," Andromeda muttered, "I hope they didn't get caught."
"Mother will be furious if she catches wind that Bella's received another week's worth of detention," Narcissa agreed.
Andromeda seemed to find this particularly amusing, but then, she seemed to be in the sort of mood where she found everything amusing. With a loud yawn, she ruffled her little sister's hair and sighed, "Oh, Cissy… there are much worse things than detention. You need to lighten up; you've been walking around the party all night with a terrible scowl on your face. Mother isn't here to tell you otherwise, so live a little!" Andromeda laughed, looking utterly slap happy as she collapsed into the armchair.
At that precise moment, the common room door opened and Bellatrix stumbled in, one hand clutching a half empty bottle of firewhiskey, the other hanging onto an equally disheveled Rodolphus. Andromeda roared with laughter as Bella attempted to saunter over to both of them, Rodolphus fixed to her side like some sort of lichen.
"That's ok, I think Bella lives enough for the both of us," Narcissa noted as Bellatrix sat on the arm of the chair, only to slide off so that she was sitting on top of Andromeda.
"Hey, Meda…" Bellatrix giggled.
Andromeda smiled appreciatively at Bellatrix in the way that only Meda could appreciate Bella. "Hi, Bella. I think you might just be intoxicated."
"Shhh!" Bella warned, pointing a finger at Narcissa whose arms were once again crossed in disapproval. "Cissy might hear you and run and tell mummy!"
"It'd be of no matter," Rodolphus noted, flopping down on the adjacent dark leather sofa after shooing away the third years that had previously been occupying it. "Druella is fond of me; she won't mind…"
Clearly he had consumed just as much alcohol as Bella had, Narcissa thought. Her lips however were terse and she did not speak.
Bellatrix and Andromeda, on the other hand snorted with laughter. If Narcissa hadn't known better she might have thought Meda had been drinking too, only, Andromeda rarely drank. It must have been the sad fact that Bella's inability to behave herself was rubbing off on Andromeda. As Andromeda continued to giggle, Bellatrix corrected Rodolphus. "Don't flatter yourself, Roddy. If not for your blood, your money, and your family, Mother would hate you. It's father who has taken to your charming personality."
"Charming personality?" Narcissa scoffed, examining the scene before her with growing disapproval. "Rodolphus? That's a deep insult to those of us who actually have such charm." She wouldn't normally be brave enough to insult Rodolphus, but as he finished the bottle of firewhiskey, Narcissa figured his aim wouldn't be that good. Unfortunately, she forgot to consider that Bella might also be offended by this comment and she barely ducked the hex her older sister shot at her head, jumping aside with a yelp.
Meda scolded Bella half-heartedly and then added her own thoughts. "Bella, father only approves of Rodolphus because he knows nobody else will be stupid enough to take you as a bride."
"Ha! As if your prospects are any better than mine," Bella teased.
Narcissa thought Andromeda to be a tad angry after this comment as she snapped, "Stumbling into the common room, slobbering all over your drunken, handsy companion is not something to take particular pride in, Bella."
"She's right, you know," Narcissa piped up, figuring that if Meda was talking back to Bella, she should be able to as well.
Bellatrix merely laughed as she tried to push Andromeda off of the chair. "Aw, I think somebody's cranky…"
Andromeda stood up on her own accord and shook her head at Bella's disheveled, partied state. "Oh, this is nothing to how you'll be tomorrow morning…"
Bella made a crude gesture then tried to get out of the chair, only to stumble into her sister again.
Rodolphus made a move to catch Bella who showed every indication of falling, but Bellatrix dismissed him with an unhindered wave of her arm.
"Go to bed, Roddy… I've got to get these kids to sleep or they'll cry home to mummy," Bella snickered.
"It's only two thirty!" Rodolphus complained, glaring at Narcissa and Andromeda.
Bella cast him a disgustingly suggestive grin as she stumbled into his arms. "I said go to bed, Rodolphus; I didn't say you could go to sleep yet."
As Bellatrix and Rodolphus shared a sloppy kiss, Andromeda let out a sigh of repulsion as Narcissa tried her best to ignore the couple. But when they showed no inclination to stop, Narcissa met Andromeda's eyes desperately. Bella was far too good at bringing routine scandal to the Black family. Andromeda nodded, understanding the need to stop the couple themselves.
Andromeda and Narcissa grabbed either of Bellatrix's arms, physically dragging her away from her boyfriend. Rodolphus made a noise of angry protest, but Andromeda silenced him quickly by hitting him with a stunning spell.
"Hey… that's not very nice," Bella mumbled.
"Since when have you cared about Rodolphus?" Andromeda asked derisively.
"Yeah," Narcissa demanded as they helped Bellatrix up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. "You tell us you loathe him and yet you still fool around with him on a daily basis."
Bella hiccuped, giggled, then answered with a shrug, "I like making a spectacle of myself."
"See how much you like it tomorrow when you're making a spectacle of yourself by hurling all over the place," Andromeda shot, though the anger was dissipating from her voice.
If the thought hadn't been so disgusting, Narcissa would have reveled in Bella's impending hangover as overdue punishment.
Bella managed to open the door to her dormitory as she smiled hopefully at Andromeda. "But I won't have to worry about that, because you'll have a potion waiting for me the moment I wake up."
Andromeda leveled Bellatrix with a stare.
"You count on me too much."
Bellatrix patted her sister on the shoulder happily. "Only because I'm not stupid enough to count on Cissy for such a thing."
Narcissa scowled as Bellatrix bid them goodnight, or good morning (whichever they preferred) as she collapsed onto her bed, asleep before she hit the mattress. Andromeda rubbed her forehead, chuckling vaguely.
"I'm going to sleep too, Cissy. Promise me you'll never end up like Bella," Andromeda teased, kissing her tenderly on the forehead before drifting off to her own dormitory.
"Don't worry about that," Narcissa mumbled, thinking of the humiliation she had endured all night. But she wasn't ready to go to sleep. She had in mind writing a letter to Mother detailing Bellatrix's behavior, or lack thereof, and sending it before morning. Potion or no potion, Narcissa thought a howler waiting at breakfast would just capitalize Bella's hangover.
Author's Note: So 20 days was far too long of a gap between updates. I will try really hard to update again by the end of the weekend, seriously... *hint, hint* Reviews are still appreciated and loved beyond belief...