Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling
James slowly wrapped his hand around his wand and said with blatant insincerity: "My wife and I are so pleased that you have found us first so that we could enjoy the pleasure of your company."
"I wish we could say the same for you and your mudblood wife, for the Ministry seems to invite anyone these days," Lucius said softly so that other guests couldn't hear; his cold grey eyes glittering with malicious enjoyment.
Lily placed a warning arm on her husband's tense forearm to prevent him from taking any rash action that would create a scene and give Malfoy the satisfaction of knowing he had won.
"Believe me, Malfoy," Lily said calmly, her bearing upright and strong, "I think the Ministry allows anyone to host these sort of functions nowadays despite the fact they're suspected of indulging a little too much in the Dark Arts."
At Lily's words, all perverse amusement slid off Lucius' face like a river on a rock in storm and his face became inscrutable.
Narcissa's lip curled in contempt. "Come husband. Waste not your time on the offal of society. There are many other people more worthy of your attention."
"Listen to your wife, Malfoy," James said mockingly.
Lucius' eyes gleamed in a predatory way that sent shivers up Lily's spine, reminding her of the folly of arousing Lucius' wrath. "I wouldn't be so arrogant, Potter. You may be Dumbledore's golden boy, but here, you better watch your step…you never know, a most unfortunate accident may befall you."
"Your pathetic threats don't frighten me, Malfoy," James replied steadily, closing in the distance between him and Lucius so that they were only a hair breadth apart.
"Am I supposed to be intimidated by your brave façade?" Lucius sneered, stepping back in way that suggested that merely being in close proximity to James was poisoning his air space.
"You're not worth my time, you slimy git," James with obvious distaste on his face. "When you are finally arrested and the world sees you for the scum you are, I will be there personally to escort you to Azkaban."
"I think you will be six feet under before you touch my husband," Narcissa said coolly. "Gryffindors always have the unfortunate habit of going to an early grave."
"Why you—"
"Come on, James," Lily said sharply and pulled her husband away from the smirking Malfoys.
When they were a safe distance away from them, by the drinks table where a fountain of champagne was flowing, James wrenched his arm free and let out a low growl of frustration. "If you had let me, I could have had him on the ground in minutes!"
"And a fat lot of good that would've done!" Lily snapped. "Why on Merlin's green earth would you antagonise Malfoy like that? I despise him even more than you do, but—"
"I couldn't let him get away with calling you a mudblood!"
"We're not in fifth year anymore. You don't have to go jumping to my defence like I'm a helpless maiden or something!"
James sighed and ran a hand distractedly through his hair. "I know, but I want to protect you and—"
"Oh James, mudblood is just a name. It is meaningless to me. Malfoy and all the others of his persuasion can call me what they like because I don't care. I know that I'm better than them and besides, there are a lot worse things in the world than being called a name."
James bent down and kissed her forehead. "You're worth a gazillion more than Malfoy."
Lily grinned. "You're a charming fat head, do you know that?"
"Better than the Giant Squid?"
"Much better," Lily replied as James theatrically presented her with a crystal and gold glass of champagne.
About half an hour later, Lily had excused herself to go to the bathroom, leaving James to the mercy of two pompous Ministry ministers who were droning on about cauldron regulations.
She had apparated to the top level of the house where a nervous house elf had informed her that was where the location of the toilets was. It was dark and only small lamps dimly lit the long, echoing hallway. She felt uneasy and wondered whether it was the smartest of ideas going upstairs on her own. The truth be told, she hadn't really needed to do a pee, but instead, she wanted to have a snoop around.
She heard two muffled voices from a room two doors down from where she was standing. She crept slowly to where the voices were coming from with her wand at the ready. The door was half open and she pressed herself against the bend in the hallway.
"What are you doing here, Bella?" hissed the unusually emotional voice of Narcissa Malfoy.
"I should feel hurt that my favourite little sister is being so inhospitable towards me!" Bellatrix cackled, at which the hairs on Lily's spine stood up on end.
"If the Ministry finds you here, you'll be sent off to Azkaban for sure!"
"Afraid that I'll upset your cosy little party, Cissy?" Bellatrix breathed nastily.
"Of course not," Narcissa said stiffly.
"I sometimes wonder if you're more interested in protecting your dear husband than attending to the needs of the Dark Lord."
Narcissa paused.
"Oh ho!" Bellatrix said gleefully. "My little Cissy's frosty heart is not so cold after all!"
"Bella, I am merely being sensible. What use are you, if you're locked up in Azkaban? I'm sure the Dark Lord will have little use for your services then."
"You dare presume to know what the Dark Lord will and won't do?" Bellatrix asked shrilly.
"No. I am looking out for your best interests, since you appear to be neglecting that point," said Narcissa calmly, though Lily could detect the strain in her voice and perhaps… a bit of derision at her sister's less than perfect mental faculties?
"You little brat!" Bellatrix swore. "I have a good mind to hex you until you are screaming—"
"Even lay a finger upon me, my dear sister, and I will ensure that is the last thing you will ever do," Narcissa said icily, each syllable a knife in the air.
Even Lily had to give Narcissa points for her unbreakable composure for she did not know many who would not be able to stop trembling in the face of Bellatrix's murderous madness.
Bellatrix laughed in an ear-shattering ring. "My Cissy hex me? You a mere dolled up ornament hex me, the Dark Lord's most skilled servant?"
"My husband would skin you alive if you so made as much as a scratch on me, Bella. You forget that he is as skilled as you, if not more, and that the Dark Lord esteems him greatly. You know Lucius gets annoyed when people mark what is his".
There was a deadly pause and Lily held her breath, waiting for the deadly explosion.
"Merlin forgive me if I mark Lucius Malfoy's property!" Bellatrix hissed. "I best let you go back to the proper wizarding society where you can pretend to be an upright, virtuous witch."
"Thank you very much, Bella, and I will pass on to Lucius your best wishes."
Lily could practically hear the smugness in Narcissa's voice.
With an angry yowl at having been bested by her sister, Bellatrix disapparated and Lily saw Narcissa wipe her hands together as if she were ridding herself of a dirty stain; and as Lily crept away down the hall to the bathroom, she couldn't help but be struck by the similarities between the antagonistic relationship of the Black sisters, to that of her and Petunia. At that thought, Lily felt as if she needed some bleach to scrub that image out of her head—even comparing herself to the Black sisters…Lily shuddered inwardly.
Ten minutes later, Lily was washing her hands under the cooling water of the marble and gold tap when the door slammed behind her. Lily swung around with her wand whipped out but the intruder cried "Accio wand!" and to Lily's horror, her wand flew out of her hands and into those of frosty Narcissa Malfoy.
"Give me back my wand, Narcissa," Lily said evenly, though her eyes were blazing with anger.
A slow, deliberate and cruel smile spread over the features of Narcissa. "I don't think so, mudblood. Not until we've straightened some things out."
"What are you talking about?"
"How about the fact you feel the need to snoop around my premises like some vagrant and eavesdrop onto conversations that don't concern you."
"You're pretty sure of yourself," Lily retorted. "You felt too cowardly to confront me so instead you steal my wand from me in order to make yourself feel superior."
"Well I was in Slytherin," Narcissa drawled, sounding uncannily like Lucius.
"That's just pathetic!" Lily snapped.
Narcissa's eyes narrowed and with one fluid movement, Lily found herself hurtling up to the bathroom ceiling and pinned there by some spell, unable to move. Her head spun from hitting the ceiling hard.
"You disgusting mudblood," Narcissa whispered darkly. "You vile, loathsome creature…"
"I think we have differing opinions on what is vile, Narcissa," Lily gasped out, blood dripping down her neck.
Narcissa's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Indeed we do."
"You're not helping yourself by having me pinned to the ceiling…just—just let me down before you get yourself into more trouble…"
Narcissa's arm did not even waver. "You think that anyone is going to believe you? I will just say that I was in the kitchens checking that all the catering was going to plan. My house elves will certainly vouch for me—as will Lucius."
"Only after you've tortured the poor house elves," Lily spat, closing her eyes briefly in an attempt to fight back the swimming sensation that was threatening to engulf her senses. Her stomach was lurching at the feeling of being pinned to the ceiling and she could feel the small trickle of blood on her skin and staining her gown.
"My, my…I am so hurt," Narcissa said mockingly.
"You are disgusting the way you have so little regard for others' lives."
Narcissa's eyes glittered with anger. "You will leave my husband alone, mudblood. You will never find anything against him," and she raised her wand again and Lily felt a dull thwack as her head hit the marble ceiling hard.
Then all went black.
Lily groggily opened her eyes, her vision blurry and her head buzzing. She groaned as she felt a sharp pain sear down her neck as she tried to move and blind panic seized her when she realised she was being held in the arms of someone.
"Shh Lily! It's me James!" said James, concern etched in every bit of his features, as he stroked her damp hair off her face.
Relief filled Lily. Her mouth felt dry and she found it hard to form any coherent sentence. "W-w-where am I?"
"In the Malfoy bathroom. I found you passed out on the floor and surrounded by six empty firewhisky bottles. In fact, you were covered in firewhisky. I had to use a cleaning charm to remove the stench from you and remove the blood stains…"
"Firewhisky?" Lily asked dumbly.
"Why were you drinking in the bathroom alone?"
Garbled and confused images of Narcissa Malfoy stealing her wand and hurtling hard against the marble ceiling flooded back to her.
"I wasn't drinking, James," Lily said with sudden vehemence. "I was attacked by Narcissa Malfoy. She accosted me here, stole my wand and threw me up to the ceiling with some spell then I blacked out."
James' face became suffused with barely restrained rage. "That bitch! I wondered why she gave me such a cool, self-satisfied smirk…you were all alone up here and I couldn't protect you…if I could just hex her…"
Lily's mind began to clear and she wondered how many other people saw her unconscious on the floor surrounded by firewhisky bottles and drew the same conclusion that James had originally drawn. Knowing Narcissa, probably half the Ministry. Anger seeped through her and she attempted to sit up, her skin flushed. "I want to go home, James. Now."
James immediately complied, gently helping her up. "Don't worry, Lils. I'll get them back, just wait…Padfoot and I will—"
"No!" Lily snapped. "You will do nothing of the sort! The Malfoys are dangerous people. It's not Hogwarts anymore. You can't just go after people like that!"
Hurt flickered across James' face. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Lily's anger subsided when she saw his face. "I'm touched. Really. I just don't want you doing anything foolish that could get you hurt. We're on a whole new playing field now that's dangerous. I was an idiot for going off alone and look where it got me."
"Oh Lils," James said softly and embraced her tightly.
Tears filled Lily's eyes as she buried her head in the crook of his neck. She just felt so weary, humiliated and angry.
"How about when Malfoy finally gets arrested and is marched off to Azkaban, I can pelt him with three dungbombs?" James murmured in her ear.
Lily laughed through her tears. "Of course."
To Lily, James was always able to breach suffering and sadness with humour. That was his magic undimmed and Lily needed it more than ever.
"Let's go home," Lily whispered.
"With my pleasure," replied James and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
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