She had thought of them as friends since that night. She had written to him during the winter break, but an answer seemed to be too much to ask for. By the time they returned to Hogwarts for spring-term, he didn't even look at her. Narcissa wanted to know how he felt, how he was doing, but since he had rejected her with silence as a weapon, she didn't feel like trying to reach out for him once more.

Narcissa Black let go of Lucius Malfoy, and she wouldn't speak to him for a long time. They didn't talk; neither did they meet each other's eyes when they passed the other in the corridors. There was so much to be told; yet there was nothing to be said.

The up-coming summer was the summer that Andromeda decided to pack her belongings and leave the noble and most ancient House of Black. Narcissa had been there when she told the family about the Mudblood who had stolen her heart. Her father had cried, her mother had screamed and Bellatrix had tried to curse their sister. Narcissa had been quiet. She was still quiet.

In august she bleached her hair. She was tired. Tired of trying to look like her sisters; tired of pretending to be somebody else. Lysandra had helped her, giggling as they put the substance onto her long mane of hair. Waiting for it to its job, they sat down and talked about life.

Narcissa didn't tell her about her sister. She hadn't told anyone, she preferred it that way. She didn't want anyone to know about her. If Narcissa were to decide, her sister would no longer be a sister of hers. She had left them for a mudblood, and it hurt. Him being a mudblood wasn't really the part that hurt her the most. She had chosen a man over her own family. She had chosen a mudblood instead of purity and love. Could such a man love her like pureblood would have? Narcissa doubted it. They didn't think in the same way as wizards did; maybe they didn't feel the same feelings.

"Guess who I met the other day?"

Narcissa looked up from her dreams as she observed the expression on her friends face. She looked happy, blushing cheeks and glistening eyes. Her red hair looked almost like fire, and sometimes, Narcissa wished nothing else than to touch it.

"Regulus, your cousin!" She raised an eyebrow. So…? They were in the same house, it wasn't really that odd if they'd meet.

"And?"

"And first of all, he told me that your youngest cousin, Sirius, will attend to Hogwarts this year"

"Yes, but he's a prat, really. I've never heard him say anything nice about anyone"

"Regulus said the same things, but Narcissa, he asked me out on a date! Regulus, I mean, not Sirius"

"Oh that poor thing! Does he really think you'd go out with him? Wait, Lysandra, what's that look your giving me? You would, wouldn't you?"

Lysandra and Narcissa united in a giggle, and Narcissa was truly happy for her partners in crime. They would make a great couple, she knew it. And considering Lysandra's bloodline, colliding their families wouldn't be too bad.

They rinsed her hair with water an hour later, used a drying-spell and Narcissa fell in love. For the first time in her life, she saw herself.

When she looked in the mirror, she didn't see an ugly version of her older sisters. She saw Narcissa, a tall blonde with sparkling eyes and soft cheekbones. Her legs were long and slim, her breasts small but in an artistic way. The now blonde hair fell down her waist, framing her face as though it was an expensive painting.

She felt at peace. She was no longer a ghost of Andromeda and Bellatrix. She was Narcissa.


September came and she started her sixth year at Hogwarts. She was now the only remaining Black sister at the school, which made her feel slightly odd. She had always relied on her name; people knew who she was because of it. That was gone; she had to be her own from now on. It actually started to feel like a relief, not a burden. This year, she didn't have to pretend. She could be herself.

She felt loved and happy. She was never tempted to write to her sister, though maybe she should have. But she was done with her. She had cried after her, but not even when Narcissa screamed her name in the middle of the night would Andromeda return. Andromeda had shown that she did not want to be her sister. So she would let her be her own, just as Narcissa tried to be.

Regulus and Lysandra were lovers now, and she was happy for them. Her grades increased and her life seemed to be perfect.

One day, when she was on her way to the library, Lucius Malfoy stopped her. She hadn't talked to him since last year's Christmas party, and she found it a bit odd that he all of a sudden decided to speak to her again.

She had noticed how happy he seemed to be. He no longer attacked people in public, which she was thankful for. The violent nature he had shown her last year was scaring, and truth to be told, quite bad for his own reputation.

He was now a calm, charming young man, with loads of laughter and happiness surrounding him. He had started dating a girl with the surname "Parkinson". She was in the seventh year together with him and was very pretty, but Narcissa didn't know much more about what had happened to him since last.

"Hey, Black" He said, as though he were to tell her something of high importance. It was impressive how his voice could be so drawling and still sound like he really needed to talk to her.

"Yes, Malfoy?"

A few Ravenclaw-students passed them and their eyes were hooked on the two blonde Slytherins standing in the middle of the corridor. Narcissa sighed over their presence and turned to Malfoy again.

"Blonde suits you"

His compliment seemed to be genuine this time, but Narcissa knew that that was not his reason to stop her. Lucius Malfoy was not the kind of person who'd small talk, or gives someone a compliment without wanting something in return. She was sure about that, because she was exactly the same. That was the way she had been raised. Narcissa could hear her mother's voice in her head "What's in it for you? Think before you act, not the other way around! You won't come very far in life if you rely on instincts". It sounded cruel, but Narcissa agreed with her mother to this very day. She cared nothing for thoughtless, spontaneous people.

"That one goes right back at you" Cold voice. She didn't need to act warm and fuzzy in front of him; they were the same sort of people. She had seen him converse with people with people in power-positions. He was utterly charming, but she saw through that. She knew exactly where he came from. "Was that it?"

"Fancy going to the Christmas party with me, would you?"

Narcissa nearly dropped her jaw. What was wrong with this man? She couldn't believe her ears! This suggestion was not only rude, it was also very churlish!

He had ignored her for months, a whole year, even. Even though she didn't know him well, it sort of hurt. She had tried so hard to comfort him, showed him that she was there for him and understood him, even though she knew nothing about what his life was like. It had felt as though he had enjoyed her company. It had felt like a secret agreement between the two of them. And he had just thrown it away without blinking. Narcissa was not an emotional person, but she had felt a bit abandoned when he had started to ignore her. It didn't make any sense, and he didn't make things any easier by asking her out?

"Do you actually believe I would ever like to go out with you after being ignored for a year?" Her voice was as chilly as the snow outside the windows. Her mother had taught her how to do it.

"My apologies, Ms. Black. My goal has never been to upset you. It was simply a question, I never said I assumed a certain type of answer" He sounded bored even!

"Malfoy, in case you haven't noticed, that's not the way things work out. You can't just leave the toy on the playground for a year and then expect it to be there when you come back."

"I didn't know you're seeing someone, pardon me"

Oh, like you'd care, you stupid git! In his mind, the only reason for her to turn him down seemed to be that she was already seeing someone else? He was courting another girl himself, who was he to apologise for intruding on her possible relationship? He was such a fraud.

"For your information, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. But I thought of us as friends, but you made it clear that you had no interest in such tie between the two of us. So no, Malfoy, I wouldn't "fancy" going to the Christmas Party with you."

With that said, she stormed off.


"He is so wrapped around your finger!"

Regulus thought of the Malfoy-incident as absolutely hilarious. Narcissa did not, she found Lucius Malfoy to be rude and she was very insulted by his act. Regulus had been going on for an hour about how in love Lucius had to be with her. He said that Lucius Malfoy never would have let her storm off like that if he wasn't really into her. And Regulus also claimed that Malfoy had been glaring at her since last January. Narcissa decided that she wouldn't believe this, for her own best.

"Stop it, will you?" She snapped, throwing a pillow at him. She was in the boys' dormitory; the other Slytherin boys seemed to be at dinner. Regulus and she had eaten a little earlier to get time to talk. "It's not funny at all, he's being vulgar!"

She felt how a lump grew in her throat. She didn't want to have to deal with this, not now, not ever. She didn't understand how he could take her for granted like that? Narcissa swallowed. He hadn't even said he was sorry! If he only had been intelligent enough to claim he was sorry…! He might have had a chance, but now, never!

She turned to Regulus, who suddenly had gotten a very devilish smile upon his face.

"No, Regulus"

"What? You don't even know what I'm about to suggest!"

"Something bad. You never come up with any good ideas when you've got that smirk"

20 minutes later she somehow found herself to be in the seventh-years dormitory.

"I hate you," She murmured at Regulus, walking towards the door.

"Hey, come on Cissy, let's just have one look! Or we could just put a hair-loosening hex on his shampoo!"

"I've already done that once. Come on, let's just leave"

She wasn't comfortable with this. The room smelled like teenage guys. Cologne, dirty clothes and a smell she couldn't fully recognize. After several attempts to leave, she finally settled down on one of the beds. The boys' beds were softer, or maybe it was just this one. She sighed and lay down as Regulus rummaged the older boys' belongings.

She didn't want this. She had just wanted to talk to her cousin and go to bed early. Maybe read a book or watch as the giant squid passed the windows. Narcissa loved water, and when she got sorted into Slytherin, she was very happy to discover that their common room was placed under the Black Lake.

Narcissa closed her eyes, trying to ignore Regulus' teasing words. She felt how her heart slowed down as she breathed.

The lake made such calming noises; she could hear merpeople swim by the window, singing. To her, their songs didn't sound like screaming. She was under water, and so were they. Looking up, she faced an emerald green sky made of silk, silver snakes slithering all over it. The boys had the same canopy beds as the girls.

"Hey, Cissy, catch this!"

Something came flying towards her and she instantly grabbed it, by reflex. She had almost fallen asleep.

"Black! Wha-what are you doing? Why on earth are you in my bed; and why are you holding-… why are you holding that?"

Narcissa was abruptly wakened from her temporary mindlessness. Sitting straight up, she met the grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy and continently enough; Regulus was nowhere to be seen.

She let her eyes find the soft material that was lying in her hands. Her face rapidly took a scarlet colour, as her first reaction was to throw it away, giving away a tiny cry. She had held Lucius Malfoys'… his… his underwear in her hands! She swallowed, feeling the hatred for her cousin grow greater every second that passed.

"I'm going to kill him!" She said, grinding her teeth. She jumped up from the bed didn't dare to look Malfoy in the face. She just tried to get passed him, as she murmured: "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-"

He stopped her. Like her shame wasn't big enough as it was!

"Now now, wait!" He had something sadistic in his voice. Her body's reaction to his voice was nothing she dared to speak high about. It was something about the way he used his tones that made her feel… "Who are you going to kill, more specifically?"

"Regulus, my cousin, he tricked me, you have my utter most sincere apologies, he's really immature and he probably thought of this as a hilarious joke."

Lucius Malfoy looked down on her with that ominous smirk of his. She was going to murder Regulus, but first she'd make him eat his own pants. She hated him! How could he put her in this situation?

"There's a secret passage between the boys' dormitories. I thought the girls had one as well?"

"We don't," Narcissa muttered, trying to get past Malfoy for the second time. "Look, I'd really just like to go to bed, so if you'd excuse me-"

"Easy" He said in a surprisingly calm voice. This must be the first time he spoke to her with a slight interest in his voice. He looked over his shoulder, as for to decide whether they'd be disturbed soon. This act made his blonde mane of hair fall like water over his left shoulder. Narcissa felt a sudden need to touch it. She swallowed as his eyes went back to hers. "I think that you and I should have little talk. Shall we?"

She simply nodded, now staring down at her own feet. This made her feel so odd. She was mad at Regulus, wanted to rip his throat, really, and Malfoy made her feel uncomfortable. She just wished to be in her own bed, not having to think about Malfoy, Regulus or… Or Andromeda. She had to admit that even if Narcissa had told herself that she wasn't miserable about it, there was still a part of her that grieved her lost sister. It was only during the night that those thoughts haunted her. She could only imagine a world without the ghosts of Andromeda, Lucius Malfoys sneer and Regulus pranks.

They sat down on his bed, Narcissa still not daring to look him in the eyes. This was one of the most awkward moments she had ever been trough. Her mother would be ashamed.

To Narcissa's surprise, Malfoy didn't ask her anything further about why or how she was there. He had simply settled for her explanation about Regulus. That was definitely was a relief to her.

Malfoy told her how he wanted her to know why he had been ignoring her for the last year. His mother had died during the winter break. He told her that even though he was sad, he had done his grieving before she was gone. When she actually died, it had been somewhat of a relief. He had started to feel like himself again. He had been ashamed for opening up for her; he hadn't dared to look at her. Malfoy had felt out of control, he normally didn't slip anything about his private life to anyone.

When he had finally overcome his fears of facing her, he had heard about her sister. This fact surprised Narcissa, because for as much as she knew, no one outside the family was informed about the Andromeda-situation. She asked him how he knew, and he said that Bellatrix had planned revenge. That she had planned to murder their sister and the mudblood she was marrying. Lucius had stopped her. He told her that he thought of homicide as necessary in some cases, but if possible, were to be avoided. Her sister didn't share his views on the matter.

Malfoy told her how he had been unsure about how to act in front of her, given what now knew about her family. He didn't judge her, he judged her sister. It made her feel a bit better. All families have their rotten branches, he said.

" Of course you can't treat those branches like you treat the rest of the tree; it could infect other parts of it," he explained, "But cutting is a bit... drastic, for my taste"

Malfoy did however advice her to keep her mouth shut about it, because he knew that most people wouldn't be as understanding.

She learnt that Lucius Malfoy was now a murderer. He had killed a few muggles and mudbloods, all under the command of the Lord. She didn't know how to react. He didn't seem regretful, but he said that he preferred not to take the life away from others. But, as he explained, it was necessary in some cases. They had to know their place, and if they refused to, the Death Eaters (as they called themselves) were given no choice. They did it for the greater good.

Narcissa decided not to think about it too much. Instead she listened to what he had to say, talked about herself. He listened. She listened. They reached for each other's hands, his fingers stroking hers. She was still amazed of his hands, the roughness over them. He was in so many ways gracious, moved with ease in his steps, but his hands bore witness of a hard life. Maybe it was because of all the things they had done. Maybe his hands were the only part of his body that actually took damage of the type of arts he used to perform his magic? Narcissa was fascinated by them; stroke his visible veins on the back of his hand with her thumb.

Eventually, another Slytherin boy entered the dormitory, creating a slightly uncomfortable situation. Narcissa and Lucius let go of the other's hands, and she walked down to the common room. She left him alone to explain the situation for his fellow classmate.

From that moment on, Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy were best friends.