Hi there! I just want you to know that I am so thankful for your reviews, I really appreciate it. This chapter was hard write, because I wanted to fit as much as possible into it, and then came writers-block. Hope you enjoy it anyway! xoxo


They spent the following months together. It got to the point where Regulus stopped rooting for them as a couple, and now only seemed annoyed with them. Narcissa enjoyed Lucius' company a lot. They shared opinions and humour. They simply hit off well. He was still an arrogant arse, but she did enjoy his company.

It was still snowing, covering up the otherwise oh-so-green, Scottish landscapes. The snow was not one of heavier sort, but powdery and light. Pacing through it towards Hogsmeade, it almost felt like wading through air. Narcissa had always liked the winter; she could breathe in a whole other way. Summer-sun burnt her skin; as a result she stayed inside instead. Autumn was windy and wet, a climate she didn't feel too comfortable with. It made her feel powerless. Spring was tolerable, but not ideal.

The trees were blank and frozen, they had turned into a more dark-grey shade rather than brown. When Narcissa breathed, a burst of smoky steam escaped from her lips. When she was a child, she had pretended that she was a dragon, and the smoke coming from her mouth was the same as the one coming from a fire. Andromeda used to do it too, they played around out in the snow, blowing fake-fire at each other, as if they were real dragons.

With this memory in thought, a sad smile appeared on her face. Would she ever be able to meet Andromeda again, as her sister and not as her enemy? She swallowed. The answer was obvious. No. Her sister had chosen her path, and Narcissa could do nothing but accept it. But it hurt.

"You don't seem to be in your best mood, Black?" Lucius Malfoy asked, and rather confused, Narcissa founds his grey gaze.

They still called each other by surname; it had become a tradition of theirs. It sounded rather odd for people who didn't know them, but she didn't really care.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, it wasn't my intention to seem distressed. I'm struggling with this potion, I was thinking, perhaps you ought to help me? Professor Slughorn isn't to impressed by my potions skills"

"Well, well, who would have thought, Narcissa Black asking me for a favour! How rare!" His tone was sarcastic, and she laughed.

He had helped her with most of her homework lately. He was more skilled than her in almost every subject, except for charms, she was brilliant at charms and he knew it. But, she was also a better occlumence than he was, but she'd never let him know that. In fact, no one knew about her skills in that matter. It was the sort of knowledge that would, in the end, come handy to have kept a secret.

"Now, now, don't flatter yourself. I could ask Dolohov to help me brew a bit of amortentia, if that's what you want?" She mocked back, gave him a oh-so self-satisfied smirk.

"If that's what you want, then I think you should. Now, Black, what do you think, can I buy you a…" He took a pause, nodding at the Three Broomsticks "…glass of fire-whiskey? Oh, how silly of me! I seem to have forgotten, you're still not seventeen!"

With a laugh, she elbowed him and shook her head.

"Don't be ridiculous! I'd watch out if I were you, maybe I do ask Dolohov after all…" He suddenly looked a bit terrified, and that fact made her giggle.

This was the reason Narcissa liked him. When she almost cried over her lost sister, he made her chuckle within a minute, and that was beautiful. No one could make her smile like Lucius Malfoy did. He really is my best friend, she thought to herself. He had helped her so much, and still did. When she was with him, nothing else really mattered. He made her forget everything else. He made her forget about her sisters, one gone mad because of the Dark Lord, and one no longer considered her sister because of her choice of man.

But Narcissa didn't think about them when she was with Lucius. He made her simply happy, nothing else. She continued:

"And no, Malfoy, you can't buy me a glass of fire-whiskey, but I would love some butterbeer" She smiled, and he opened the door to the pub.

Excited voices, a scent of alcohol and air dried out of oxygen, replaced by carbon dioxide. She instantly turned hot, felt her cheeks blush because of the sudden change of climate. Malfoy told her to go and sit down as he bought them drinks. He always paid for everything, after all he was a gentleman and the house of Malfoy was even wealthier than the house of Black.

She found a table located right underneath a window, making it possible to look outside at the snow-covered scenery. She watched the crystal-white flakes fall outside, hitting the ground without a sound. It almost looked like cotton, and she smiled slightly, leaning closer to the window to get a better view. Even though the pub was awfully hot, she could feel the brisk weather outside through the glass. It was alluring.

"Narcissa, I really need to talk to you"

In surprise, she looked up from daydream, and faced her 11 year-old cousin Sirius. He was about to turn 12 this summer, she had no clue what date. He wore a knitted sweater that would have made his mother scream in protest. Blacks don't wear sweaters. But then again, she guessed he only wore it to provoke his parents.

"Alright then, but you better hurry, I'm waiting someone" She said, nodded to the seat in front of her, with that act asking him to sit down.

He did as she had asked him and quickly began to speak;

"I dislike him" She stared at him, did not understand where he was going "Malfoy, I dislike him a lot. He's dangerous, Cissy, I mean, really dangerous. He disappears from the castle, even!"

She raised an eyebrow, as she studied his face. He looked so much like Regulus. It was ironic, since Regulus had been the one to make sure Lucius and she became friends. Sirius' eyes were grey, but not the same, spellbinding steel colour like Lucius', Sirius' were just grey. Boring, really. His hair had the same shiny black pigment as Bellas. He was growing good-looking, for sure. But then again, didn't all of the Blacks do so?

"How is my friendship with Malfoy an issue of yours? And why do you think he leaves the castle?" She said, dryly. She didn't want to encourage his theories here.

"Well I- I just don't want him to hurt you, or anyone else for that matter!" He swallowed, now looking a bit unsure of whether he should be there or not. "I have my ways to know how my enemies walk around the castle and-"

"Your enemies? Oh please, Sirius, how old are you? 11? You're just a little baby! You don't have enemies, there may be some people you don't fancy that much but-"

"Cissy, please, just listen Lucius Malfoy has done things, bad things! The Prewett brothers went into hiding because of him and his friends! They're bad!" He sounded so desperate.

Narcissa looked at him for a long while, wrinkled eyebrows. She knew that he in so many ways were right. Blood-traitors, mudbloods and muggles should fear her friend. To them, he could be dangerous if he had to. But he would never hurt her. She knew about the things he did for that Dark Lord, and they had talked about it, a lot.

"It's for the greater good. I only do this because I want my kids to able to grow up in a free world with complete segregation! It's the only way, Black. We've tried the more peaceful methods, but it just gives the opposite effect! Surely you understand?"

She did understand. She could never commit murder herself, but she understood that it was necessary at certain times. After all, it was only self-defence. The mudbloods had abused the Pureblood families for years with their presence, claiming the same rights. Now was the time for Purebloods, like Lucius Malfoy, to defend themselves.

"Sirius, you really don't need to worry about Malfoy. He's a good guy, I promise"

"Oh, I am, surely!"

She heard a drawling, familiar voice. With a smile, she looked up at her friend, holding one butterbeer and a glass, containing something that looked almost as red as blood. Malfoy put the glasses down on the table, stretched his hand out to her younger cousin. All this movement, he did with laze, but he looked rather interested in the boy in front of him.

"Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, but I dare say you already know that? Given what I happened to overhear from your conversation"

He smirked in an unusually friendly way towards the black-haired little boy, who just stared up at him. Their eyes met, grey against grey, steel versus silver. Sirius did not take his hand; neither did he seem in the mood to be friendly with Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa decided to try to save the situation as neatly as possible.

"Malfoy, this is my cousin Sirius" She smiled, and Lucius lowered his hand, raising an eyebrow and eyeing her slightly instead. "He's sort of the family's black sheep, but he's a real sweetheart under that Gryffindor-cloak"

Lucius smiled, appreciating her joke, but Sirius obviously didn't, as he stood up.

"Think about what I've said, Cissy."

He left furiously, over to his group of friends. It was an odd assembly, consisting of a boy called Potter (whom seemed to be the best friend of her cousin), a rat-like little fellow, and then there was a lad who looked like his parents couldn't even afford to give birth to him at a hospital. Narcissa sighed, not understanding how Sirius could keep such company. How did the first-years get in to Hogsmeade anyway? They weren't permitted to be there until their third year! Narcissa wrinkled her brow trying to remember if there had been a change of rules this year.

Lucius sat down, taking a sip from his wine. He sneered as he glared at her, penetrating her with his cold eyes. She took a gulp from her bottle, relaxing a bit as a result of the sweet substance on her tongue.

"Cissy… I've never heard anyone call you that before"

He looked quite interested in her nickname. He took another taste of his wine, which looked expensive and tempting. She could smell it, and he was sitting across the table. Narcissa looked down at her flask, slightly upset over her own "under-agedness". Oh the day she turned 17… Of course she was allowed to drink wine at dinner parties at home; she had after all debuted earlier this year, at her 16th birthday. As a result she had had several suitors write to her during her school year. Her classmates always gave her envious looks and every time an owl came flying carrying a rose-scented letter, Lucius eyed her in a way she could not quite explain.

"Family only. Besides, I hate it. I find it vulgar"

Her reply was short and cold, telling him to not ask anything else. He understood, but that didn't mean he cared.

"Is there anything you don't find vulgar, Black?"

He sneered back at her, his voice now in such an alluring tone that she felt how her whole face turned pink. Or, at least that was what it felt like. She didn't know why, tried to think as little of this as possible.

"Oh, I can think of few things"

"Such as?"

She fell silent and so did he. After a while, he broke the silence, started to discuss the quidditch season.


"Can I suggest something I believe you would find vulgar?" He asked a few hours later, when they found themselves sitting in the Great Hall, eating dinner.

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and asparagus were served, with a strong scent of rosemary. Happily, that happened to be Narcissa's favourite herb. Looking up from the food, she raised an eyebrow. His face had a slightly mischievous expression, and that made her critical to his suggestion.

"That depends. You can always try me"

He suddenly leaned forward, and she felt Regulus' gaze at her back, because it almost looked like he was going to kiss her, which made her feel uncomfortable. She hadn't meant that. But then, he turned his head a bit left, getting closer to her ear instead, whispering;

"Meet me in the Astronomy tower tonight at midnight. I'm head boy, so you don't have to worry about the teachers"


Narcissa's legs were shaking. Not because she was afraid to meet Malfoy, she trusted him with her life. But she feared the night, feared the dark. Regulus laughed when she told him, he said it was ironic, because if she was afraid of the dark, Lucius Malfoy was the wrong person to hang out with. Given what magic he used, she guessed Regulus had a point.

But she wasn't scared of Malfoy. He was harmless in her eyes, he didn't do anything wrong. He did use forbidden magic, but the people who had outlawed it were people who wanted to defend themselves against it, to have an advantage. People like Malfoy only used that kind of magic to defend themselves from those people. Simple logic.

It was to wander around the castle alone at night that made her shaky. Living in dormitories was, for her, ideal. She hated being alone at night; shadows with an owner without a voice frightened her. When something didn't speak, it had something to hide. As a member of the Black family, she had grown up in a house filled with dark objects. To touch things you were not permitted to touch could lead to a certain death, and doing so by night when no grown-ups were awake as not a good idea. That fear had made her scared for the rest of her life.

Struggling to make her way up the tower, her wand lightened the way. She walked slowly, listening for noises that shouldn't be there. When she finally reached the Astronomy tower, she sighed relieved. Nothing had happened.

"There you are, you were about to miss it!" Malfoy stood in the middle of the tower, wearing a black cloak, his hair tied back with a ribbon. The night was dark, making his eyes and hair look extra light; the contrast gave her goose bumps. His hair shined with a champagne-like tone in the moonlight, his dark eyebrows framing his face. He was beautiful.

"What exactly was I about to miss?" She asked as she took a step forward.

"There's a star falling tonight. I thought you might want to have a look?"

With a spell two telescopes flew into the tower and stopped right in front them. The night was pitch-black, but lightened by the moon and the stars, creating an almost magical surrounding for the two friends.

Together, they watched the star fall from heaven, finding its way into another part of space. Where would it land? Did falling stars ever land, or did they just keep on falling in an eternity? It sounded like a boring life, but then again, she supposed the star had no knowledge about its fall.

"It still confuses me"

She looked up, observing Lucius' face. He no longer looked into the telescope, but at her.

"What does?"

He looked as if this was something he had wanted to say for a long time, but now was unsure whether it was appropriate or not. Sometimes belonging to the upper part of the aristocracy was a drawback. Since people were taught not to speak their minds, it could be hard to know what they were thinking. Lucius Malfoy finally decided to declare what he wanted to have said.

"Your name, you're named after a flower, not a star. Why?"

She smiled, blushing, and shaking her head.

"I really don't know, they were probably so sure about having a boy they hadn't thought about any star-related girl names. If I were a boy, however, I would have been called Draco. Oh, come here, have a look!"

They looked into the telescopes again, and she pointed at the stars in the sky, one by one.

"There is Cygnus, my dad… And that's Bellatrix, as you know as my sister, Pollux, my grandfather, and there is a constellation, it's called… oh-"

She fell silent. She had been about to point at Andromeda. But Andromeda was no longer a sister of hers. Nor was she considered a Black. She could hear on Lucius breathing that he knew what she had been about to say. He didn't say anything, he didn't have to.

"Well, anyway, I'm not up there"

Narcissa tried to cover up her embarrassment with a smile, didn't succeed, so she turned her face away from the telescope. Suddenly, Malfoy took a step closer to her. He raised an eyebrow, and shook his head.

"Aren't you? Why don't you have another look?"

His voice was mocking but in a friendly way. Instead of having the drawling tone she used to hear when he was around others, he sounded approachable and kind. There had always been something about Malfoy that kept other at distance, like he had a bubble around himself. But for some reason, he had let her enter that bubble.

Shaking her head, she looked down in the telescope, expecting nothing. Her eyes went from Bellatrix to Arcturus, her telescope was by the more luxurious sort, and with the greatest magic cast upon it, she was able to travel through galaxies by her eye and the golden cylinder in her hands. And there, right between the Orion and the constellation Andromeda, she saw a blooming narcissus.

Its crown spread across space, the edges blending into the dark sky, and when she thought of it, she could actually smell the flower. It was extraordinary. Her heart skipped a beat. She could feel Malfoy standing close behind her, felt his warmth through her robes.

"Malfoy that was beauti-"

As she turned around, her words got stopped halfway through the sentence by Lucius Malfoy's lips. They were warm and soft, unbelievably soft, actually. They surrounded her upper-lip, and hers hugged his lower with a gentle pressure.

Narcissa Black had never been kissed before. She had been nervous about kissing someone for the first time, scared that she would make a fool out of herself, not knowing how move her lips, or by accident biting the boy. So maybe this was an ideal first kiss, one that took her by surprise, one that left her alone with impulses, and not brains.

She felt his left hand at the back of her head, and her own searched for his spine. She felt infinite, like this moment would last forever, but more like they had their own forever, because this was private. Infinity was not for everyone. In that moment, forever was simply theirs; and no one could destroy that.

That was when she realized she loved him. Narcissa had never had a "crush" on Lucius Malfoy. Either he was her best friend or the person she adored most on earth. But never would he be her infatuation.

Suddenly, he broke the kiss and looked down at her.

"I'm so sorry, Black, I shouldn't have- I mean… That wasn't very polite…"

For the first time, she heard Lucius Malfoy stutter. She silenced his words with another kiss, combining the two young magicians as one.