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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: MC Mondays

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Resurrect Romance

xXx

Chapter 3

Penelope looked in on her sister in the small bedroom. She had been quiet when she came back from Malfoy Manor. She didn't say anything about her encounter with Lucius, and that was worrisome all by itself.

Narcissa was reading in her bed, flipping a page slowly as her eyes moved over the words.

"Cissa?"

She didn't answer.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Still, she was silent.

Penelope stepped into the room. "Did Malfoy not take the news of his pending fatherhood well?"

She swore she could hear crickets with the silence.

"I can hex him if it would make you feel better?" she weakly joked, hoping to see some kind of reaction.

Narcissa finally put the book on the side table and looked up at her. "There's no need for that, Penny."

"If he said something about his child not being his, Malfoy deserves to be hexed." And Penelope would do it. Narcissa might not feel like fighting for her own honor, but Penelope had no problem doing it.

"He didn't say anything like that because I didn't tell him about the baby."

"You chickened out?" Penelope asked, aghast.

"I didn't chicken out. Before I could tell him, he ended our affair."

Penelope moved into the room and sat on the bed. "Why?"

"Isn't the reason obvious? His father wants him to find a wife and have a child so there will be a Malfoy heir, and I'm not a suitable match. Either to be his wife or be the mother of his children."

Narcissa's eyes were so frosty that Penelope had to fight an involuntary shiver.

"Wait a minute. Did he say you weren't a suitable match, or is that just what you believe?"

Narcissa glared at the Ravenclaw. "Instead of asking me to be his wife, he ended the relationship."

"Relationship?" Penelope scoffed. "I thought it was just an affair. That's what you constantly refer to it as. I might not be Malfoy's biggest fan, but I bet he has no idea that you'd be interested in more than just a simple affair."

"How can he not know?" Narcissa asked, her hands clenched into fists on her lap.

Finally there was a spark of emotion.

"Did you ever tell him?" Penelope retorted. "He's a man, and they're not always that smart when it comes to matters of the heart, and despite what you might want, he's not a mind reader. If you don't tell him what you feel, how can he know? It's called opening your mouth if you want something"

"It doesn't matter," Narcissa whispered, her eyes downcast.

"Of course it matters. He's the father of your baby."

"He doesn't know about that, and I'm not going to tell him."

Penelope's breath picked up. "He has a right to know. You can't keep it from him. That's not fair."

Narcissa stood up. "Now you're defending him? You've been doing everything you could to get me to stop having sex with him. And now you're telling me I'm wrong in cutting all of my ties to him off."

Penelope shook her head. "I can't believe it either, but it's wrong to keep the truth from him. It's not fair. He has a right to be a father."

"He doesn't want to be the father of my baby."

"You don't know that!" she exploded. "You can't just make assumptions because you're afraid of how he'll react. And don't deny it. You're afraid."

Narcissa glared. "I'm not going to tell him and neither are you. It's my business what I do, and you'll stay out of it. Or else," she threatened and then stomped out of the room.

Penelope was left alone, and she wondered what she could do to make Narcissa see reason.

X

Lucius looked over a list of possible woman that were eager to become the next Mrs. Malfoy. Most of them were from respected Pure-blood families. There were a couple of Half-bloods, but those were the witches that excelled n some way and were noted for their excellence in their chosen profession.

He sighed. He knew he had to do this, but his heart just wasn't invested in it.

An image of Narcissa's beautiful face flashed through his mind.

I wonder what she's doing.

He knew that thought was dangerous. He couldn't wonder about her because he had his future and the future of the Malfoy name to think about. Still, he wondered if she already had someone new in her bed.

The thought hurt a lot more than it should, but he couldn't help the jealous twinge in the pit of his stomach at the very thought of another man touching her, another man making her scream and moan in pleasure. He didn't want her moving on from him, and especially not so quickly.

He knew it might be hypocritical because he was looking for a new wife, but it wasn't like he was doing it by choice. If Narcissa chose to move on...

Lucius couldn't even complete the thought in his head. He didn't know what he would do if that was the case.

He looked back down at the long list of names and one caught his attention.

Josephine Greengrass.

He vaguely remembered her from school. She was from a good family, had two younger cousins who currently attended Hogwarts: Daphne and Astoria. She was pretty and smart. She was also ambitious, determined to succeed on her own merits and not just your family's power.

It was one of her most admirable traits if Lucius remembered correctly.

She definitely had the potential to be a good Mrs. Malfoy. It was something to think about.

He forcibly pushed thoughts of Narcissa out of his mind, and instead, he did his best to think about what it would be like to be married to Josephine.

It wasn't easy to imagine anyone else but Narcissa carrying his last name, but at least he was trying.

It was a start.

Only a start.

But a start was better than nothing.

(Chapter WC: 1,006)