Narcissa's point of view four weeks later:
"Are you sure you're going to do this?" Draco asked as he leaned against the doorway of my bedroom.
I sighed as I folded and placed my last shirt in my suitcase. "I'm sure, Draco. Why do you keep asking?"
Draco snorted and rolled his eyes. "Mum, you're going on a holiday with your boyfriend that you haven't been with for that long. Of course I'm going to keep asking if you want to go on this blasted trip."
I zipped up my suitcase, my mind thinking what it must've been like for my son seeing me date a man not much older than himself. I looked into his eyes and said, "I know this is difficult for you, but I've fallen in love with Percy, Draco. He's been very good to the both of us, and we've been together for about six months now, and friends for even longer than that."
"I know he has, it's just …" Draco sighed again before muttering, "I just hope he keeps his word."
"What word?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Never mind," Draco said quickly, shaking his head. "You'd better get ready. Your boyfriend will be here soon."
I shot my son a look before putting on a comfortable pair of trainers that I'd found when shopping with Hermione and Fleur. As I shrunk my suitcase and placed it into my purse, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," I said before Draco could.
I hurried to the door and opened it quickly to reveal Percy smiling down at me, making my breath hitch. He looked good in a blue polo shirt and blue jeans, showing off his lean frame.
"Hello," I said breathlessly.
"Hello," he replied, and leaned forward to kiss me. "Are you ready for our vacation?"
"Very," I said, smiling up at him. "My boss even let me go home early last night."
"Good, I was afraid you'd stay late at work again and be over worked. I'm ready for spending all of our time together," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and giving me another chaste kiss.
"Let's get going then," I said, giving him a brief kiss. "Where are we meeting your parents?"
"At the Burrow," Percy replied, sticking his hands into the pockets of his Muggle jeans. "We'll port key to the lake in twenty minutes."
After a quick goodbye to Draco, we apparated to the Burrow with plenty of time to spare. The port key took us to a two story cottage. A large mountain sat behind a two story house.
"What a beautiful house," Molly said. "Oh, Arthur. I always dreamed of staying at a place like this."
Arthur muttered something to Molly as Percy and slowed our pace, allowing them to walk ahead of us and into the house. I smiled at them; I hoped Percy and I would be like that after being married after our children were grown. Images of our grown children and grandchildren ran through my mind. I wanted that life with Percy.
How far I've come, I thought. A year ago I couldn't have imagined this, and now I have this amazing man that I want to start a family with.
"This is so beautiful, Percy," I muttered to him as he led me into the house. A sitting room sat to the left while a kitchen sat at the end of the hallway straight in front of us.
"Wait until you see the backyard," Percy said, smiling at me and leading me by the hand.
I gasped as soon as I saw the back through the windows. A large lake sat just beyond a large porch. The water was so clear, it reflected the blue sky and mountain.
"Oh, Percy," I said, leading him by the hand now as I pulled him outside. I stopped by the railing of the porch, taking in the beauty of the lake. I smiled as Percy wrapped his arm around me. A sigh escaped my lips as I felt him kiss my head.
"You know, this is the first vacation I've taken," I commented.
"Really? You didn't go to any large estates before now?" he asked.
"Estates yes, but it was just like being back home …" I fell silent. I surprised a shiver at what went on during those trips.
"And now we get to make our memories together," Percy whispered in my ear, distracting me from all of the awful memories of my former life.
I closed my eyes as I felt Percy wrap both of his arms around me tightly. Upon opening my eyes, I ran my hands over his forearms, feeling the joy and peace I felt from being held by my boyfriend. I felt Percy's lips caress my neck, making me bite my lip. Sighing, I turned in his arms and gave him a gentle kiss.
"Why don't I show you our rooms?" Percy asked when he pulled away.
"Okay," I replied.
Percy led me up the staircase, where we heard Molly and Arthur talking from a room at the end of the long hallway. He pulled me into the first bedroom just to the left, with a double sized bed covered with a quilt.
"This is your room," Percy said.
"Where will you sleep?" I asked.
"Just through here," Percy said, taking me by the hand and leading me through a bathroom door. A second door stood opposite the one we went through, which led to a room identical to mine. "This way we could be close together."
"I like that, Percy." I smiled up at him.
"So, there will be dinner in about an hour," Percy said. "Shall we get unpacked and then go for a walk?"
I nodded in agreement, and within twenty minutes, I found myself holding hands with Percy as we walked along the path along the lake. My eyes ran over the mountains and sky and lake. When I stopped, Percy wrapped his arm around my waist again.
"This is so beautiful, Percy," I said quietly.
"Not as beautiful as you are," Percy muttered into my ear.
Closing my eyes, I felt Percy hold me closer to him.
"Narcissa?" Percy asked into my ear.
"Hmm?" I asked, opening my eyes.
"I wanted to ask you something." He moved around to face me.
"Okay," I said.
"I've been in love with you for a while," he said, rummaging around in his pocket and pulled out a small black box. "Will you marry me?"
My mouth fell open as he opened the box. My eyes went between the black box and Percy's hopeful, blue eyes. "Oh, Percy." I hugged him tight. "Oh, oh, Percy."
"I, uh, Narcissa," Percy said nervously. "Does that mean you'll marry me?"
"Yes, of course I will." I laughed pulling away to look to his face and I laughed.
Percy gave me a fierce kiss before putting the simple ring on my finger. "You want to marry me," I sobbed out. "You really want me."
"Narcissa," he said into my ear as he pulled me close to him. "I want you very much. I love you very much." He gave me a slow, long kiss. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Those words hit me. He wanted me. He wanted me and loved me in the way I always wanted. I started to cry as I laid my head on his chest.
"Don't cry, Narcissa," Percy muttered. "Please don't cry."
I took a deep breath, calming myself and looked into his blue eyes. "You really want me, Percy."
"I do," he murmured. "I love you very much."
"I love you too," I replied.
Leaning up on my toes, I kissed him, earning a passionate one in return.
"Hey, love birds!" a vaguely familiar voice called.
We pulled away to see George and Angela, who I'd met at Ginny's last Quidditch match, standing on the porch. Percy's ears turned red as he led me by the hand toward his brother, who wore a wolfish grin.
"I didn't think you'd get here until later," Percy said.
"We decided to come early," George replied, shrugging as we reached the stairs. "We weren't interrupting anything, were we?"
"I actually just asked Narcissa to marry me," Percy said, snaking his arm around me.
Angela squealed and hugged me, surprising me. I hugged her back.
"We're going to be sisters," Angela said when she pulled away.
"Yes we are." I smiled back at the woman, who pulled me into the house, asking me questions about the proposal and showing her my modest ring.
"What's going on, girls?" Molly asked as Angela pulled me into the kitchen.
"I asked Narcissa to marry me and she said yes," Percy said.
My eyes filled with tears as I heard the words, their meaning sinking in. Percy was to be my husband. I found a man who loved me, despite everything I'd been through.
"Oh, my dear!" Molly explained, giving me a large hug. "Oh. I'm so happy! I was hoping Percy would ask you to marry him. We've been saying how perfect you two are together, and we'd like more grandchildren."
She gave Percy a pointed look as she pulled him into a hug. "Mum!" he protested and half laughed.
"Of course there's no pressure," Molly rushed on. "We'll take some time plan everything of course, but we'll talk about it when we get home?" She looked at me hopefully.
I nodded. "I'd love your help, Molly," I said, earning a beaming smile from my soon to be mother-in-law. "I'd like my sister's help too. She needs to be a part of things."
Percy took my hand and gave it a squeeze as Molly started to bustle around the kitchen. I smiled to myself, still not believing that this was my family. I loved every minute of it.
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