Under the light of their expensive glass chandelier, Narcissa looked nervously at her husband and son. The Death Eater meeting would commence in ten minutes and she was not sure how exactly to prepare herself for an encounter with the Dark Lord. She was positive that this meeting would be extremely difficult for Lucius and Draco as they both had failed the Dark Lord's tasks. Narcissa forced a detached Malfoy-esque expression on her face in hopes that she will be strong enough to support her family. All of a sudden she heard a crack of Apparition, so she rose and glanced up at Lucius.
In the next instant Lucius clutched her waist and fiddled with his wand with his other hand beneath his robes. Draco attempted to compose himself as he walked down the carpeted spiral staircase to meet his parents in the foyer. He stood beside Lucius with his hands were shaking in terror, a habit he inherited from his mother. Narcissa took a deep breath.
A tall, slim man in pitch black robes gracefully approached the Malfoys along with a train of followers. He lowered his hood and Narcissa looked at his snake-like features. Voldemort's red eyes appeared to be glowing against his boney white skin, where she found that slits replaced his nostrils. She tightened her mouth to prevent herself from gasping at his image.
Lucius uttered a soft, "Welcome, my Lord," and Draco slightly bowed his head to the Dark Lord.
He mockingly replied "Ahh Lucius, Narcissa and young Draco, I'm so pleased that you decided to use your home as my headquarters. That's very wise of you." Unexpectedly, he sported a grin that reminded her of a bully about to beat up his victim in the school yard. If she were not in a state of absolute terror she would have smirked at him.
Bastard thought Narcissa, as Voldemort pushed past the Malfoys and preceded into the drawing room followed by his Death Eaters. Narcissa recognized some of the Death Eaters in passing, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, and her sister Bellatrix. Narcissa noticed Bellatrix's unusual nervousness, and gave her a quick nod of encouragement. Bellatrix ignored her completely and walked into the next room.
Holding back a long stream of curses, she clenched her hands into fists at her sides. Narcissa was so furious that she briefly considered strangling every Death Eater who entered her home. Realizing how un-ladylike she must have appeared, she slowly uncurled her hands and let them hang limply, and tried to keep whatever dignity she had left. Lucius noticed this and without a word, guided her into the drawing room with Draco following closely behind.
In the room, she saw Voldemort seated at the head of their long mahogany table. Voldemort carelessly pointed to the opposite end of the table to ensure that the Malfoys were reminded of their past failures. Once the Malfoys were seated, Narcissa looked up at her ceiling and noticed a witch dangling upside-down, above the table. She shuddered as she thought about what the Dark Lord was planning to do the witch.
Severus Snape and Yaxley Apparated inside the room. Voldemort chastised them for almost being late then beckoned Severus to sit next to him. Narcissa glanced at Severus's usual expressionless face.
She brought her attention back to her family. She saw Lucius with his head down, looking at his crumpled hands while Draco's eyes were glued on the dangling witch. From that moment on she knew that this meeting would be a disaster.
For the first part of the meeting, the Death Eaters discussed their plan to ambush Potter while he was leaving his current home. Narcissa did not even remotely care about Voldemort's fascination about Potter's whereabouts and proceeded to stare blankly across the room. She was worried that if she were to look into his evil red eyes he would be able to detect her hatred of him, which would place the Malfoys in an even worse predicament.
A scream of terror erupted from below them and Narcissa focused once again on the contents of the meeting. Voldemort commanded Wormtail to keep the prisoner quiet, and he quickly obeyed. Narcissa was disgusted at the fact that their manor was being used not only as a headquarters, but as a prison as well. She never felt so powerless in her life.
The Dark Lord announced that in order to defeat Potter he will need to borrow someone's wand. Everyone in the room looked terrified trying to avoid Voldemort's gaze. Finally he said, "Let's see…Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore." Narcissa's heart fell into her stomach as a defeated Lucius looked up to meet his gaze.
Lucius's face was as pale as ever and his eyes were sunken into his face. His voice was hoarse when he responded, "My Lord?"
"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."
"I…" At that moment Lucius glanced at her, she turned her face away to resume staring into space. She could not muster up the strength to look at him without shedding tears. Narcissa knew that Lucius had no choice but to hand over his wand, so she closed her fingers on his wrist. He withdrew his wand and handed it to the Dark Lord. She hated that bastard for taking her husband's wand, his only protection. Narcissa fought hard to hold back her tears, as he continued to humiliate them.
"What is it?" Voldemort ask Lucius while examining his wand.
"Elm, my Lord."
"And the core?"
"Dragon – dragon heartstring."
"Good." Voldemort whipped out his wand, and for a split second Narcissa thought that her husband might not be defenseless. Lucius thought so too and accidentally moved his hand forward assuming that he would receive the Dark Lord's wand in exchange.
Voldemort merely chuckled and said maliciously, "Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?" A couple of Death Eaters sniggered, including Bellatrix, yet Severus remained frozen.
"I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you?" Voldemort continued, "But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late…What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"
Narcissa could easily answer Voldemort's question but thought it best to hold her tongue. After all, he freed Lucius from Azkaban, although Lucius was arrested completing his task. Regardless, she had no other choice but to suppress her anger towards Voldemort because he could and would kill her family without a second thought. She glanced at Draco and saw that he had taken his eyes off of the floating witch and looked at his father. Lucius said "Nothing – nothing, my Lord!"
"Such lies, Lucius…" hissed Voldemort, as Nagini emerged and slinked around his neck. As he stroked his snake, he said in a soft voice that was more terrifying than screaming, "Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"
Narcissa could tell the Lucius was becoming fearful when he stammered, "Of course, my Lord. We did desire it – we do." Narcissa gave a quick look at Voldemort and his snake, stiffly nodded, and looked away. Draco looked in Voldemort's direction to show that he agreed with his parents, but was too afraid to make eye contact, then resumed looking at the body overhead.
Narcissa's mind was about to burst, and she stared at the wall hoping that she would be able to emulate its blankness. She was uninterested in her sister brownnosing the Dark Lord and couldn't bear to listen to anymore of his snide remarks about her family. She only turned her attention back to the meeting when Voldemort focused on Draco.
"What say you, Draco? Will you babysit the cubs?" said Voldemort mockingly as the room burst out in laughter. He must have been referring to her despicable niece marrying that werewolf. Draco was puzzled, unsure of what he was supposed to do next, and looked up at his defeated parents for assistance.
The rest of the meeting seemed to be a blur as Narcissa was racking her brain trying to figure out a way to bring honor back to her family name. She was a Malfoy, damn it, and Lady of the Manor! She hated being treated with this much disrespect, but more importantly could not bear the thought that someone had the power to push her and her family around. That's what this bastard was doing, and she had no choice but to endure their humiliation
She brought her attention back to the Dark Lord and watched him flick Lucius's wand and say "Avada Kedavra" in a bored voice. With that, the witch's lifeless body crashed onto the table. Draco collapsed out of his chair as Nagini slithered across the table to devour her.
Narcissa was about to stand up to check on Draco when she felt her husband's large hand on her knee, both restraining and comforting her. Voldemort prevented her from caring for her son, her only son! Narcissa was a short second away from reaching for her wand and using the Cruciatus curse on him, when she remembered her situation and briefly closed her eyes in defeat. From the ground, she heard Draco gasp and a shiver went through her spine.
She finally gained the courage to open her eyes and found Lucius staring at her. His sunken gray eyes confirmed her realization that their Malfoy nobility had been destroyed. She would not allow this to happen, she would do whatever she could to bring honor back to her family. Although she grew to detest Voldemort in this one sitting, her goal and only option was to try and get back on this bastard's good side. Immediately she thought of the one person who could help her, Severus Snape.
Severus sat next to Voldemort, donning his ever so recognizable blank face. For a split second she saw a flicker of hate in his eyes as he looked at Nagini slithering over the remainders of the witch on the table. Well at least hate is an emotion, thought Narcissa bitterly. She started calculating her chances of whether Severus would help her and her family, again. She admitted to herself that the odds were not in her favor, but he was her last hope.