Lucius was sitting on his bed and reading from a book about various different types of poisons when he suddenly felt the ring on his finger turning slightly hot.
Lucius looked down at his ring and took note of the words that had suddenly appeared on it.
May I come over?
Lucius grabbed his wand off the bed stand and pointed it at the ring.
Let me lock my door first.
Lucius waved his wand at his bedroom doors and nonverbally locked them. The blond-haired young man then pointed his wand back at his ring.
It's safe now.
Leaving his book on his bed, Lucius walked over to his fireplace. He had used some of the connections that he had made within the Ministry to create a private Floo link between the fireplace in his bedroom and the fireplace in Narcissa's bedroom. They were the only ones that knew about this link, except of course for the people at the Ministry that had set it up (and Lucius had ensured that they would not tell anyone what they had done). As for their family members, they didn't even know that Lucius's and Narcissa's fireplaces were a part of the Floo Network.
It did not take long for green flames to shoot up in the fireplace. A moment later, Narcissa stepped out.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you," Narcissa said.
"Never," Lucius replied. "I was just doing some light reading."
Lucius stepped closer to Narcissa and noticed that she had been crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked in concern.
"Dromeda," Narcissa choked. "She's done it, Lucius. She's married that Mudblood."
"I suppose your family has already disowned her," Lucius spoke, trying his best to keep his voice sympathetic.
He had never cared much for Andromeda, but he did care about Narcissa.
"Mother has already blasted her name off the Black family tree," Narcissa replied. "Oh, Lucius. I had been holding onto hope that Dromeda would see sense before it was too late. I didn't want to lose her, but now I must pretend as if she never existed."
"You can mention her name in front of me as much as you like," Lucius responded.
"That is very kind of you, Lucius," Narcissa returned, "especially considering that Dromeda was never nice to you."
"I have never made it any secret that I don't care much for Andromeda either," Lucius said, "but I know what she means to you."
Narcissa began to cry openly. "She's gone, Lucius. She's gone from my life forever. And I can't forget the way she looked at me when I refused to support her."
"Andromeda has no right to be angry at you," Lucius said sharply. "She is the one in the wrong, not you. It is not fair of her to expect you to give up everything just because she wanted to be a little rebel. You owe her nothing."
"I know," Narcissa responded, "but I still feel as if something has been torn from inside me. Despite everything, she is my sister."
"It will be hard," Lucius spoke gently as he walked over to embrace Narcissa, "but you will recover from this. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for."
For several moments, Narcissa just allowed Lucius to hold her. But then she pulled away and looked up at him with her tear-stained face. She could not forget the main reason why she had come to see him.
"My father is concerned that Dromeda's betrayal will lead to the Lestranges breaking off Rodolphus's marriage with Bella and your marriage to me," Narcissa said. "I don't know if my father has spoken to your father yet, but if he hasn't already, he will be doing so soon."
"There's no need for you to be worried, Narcissa," Lucius replied. "I don't care what Andromeda did. She is no reflection of you. I will marry you one day, and my father isn't going to stop that."
"Your father is a powerful man, Lucius," Narcissa said worryingly.
"I am not a little boy anymore," Lucius retorted. "Don't worry about my father, Narcissa. I will handle him."
Narcissa still did not look fully convinced.
"Narcissa, you are everything to me," Lucius spoke. "I can't bear the thought of being married to any woman but you, nor can I bear the thought of you being married to a man who is less than worthy of you. I promise you that I won't allow my father to get in the way of our marriage."
"I'm worried about what your father might do to you," Narcissa said softly. "I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
"I would gladly suffer for you," Lucius replied, "but I don't want you worrying about that. I'm not afraid of my father anymore. We will be married."
Narcissa still looked worried, but she nodded her head.
She just wish that she could have half of Lucius's confidence. But if anyone could stand up to Abraxas Malfoy, it would be Lucius.
"I shall go speak with my father now," Lucius spoke. "Your father is probably still at the Lestranges, as Bellatrix's wedding date is quickly approaching. Thank you for coming to me so quickly with this news. I will be able to use this to my advantage."
"I didn't want you hearing about it from your father," Narcissa responded. "You deserved to hear it from me personally."
Narcissa moved her hand to indicate her ring. "Please get back in contact with me as quickly as possible. You know I won't stop worrying until I know that you're all right."
"I will," Lucius returned. "You better return home before your family notices that you are missing. Bellatrix especially is very nosy, and she will have no problem with getting you into trouble."
"She does believe that my parents favor me over her," Narcissa remarked. "I don't know why. I just do what is expected of me."
"Bellatrix is just jealous of you," Lucius responded. "She will never admit it out loud, but she will never be able to compare to you."
Lucius then waved his wand over a section of his bedroom floor. A hidden trapdoor suddenly appeared.
Lucius opened the trapdoor and pulled out a jar full of Floo powder.
Narcissa took some of the powder from the jar and tossed it into the fireplace.
After Narcissa had left, Lucius returned the jar to its secret location and resealed the trapdoor so that it looked like a part of the floor once more.
Lucius then put his wand in his robe (but close to hand in case he needed to pull it out quickly) before walking out his bedroom.
It was time to do battle with his father.