Chapter Seven: Black Secrets, Part 2

I extended my hand out, first, to Abraxas Malfoy and then to his son: my mystery boy, Lucius. His hand was smooth and he had a firm grasp on my delicate, slim hand. He hung onto my hand for a moment longer than one usually shook hands and I offered him a kind smile.

Inside, however, I was horribly embarrassed. I had snogged (and almost shagged) a mysterious boy last night without knowing anything about him – not even his name! (Though, last night, I couldn't have cared less about anything or anyone, myself included.) Then he turns up in my house, where my father introduces us and is obviously proud to present me. I could only imagine the thoughts running through this Lucius' mind: "Daddy's perfect princess; daddy's little whore—a disgrace to her family". He had blackmail on me already and I'd only just met him. And if my father found out about last night—

I took a deep breath, pushing my thoughts aside, and turned to face my father. I murmured an "excuse me" to the… ah, Malfoys… and swiftly approached my father's desk.

"Daddy," I said a quiet voice. "I need to take care of Bella. She's sick this morning, in my room—"

"Andromeda can do it," my father suggested. He pointed toward the door. I turned to see Andy standing in the doorway. "Andromeda, love; come here, will you?" He waved her into his office.

I bit my lip and stepped aside as Andy entered the room, politely smiling at our guests. I saw her lips move in a small manner and I knew that she was muttering a hello. My father stepped out from behind his desk and placed his hand on the small of Andy's back when she reached him.

"Gentlemen," my father said (proudly, again), "this is my second-eldest daughter, Andromeda. Abraxas, you might remember her from your fair-well party; and my eldest daughter, Bellatrix, who's apparently a bit sick this morning, I'm afraid. Narcissa wasn't old enough to attend the party and I'm not sure you met her before you left…."

Fair-well party? Before they left? Then I remembered Andy saying that the boy looked a bit familiar. I was staring so intensely at Lucius that when he looked at me, I realized I was being rude. I blushed and looked away. I couldn't for the life of me remember this boy… young man at all. I supposed that I had been too young to remember, if we'd met at all.

"Cissy, is that alright?" Andy's soft, calm voice snapped me back to reality. I turned my head to look at her (realizing that I'd been staring at Lucius again) and raised my eyebrows in questioning.

My father took a deep breath. He took a step toward me. "Andromeda will take care of your sister," he explained. "Why don't you take Lucius for a turn around the gardens? I have some business to discuss with Abraxas here." He gestured towards my no-longer-a- mystery boy. "Lucius will be starting his seventh year at Hogwarts, so you can tell him all about the school."

This made sense because the Malfoys had just moved back here from… It occurred to me that I didn't know where from they had moved.

I nodded in response to what my father had said. "Certainly, Daddy," I said, smiling. He smiled back and then kissed my forehead. Oh, the dirt this Malfoy boy had on me…. I almost winced. I peered around my father and looked at Andy. "Gingerbeer," I told her and she nodded firmly; then headed out of the room.

My father placed his hand on my back and gave me a small shove forward. I shot him a dark look over my shoulder, which he paid no mind too, and I walked up to Lucius briskly.

"Shall we?" I asked more coldly than I had intended.

He smirked, but nodded. We waved a farewell to our fathers and then headed out of the room. I walked the short distance down the rest of the hallway to the doors that led outside. I stepped outside in the sunshine and heard Lucius close the door after he'd stepped out.

He stepped up beside me and I led him across the stone deck and down the stairs. The gardens were at the side of the house, so I took the path that led to them. The air was awkward between us and I struggled to think of something to say. There were lots of conversations starters, but the only one that I desperately wanted to use was the one where I begged him not to tell my father that I acted like a whore at the ball. However, if he knew how much this was bugging me, then he would certainly use it against me. He seemed like that type of person.

"So," I finally said, breaking the silence, "you've moved back to this area?" We had reached the gardens and were now walking through them. I took him on the path I usually walked at night. I looked up at Lucius with a curious look.

He nodded. "We moved when I was five," he explained. "My mother was from France…. I suppose she got homesick and the next thing I knew, I had to learn French. She had my father wrapped around her finger."

I smiled and gave a small laugh. His mother sounded delightful. "Where is your mother now?" I asked. I looked ahead and my heart jumped out of my chest when a rabbit bound across the path in front of us. I did my best to conceal my reaction.

"She passed away."

I stopped in my tracks. Lucius kept walking for a few strides, but when he realized I had stopped, he, too, stopped and turned to face me. I stared up into his face. I studied his features briefly before locked eyes with him. I forced myself to walk up to him. We settled back into a slow, measured walk. I reached down to pick at the leaves on the small hedges.

"I'm sorry," I blurted out finally. "I… no one… I—I wasn't—"

Merlin, this was difficult! But he seemed to be okay with it. "It's alright," he replied and I looked up at him once again. He offered me a smile; shouldn't I be the one comforting him? "It's better, I think. She's not suffering anymore. I hated to see her in pain."

I nodded in agreement, though I pushed the images of my own mother to the back of my mind. "What did she die from? If you don't mind my asking," I added quickly.

Lucius shook his head. "Not at all." He reached down and plucked a rose from a rosebush. He handed it to me. I took it with a small smile. We walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "She died from some aggressive form of what's traditionally a Muggle disease. They call it 'cancer'. The Healers in France gave her some potions to help kill off the bad batch of the disease, but… in the end, it didn't help. They just made her sick and tired and weak – plus the Healers didn't understand it so, it they weren't helping all that much. She didn't want to live out of the remainder of her life like that, so she stopped the treatments."

"I'm sorry," I said automatically. I looked down at the red rose he'd handed to me and I spun it between my fingers. "That must have been difficult on you and your father." I looked back up at him, but he was staring straight ahead.

He shrugged and glanced down at me. "Not so much, actually," he reflected. "She didn't want us to be upset about it. In fact, we didn't have a funeral – we threw a party because that's what she wanted: to have her life celebrated, not mourned."

I smiled at this. "Well, she sounds as if she would have been a delightful person to be around," I said.

Lucius looked down at me and smiled. "She was," he said fondly. "She really was."

We had walked through the gardens once before the heat got to us. I led Lucius to the front yard, under a big oak tree. We sat down on the bench under the tree, giving our feet a rest. There was a slight breeze, which made it the perfect afternoon in the shade.

I set the rose in my lap. I gazed down at it. "My middle name is Rose," I said absently to Lucius.

"Narcissa Rose," he repeated and I looked up at him. "That's pretty." He smiled.

I smiled back and turned to face him. "Mmm, thank you," I replied. "And your middle name?" I gazed up at him, my lips parted slightly. I suddenly wanted to know more and more about him.

He gave a half-laugh. He seemed unwilling and I was planning on pestering him more until he opened his mouth. "Amadeus," he said, sliding his gaze away from me.

Lucius Amadeus. I repeated the name over in my head several times. I smiled at him. "I like that," I decided

"That's a relief," he murmured and I gave him a dark look. He looked away from me and I almost asked what he was thinking when I realized that I was being extremely overbearing and probably rude. I turned away from him again, thinking he'd grown annoyed with me, and scooted further away from him on the bench.

We sat in silence. I wanted to get up and leave; hadn't I embarrassed myself enough? But I knew that it would have been rude and my father would certainly disapprove. I'd forgotten to talk with him about Hogwarts. I was about to when he spoke first.

"Where's your mother?"

I froze. I thought that since we had already discussed his mother and he'd never brought up my mother after then I was off the hook. The instinct to run was a strong one; I'd been running from this for so long, it came naturally now. I guess there was nothing other to do than talk.

"She's visiting her mother in Italy this summer," I lied, looking down at the grass. "Her mother's very ill."

Italy? I asked myself. My mother did not look like an Italian nor did she have Italian blood. And I'd only met my grandmother, her mother, when I was too young to remember.

"Italy," Lucius repeated and I looked up at him, wondering if he saw through my fib. I nodded. "What's your grandmother sick with?"

Of course he would ask this. I needed to answer quickly, but not too quickly, or else he'd know it was all a lie. "Dragon Pox," I continued to lie. Then I stood up abruptly and turned to look down at the young man before me. He gazed up at me with his smoky blue eyes that were truly captivating. His face was so smooth, yet one could tell that he'd experienced a lot through his life; his face was almost what I would call 'weathered', but not quite. I didn't know how to call it. My thoughts were lost for a brief moment and I shook my head ever so slightly to bring myself back to reality. "Do you mind if we head inside now? I'm getting awfully hot…."

Lucius nodded and stood up. I quickly turned away from him as he did so. I began to lead us back to the house, the rose still in my grasp. It wouldn't have been proper to discard it or leave it behind.

"So, I probably shouldn't kiss you goodbye," he said as we ascended the front stairs.

I spun around sharply. "Excuse me?" I asked, eyeing him.

He smirked. "I meant on the cheek," he explained. "It's how I was taught to depart from a lady friend. But, I was thinking with last night and all…" He let his words hand on the air as I stared down at him.

"Oh," I finally said, looking down. "Well, no, right… you're correct. Just a kiss on the hand will suffice, I'm sure—oh, please don't tell my father about last night!" I couldn't hold it in any longer and I mentally kicked myself for breaking down. What had gotten into me?

Lucius gave me a blank stare. Then he tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. "Tell your father what?"

It took a moment for me to realize his joke. At first, I was morbidly insulted. I had never been told that I was rubbish at snogging, especially not to my face (if it were true.) I had to suppress the reflex to slap him across the face. Then I thought he'd been too drunk to remember snogging me. But, after I briefly thought about our time last night, I realized that he'd been perfectly sober (which is when I understood his joke). I smiled and he winked.

When we reached the inside of the house, I stopped in the foyer. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, it was very nice to meet you," I drawled, hopefully loudly enough for my father to hear from his study. "I hope you enjoy your time here. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

He reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. He locked eyes with me the entire time and I could feel the heat slowly rising to my cheeks. His lips felt wonderful on my hand. For some absurd reason, he made me nervous. I ducked my head so he wouldn't see the smile on my face.

"Call me Lucius, Miss Black," he said softly as he gave me back my arm. "I believe we'll be holding our own ball, so your family will most likely be receiving an invitation."

I nodded. "You may call me—"

"Narcissa!"

I looked over to see my father striding briskly toward us. I turned to face him. He looked angered and I tried to think of what I'd done to make him upset.

"Lucius," he said to the young man beside me, "I don't mean to be rude, but I need to speak with my daughter."

Lucius nodded and my father grabbed my hand. He pulled me aside and lowered his voice. "You need to go upstairs," he said. "Your sisters are at it. It's embarrassing! They need to stop fighting now! Do you understand me?"

I nodded quickly. "Yes, Daddy," I said quietly. "I'll tend to them this instant."

He reached up to touch the side of my face. He smiled. "That's my princess," he said and then he kissed my cheek.

I slipped away from him and headed to the stairs. I glanced over at Lucius, offering him a smile. He returned it, but then my father called him away. I bounded up the stairs and then ran down to my bedroom, where I could hear Bella and Andy screaming.

I opened the door to my bedroom and their cries reached my ears full blast. I winced at their voices and took in the scene around me. Bella was standing on the edge of my bed, glaring down at Andy. Andy looked just as pissed off as our older sister did; they didn't notice me staring at me.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Andy shouted desperately. "I'm your best friend; stop shutting me out!"

"Fuck off, Andromeda!" Bella screeched. She stepped down from the bed, her face close to Andy's. If that had been me, I would have run from my own room. "None of it is your business! Just leave it alone."

Andy looked like she was on the verge of tears. She opened her mouth to say something, but then she just screamed and shoved Bella backward. I watched, frozen, as Bella fell to my bed. I'm sure my father could hear everything… he'd be upset with me that I wasn't going my job.

"Andy!" I yelled, marching in the room. Both of my sisters looked at me. Bella straightened, watched me briefly, but then turned her attention back to Andy. "Bella! Don't!"

But there was no stopping Bella when she was on a rampage. Sometimes, I even thought her physical duels were worse than her magical duels…. I stepped back, knowing that I couldn't come between them. I bit the bottom of my lip nervously, feeling useless and quite daft.

There was lots of screaming and yelling. There was hair pulling and scratching on Andy's part; punches and slaps and bites on Bella's end. I watched fearfully and wondered briefly if I should stop them with my wand. I decided against it because the consequences after the fact wouldn't be good.

Bella had grabbed Andy's midsection, but was in an awkward position to get out of. I watched as Andy raised her knee to Bella's stomach (in an attempt to get our sister off of her) and jabbed it roughly into her stomach. I could only think of one this as I watched in horror:

"The baby, Bella!" I screamed and then I covered my mouth instantly. I'd broken my promise to my sister.

Bella stumbled back and took her only seconds to regain her breath. She looked up at me with such hatred. I glanced nervously at Andy, who looked shocked. Her hair was a mess and stray hairs stuck out from her braid. I looked back at Bella, who was still glaring at me. She marched up to me and I took my hand away from my mouth in case I needed to defend myself.

Bella stopped in front of me, her eyes dark and menacing. I swallowed and opened my mouth to speak, but then I saw her hand out of the corner of my eye. She hit me across the face and the sound echoed around the room. My hand instantly went to cool the stinging that radiated over my cheek.

"Bellatrix."

I turned around to see my father standing in the doorway. He looked grim. He beckoned Bella forth. "Come with me to my study. Now," he demanded in a quiet voice.

Author's Note: Hope this update was alright. Here is something one of my readers (xoxLewrahxox) made me for this story/my birthday:

http : / / i53 . tinypic . com / 25zo4g1 . jpg (just remove the spaces)