"Turn to page 412 of your textbook. Stop talking to Peter, Lucius."

It was Charms Class again, and Narcissa was glad to see Luicus making more friends. He seemed to "open up" more than before.

"Ms. Black! Ms. Black?" the professor exclaimed. "Stop daydreaming!"

"Huh? What?"

"What is the name of the charm used to levitate objects?" the professor questioned.

"Umm, err, that, um…well…I – " she didn't know the answer. Oh why didn't she pay attention?

"Its wingardium leviosa!" a voice whispered to her.

"Wingardium Leviosa! That's the answer!" she told the professor.

"Yes, that is correct."

Narcissa smiled. She turned around to see who was her savior. It was Lucius.

"Thanks." She whispered.

"You're welcome." He replied.

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Many weeks went by, and Narcissa and Lucius had many other such encounters.

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Narcissa couldn't stand it anymore. She hated having to fit in. Her best friend, Naomi, had forgot to invite her to her sleepover. At least, that's what she said. Narcissa knew that Naomi had done it on purpose. Lately, Naomi had been acting differently. She still ate lunch with her, but during classes she mostly sat with the other group of popular girls. As she was lost in her daydream, she barely noticed when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

It was Naomi. How dare she approach her after what she'd done. She'd better be here to apologize, Narcissa thought.

"Um, Narcissa, I've been meaning to ask you something. Why is your hair so….well…how should I put this…pale?" she smirked.

The girls behind her burst into laughter. From what she had just said, Narcissa knew she wasn't here to apologize. She had always been shy and kind Narcissa, but she couldn't take it anymore. Her anger build up in her, and she decided she wouldn't just sit there and listen to them mock her.

"My hair? You're teasing me about my hair?" she pretended to smirk. But she was pretty sure she didn't do it right – it sounded more like a dying goose than a smirk. "You and your pet toad really do go very well together. Look, even your hair is the same color as its skin!"

There was no laughter, only gasps of shock. Then, out of the blue, she heard a boy laugh. Lucius. She had learned to recognize his voice awhile ago. Then, a girl from the popular group tried to hold back her laughter, but failed. A few moments passed and pretty soon most of the whole common room was laughing – some people didn't even know what they were laughing for, but they just kept on going. In the end, a professor had to come in to stop them.

Before she went up to bed, a few people came to pat her on the back. She knew why – all of those people had once been afraid of the popular crew, but now they were together, and even Naomi had given up. There was no good or evil anymore.

That night was the first night that she had slept peacefully since she arrived.

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It was a week before Christmas Break., and Narcissa was reading in the courtyard. Unlike her friends, she loved winter. She loved the snow and the freezing cold. It numbed her when she was sad. It made her feel…non-existent, and she liked it. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and spotted Lucius' blonde hair behind the pillar. What was he doing here? Curious, she tip-toed around the pillar to peek at what he was doing.

Lucius was sprawled on the cold stone floor of the courtyard, and he was surrounded by piles of textbooks and parchment. In his hand was a quill and he was writing on a piece of fresh parchment. She inched closer to see what he was writing. The only thing she could see on the parchment was: "Dear Father," – It was written in big letters. She was just about to read the rest of the letter when she he picked it up, reread it, and then scrunched it up into a small ball of disappointment and threw it in the opposite direction. She decided that it was time to step in.

"No littering, Mr. Malfoy." She said in a light tone. He looked up at her.

"What are you doing here, Narcissa?" he asked with a hint of impatience.

"No, no. The question is, what are you doing here?"

He grunted. "I-err, well, I was doing umm...schoolwork.."

"You know, Lucius, your lying skills haven't improved since I first saw you."

"I know, I know."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I'm writing a letter." Narcissa gave him the not-good-enough look. "To my parents."

"Oh. Not very good at it, huh. Or maybe you're a perfectionist. Either way, that must be the reason for the littering-of-an-innocent-roll-of-parchment…" she smirked, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"I can't tell you, Narcissa. I wish I could, but I can't." he admitted. His head hung solemnly as he stared at his shoes.

"Oh well. That's too bad. You know I could help you with anything!" she teased in a jokingly tone, trying to lighten the mood – which had gotten very tense indeed.

"Yeah. Anything but this, Cissy." He retorted. He look pretty depressed.

"Wait – what did you just call me?"

"What? Oh, err – that….I didn't say anything…"

Narcissa raised one eyebrow.

"Umm..Cissy. I called you Cissy. Cute, huh? Its my new nickname for you…"he blushed slightly.

She gave him a small smile, amused. "That is SO weird! My sister calls me that, too…"

He remained silent, but the blush didn't disappear.

"Well, I've gotta go, Lucius. See you around." She walked off in the other direction, back into the warmth of the castle.

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It was nighttime and the castle was quiet. So quiet it was spooky. Narcissa's owl, Duchess, let out little hoots as she stroked its feathers. There she was, once again, sitting on her bed, and deprived of sleep. She looked out into the courtyard. It was covered in snow – white, beautiful, pure snow. She sighed at the beauty of snow without even a trace of footprints on it. She wanted to be the first one to tread on the blankets snow. She put on her thickest coat and favorite boots, and walked out of the room.

The snow was as perfect as she thought it would be. In fact, it was even more beautiful up close. As she walked on the snow, she would look back every few steps or so to see her footsteps, etched in the white stuff. She had left her mark there.

"Who goes there?" the voice startled her. She scanned her surroundings to see who it belonged to.

She gasped in realization. "What? Lucius?"

"Oh, its you."

Her eyes travelled down to his arm. There was a tattoo on there. It looked familiar. Before she could realize what it was, he had quickly covered it with his sleeve. She stared at him suspiciously.