Chapter X - Suspicion
Pale porcelain hands grasped an equally white china platter as the woman approached the grand dining table. At it sat a single figure, statue-still even when the food was set in front of her. The woman's gaze trailed over the other, and she held her breath a moment before exhaling.
Voldemort had asked her to take this other woman in, this one she knew of as the wife of her cousin, Sirius Black. Of course, she could never say no to the Dark Lord, especially when it came to something like this. She knew that Voldemort was using this woman, controlled by the pendant at her neck, but the reasons weren't completely clear to her.
Nevertheless, she took her into her own home, and served her dinner off of her finest dishes. Narcissa took a seat across from her and began to eat quietly. Voldemort's complete control over this other human being chilled her completely- it was nothing like seeing the Imperius curse. The silence of her company almost unnerved her, but the thought of what might happen were she to send her away scared her far more than that. Narcissa watched carefully as Lauren grabbed her fork slowly, her face still as expressionless as ever, and began to eat.
A thought crossed Narcissa's mind and for a moment she was reminded of when Voldemort had first arrived with her. Narcissa didn't dare converse with Lauren with him around, but once he was gone she couldn't help the curiosity that overwhelmed her and she tried to elicit a conversation. To her surprise- or rather, as she expected- the other woman responded only by looking her way.
But that same curiosity and the need for some sort of sound overwhelmed her once again. She spun her fork between her fingers for a moment, her gaze returning to the others'. "How is it?"
As she expected there was no response. Lauren didn't even look up from her food. Narcissa sighed, the chill settling over her once more. She thought to put on some music to have at least some sound in the house, but couldn't bring herself to leave the table. Instead she opted for talking. Even if Lauren didn't listen, it might distract her from the woman's presence.
"It's Draco's favorite," she said carefully, as though the Dark Lord himself was just off in the other room. "He's just gone off to Hogwarts for his fifth year." She sighed, looking down at her plate. "Two more years and he'll be out on his own..."
Lauren continued to eat, oblivious to the words coming out of her mouth. If she just thought of it as herself sitting there alone, it made things slightly better. "Lucius insists I shouldn't worry, but how can I let my only baby...?"
Narcissa's words trailed off and she was suddenly all too aware of a gaze pressing on her. Her eyes trailed upward to see that Lauren had stopped eating and was staring her way. There was still no readable expression on her face, but there was something about her eyes... something... intelligent...
Narcissa dared herself to speak, watching the woman carefully. "Can you... hear me?"
As quickly as that intelligence had shown itself it was gone and the glazed expression washed over Lauren again as she returned to her food. As Narcissa continued her own meal silently she replayed it in her mind, wondering if she should dismiss it altogether or dare to alert Voldemort.
A/N: I'm not sure about my portrayal of Narcissa here. I've never written her before but I think she's possibly a little more like she is in the later books rather than how she'd be right now. If anyone has any input it's greatly appreciated!