"The first thing you need to know about Narcissa Malfoy is that her life revolves around beauty and, obviously, vanity," Pansy had told Hermione a couple of days beforehand. "Narcissa sticks her nose up at the ugly and despises those more beautiful than her.
"She has never really been involved in the Death Eaters business. I heard she may have seduced a couple of unwilling spies but she did this to show Lucius what she was capable of and for no other reason."
"Beauty is the only thing that makes Narcissa feel anything. I suppose with a life as simple and dull as hers, you'd would need something to keep you going. And for Narcissa, that's her mirror."
Hermione had sat, gobsmacked, after Pansy had told her this. Being someone that didn't give a hoot about her appearance, she found it astounding that Narcissa's life was run by it.
"Narcissa is also a very intelligent woman. She can be quiet but only when it suits her. Some say blondes are thick, but this doesn't apply to Narcissa. Probably because those golden locks of hers probably aren't even real.
"It's rumoured that Narcissa has a lot of affairs. She does travel around a lot and Mr Malfoy never did pay her enough attention. I guess that's where she is now – off with one of her exotic toy boys."
At this point, Pansy had smiled and said, "Lucky her, eh?"
"Keep going, Pansy!" Hermione had snapped.
"She also has the same idea about Muggleborn. She's too proud to even look at them."
Hermione had sighed loudly.
"And this probably the most important thing you should know about Narcissa. She hates any girls even associating with Draco and she definitely hates his girlfriends. Draco never brings any girls home because of it. Rumour has it Draco brought one girl home and that girl was never seen alive again."
"How did Draco feel about this?"
"It didn't seem to effect him much. But Hermione, you're missing the point. You're Muggleborn, you're prettier than Narcissa, and Draco's in love with you. Narcissa is going to hate you. Narcissa is perhaps worse than Lucius. She's definitely more intelligent and definitely more twisted."
"Great," Hermione had said sarcastically, "Just great."
*
Hermione remembered all that Pansy had told her about Narcissa in a matter of seconds. She glanced at Pansy's face and knew that the girl was frightened. A glance at Snape's face showed Hermione that he was worried. Draco looked like he was bracing himself to meet his mother.
"Well," Narcissa barked, her eyes fixed on Malfoy, "Who is the mudblood?"
There was a pregnant silence and then, after a long hesitation, Malfoy said, "Mother, this is-"
"She's nobody!" Pansy suddenly blurted out, interrupting Malfoy, "A simple slave. She has been tending to me, and you know how I am. I'm too soft for my own good I insisted that she sat at the table."
"And you complied with this, Draco?" Narcissa challenged her son, "You allowed a Mudblood at your table? The Malfoy table?"
There was another silence. Malfoy was obviously contemplating the situation. Pansy shot him a desperate look.
"With no satisfaction, I assure you, Mother. And it's high time for this nonsense to end. Down on you knees, Granger."
Hermione looked into the icy eyes of Draco Malfoy. They were as cold and empty as the Antarctica.
Exhausted and defeated, Hermione got to her knees while the others sat back down to their dinner. None looked at her as they ate. She stayed beside them through their meal on all fours, with bitter tears shining in her eyes.
"Now, Draco, on to more important matters," Narcissa said, "I heard mention of you killing somebody."
"Just a slave, mother. He was causing problems so I disposed of him. It seemed like the logical action to take. He was insignificant."
"Of course, Draco is right," Pansy agreed, "You know how I am. Irrational. I got upset because I recognised the," Pansy paused for a slight second which only Hermione and Malfoy noticed, "Mudblood from school. I have to apologise to you, Draco, for my bizarre behaviour. I haven't been sleeping too well."
"Apology accepted, Pansy."
Hermione tried to support herself. The tears in her eyes were sliding down her face. It was hard work hiding them from the occupants of the table.
"And your father?" Narcissa demanded.
"We had a dispute. He invited me to a duel and I accepted. I won. I hope this does not displease you, Mother."
"Not at all."
When the meal was finished, everybody save Hermione stood up.
"I'll call some house elves to clean this up," Draco said.
"You know Draco I think this slave here could mange these by herself," Narcissa said. She met Hermione's eyes with her own and Hermione could swear that there was a tint of cold satisfaction inside them. Hermione felt a chill snake up her back.
"Very well," Malfoy said, "Granger, clean up."
Narcissa turned away briskly, taking Snape's arm in her own. Hermione saw a trace of his usual Malfoy smirk as she glared at Malfoy. He then walked away with Pansy on his arm.
She took the plates in her trembling arms and began to work.
*
Hermione was back down in the Slave Quarters again. It was empty except for a couple of house elves scuttering around her. She was scared. She was terribly lonely. She also felt something new. When she had looked into Malfoy's cold eyes, when she had heard him call her Granger, she had felt almost disappointed.
*
"What's wrong? Ron, what's going on?" Laura asked as they ran at high speed through the forest. They were at the area in second year where Harry and Ron had encountered many unfriendly spiders.
"Just trust me, okay? We have to go!" Ron bellowed. He took hold of Laura's hand impulsively and tried to make her run faster. But he realised, with a glance behind him, that Roger and Joanne were lagging behind. The Ravenclaws were obviously not as fit as Ron or Laura.
Ron felt a surge of irritation. He couldn't just leave them behind! But he could hear sounds coming from behind them. The spiders were hungry. The spiders were coming.
"God damn it," Laura exclaimed, "What are we going to do?"
It was only then when Ron spotted the shadows. A huge darkness covered Roger and Joanne as the spiders towered over them. They were huge monstrous beasts. Ron could see the creatures' fangs from where he was standing. The spiders had grown since second year, Ron realised with a terrible jolt. His heart clenched in his chest.
Laura dropped to her knees in fright. Her mouth was half open, her eyes huge, as she gawked at the spiders. He pulled her up but there was nothing else to be done. Roger and Joanne had stopped, frozen in fear, and the spiders were on them.
But suddenly all the spiders seemed to look at Ron and Laura. And just as suddenly they bypassed the trembling Joanne and Roger and shot towards Laura and Ron. Laura gripped on to Ron and he made a noise like a squawking turkey. Suddenly the spiders were towering over the two frightened teenagers.
"We got to go," Ron muttered, although in his heart he knew it was useless. "We got to run for it!"
He tried and Laura tried. The ran at a quick speed but once they encountered the large tree root sticking out of the ground, they were both done for. Both were as clumsy as each other and both fell.
The spiders circled around them then and the largest one in front spoke in a loud stormy voice, "Ronald Weasley!"
Ron's heart nearly popped out of his chest. Laura made a painful gasp.
"Y-y-yes?" Ron stuttered, close to fainting.
"Our master would like to speak to you! Now!"
Suddenly Ron was being held upside down in the largest ones legs. The feeling made Ron feel terribly sick. In one dizzy glance he saw one of the spiders pick up Laura in a familiar way.
With a last glance at he spider holding him, Ron really did faint. His last thought before he fainted was, What in the bloody hell does that over-sized spider want from me?
*
"Just tell me, Severus. Tell me and I'll make every desire you've every thought of come through," Narcissa said. She gently pushed him onto the bed, smiling seductively. She was wearing one of her smaller black numbers. Her blonde hair fell onto his face as she leaned even closer to him. Severus could smell her. So sharp and suggestive.
"Tell me what's been going on since I've been gone, Severus. Tell me about that slave girl. I saw Draco. I can read him like an open book."
"I'm not telling you anything," Severus replied coldly. "Stop this nonsense, immediately." But he was aching for her by now and his will power was lower than his lust for her.
"Just one word, Severus," Narcissa whispered. Her fingers – nails painted black, of course – were in his hair. She pulled his face up to hers with more force than necessary and brushed his lips against his own.
"Yes or no. Something has been going on between the two?"
"I…can't," he muttered painfully. His pupils were dilated and he was breathing heavily.
"Why not?" she asked, trailing a finger down the left side of his face.
"She reminds of Lily," he whispered.
Narcissa hissed like a cat. She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him but still held onto her smile.
"A smart little bookworm," Narcissa said sardonically, "A boring insignificant mudblood!"
"Yes," Severus breathed.
"Do you like her more than me?" Narcissa asked icily.
"I think I may love her. She has kept me alive for six years now."
"Is she more beautiful than I?" Narcissa asked. She wore an air of danger and menace now.
"Yes," he answered sincerely.
Narcissa, in one fluid movement, slid a knife from her classy knee length boots and plunged it into his chest. It wasn't frequent for Narcissa to lose her temper but when she did she was very impulsive.
"You always were a fool, Severus. In love with mudbloods! Mudbloods, who, unless I'm mistaken, belong to Potters. Now tell me, you greasy headed sod, is Draco in love with Granger?"
Nobody would know the pain Severus was experiencing now from his face. He flashed the furious Narcissa a slow satisfied smile before he died. "Yes," he whispered before his heart stopped beating.
There was a short silence as Narcissa stared at the dead man in front of her.
"I always wanted you," Narcissa told him softly. If she was able to cry, she would cry. If she was able to love, she would have loved Severus Snape. "But you would never accept me," she continued, "I was too evil for you, you said. You loved Lily. She paid the price though. She paid the price for being good that night sixteen years ago. And so will Little Miss Granger."
With that, Narcissa bowed her head down to Severus' face. Her feelings were the closest to love she would ever experience. She had never felt the same way for Lucius, Draco or any of her toy boys. She felt no regret though for killing Severus. Instead she felt a soaring relief. She had been waiting to kill him for so long now, always procrastinating at his sight. But he had pist her off one too many times tonight.
She placed her lips tenderly onto his, saying a silent goodbye with her lips. Then she pulled the knife from his chest, slid it back into her boot, and made for the slave quarters.
*
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Author's note: I owe a great big apology for keeping this update from everybody so long. I only wrote it today. I sincerely haven't had a chance to even sit down and write. Before Christmas I was working non-stop and then after Christmas I was on holiday in England. I'll have you know I had a horrible time in England and couldn't wait to get back and writing!
I'm not going to do all the thank you's because that'll probably take me another day to do (I got loads of reviews ;-) ) but believe me when I say thank you all so much! And also please accpet my apology – I AM SO SORRY! Thank you for your patience! (Or impatience) I really appreciate people caring about this story as much as I do. Because all though I didn't update as soon as I normally do, I have not given up on this story and I will never do so nless I'm really really really stuck! But that'll never happen with reviewers like you lot around!
I also hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Years!