244 words, by google docs
Narcissa makes one simple promise: she is not going to fall in love.
She's going to keep it this time, too.
…
The thing about Narcissa is that she's a Black. It's not like she's going to just run away and not conform to her parent's view of the world. No, she's not Andromeda.
Narcissa is a pureblood and she's a Black and she's going to get married to Lucius Malfoy whether she wants to or not.
It's how arranged marriages work.
But the problem is Andromeda. The problem is that Andromeda did run away and not conform to their parents' views. The problem is that Lucius was supposed to be Andromeda. The problem is that Lucius wasn't supposed to be Narcissa's. She already fell in love and now she has to marry someone else.
So this time, she's not going to fall in love.
She's going to marry him and make their families stronger, sure. But no love.
…
Lucius kisses her hand once and her heart melts.
She can feel herself breaking, but she knows that she must remain strong. She's just going to have her heart broken again.
But still.
A hand kiss. It's like Lucius is a prince or, at the very least, she is a princess.
To be fair, she doesn't really know Lucius.
Maybe she'll allow herself to fall. Just a little bit.
Just enough to quench that insatiable feeling that she felt when he kissed her hand.