AN
Keep in mind that this story is AU. Therefore, I am not bound by silly things like cannon-compliance.
888
Out of the ways that one would expect Lady Malfoy to react to the news, very few would accurately describe her actual reaction.
It is the sign of adulthood to hold two seemingly-conflicting beliefs.
On one hand, she was beyond vexed with Draco's behavior. She had, after all, raised him better than that. She also was overjoyed to have a daughter. Ever since the healer who delivered Draco informed her that she would not be able to have another child, Lady Malfoy fought off depression by spending every waking hour spoiling said boy. Now that she suddenly had a daughter to dote on, she had hope for a brighter future.
On the other hand, she was completely pissed at Lucius for bringing an unknown into their household without so much as a "by your leave". Not that she was complaining about having a bigger family. She just would have liked to have been informed BEFORE the adoption so that she could have prepared better.
So, as soon as she finished viewing the memory, she stood up and looked at her family. She looked at Lucius first.
"Lucius, I am disappointed in you for not giving me proper warning. You are sleeping in one of the guest rooms tonight; or the couch, if you would prefer," she informed him regally.
She turned to Draco.
"Draco, I am very disappointed in your actions. You will be required to carry the bags on every shopping trip, that a lady of this house goes on, for the rest of the summer." This news caused Draco to groan. Oh, how he hated carrying the bags for female shoppers. Not that he was a wimp, Draco just didn't fancy breaking his back or pulling a muscle. Besides, he couldn't perform a proper levitation charm yet like his parents would do.
She finally turned to her newest child, her namesake, Narcissa Victoria Malfoy. Now, that would be confusing. She would have to come up with a nickname for the girl. Men like Lucius just don't comprehend how confusing having two people with the same first name in the same house could be.
"Come here, dear, and give your new mum a hug," wrapping the girl in her arms, she whispered, "This is going to be way too confusing for us both to be called Narcissa. Is it alright if I give you a nickname?" Hugging her new mother back, the girl nodded.
"How is … Nicci?" Back when she was still hoping for a daughter, Lady Malfoy had decided that she would name her daughter after the Grand Sorceress of Legend: Nicci.
"I love it!" 'Nicci' whispered, "Can we talk in private and get to know each other?"
Narcissa nodded at Nicci and ushered Lucius and Draco out of the study.
"Mum," Nicci began, "is there anything that I will need to know about being a Malfoy that Father may have neglected to mention?"
"Did he mention that as a witch from a conservative pure-blood family, you will be expected to be put into a marriage contract with someone from another pure-blood family? Thought he'd forget. This is purely to protect your virtue, as there are many dark rituals out there requiring a witch's virginity as a sacrifice, as well as many young dark wizards who would have no qualms with doing such to an unclaimed virgin. Now, if I may, what is your orientation? I will need to know so that I can send feelers out to get you a contract in a month at the latest," Narcissa explained.
After getting through the shock, Nicci sighed. She hadn't even had the guts to tell her former parents that she was a girl's girl (or was it witch's witch?) for fear of being rejected by her family. Now, however, she would have to trust Narcissa. Nicci would never allow a man to touch her, so there was no hiding it.
"I am a witch's witch, mum," Nicci said, forcing confidence into her tone. Narcissa simply nodded. Such things were not nearly as surprising in the wizarding world as the Muggle one. The Muggles' irrational fear of abnormal sexuality was in fact one of the reasons that many magicals despised the Muggle world.
"If I may," Nicci continued, "Father did tell me about the better pure-blood families. If I remembered correctly: Lord Greengrass has two daughters, Lord Davis has a daughter, Lord Abbot has a daughter, Lord Patil has two daughters, and Lady Bones has a niece. If I am correct, then those are my only options if I wish to avoid marrying down, which didn't sound too good the way father said it."
"Good," Narcissa said, "You remembered what was probably the most important lecture Lucius gave you. Now, I will be sending feelers out. You can go play Quidditch or something with Draco. I will inform you when we have success. Now, do you wish for an active marriage contract that will require immediate consummation or an inactive one that will become active when you reach majority?"
"If it is possible, I would like it to be active. Getting an anxiety-inducing activity over with gives one much less overall stress, I've heard a psychologist mention," Nicci replied. At the nod from Narcissa, she left the room.