It was just a few days before Christmas, and as a special treat to Seventh years, they were allowed a trip, via floo network, into Diagon Alley. Peter Pettigrew would be accompanying them, much to Narcissa's dislike. Things had been rocky over the last few months since Halloween, a couple of murders had taken place - murders of people she had known, or had spoken to only a while ago. It was terribly unbecoming, and with that said, Narcissa was rather happy to get out of Hogwarts to do some shopping. Sirius and Peter would be with Narcissa, they had decided, and later on they would meet up with Remus, James and Lily.
Standing
in the old fashioned grate in the headmasters office, Narcissa
selected a handful of floo powder, before saying very clearly -
"Diagon Alley!" and dissapearing into the Emerald flames.
They arrived with a bumped head and dirty faces, and Sirius
speculated his suprise when Peter actually used the Floo network
correctly. "So - where to first?" Narcissa asked, a hand
automatically wiping down her dust-covered clothes. Without
hestitation, Sirius replied, "Gringotts
of course, Cissy." And so that was settled. After withdrawing a
substansiual amount of money from Narcissa's savings, they moved
along in the little cart with a rather sour faced goblin, and
collected Sirius's money. The last storage they went to was Peters,
and both cousins were suprised at the small fortune he had glistening
from his storage. After leaving what appeared to be a never ending
chamber, their faces welcomed the warm winter sun with ease. "Right
- what do you both want for Christmas?" Narcissa asked lazily,
rubbing her hands together in a hurried attempt to keep unfrozen.
"Well," Sirius hinted, "can we check the Quidditch
shop ...?"
"Sirius," Narcissa scolded playfully,
"you already have a ton of brooms."
He shrugged in
response, his eyes gleaming. She sighed and dragged both boys to the
shop. In the tinted window cleverly designed to look as if snowflakes
were falling across the crystal-clear panes, there was a brand new
model of the best racing broom yet. "A Nimbus?" Sirius
gasped, and then gazed at the price label. "It's three hundred
galleons."
"You want?" Queried Narcissa, an
eyebrow raised. Her hand indistinctively slid into her pocket and her
fingers wrapped around her big bag of money. Sirius looked rather
pleased for a moment, but then shook his head, his dark hair falling
over his face. "James is more of a fanatic than me," he
said simply, "but it is tempting." His gaze returned to the
polished broomstick.
"Tell you what," Narcissa said,
"I'll buy you BOTH a Nimbus."
"Merlins beard - are
you serious?" Sirius threw his arms around his cousin happily.
"Cissy - you're the best!" His hair tickled her face and
she started giggling, hugging him back. "Sure - why not?"
And with that entered the store, and placed an order for two Nimbus's
to arrive on Christmas day, one to James Potter, and one to Sirius
Black. The fact Narcissa had just spent six hundred galleons did not
paticularly bother her; she had always been modicodled within her
families vast fortune. She ordered Peter some new robes, a new wand
and a quill, and, leaving the two boys to drool over the Quidditch
supplies, she made her way to Flourish & Blotts. She knew exactly
what to buy for Remus. Examining the shelves, she saw a brand new,
autographed set of Defence Against the Dark Arts books, encrusted
with jewels down the spine. There was only one collection left - and
she bit her lip slightly when she saw how much it cost. Two hundred
galleons. Still not enough metaphorically, she'd spent another
hundred on her cousin and his best friend. She'd only spent roughly
one hundred galleons on Peter, but she felt complied to spend a fair
amount on Remus. And that was when she saw it. An hilarous, original
copy of The
Werewolf, a fun
chatty story about how "evil" Werewolves were. Remus had
mentioned to her how that was the only story he appriceated; and so
she bought it for him. For Lily, she purchased a rather large ginger
cat and some Chocolate frogs. The cat was to arrive on Christmas day.
With a sinking heart, Narcissa realised she had not bought
anything for her family. In a mad dash, she bought a diamond necklace
for her mother, some interesting books for her father, new books for
her little sister - and for Bellatrix? A smile crept onto Narcissa's
face as she saw a tiara, encrusted with jewels. Yes,
she thought bitterly, this
will suit you royally, Bella.
And
with that; her shopping was finished. She wandered over to the ice
cream parlour, were her cousin, friends and Lily were all waiting.
"You're not carrying much," teased Lily, an eyebrow raised.
"Sure you've got everything?"
"Oh, but of course!"
Narcissa replied, raising her own eyebrow amiably, and then smiling.
She glanced at Remus, only to see he was grinning right back at her.
Since that "incident" from Halloween, not much else had
happened. They had remained exceedingly good friends - but no more
encounters had occured. She wondered if he still even liked her that
way - but his grin pushed her doubts aside. He was so charming, in
his own little way.
Christmas
day.
Narcissa left Bellatrix's gift at the end of her bed, and
tiptoed off, already dressed, to the Gryffindor common room. After
successfully giving the password, she wandered in to the common room,
and was flung at by Lily. "Narcissa! A cat! I wonder what mum
and dad will say, I've always
wanted a cat, and
now I've got one!" She thrust neatly wrapped presents into
Narcissa's arms, and then danced off to show off her new cat.
Narcissa opened the gifts to reveal a book by Snowdela Fox, entitled
"The girl and the gits." Narcissa laughed in amusement, and
was pleased to discover her other gift was some Chocolate Frogs. At
that moment, Sirius and James appeared with Peter. "Cor,"
said James, "Thanks Narcissa! Must appriceated."
"Yeah,"
Sirius added, "Thanks - wouldn't of guessed it at all, dear
cousin." His hair flopped rather handsomely over his eyes, until
he blew it out of the way, his dark eyes watching his cousin. "Oh
- nearly forgot ..." they handed her their own gifts. Sirius's
was a beautiful pearl necklace, with her name enscribed on the silver
chain. "Aww - Sirius -"
"And don't forget mine,"
James interuppted, putting his own rather badly wrapped gift into
Narcissa's hands. James's present was a beautiful photo albumn,
jewels glittering around it. "We put some photos in already - of
us lot, you know."
"Aww, thank you ..." Narcissa's
smile could light up a funeral right about now - she was so happy.
Peter's gift to her were rather amusing. A box of biscuits. Opening
it, she saw a shiny ring admist all the biscuits, dazzling as it
caught the light.
"Where's Remus?" Narcissa enquired,
placing all her presents down on the coffee table, before
straightening up again. Sirius and James exchanged a sly smirk,
before pushing her towards the portrait. "He said - to meet him
outside the grounds." And with that said and done, Narcissa
found herself outside the common room. She gave a quick glance at her
outfit, the pearl necklace from Sirius now hanging around her neck,
along with the ring from Peter on her right hand added a paticular
look to her. She was wearing a black jumper over dark blue jeans,
wearing casual white trainers. She had a rather muggle look about
her, which made her amused to an extent.
Leaving
the castle, she trudged across thick snow. An owl swooped past with a
hoot; she recongised it to be Bellatrix's own owl. She also noticed
it was carrying a parcel that was rather small around it's leg, and a
small note. One guess to whom it was to? That's right. It was clearly
Voldemort. Narcissa doubted Bellatrix would be sending such a small
gift to her parents, and because she was so infutuated with
Voldemort, it made perfect sense. As Narcissa began to contemplate
what could be in the parcel, she bumped into somebody, as they bumped
into her. She groaned, she was such a klutz at times, lost in her own
thoughts. "Sorry-" she began, only to be cut off.
"I
- I got your gifts." Remus said quietly, his eyes lowering to
the snow on the ground. She realised - he must be shy. She had not
really thought about it before, because he was so alive around his
friends. But now, they both alone, and the thrill of it characterized
the air. "They were rather good, Narcissa - especially the
werewolf book. That made me laugh a fair bit, actually."
She
smiled. "I'm glad you appriceated them."
He returned the
smile, his gaze lingering. "Oh - I did."
Mechnically,
she stepped closer. He did too. They were so close now; his nose
brushed against hers slightly. She could see how dilated his pupils
were, every eyelash that flickered when he blinked. Her own cheeks
began to burn despite the freezing air, and before she knew it - they
kissed. She was lost in her own world now; suspended in time as they
kissed . . .
