A/N: Back at it again with the update! Thanks for all the likes you guys! As always unedited, unbetad, and unhinged! For the smutty clappin' the fluff must first happen! I'm trying to make the chapters be less than 5k words so hard! Here we go, enjoy! Listen to Ariana's Goodnight n go when reading so you feel the feels. q.q
Chapter spoilers: "We'll have drinks and talk about things and any excuse to stay awake with you"
Narcissa's POV
Lucius is really on my nerves at the moment. I am still trying to compose myself on how I am going to speak to him when I see him at home.
The only saving grace for all of this is that my darling little Hufflepuff had fallen asleep on our trip, and now her head is on my shoulder. I could literally smell her perfume wafting in the car. I look over at Draco and he too is fast asleep.
We arrived at the manor before sunset.
"Darling, wake up. We're here." I gently woke the young brunette beside me first before I went ahead and woke my son.
"Hmmm?" She responds, eyes still half-lidded and glossy from her sleep.
"We're here, I'm going to wake Draco," I say as I reach over the front passenger seat. "Draco, we're home."
He stirred in his seat, bolting upright from his slumped position. "Oh, yeah. yeah." He responds, still obviously tired.
We exited the car and Draco immediately bids good night, I let him be as he headed his way into the manor. Leaving me and the little darling once more.
"Did you have a nice nap?" I tell her as I pull out my wand to lift her luggage and guide them and her inside.
She nods, blinking her eyes rapidly to rid of the sleepiness. "I did. Thank you for letting me lean on your shoulder."
I chuckle to myself. "You really didn't want to lean on me at the beginning. But I guess that you're so tired from the train that sleep had just won."
She blushed when I recounted the moment in the car. What I didn't tell her was that when she did lean into me, my son was shooting us looks in the rear-view mirror.
I had summoned Trixie to make supper and made my way to lead her to the wing of the manor she will be staying in.
She gasped a little when she entered the room. Well, calling it a room would be a stretch. This used to be the old library turned into another wing of the manor, the walls were lined with several live paintings that I had collected since I was a teen, with its very own fireplace, and an enormous window that leads to my garden. There is a staircase to the right that leads to the mezzanine level which is the bed.
"Do you like it?" I asked her as I watched her reaction.
"Like it? I love it." She said admiring the paintings and the rows of books that lined the walls. She walked over to the door on the left which was where the bathroom was situated.
I hear an audible gasp and had to follow.
I had designed the bathroom of this wing to mirror the one that is on my side of the manor. A water heater to the side, a clawfoot tub in the center, a constructed waterfall for the shower, and a floor-to-ceiling mirror that was behind the vanity.
She admired the bath, the shower, and the view from the window outside. Once she was done exploring she came back to my side, with her lips pursed.
"Thank you again for having me over." She says in a small voice.
I reached for the stray locks of hair obstructing her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I would've made the room more to your liking if I had known you were coming. And I must admit that I'm surprised that you took up my husband's offer."
Her eyes darted to the floor. "I didn't exactly." She whispers.
"I'm sorry darling, I didn't quite hear you." I said, stepping closer to her.
"I didn't exactly agree to stay here. This had been a surprise to me as it is to you. I just found out last night. and my parents knew but they didn't tell me." She said, her hand now fidgeting with her shirt.
I hum, Lucius' dubious plans I think to myself. "Well, then I would like to formally welcome you to Malfoy Manor. Let me know if you need anything. I will be just two halls down if you need anything from me. I will also be instructing Trixie to watch over you if I am not around." I say to her.
She nods, "Thank you. I'm going to call home and let them know that I'm already here. Do you think I'd have some cell service here?"
I shrug, "I am not so sure darling. Why don't you try and I'll send an owl to Marina and Philip just in case."
I left the room and proceeded to write a letter for Marina and Philip. Letting them know that their precious daughter is safe and is in Malfoy Manor. As I sent the letter I hear a pop in the air near me.
"Have they arrived?" Lucius says as he straightened his robes from apparating.
My jaw clenches as I turn to face him. "You didn't even have the courtesy to tell me we are having a guest over!" I start with him. "What? Am I just going to be some bystander in this home?"
"Narcissa, I am doing this for Draco and our family. The Petersons have given me their blessing for the girl to stay over." He says, putting his cane down on the table.
"And to hear it from Draco! He has enough on his plate already and you're still pushing your son to do whatever it is that you want!" I almost yell.
Lucius held his hands up in surrender, "Narcissa, I don't see what all the fuss is about, the girl is here isn't she?"
"She is! But to not even let her parents tell her that she will be staying with us?" I ball my fist around my wand. "You're so intent on pursuing this marriage, you have never told me why?"
Lucius turned away from me, summoning a glass and a bottle of liquor on the shelves. "I do not have to explain myself, Narcissa. Just know that this is the right path that Draco should take."
And with that, he walked away from me but before he was far enough, "We'll be hosting a party in four days' time."
MC's POV
My first night at Malfoy Manor was awkward. We had supper without Draco. Narcissa came down to the dinner table without him and mentioned that he was fast asleep, but will make sure that he was left something to eat. So it was just me, Narcissa, and Mr. Malfoy at the dinner table.
Mr. Malfoy had kept to himself. Occasionally just chiming in while I and Narcissa make small talk.
The long table felt a little bit too big for the three of us, so we sat closer together, Mr. Malfoy at the head of the table, Narcissa to his right and me right next to her.
We continued making small talk while we ate supper, and being the klutz I am, had to drop a fork. I immediately drop down and try to fetch it. I felt a hand snake down as well to find it. When I came up to the surface of the table, I was face to face with Narcissa. Our lips are just inches apart, we lock eyes, and I almost leaned in. Luckily the scraping of my chair against the floor made me double back.
I immediately go back to my seat, furiously blushing. Mr. Malfoy had been oblivious to what had just transpired and is happily eating his food. I tried not to look at Narcissa, embarrassed that I had been so clumsy. (And also almost kissing her in front of her husband.)
Mr. Malfoy had finished his supper and excused himself saying that he will have to leave for a few hours and will come back, leaving Narcissa and me alone at the table.
I tried to make the conversation light between us. Asking about the manor, their family, and other stuff; so I won't get distracted by the proximity between us.
We finished dinner and she had asked Trixie for some sweets, the house-elf immediately went to the kitchen to fetch her request.
"Lucius tells me we're holding a party in four days' time. We haven't discussed anything else about it but I'd like to invite you to join." She mentions as she wipes her lips with her napkin.
"Oh, I-I don't have anything to wear." I stammer.
She smiles, "We'll see about getting you something to wear tomorrow. I'll make sure it's nothing too formal, I don't want to inconvenience you and have you worry about wearing something frilly."
I smile back, Trixie had come back with a tray of assorted sweets. Doughnuts, cupcakes, and a pint of ice cream. Narcissa thanked the little elf and proceeded to pick the tray up. "Come along, darling. We'll finish these in the greenhouse."
She led me through the doors to the greenhouse where various plants were growing, some I know, some I don't. She went ahead of me and asked me to follow, I kept an eye on the plants inside the greenhouse, trying to identify some of them.
We came to a halt in the middle of the greenhouse where there was a table and a set of chairs beneath the huge glass roof above us, showing the night sky.
Narcissa gently set the tray down on the table and pulled a seat. She motions to the seat across from her and I sat, tentatively reaching for some of the pastries on the tray. She was scanning the sky, which I'm thankful for since I get nervous whenever she looks at me.
"It's enchanted to keep snow off. I like watching the night sky when I come here. To think, or just be alone." She says, grabbing a cupcake from the tray and biting into it.
I just listen to her speak, when I noticed a fleck of icing on the corner of her mouth. I reached across the table and into her personal space mind ceasing to stop my hand from reaching the corner of her mouth to wipe off the icing.
I did not realize what I had done until my wrist was wrapped in her hand and her gaze was inquiring. As if I had the gall to touch her without her permission.
"Uh-sorry. You have icing here." I say as I reached with my thumb to remove the sugary remnant.
The brush of my fingertip on her lower lip had my head firing signals that I know I would ignore. Like right now it is screaming for me to stand up, avert my gaze, and keep walking. But again I ignored everything that my head is screaming and just let Narcissa hold me by the wrist.
A few moments pass exactly like that my finger hovering on her lips, until she finally let go of my wrist and her gaze softened. "I'm sorry, you just startled me."
Narcissa's POV
"I'm sorry." She said nursing her wrist on her lap, half-eaten pastry on her plate. She's avoiding my gaze.
"No harm done, darling." I say, picking up a napkin and wiping my lips of any other sugary remains. "If anything, I should thank you for looking out for me."
She looks back up at me, her features sporting a small smile on her lips.
I try to go back to the small talk and avoid touching her again. We talked about the plants in the greenhouse, she mentioned that she had a love of plants and is very keen on herbology; mentioning that her mother would always ask for her help with planting the seedlings around their house.
It was such an effortless conversation between us, we laughed and shared anecdotes of our lives. I made the mistake of mentioning why she hasn't written me about her time at Hogwarts.
"Well, you didn't write so why would I?" She replies, her tone a little cold. "I mean it's obvious that you didn't want to speak to me or hear anything from me."
My eyes drop to the table avoiding her piercing brown ones. "I meant to write." I say pursing my lips.
"Yeah, you say that, but you didn't." She responded.
My eyes shot back up to hers, matching her gaze. "Would you have written back if I wrote to you?"
"You're really asking me that Narcissa? She says, pushing off her seat and standing up. "Of course, I would've written back. I would've told you that-" She halted her speech. "You know what, pretend I never said anything. Thank you for dinner and for the pastries. I'm going to bed."
She started to walk away from me, now I'm used to people walking away from me, especially when that's all Lucius has been doing recently. So why I chased after her grabbing her hand to pull her into my arms, I would never know why.
"That's not how you say good night, darling." I tell her, running my fingers on her face, my eyes scanning her features, and then it finally caught my eye. "You're wearing it." I mutter.
It was the necklace that I had given her.
"Of course, I'm wearing it." She huffs, pushing me away slightly and crossing her arms. "I meant to thank you for it." She said again looking at anywhere else but me.
I pulled her into my arms again, enveloping her in a great hug. "It looks lovely on you." I say to her.
She mumbled something into my chest, some sort of thank you and I just gave her another squeeze. When we parted her brows are still knit together. "What's wrong, darling?'
"I'm still cross at you for not writing. I wanted to write but I didn't know what to say." She says biting her lower lip.
"I'm sorry I didn't write either." I say, caressing her face with my thumb. "I'll write to you when you go back to Hogwarts again, I promise."
She nods, still avoiding my eyes. "Darling please look at me." I say with my voice sounding so strained.
She sighs, stepping closer to me. Her arms snaked behind my waist to encase me in a hug. My heart must've been beating so much in my chest.
I think the time had stilled and I don't mind, her arms are still around me, her warmth radiating off her.
The footsteps into the greenhouse broke the tiny bubble of each other's presence. She quickly pulled away from me and adjusted herself.
"Ah, there you two are." My husband says as he walks past the last row of plants. "Did you two have a lovely evening?" He asks my little darling.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Malfoy. You both are such incredible hosts." She says, but she looks at me at the mention of incredible.
"Well we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow, so I suggest you get your rest in." Lucius says smiling at her.
"I will help get her to bed." I say, walking past my husband. "I still need to check if Draco has eaten. Come along now dear." I say to her.
"Thank you again, Mr. Malfoy." She said as she came after me.
MC's POV
Narcissa had indeed helped me get to the room again. The manor was large enough for me to get lost in, so her help in navigating it was very much appreciated.
"Well, I guess this is good night darling." She says, preparing to leave.
"Narcissa, wait!" I say walking after her.
"Yes, darling?" She turns back to me.
"I-uh, good night, Narcissa. Thank you again for the necklace." I say to her.
She smiles, "You are absolutely welcome, I meant it when I said that it looks lovely on you."
I blushed at her words. "Draco told me you have just like it."
It's her turn to blush like I caught her in a secret. "Yes." She said, fishing out the chain and pendant out of her dress. "I had it made for your birthday. I didn't know what gem you would've wanted so I took the liberty of choosing the one I thought suited you most."
I stepped closer to her, reaching out to take her hand in mine. "Thank you again, Narcissa. I liked it. I wore it immediately once I opened it; it's been a sort of lucky charm for me." The moment she smiled at me made me melt.
She leaned in closer taking my face between her hands and looking at me in the eye before kissing my cheek softly. "Good night, darling. I'm just down the hall if you need anything."
She watched me scamper up the stairs to the mezzanine blushing so hard I almost have steam coming out of me.
Narcissa's POV
My heart is thumping exceptionally fast. Like I'm experiencing life for the first time in a long time, and my little Hufflepuff is the cause of it. I smile to myself as I round the corner to Draco's wing. I peered into his room and sure enough dirty dishes were in a try at the foot of his bed. I whip out my wand, banishing the plates to the kitchen as I closed his door.
I walk back to the hall toward my wing, anticipating Lucius already in our bed. To my surprise he is not there, instead, a note was carefully placed on the nightstand that was on my side.
I'll be back in the morning.
That was the note. I sigh, deciding I need a long soak before I sleep.
I stripped off everything I was wearing apart from the necklace around my neck, dipping my legs in the warm water, letting myself get used to the heat on my skin before submerging myself completely; letting the temperature of the water wash away my stress and worries and just let myself relive the image of my little Hufflepuff dart up the stairs with a furious on her cheeks. It made me smile to myself.
I got out of the tub as soon as the water turned tepid to my skin and grabbed the fluffy towel next to me to dry off. I slipped into something appropriate for bed.
For some reason my mind cannot stop replaying the way I kissed her cheek, how my lips just grazed her skin, electrifying me awake when I saw her blushing. "What are you doing to me?" I sigh to myself.
Half past twelve, the clock read on my nightstand. I'm still too awake to lie in my bed. I sigh once more, walking outside my door to go back to the greenhouse to wander and spend this energy that's keeping me up.
MC's POV
I have already showered and changed into my pajamas, but my cheeks are still burning. For some reason, I'm wondering if Narcissa is still awake. I berate myself for wanting to see her. "I'll see her in the morning." I say to myself.
I know I should be sleeping, that I know but I'm still wide awake and couldn't sit still. Deciding to get the remaining energy out of me, I set out to the greenhouse. For some reason, I have packed my herbology book, so I grabbed that too along with my sketch pad to just doodle some plants.
I tried to remember the path that Narcissa and I took from where we had dined earlier, looking for some sort of landmark that I saw earlier that could point me in the right direction in the dark.
I turned some corners and almost got lost, the only thing that had brought me back on the right path was the bust of a Malfoy ancestor smack dab in the middle of the hole in the wall that I remembered separated the house from the entrance to the greenhouse. I entered the greenhouse with my book and sketchpad in my arms, trying to navigate the now seemingly maze-like rows of vegetation.
I settled for one of the plants that had white flowers sprouting at the end, I opened my herbology book looking for the plant in front of me, landing on the Moly plant. I read the inscription on the book once more, remembering how Professor Sprout had discussed their traits and abilities; that if eaten, it could counteract enchantments. I flipped open my sketchbook and landed on a blank page, and started to draw. The pot that it was in, the black stems to the leaves and the white flowers.
I was completely engulfed in the thought and action of drawing that I didn't hear the door to the greenhouse swing open and close. I was only brought back to reality when I heard humming coming from somewhere in the greenhouse.
Almost freaking out that the greenhouse might've been haunted, I tried to locate where the tune was coming from.
Narcissa's POV
The greenhouse always brings me to a much simpler time in my life. Where I danced with Draco amongst the plants in the summer. I found myself humming a particular tune out loud, swaying to the tune, and letting myself be brought back to those simpler times.
I stopped humming when I was alerted by the plants' rustling. Emerging just behind the leaves of my overgrown greens stood my little Hufflepuff, book in hand, eyes bewildered. I stare at her, confused why she's still up and here in the greenhouse.
"Narcissa, it's you." She utters relieved that it was just me. "I almost thought that it was a ghost humming."
I laugh, "Why would a ghost hum?"
She shrugs but smiles after. "Honestly, I don't know." She giggles a little. "Hogwarts ghosts sang. So I don't know what I was thinking." We shared a laugh.
"But, what are you doing here?" We say in unison.
She shook her head. "Not that I'm questioning the owner of the house. Just you know. Inquiring?"
"I could say the same thing for you, darling. What are you doing at this hour?" I ask her, placing a hand on my hip.
"I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to disturb you to see if you were awake." She says, looking at the ground.
"So you wanted to see me? If I was awake I mean." I smile coyly at her.
"Yes, to um..." She pauses. "S-Seeing if you were awake." She continues.
I smile, "Well, we're here now. What did you plan on doing to help you sleep?" I ask her.
"I was just drawing." She mentions, lifting her sketchbook in view. "I was just drawing some of the plants."
We went back to the place where she was previously seated, in front of the Moly plant that I had been tending to before she had come here. We talked about when and how she had started to draw, how her semester at Hogwarts had been, and anything else that came to mind. It had been so easy to open up to her, to speak and for once be heard. She looked me in the eyes while she listened to me recounting Draco's early years at Hogwarts, always complaining about the Potter boy; or asking for new brooms for the Slytherin quidditch team, and so much more. She laughs, and I laugh. And by that time we had felt our legs numbing from sitting on the floor.
"We should probably get up, my legs are dying for blood circulation!" I say to her smiling. She got up first, holding her hand out for me to take, and I did. I almost pulled her back to the floor when I felt a little bit lopsided from the blood returning to my numbing limbs. She caught me by my waist, dropping her stuff in the process as I steadied myself in her grasp.
"Careful." She reminds me.
I must've looked like a schoolgirl again, with my cheeks burning red. "Thank you, darling."
Her hand on my waist lingered for a bit, I had to cough to get her to release her hold. She blushed furiously when she eventually did. "I-I wanted to make sure that you're stable on your feet."
I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, don't look at me like that!" She exclaims, suddenly turning away from me.
"Look like what, darling?" I hum. "I'm just, as you said: inquiring."
We had decided it would be best to stay in her room, she could show me the other works that she had done during her semester at Hogwarts. She opened her pack, I recognized it was the one with an extension charm that she used before. I was amazed at what work she pulled out. Each had a story, some scenery, some creatures seen at Hogwarts grounds, and others are muggles just walking around in the lit background.
I gingerly touch the canvas of her art, feeling the stroke of paint. Thinking of seeing her before in her home, so absorbed in her own world while she swished her brush on the blank space in front of her. I decided to ask her what her works in progress are.
She showed me the works in her sketchbook, skipping on a particular page in it. Intrigued, I inquire about it.
"I haven't colored it in." She says. "I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do it justice without color."
I nod. "Well, when it's ready would you show me?"
She smiles, "I want you to be the first one to see it. But not for now, I promise when it's completed, you would get first dibs at seeing it." She says.
We sat on the couch in the middle of the room, the fire crackling in the fireplace, the quiet and still of the night enveloping us as we sit in comfortable silence. I feel get closer with every shift she does, by her last shift she has her head on my lap, she didn't say anything and just stayed still. I try to ignore the warmth in my cheeks; thankful that her eyes are turned away from me, saving me from being seen like this.
She is being impossibly adorable and impossibly hard to ignore, with every moment I see her or am near her, there is just that some sort of magnetic pull towards her. She makes me laugh so well, and gets along with me so well, despite that I am older and am the wife of a man who is hell-bent on getting her to marry our son. I stroke her hair, as she lay on my lap, her breathing hitched when I tuck in a stray lock of her hair away from her face. She's only looking forward, her face illuminated by the fire.
"Can you stay with me for a while?" She says, just above a whisper.
My heart skips a beat at the uttered words from her lips. "I can do that." I say to her, continuing to run my fingers through her hair.
She turns to face me. "Just, until I fall asleep." She says, eyes glinting in the light of the fire.
I trace my fingers to her chin. "Until you fall asleep," I repeat to her. "I'm not going anywhere until you fall asleep."
She nods and closed her eyes. "Thank you, 'Cissa"
I think my heart stopped, I don't think I'll be able to say good night and go, not now. Not when she wants me here with her.
A/N: See y'all again on Monday! Hope you liked this chapter as well!