Chapter Fifteen

A/N: Thanks to NicoleKidmanFanxD for reviewing the last chapter.

Narcissa had hardly begun to recover from the pain of that terrible night, when the first link of a chain had been forged in the terrible fires, when another flame hit her far closer to home.

Lucius had, once again, not returned home from his work at the Ministry that night, even though the clock had long since chimed the arrival of midnight, and once again, his wife knew precisely why he had been delayed returning to her. She did not like the reason at all, and he had not informed her of such, but she knew all the same.

That night, Narcissa had elected to sit beside the window, rather than facing the fire, as she usually did while left alone, despite the fact that the violent storm raging outside was making it quite freezing to do so. She had done so, as something had not felt right when he had left. Of course, it never felt quite right when Lucius left to attend to his Dark Lord's wishes, but this night had felt different somehow. It had felt as if a dark cloud was approaching above them, ready to consume all that they held dear to their hearts. She was slowly losing her husband, and the events of that night would not improve this. They would only make it worse by far.

'He's been gone for a long time.' Narcissa thought, wrapping her arms further around herself, in an effort to stave away the cold that was approaching with each movement of the moon, a coldness not only due to the fire of the room remaining unlit. 'I know that he's normally back by midnight, or just past it. It's nearly one o'clock now, and there is still no sign of him. I'm beginning to worry now. Whenever he stays out late, it is always a sign that something will have gone wrong.'

That thought dragged Narcissa's mind into the depths of terror it usually rested on the edge of during these nights. 'What if he isn't causing the danger? What if he is the one in danger? What if he's been hurt? What if he's been…?'

The blonde could not allow herself to finish the thought, as it would be far too painful to do so. It was that terrible thought that always lingered in the back of her mind, whenever the man was not at home in her eye line. After all, it was a dangerous occupation that her husband had chosen, and she agreed wholeheartedly with the motivation for his fighting, but she did not want him to fight the cause. She wanted him home with her. She wanted him safe. She wanted him alive.

'This is all his fault.' she thought daringly, not thinking of her husband, but of Him. The man who had taken her darling away from her that night, as he had done on so many of the others. Lord Voldemort.

'Why did Lucius ever join him?' she questioned herself, a tear falling from the corner of her eye, dripping down the window that she leant on, as the raindrops did on the other side of the glass. 'He could have supported from a distance, like I have done. He could have put our marriage at a priority and only voiced his support for the man, rather than serving him directly. I don't want to lose him. I wouldn't survive without him, and I don't think he even knows that.'

Narcissa was brought from her emotional thoughts when she heard the door crash loudly to the wall, simultaneous with another crash of thunder in the storm. She near jumped out of her skin at the sound, as she had assumed that she was alone in the house. Preparing to give the offending House-Elf a telling off, the woman was shocked to see that neither Dobby nor Brighty stood in the doorway. Instead, there was a man cloaked in black, with a silver mask obscuring the face beneath the hood. The blonde was not fearful, however, as she knew precisely who the man was, even before he removed the disguise.

"You're home." she sighed, with a smile on her face, hurrying across the room to wrap her arms around the figure, burying her face in his chest. Relieved to be home, the man immediately removed his mask and hood, revealing his face to be that of Lucius Malfoy.

"Of course I'm home. I'm sorry that I couldn't be home sooner, though. I did try." he explained, kissing the top of her head with a great deal of tenderness. He always seemed to be a little more affectionate with her than usual after he had returned from a night of doing his duty for the Dark Lord, which Narcissa suspected was something to do with the guilt of leaving her alone. 'Or the guilt of what he had done.' the voice in the back of her mind told her, though she tried to ignore it. He was home now, with her. Anything that had happened earlier that night no longer mattered.

"That's alright. I forgive you." she told him, attempting to disguise the worry in her voice. Whether she had been unsuccessful or whether he just knew her all too well, Lucius sighed and rested a hand on the woman's cheek.

"Listen, Cissa." he began, using her nickname, even despite the serious nature of the situation. "I know that you're worried about me, I can see it in your eyes. And I want to tell you now that everything is going to be alright. I am going to be careful on missions, I am going to only stay for as long as is needed, and I will come home every night to find you tucked up, asleep in bed, because you remembered the promise I made to you and trusted that I wouldn't break it."

"So, you promise to always come home?" Narcissa questioned. Lucius did not answer, merely pressed his lips to hers.

The promise was enough for her, for now, at least. But across the country, in Lancashire, a house burst into flame, without any warning. From a mile away, you could see the flames and only a little closer you could hear their desperate cries.

The cries of the Rosiers.

A/N: A bit depressing, I know, but still. Please review!