Chapter Eighteen
A/N: Thank you to MariaStorm for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate your feedback!
Much more time had passed, and the summer solstice had rolled around, a traditional time of celebration in the Wizarding World. Pureblood society had always celebrated to a great extent, when it came to ancient practices such as the solstices, and the prominent families of the circle had always taken it in turns to host the celebrations. This time, it had fallen to the Malfoys to do so.
The theme, they had decided, would be of a Venetian idea, a concept which Narcissa had thought up and planned for, in order to take her mind off of her mother's awful demise in the flames. It had been no trouble for her, as she very much enjoyed such occasions, as she had done since her childhood, and so she most likely would have volunteered to take charge of the events, even if she had not had so much to put to the back of her mind.
When the morning before the event had finally come, Narcissa had both her House Elves, not to mention the ten she had borrowed from Bellatrix, who intensely disliked doing anything for herself, thus having acquired so many of the servants, working flat out on decorating the ballroom, so that it would be a sight to be seen at that evening's soiree. There were silken curtains in rich colours draped around the room, giving it a sense of a beautiful atmosphere, and the doors leading onto the grand balcony were to be thrown open, so that the fabrics would flutter in the light summer breeze.
The garden had also been decorated, and contained hundreds upon hundreds of candles, all of which would be lit and placed under a charm to remain so, giving the garden a glow akin to that of the streets of Venice itself, a beautiful place to behold at the worst of times, let alone at the best, the time which this soiree was designed to represent. Every rose had been groomed to perfection by herself, and she had ensured that there was not a single flower petal out of place. After all, given that the real purpose behind these gatherings was not to make new friends and mingle, but to see how extravagant the parties of the various families could be, something she knew from her mother having hosted a winter ball so many years ago, she and Lucius, particularly the latter, wished for everyone to know that the Malfoys parties would be the best, as they always had been.
"I think that you are worrying far too much about this party, you know, Cissa." Lucius had told her, far more often than she would have wanted, but he had merely been concerned for her welfare. After all, she had been working tirelessly on the planning, and she had hardly eaten in that time, nor had she really stopped to rest, but she did not mind. It was what she wanted, and so she had continued with her own agenda.
Once that evening had rolled around, Narcissa moved around the ballroom with ease, relief flooding her as the party continued with a hitch. Everyone was well dressed, everyone was having a good time, and for her, that was more than enough.
Subconsciously, the woman brushed her hands along the fabric of her ball gown, a beautiful and extravagant creation that Lucius had left on the door of her wardrobe, in the dressing room that she had to the side of their bedroom. It was made of fine silk, that much was obvious from the first touch, and the bodice and outer layer were coloured a beautiful shade of turquoise, a shade that her husband had often said complimented the colour of her eyes, one of the things that she knew he loved the most about her appearance. The underskirt, which was easily visible from the front of the dress, as the outer layer of fabric had a split in it, instead sweeping along the sides and the back of the gown, was made of cloth of silver, a beautiful contrasting shine, and it was the precise shade of the thread which laced the corset, and which edged the sleeves. She wore with it a silver necklace inset with sapphires, the same jewels which adorned her silver mask. It was the most beautiful gown she had ever worn, bar her wedding dress, of course, but Narcissa was not really concentrating it. Instead, she was attempting to find the man who was dressed in matching colours to hers.
Then a man caught her eye. He was wearing a suit made of cloth of silver, completed with a blue waistcoat and cravat. His hair, long and sleek, was tied back from his face with a blue ribbon, and his mask was sapphire coloured, adorned with silver thread and jewels of the same name as the shade. He was dressed in the exact opposite of her own attire, but nonetheless, the woman was certain that it was her husband who she saw. There was a tingle of magic that ran through her veins whenever she caught his eye, and that could not be replicated by anyone.
"Good evening, Madame." the man greeted in a low whisper, once he had come close enough to her to take her hand, leading her onto the dance floor and pulling her into the correct position for the Argentine tango, to match the sensual music which was playing.
"Good evening, sir." she responded, a little breathless, but she did not wish to seem the weaker one. After all, they were having such a brilliant time, and she thought that she should play along to the façade, merely for the fun of it.
No other words were exchanged between them, but their eyes, their lingering gaze, conveyed messages that did not need to be spoken to be said, and when the time finally came for their masks to be removed, so that the occupants of the room could know who they had been dancing with, the two did not do so, instead leaning forwards and sharing a kiss, the moon reflecting in the jewels adorning their masks.
Finally, after all this time, Narcissa felt that she had begun to move on with her life.
A/N: I wanted Narcissa to have a nice time for once. Just so that you know, I am writing a great deal of filler chapters for this story, as I feel that it is a great deal too rushed, so if you have anything you want to see in this story, add it to a review!