Chapter Twenty Seven

A/N: No reviewers.

A storm was brewing outside the gates of Malfoy Manor, and as Narcissa watched it at the window seat, she hoped and prayed that it would not come any closer. The fire was roaring in the grate, to combat the cold of the space next to the pane of glass, but still the woman found herself shivering. The child was restless in her belly, as if it sensed the danger outside, and no matter how she tried, she could not soothe the baby's fear, any more than she could soothe her own.

Lucius had always been able to calm her when she was so fretful, taking her in his arms and whispering sweet nothings in her ears until she felt that she had been foolish to worry all along. But Lucius was not here. He was never here anymore.

In recent times, the Dark Lord had sent his Death Eaters on more and more missions, trying to gather information about the movements of the growing opposing force, the Order of the Phoenix. Narcissa still shivered at that name, remembering what Sirius had done to her first child. She wrapped both arms tight around her belly, as if by thinking of the child she had lost, she would put the one she carried in equal danger.

Narcissa felt her eyelids droop a little and blinked rapidly to force the tiredness away. The moon was high in the sky- it was late, perhaps even early in the morning by now- and yet still the woman refused to go to bed. 'I would never sleep in any case,' she reasoned, whenever the temptation arose to retire. 'Not unless I know he is safe and well.'

And so she waited, staring out into the darkness as if the force of her concentration would summon her husband out of thin air. She had done this many a time and knew, of course, that it would never work, but somehow it made her feel a little better. At least this way, she would see him as soon as he arrived.

Suddenly, as if by magic, a figure appeared from a cloud of smoke just outside the gates of the Manor, passing through them in an instant. Narcissa exhaled sharply, a smile spreading across her face, before bolting for the door, running as quickly as she was able to with the sizeable bulge in her stomach.

By the time she reached the foot of the staircase, the door was swinging open and it took just a moment for her to have thrown herself into the arms of the man in the dark robes. Pulling the white bone mask from his face, Lucius held her tightly in return.

This was a familiar routine for them by now. Each time Lucius went on a raid, he would rush from the gates to reach her and Narcissa would catapult herself down the staircase and into his arms. Of course, that had become a little more difficult of late; she could feel the baby wriggling in complaint inside her stomach, but for once she found herself able to ignore the child, for she wanted to revel in this moment of knowing her husband was safe once again.

Narcissa clung tightly to Lucius for longer than she would admit; it seemed that each time he returned to her, she held him tighter, for fear that next time he would not be so lucky.

"It's alright, Cissa. There is nothing to fear." Lucius soothed, stroking his wife's hair lightly, occasionally catching stands between his fingers and holding it up to the moonlight, committing the golden sheen of it to memory. Whenever he had to leave her, he recalled every detail of his wife, each one convincing him more that he must return to her unharmed.

Narcissa jerked backwards, her eyes wide. She was staring at Lucius as if he were a caged animal, springing from a trap to come and devour her.

"Nothing to fear?" she asked incredulously. "Nothing to fear?! I watch you leave me nigh on every night, not knowing whether you'll come home to me again. And every moment I wait for you, the most terrible things are running through my mind, images of what could have happened to you, what would happen to me and to our child if you died on the battlefield. There may be nothing to fear for you, Lucius, with the intensity of battle and bloodlust around you, but I can assure you, there is a great deal for me."

With that, she turned on her heel, abandoning Lucius to the cold empty hallway. He tried to call after her, to apologise, but she did not even turn her head. Instead, she returned to her spot on the window seat, leaned heavily against the glass and stared out at the countryside beyond. The rain had begun to fall now and if she tried hard enough, Narcissa could forget to notice that paths of water were trailing on the inside of the windowpane as well as the outside.

For all she had thought he would, Lucius did not come to her. She could hear him moving about towards the centre of the manor, where she had left him, for the rooms were all so spacious that even the quietest of movements became a cacophany of sounds. Eventually, the footsteps ceased and all she was left with was silence and the pattering of the raindrops outside.

After an hour or so had passed, Narcissa heard a creaking sound from beneath her and her eyes grew wide. The door had opened and a few seconds later she saw that Lucius had strolled through it. 'He's not been called by the Dark Lord.' she knew. 'He's just angry with me.'

Sighing, Narcissa turned from the window, ignoring the sharp pain that had surfaced in her abdomen. It seemed that the baby was not as forgiving as she was.

She looked towards the clock chiming on the wall; it read three o'clock. Another day had come, another day when her husband left her to fend for herself. But it was only the same routine as she had become accustomed to; she supposed that she would be alright on her own until Lucius had calmed.

No one knows the importance of days before they become important and thus Narcissa did not know that this was not another ordinary day.

June 5th 1980.

A/N: Uh oh! Please review!