Narcissa paced the length of her bedroom in agitation, staring out the window as though doing so would somehow bring him home more quickly. It was late; far too late for him to still be out on business. Draco was asleep, and the rest of the Malfoys were- mercifully- packing in preparation to leave the next morning. But her husband had yet to return.
She dressed for bed distractedly, and once she had climbed between the sheets, she lay wide awake. The blackness pressed against her as completely as it would if her eyelids were closed, and she groped for her wand for a small flicker of light. It never seemed so dark when Lucius was here.
"Lumos," she whispered, dimming the level until it was only a soft glow. However, this threw the objects of the room in eerie relief, and she quickly extinguished it. Narcissa tugged the soft, heavy blankets up to her chin, feeling foolishly like a little girl, afraid of a bump in the night.
A crash caused her to bolt upright with a small scream, but Lucius quickly hushed her.
"Calm down, it's just me. I just- oh, fuck. Narcissa-" There was a dull thud and hollow bang, followed by a low groan. Narcissa relit her wand and stumbled to where Lucius had collapsed. His breathing was fast and shallow, and he struggled to keep his eyes open as he rubbed his head.
"What happened? What's wrong? Are you bleeding? Was it Aurors?"
"No. I..."
She tried to haul him to his feet, but he hissed in pain and placed a stilling hand on her shoulder. "Just let me lie here for a moment."
"Should I get the dittany?"
"No," he sighed, closing his eyes. She knelt down beside him, stroking his hair off his forehead. His head turned to rest against her leg, and he reached up to drape his arm over her lap.
"Tell me what happened?" she prompted gently, hopefully. He gave what might have been a shrug.
"I asked too many questions."
The hand that had been tenderly raking through his hair froze. "You mean... he did this to you?" she demanded in horror. Lucius frowned, and reached up to touch her hand, an indication that she should resume petting him. She did, but wished he would open his eyes to look at her.
"It was my own fault, 'Cissa," he mumbled, rubbing his cheek unconsciously against her. "He gave me a task- I should have obeyed in silence. I was just ..." he drifted off, sighing again.
"Alright, I think I can get up now," he sighed, hauling himself onto one elbow and wincing. Narcissa immediately dropped forward to help, though he was unwilling to rest much weight upon her. They staggered over to the bed, and she began to quickly undress him, wanting to see the extent of his injuries. When she managed to remove his outer robes, a small object fell to the floor with a thud. Unusually drawn towards it, Narcissa bent to pick it up.
"Don't touch it!" Lucius gasped, lifting his head. Narcissa quickly withdrew her hand.
"What is it?"
Lucius gave a brief, mirthless laugh. About an hour ago, he'd asked the same question, with the same innocent curiosity; and now, he could scarcely stand.
"I'm not sure. And I apparently wasn't meant to ask. Just to hide it, and keep it safe. I suppose it must hold a great deal of Dark Magic, so you'd probably be better off not to touch it."
"But... It just looks like a harmless old book!"
"I can guarantee that it is not. Narcissa, love..." he broke of on a pained note, and she turned back guiltily.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Here..." She continued undressing him, but she could find nothing but several bruises that, while quite colorful, did not look extensive enough to be causing so much pain.
"Lucius..." She let her fingers drift over his chest, scowling. "The Cruciatus Curse?" she guessed. He nodded once. "Isn't there anything I can do to help?"
"I'll be fine after a bit of sleep, I promise."
Narcissa dipped her head to press a tiny kiss to the hollow of his throat, tracing a trail up to the tender spot beneath his ear with her lips. "I still don't like it," she breathed softly in his ear, sucking lightly on the lobe. He hummed in approval, though she could not tell if he was showing appreciation for her words or ministrations. She smoothed her palms down his chest, and her mouth followed close after. However, as she moved downward, she noticed something rather odd. He didn't seem to be responding.
"Lucius?" she glanced up at his face, baffled. He was fast asleep. Smiling with wry affection, Narcissa crawled back beside him, snuggling up to his warmth and closing her eyes.
When Narcissa awoke the next morning, the robes and the diary were gone. She stretched her arms above her head, staring rather mournfully at the empty spot beside her until she heard a bright, cooing sound from the bathroom. She kicked the sheets aside and padded over to the door to investigate.
Lucius was shaving, and Draco sat on the marble counter top watching him with a face covered in shaving cream and an enormous, toothless grin. The little blonde wore only his diaper, and had smears of fluffy white foam all over his body. As Narcissa watched, Draco held out his hands and Lucius, without pausing in his neat, precise movements, or even looking away from the mirror, dispersed another snowy gob onto the boy's chubby fingers. Draco shrieked in delight, and buried his face in the cream. Lucius finished shaving and carefully rinsed his face and razor before turning to his son.
"Now, look at the mess you've made," he drawled coolly, though his eyes shone with amusement. He scooped up the child, and Draco began to unintentionally transfer the foam from himself to his father through his eager flailing. Lucius laughed, which caused Draco to dissolve into uncontrollable giggles and tip forward so that Lucius wrapped his arms around him.
"What a mess, what a mess," Lucius murmured, working the messy cream into Draco's hair before carrying him over to the tub. "Now, Mummy with be up soon, and you don't want her to see you like this, do you?"
Draco babbled in reply as Lucius turned on the water and began to wash the shaving cream away.
"Mummy's already awake," Narcissa spoke at last, edging into the room with a smile. "But she doesn't mind the mess."
Lucius flashed her a quick grin and finished rinsing off their son. Narcissa held a towel up, and Lucius handed placed him in her arms so she could bundle him up and kiss his forehead.
"How is my darling little angel this morning?" she asked, stroking Draco's cheek with one finger. "How perfect you are, my baby." She turned back to Lucius, who'd moved to the sink to wash himself off.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Much," he replied briefly, but when he looked up at her, he smiled gently. "I have to go into town today, but I should be home for dinner."
She nodded, sliding forward and into his arms.
"Will you be able to keep yourself amused until then?"
"Oh, I suppose," she sighed playfully. "I think Draco and I shall spend the day over at the Lestrange's."
"Your sister's?"
"No, Rabastan and Lyssa's, actually. Rabby'll probably be out, though."
"Did I mention that I'm glad you have friends who are not Bellatrix?"
She laughed and stood on her toes to give him a quick peck. "One or twice. But you should go get ready now; you missed a spot of shaving cream."
Narcissa returned home that evening in a positively jovial mood. Abraxas, Aethel and the girls had left that morning, much to Narcissa's suppressed delight (though she was rather sad, once again, to see Abraxas go). Because of this, she had no compunctions towards entering the Manor singing.
"Lucius! Are you here? I'm home!" She did not receive a reply, and supposed that he must be working late. She began singing once more, and Draco smiled up at her. She nuzzled her nose to his, but when she glanced back up, she froze.
An unfamiliar woman stood in the doorway of her husband's study. She had not yet noticed Narcissa, as she was leaning into the study, laughing and running her hand through her hair. She was not dressed formally enough to be any sort of diplomat or business associate, and besides, she certainly wasn't a day over twenty five.
The woman straightened up, turned into the hall and froze, a look of evident guilt flitting across her features. She cleared her throat awkwardly, and fiddled with her clutch as she quickly strode past Narcissa and out the door.
Narcissa stood rooted to the stop, scarcely able to breathe. She didn't move until Draco began to squirm restlessly, and then strode quickly into Lucius's study.
"Who was that?" she demanded without prelude, tone harsh. Lucius looked up from his writing, startled.
"Who?"
"That woman! That woman who was just her, who was she?"
"Er... Miss Wainsworth? Something Wainsworth? Mary? Marissa? She's Edward Abbott's secretary." He shrugged, baffled by her apparent anger.
"Why was she here?"
"She was delivering some important documents," Lucius replied, confusion growing. "Narcissa, what's-"
"Why couldn't he owl them? Or give them to you in the office? Or send over an elf?"
Lucius rose, by now deeply concerned. "They're very important documents, and time sensitive, so he couldn't risk the delay of an owl. He didn't give them to me in London because he just finished writing the reports. And he doesn't have and elf; not everyone does, dear. What's wrong?"
"I just..." she glanced down at Draco, feeling slightly embarrassed. "She gave me this look when she was walking out."
"A look?" he echoed uncertainly.
"Forget it," she muttered, busying herself busy fussing over Draco.
"Surely you aren't... jealous?" he guessed tentatively.
"No," she shot back, too quickly. "I just didn't know what to think," she confessed at last.
"Don't think that," he told her swiftly. He gave a short, bemused chuckle that caused her to glare. He quickly suppressed his amusement. "I'm sorry, but darling, I can't even imagine why that would cross your mind."
"It's not so unreasonable. You-"
"Yes, it is unreasonable. I don't give a damn if I'm rich or young or what sort of reputation men of the Malfoy family have. I am still me, and you are still you, and so yes, the idea is incredibly unreasonable. Never think it again."
Reassured, Narcissa beamed up at him. "Well, yes, alright."
She moved forward to kiss him, but in her arms, Draco sneezed. She stopped mid-step.
"Oh! Did you hear that? I think he's ill!"
"It was just a sneeze, darling."
"No, he looks all drowsy and he's been restless today- I think he's getting a cold!"
"Most children do," he told her, but leaned over in concern nonetheless.
"But our child shouldn't! Can we give him Pepperup Potion?"
"No, I've read that the side effect steam can damage the eardrum of infants up until they're three years old."
"What can I do then?"
"See if he'll eat, and then put him to bed?" Lucius suggested. "There isn't much else to be done, I'm afraid."
That evening, Lucius crawled into bed beside Narcissa, and leaned over to kiss her. She returned the kiss, somewhat absent mindedly, but when he did not draw away, and his hand found her waist, she brushed him aside gently.
"Not tonight," she murmured.
He withdrew immediately. Narcissa sank back into the pillows, lost in thought, until Lucius broke the silence.
"Is it because of Abbott's secretary?"
Narcissa eyes opened in surprise. "What?"
"Are you still upset about Abbott's secretary being here this afternoon?"
"Of course not. Why do you ask?"
"Well," he exhaled slowly, rubbing his face before looking over at her. "You haven't not wanted to have sex since... well. I thought maybe I'd done something to upset you."
"Darling!" she propped herself up on one elbow so she could kiss him once more. "I'm worried about Draco, is all. And my head feels rather congested- I may be coming down with the same thing."
He nodded, looking reassured, and Narcissa settled against him to further iterate her honesty. He was right- they'd made love nearly every single night since they'd first really started, though she was somewhat saddened to see the return of his old insecurity in the face of her gentle rebuff.
"Good night, Lucius."
The next morning, Narcissa woke to a throbbing head ache and found that she was unable to breathe through her nose. She groaned as she sat up, but unlike her small son, was able to take a potion to quickly clear away the cold symptoms. She trudged to the bathroom, praying that Lucius had some, sneezing loudly as she went.
The potions cabinet was meticulously organized. Each bottle was of uniform size, and labeled in Lucius's neat script. He'd also arranged them alphabetically. While normally this would cause her to roll her eyes, she was grateful to quickly locate the 'P's, and found a full bottle of bright orange Pepperup Potion. She took a good sized gulp, not bothering to measure it out, and cringed as an enormous puff of steam shot out each ear. However, once the steam cleared, she felt marginally better. She re-corked the vial, but as she set it back in its allotted place, she noticed something rather odd. In the back corner of the cabinet, a glass beaker, smaller than the others, was turned on its side, as though Lucius had tried to cram it out of the way. She reached for it curiously, and when she read the label, attached by the apothecary, her jaw dropped.
"Feeling better?" Lucius entered the lavatory rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Good to see you found the potion-"
"Lucius, what is this?" she demanded, spinning around and holding out the bottle, which was about halfway full of a bright blue serum.
Upon seeing it, Lucius flushed and snatched it out of her hand. "It's nothing. I forgot I still had it," he muttered, fisting his hand around the glass.
"Nothing? It's an arousal potion, Lucius. Why do you need-"
"I don't!" he snapped, but was still unable to meet her eye from shame.
"I didn't realize you were using-"
"I'm not using it! It's... I thought I'd gotten rid of it." As he spoke, his fist tightened, and she saw the blue potion run over his hand, mixed with blood from where the broken glass cut his palm.
"I don't understand."
"You said..." he exhaled sharply. "You thought I..." He broke off again. "You told your sister that I essentially raped you. I knew you weren't enjoying yourself, but after I read that, I couldn't even... I didn't want to hurt you, but we still needed a baby," he finished weakly.
There was a long, uncomfortable stretch of silence. Lucius dropped the shards of glass into the sink as he rinsed his hand, still avoiding her gaze.
"I'm sorry," Narcissa whispered at last, moving forward to wrap her arms around his waist and rest against his back. "I'm so sorry. I was horrible to you."
Lucius shrugged, replying rather morosely, "You were hurting. You were lonely here."
"But if I'd just let you love me! If I hadn't set myself against you from the start, then everything would've been so much easier!"
He shrugged again, and Narcissa pressed her lips to the back of his neck.
"I know better now," she assured him.
"I'm glad," he murmured, running his uninjured hand gently over her arms, but still frowning.
"Don't look like that," she pleaded, kissing him again. "Smile. I love your smile."
In the mirror, he glanced up, startled but pleased. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards, but it was not the full-blown grin she'd hoped for. She slipped in front of him, placing a hand on either side of his face and gazing up at him seriously. "Lucius-" She broke off as a large cloud of steam emitted from her ears. He burst into laughter, and she ducked away in a playful huff.
"Come back," he chuckled, catching her by the waist and spinning her around for a kiss. She complied, giggling as her showered her jaw and throat with tiny pecks. "You're beautiful," he whispered.
"You're wonderful," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her and carried her back to bed, setting her down and moving his mouth from her shoulder down her arm. "I mean that," she continued as he kissed each finger. "You're a wonderful father; Draco just adores you. And you make me so happy." She sat up suddenly, eyes wide. He paused, lips against her palm.
"Problem?"
"Lucius," she shifted so they were sitting side by side, and stared at him in wonder. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
(A/N: No angst yet, guys, but setting up for it! Thanks for your continued patience and reviews)