For a split second, Narcissa couldn't breathe. Then, the air expelled from her lungs in a little laugh. She sat back calmly.
"Oh, Lyssa. You scared me for a moment. I don't know what hateful gossip you've been listening to, but it's not true. Lucius love me more than words, and nothing would ever make him be unfaithful. He'd die first." There was no trace of doubt in her tone.
"Oh, Cissy," she wiped tears from her face. "I thought so, too. I didn't believe it either, but... oh, I've got to show you this. Can I come over?"
"Of course, Lyssa," she permitted, stepping back. "Now, listen," she murmured patiently when Lysandra appeared before her in entirety. "Calm down. Lucius and I are-"
"Look at this, Narcissa!" she cried, thrusting what seemed to be a small vial in her hand. "This!"
The corked bottle contained a silvery substance Narcissa knew immediately to be a memory.
"Whose is it? What's it of?"
"This horrible girl I know... she was in Madam Malkins with a friend, and I heard her bragging, bragging, Narcissa! in her horrid nasally voice about how she'd... she'd... she had sex with your husband, Cissy! I immediately walked over and told her she was wrong, that I knew both Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, and that that would never happen! We argued for a while, and she finally gave me this... It makes me sick to watch, but you have to see!"
Frowning, Narcissa found a decorative bowl on a nearby table. "Alright, Lyssa, but it in here, and I'll look. But remember, memories can be forged, you know."
"I do know Cissy, but there's just too much... detail," she finished in a devastated whisper.
"Let's go, then." Narcissa placed her face near the surface of the pseudo-pensieve, and found herself sucked into a sunny flat. Lysandra landed beside her a second later.
"Oh... oh, Lucius!"
On the floor in front of them, two nude bodies were twisted together, mid-coitus. The woman had blonde curly hair and her face was turned away, and the second was unmistakably Narcissa's husband.
"Oh, Merlin," he gasped, mouth moving hastily over the woman's neck. "You're so beautiful. Perfect."
For a moment, Narcissa thought she might be sick. Her eyes clenched shut, mind rebelling against the scene before her. She tried to remember her own words- memories can be forged.
Her eyes opened, and she forced herself to study any mistakes that would be evidence of a falsified recollection. She ignored the mystery woman and instead focused on Lucius; she knew her husband better than anyone.
There. As soon as she spotted it, tears welled in her eyes. On his left hip there was a long white scar from a childhood injury. Only someone who had seen his naked body would know about the scar, and prior to their marriage, the only woman who'd ever seen Lucius unclothed had been Chelsea. She looked back at the woman, but her face was blocked by Lucius's. However, Narcissa knew Chelsea had brown hair; this woman's was a shimmering blonde. There was only one explanation: this was a different woman entirely.
This was a woman who'd been with Lucius during their marriage.
"Lys," she choked, turning away. "Get us out."
Lysandra quickly obeyed. "Cissy," she whispered as they stumbled back into the Malfoy Manor. "I'm so sorry. I debated whether or not I should tell you, but I felt you deserved to know."
"I don't understand," Narcissa whispered, sinking onto a settee. "He loves me. I know he loves me. He loves me so, so much, and I love him."
Lysandra sat beside her, putting and arm around her shoulder. "Sweetie, I'm sorry."
The minutes ticked by, in silence, and finally, Narcissa rose. "I have to... I have to think."
"Think?"
"I don't know what to do," she confessed. "I can't live without him, and I can't ruin Draco's chances at a normal life, and I can't stand the idea of how our relationship will change once he knows I know. But at the same time... I don't want him to touch me if he's touching other women. I don't even know if I can look at him. I need to think."
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Lysandra offered, but Narcissa was shaking her head before she'd finished the sentence.
"I need to be alone."
Lysandra nodded, rising and sweeping the memory out of the bowl and into the glass once more.
"Will you leave it, Lyssa?"
She grimaced. "Cissy, don't do that to yourself. Watching it again won't help anything. I'll hold onto in case... well, divorce courts being what they are... if you decide to go that way, I mean. But it'll only hurt you if I leave this here."
Narcissa shrugged in defeat, knowing she was right.
"I'll check up on you tomorrow. Or how about you floo me when you've figured out what to do?" She gave Narcissa a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm so, so sorry. I'll see you later. Tell me if there's anything I can do." She paused just before stepping into the flames. "Maybe he's at work still? Going to his office might be a good idea."
After she left, Narcissa's feet led her blindly to the bedroom she and Lucius shared. She fell onto the bed without undressing, still fighting to fend off the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. This had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Perhaps there'd been another girl, before they'd met? After all, Lucius hadn't been wearing his wedding band in the memory...
But then, he wouldn't be, would he? If he was having an affair? prodded a sly voice that sounded suspiciously like Bella. And even if it was before you two married, he still lied about his past, so what else could he be hiding?
This was Lucius, though! This was her husband who'd begged her to say she would have chosen to be his wife, the man who'd confessed that he need her more than anything, that he was nothing without her.
Think. Remember when you suspected before. That woman who looked guilty that day... what were his exact words after she'd left? Never even think it? That wasn't a denial, not exactly... And you've seen him lie. He does it without flaw.
That's absurd. He meant that the idea of his infidelity was laughable. And then he went on to talk about his old secretary.
Lucius loved her. He had to love her. Everything their relationship was built on was founded in his unwavering love for her.
Lust and love are two very different things. He was never touched as a child- maybe he views physical intimacy as an indiscriminate thing, to be gotten wherever available?
No, no, it was precisely the opposite! His lack of physical relations had made him value theirs above all else. Lucius and infidelity were simply two irreconcilable ideas.
Narcissa longed for him to return home, so she could demand the truth. But the hours stretched on, and there was no sign of him, even as dawn approached. She tended to Draco when he woke, but by eight was forced to admit that Lucius would be either on an extended mission or back at the Ministry by now, and not returning home.
Or with another woman.
Narcissa grit her teeth. She'd spent the whole night in miserable worry, and could not bear another moment of uncertainty. There was only one option left.
"Lyssa?"
"Oh, honey, what did you decide?"
"Nothing, yet. Lucius never came home last night. Will you watch Draco? I'm going to go find him at work. I think you're right. I can't just sit around waiting."
"Good idea," Lysandra replied emphatically, lifting Draco into her arms. "And decide what to say there?"
Narcissa nodded. "I just feel like I must be missing something. That memory... it can't be right. You don't understand his past, what he's been through... he loves me too much for this. It just doesn't make sense."
"What about his past?" she asked curiously, but Narcissa shook her head.
"It was just... difficult. I have to go."
"Good luck, Cissy!"
Narcissa elected to floo directly to the Ministry. She'd been only a handful of times, and was slightly disoriented when she emerged from one of the many grates on the left side of the Atrium. She quickly straightened her hair and headed purposefully to the golden gate where witches and wizards were registering their wands.
"Name?"
"Narcissa Malfoy."
"Wand... Elm, ten inches, unicorn hair core?"
"Correct."
"What's your business in the Ministry today?"
"I need to visit my husband."
The watchwizard consulted a file.
"Lucius Malfoy?"
"Yes."
"Level one, office twelve."
"Thank you." She noted a change in the tone of his voice; an increased subservience. Narcissa lofted her chin and continued along. She selected an empty lift, and pressed the button for level one. The contraption shuddered upwards, and ground to a halt at the highest floor.
The office space was elegant and quiet; few had the privilege to work on this level. She glanced down the row of doors, which ended in a single mahogany door protected by what seemed to be a waterfall, but Narcissa knew to be a Thief's Downfall. Narcissa supposed this led to the Minister's private chambers, but was too distracted to care.
A door labeled with the number fifteen was to her left, fourteen to her right, and office number twelve directly beside it. Narcissa heart was pounding in her throat as the turned the brass handle.
She did not open immediately to Lucius's workspace; instead, small room with a desk and secretary needed to be passed to reach the second closed door, which presumably led to her husband. The secretary glanced up in surprise, and Narcissa couldn't help but to stare in shock as well.
The witch looked to be about twenty, with long dark hair and large brown eyes. After a moment, she smiled widely at Narcissa.
"Do you have an appointment with Mr. Malfoy?"
Narcissa couldn't speak. She remembered Lucius's words all too clearly: She's ninety four. Her name is Bertha Hopkirk, and she's been working different secretarial posts at the Ministry since the late eighteen hundreds.
Perhaps Bertha was out sick today? But her stomach sank as the read the engraved nameplate prominently displayed on the desk: Roseanne Clarence.
So he'd lied about that, too. Narcissa's head was spinning. She needed to get out.
"No, wrong office, sorry," she managed, stumbling inelegantly out the door.