The next morning, I wasn't nearly as ecstatic about that cake as I had been before. In fact, I had rather taken my time in getting out of bed. However, as I started my shower, I caught onto the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs. Mother and father knew I was awake, and they no doubt had instructed the elf to cook up my favorite for the morning: bacon omelettes and pancakes. There was only a slight bounce to my step as I came out into the hallway in my favorite, blue dress - not the one Bellatrix had gotten for me, which was left in the cedar chest in my bedroom with the rest of the junk I decided I didn't need.
I could hear Andromeda in her room. She was shuffling around behind the closed door just as she had been for these past few days. I knew she was busy packing - far too busy to pay her sister any mind on her sixteenth birthday. Not that it mattered to me. She was still nothing more than a blood traitor in my eyes. I didn't need her attention. Let her grovel at Ted Tonks's feet like a lovesick dog.
I barely made it to the bottom of the stairs when my yellow-haired mother had appeared at the doorway leading into the living room. "There she is," she said with a smile. As always, Druella Black held herself high. She was the perfect image of a proper lady in the Black family. I always hoped she recognized herself in me, and so I did what I could to act like her. Now, I had all the more reason to. I was a young woman, and it was time that I started making a name for myself.
"Your guest has been waiting on you, Narcissa."
"Guest?" My footsteps paused as I reached the last step. Bellatrix had already visited me yesterday, though that was a less than welcoming reunion. Who else could possibly want to come see me?
"Come here," she said, gesturing for me to follow her into the living room. Before I even quite reached the archway that would take me into the spacious lounge, I felt a lump developing in my throat. The familiar set of sunshine-blond hair instantly made my heart quicken a bit. There was no doubt in my mind now who it was that sat on the sofa, looking at this morning's issue of The Daily Prophet. "Look who has finally decided to bless us with her presence," mother introduced as she led me into the room.
"Ah, there she is," said the tall man that was just opening up the earthen shades to let the sun shine into the room. My father was not frequently found smiling, but I could consider it a present just to see him do so now as he turned his mustached grin to me.
"Good morning," I murmured, though I wasn't certain as to how to approach Lucius, who was just setting down the paper and standing up from the sofa. After what I had discovered yesterday, I didn't know whether to hate him or just be afraid of him. Of course, I didn't want to be rude. "It's good to see you, Lucius," I said to him. It wasn't until after I addressed him that I saw another pair standing off to the side of the room. There was a man with short, grayish hair. He had facial hair along his mouth and the sides of his face, though there was no denying that this was Lucius's father. He wore fine, dark robes, and he held a cane with the handle of a snake's head. The woman in the green gown beside him was almost the splitting image of my own mother; had I not done a double-take, I might have made the mistake of identifying her incorrectly. This had to be his wife.
"Narcissa, this is Abraxas and Avelina Malfoy," my father said. "They've come from Wiltshire so we could all share some very important news."
Just when the beating of my heart seemed to have steadied, it picked back up like a war drum again. I had seen this twice before with my sisters. I had been present when the Lestranges came to visit. It had been established among Rodolphus's parents and mine that he and Bellatrix would be wedded. The ring came shortly afterwards - within a matter of days. With Andromeda, it was a similar scenario with the Macnairs. However, the moment that Andromeda returned to Hogwarts, she had taken the ring off. I saw the way it bothered her, being betrothed to a man she didn't love...but it was necessary to the family.
Now, it was my turn, and while a few days ago, when I had been naive enough to not know Lucius was a Death Eater, I might have been perfectly fine with this arrangement. Right now, I was still feeling pretty raw about it. I didn't hate the man - not that I felt that I hated Bellatrix - but nor was I exactly pleased with how he had kept this from me.
"It's good to meet you." I think I may have stumbled on my words a little, but it didn't seem like any of them had noticed. I didn't care if they had or hadn't - we Black daughters were prone to being dragged into forced marriages. I know I wasn't the first one to show displeasure about it, so there was no point in trying to get them to change their minds. Arranged marriages had been a practice of my family for many, many decades.
We all had morning tea together; I sat with Lucius while my mother and father sat across from us. Abraxas and Avelina Malfoy sat separately in arm chairs. All Lucius's father seemed capable of talking about was himself - though he did sometimes praise his son for how exceptional he was at working within the Ministry of Magic. I was relatively uninterested, and I had a notion that my parents were simply pretending to be. After all, they would be family - we were going to have to tolerate them. Avelina had nothing to say; she even appeared annoyed with the topic her husband initiated. At times, when Abraxas's cockiness shone through, I swore I saw her roll her eyes. It became apparent to me that these two didn't marry because of love, either. It all had everything to do with money.
Father eventually buttered in about his own job in management of St. Mungo's Hospital. Not that he was particularly braggadocios, but I assumed that more than anything, he was tired of hearing Abraxas talk. No one addressed the uneasiness, but Avelina looked ready to steer from it when she turned to my mother. "Druella, dear, would you mind showing me the garden? It looks quite lovely from afar-"
"Of course, Avelina." Both blonde women seemed eager to make their escape from their husbands' bantering. I watched as the other woman stopped in her tracks, having nearly trampled over the cat that hurried into the room. She held a look of distaste towards the feline, and at first, I was bothered by the sour expression. I could never get along with someone that didn't like cats.
Soon, Alice was looking up at me from the ground, licking her chops with bright, green eyes. She clearly wanted up on my lap, and so I was happy to direct my attention to her. Patting my skirt, I invited her to hop up, and she did so gleefully. During this distraction, both Cygnus and Mr. Malfoy were now excusing themselves from the room. I could only assume that my father was leading him off to another room in the house, perhaps for an opportunity to talk about himself for a change.
Now, it left only me and Lucius sitting on the couch, along with Alice purring in my lap.
Somehow, I anticipated it would come down to this. I didn't require a crystal ball to see this coming. Yet, I hadn't planned on how to talk to him now that I knew what he had been keeping from me. How long would it be before he confessed? Would he ever? Did he know that I knew?
"I see you're wearing the necklace I gave you," he said. The statement threw off my guard a bit. I wouldn't say I felt bad that I was ready to bite his head off when he had given such a nice gesture, but I was at least a little more reluctant. I rarely took off the cat pendant; like who it represented, it was close to my heart (though in this case, quite literally).
"It's nice," I answered, caressing the chain briefly. "Thank you." The spark that was inside of me had dissipated. I still wanted to open up - to tell him what I had learned, and this was probably the best time to do it, while our parents were absent. The only one listening in would have been Alice, and she certainly didn't care about my rantings. She just wanted a nap.
"Bellatrix told me you're a Death Eater," I said. It took a little effort to keep my voice even, but stroking the sleepy animal's head seemed to help. Lucius's response didn't come right away, but it was equally as calm when it finally did.
"I thought she might. Your sister isn't very good with secrets."
"Was that it, then?" I asked, raising my eyes slightly. "You were going to keep it from me?" I realized then that the volume of my voice had raised a bit, though not yet significantly. If this was going to be my future husband, I needed to control my anger.
"I was going to tell you myself. Today," he said matter-of-factly. "I didn't want to tell you through a letter. That would have been ridiculous."
Silence followed. Perhaps he was right to wait to tell me. I understood his reasoning, but I still felt betrayed. That seemed to have been happening a lot lately. One wave of deceit after enough - first Bellatrix, then Andromeda... My sisters had abandoned me to better themselves. Was this what growing up was supposed to look like?
"I'm sorry, Narcissa. I should have told you sooner."
I thought perhaps I heard the sound of my heart breaking off. I shook my head. The fire in me had completely diminished, as if by silent tears. "You do what you need to," I said, my hand falling from Alice's head and onto my lap. "I'll just do my part and be a supportive wife, right?" In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him smile a little. The expression was contagious. Lucius had a way with making me feel like a lady.
"That's all anyone can ask for."
I looked at him directly, pivoting my head slightly. "Is this what you want?" I noticed him pause, and perhaps his response might have been very similar to what I felt.
"I want us to have more time together, to really get to know each other before the ceremony," he said. "I can at least say this isn't what I don't want."
"Fair enough," I replied. Lucius being a Death Eater didn't stop him from being my friend. It didn't destroy the night we shared at the Slug Club party. It didn't burn the letters he sent me afterwards while I attended school.
"Father says he will be hosting a dinner party at the Malfoy Manor to celebrate our engagement. They haven't arranged a date for it yet, but it will likely be sometime in July."
I was no stranger to dinner parties, though being the center of one did make me feel a little nervous. At the same time, it was a bit exciting. I was already reeling through my collection of best dresses in my head, trying to determine which one would flatter me best. However, Alice's stirring had distracted me before she jumped to the ground altogether. "I'm sure it will be nice," I answered, picking off a couple of stray, white hairs from my skirt. At least I knew which dress I wasn't going to wear.
"May I call on you, perhaps this weekend?" Lucius then asked. I wanted to giggle a bit, feeling like a governor's daughter with the way he addressed me. Still, I looked forward to getting to know more of Lucius's better side. Perhaps there was still a chance I could overlook the darkness in him.
"You may."