Hey peeps!

Happy May! Hope you're somehow surviving whatever restrictions you're living under. I'm starting to get into a pattern and routine again and my writing is getting done at last so I'm really happy about that. Also getting ahead is never a bad thing!

Stay safe!

Lots of love,

LM xxx

Breaking Traditions-Part 20:

Narcissa had begun to get restless around the Manor but Lucius had been unaware at first as he was at the Ministry a lot as activity had suddenly increased.

The Lady Malfoy had been spending a lot of time with her kitten and reading as Priscilla had slowly begun o decrease her time at the Manor, leaving Narcissa to fill her time in any way she could. She had decided to get herself into a routine of reading, planning her social calendar, playing with the kitten and painting. She was finally beginning to structure her days but was restless in the evenings.

Lucius had noticed this and had spoken to his mother who said that Narcissa needed a distraction and that was when the idea came to me.

"Cissa. Spring is here. Why don't you host a spring ball? You are restless and it's sending me up the wall," Lucius had said one evening before having to reassure her that he was feeling just the same as her.

Narcissa looked before a smile began to grace her face and she nodded and hurried off to her study. Lucius knew to leave her alone and a couple of hours later she would have a rough plan in place for this ball already. Despite them having been married for years Lucius still could never get his head around how quickly his wife could plan a ball from the invitations to how the sculptures would look in the vast Manor gardens.

Lucius had extended an invitation for his parents and Cygnus to stay at the Manor to assist Narcissa if she needed it whilst he was at the Ministry. All three had soon arrived at the Manor and had been welcomed with open arms as Narcissa had turned ball planner and hostess. The plan to distract Narcissa from the wait for a match was working.

"She's really come on hasn't she?" Cygnus asked, "I had my doubts about the marriage at first. She seemed too gentle to marry into the Malfoy family but that's toughened her up. I mean lying to the Dark Lord… I could never have seen her doing that when she was 17."

"She is the light in his dark and he is the dark that balances her light," Priscilla said, "that's why they go well together. It's why Druella and I spoke early on about a union between the families. It was meant to be… but after events Narcissa was the one and I have to agree that it was a better match for her. They balance each other and that is what they need."

Abraxas made his excuses and left as he had to go to the Ministry and join Lucius. Priscilla had a sip of her drink before sighing.

"Well the plan of distracting Narcissa is working… now if only we could do the same ourselves," she said as she looked at Cygnus, "the wait is just as bad for us as it is them."

"We do have something to focus on. Druella's next move. She's gone but we have to guess when she'll come back. She's a true Slytherin and I'm sure that when she returns that she will try and cause trouble as some sort of revenge. She's not happy with what our children are doing and that will drive her to destroy everything. She's hellbent on ruining this for them and we cannot allow her to do that," Cygnus said.

"Do you really think that she would do something like leak it to the Prophet? Mind you… this is Druella Black… well Rosier we are talking about here. Anything is possible there. She blew Andromeda of the tapestry after she ran away," Priscilla said, "she really cannot be underestimated no matter what," she sighed.

Silence fell on the room and Priscilla poured them fresh cups of tea as she thought about what had happened.

"You know that if Druella did do something to hurt our children then I'd happily duel her. I've been waiting to do that ever since Lucius and Cissa were married," she said after a while. This cause Cygnus to laugh softly,

"Priscilla I know you have wanted to duel my wife and I will give you permission if she does anything to sabotage the adoption plans because you are the only other person who I know has the ability to take Druella down," he said as he looked at her, "I know Lucius would also try and take her on… especially after the way that she handled Narcissa's madness after she was told that she couldn't have children any more. That crushed her more than anything I'd ever seen before."

Memories flashed back for both, remembering when the numerous tests had happened and Narcissa had been told the heartbreaking truth. That had sent her down a dark path and Druella had merely locked her daughter in a room and left everyone else to deal with the madness that had taken Narcissa for nearly half a year.

"Cissa is at risk of slipping back into that if this is taken away again. She only just managed to bounce back…" Priscilla said before seeing Lucius and Abraxas walking in and sitting down.

"What are we talking about?" Lucius asked.

"What Druella's next move could be and stopping Narcissa slipping back down a dark path if Druella tries to ruin the adoption plans," Cygnus said, "Priscilla finally has permission to take on Druella should she try anything," he added and Lucius smirked.

"I'm surprised my mother has held off long enough where Druella is concerned," he said, "my mother is not Druella's biggest fan," he added.

"Well the one good thing Druella has done was to give us Narcissa and eventually Draco and now hopefully Rosalie," Cygnus said, "I don't even understand my wife sometimes but she will come back and try and sabotage the adoption. That is the one thing I know about my wife."

"Well I think we can all agree that we need to be ready for Druella and whatever she decides to do next," Abraxas said, "because she will be hellbent on destroying this adoption even if that means throwing her own daughter in front of a Bludger."