Two Breaches Repaired

"Thinking of you keeps me awake. Dreaming of you keeps me asleep. Being with you keeps me alive."

-Unknown

Lucius sighed as he glanced at the clock for what seemed the nth time. Narcissa and Isis (Rowena, he reminded himself) had been upstairs together for over two hours; Lucius couldn't begin to imagine what on earth they were doing up there for so long. But he was gratified that the two women were getting along so well. The last few days they had spent a lot of time together. "Rowena" had always had the gift for gab, as she called it, and was using it to great effect with Narcissa, who was taking great joy in introducing Lucius' "cousin" to her society friends. And of course Isis (Rowena…he reminded himself again) was fitting in nicely with all the magical folks, her gift for gab once again serving her well…she had ingratiated herself into Narcissa's social circle almost flawlessly.

Finally, he was pulled from his reverie when he heard their voices, and the two appeared at the top of the staircase, chatting away. They both caught sight of Lucius, who realized his face must have borne a rather dissatisfied expression, as the two women glanced at each other and shared a giggle at his expense.

He frowned, and the women burst out laughing.

"I fail to see what you both find so funny," he muttered as his frowned deepened when the women laughed even louder as they noted his dour expression.

Narcissa, still smirking, kissed his cheek. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Lucius, but your cousin wanted me to look perfect for dinner this evening."

When she stepped back, Lucius took a closer look at her, and the breath was nearly knocked out of him. Narcissa did look perfect. Gorgeous beyond words, in fact. It was several moments before he realized he'd been gaping at her for a long while. Narcissa blushed and Rowena laughed at Lucius' gobsmacked expression.

"I guess I did well, then, judging by the look on your face, cousin dear."

Lucius nodded mutely, still gaping at Narcissa.

The clock in the foyer struck the hour. Narcissa gasped. "I hadn't realized it was so late already!"

Rowena sighed. "I'd best get going, or I'll be late meeting Lady Greengrass." The Greengrasses had especially taken to Isis very quickly.

Narcissa turned to her and placed a hand on her arm. "You can stay, Rowena. It's perfectly alright." But Rowena heard the nervousness in Narcissa's voice and smile, placing her hand on Narcissa's own.

"No, Narcissa…this is a diner of reconciliation between you and your sister. It should be just the four of you hashing things out. I would only be a distraction. And I want nothing to come between you and Andromeda. This is what you've been longing for, and you need to focus on her."

A look of panic shot across Narcissa's face, and Rowena gave her a gentle smile. "It will all work out, my dear. You'll see. The time is right. And you can tell me all about it tomorrow morning at breakfast." Giving Narcissa a kiss on the cheek, and doing the same to Lucius, she turned and walked into the lounge. "Have fun, you kids! Ta!" She called over her shoulder with a twist of her hand resembling a wave. Moments later they heard the roar of the floo. Unlike Lucius, Rowena had had no difficulty adjusting to magical means of transportation.

Narcissa stared after her a few moments before sighing. She was tense. This dinner had to be perfect. Reuniting with Andromeda had indeed been a long held dream which she never thought could possibly come to be. And now it was happening…therefore, nothing must go wrong. She sighed again.

Lucius noticed her nervousness. Placing a tentative hand on her shoulder, he asked, 'Are you alright, s-sweetheart?" He still stumbled over using affectionate names for Narcissa…partly because it felt unnatural, and partly because it felt perfectly natural. It was a conundrum, and conundrums bothered him.

'No, I'm not—I'm…" she snapped, shooting him a scowl. Then she rubbed her eyes and sighed yet again. "I'm sorry, Lucius. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just…for so long, so many years, I've hoped for this moment, dreamed, prayed for this moment even. And now it's happening, and everything has to be right. It has to be perfect!" She echoed her previous thought aloud to her husband…her husband who had been the catalyst for opening the door to this attempt at reconciling with her older sister. "Oh, I am such a mess!" She buried her face in her hands, a single sob escaping her.

Lucius turned her gently toward him, and gathered her into his arms, resting his head atop hers as Narcissa grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. "There, there, d-darling. Dinner will turn out beautifully. I know it shall." And Lucius truly believed that. He had instructed Mipsy and the others to go above and beyond as he relayed just how important this dinner was to their Mistress.

All the elves had bobbed their heads up and down profusely to assure him they would do their very best. Partly because they understood the importance of the dinner themselves, and partly because they still feared Lucius. Their master had been like a different man in the months following his accident, and they were thrilled about it, but they still vividly remembered how he used to be. And like both Narcissa and Draco, they too feared that Lucius might revert to his old ways at any moment, and were doing their best to keep him happy.

For his part, Lucius was a bit nervous about the Tonks' visit as well. He had no memory of them from before, other than vague feelings of disquiet over how they had been treated, and wasn't certain how large or hurtful a role Narcissa had taken in the situation. Lucius also wasn't certain where he fell on this whole blood issue…he could see merit in both views. However, he had always been a firm believer in family, and that family comes first no matter your differences.

Lucius glanced at Narcissa, still almost losing his breathe over her beauty, and did his best to give her a reassuring smile. She glanced back at him, and he still saw the nervousness in her eyes. Taking her gently in his arms once more, he held her close and said, "It will all be fine, you'll see."

Narcissa buried her face in his chest, and softly replied, "I hope so." She was momentarily distracted by the pleasing scent emanating from him. Somehow, it calmed her a little. She gazed up into his eyes, and her breath gave a little hitch. She had a sudden urge to kiss him passionately as he smiled down at her with such kindness radiating from his face. A kindness she didn't know if she had ever seen in Lucius before. And her breath hitched again, an intense longing to be held by him took possession of her, and she wasn't certain where it had come from

But she didn't have time to ponder on it further as Lucius himself, ironically, broke the mood. "I believe your sister and brother-in-law will be arriving soon in the…uh, the floo? Perhaps we should go into the sitting room to be there when they arrive."

Narcissa sighed and nodded. "You're right, Lucius. Let us go." She took the arm that Lucius offered, and together they walked in and stood a few feet in front of the fireplace.

And none too soon, as within a few moments the fire roared up, and out stepped Mr. Tonks. He gave Lucius a tentative smile, which Lucius returned with a brighter one as he stepped forward to shake the man's hand. "Thank you so much for accepting my offer, Mr. Tonks. I…I understand how difficult this might be for you."

Mr. Tonks shrugged. "One can't, or shouldn't, hold grudges forever. And especially not when there is an attempt at reconciliation being made. And I have come to the conclusion that you are serious in your attempt at repairing the rift between Andromeda and Narcissa." Here, he glanced at Narcissa and took the shaky hand she held out to him, placing a kiss on the back of it. "I can honestly say that it's nice to see you again, Narcissa."

Narcissa inclined her head and gave a small curtsy. "And I can say the same thing to you, Mr. Tonks."

The man in question gave a light chuckle. "Please, call me Ted." You could tell that the man was still leery and on guard, but was doing his best to give the Malfoys the benefit of a doubt.

Just then the fire roared again, and an elegant and attractive woman stepped out of the flames. Beside him, Lucius heard Narcissa give a small gasp, and what almost sounded like a tiny, muffled sob as she took in the sight of her long estranged sister.

Andromeda Tonks was a striking and imposing woman, but not imposing in a bad way. And yet, Lucius could detect a significant amount of nervousness hiding beneath the placid mask of calm she wore outwardly. She glanced at her husband who gave her the slightest of nods.

Andromeda stepped up to Lucius and he extended his hand. There was a momentary hesitation on Andromeda's part, before she placed her own hand in Lucius', who bent down and kissed it. "Thank you for accepting my invitation, Mrs. Tonks." Inwardly, Lucius had been taken by surprise…Mrs. Tonks hand had been frightfully shaky, and he wondered if it was from anger, or fear, or nerves.

Andromeda pursed her lips. "I confess that I was full of doubt, Lucius, when Ted told me about your visit earlier this month. In fact, I didn't think we should accept at all." She glanced at her husband. "But Ted seemed convinced of your sincerity, and thought we should, after all, accept your invitation. And see if there was any truth to the rumors that you have…reformed somewhat."

Inwardly, Lucius frowned. He didn't like the idea that his name was being bandied about by magical society. He'd always…well, the new Lucius had always preferred to melt into the background and not stand out. He felt safer with anonymity and wore it like a cloak. But he smiled. "Thank you for giving me the chance to prove my sincerity."

Anromeda stared at him a moment before giving a small nod. Then, she turned to Narcissa, whom Lucius noted was barely keeping herself together. The two sisters stared at one another for a long, silent moment. Until Narcissa, unable to hold herself back any longer, threw herself at Andromeda with a sob and hugged her close, breaking down into sobbing and saying, "Andi! Andi! Oh, Andi!" Over and over.

Andromeda froze for a moment or two as Narcissa hugged her tight. But then her resolve cracked and she too broke down, hugging her sister back and weeping. "Cissy! Oh, my darling Cissy! My baby sister!" And the two women stood there in the Malfoy sitting room, hugging and weeping and talking over each other.

Lucius moved to stand beside Ted, who had a tear or two of his own trickling down his face. With a sigh, he shook Lucius hand again with both of his won. "I can't tell you how much this means to Andromeda, Lucius. She's got the Black stubbornness, but they were always a close family. Until Andi married me, that is. And being estranged from her little sister has taken its toll on her over the years."

Lucius merely nodded, tears gathering at the corner of his own eyes as well. "I have much to make up for, Mr. Tonks. This was the first step I felt I should take."

Ted chuckled and wiped his eyes. "It's Ted, remember? None of this 'Mr. Tonks' nonsense."

Mipsy appeared to tell them that dinner was ready. The sisters broke apart, but clung to each other's arms and chattered away as the group moved into the dining room.

The meal was a pleasant one, Narcissa and Andromeda keeping up a steady stream of talk, reminiscing about the past, and the present, and catching up on all the years they had missed. And after dinner, as the group moved into the sitting room , Lucius snuck into the kitchen and praised the elves for the quality of the food and their excellent service, and told them to take the rest of the night off after they had cleaned up.

The elves were so taken aback by both Lucius attitude and kind, praising words to them, that they were in shock. Indeed, Lucy, the smallest of the elves who always cried whenever Lucius was around, fainted.

The Tonks' stayed until very late, and when the time for them to leave finally arrived, there was more crying and clinging to each other by the sisters, who agreed to meet again very soon. Andromeda invited Narcissa to her house and Narcissa quickly agreed. And while Ted was bidding his own farewells to Narcissa, Andromeda surprised Lucius by hugging him tightly and whispering, "Thank you, Lucius. Thank you for giving me back my baby sister."

Lucius smiled. "You are more than welcome. It's the least I can do to begin undoing the damage I contributed to over the years."

Androomeda put her hand on his cheek and gave him a soft smile. "Well, you're off to a fantastic start, Lucius. We…we still have a long way to go, but this night…oh, this night." She sighed, then she pursed her lips at him. "But I am going to be keeping my eye on you." Then she smirked.

Lucius chuckled. "Fair enough."

When the Tonks' had finally departed, Narcissa herself favored Lucius with a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Lucius! Thank you for allowing us to begin mending fences. I—I was so worried things would go horribly this evening. But you were right. I cannot believe how happy I am right now! I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so happy!"

Lucius hugged her back and smiled at the warm feeling in his chest. "You're welcome, my dear. As I told your sister, it's the least I could do, and only the beginning."

The big clock in the hall chimed Midnight and Narcissa stepped out of Lucius arms with a sigh. "I guess I'd better get to bed." She stared at Lucius then, with such an intense look that Lucius began to grow nervous. Narcissa's eyes held a look of longing, love, hope, yearning, and fear. Yes, some fear was still evident, much to Lucius' chagrin.

Narcissa stepped close to him once more and kissed him on the lips…and quite passionately. Lucius was stunned at the intensity of Narcissa's kiss. All her kisses heretofore had been on the cheek or a brief touch of her lips if she had forgotten herself for a moment. But this kiss…this kiss was a kiss.

Narcissa clutched at the front of Lucius' jacked, smiled, and murmured, "Good night…my love." Then she turned and glided up the stairs.

Lucius stared after her until she was out of sight. Then he slipped into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. He was happy to neither see nor hear any of the elves, glad that they had taken his offer of a night off seriously. Then he sat in his office reading until after One in the morning before heading off to bed himself.

(XXX)

The next morning, Lucius was heading down to breakfast when Mipsy popped into existence in front of him. "

"Master! Oh Master! Mistress says you must come at once to her room! She be needing Masters help right away!"

The poor elf seemed frantic, wringing her hands and on the verge of tears, and panic took hold of Lucius. "What is it, Mipsy? What's wrong? What happened?"

Mipsy wailed and wrung her hands even more. "Mipsy be not knowings, Master, but Mistress cried out that she be needing Master to come helps her at once!"

Without waiting to hear more, Lucius took off at a run, mounting the staircase two steps at a time. Almost skidding to a halt in front of Narcissa's door, which was open an inch or so, he knocked frantically. "Narcissa! What's wrong? Are you alright? What do you need?"

"Come in, Lucius! Hurry!" He heard his wife call. Flinging the door open he dashed in and stopped at the sight before him. Narcissa was standing near the bed, wrapped in a sheet. Lucius frowned in confusion. Is..is she stuck in the sheet? Couldn't Mipsy have just helped her with that? Out loud he asked, "Um, what's wrong?"

"I need your help, Lucius," Narcissa said with a smirk. "Close the door."

His frown deepened as he reached back and swung the door closed. "Well, what is it? Couldn't Mipsy or one of the other elves help you? The way she was acting, I was afraid you were dying up here or someone had broken in or something."

Narcissa chuckled. "Not with this, they couldn't. Only you can help me."

Even more confused, Lucius asked, "Well, what is it? What do you want me to do?"

"I need help with this…" She paused and let go of the sheet that was wrapped around her. It fell in a heap at her feet.

Lucius eyes bugged out of his head, his mouth dropped open like Marley's ghost, he felt weak in the knees, the room was spinning like a ship caught in a whirlpool, and he could barely breathe. Narcissa stood there before him completely naked. Lucius couldn't process how beautiful she was. His mind was unable to form a coherent thought.

When he was finally able to tear his eyes from the vision of beauty before him a beauty that would easily put the beauty of Venus, or Helen of Troy to shame, he saw love, longing, and vulnerability in his wife's face. She gave him a small, bashful smile, a delightful blush creeping up her cheeks. Lucius mouth was still hanging open, and Narcissa chuckled. "What's wrong, Lucius?"

It took several more moments for Lucius to form words, and when he spoke it came out as a rasping sound. "Every single synapse in my brain is overloaded. I can't move…I can't talk…I can't anything."

Narcissa advanced toward him. Lucius couldn't take his eyes off her. Everything was perfect, everything. Everything! He had never seen a woman so perfect! The way her body moved when she walked, everything properly…jiggling as she moved, like a dream, toward him. A perfect dream.

She stopped in front of him, and snaked her arms around his shoulder. "Shall I tell you what to do, Lucius? Would that help?" A coy smile played across her lips.

Lucius nodded dumbly and squeaked, "Yes…yes, please."

Narcissa gave him a sultry smile and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "I need you to make love to your wife." Then her lips pressed gently against his.

Lucius let out a sound that was somewhere between a squeak and a groan. And suddenly, he was kissing her back…deeply and passionately. He swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed….

A/N: Well, things are looking up for the Malfoys…for the moment anyway. Once again, apologies are in order for such a long time between updates. My life has…not been good at all for the last several months. But my muse has finally started whispering to me again. Hopefully, she will continue to do so. Thank you all for continuing to read my stories. It really means more than I can say. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that it wasn't too boring.