Narcissa was quietly headstrong, Lucius had learned. Through sheer willpower, she had held herself and her family together through two wars with scarcely a crack in her composure. But where her will was strong, her slender body was delicate, weakened by the constant chill, subpar diet and nearly three decades cooped up in a cell.
She suppressed her ever-present cough when the family came to visit each month, carefully maintaining perfect Pureblood posture as she let Lucius do most of the talking. She didn't want to worry Draco, and old Malfoy pride wouldn't let her show weakness in front of Scorpius's half-Mudblood fiancé—though Lucius and Narcissa both kept their opinions about their grandson's choice in partner to themselves.
But when everyone left, and it was just her and Lucius, Narcissa would fall back into the bed, energy spent, and sleep for hours. She wheezed and coughed, throat raw and voice hoarse. Her once-enviable figure had disintegrated with time and lack of care, leaving her as little more than the bones that seemed to rattle when she coughed. Instead of aging like fine wine, as she has been before the Second Wizarding War, she had faded until she was just a husk of herself, like the shed skin left behind by a snake, her creased skin unhealthily pale and blonde hair now a limp white.
Why couldn't she have just let him be imprisoned alone? He might be with her, but he couldn't protect her, and that was killing him.
Still, he tried to improve her situation. He clumsily tended to her flowers, so their color would continue to brighten the cell. But gardening was far from a strong suit for him; his talents lay in using subtle manipulation and bribery. Unfortunately, he couldn't utilize the vast store of Malfoy wealth anymore.
But Narcissa, his brilliant wife, had been thinking ahead. She entrusted him access to her bridal vault just prior to the Dark Lord's return, and since it was under the Black family name, that vault had not been confiscated like the rest of the Malfoy estate when Lucius was arrested. Thus, instead of asking Draco for money, Lucius could use Narcissa's funds to discretely pay for medicines, better food, warmer blankets, and books to keep her entertained.
He also tried to pay her way to being released, because Azkaban was no place for a woman of seventy years, but she wouldn't hear of it.
So he settled for holding her close, lying awake while her breath wheezed in and out.