Chapter Text
Narcissa
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Narcissa walks alongside Andromeda through the castle as they’re both going to class in the same direction even though Andie’s third period doesn’t start for another 20 minutes.
“And it’s just so frustrating.” Andie has been rambling about her mystery friends since the very second they stepped out of the great hall after lunch. Just because none knows who her friends are, it doesn’t mean she won’t complain about them everyday to Narcissa.
“I bet..” Narcissa mumbles as they walk by one of the big windows of the castle, displaying the beautiful snowy landscape outside as its early January. She sighs quietly before her gaze hits a grandfather clock, her eyes widening as realization dawns on her.
“Merlin, I’m late for class!” Narcissa blurts out before leaving a quick pat on Andie’s shoulder to run down the rest of the dungeon steps.
“I’ll see you later?” Andie says out from far behind, Narcissa quickly waves her off as she continues to speed-walk down the dark corridor. She eventually reaches the potions classroom, throwing the door open. Chairs creak and move as the students rush to look back at who entered.
“Narcissa, could you explain your reasoning as to why you’re ten minutes late?” Professor Slughorn murmured from the front of the classroom, stood in front of a blackboard with a chalk in hand.
“I’m so sorry Professor, I forgot the time but it won’t happen again.” Narcissa spoke, her face burning up from embarrassment as the students all stare back at her.
“I trust it won’t. Go take your seat and your desk mate will catch you up.” Slughorn clears his throat before turning to continue writing on the blackboard as the students also turn back to face the front of the class when Narcissa moves along the row of desks.
Everyone had looked back at her except for one person, who scoffs when she moves past his desk to throw herself down at the desk in front of his. She lets out a sigh of relief before flipping through her potions book, her desk mate slipping his notes from earlier to Narcissa.
She gives him a quick polite nod as he looks back to the front of the class, paying full attention to Slughorn’s lecture.
When Slughorn dismissed the students, they immediately started packing up to quickly leave for their next period. Soft chatter fills the room as students group up with friends to walk to their next period, eventually leaving only Narcissa and another boy remaining at their desks.
“Seems like you two didn’t leave your desire to stay top students behind, this holiday.” Slughorn murmurs as he ambles down the row of desks to stay beside Narcissa’s desk, looking over at her and the boy at the desk behind her.
“Of course not, sir.” The boy says, almost startling Narcissa as he barely speaks. At least not when she’s around. Slughorn nods at him, pleased with his response.
“Good to know Lucius, I wouldn’t want to see you lose your spot at the top.” Slughorn turns to look over at Narcissa’s desk, glancing over her open book and notebook. “Though I do hope to see Narcissa someday take that spot as she’s been right behind you for years..” He murmurs, glancing between the two students.
“Well, I must be going now. You know me, can’t stay in one place for too long.” He smiles politely at them before taking his leave and as soon as the door shuts, Narcissa looks up from her notes. Malfoy lets out a loud sigh of relief at the same time.
“Though I do hope to see Narcissa take that spot..” Malfoy mutters under his breath, not expecting Narcissa to hear him. “That pretentious prat.” He sighs as he looks up from his desk, jumping slightly in his seat when he meets Narcissa’s gaze.
She had turned around to look back at him with a raised eyebrow though he seems to quickly mirror her raised eyebrow when her eyes slowly drift down his body before going up again. She can’t help but notice his pale complexion and white-blonde armpit-length hair, her eyes seemingly locking in on the tiny waves hidden behind straight strands.
She’s always thought his hair to be completely pin straight but now, up close, she can see the soft, almost nonexistent waves hidden behind a layer of straight hair. She snaps out of her trance when Malfoy clears his throat, realizing she’s been staring at him without saying anything.
He scoffs loudly before slamming his books shut and stacking them over each other. Narcissa quickly turns to pack up her stuff when Malfoy stands up with his fancy cane in hand. She finishes and throws herself up from the chair, pushing it in before turning to find Malfoy sauntering along the row of desks.
She takes in a deep breath before speeding up to catch up to Malfoy, staying barely 5 feet behind him. He leaves the classroom with Narcissa not far behind, staying to the side of the corridor as if he’s making room for her to walk around him.
He keeps his back straight and his steps perfect as if he’s counting the distance between them. He keeps his steady pace when he moves up the dungeon staircase, Narcissa still staying behind him. She honestly has no idea why she’s going after him this way, it’s as if she wants to stand up for herself for what he said earlier but now it would just be awkward to bring it up so she’s just following him with no plan whatsoever.
When they reach the top of the stairs and enter a big hall, Malfoy suddenly whips his body around, his eyebrows narrowed as the rest of his face stays stone cold. Narcissa almost jumps at the sudden movement, her eyes widening at him when their eyes meet.
“Why are you following me?” He hissed, seemingly irritated by her.
“I didn’t—“
“Don’t act dumb.” He keeps his cane in the space between them, holding it with both hands as he slightly leans over it. “What do you want?”
“Why do you use a cane?” She asks before she’s able to fully process it. Malfoy raises his blonde eyebrows at her, trying to figure her out before leaning back from his cane.
“It’s a walking stick.”
“I didn’t know you needed a cane.” She talks over him. He looks genuinely taken aback by her words.
“I don’t, it’s a walking stick—“
“Do you struggle with walking?” She once again talks over him, her head slightly tilting as her gaze stays locked on his fancy cane.
“No, I—“
“Is that a silver snake head?” She reaches out to his cane, his eyes widen at the sight of her hand almost touching his canes handle. Malfoy quickly slaps her hand away as if it were a fly before moving his cane away from her to keep by his side instead.
“Merlin, do you ever stop jabbering.” He mutters, letting out a sigh of frustration as she finally goes silent, her eyes locked on his prefect badge for a moment. But she can’t stop herself from looking Malfoy up and down, his slim complexion hidden under his Slytherin robe, only to be revealed at his wrists and hands. His tall figure stays towering over her as he pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly trying to figure out how he’s in this situation.
“First of all, it’s not a cane, it’s a walking stick. Second of all, I don’t struggle with walking, it’s just good to have when I walk long distances. Now, is that all you wanted to ask?” Malfoy states as Narcissa stands frozen in front of him. After a few moments of silence, he straightens his back. “Good, I’ll be going now as I actually have somewhere to be.”
He turns to leave and Narcissa seems to snap out of it and realize he’s leaving before she’s able to ask the question she’s supposed to have asked at the start of the school year.
“Wait!” She says out, only taking a few steps forward before he stops, turning his head to the side. She takes in a deep breath as the question is very straight forward and awkward.
“My mother’s wondering when you’ll start.. courting me?..” She asks loud enough for him to hear as she looks down at her feet, clearly uncomfortable about asking him when he’ll start showing fake interest in her. She catches a sigh from him as he takes out a golden pocket watch to check the time.
“Does eighteen work for you?” He asks, catching her off guard.
“What?”
“Are you busy at eighteen tomorrow?” He repeats, his voice a bit harsher this time.
“Uhh, no, I don’t think so.”
“Alright, I’ll make sure we get a carriage to Hogsmeade by then.” He says, putting his pocket watch back in his robe before continuing his way through the castle.
Narcissa looks around her almost as if to make sure someone else saw that and it wasn’t just her imagination. But there’s barely any students around as most are already at their classes or hanging around their common rooms for their free period.
Narcissa stands in front of her standing mirror, flattening out some of the wrinkles on her black knee length dress. She’s just finished changing for her “date” with Malfoy as she’s nervously trying to fix everything to make sure she’ll look perfect. She has no idea if it’s an actual date or just a thing to distract her from the courting situation.
She takes in a deep breath as she puts on some lip balm before turning around to throw on her coat that covers up her whole dress except for the skirt as it slightly pokes out.
She steps out of her dorm room, her stomach squeezing from nerves as she quickly moves through the castle. She’s about to meet with her arranged future husband and have a full conversation with him for the first time. She’s dreaded the day when she’ll get married to him and leave her entire life behind to become a housewife for a stuck up rich white guy.
Sometimes she wishes she wasn’t born a pure-blood but then she immediately regrets it and feels guilty because she’s privileged to be apart of such a high status, she’s lucky that she’s not one of those muggles or even blood-traitors.
She’ll grow old in a huge mansion with many kids as her husband won’t actually love nor care about her. She’s only his wife on paper, she won’t get to live in a beautiful home with a gorgeous garden that she can take care of.
Before she knows it, she’s already opening the main entrance to the castle, immediately thankful for the heating charm as she steps outside, snow crunching under her shoes at every step she takes. Watching as her breath floats in the air in front of her, the cold air luckily not affecting her too much.
Narcissa crosses the main bridge to the castle, immediately being met by the sight of Malfoy standing leaned against the fancy carriage with his pocket watch in hand. He glances up from it, quickly putting it back in his coat pocket before pushing himself off the carriage to stand straight with his cane in hand.
When Narcissa reaches him, he quickly opens the carriage door for her to step inside and she does, flattening her skirt against the seat as he steps inside after her, taking the seat opposite her before closing the door.
She looks out the carriage’s window after the awkward silence officially got her on the brink of giving in to the Black madness. Malfoy didn’t even look at her for more than a few seconds before his gaze locked on the floor between them.
Malfoy suddenly clears his throat, grabbing Narcissa’s attention immediately. “You look nice.” He spoke, slightly startling Narcissa as she didn’t expect him to say anything throughout the ride.
“Thank you, you look great too.” She answered, sending a quick smile to him before averting her gaze back to the window, watching the street lights come in view as they enter Hogsmeade.
The carriage stops, Malfoy quickly getting up to open the door and step out, holding the door open for Narcissa and she carefully steps out. She’s not looking to slip and fall over on her first date. The door slams shut and the carriage leaves them outside of the three broomsticks.
Malfoy steps inside, holding the door open for Narcissa to enter after him, the pub filled with townsfolk as it’s a Friday night. The bartender catches sight of them, dropping the cup he was drying before coming up to them.
“Ah, Malfoy. We’ve been expecting you.. come along now.” The bartender says, quickly leading them all the way to the top of the building where a single door stays. The bartender scrambles with his keys before finally unlocking the door to usher them inside the room.
Narcissa sends a confused look to Malfoy who doesn’t meet her gaze and stays focused on the bartender as they unlock the hidden floo flame system in the fireplace. The bartender takes the bowl of floo powder to hold it out for the two to take a handful as Malfoy steps inside the fireplace, sending Narcissa a reassuring nod before saying the name of a very fancy pure-blood restaurant located in London, throwing the powder down as he goes up in blue flames.
Narcissa quickly mirrors him, appearing inside of a luxurious looking restaurant with Malfoy staying on the side with his cane in front of him as he leans against it. As soon as Narcissa steps out of the way fancier fireplace, he straightens his back to go up to the host.
Narcissa’s been here before but not since she started attending Hogwarts, her parents had become too busy to travel with her to eat out and instead hosted big dinner parties to juggle work and family time together. The nostalgia quickly hits her as the place looks exactly the same way it did 6 years ago. The same red walls matching with the black marble flooring, the red rope barricades Bellatrix always jumped over by the entrance.
She takes in a deep breath of the fresh smell of pure luxury as some monstrous fish swim in the big aquarium beside her, remembering how she and Andie cried over them when they were younger because they wanted them to be free and not stuck here.
“Is Terrance still alive?” Narcissa asks, glancing out at the host who raises his eyebrows at her before seemingly knowing what she’s talking about.
“Yes ma’am, 20 years going strong. Oh, he’s the one staring at you right now— yes, you said at 6pm?” The host answers before being cut off by Malfoy clearing his throat.
Narcissa looks down at the big fish with sharp fangs filling its mouth, hindering it from being able to fully close so it’s stuck smiling forever even though it’s not happy at all. She somehow knows exactly how the fish are feeling right now, her heart breaking at the sight of Terrance’s slow movements when he was really fast the years before.
“Ma’am?” The host says from behind Narcissa, startling her out of thought before leading her and Malfoy to a secluded area where a beautifully decorated table stays. The host leaves them with the promise a waitress will be coming soon to take their orders.
Malfoy takes off his coat to hang it over his chair before throwing himself down on it, gesturing for her to take a seat when she’s frozen in place. She quickly snaps out of it, mirroring him before plopping herself down on the chair opposite Malfoy. The menus appear through small smoke and Malfoy takes it in his hands as for Narcissa, she already knows what she’ll order from the multiple visits throughout her life.
After a few moments of silence, a waitress stops by their table with a floating notepad and quill staying in the air beside her to write down their orders. Malfoy orders a fancy steak meal while Narcissa orders the same salad bowl she’s loved ever since she was a kid.
The waitress leaves, causing the awkward silence to immediately find its way back to them. Malfoy eventually clears his throat, clearly being the way he usually gets a person’s attention before speaking.
“Have you been here before?” Malfoy asks, scanning her expression as she seems to notice how obvious she was about it.
“Yeah, a bunch.. You?”
“Maybe two or three times.” He adjusts himself on the chair, obviously not wanting to go into too much detail. “Do you like the food here?” Malfoy tries to continue the small talk with simple questions, expecting a simple response back but he clearly doesn’t know Narcissa.
“Yeah, I love the salad bowls here. Have you tried it before?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“You should! There’s a really good chicken salad bowl that I think you’d like if you can’t just eat vegetables.” Narcissa seems to light up at the topic of food and Malfoy instantly regrets thinking she’ll just give simple responses.
“I’ll probably try it next time.”
“Oo, what’s your favorite beverage? Wait, don’t tell me.. Is it— no wait it can’t be, you’d definitely not like that..” Narcissa trails off and doesn’t seem to notice the way the air shifted, suddenly leaving a more comfortable space between them.
“Is it butter beer or is that too sweet for you?” Narcissa looks him up and down with a raised eyebrow, showing the pun was intended.
“It’s actually red wine.”
“No way, what are you? 30?” Malfoy’s eyes widen at her words, obviously not expecting her reaction. He opens his mouth to most likely defend his honor but the waitress comes back with their food and drinks, Malfoy wasn’t lying about red wine being his favorite as there’s a fancy glass of wine on the table in front of them.
Narcissa can’t help but snort at it before quickly covering it with a cough and drifting her gaze down to her salad bowl. The waitress later leaves, Malfoy rolling his eyes at her as he brings his wine glass up to his mouth. Narcissa can swear she saw the tiniest pull at the edge of his lips and suddenly her stomach flutters as she watches him take a sip.
Narcissa lets out a breath before taking her fork to start eating her salad, not noticing the soft smile plastered on her face. Comfortable silence surrounds them as they both stay focused on enjoying their food and as soon as they’re finished, Malfoy looks up from his empty plate to connect his gaze with Narcissa’s.
“Will you be having dessert?” Narcissa asks after a long moment of silent eye contact.
“No, my mother says you only eat dessert because you didn’t eat enough food and I ate plenty enough.”
“That’s boring..” She says, catching a tiny shrug from Malfoy. “My mother says dessert can’t fill you up..” her face lights up with an idea and Malfoy seems to immediately clock it as his eyebrow raises.
“If dessert can’t fill you up, doesn’t that mean you can eat dessert because you’re full anyway and it won’t change?”
“You’re making no sense..”
“Oh come on, just eat some dessert with me or else it would look awkward.”
“Or don’t get dessert at all, problem solved.”
“You’re unbelievable..” Narcissa mutters and suddenly their empty plates go up in light smoke and get replaced with dessert menus. Narcissa immediately picks hers up eagerly. “At least look at the options.”
Malfoy sighs, looking around him before hesitantly picking up his own dessert menu sheet. His eyebrows raising as his eyes glide over the text, showing obvious interest in some dishes.
“What would you like for dessert?” The waitress comes once again up to their table, only looking at Malfoy like the other times.
“I’d like vanilla ice cream, 2 scoops, no toppings or wait.. maybe some chocolate syrup.” Narcissa says, watching the waitress keep her eyes on Malfoy as the floating quill starts writing down her order.
“What about you sir?”
“Apple pie sounds good.” Malfoy replied, his cold gaze never once hitting the waitress as he keeps his eyes locked on the menu or Narcissa. The waitress sends him a polite nod before leaving them once again.
She’s never really thought about how often a waiter comes and goes to each table. Malfoy leaves his menu sheet on the table to meet Narcissa’s gaze, she might dislike him but she can’t deny that he’s actually attractive. She surveys his stone cold face, his pale and perfectly smooth skin reflecting some of the light from the candle on the table. His sharp jaw line probably able to cut through rocks.. And his throat.. Narcissa has never been “attracted” to a guys Adams apple but Merlin, whenever he swallows while looking at her, she immediately gets a shiver up her neck.
Her gaze drifts down to the table where Malfoy’s twisting his black Malfoy ring around his long finger, Narcissa quickly spotting the slight vein that pops up at every movement. She finds herself staring at his hands as they suddenly freeze.
Her gaze drifts up, wondering if something else caught his attention. She immediately gets met by Malfoy’s curious gaze as he scans her expression, though he’s not able to see it for long as her face burns up in embarrassment and she snaps her head to the side.
Going on a date with her rival as arranged courtship is one thing but getting caught willingly staring at him is a completely different matter. She can’t have him knowing that she genuinely finds him attractive, it would just be so weird and awkward. She’s supposed to just let him show fake affection for her until they eventually get married, not show actual interest in him even if it’s just physical attraction.
“Black.” Malfoy spoke. Narcissa hums lightly before looking back up to meet his grey eyes.
“Yeah?”
“When I was checking us in with the host, you asked about a fish.” Malfoy starts, scanning her expression. “What was that about?”
“Oh, do you remember when I said that I came here often with my family?” Malfoy hesitantly nods, wondering where this is going.
“Me and my sisters would ask about the fishes when we were younger. It turned into a sort of tradition, we even had our own signature fish for years.” Narcissa takes in a deep breath as Malfoy’s gaze is locked on her as if he’s trying to show that he’s listening.
“When I was 4, we came back to find out Bellatrix’s fish had died. Though she just shrugged it off, me and Andromeda had started believing the fish represents what will happen to us in the future because they shared all of our traits. For example, Bellatrix’s fish was chaotic and wild. Andromeda’s fish stood out from the rest as it had a white stripe down its back and it kept staring through the glass. Until we came back when I was 5 and found out her fish had taken the opportunity to escape the aquarium but landed on the floor and got stepped on.”
“What about yours?”
“Mine is the one I asked about. Terrance, he was smaller than the rest and kept hiding in corners until some other fish would push him out of them and force him to follow. He was hyperactive when he was younger, kept playing with Bellatrix’s fish until one day he started getting slower and changed a lot, if he didn’t have two different eye colors, I wouldn’t of believed it was still him.” Narcissa gets cut off by the waitress coming with their dessert.
The waitress keeps trying to have small talk with Malfoy to probably get a big tip but Narcissa can swear he showed signs of annoyance in his cold expression as he kept trying to cut their chat short. The waitress eventually left with a frown on her face and Malfoy immediately gets quiet to carefully eat his apple pie. Narcissa clears her throat before continuing with the story, sometimes stopping for a moment to get a spoon of ice cream.
“As I was saying.. He kept following another fish around until eventually all the other fish in the aquarium had died or gotten moved and got new fish companions but he was still acting like he was following around the fish from before, he was following the routine he kept for years even when he had to follow a ghost.”
“That’s upsetting.” Malfoy mumbles between bites and Narcissa can’t help but agree.
“Don’t judge me or call me crazy but I kind of feel like him.” Narcissa mumbled, clocking Malfoy’s curious look.
“It sometimes feels like I’m a fish stuck in an aquarium. Bellatrix’s fish killed itself, Andromeda’s died trying to escape and mine is still alive but stuck in a loop. I have no idea how the fish might be representing me and my sisters but it’s way too accurate to my future and for some reason my mind is stuck on the fish being a sign.” Narcissa trailed off, eventually realizing how crazy she must sound and goes quiet.
The rest of the date was silent as Narcissa kept scolding herself for saying such a thing. They walk through the restaurant to leave, Malfoy pushing her away when she tried to split the check.
“Go on, I need to take care of something first.” Malfoy said, ushering Narcissa to floo back to the three broomsticks and so she does, but not without hesitating.
When she exits the old fireplace, the room is empty and quiet as she looks around. Narcissa eventually decides to go downstairs and wait for Malfoy there.