Malfoy, Narcissa

[Sorting Hat]

Malfoy (née Black), Narcissa (Helen McCrory)

Birthdate: 1955/12/11
Age: 49
Abilities: Occlumency
Bloodline: Pureblood
Alliance: Death Eaters (former)
Wand: 14" | Stiff | Willow | Unicorn Hair
Alma Mater: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
House: Slytherin (1972)
Spouse/partner: Lucius Malfoy
Family: Immediate - Draco Malfoy (son)
Pets: Peacocks

Personality & Description

Narcissa is famously cold with anybody outside of her small group of close friends and family. She is fastidious and self centred, putting only her family's welfare before her own. Quick to anger and not above temper tantrums, she usually ends up getting her own way as very few people can be bothered to deal with the stroppy behaviour. Materialistic, even after the war, she judges others based on their wealth and their history of wealth, unless they are useful to her in some way.

Narcissa never swears out loud, she always whispers. Often, she swears at the peacocks of Malfoy Manor, but she tries to keep bad language to a minimum. Such wording is beneath her intelligence and integrity. She is squeamish and lazy when faced with most things, but it is a rare occurrence that she actually has to address either of those traits as most things are done for her. If not, she will sway people with passive aggression before making any attempt herself. Her appearance is paramount, the way she and her family are outwardly perceived is something that must be kept constant and impeccable

Her main concerns are the effects of aging and finding her son a suitable wife of worth. Which is basically nobody, but she needs grandchildren so she puts up with what she can. Once an enemy to Narcissa, always an enemy, but friends come and go. To her, friends are interchangeable and there is only one close friend she has kept since childhood. Despite this dismissive attitude, she cannot bear being alone for long periods of time. Solitude is one of her worst fears, she never learnt to self soothe and she has a lot of emotional imbalances that she struggles to control.

Narcissa's lack of physical strength has irritated her for some time, as she knows she can be easily overcome without magic. Since her troubles with Yaxley she tends to keep males at a fair distance anyway to give her reflexes a chance. She doesn't enjoy spaces that are cramped, wide open, cold, hot, loud, dirty, smelly, unfamiliar, too familiar or too brightly or dimly lit.

History

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From birth, Narcissa was treated a little more delicately than her two elder sisters. Even in her naming, she was marked for elegance and grace over power. Bellatrix and Andromeda were expected to carve themselves new paths to elevate the Black family name in strength. Narcissa was to breed, safeguarding the bloodline's purity and to provide as a bargaining tool for union with a noble, pureblood house. Despite this lighter touch, her parents' strict nature was still relentless. Narcissa was valuable providing she was maintained and regimented. As such, she would be reprimanded if she appeared dirty or untidy in any way, Druella in particular was keen to this end and never allowed her youngest even a hair out of place. She would often praise her daughter for her beauty and made it clear that if her hair were to come loose of its ribbon or her hems fray the rest of the world would see her as nothing more than an ugly squib. Narcissa developed the idea that people who were poor or liked being dirty would somehow run the risk of losing their magic. And maybe grow tentacles. Cygnus on the other hand, who had hoped for sons, was often preoccupied with the elder daughters and their education, he rarely thought of Narcissa as anything other than the baby of the family. The older she grew, the more infuriated this made her. Unfortunately when infuriated she was susceptible to tantrums, which only served to prove her father's point.

It didn't take much time for Narcissa to realise that she was not treated as her sisters and although the trio were incredibly close, she couldn't help but feel the odd one out. Initially, she became embarrassed when people mentioned her fair hair as her sisters and parents all had dark, thick hair. When trying to be annoying on purpose, young Bellatrix would hone in on this insecurity and make fun of her little sister's transparent eyebrows. If they ever squabbled, Bella would even fully ignore Cissy insisting that she couldn't see her because she was "see-through like her hair and eyebrows!". Andromeda used to attempt comfort by informing her that "Uncle Orion's sister is blonde and she has no eyebrows either so its ok!".

Before enrollment at Hogwarts, Narcissa and her sisters were instructed by their mother in a number of different areas. They were taught social etiquette, the correct reading and singing among other things. Druella would often remark that the girls should be able to host an afternoon before being able to tie their own shoelaces. Narcissa's favourite lessons from her mother were always how to dress. She loved to dress up, whatever the reason even if she had to listen to what colours were appropriate for pallor and occasion or age appropriate patterning. After a spritz of jasmine perfume, Druella would end each of these lessons at dinner time, having now dressed for the meal and take her daughter arm in arm down the stairs where they would present their evening outfits to Cygnus. The scent of jasmine forever gave Narcissa positive reminders of her mother, the comfort of familiarity and reminded her to always act the perfect lady. As an adult, although never choosing to wear jasmine perfume, she would insist on the presence of jasmine in the gardens of Malfoy manor, usually close to the manor itself where she liked to relax.

The Black family were also keen to introduce their children to the other members of the next generation of high society. They would often have play dates with other families and it was during these times that the sisters met Lucius, Sirius and Regulus for the first time. Narcissa also met her lifelong friend Lucretia Avery. They were disappointed to see Sirius sorted into Gryffindor but hadn't maintained a friendship with him.

School was a bit of a shock to Narcissa, so used to being the centre of attention and getting her own way. Her parents were easily to manipulate, but the teachers and students would prove a little more difficult. She did of course find success long before she graduated. The tantrums seemed to occur less frequently than they did at home, those that knew her well might prefer to say that they merely evolved rather than went away. Without her mother's constant reassurance of her beauty, Narcissa became more fastidious than ever before about her appearance and sought compliments often. There was only one other girl who craved attention on the same scale as Narcissa, though most would say via more promiscuous means. She was older, already in fourth year when Narcissa was sorted and did not wish to share the spotlight. They quickly became rivals and to this day often share passive aggressive interactions. Unfortunately, Rita Skeeter became a well known gossip journalist and who better to gossip about than the elite pureblood women and their families. It was a lesson well learned that enemies can be dangerous in ways you wouldn't have thought and friends can manipulated much more easily. When in doubt - frenemy. The pair had to be separated during a quidditch match by Slughorn during a particulatly heated argument where Narcissa enlarged Rita's tongue and was then hit by a disarming curse, a sponge-knee curse and an unecessary stinging hex. Wandless and unable to walk in a straight line she launched herself at Rita's legs knocking her over where she was more easily hittable.

Charms was the only subject that Narcissa seemed to have a natural affinity for. Proper speech and enunciation had been instilled since birth and her mannerisms had always been tidy and precise, this gave her the ability to perform impeccable wandwork. It was of great annoyance to her professor to see Narcissa perform charms almost to perfection within only a few attempts but then have totally forgotten both the incantation and wand movement by the following day. In jest her professor once stated that she had "the skill of Merlin with the mind of a flobberworm". That was the first time Narcissa had stormed out of a lesson. Not the last. She was only ever asked to leave a classroom once, by Professor McGonagall, for flirting and giggling and not transfiguring her teapot into a tortoise for fifth lesson in a row. Instead she had managed to produce a teapot with legs and a tortoise head at the end of its spout which began to dribble profusely when McGonagall picked it up. Narcissa had little patience for the subject, it required too much concentration as did Potions. This was especially true after befriending Lucius. Her mind wandered far too eagerly. It never made sense to anybody to have Slytherin and Gryffindor students take Potions together, there was always drama. Narcissa didn't really like failing so she was usually in a spiteful mood during these periods. She refused to touch most ingredients like bubotuber pus, even with gloves, so Slughorn would bring her supplies over to her cauldron for her hoping she would then start to prepare them. It was more likely that she would fling the ingredients at the Gryffindor students across the room and cackle.

Lucretia, Narcissa's partner in crime at Hogwarts, was keen on sneaking around the castle and its grounds at night. In their fourth year, Lucretia formed a secret club of Slytherins called the Invisibles who would perfrom various feats and tasks after lights out. She named Narcissa her Deputy and put her to the task of recruiting new members. Each member would compile lists of achievements to be added to the secret master list, which was a long scroll, spritzed with perfume and titled 'The Invisibles: Silent, Fearless, Attractive'. As more male members joined, they objected to the perfume but rules could not be changed once put in motion. Once somebody completed a goal, they would inform Lucretia or Narcissa who would write their nickname beside it. The tasks were never exhausted and the parchment still exists hidden in the Slytherin common room. Among the challenges with no names are 'Touch the Great Hall Ceiling', 'Spend and Entire Night Outside', 'Map Out the Forbidden Forest', 'Steal an Item of McGonagall's Clothing' and 'Change Marks on Yesterday's Homework'. The nicknames that appeared on the scroll are Lysithea, Callisto, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Venus, Betta and HBP. Most of them were also members of the Slug Club, which was where they came up with their best ideas. Narcissa was disappointed to learn that Draco hadn't found the scroll during his time at Hogwarts, but refused to tell him where it was hidden. Perhaps one day it would be uncovered and a new set of students would form the collective Invisibles. Perhaps her grandchildren?

Slytherin life was never boring. In her fifth year a student who was never identified bought a Streeler from the Magical Menagerie and allowed it to crawl around the common room overnight, where it left a criss-cross of toxic slime trails. A few students were taken to the hospital wing that morning. Most of them were first and second years who had no idea that the creatures were venomous, one of them was Narcissa. Andromeda hadn't heard her little sister swear before that day. Many of the teenagers who spent their time in the common room found it amusing when she lost her temper and had been disheartened to find her gaining a better grip. Every now and again they would try something small to wind her up, they stopped extremely quickly once Bellatrix spotted them creeping up behind her baby sister with soot all over their hands. Bella had graduated though and nobody feared Andromeda. One first year was trying hard to make a good impression and be accepted by his peers, he thought the room would be impressed if he took things up a notch. Severus ran to grab the streeler, he intended it to land near Narcissa, he didn't intend it to sting his hands. The miscalculation caused the slimy foot to graze her delicate white arm. The sound that was heard next is famously impossible to describe, all who were present have told the tale at one time in their life but none have ever found words. Pomfrey apparently does the best job in her medical notes. Severus was only forgiven once Lucius demanded it so.

The Yule Ball during Narcissa's sixth year was one of the most perfect evenings. A lot of female Slytherin eyes were boring holes in the back of her head and she loved it. Of all the potential girls, prefect Lucius had asked her to accompany him. Of course, she knew that he would, but she made sure that a few of the other girls thought that might have a chance. It was that night that she and Lucius decided they would ask their parents' to consider uniting their families by allowing them to marry. She had done her research, she knew that the Malfoy family met every requirement, and that Lucius himself would be approved by her father. As long as her father had no running business that she was intended to be a part of. That was the first risk, that her father had already promised her to another man. The other was that she might not have been what Lucius' family had in mind for their son. She thought about what she might do if their wishes were denied, and wondered whether it would take more strength to go against their wishes and marry Lucius anyway or to leave him and spend the rest of her life with a man she didn't care for. Before attending the ball she had written out a long list of all the things she wanted to discuss with Lucius to ensure that he do everything possible to keep things smooth between their families once he graduated. He insisted he would be fine on his own... She would be at Hogwarts another year yet and needed to teach him all the little tricks she used to get around her father. She arranged to meet him by the Black Lake early in order to have a proper grown up discussion about marriage. That wasn't what they ended up doing by the Black Lake. At all. In the end she had tucked the list away without speaking a word of it.

Andromeda informed her parents of her decision to marry Ted Tonks - a muggleborn - while Narcissa was in her final year. She wasn't home to witness the eruption. She received two separate owls. The first from Andy, the second from her mother and father. Nothing from Bella. Narcissa received Andy's letter calmly during breakfast. After reading it she folded it, much more neatly than it had been, and tucked it into her robe pocket. Her heartbeat quickened, she learned long ago to conceal its pace. She kept her eyes down, focused on the last piece of toast on her plate. She ate her toast with a knife and fork everyday, which many pointed out as being strange, but she didn't like crumbs. It seemed simple logic. Excusing herself politely, she went back to the girls' dormitory and changed out of her uniform, back into her pyjamas. Today's lessons would be wasted on her, probably the next day too. There was no chance her relationship with Andromeda would remain the same now. This brazen attitude was overkill, this muggleborn was below her sister's dignity. If the marriage didn't go ahead, the family would still all know that she had been willing to abandon her family. Worst case scenario, her parents would lose faith in all three of their daughters and revoke their privileges, stop them from being able to play an active part in their choice of husband. What if she lost Andromeda and Lucius in one blow? Surely her sister must have thought about that? If she even cared. Perhaps it was all Ted, goodness only knows what fetid secrets he hid. He may well have landed her in some sort of trouble and given her no choice in the matter. She wanted to reply straight away, but she wasn't sure how she felt. Somebody was going to take her sister away from her, but she couldn't figure out who it was. Ted? Her mother and father? Andy herself? Why would Andromeda be willing to trade Narcissa for a muggleborn stranger? To be cast aside in favour of total and utter filth... by one so loved... Narcissa's self esteem took a dive that morning. Until clarity surfaced, she decided to sit on the edge of her bed and look at herself in the mirror, hoping to find what was wrong with her. Narcissa had been hearing things lately, it seemed a dangerous idea to remotely involved with muggle borns and blood traitors. She didn't end up sending her sister a reply, ever.

Lucius had formally proposed to Narcissa within two months of her graduation and they were married that winter. Yet it took seven years for the Malfoys to be blessed with a child. For their first two years of marriage, the newlyweds just wanted to enjoy each other's company, build their life and enjoy their youth. They focused efforts on strengthening connections with high society, which saw Lucius spending a lot of time at the Ministry during the day and on occasion, secret meetings at night. Narcissa soon learnt that these were initiations to the Death Eater movement and that her sister and brother in law were also affiliated. It all seemed so minor at that moment. Before long the first wizarding war was fully underway and nights grew far longer. Narcissa spent her days entertaining the wives of her husband's friends and choice influential women at the Manor and pampering herself whenever possible. It was in these early years that she had questioned her marriage. Narcissa's parents began to send owls speaking of their disappointment in her for not yet producing a child even after her third year of marriage. By this time she and her husband had put themselves to purpose, but with no success. There were many times over those five years that they had celebrated pregnancy far too early. Too many times Lucius had been away when he was needed, too many times Narcissa had allowed her hopes to rise. Lucius was out more and more and she struggled to cope without his attention especially during times of loss. Paranoia over her social standing grew and grew with each visit to St Mungo's, it seemed too obvious and she was running out of excuses to give the other wives. It didn't take long for Lucius to hire private medical staff that could visit the manor whenever he called. What kind of wife couldn't provide her husband with a child?

Lucius began to realise that his wife was growing unhappy with being alone in her stress so they came to an agreement that a certain number of Death Eater gatherings could take place at the manor. This was not a popular move, neither Bellatrix nor Lucius were particularly keen on Narcissa being any closer to danger than she had to be. With patrols and missions becoming more frequent and Lucius returning more ruffled, she preferred to be in the know. Having further knowledge of these meetings gave both a sense of pride in her family and a ominous fear at the danger they may be placing themselves in out in the field. Pride won and she supported her husband and sister fully in their dedication to the Dark Lord's regime.

At one of these more informal meetings held at the manor, Narcissa met Yaxley for the first time. He took a shine to her that lasted a number of years. In 1977, three years before Draco was born, Yaxley was taught a firm lesson after too much firewhiskey became his excuse for assaulting his friend's wife for the second time. She had just reached further into her second trimester at the time of this last attack and sadly it went no further. It was only this that lead her to confess to Lucius the truth about his so-called friend as she couldn't bear the shame of being the one to blame for the loss of her husband's child again.

Voldemort, out of the blue, expressed an interest in meeting Narcissa. Everybody supposed he was offended by her closeness to the Death Eaters, but lack of activism. She wasn't particularly helpful to the Dark Lord herself, but she served as a fantastic incentive to get Lucius motivated for some of the less popular missions. Voldemort considered him an asset during the first war, mainly due to his connections to the ministry but also for his loyalty. He never refused to do what was asked of him, there was however one occasion where Lucius failed to complete the main objective of his task. It was said that he tried but wasn't able. Not good enough. Punishment was made fun from time to time. This was one of those times. Lucius didn't appear phased enough by his own failure so Voldemort decided to send Narcissa on a mission. A pointless one, but a little something that would see her in harm's way. She was sent to watch Pettigrew, to see if his defection could be trusted, to see if the Dark Lord's time was being wasted. Disguised in death eater attire, she found herself trying to spy in the presence of the Order of the Phoenix. A little battered and bruised, she apparated back home hurriedly, her identity intact. From here on Lucius and Narcissa had many terrible arguments; loud, spiteful, long arguments. They always made up in the end and made up well, but the final years of war took their toll on the previously perfect marriage.

Draco had finally taken hold in his mother's womb, at the most awkward time. At the final push of the first war, two years before the Dark Lord appeared to die at Godric's Hollow, Narcissa called Lucius home from fraternising at the Ministry to tell him the news. In a few short months, the prophecy had been discovered, Karkaroff had been imprisoned and Rosier and Wilkes had been killed by Aurors. Things were more dangerous than ever for Death Eaters. Typically the pregnancy was strong and Lucius and Narcissa were desperate to spend as much time together as they could, concerned that the relentless fighting could change that. Voldemort had high need of Lucius who had become one of the most loyal members of the movement. He and Bellatrix were frequently called away into dangerous situations with fewer death eaters for back up each time.

The Dark Lord seemed irritated by the late stage of her pregnancy, wanting to use Narcissa in the war effort but not wanting to lose too many more to the aurors. It would be fairly difficult to disguise her identity at this time. She got in the way of his demands of Lucius far too often and had nothing to offer with her demanding tiredness. He eventually decided she needed to be of use or out of the way so gave her the task of removing suspicion surrounding her family's involvement in the constant speight of murders and disappearances. Unfortunately it became clear to the aurors who they were after and when they discovered Narcissa's vulnerable condition it became clear how to get to him. Late April 1980 Narcissa had been removed from the manor to be questioned about her husband. She was held beneath the ministry for three days before Lucius returned home and discovered her whereabouts. He forcefully demanded her release, the ministry had too little to detain either of them any longer. Once home they formulated their official story should the situation arise again. Draco was born without complication in a private unit of St Mungo's just five weeks later on the 5th of June 1980. A maternity medi-witch accompanied the family home to help care for the newborn. Narcissa used the worker as a nappy changer and vomit cleaner so she could enjoy the nicer aspects of motherhood. If Draco was awake, Narcissa was with him. The first year of his life saw them inseparable. The meetings at the Manor obviously came to an end while the medi-witch lived on site.

On the 1st of Novemeber 1981, Lucius was arrested alongside Bellatrix and a collection of other Death Eaters to be questioned of crimes committed during the Dark Lord's reign. Without making too much of a scene, the Malfoys said their goodbyes, unsure of whether or not they would seeing each other again. If both her husband and her sister were locked up in Azkaban, Narcissa feared she may lose her mind. The first night without Lucius was dreadful, she spent all evening crying and slept in the nursery with Draco who had just turned 18 months old. She wanted to follow her husband to the ministry to give him comfort but she daren't take Draco and she couldn't stand to be apart from her son on such a day. This was the age that he liked to throw things. He could throw overarm without difficulty, but he was yet to master underarm, but he had plenty of practice. His favourite game was to build a tower out of anything he could lay his hands on, then call his mother to gaze upon his creation, as soon as Narcissa praised the tower he would take things one by one and launch them across the room. He was entertained by Dobby's attempts to retrieve the thrown objects, and Narcissa allowed him to play the strange game of fetch with the elf while she sat tucked away and teary eyed.

The family was reunited and unscathed within no time at all as Lucius sway in the ministry helped convince of his innocence during the war and his suffering under the Imperius curse. The decade that followed was the happiest in Narcissa's life. The boy was spoilt beyond all belief by both parents, he had everything he wanted and more yet he rarely misbehaved. Lucius was keen to teach him respect for his parents and didn't hesitate to punish him if he acted out of turn. Their son learnt a lot from watching his parents, especially during social events and interactions outside the manor. At first he was very shy with strangers as he had seen his mother treat people in a way he hadn't seen her behave before. He wasn't sure what to expect. Narcissa was very soft and loving in her home environment but tremendously cold and haughty with non-family members. She always told her son, that it was normal to act that way when surrounded by one's inferiors, he soon understood.

Hogwarts must have experienced a record number of owls in Draco's first year at Hogwarts. Narcissa would send him at least one parcel every morning and expect timely replies. She was worried that he would miss her if she didn't contact him every day, Lucius was sure he was more interested in receiving the gifts than he was the notes that accompanied them. There were a few times when Draco would send his evening reply addressed to only Lucius, initially this hurt his mother's feelings but she soon saw he connection that he wrote to his father when something negative had happened at school, knowing that as newly appointed governor it would be in his father's power to change it. That didn't stop her from contacting Dumbledore directly when her son was injured during a Care of Magical Creatures class.

While Draco was happily at school, Narcissa and Lucius rekindled their youth and attempted to fill in the gaps in their marriage left by the first wizarding war. It was as important as ever for them to network so a lot of time was spent at social events and they saw themselves tower over others and considered to be the uppermost in every way. No other could rival their influence or affluence. They briefly spoke about the possibility of more children, but agreed that it was enough of a miracle to have had Draco and it wasn't worth the heartache to try for more.

In Draco's fourth year at Hogwarts, Narcissa noticed that her husband's dark mark was giving him trouble. Every now and again he would wince and look at the faded skull and snake. He spoke nothing of it until one night, in the middle of an intimate moment, he visibly filled with panic. He whispered 'Its Him' and apparated before Narcissa could even question or complain. He was gone for hours, she was becoming impatient and he could forget any level of intimacy on his return. When he finally re-entered the room, that was the farthest thing from his mind. She listened to where he had been and what had happened. She slowly began to well up, Lucius seemed cautiously excited but Narcissa was enjoying her life and wasn't prepared to made sacrifices for war. She had no intention of allowing Draco to become involved in these affairs but the more she thought about it the more it dawned on her that she really had no choice. The Dark Lord would sooner or later make demands of her son as he would her husband, perhaps this would be the war that she played a larger part in. She wouldn't let this take her family. It was obvious that her Pureblood family was above others, she didn't need a costly war to prove that. She quietly cried into Lucius chest while he made effort to comfort her to sleep.

Life went downhill from there.

Lucius failed the Dark Lord. The prophecy was destroyed. He was locked away in Azkaban. Narcissa and her son attended his trial, but left before it was over. It was a forgone conclusion and she didn't care to see her husband dragged away, or to allow her son to witness the same. To her incredible shame, she did allow her son to witness her uncontrolled tears when they arrived home. The next evening, Narcissa received a visit from the Dark Lord. Draco was given the Dark Mark, and an impossible task. Bellatrix was adamant that she should be thankful of the honour given to her son, but Narcissa knew otherwise and sought help wherever she could. Intentionally going against the Dark Lord's wishes she headed to Spinner's End. She already hated this.

With her husband imprisoned and son at school, Narcissa had to be strong. Death Eaters were constantly at the Manor waiting for their time to snake into Hogwarts. Most of them were stinky brutes that expected her to play the dutiful hostess at all times. Fenrir was the worst. Everywhere he went he made a mess, moving things, tracking mud everywhere and just touching things with his stench, he loved to intimidate her tiny frame with huge stance. Yaxley was back to his usual tricks. Something about looking after her while her husband was otherwise engaged. Bellatrix wasn't as she used to be, she was always out even when not given a specific task, she would make up her own. Her time in Azkaban had changed her, the presence of her big sister gave her nowhere near the level of comfort she used to and she seemed happy to let the men soil the house. Once she did walk into Narcissa's bedroom unannounced and caught her crying. She rolled her eyes and told her younger sister to toughen up. When that didn't work she took her hands and shook them roughly and scolded her "You've grown soft Cissy. You should spend more time with those lot downstairs. They'll toughen you up."

Lucius seemed broken upon returning to the manor. The humiliation only got worse from there for him. This was nothing like the first war, that was dangerous but Lucius enjoyed his time then. Being out of the Dark Lord's favour was terrifying. Narcissa struggled not to break under the constant pressure on her husband. At first he would lose his temper frequently and she would have to calm him before he landed them in trouble. As thing disintegrated he became more distant, no emotion dared to surface. Once, Narcissa tried to speak for her husband when he didn't answer. She was tossed across the room before words escaped her lips. She stayed quiet after that, secretly prompting her husband when necessary, a squeeze of his knee or a light touch on his hand.

Their home lay in ruins, as did they. Narcissa found truth in her sister's words. Though her body was bruised, she had toughened for her husband and son. She knew she would do anything to see them safely from this night. She had incurred the wrath of Death Eaters and their master multiple times now be it the cruciatus curse or an evening with Yaxley, they couldn't do any worse to her. She hadn't seen Draco since he left her side armed with her wand. For all she knew, her son could already be dead or dying. She had mentally switched sides a long time ago, she wanted Harry to win and free her family from the Dark Lord. Focus was essential, she waited for an opportunity to be reunited with her son. She would sooner die than leave without him, even if that was simply bringing his body home. That opportunity became available as she was instructed to look upon the unmoving body of Harry Potter. Once she knew Draco was alive, she turned to the Dark Lord and concentrated everything into one word. It was no easy task to lie to him, especially to his face, but she had to try. She trusted in her own skill and he bought it. It was the only way to ensure her return to Hogwarts where Draco would be waiting. She would deal with the consequences later.

Luckily, those consequences never arose. Sometimes arming yourself in defence made you a greater target, refusing to join a battle was often the safest option. Narcissa and her family kept themselves huddled away from the fighting, waiting for it to be over. The very moment a clear path became available, the Malfoys fled. Her final decisions change their fate and saved them the shame of imprisonment along with the other surviving Death Eaters, but their involvement had dragged their name through the mud. Their wealth remained, even after rebuilding the ruins of the Manor, but few people were content to engage in any business with them. Although Harry Potter had helped clear them of their crimes, most of the wizarding world still held them accountable and they were treated with scorn wherever they went. There were no more invitations, no more free passes and no more discounts. They had no reputation to speak of.

Narcissa had frequent nightmares for years after the war ended. Most of them saw her family killed, but some were just recounts of the torture curse or what would happen if Voldemort or Bellatrix found her after realising her deception. Guilt riddled her being whenever she thought of her sister. Part of her was relieved that she hadn't survived the battle of Hogwarts, and that tore at her conscience. What was done was done. All that was left was moving onwards and upwards, as the muggles say.

Roleplay Sample

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"Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady." | Player Alias

[div style="margin:auto;width:668px;text-align:right;padding-top:3px;padding-right:7px;padding-left:0px;font-family:Lobster;font-size:25px;background-color:#444;color:#fff;border-top:1px solid #000;border-left:1px solid #000;border-right:1px solid #000;border-radius:5px 5px 0px 0px;"][b]Malfoy (née Black), Narcissa[/b] (Helen McCrory)[/div][div style="margin:auto;width:675px;height:810px;border:1px solid #000;background:#777;"]
[div style="float:left;"][img style="width:250px;height:250px;border:1px solid #000;border-radius:5px 0px 0px 5px;margin-left:10px;" src=""][/div][div style="background-color:#444;float:right;height:240px;width:385px;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;color:#fff;padding:5px;margin-right:10px;overflow-y:auto;border:1px solid #000;"][b]Birthdate:[/b] 1955/12/11
[b]Age:[/b] 49
[b]Abilities:[/b] Occlumency
[b]Bloodline:[/b] Pureblood
[b]Alliance:[/b] Death Eaters (former)
[b]Wand:[/b] 14" | Stiff | Willow | Unicorn Hair
[b]Alma Mater:[/b] Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
[b]House:[/b] Slytherin (1972)
[b]Spouse/partner:[/b] Lucius Malfoy
[b]Family:[/b] Immediate - @dracomalfoy (son)
[b]Pets:[/b] Peacocks[/div]




[div style="background-color:#777;font-family:Lobster;font-size:25px;margin-top:180px;color:#fff;"][div style="text-align:center;"]Personality & Description[/div][/div][div style="background:#444;border:1px solid #000;padding:5px;overflow-y:auto;margin:auto;width:640px;height:125px;font-size:10px;font-family:Verdana;color:#fff;"]Narcissa is famously cold with anybody outside of her small group of close friends and family. She is fastidious and self centred, putting only her family's welfare before her own. Quick to anger and not above temper tantrums, she usually ends up getting her own way as very few people can be bothered to deal with the stroppy behaviour. Materialistic, even after the war, she judges others based on their wealth and their history of wealth, unless they are useful to her in some way.

Narcissa never swears out loud, she always whispers. Often, she swears at the peacocks of Malfoy Manor, but she tries to keep bad language to a minimum. Such wording is beneath her intelligence and integrity. She is squeamish and lazy when faced with most things, but it is a rare occurrence that she actually has to address either of those traits as most things are done for her. If not, she will sway people with passive aggression before making any attempt herself. Her appearance is paramount, the way she and her family are outwardly perceived is something that must be kept constant and impeccable

Her main concerns are the effects of aging and finding her son a suitable wife of worth. Which is basically nobody, but she needs grandchildren so she puts up with what she can. Once an enemy to Narcissa, always an enemy, but friends come and go. To her, friends are interchangeable and there is only one close friend she has kept since childhood. Despite this dismissive attitude, she cannot bear being alone for long periods of time. Solitude is one of her worst fears, she never learnt to self soothe and she has a lot of emotional imbalances that she struggles to control.

Narcissa's lack of physical strength has irritated her for some time, as she knows she can be easily overcome without magic. Since her troubles with Yaxley she tends to keep males at a fair distance anyway to give her reflexes a chance. She doesn't enjoy spaces that are cramped, wide open, cold, hot, loud, dirty, smelly, unfamiliar, too familiar or too brightly or dimly lit.[/div][div style="background-color:#777;text-align:center;font-family:Lobster;font-size:25px;margin-bottom:-20px;color:#fff;"]History[/div]
[div style="background-color:#444;border:1px solid #000;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;color:#fff;padding:5px;overflow-y:auto;margin-left:10px;height:145px;float:left;width:190px;"][b]Patronus and Memory[/b]: Insert what form your Patronus takes (if your character has one), and what memory is associated with it.

[b]Boggart and Memory:[/b] Insert what your character's Boggart is and what memory/feeling is most associated with it.[/div][div style="background-color:#444;border:1px solid #000;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;color:#fff;padding:5px;margin-right:10px;overflow-y:auto;height:145px;float:right;width:435px;"]From birth, Narcissa was treated a little more delicately than her two elder sisters. Even in her naming, she was marked for elegance and grace over power. Bellatrix and Andromeda were expected to carve themselves new paths to elevate the Black family name in strength. Narcissa was to breed, safeguarding the bloodline's purity and to provide as a bargaining tool for union with a noble, pureblood house. Despite this lighter touch, her parents' strict nature was still relentless. Narcissa was valuable providing she was maintained and regimented. As such, she would be reprimanded if she appeared dirty or untidy in any way, Druella in particular was keen to this end and never allowed her youngest even a hair out of place. She would often praise her daughter for her beauty and made it clear that if her hair were to come loose of its ribbon or her hems fray the rest of the world would see her as nothing more than an ugly squib. Narcissa developed the idea that people who were poor or liked being dirty would somehow run the risk of losing their magic. And maybe grow tentacles. Cygnus on the other hand, who had hoped for sons, was often preoccupied with the elder daughters and their education, he rarely thought of Narcissa as anything other than the baby of the family. The older she grew, the more infuriated this made her. Unfortunately when infuriated she was susceptible to tantrums, which only served to prove her father's point.

It didn't take much time for Narcissa to realise that she was not treated as her sisters and although the trio were incredibly close, she couldn't help but feel the odd one out. Initially, she became embarrassed when people mentioned her fair hair as her sisters and parents all had dark, thick hair. When trying to be annoying on purpose, young Bellatrix would hone in on this insecurity and make fun of her little sister's transparent eyebrows. If they ever squabbled, Bella would even fully ignore Cissy insisting that she couldn't see her because she was "see-through like her hair and eyebrows!". Andromeda used to attempt comfort by informing her that "Uncle Orion's sister is blonde and she has no eyebrows either so its ok!".

Before enrollment at Hogwarts, Narcissa and her sisters were instructed by their mother in a number of different areas. They were taught social etiquette, the correct reading and singing among other things. Druella would often remark that the girls should be able to host an afternoon before being able to tie their own shoelaces. Narcissa's favourite lessons from her mother were always how to dress. She loved to dress up, whatever the reason even if she had to listen to what colours were appropriate for pallor and occasion or age appropriate patterning. After a spritz of jasmine perfume, Druella would end each of these lessons at dinner time, having now dressed for the meal and take her daughter arm in arm down the stairs where they would present their evening outfits to Cygnus. The scent of jasmine forever gave Narcissa positive reminders of her mother, the comfort of familiarity and reminded her to always act the perfect lady. As an adult, although never choosing to wear jasmine perfume, she would insist on the presence of jasmine in the gardens of Malfoy manor, usually close to the manor itself where she liked to relax.

The Black family were also keen to introduce their children to the other members of the next generation of high society. They would often have play dates with other families and it was during these times that the sisters met Lucius, Sirius and Regulus for the first time. Narcissa also met her lifelong friend Lucretia Avery. They were disappointed to see Sirius sorted into Gryffindor but hadn't maintained a friendship with him.

School was a bit of a shock to Narcissa, so used to being the centre of attention and getting her own way. Her parents were easily to manipulate, but the teachers and students would prove a little more difficult. She did of course find success long before she graduated. The tantrums seemed to occur less frequently than they did at home, those that knew her well might prefer to say that they merely evolved rather than went away. Without her mother's constant reassurance of her beauty, Narcissa became more fastidious than ever before about her appearance and sought compliments often. There was only one other girl who craved attention on the same scale as Narcissa, though most would say via more promiscuous means. She was older, already in fourth year when Narcissa was sorted and did not wish to share the spotlight. They quickly became rivals and to this day often share passive aggressive interactions. Unfortunately, Rita Skeeter became a well known gossip journalist and who better to gossip about than the elite pureblood women and their families. It was a lesson well learned that enemies can be dangerous in ways you wouldn't have thought and friends can manipulated much more easily. When in doubt - frenemy. The pair had to be separated during a quidditch match by Slughorn during a particulatly heated argument where Narcissa enlarged Rita's tongue and was then hit by a disarming curse, a sponge-knee curse and an unecessary stinging hex. Wandless and unable to walk in a straight line she launched herself at Rita's legs knocking her over where she was more easily hittable.

Charms was the only subject that Narcissa seemed to have a natural affinity for. Proper speech and enunciation had been instilled since birth and her mannerisms had always been tidy and precise, this gave her the ability to perform impeccable wandwork. It was of great annoyance to her professor to see Narcissa perform charms almost to perfection within only a few attempts but then have totally forgotten both the incantation and wand movement by the following day. In jest her professor once stated that she had "the skill of Merlin with the mind of a flobberworm". That was the first time Narcissa had stormed out of a lesson. Not the last. She was only ever asked to leave a classroom once, by Professor McGonagall, for flirting and giggling and not transfiguring her teapot into a tortoise for fifth lesson in a row. Instead she had managed to produce a teapot with legs and a tortoise head at the end of its spout which began to dribble profusely when McGonagall picked it up. Narcissa had little patience for the subject, it required too much concentration as did Potions. This was especially true after befriending Lucius. Her mind wandered far too eagerly. It never made sense to anybody to have Slytherin and Gryffindor students take Potions together, there was always drama. Narcissa didn't really like failing so she was usually in a spiteful mood during these periods. She refused to touch most ingredients like bubotuber pus, even with gloves, so Slughorn would bring her supplies over to her cauldron for her hoping she would then start to prepare them. It was more likely that she would fling the ingredients at the Gryffindor students across the room and cackle.

Lucretia, Narcissa's partner in crime at Hogwarts, was keen on sneaking around the castle and its grounds at night. In their fourth year, Lucretia formed a secret club of Slytherins called the Invisibles who would perfrom various feats and tasks after lights out. She named Narcissa her Deputy and put her to the task of recruiting new members. Each member would compile lists of achievements to be added to the secret master list, which was a long scroll, spritzed with perfume and titled 'The Invisibles: Silent, Fearless, Attractive'. As more male members joined, they objected to the perfume but rules could not be changed once put in motion. Once somebody completed a goal, they would inform Lucretia or Narcissa who would write their nickname beside it. The tasks were never exhausted and the parchment still exists hidden in the Slytherin common room. Among the challenges with no names are 'Touch the Great Hall Ceiling', 'Spend and Entire Night Outside', 'Map Out the Forbidden Forest', 'Steal an Item of McGonagall's Clothing' and 'Change Marks on Yesterday's Homework'. The nicknames that appeared on the scroll are Lysithea, Callisto, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Venus, Betta and HBP. Most of them were also members of the Slug Club, which was where they came up with their best ideas. Narcissa was disappointed to learn that Draco hadn't found the scroll during his time at Hogwarts, but refused to tell him where it was hidden. Perhaps one day it would be uncovered and a new set of students would form the collective Invisibles. Perhaps her grandchildren?

Slytherin life was never boring. In her fifth year a student who was never identified bought a Streeler from the Magical Menagerie and allowed it to crawl around the common room overnight, where it left a criss-cross of toxic slime trails. A few students were taken to the hospital wing that morning. Most of them were first and second years who had no idea that the creatures were venomous, one of them was Narcissa. Andromeda hadn't heard her little sister swear before that day. Many of the teenagers who spent their time in the common room found it amusing when she lost her temper and had been disheartened to find her gaining a better grip. Every now and again they would try something small to wind her up, they stopped extremely quickly once Bellatrix spotted them creeping up behind her baby sister with soot all over their hands. Bella had graduated though and nobody feared Andromeda. One first year was trying hard to make a good impression and be accepted by his peers, he thought the room would be impressed if he took things up a notch. Severus ran to grab the streeler, he intended it to land near Narcissa, he didn't intend it to sting his hands. The miscalculation caused the slimy foot to graze her delicate white arm. The sound that was heard next is famously impossible to describe, all who were present have told the tale at one time in their life but none have ever found words. Pomfrey apparently does the best job in her medical notes. Severus was only forgiven once Lucius demanded it so.

The Yule Ball during Narcissa's sixth year was one of the most perfect evenings. A lot of female Slytherin eyes were boring holes in the back of her head and she loved it. Of all the potential girls, prefect Lucius had asked her to accompany him. Of course, she knew that he would, but she made sure that a few of the other girls thought that might have a chance. It was that night that she and Lucius decided they would ask their parents' to consider uniting their families by allowing them to marry. She had done her research, she knew that the Malfoy family met every requirement, and that Lucius himself would be approved by her father. As long as her father had no running business that she was intended to be a part of. That was the first risk, that her father had already promised her to another man. The other was that she might not have been what Lucius' family had in mind for their son. She thought about what she might do if their wishes were denied, and wondered whether it would take more strength to go against their wishes and marry Lucius anyway or to leave him and spend the rest of her life with a man she didn't care for. Before attending the ball she had written out a long list of all the things she wanted to discuss with Lucius to ensure that he do everything possible to keep things smooth between their families once he graduated. He insisted he would be fine on his own... She would be at Hogwarts another year yet and needed to teach him all the little tricks she used to get around her father. She arranged to meet him by the Black Lake early in order to have a proper grown up discussion about marriage. That wasn't what they ended up doing by the Black Lake. At all. In the end she had tucked the list away without speaking a word of it.

Andromeda informed her parents of her decision to marry Ted Tonks - a muggleborn - while Narcissa was in her final year. She wasn't home to witness the eruption. She received two separate owls. The first from Andy, the second from her mother and father. Nothing from Bella. Narcissa received Andy's letter calmly during breakfast. After reading it she folded it, much more neatly than it had been, and tucked it into her robe pocket. Her heartbeat quickened, she learned long ago to conceal its pace. She kept her eyes down, focused on the last piece of toast on her plate. She ate her toast with a knife and fork everyday, which many pointed out as being strange, but she didn't like crumbs. It seemed simple logic. Excusing herself politely, she went back to the girls' dormitory and changed out of her uniform, back into her pyjamas. Today's lessons would be wasted on her, probably the next day too. There was no chance her relationship with Andromeda would remain the same now. This brazen attitude was overkill, this muggleborn was below her sister's dignity. If the marriage didn't go ahead, the family would still all know that she had been willing to abandon her family. Worst case scenario, her parents would lose faith in all three of their daughters and revoke their privileges, stop them from being able to play an active part in their choice of husband. What if she lost Andromeda and Lucius in one blow? Surely her sister must have thought about that? If she even cared. Perhaps it was all Ted, goodness only knows what fetid secrets he hid. He may well have landed her in some sort of trouble and given her no choice in the matter. She wanted to reply straight away, but she wasn't sure how she felt. Somebody was going to take her sister away from her, but she couldn't figure out who it was. Ted? Her mother and father? Andy herself? Why would Andromeda be willing to trade Narcissa for a muggleborn stranger? To be cast aside in favour of total and utter filth... by one so loved... Narcissa's self esteem took a dive that morning. Until clarity surfaced, she decided to sit on the edge of her bed and look at herself in the mirror, hoping to find what was wrong with her. Narcissa had been hearing things lately, it seemed a dangerous idea to remotely involved with muggle borns and blood traitors. She didn't end up sending her sister a reply, ever.

Lucius had formally proposed to Narcissa within two months of her graduation and they were married that winter. Yet it took seven years for the Malfoys to be blessed with a child. For their first two years of marriage, the newlyweds just wanted to enjoy each other's company, build their life and enjoy their youth. They focused efforts on strengthening connections with high society, which saw Lucius spending a lot of time at the Ministry during the day and on occasion, secret meetings at night. Narcissa soon learnt that these were initiations to the Death Eater movement and that her sister and brother in law were also affiliated. It all seemed so minor at that moment. Before long the first wizarding war was fully underway and nights grew far longer. Narcissa spent her days entertaining the wives of her husband's friends and choice influential women at the Manor and pampering herself whenever possible. It was in these early years that she had questioned her marriage. Narcissa's parents began to send owls speaking of their disappointment in her for not yet producing a child even after her third year of marriage. By this time she and her husband had put themselves to purpose, but with no success. There were many times over those five years that they had celebrated pregnancy far too early. Too many times Lucius had been away when he was needed, too many times Narcissa had allowed her hopes to rise. Lucius was out more and more and she struggled to cope without his attention especially during times of loss. Paranoia over her social standing grew and grew with each visit to St Mungo's, it seemed too obvious and she was running out of excuses to give the other wives. It didn't take long for Lucius to hire private medical staff that could visit the manor whenever he called. What kind of wife couldn't provide her husband with a child?

Lucius began to realise that his wife was growing unhappy with being alone in her stress so they came to an agreement that a certain number of Death Eater gatherings could take place at the manor. This was not a popular move, neither Bellatrix nor Lucius were particularly keen on Narcissa being any closer to danger than she had to be. With patrols and missions becoming more frequent and Lucius returning more ruffled, she preferred to be in the know. Having further knowledge of these meetings gave both a sense of pride in her family and a ominous fear at the danger they may be placing themselves in out in the field. Pride won and she supported her husband and sister fully in their dedication to the Dark Lord's regime.

At one of these more informal meetings held at the manor, Narcissa met Yaxley for the first time. He took a shine to her that lasted a number of years. In 1977, three years before Draco was born, Yaxley was taught a firm lesson after too much firewhiskey became his excuse for assaulting his friend's wife for the second time. She had just reached further into her second trimester at the time of this last attack and sadly it went no further. It was only this that lead her to confess to Lucius the truth about his so-called friend as she couldn't bear the shame of being the one to blame for the loss of her husband's child again.

Voldemort, out of the blue, expressed an interest in meeting Narcissa. Everybody supposed he was offended by her closeness to the Death Eaters, but lack of activism. She wasn't particularly helpful to the Dark Lord herself, but she served as a fantastic incentive to get Lucius motivated for some of the less popular missions. Voldemort considered him an asset during the first war, mainly due to his connections to the ministry but also for his loyalty. He never refused to do what was asked of him, there was however one occasion where Lucius failed to complete the main objective of his task. It was said that he tried but wasn't able. Not good enough. Punishment was made fun from time to time. This was one of those times. Lucius didn't appear phased enough by his own failure so Voldemort decided to send Narcissa on a mission. A pointless one, but a little something that would see her in harm's way. She was sent to watch Pettigrew, to see if his defection could be trusted, to see if the Dark Lord's time was being wasted. Disguised in death eater attire, she found herself trying to spy in the presence of the Order of the Phoenix. A little battered and bruised, she apparated back home hurriedly, her identity intact. From here on Lucius and Narcissa had many terrible arguments; loud, spiteful, long arguments. They always made up in the end and made up well, but the final years of war took their toll on the previously perfect marriage.

Draco had finally taken hold in his mother's womb, at the most awkward time. At the final push of the first war, two years before the Dark Lord appeared to die at Godric's Hollow, Narcissa called Lucius home from fraternising at the Ministry to tell him the news. In a few short months, the prophecy had been discovered, Karkaroff had been imprisoned and Rosier and Wilkes had been killed by Aurors. Things were more dangerous than ever for Death Eaters. Typically the pregnancy was strong and Lucius and Narcissa were desperate to spend as much time together as they could, concerned that the relentless fighting could change that. Voldemort had high need of Lucius who had become one of the most loyal members of the movement. He and Bellatrix were frequently called away into dangerous situations with fewer death eaters for back up each time.

The Dark Lord seemed irritated by the late stage of her pregnancy, wanting to use Narcissa in the war effort but not wanting to lose too many more to the aurors. It would be fairly difficult to disguise her identity at this time. She got in the way of his demands of Lucius far too often and had nothing to offer with her demanding tiredness. He eventually decided she needed to be of use or out of the way so gave her the task of removing suspicion surrounding her family's involvement in the constant speight of murders and disappearances. Unfortunately it became clear to the aurors who they were after and when they discovered Narcissa's vulnerable condition it became clear how to get to him. Late April 1980 Narcissa had been removed from the manor to be questioned about her husband. She was held beneath the ministry for three days before Lucius returned home and discovered her whereabouts. He forcefully demanded her release, the ministry had too little to detain either of them any longer. Once home they formulated their official story should the situation arise again. Draco was born without complication in a private unit of St Mungo's just five weeks later on the 5th of June 1980. A maternity medi-witch accompanied the family home to help care for the newborn. Narcissa used the worker as a nappy changer and vomit cleaner so she could enjoy the nicer aspects of motherhood. If Draco was awake, Narcissa was with him. The first year of his life saw them inseparable. The meetings at the Manor obviously came to an end while the medi-witch lived on site.

On the 1st of Novemeber 1981, Lucius was arrested alongside Bellatrix and a collection of other Death Eaters to be questioned of crimes committed during the Dark Lord's reign. Without making too much of a scene, the Malfoys said their goodbyes, unsure of whether or not they would seeing each other again. If both her husband and her sister were locked up in Azkaban, Narcissa feared she may lose her mind. The first night without Lucius was dreadful, she spent all evening crying and slept in the nursery with Draco who had just turned 18 months old. She wanted to follow her husband to the ministry to give him comfort but she daren't take Draco and she couldn't stand to be apart from her son on such a day. This was the age that he liked to throw things. He could throw overarm without difficulty, but he was yet to master underarm, but he had plenty of practice. His favourite game was to build a tower out of anything he could lay his hands on, then call his mother to gaze upon his creation, as soon as Narcissa praised the tower he would take things one by one and launch them across the room. He was entertained by Dobby's attempts to retrieve the thrown objects, and Narcissa allowed him to play the strange game of fetch with the elf while she sat tucked away and teary eyed.

The family was reunited and unscathed within no time at all as Lucius sway in the ministry helped convince of his innocence during the war and his suffering under the Imperius curse. The decade that followed was the happiest in Narcissa's life. The boy was spoilt beyond all belief by both parents, he had everything he wanted and more yet he rarely misbehaved. Lucius was keen to teach him respect for his parents and didn't hesitate to punish him if he acted out of turn. Their son learnt a lot from watching his parents, especially during social events and interactions outside the manor. At first he was very shy with strangers as he had seen his mother treat people in a way he hadn't seen her behave before. He wasn't sure what to expect. Narcissa was very soft and loving in her home environment but tremendously cold and haughty with non-family members. She always told her son, that it was normal to act that way when surrounded by one's inferiors, he soon understood.

Hogwarts must have experienced a record number of owls in Draco's first year at Hogwarts. Narcissa would send him at least one parcel every morning and expect timely replies. She was worried that he would miss her if she didn't contact him every day, Lucius was sure he was more interested in receiving the gifts than he was the notes that accompanied them. There were a few times when Draco would send his evening reply addressed to only Lucius, initially this hurt his mother's feelings but she soon saw he connection that he wrote to his father when something negative had happened at school, knowing that as newly appointed governor it would be in his father's power to change it. That didn't stop her from contacting Dumbledore directly when her son was injured during a Care of Magical Creatures class.

While Draco was happily at school, Narcissa and Lucius rekindled their youth and attempted to fill in the gaps in their marriage left by the first wizarding war. It was as important as ever for them to network so a lot of time was spent at social events and they saw themselves tower over others and considered to be the uppermost in every way. No other could rival their influence or affluence. They briefly spoke about the possibility of more children, but agreed that it was enough of a miracle to have had Draco and it wasn't worth the heartache to try for more.

In Draco's fourth year at Hogwarts, Narcissa noticed that her husband's dark mark was giving him trouble. Every now and again he would wince and look at the faded skull and snake. He spoke nothing of it until one night, in the middle of an intimate moment, he visibly filled with panic. He whispered 'Its Him' and apparated before Narcissa could even question or complain. He was gone for hours, she was becoming impatient and he could forget any level of intimacy on his return. When he finally re-entered the room, that was the farthest thing from his mind. She listened to where he had been and what had happened. She slowly began to well up, Lucius seemed cautiously excited but Narcissa was enjoying her life and wasn't prepared to made sacrifices for war. She had no intention of allowing Draco to become involved in these affairs but the more she thought about it the more it dawned on her that she really had no choice. The Dark Lord would sooner or later make demands of her son as he would her husband, perhaps this would be the war that she played a larger part in. She wouldn't let this take her family. It was obvious that her Pureblood family was above others, she didn't need a costly war to prove that. She quietly cried into Lucius chest while he made effort to comfort her to sleep.

Life went downhill from there.

Lucius failed the Dark Lord. The prophecy was destroyed. He was locked away in Azkaban. Narcissa and her son attended his trial, but left before it was over. It was a forgone conclusion and she didn't care to see her husband dragged away, or to allow her son to witness the same. To her incredible shame, she did allow her son to witness her uncontrolled tears when they arrived home. The next evening, Narcissa received a visit from the Dark Lord. Draco was given the Dark Mark, and an impossible task. Bellatrix was adamant that she should be thankful of the honour given to her son, but Narcissa knew otherwise and sought help wherever she could. Intentionally going against the Dark Lord's wishes she headed to Spinner's End. She already hated this.

With her husband imprisoned and son at school, Narcissa had to be strong. Death Eaters were constantly at the Manor waiting for their time to snake into Hogwarts. Most of them were stinky brutes that expected her to play the dutiful hostess at all times. Fenrir was the worst. Everywhere he went he made a mess, moving things, tracking mud everywhere and just touching things with his stench, he loved to intimidate her tiny frame with huge stance. Yaxley was back to his usual tricks. Something about looking after her while her husband was otherwise engaged. Bellatrix wasn't as she used to be, she was always out even when not given a specific task, she would make up her own. Her time in Azkaban had changed her, the presence of her big sister gave her nowhere near the level of comfort she used to and she seemed happy to let the men soil the house. Once she did walk into Narcissa's bedroom unannounced and caught her crying. She rolled her eyes and told her younger sister to toughen up. When that didn't work she took her hands and shook them roughly and scolded her "You've grown soft Cissy. You should spend more time with those lot downstairs. They'll toughen you up."

Lucius seemed broken upon returning to the manor. The humiliation only got worse from there for him. This was nothing like the first war, that was dangerous but Lucius enjoyed his time then. Being out of the Dark Lord's favour was terrifying. Narcissa struggled not to break under the constant pressure on her husband. At first he would lose his temper frequently and she would have to calm him before he landed them in trouble. As thing disintegrated he became more distant, no emotion dared to surface. Once, Narcissa tried to speak for her husband when he didn't answer. She was tossed across the room before words escaped her lips. She stayed quiet after that, secretly prompting her husband when necessary, a squeeze of his knee or a light touch on his hand.

Their home lay in ruins, as did they. Narcissa found truth in her sister's words. Though her body was bruised, she had toughened for her husband and son. She knew she would do anything to see them safely from this night. She had incurred the wrath of Death Eaters and their master multiple times now be it the cruciatus curse or an evening with Yaxley, they couldn't do any worse to her. She hadn't seen Draco since he left her side armed with her wand. For all she knew, her son could already be dead or dying. She had mentally switched sides a long time ago, she wanted Harry to win and free her family from the Dark Lord. Focus was essential, she waited for an opportunity to be reunited with her son. She would sooner die than leave without him, even if that was simply bringing his body home. That opportunity became available as she was instructed to look upon the unmoving body of Harry Potter. Once she knew Draco was alive, she turned to the Dark Lord and concentrated everything into one word. It was no easy task to lie to him, especially to his face, but she had to try. She trusted in her own skill and he bought it. It was the only way to ensure her return to Hogwarts where Draco would be waiting. She would deal with the consequences later.

Luckily, those consequences never arose. Sometimes arming yourself in defence made you a greater target, refusing to join a battle was often the safest option. Narcissa and her family kept themselves huddled away from the fighting, waiting for it to be over. The very moment a clear path became available, the Malfoys fled. Her final decisions change their fate and saved them the shame of imprisonment along with the other surviving Death Eaters, but their involvement had dragged their name through the mud. Their wealth remained, even after rebuilding the ruins of the Manor, but few people were content to engage in any business with them. Although Harry Potter had helped clear them of their crimes, most of the wizarding world still held them accountable and they were treated with scorn wherever they went. There were no more invitations, no more free passes and no more discounts. They had no reputation to speak of.

Narcissa had frequent nightmares for years after the war ended. Most of them saw her family killed, but some were just recounts of the torture curse or what would happen if Voldemort or Bellatrix found her after realising her deception. Guilt riddled her being whenever she thought of her sister. Part of her was relieved that she hadn't survived the battle of Hogwarts, and that tore at her conscience. What was done was done. All that was left was moving onwards and upwards, as the muggles say.[/div]
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