The Other Side

7. Narcissa Malfoy- Family

Narcissa Black met Lucius Malfoy when she was still just a child. At first, it was just acknowledgement at balls and parties and society functions. Then, she did not know how, it became more.

They were suddenly sneaking away to watch the stars and shirking Prefect duties to meet up in broom cupboards and kissing in corners at parties.

These rendezvous began during her fifth year and his sixth year and stretched all the way until his graduation, when he was expected to marry some pureblooded witch of repute and wealth. She did not think that he would consider her because, although she loved him, he had never proclaimed such romantic love for her and she had presumed herself to be a mere enjoyable distraction from his various tedious duties. So, she had broken it off.

She had not expected him to care in the least. She had expected herself to be a brokenhearted attendee of his wedding to some beautiful woman who didn't have two sisters who were prettier than she and always stole the limelight.

She most certainly had not expected Lucius, in a slip of his stoic facade, to send her, of all things, a love letter filled with all of the reasons why he loved her. He told her via this letter that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, sisters be damned.

Before waiting for a reply from her, the man had arranged their marriage through her father. She couldn't bring herself to care because she loved him. And, whenever she was hurt at the fact that Lucius was cold and distant and didn't seem to care in the slightest, she would bring out a carefully maintained letter and remind herself that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone else, platonically or romantically.

After many years of trying and miscarriages, they had almost given up hope of having a child to carry on the Malfoy family name. Although Lucius never outright comforted her, Narcissa took solace in the fact that he stayed by her side throughout it all, expressed his joy at the news of each pregnancy and, despite the urging of his father to find a new wife who was more capable, he never left her.

Finally, at noon on the fifth of June, 1980 they were blessed with Draco Lucius Malfoy. She had only seen such happiness in Lucius' eyes on their wedding day.

Despite how much he forced his beliefs on Draco, Lucius was a wonderful father. He treated his son like a prince and, because Narcissa treated him the same without realizing just what she was doing, they raised a spoilt brat. But, she did not care in the least because she had her family.

Together, the three of them were happy, even if they masked all affection and domestic bliss in public. Lucius was a good husband and a good father, despite his overpowering faith in the Dark Lord.

Draco and Narcissa also believed in blood supremacy, mother more than son as her natural maternal instincts told her, but she did not care. By the end of his sixth year, Narcissa could see that Draco couldn't force himself to believe any longer but she did not say a word to anyway because, above all else, even above the Dark Lord, family took precedence. As much as she loved Lucius, she was not sure if he held the same belief. But, she could tell that Draco did.

Draco was a troubled boy who believed that his father did not care for him. He believed that his father had abandoned him and Narcissa felt her heart ache every time Draco looked to be in pain because her first instinct, before even her in-built Slytherin instincts of self-preservation, was to protect her son, her boy, her flesh and blood, her baby. She wanted to shelter him from all of the world's evils.

When the war began and everything went awry and her family's honour collapsed, she stayed strong and resilient for the sake of Draco and Lucius because, although they hid it very well, both of them were suffering. She stayed strong for them because they were her whole universe.

Yes, she believed in the Dark Lord's cause. She believed that Mudbloods were not worthy and that pure magical bloodlines should remain so without the contamination that Muggle blood brought to them. But, she also believed that, before protecting one's ideals, one should protect one's self and those important to them.

In her opinion, this was what got her and her family through the war because, if Narcissa had not held her family so dear and had not worried for Draco, Harry Potter would have died and Harry Potter would not have been able to testify her family's innocence. Yes, Lucius had been sentenced to a short term in Azkaban, but their punishment was minuscule compared to those received by other pureblood families because of this. They had not lost their wealth, their possessions, their wands or their freedom. The only thing that they had lost was their respect. Prejudice was thrown at the Malfoys from all corners and they were shrouded in hate.

But, even as her husband lost his mind and her son lost his spirit, she made sure to do all that she could to keep the family together. Even when Lucius had outright opposed Draco's marriage to Astoria Greengrass who was, although wealthy, beautiful and pureblooded, a blood traitor, Narcissa had done nothing more than look upon her future daughter-in-law with thinly veiled disapproval because, as much as she hated to admit it, Astoria made Draco happy and all that she wanted, over everything else, was for her family to be forever happy and untouched by any and all discomfort.

Narcissa understood exactly what it meant to have a closely knit family that offered a shell of protection and comfort and that was what she wished for for her son and for her beloved husband.

While things like blood supremacy and balls and societal obligations were important to her, nothing was more important or more required than family. Her family was her life and her world. She would do anything and anything at all to preserve her family.