nothing i wont do anymore

hope is a dangerous thing.

Hogwarts School 1969.

The first time Lucius Malfoy laid eyes on Narcissa Black, she was crying. An expression which sadly enough seemed to suit her. Her blonde hair fell into the book she was hunched over on the dining table, her eyes staring glassily at the page which she would not possibly comprehend in such a state. She, in Lucius' opinion, resembled a drowned woman- vacant eyes, pale complexion, long fingers. That wasn't to say she wasn't pleasing to the eye, of course, but her apparent despair detracted from it somewhat in Lucius' humble opinion. But even still, he took note of her.

Narcissa hadn't taken note of anyone. She chewed on the inside of her cheeks and averted her eyes from every other student, teacher, owl and painting in the hall. She was fixated on getting herself back to her bed tonight without further incident. Bella had already made her week traumatic enough, storming into her dormitory, shrieking about something Narcissa had apparently taken from her trunk. Of course she hadn't- Narcissa wouldn't dare touch Bella's things. She had no need for them, as her own were neatly stacked in her own trunk. Bella had found what she was looking for in the common room and had haughtily moved on with her own day, but the humiliation had already engulfed Narcissa completely, and she burned with the shame and burden of her sister. She wished she could have spoken to Andromeda about it. She was always the voice of reason in her and Bella's arguments. But she was no longer here to protect her, she was no longer a part of the family at all. Narcissa turned the page of her book. Bella was in her seventh year now, only one more year, and then Narcissa could enjoy the last four years of her schooling in peace.

____

Lucius wouldn't have guessed that the drowned blonde girl he had been watching was Bellatrix's sister. The twisted girl two years above him could hardly have a sister so different to herself. 'That must be who she is shrieking at in the girls dormitories at night'. Lucius mused to himself. The poor thing, Morpheus and himself had never had such quarrels. Then again, Morpheus was not like Bellatrix. He looked up, his grey eyes peering over the Slytherin common room. He was taking his newly elected role of prefect very seriously. He knew it would look good on him and his family to have another member of the Malfoy family have such an upstanding Hogwarts reputation. But his surveillance was interrupted by the door opening and soft sounds of laughter echoing down the corridor leading to the main lounge. Four third years walked into the room, holding their book bags in their hands. To Lucius' surprise, Narcissa Black was with them. He hadn't seen her with friends, not that he had been looking. She wasn't the source of the laughter, that was the dark haired girl beside her, but her lips were pulled upwards slightly, and she had a slight rose in her cheeks. A quill hung loosely in her hands and he could see her running the feather through her fingers so that her hands wouldn't just hang limply. The curly haired girl said something else which caused the dark haired girl to snort with laughter once again. Narcissa's cheeks flushed once more and she dropped her eyes. She looked different like this, Lucius noted. Not happy per-say. She hadn't allowed herself that level of comfort. There was still an element of concealed caution surrounding her, like she needed to be able to dissolve into the floor at a moment's notice. But he could see something behind the glass in her eyes. But he had been caught, because without a moment's notice his grey eyes weren't watching Narcissa's flushed cheeks, they were looking directly into those bright blue eyes he was just mulling over. It wasn't like a jolt of electricity, or hot like a fire, it was like being pulled out to sea by a strong current and dunked in the cold salty water. Lucius even found himself holding his breath. She kept looking at him, unflinching and unapologetic. He was a Malfoy, she was a Black. She had no reason to avert her gaze like some of the other family names in here. They were relatively matched. He offered her half a smile and a nod. She tilted her head to the side slightly, and Lucius almost took it as an invitation to stand up and speak to her. But before he could move she had dropped her gaze back to the floor and brushed her fingers against the feather. He remembered himself and his book and picked it up once more. With a squeeze of each other's hands, the girls dispersed, two staying in the common room, one going to bed and Narcissa heading to the women's bathroom and showers. Lucius was somewhat satisfied that she couldn't disappear into the floor whilst he was looking at her.