The past few days at the new house had been lovely. Even though Alyssa was toddling around the house, Lucius and Narcissa acted like newlyweds, always sneaking off for a quick rendezvous in some quiet corner. It was so happy, except that Cissa hasn't seen Neville since the first day, and Lucius always kept the basement locked.
So early one morning, while Lucius was still sleeping, Cissa tip toed out of bed and grabbed the key from the robes that had been hastily discarded the night before.
It didn't take long to reach the basement door, just some clever and quiet moving to avoid Bosun, who was always puttering about the house, and in a few moments she was down the stairs sitting by Neville's cage.
He was so ragged looking, it nearly broke her heart. "Neville," she said softly, waiting for him to wake up.