theladymalfoy (theladymalfoy) wrote in obscuritas, @ 2009-08-18 14:51:00 |
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Current mood: | annoyed |
Current music: | interupted silence |
backdated | raid on malfoy manor | complete
w h o : narcissa malfoy
n p c : unnamed ministry officials (if you play a ministry official, feel free to have been there, simply make sure you’ve read the log to avoid conflict)
w h a t : malfoy manor is raided on a tip from harry potter through Arthur Weasley
w h e n : backdated | okay, so I’ll be updating the date when I get home
w h e r e : malfoy manor
w a r n i n g : none
s t a t u s : complete
The fact that the morning was chilled made it no different from any other morning of late. Even the change of seasons simply blended into the cold mist. It was as if summer had never happened… in more ways than one. Time without Lucius seemed to freeze. While Draco had usually spent the summers at the Manor with his circle of friends, he’d been off doing man’s work with his new so-called friends. And now fall was coming round again. Her house was largely empty. Even Gwen was gone… doing His task. And while Narcissa could hope that Gwen was successful and that Lucius would be soon returning, she hated that her friend had been sent off to do such bidding. Narcissa hated the mark that decorated Gwen’s arm even more. She’d been helpless in the situation, the only mitigation coming in the insistence that Fenrir watch over Gwen’s children here at the Manor… where he really need have little to no contact with the poor dears.
At least that was the plan. Narcissa’s morning routine was abruptly interrupted by the sensation of strangers on the property. They were not simply coming up the front gate, as would only be proper, but rather came from several different directions at once. Her robes were on in seconds, her hands smoothing her blonde curls into a knot at the back of her neck. An elf was dispatched to both Fenrir & Bella… they needed to be gone and now, regardless of His orders, Narcissa would not risk her husband’s freedom, let alone her own.
She did not give them the respect of meeting them the door. Narcissa was enraged that the Ministry should invade her so, especially when she’d been perfectly willing to let them enter through the front like any other respectable guest. There was no cause for them to skulk through the woods, invading her morning as if she had something to hide.
As if she would have anything to hide. The house had been cleaned even before the first Ministry raid. Enough had been left to make them feel they’d done their job and Narcissa had lost things quite precious to her… but anything of true importance had already been spirited away to safety. The new Minister himself could come to tea and Narcissa would not feel she had anything to hide. It provided an advantage… rather than fear, they’d be met with naught but indignant fury… if they were met at all. Narcissa had half a mind to refuse to see them.
With that thought in mind, she made her way down to the morning room. While the elves were in a twist, Narcissa insisted that they serve her customary breakfast. Regardless of the wards crawling over her skin, she sat and ate calmly, a book open on her lap, her expression fixed into idle relaxation even as she caught the first glimpse of a man coming through the mist. She ignored this intrusion into her schedule and let the book she’d been reading fall open next to her. So help her, should they so much as scratch one piece of furniture she’d replace it with their bones by the time this ordeal was over.
And the wait… it seemed interminable. She heard the front door open even as she heard someone entering through the kitchen garden. The cheek! A young female house elf popped into the room. “There is Mister’s here to see you Madame…”
Narcissa frowned at the creature and shook her head. “Tell them that they are welcome to look about as they will, as they have already started it would seem… but I am at my breakfast and not accepting company…” The elf was clearly uncomfortable but fear of her Mistress was far greater than her fear of the imposing men at the door so she delivered the dismissal with her long nose touching the Cotswold stone floors, flinching as the men brushed passed her and splintered off.
There were men in nearly every room of the house. Only some had come in through the front door, but Narcissa continued to ignore this disruption into her life. Rather, she allowed a coy smile to curl her lips as she thought of the inevitable frustration they must be feeling as the lifted trinket after trinket and knocked on walls looking for any one of the many nooks and crannies that the Manor held… she doubted that they’d manage to breach any said nooks… but even if they did, they’d find nothing there but random bits of stored goods… a dusty carpet… that happened to be full of doxies… for example. Even the best kept Manor’s had their dusty corners and these interlopers were more than welcome to find them.
Her breakfast finished, Narcissa rose and took her book into her study. There was a young man she didn’t recognize going through her books, leaving them laying open on the floor… a few pages had been torn loose and fluttered to the floor as the draft from the door caught them upon her entrance. The fingers of Narcissa’s delicate hands curled as if wrapping around her wand, though she was far too smart to draw it on the whelp. Instead, she ignored him as she moved to her favorite chair and her anger was such that she didn’t need her wand to clear the seat of the few books he’d left there. A simple sweep of her hand above them and they clattered to the floor just as the hearth roared to life. Narcissa slid out of her shoes and curled up, reopening her book and seeming to be quite absorbed.
The young man was clearly incensed at this show of disrespect… and that made two of them. It was a stand-off that Narcissa was determined to win as long fingers carefully turned pages. The rougher he became with her things, the more gentle she treated the book in her hands until she was practically cushioning it. Finally, after having gone through the room like a natural disaster, the young man whirled in front of Narcissa, staring at her expectantly. If he thought he was intimidating he would have a hard time climbing up the ranks. The page turned and her eyes remained fixed on the words before her as he cleared his throat. “Your cooperation would go a long way towards restoring your reputation Madame,” the boy finally said, doing a rather poor job of holding in his frustrated rage.
There were many possible responses to this, though the first thing that scampered across Narcissa’s mind was the fact that she’d won this particular battle of wills… something that might have been more satisfying had her opponent been armed. She would not be baited though. Her silence was deafening as she finished the page she was reading. It was only as she finished that she flicked her eyes up briefly, a chilly smile and eyes that could crack diamonds. “Oh…” she said absently, eyes turning back to her book as she appeared to consider whether to respond at all. Finally, she closed the book and held it out to the Ministry official glaring down at her. “I did not intend to be uncooperative,” she assured him as he snatched it from her grasp and started to riffle through the pages as if it held some dark magics hardly imagined… though if it did he’d be dead by now the way he was treating it. Pity she couldn’t risk it. “ but you are hardly worthy of my personal attention…” she added, uncurling her feet and standing in such a way that he was forced to step back, his knees hitting the ottoman behind him. The fact that he was a few inches shorter than her simply made the situation more amusing really.
Dismissing him by sheer refusal to acknowledge him, Narcissa slid back into her shoes and then gave him a long smile. She made no excuse for her departure, nor did she disclose her destination. Narcissa merely caroled “I’m quite sure you can all find your way out as you found your way in,” out over her shoulder as she left the room.