InsaneJournal

Everyone involved with the meeting with Lady Noir had largely retreated into their own houses to tend to their own wounds and affairs, but Marcelia had been about to contact Lucius and Narcissa to see how they were when Lucius had beaten her to it. Hallam had come back injured and he was a talented duelist, it was only reasonable to expect there were more injuries among their number. Still, to hear of Narcissa's state was more than worrying and it was only right to visit to see how the other woman was doing and to see where she could help out. Given the injuries, she suspected her friend would be unable to make any public appearances for at least a while and would need help covering those bases. Perhaps other people would find that to be the wrong thing to focus on, but they were both practical people who knew the importance of keeping up appearances and this was probably the best way to help out. It was needed anyway, for all of them, if it was known that Narcissa was injured then there'd be too many uncomfortable questions and inquiries.

Having apparated to the Malfoy's gates, Marcelia waited to be let in then made her greetings and politely stood by while the house elves scurried away to check on their mistress and see if she was prepared to take visitors. Who had called ahead of course, because that was only proper.

Realistically, Narcissa wasn’t prepared to take visitors. The potions Severus and Antonin had her taking still had her groggy and kept her asleep more often than not, she was still in pain (though not nearly as much as when she'd first woken up), and it was still hard to take a deep breath. She also hadn't really been out of bed in almost a week.

She shouldn't be getting out of bed now, but she did anyway, wrapping herself in her housecoat and moving slowly to the sitting room attached to the master bedroom. Dobby followed her, protesting vociferously that Mistress shouldn't be out of bed and that Mistress was going to hurt herself and what was Master going to say and couldn't Dobby bring Miss Marcelia to the bedroom like Mister Cosmo? The worst of it was that he was right; Narcissa realized that before she was halfway there. She was sick of constantly lying in bed, however, and she was not going to let their house elf tell her what to do.

When Narcissa finally reached the couch, she sat carefully, though she wanted to just let herself collapse, and told Dobby to being Marcelia up. She closed her eyes as he disappeared and tried to focus on breathing evenly. She was still like that--leaning back on the couch with her eyes closed as she focused on breathing--when Marcelia entered the room.

When Dobby let her in, Marcelia paused at the door for a moment. Sitting there on the couch like that Narcissa looked so fragile, it frankly seemed like a moment that she wouldn't want people to see. So Marcelia made sure her first few steps into the room were slightly louder than usual, just to give Narcissa an alert that she'd entered the room so she could open her eyes and not feel like she'd been taken unawares or found in too vulnerable a state. Marcelia knew she'd want the same done for her.

She waited until she'd walked around to the couch and she could see Narcissa's eyes open and register her visitor before speaking. "It's so good to see you darling. Antonin mentioned you'd been hurt, I wanted to check in. How are you?"

Narcissa opened her eyes when she heard Marcelia enter the room. “I am… better.” She briefly considered lying, but with her appearance so far from what it usually was and her mental acuity dulled by both pain and potions, she knew Marcelia would see through it in a moment. “Antonin assures me that I will make a full recovery, though I doubt I will be doing anything socially for the next several weeks.”

She smiled as she forced herself to sit up straighter. “I am pleased you stopped by, however. Would you like some tea? I can have Dobby brew some.” She might even have a cup herself, a nice break from water and the concoction she’d been drinking to aid the potions in their work.

"I'm very glad to hear that." Marcelia smoothed out her robes and sat down carefully with a look of concern on her face. If there was one thing to say about Narcissa Malfoy, it was that she never looked anything less than impeccable. But here she was, hurt and weak and clearly tired by the whole ordeal. It was somehow much worse than seeing one of the men injured, and this...this state was just wholly unsuited to a woman like Narcissa.

"Thank you, I will have some. I did actually bring you some tea myself for when it struck your fancy. A bit of a brew my father is quite fond of, claims it's quite calming but doesn't dull the mind. That was his only real problem with other teas, he's very preoccupied with these things too." Of course she'd tried it herself in the past, and it did work as claimed but then again she liked to think she often kept her mind calm and clear. "Speaking of being social, that was another reason I came by. I admit my healing isn't the level of Antonin's so I cannot help you there but you'll need more than Lucius's word about your whereabouts to keep up appearances for long. Perhaps I can lend a hand there?" It wouldn't do to have Narcissa's condition found out, and letting that mongrel that was once a relative of hers ruin things for not only the Malfoys, but really all the pureblood families involved. No, it wasn't right in the least and they had to have each other's backs on this. A united front was the best way of doing it, even if the Walden issue had exposed cracks within their group.

“That sounds lovely." Narcissa summoned Dobby and ordered him to prepare the tea. When he disappeared, she closed her eyes and tried to remember what Lucius had said about who was doing what. He'd told her, naturally, but it was hard to focus on anything at the moment. "I think we're covered socially, but I do have one thing I could use your assistance with. The WICCA casino night is coming up and I'm organizing." Marcelia was new to WICCA, but Narcissa couldn't possibly ask any of the other WICCA ladies for assistance. She thought she remembered seeing at least one of the other ladies that night, but they had been fighting on the other side.

Dobby returned with the tea just then, and Narcissa gratefully took a sip of hers then ordered him to bring up the WICCA casino night files from her study. "I have much of it settled, but if you would be so kind as to finish, I would truly appreciate it. I fear I won't be able to get back to it in time."

"Mm, yes, I do recall you mentioning it. Honestly better in our hands, I would dread to see the mismanaged mess that would result if some of those women took over." At least they both had experience organizing events and running a tight ship, some of those women hadn't thrown a respectable party in their lives.

When Dobby brought back the files, Marcelia flipped through them. Only a cursory glance was needed to see that even Narcissa's files were impeccably organized. "Of course, it seems you have everything prepared really. Much of this will be just seeing it through, it's really no trouble. I do have to thank you for having it so wonderfully laid out though, I can't tell you how many people I wished had this sense of order." She had seen too many people with awful filing and organization skills, even at the office and really sorting through those things was a nightmare. She already had enough on her plate at the moment, and putting this casino night on top would be a bit of a squeeze, but it was something that needed to be done and she'd juggled more in the past. And it was always a good idea to squeeze in favours for old friends.

Narcissa ordered Dobby to get back to work but not to tell Lucius that Marcelia was visiting until she left, then turned back to Marcelia. "I appreciate it. The hall is booked and the tables rented, but you'll need to confirm. And I've gotten people to run the tables, but I haven't finalized the schedules yet." She tried to remember what else needed to be done, but she couldn't. There was so much involved and it was simply too much to focus on.

"It is all in the files. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your assistance." Narcissa took another sip of her tea as she tried to focus. "You'll need to advertise too." That was one thing she hasn't gotten to yet, she remembered that much. The rest of the details would have to be up to Marcelia.

"It's fine, really, it seems you have some well laid out lists in here I can work off to see what's left to be done," Marcelia said, gently waving off the need for Narcissa to struggle with remembering any more. It was all so neatly done that this would be much less work than it could have been. Even if advertisement wasn't quite her thing. Hallam tended to do that side, he had the clientele and the natural charm for it after all.

"I'll talk to Cosmo, see if we can get him to run some things in the Prophet, people are reading it more with the elections anyway. Hallam can coax some personally when they come to his shop, padding the list with the right people always helps. No point in a night to raise money if half the attendees have empty pockets, now is there?" She smiled, knowing full well some of the other women in the WICA would expect a simple open invite to bring in the money, but both of them knew that most of the money made at these events was made based on who you set up on the guest list alone. Money on the guest list, money in the coffers at the end of the night.

“Thank you, Marcelia.” It was a relief to know that the casino night was being handled by someone competent. “I appreciate it. Hallam and Cosmo know about my situation, of course, but I’ll write you something so the rest of the vendors will work with you and so you can draw on the fundraising accounts.” It went without saying that no one else could know why they were suddenly dealing with Marcelia instead of Narcissa. “If you have questions, you can….” She trailed off as the door opened. “Lucius.”

House-elves didn't last long in the Malfoy household without learning a bit of sideways thinking. Dobby hadn't disobeyed the actual wording of his orders, but he had mentioned the situation to Munner, who was of course not under orders and therefore let Lucius know right away that Mistress was out of bed and receiving Mrs. Selwyn in the sitting room.

Still, Lucius pretended surprise, smiling warmly at their guest. "Marcelia, how nice to see you! I didn't know we had company." He glanced meaningfully at Narcissa, though she would be the only one who could read the displeasure behind his expression. "You must be feeling better, darling, to be up and about so soon."

"It's nothing really," she insisted politely. "And thank you, that should make things easier, cuts out the tedious bits." Naturally it'd also save her making excuses for Narcissa's absence, which they both knew had to be covered up. When Narcissa trailed off, Marcelia glanced over with her to the door to see Lucius.

Marcelia got up to greet him appropriately. "Lucius! I was just dropping by briefly to see how Narcissa was and if there was any help I could offer." Naturally Lucius would know more about Narcissa's state, so she refrained from saying anything on that topic. It was only appropriate.

Narcissa didn’t have to read the displeasure in Lucius’s expression to know he wasn’t happy with her for being out of bed, despite the fact that she was recovering. It wasn’t something either of them would share with Marcelia, though, so she simply held out a hand to him. “A little. I think it will be time to retire again soon, though.” She glanced apologetically at Marcelia. As nice as it had been to speak with her--and to be out of bed--she was tiring quickly.

“Let me just write something up for you, Marcelia. If--” She froze as a spike in pain reminded her that better did not mean healed. She took as deep a breath as she was able and let it out slowly. “--if you could summon quill and parchment, dear.” She thought there was some on the small desk in the corner she and Lucius both used for occasional, quick correspondence, but she didn’t have her wand and didn’t think she was capable of walking over to get it herself.

“Of course.” Lucius brought them floating to her with a flick of his wand, settling himself carefully beside her so that she might lean on him if necessary. He might not be pleased about her being out of bed, but her comfort was always his foremost concern.

“Thank you, darling.” Narcissa shifted a little so she could lean discretely against Lucius. It helped, having him to lean against, made it easier to write out the notes Marcelia needed. When they were done, slower than usual, but in handwriting as impeccable as ever, Narcissa handed them over. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to owl. I will do what I can to smooth the way for you.”

Marcelia shot Narcissa a reassuring smile to say it was quite alright. After all, the lady was injured and she hadn't planned on staying long for that reason. "It's really no trouble, and thank you, these will make things go that much more smoothly. Do feel better, I'll drop by another time to update you when it gets closer." She stood up and said her goodbyes to Lucius too before adding, "Thank you for having me, if there's anything else I can do to help, do say."

“We will.” Narcissa waited until Dobby escorted Marcelia out, then closed her eyes and leaned heavily against Lucius. “Help me back to bed?” It had been necessary, for many reasons, to greet Marcelia in the sitting room, but now Narcissa was ready to return to bed where she could rest properly.