InsaneJournal

Who: Narcissa Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov
What: Narcissa has a gift for Antonin
Where: Malfoy Manor
When: Monday, April 13, 1998, evening
Rating: Talk of Death Eater activities
Status: Log. Complete.

It was his first day working for Hallam at Twillfit & Tatting, and his full day out of the Manor since the battle against the Order. Narcissa was finally well enough to on her own without his constant supervision, which was both a relief and a frustration. The frustration came from the apparent lack of action taken by his fellow Death Eaters - Antonin felt they needed to be doing more. The Dark Lord would’ve expected them to react by now, at least that is what he imagined

Antonin gave his coat to one of the House Elves. “Where is your mistress?” he asked.

The house elf directed Antonin to Narcissa’s study, where she’d retired after dinner to go over the results of the Casino Night fundraiser. Under other circumstances, she’d already be done with the tallies, but as Antonin and Lucius had kept her in bed all weekend, she’d only just started on them this afternoon and she was still moving slower than normal.

When Antonin came into the room, she smiled warmly and set aside her quill. “Antonin. How were things at Twilfitt and Tattings?”

“Well. It went well.” Antonin said with a nod. “There was a distinct, more professional atmosphere than Malkin’s, which expected and appreciated. It was a pleasure working in that environment, without the shadow of that woman over me.” The woman in question being, of course, Madam Malkin, the memory of whom caused the corner of Antonin’s lip to sneer. As much as he tried, he still could not get over how she disappeared in the middle of the night, robbing him of his chance to take his aggression and frustration out upon her.

To help distract him from these thoughts, he asked, “Is that from the fundraiser? How well did you do?”

“I don’t know yet.” Narcissa rubbed a hand over her face and sighed. There were still stacks of receipts to tally up and expenses to deduct and she swore the last event she organized hadn’t been this difficult to close out. “I’m not done.” She gathered the papers into two stacks and put them in her desk drawer to deal with in the morning. She was too tired both mentally and physically to focus on the event any more tonight. “It looks good, but I’ll have to finish tomorrow.”

She held a folded piece of paper out to Antonin. “The present I promised you. It’s charmed to turn into a shopping list once you’ve read it, so read carefully.”

Antonin was relieved that Narcissa knew how to pace herself, and that she wasn’t going to do too much work too soon after her recovery. A very prudent woman, Antonin thought, giving her a satisfied nod of his his head But this present? Now this was curious. Accepting the slip of paper, he gave Narcissa a curious look before unfolding it to silently read.

When Antonin looked up at her, she explained. “He’s a Mudblood who came into some money a few years ago and fancied that made him as good as us. Marcelia made sure his investments performed poorly and he lost all the money, but that’s not enough. We thought you might enjoy finishing the lesson.”

Antonin’s looked back at the note, but in the short time he glanced away from the paper, the information was already rearranging itself into a shopping list, as Narcissa promised. It wasn’t a problem - Antonin had already committed all he needed to know to memory. His attention fell upon Narcissa once more, his appearance taking upon a subtle transformation: his eyes became dull and lifeless, similar to a shark’s, who killed its prey without emotion. Hiis posture stiffened, coming to attention as he mentally accepted and prepared himself for his assignment.

Not assignment. This was a gift Narcissa was giving him, to help him let off steam - Antonin realized that. Assignments were what was delivered from the Dark Lord, and Grindlewald before him. Narcissa was neither the Dark Lord nor Grindlewald, but Antonin could not help but feel the same thrill of adrenaline, the noble responsibility to be entrusted with a task.

“I am permitted to deal with this Mudblood as I see fit?” he asked. He did not want to overstep some unknown boundary set by the others in their group and later be censured, as what happened in the case of Macnair.

Narcissa smiled wickedly at Antonin’s transformation. “Anything you like, with the usual caveats. Don’t leave a trail back to any of us, don’t get caught. Beyond that, be creative.” Her smile widened into something that would scare most people, particularly if they knew what she was discussing. Antonin, however, was not most people. “Make him suffer, Antonin.”

“You insult me by suggesting that I’d do such a thing,” Antonin flatly told her…. as if he would be so messy with his work that he’d put his fellow Death Eaters in jeopardy He neatly folded the paper and placed it upon the corner of Narcissa’s desk, then inclined his head in a small bow. “You have my gratitude. I will now take my leave. It is likely that I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

“If I were suggesting you would, I wouldn’t have called them the usual caveats, Antonin. I know you would never do anything to put us in danger.” Narcissa wasn’t so sure that he would be certain to keep himself safe, however, and assumed a concerned expression as she crumpled up the parchment and threw it into the fire. “Eat dinner first, Antonin. We had Pompy keep some warm for you. You don’t want to go out on an empty stomach.”

“Thank you,” Antonin replied, with another nod. “But I have always found that working with an empty stomach helps me to focus better.” He smiled, but there was no warmth, only cruel malice.

Narcissa couldn’t argue with that, but… “At least promise me you’ll be back for breakfast, then. I hate the thought of you going to your job on an empty stomach.”

“I shall do my best to follow your wishes, Narcissa.”

“Thank you.” It wasn’t the promise she’d hoped for, but she realized it was the best she was going to get at the moment. She stood, slowly and carefully to minimize the pain she still felt when transitioning between positions, walked around the desk, and kissed Antonin on the cheek. “Have fun. And Antonin? I promised Marcelia details.”