InsaneJournal

Who: Narcissa Malfoy and Cambina Bulstrode
What: Tea
Where: Malfoy Manor
When: Wednesday, 15 July
Rating/Status:G. They are Proper Ladies.

It had been several months since the Malfoys had occasion to use the second parlour, but when Narcissa entered it a few moments before Cambina was due to arrive at Malfoy Manor, it was as clean and fresh as the rest of the house, if a little less lavishly decorated. It was a fine room still, with ornate furniture and tall windows with curtains drawn for the occasion, but the decorations were impersonal. The room matched the rest of the house in theme and color, but there was nothing of Lucius out Narcissa in it, nothing that would reveal anything the visitors shown there did not already know.

Narcissa had just sat in the most comfortable chair in the room--they were all comfortable of course, no chair in Malfoy Manor would dare be otherwise, but Narcissa had her favorite--when Dobby announced that Miss Bulstrode had arrived at the gate. Narcissa told him to show her in, instructed Pompy to bring the tea, and settled back in her chair to wait, only note allowing herself to wonder what, precisely, Cambina thought the issue with their project was going to be.

Cambina arrived a few minutes early, dressed demurely in an outfit any one of her aunts would have approved of. Hair parted and swept back in soft curls to hide the tattoo on her scalp. She recognised the room for what it was - formal and impersonal and it did nothing to dispel her feelings. She knew they were trying to play each other, but there was a limit to what Cambina would put up with.

"Mrs. Malfoy," she said brightly with a smile. "Thank you for your generous hospitality."

"Of course." Narcissa greeted Cambina warmly and gestured for her to sit in a nearby chair. There was a small table between it and the one Narcissa occupied, and it was there that Pompy put the tea and biscuits when she brought them in. Narcissa waited for the house elf to pour the tea and then sent her away. The Malfoy house elves knew that sharing secrets would have dire consequences, but it was easier and safety to ensure they couldn't overhear any conversation, even ones like this where Narcissa was certain nothing incriminating would be said.

Once they both had their tea prepared the way they liked it, Narcissa looked across the small table and met Cambina's eyes. "So tell me, why do you think we wouldn't be on the same page about our project?"

Cambina took a sip of her tea, black, as usual, before meeting Narcissa's eyes. "Well, I'm just uncertain where we stand after Pansy's adoption." There was no point in beating around the bush after all.

Narcissa tilted her head slightly and looked at Cambina with a confused expression that was only partially fake. Given the timing of everything, she had suspected it might have something to do with Pansy, but, "Pansy's adoption is completely unrelated to our project. I see no reason why it should stop you from marrying William, or me from providing you with whatever assistance is necessary."

"Is it though?" Cambina arched an eyebrow as she set down the teacup. "Because despite the actions of Pansy's mother, to my family, this seems like the Bulstrodes aren't good enough. Pansy's grandmother put quite a bit of effort into the girl's upbringing - an upbringing any proper girl would only dream off, and now all that and the Bulstrode name is erased. So I'm wondering if the Bulstrode name means anything to you when you disregard it with one hand and claim to want to help it with another."

"Pansy wasn't a Bulstrode and her mother ceased to be one when she married Reginald Parkinson," Narcissa said calmly, her tone and words betraying none of her thoughts on the matter. She understood why Cambina was concerned--she would have read too much into every little thing has she been going up against the other side by herself as well--but the two matters were truly unrelated. "Pansy's grandmother's last name had nothing to do with our decision to adopt her. And while we appreciate the skills Pansy's grandmother taught her, no amount of etiquette training can make up for what her mother did... or how her father reacted."

"Marriage doesn't erase families, it combines them. Just because your last name is no longer Black does not mean you no longer part of the Black family. Adoption erases the old and replaces it. Not only the Parkinson family - and some of their actions certainly do warrant it - but the Bulstrode and the Burke lines that Pansy is descended from." Cambina's tone was even and deliberate, but cold as steel. She was not in a good mood. If Narcissa valued the Bulstrode name so little, there was no point to any of this and she could find another way in. "One would have thought that given the importance the Malfoys place on family, you would have at least wanted the blessing of Pansy's grandmother."

Cambina paused to take a small sip of tea. "I'm just having some difficulty understanding how we can go forward if you seem to think so little of the Bulstrode name. I know my mother's family is difficult, but I would have thought that being one of the twenty-eight still meant something."

"I think quite highly of the Bulstrode name, Cambina." Narcissa's tone was much sweeter than Cambina's had been, but there was nothing false about it. It wasn't time to cross verbal swords quite yet. "Lucius and I have the utmost respect for Maria. We still hope she will change her mind and be a part of Pansy's life."

Narcissa took a sip of tea as she thought about what how to phrase the rest of what she had to say. "It is unfortunate Maria doesn't approve of the situation, but Lucius and I are simply trying to do what is best for Pansy, because we value her and her heritage so much."

"If you valued her heritage, you could have had her marry into the family, not erase her lineage," Cambina said simply, setting the teacup aside. "I'm sorry, but blood comes first and I stand with Aunt Maria on this on. I'm certain you understand."

Narcissa raised one eyebrow. "You don't think we tried to convince Draco to do the right thing?" They hadn't, but if the situation had been as it was being presented to the world, they would have. "He wasn't interested, and Pansy had no desire to marry someone who was forced into it. Maria wasn't going to support Pansy through this, Reginald barely gives her the time of day, and Giatta abandoned her years ago." Narcissa leaned forward and looked Cambina straight in the eyes. "Tell me, what would you have done of it had been your child?"

"Reginald and Giatta's conduct is deplorable but far from the point." Cambina refrained from saying no child of hers would be such an idiot as to get knocked up out of wedlock. Unless that was the intent. And if this was Pansy's intent, then it was a more idiotic scheme than the one she herself was currently trying to undertake. Children never fixed things. Cambina knew this all too well. "I should hope that any child of mine would know to do the right thing, especially given the effect a broken home had on my own upbringing. And if they refused because they were young and stubborn - as so many are at that age - then I would do what was necessary to protect the unborn child, legitimize it, but unless the mother came from unsuitable lineage, I see no reason to wipe out her heritage and offend her family by removing all that."

"Us adopting Pansy is legitimizing her child, protecting it, giving it the heritage it is due... which includes a Bulstrode for a great-grandmother." Narcissa ignored the barb against Draco. He deserved it for making this whole situation necessary in the first place. "But Maria Bulstrode would have had Pansy married, willing or not. Her way would have two teenagers trapped in a marriage they don't want or Pansy wed to a widower twice her age and her child taking his name." Both were completely unacceptable options, to Pansy and her new parents.

"Us adopting Pansy makes her no less a Bulstrode than her marrying Draco would have. Her name is staying on the Bulstrode tapestry, and her child's name will be added when it is born. Lucius and I are simply stepping in to give her the parents she deserves. No one is trying to replace her grandmother, or any of her other family members." And here Narcissa's smile turned saccharine sweet. "You're the one who is insisting she isn't your cousin anymore, Cambina. Could it be that the issue is not my respect for Bulstrode, but rather your respect for Malfoy?"

"It pleases me to know that is how you view the situation, but I believe that you see this matter differently than the law and the Bulstrode family," Cambina said sweetly, remembering the outrage and betrayal that had been voiced rather loudly at the most recent Bulstrode family dinner when Aunt Maria had shared the news. Was Narcissa really that daft that she didn't think the Bulstrodes would view this as an insult? Cambina couldn't believe Narcissa was that naive or oblivious, but one never knew. Had Narcissa even checked to see with the Bulstrodes about keeping Pansy's name on the tapestry? The Bulstrodes were not as quick with a lit match as the Blacks with the family tapestry, but this was not a simple joining of the families like marriage. This was something else entirely and Cambina was honestly not sure what would happen to Pansy's name. At the very least, there was bound to be chatter and disapproving looks.

"I have nothing but respect for the Malfoy and Black families - why do you think I came to you in the first place? There are other women in society to whom I could have gone for assistance, but I chose you because you're one of the most eminent and well connected women in Society. However, I can't help but worry about what you think of the Bulstrode name and if you truly have my best interests at heart, offering me a man nearly a decade younger than me whose name is not what it used to be, with no lands to speak of."

Narcissa had her suspicions about the real reason Cambina had come to her rather than someone else, but she left them unvoiced for the moment. "Are the Bulstrodes upset because we stepped in and did what they would not?" On that matter at least, Narcissa had no respect for the Bulstrodes. In the decade since Giatta left, only Maria had cared for the child left behind, and she was unskilled in balancing affection with decorum. "Or is the real issue what your mother has been whispering in your ear about me?" She suspected it was the latter and Pansy was simply a convenient excuse for getting upset.

If it is the former, let me assure you, Lucius and I are only trying to give Pansy and her child the support they need. We have no wish to replace anyone except Reginald and Giatta, and we truly hope the Bulstrodes can see this as a joining of our families. The child she carries has all our blood after all." She sipped her tea as she watched Cambina for a reaction. "If it's the latter, I chose William because I thought he would appeal to you more than any of the alternatives I found and the Rosier name is on the rise. I have it on good authority William is looking into reclaiming the old Rosier estate... and he's procured enough capital that Gringotts is likely to allow it to happen. William is moving up in the world. If you marry him, he'll bring you with him and you'll both go father."

Narcissa leaned back in her chair and folded her hands together. "Of course, if you think he's too young and insecure I can find someone else. I must warn you though, most of the other possibilities are much like the person Maria would have had Pansy married to: older widowers desperate for a younger woman to give them an hair."

Cambina could tolerate many things - torture, bad sex, public disapproval, but she had no patience for anyone insulting her family. Even if that person was Narcissa Malfoy and her words "Are the Bulstrodes upset because we stepped in and did what they would not?" caused the anger to flare up inside as she sat perfectly still, her expression pleasant and unchanged. The Malfoys stuck their noses in where they didn't belong and didn't even give the Bulstrodes time to deal. And the way the adoption was done so secretly and quietly, as if the Malfoys were trying to prevent intervention.

If Narcissa hadn't noticed that Cambina and Dulci were on the outs, so much the better. But Cambina didn't care much about her mother or even the upcoming marriage to Will at the moment. "I cannot speak for all the Bulstrodes, but I would venture to say that reconciliation is possible, although it might be very difficult given how the adoption is viewed as replacing the Bulstrode lineage. However, I know your powers of persuasion to be strong, so perhaps it is not out of the realm of possibility."

The child had Bulstrode blood, but the Malfoys had legally erased that. Cambina wasn't going to bring that up because it was clear Narcissa was incapable of seeing the Bulstrode point of view on this matter. The news about William was unsurprising but irrelevant. Cambina was well off of her own accord. She had expected a match with an old widower and William had been a strange surprise, but one she had taken in stride.

"I do look forward to the potential reconciliation of you and Aunt Maria," Cambina said as she got to her feet, her voice sweet and her face unchanged. "But I'm afraid I must be getting back. Congratulations on your daughter and grandchild, though."

"I look forward to that as well. A child is a precious gift, and I hope the Bulstrodes are able to share in it. And thank you." Narcissa's smile was as sweet as Cambina's as she stood to see Cambina out. "I wouldn't want to keep you. I know the DMLE is very busy right now." Ironically, Cambina was standing in the exact spot where John Dawlish had met his end, though she would get to walk out the door. "Shall I proceed with plans for William?"

It was due to years of training that Cambina managed not to laugh or scoff. If the Bulstrodes didn't share in the child it would be due to Lucius and Narcissa's actions. The child was going to be a Malfoy child, fathered by their son and birthed by their daughter. Legally, there was no Bulstrode claim to the forthcoming Malfoy. "I have no intent to get between you and William," Cambina said as she moved towards the door, hoping she'd get some time in the training room when she got back to the office. Having her family insulted by Narcissa did not put her in a good mood.

"Then I will proceed as we discussed unless you tell me otherwise. I look forward to hearing when you're ready to make announcements." Narcissa escorted Cambina to the front door, which opened itself at the approach of the Manor's mistress. "Thank you for coming by. I hope you have a lovely day." She stopped short of the threshold, but stayed in the doorway watching until Cambina rounded the curve in the tree-lined path and sent Dobby to be sure Auror Bulstrode left the Manor grounds promptly. All in all, it had been a satisfying meeting, though the last time they'd had an Auror over had been more fun.