Date: 21st August Time: Bedtime Location: Langdale Manor Characters: Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy
There was nothing quite like the company of family, and Narcissa had spent two days drinking her fill. She was relaxed and easy, transported back to brighter days and unbothered by the strange faces or difference in age of those around her. Elias and Kastra Yaxley became more familiar every hour, after all, and she was even getting used to the change between disguise and true self.
Not that it hadn't been very good to spend the evening in Lucius' company. His grey eyes - not cold, they were rarely cold when they looked at her - his low chuckle, all the little things that she knew so well and which turned the Langdale sitting room into home for a few hours.
They rose for bed at the same time, walking side by side. Narcissa's eyes trailed over the profile of his face, the open throat of his shirt. "Those lockets," she said, "do you wear them all the time? Even in your sleep?" He didn't have it on now, but that might have been a special exception for her.
"No, not whilst I sleep. It's beside the bed but sleeping as Yaxley isn't as comfortable," he told her, lifting a hand to the patch of skin where the locket usually sat. They reached the area of the hallway where they parted ways. Lucius paused and smiled, "believe me I have no desire to wear the disguise any more than necessary."
"Well, I'm glad to learn you don't have to keep it up all the time," she said. "It's so strange seeing you and Bella in ..." She gestured with one hand to indicate their disguises. "Though I imagine having to change every time you put that locket on or take it off is tedious." Her eyes lingered for a moment where his hand was; she was a little tired, which made her gaze stray more readily, and there were worse things to look at than Lucius.
"It is, and the thought that I might have to do it forever-" Lucius trailed off, not really wanting to complain. There was no use resenting his lot. "It's stranger in addition to living here. It occasionally seems as though I'm living someone else's life."
He was, she supposed, but Narcissa had no desire to end a good evening on a sour note. "Well," she said, "whatever life you're leading, I've had a lovely day, thank you, and you seem to have been enjoying yourself enough too." She tried to hold back a yawn, but it didn't quite work, and she quickly had to look away and cover her mouth with her hand.
Lucius nodded. That was the best thing about this place. It'd not only given he and Bella freedom of movement, but seemed to have eased any expectations between he and Narcissa. This was the calmest he'd felt in her presence, the least distraught over what he'd lost. Lucius had never felt confused about his place in life, nor in his role within his family, living without definition had been a true struggle. To be entirely free of it was settling. "I am glad you came, Narcissa," he said truthfully, smiling.
Good, she thought, as she came up from her yawn and caught the end of his smile. She leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek to say goodnight, but seemed to be straying a little. And why not? It wasn't like Narcissa to shy away from this sort of risk, and even if Lucius for some unfathomable reason took it amiss (she considered this to be about as probable as Bellatrix endorsing a Mudblood-lovers charity) it was easy enough to pass off as an accident. It was still a simple, brief peck, but it did manage to somehow land on Lucius' mouth. And even before she had a chance to tell what his reaction was, Narcissa couldn't help but feel that that was the proper way of things.
It seemed so natural that they might have been about to sleep beside one another. Lucius lifted a hand to her cheek and gave her a more lingering kiss, less passionate than with deliberate intent. "Good night," he said after drawing away, a smile pulling more warmth into his eyes.
That came unexpectedly, and Narcissa had been on the verge of stepping away when his hand turned her into the second kiss. Something tugged at her cheeks, a wholly involuntary smile that deepened when she saw his, and the bright bubble of a magical moment didn't burst. "Goodnight, Lucius," she replied, and turned slowly away, walking down to the door of the best guest bedroom. She opened it without looking back, and a few seconds later there was the soft click of the catch. Narcissa paused, dropping the door handle, caught sight of her expression in the mirror, and switched to a self-indulgent grin for her own silliness.
Lucius watched her walk along to the guest bedroom, forgetting for a moment to instruct his feet. The click of the catch seemed to rekindle his brain, and Lucius went to the master bedroom. Rather pleased with himself, Lucius fell asleep quickly. claireycool: Narcissa didn't drift off quite so quickly. As she changed for bed, she decided that the slightly giddy feeling was really quite nice, and as she was no longer fifteen she wasn't about to do anything stupid because of it. More than that, though, it did seem like a fitting end to the day; it had the deep comfort that Narcissa had never been able to articulate, but which twenty years of marriage had taught her to recognise. When she did fall asleep, it was with a smile on her face.