'What an utter idiot!' Bellatrix Black said contemptuously to her younger sisters, glaring out of narrowed eyes at the group clustered by the fire at the other side of the common room.

Andromeda looked up room the huge book she was currently engrossed in. 'I supposed you mean Malfoy?' she asked innocently.

Bella snorted in derision. 'Of course I mean Malfoy,' she snapped. ' That pompous ingrate. Honestly, who does he think he is?'

'Why, what's he done now?' Narcissa asked without interest.

'Oh, nothing in particular. It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what…' she broke off as the group by the fire burst into another round of raucous laughter following one of Malfoy's snide comments. 'What did he say?' she snapped, rounding on her sisters. 'Did you hear what he just said?'

'Honestly, Bella, how could we possibly have heard?' Andromeda asked. 'We're all the way over here.'

'If you want to know what they're talking about, why don't you just go over and see them?' Narcissa asked sensibly.

'Excuse me! I'm not going to gather round and worship at his feet!' Bella said, outraged. 'I do have some pride left – even if they don't! Besides,' she added sullenly, 'It's probably another of their top-secret meetings.'

Neither Andromeda nor Narcissa said anything to this, as both girls knew too well not to get involved with their sister when she was on this topic. Bella's fabled rivalry with Malfoy had started in earnest from the moment they had stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express in their first year and showed no sign of ever abating. Narcissa privately thought that both participants found it far more fun to continue wrangling, to ever even consider the idea of ending the games.

Since the age of eleven they had battled over everything; grades, popularity, reputation, sporting ability. To farther enrage Bella's hardly dormant temper, he usually seemed to win most of these contests. No matter how hard she tried, Malfoy always managed to beat her by one or two points in any test they took, he was head boy as well as captain of the Slytherin quidditch team and his family was richer than the Blacks, as he was only too quick to point out (although hers had a longer bloodline, something she was equally fast to indicate)

In fact the only thing she had ever beaten him in with any certainty was Hogwarts' inter-dueling championships. This was held every year, and open to all participants from fourth year up. Bella had won it for the past two years, as the shiny plaque with her name emblazoned on it in the trophy room attested, beating all other participants (most talented duellers themselves) with almost chilling ease. All of the other contestants had been incredibly sheepish and irate at being beaten by a girl, although none more so than Malfoy, and Bella still gleefully gloated over his defeat at any available opportunity. This had hardly succeeded in building bridges between them.

Given their utter loathing for one another, it was more than a shame (for each other and anyone else in the vicinity) that they had the misfortune to be born within six months of one another, thereby ensuing that they entered Hogwarts at the same time, and spent the next seven years in one another's company. More than this, they were sufficiently alike, (although of course neither would think of acknowledging this!) to both get sorted into Slytherin, and after that it was inevitable that they would have the same friends; Bella having always been one of those girls who found the majority of other females useless and empty headed. Therefore, Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy ended up seeing far more of one another than they would like.

Until currently, Lucius had been far more reticent than Bella, who was by nature one of life's leaders, and she had led Rudolphus, Damon, Evan, Seth, and the others of their little group through adventure and mischief like a queen holding court over serpents. However, with the rumours of war coming ever faster and thicker throughout the wizarding world, Malfoy seemed to have decided to name himself as chief recruiter, whose mission was to enlist supporters for the cause of pureblood supremacy, and more and more often now the boys were seen gathered around him talking animatedly of things those uninvolved did not wish to hear. Of course, it was not squeamishness that kept Bella away, but Malfoy had made it clear that these supporters would only be considered if they came in the shape of pureblooded males. He had also added in an unnecessarily patronising manner, that if she really wanted to help she could, 'Be a good girl and sit at home knitting socks for the troops.' As one could imagine, this had hardly endeared him to Bella, who now spent most of her time hissing insults about Malfoy and trying to eavesdrop on their conversations.

Narcissa sighed. The feud between her sister and Malfoy was not one she wanted to get in the middle of. With any luck, they'd manage to contain themselves until the end of the year, and after that could spend the rest of their lives avoiding one another, as far as she cared. For now, she just wanted to stay as far away from the conflict as possible.

'I'm awfully tired,' she fibbed, gathering up her books. 'I think I'll go to bed now. See you tomorrow.'

Bella waved her hand absent-mindedly as she continued squinting at the boys. Narcissa rolled her eyes and climbed the staircase to her dorm.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, she still couldn't fall asleep. This wasn't particularly unusual, she was far more of a night person than a day one, and term-time hours were hard for a girl who spent her holidays dancing at balls and parties until the early hours of the morning, and sleeping until lunch, to adjust to. She lay in bed a while, listening to the heavy breathing of her roommates (that was another thing she hated; you never had any privacy in this place) before sliding out of bed. She dressed in her uniform and wandered back downstairs in search of company.

More often than not, one usually found at least one or two insomniacs lazing around down there every night, and it was possible, shrouded in the mystery of solitude and darkness to have in-depth conversations with people you never normally spoke to, joined as you were with the common bond of sleeplessness. Narcissa had had several such conversations with Bella's friend Severus over the years, someone who she was socially bound to ignore in the daylight hours, but who she found to be one of the more interesting night time companions.

However, tonight the common room was empty save for a first year dozing on the sofa, and a girl in the year above her scribbling frantically at some homework. Narcissa debated going back up to her room, and finding a book to read, but her spirit of adventure prompted her instead towards the stone wall that served as the door to the common room. The fifth year girl watched without interest as she sneaked out and the wall closed behind her again. Standing in the dark corridor, Narcissa debated where to go. The Astronomy tower, one of her usual night time haunts was out, after the embarrassment of last time, when two drunken Hufflepuffs from her year had disrupted her solitude by stumbling out wrapped around each other. It hadn't particularly bothered them (in fact the male half had issued her with an invitation to join in, which she had politely declined), but she would rather go somewhere she wouldn't be disturbed. In search of such an ideal, she found herself wandering the corridors of the school like a slightly more corporeal ghost, relishing the rare time spent by herself. She wasn't unsociable, far from it, but the constant strain of continuously being surrounded with people sometimes irked her. It was the same for many of the other upper class, pure-blooded children. Coming from huge, sprawling manor houses usually accommodating only a handful of people, it was a complete shock to the system to suddenly arrive at Hogwarts and find it crammed full of hundreds upon hundreds of students. She remembered how overwhelmed she'd been in her first year, when after two years spent almost completely in her own company (apart from the holidays when her sisters arrived like a breath of fresh air) she arrived at Hogwarts to be surrounded by hundreds of children her own age.

She sighed and stared contemplatively out of a nearby window, admiring the stars that dotted the blue-black sky.

'And what are you doing here?'

The unexpected voice made Narcissa jump about ten feet in the air. She whirled around, only to come face to face with…

'Malfoy!' she gasped.

He looked unconcerned. 'For a few years now,' he agreed.

'You scared the life out of me!'

'You hit me with your hair,' he countered calmly.

'I… what?'

'Your hair. Just now. When you whirled around to face me. You hit me with your hair.'

'I'm sor..' Narcissa began automatically, before she realised who she was speaking to. 'Wait, no I'm not. I'm not sorry at all,' she declared empathetically. 'It was your fault anyway. You shouldn't just creep up on people like that! It scares them.'

He shrugged. 'I would have thought, being a Black, you would have had more moral fibre than that,' he said carelessly.

'Well, you thought wrong!' Narcissa shot back, before realising that she had just insulted herself.

Malfoy smirked at her confusion. 'It's too long. You should cut it,' he said arbitrarily.

Narcissa stared at him. 'What on earth are you rabbiting about now?' she asked with exasperation.

'Your hair. You could hurt somebody, whipping them with it like that. It's lucky that I am relatively uninjured.'

By Circe, the man was mad. 'Right,' Narcissa said non-commitally, not wanting to prolong the encounter.

'And for a ghost, you are refreshingly corporeal,' he added, folding his arms.

'Are you quite insane?' Narcissa asked.

He sighed. 'Merlin, Black, don't you ever pay attention? You said, "You scared the life out of me," thereby implying that you are no longer a member of the living. However, your appearance points to the contrary.' As she watched with narrowed eyes, he reached out and slowly drew a finger across her cheek.

'See?' he said softly. 'I can feel you.' Narcissa flushed. She could feel her cheek tingling. Why was her cheek tingling, damnit? And was Malfoy – Circe forbid, but was Malfoy actually flirting with her?

Malfoy smirked down at her. 'So,' he said patronizingly. 'What is Baby Black doing out here in the dark all alone?'

Narcissa growled internally at the derogatory nickname. 'I was taking a walk, actually,' she spat out. 'No rule against that, is there?'

'Actually, there is,' he drawled. 'No student is to be out of the common room after 11 pm. I may have to give you a detention.' He continued. Narcissa laughed scornfully.

'What are you doing here, then?' she asked snappishly.

'Well, I'm allowed,' he pointed out. 'I'm Head Boy. It's my job to patrol, and make sure no naughty little girls are out wandering the big scary castle.' Narcissa narrowed her eyes. How dare he call her a little girl? She was barely three years younger than he was!

'Well thank you for your concern, Mr Malfoy,' she sneered. 'But I assure you I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.'

'I don't doubt it.' He said. 'But there are all sorts of nasty beasties haunting this castle, and they'd eat a pretty little thing like you for breakfast.'

Narcissa bit her lip. Had he just called her pretty? To take her mind of her confusion, she turned back to him.

'Surely you don't believe all that?' she taunted. 'The only big bad beastie around here's Slughorn, and I doubt he'd be up at this hour.'

'That's not what the legends say,' Malfoy said darkly.

She sniffed. 'What, all the rubbish about Slytherin's monster, and the chamber of secrets? Please! Although, I wish it was true. We could do with an extra room, the common room is so frightfully crowded these days.'

'As much as I agree, I'm forced to take you back there,' Malfoy said. He put his hand to the small of her back, and manoeuvred her down the passage. 'Come on, time to go back to your snug warm bed,' he said, pushing her forward. ' If you like, I'll even tuck you in,' he added suggestively.

Narcissa blushed furiously. He was definitely flirting with her! This was not supposed to happen! Flustered (his feather-light touch at the small of her back was, for reasons she could not comprehend, sending tickles through her body!) she allowed herself to be led back towards the dungeons. They reached the narrow staircase that led to the Great Hall, and had begun to descend before it gave a large creak and started to shudder. Narcissa rolled her eyes. Even after four years, it was impossible to gauge the movements of the various staircases in Hogwarts, and they always seemed to move at the most inconvenient times!

'Wait!' someone shouted rather uselessly. The two looked up to see their elderly Astronomy teacher, Professor Viridian, running towards the staircase. He touched the top step just as it begun to move, and grabbed the stair rail, breathing heavily. Malfoy nodded at the professor.

'Sir,' he said respectfully. Viridian nodded back at him.

'Malfoy,' he replied, looking at Narcissa curiously.

' I was just escorting Miss Black back to the common room,' Malfoy explained.

'Ah. Good chap.'

Narcissa tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Even though it had been years since witches had been admitted into Hogwarts, it could still be such a 'Boys Own' establishment at times. 'Jolly good, Malfoy. Splendid, old boy. What a spiffing….' What was that? She stiffened suddenly. She could have sworn she had felt something… there it was again. She gasped as she realised what was happening. Malfoy was standing next to her on the staircase, smiling politely at the professor opposite him, left hand thrust roguishly in his pocket … while his right hand was stroking her bottom!

Surely, he wouldn't dare… she thought wildly… but it was perfectly true. She realised with a gulp that to the professor, his hand appeared to be merely resting on the banister behind her, while in reality his long fingers were stroking the material of her skirt.

Narcissa bit her lip helplessly. She couldn't protest, or move away, not with Viridian standing right there, and as much as she wanted to squirm and wriggle, she had to keep completely still….

Malfoy's hand slid under her skirt. She could feel his slightly rough fingers tracing along the backs of her thighs as he inched it as little higher...Oh Merlin! Narcissa was breathing shallowly. She couldn't believe this was happening! Little jolts of heat were shooting through her nerves, and her heart was beating far too fast!

Hazily, she realised that the staircase was only a few feet from a landing. Although their journey had only taken a few seconds, it had felt like hours to Narcissa, her nerves tingling desperately as Malfoy continued to trace patterns on her bare skin. She realised with a start that she didn't want him to stop… the staircase was slowing to a halt….

But Malfoy wasn't finished yet. Narcissa's breath hitched as – torturously slowly, his fingers inched an inch or so higher until he was groping her bottom through the thin silk of her knickers. Narcissa couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips and she stood, helplessly, balanced on the small of her back… she was wishing for something, she realised… but she didn't know what… just a little higher….

The staircase ground to a halt. She felt a sudden pinch before Malfoy's hand slipped smoothly from under her skirt to the banister again as Viridian stepped away, with a brisk nod and a 'Malfoy.' He hadn't noticed a thing! Narcissa realised as the professor disappeared down the corridor.

She took a wobbly step away from Malfoy.

'Enjoy the ride, Black?' he asked.

She whirled around. For the second time that night, Malfoy found himself getting hit by her golden strands.

'You utter pig!' she snapped. 'You, you filthy… How dare you!'

H smirked arrogantly. 'Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it, Black,' he mocked.

Narcissa could feel her cheeks burning. She couldn't, she realised, she couldn't tell him that… she didn't know exactly what she had felt, it was something she had never experienced before…but she certainly had not disliked it! Oh, Merlin, what was wrong with her? Bella would kill her!

She turned and stalked the short distance towards the common room in silence. Malfoy followed behind her, a great smirk contorting his features as she flounced up the girls staircase without another word to him.