A Faithful WifeSummary:
When Narcissa Malfoy comes to Hogwarts to see her son; she bumps into
the one person she is most anxious to avoid.
Disclaimer:
J.K Rowling. Not me sob
Author's Notes:
Thanks to Mistress Siana for beta-ing.
Narcissa Malfoy strode past the grand front doors of the school where she had spent some of the best years of her life. She was expected of course; despite the years she'd spent using the rights that came with being a Malfoy, she had never forgotten her less than grand start in life as a Black. Forgetting wasn't something someone could easily do after being told for eighteen years that their family was nothing but a lie that could easily be discovered; a good name was all that hid their debts in a society that was far too nosy.
She
was here because the problems that her son had over Lucius'
incarceration were beginning to affect his schoolwork, and the matron
feared his mental health as well. Normally people who see giant
spiders climbing over the walls are considered disturbed, but she
could never think that about her son. These latest developments
bothered her a great deal though, it meant that his condition was
worsening; he had merely seemed slightly depressed over the summer.
Though it may have seemed unusual for her to be visiting the
school so late at night, to her it made perfect sense;
this way
she wouldn't have to talk to Draco when he was surrounded by his
cronies; something told her he wouldn't like that too much. She could
also hopefully avoid seeing Severus; after the way she had felt last
time she had seen him, she could no longer trust herself in his
presence.
She pushed open the door to the Slytherin dungeon, and
began to make her way down the steps that she had descended so many
times in her youth. Partway down the dank corridor, there was a door
that separated the corridors between the entrances to the Slytherin
common room and the head of house's office.
Just as she
approached the door, it flew open, and who should be stood there but
Severus Snape, the one man she had been keen to avoid.
"Severus,"
she said as way of greeting, after so many years she had become
almost as cold as the people who were born Malfoys.
"Narcissa,"
he replied, and she couldn't help but notice the look in his eyes,
but as he showed emotion so rarely it was hard to venture a guess at
what he was feeling, although she was pretty sure it wasn't hatred.
He stood back to open the door for her, always the gentleman, she
mused, but cursed herself almost immediately, why was she so weak to
this man? It was hardly his charm or good looks.
She passed
through the door, although it seemed as though it had shrunk since
the last time she had walked through it, or Severus' and her adult
body were larger than their child bodies had been; either way she had
to pass very close to him.
Once she was safely on the other side
of the door, she faced him again, though this time they were facing
each other directly, one standing either side of the corridor.
"Tell
me," Severus said in his damnably silky voice, "why is it
necessary to reveal that much cleavage when the only person you're
hoping to see is your son? That is why you came in the middle of the
night, is it not?"
His
words were harsh but his tone was not, and there was something behind
his eyes, something that she didn't quite trust herself to analyse.
"You're certainly as beautiful as the last time we met,"
he said quietly, and she stepped forward, pulling the door out of his
hands so it slammed shut and pushing her body into his.
The next
thing she knew, their lips were moving against each other, and she
was pressed between the cold wall and Severus' warm body.
"I've
always wanted you, you know that," he gasped before sliding one
hand up to touch her hair and one hand under her robes and across her
stomach.
They were so caught up in each other that the
approaching footsteps seemed to be apart from them and they paid it
no attention. It wasn't until the door began to creak open that they
sprung apart. Professor Dumbledore stepped through the door then, no
doubt wanting to find out if she was making any progress with Draco.
The look in his eyes meant that he did not need to ask for an
explanation.
"I was just telling Mrs Malfoy the password,"
Severus said, and she admired his steady voice, Lord knows hers
wouldn't have been had she needed to provide an explanation.
"I
see," Dumbledore replied. She knew he saw much more than what
Severus had just told him, he was no fool, and giving someone the
password to the Slytherin common room did not make you look flustered
and hot under the collar.
"Well, hopefully I shall see you
seen, Mrs Malfoy," Severus said, before walking off, his robes
billowing behind him.
"I too, shall see you later,"
said Dumbledore before walking off.
And Narcissa turned the
opposite way to them, the only reason she did not look back was
because her view of Severus would have been blocked by the door.
She
was very proud of the fact that even after so many years in an
arranged, loveless marriage she was still faithful to her husband,
and though she was rather less faithful than she had been earlier in
the evening, even now she was not completely unfaithful. Although,
she thought as she looked at the entrance to the Slytherin common
room, her faithfulness was not going to tell her the password.