TO PASS THE TIME. [LUCIUS]

[NARCISSA PERSEPHONE BLACK]

[/i] but she wasn't even a little sleepy. "I'm so bored," she whined to herself - yet another thing she would do only when she was certain she was alone. Narcissa rolled her eyes to the ceiling above and a pout slid onto her face. She let her eyes following a crack in the stone with her gaze as if it would lead somewhere; it ran to a distant corner of the room and disappeared from sight, and Narcissa was left unoccupied again, and a battle started in her mind - should she go get a blanket and a book, and pass the time that way? No... She was much too comfortable than that, and there were those pesky girls she had to avoid..! So she would just have to be content where she was, her body tensing and shivering every few minutes and her eyes searching the room desperately for something that would hold her attention.[/size][/ul]

[NARCISSA PERSEPHONE BLACK]

[/i] he teased, and Narcissa nodded once, her smile widening a little bit as she glanced at the fire he had improved. Well, that had certainly been easier than trying to find herself a house elf. The fact that Lucius had put a little bit of effort into making her more comfortable made the young Slytherin happier than she would have liked to admit. She had heard from reliable sources that he had been looking for her at the social gathering her family had held over the holiday - and the fact that he was there at that moment reminded her of the fact. Narcissa was flattered, though she wouldn't admit that aloud; well, at least she wouldn't admit it truthfully. Perhaps if she were stroking his ego, or trying to charm him, she might allude to being flattered by his (probably brief) preoccupation, but he would most likely hear it as she intended: as a pleasantry, and not as the truth. She couldn't help but wonder what his interest was in her. Probably he just didn't know anything about her, not like he knew Bella or Dromeda, who were closer to his age. Narcissa was the youngest and therefore had had the least amount of interaction with the Malfoy boy, so she would attribute his curiosity to the fact that she was something new.

'My my,' Lucius continued, and Narcissa's blue eyes fell on his face again. 'Narcissa, you certainly have grown over the summer.' Narcissa paused for a moment, offering the older boy a charming, sweet smile. "Have I?" she replied simply in her clear, chiming voice. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, looking back at the fire as if it were the more interesting thing in the room. "You've grown as well," she observed, "As people tend to do over time." There was a tiny bit of teasing in her voice, but not nearly enough to actually offend the fifth year. She hoped. It was when she let her gaze wander back toward him, and it traveled up his legs and abdomen and rested on his face, it dawned on her that this was the first time the two were alone with one another, and the first time they would have an actual conversation. "I'm sorry I missed you when you visited over the holiday," Narcissa said, a knowing grin on her face and an amused glint in her eyes. "Although I'm sure you found a way to entertain yourself without me."[/size][/ul]

[NARCISSA PERSEPHONE BLACK]

[/i] him, but always in passing. Never so close, and for so long. She liked examining his face, as beautiful as it was. His bone structure was absolutely flawless, his skin pale and free of any blemishes, his hair seemingly effortless but perfect, his long body relaxed and graceful and... well, rather impressive. Narcissa smiled a little when he stretched his legs out, tilting her head as her gaze traveled the extensive length of them and stopped at the tip of his toes. "You look about twice my height," she said, a tiny laugh in her voice. He glanced back up at his face, her smile widening slightly. She always liked that in a boy - when they were taller than she was. It made her feel more safe. She would, of course, be growing much taller; both her mother and father were tall people, and she would surely gain a few inches during the school year alone. But still, she wouldn't be nearly as tall as Lucius. And as she grew, he would grow, so he would probably always tower over her.

So she had been right about him looking for her at the ball. And he had been disappointed that they had missed one another. That pleased her very much. She found that she rather liked being something of a new toy to Lucius. She would have to keep up the mystery for a little while longer if she wanted him to continue to be interested. And that she knew she could do rather well. At the mention of her mother engaging Lucius in a conversation about the Black sisters as brides, Narcissa laughed softly, shaking her head and glancing at the fire. "That doesn't surprise me," Narcissa muttered, sincerely amused. She heard the 'marriage' talk constantly from Druella. The woman was all too eager to have her daughters promised to good, pureblooded young men. It was as if it was her duty, the reason she was put on this earth: to marry her girls off to the richest, most purely wizard men she could find. Narcissa wondered briefly what Lucius's response to Madam Black's conversation was. Her gaze was searching as she glanced at Lucius again, hoping to meet his gray eyes and see what he thought of the prospect of marrying her or one of her sisters, but his eyes weren't where she expected them to be. Instead he was standing, his long fingers wrapped around his own robes and his arm stretched out toward her. Once again she was reminded of the cold - how well Lucius had done to distract her from it - and she shivered again, her previously straight back bowing ever-so-slightly at the feeling.

Lucius closed the distance between them and Narcissa inclined her head, her gaze bypassing the robes in his hand and resting on his face. He was chivalrous indeed, and charming to the core. And he was winning her over rather easily. She smiled again, which was another easy thing in his presence, keeping her eyes steadily on his as he continued to speak. "Hmm," she mused simply, and then stood, taking the robes from him and wrapping them around herself before raising an eyebrow in the Slytherin boy's direction. How eager he sounded, to spend more time with her. And really, she wouldn't mind spending more time with him, either. "Thank you," she said graciously, raising a hand to tug some of her blond hair out from beneath the robes she had just donned. "Of course I'll do whatever I can to make up for your disappointment, Lucius," she said, and she couldn't help but notice how good his name tasted on her tongue. "You'll have my full attention at the next gathering, I promise." Was there a little bit of warmth in her voice? Maybe she couldn't help but be kind to him, especially since he was making an effort to be kind to her. "My family wouldn't miss an engagement of your family's for the world, of course, so I expect I'll be there. And if not, I'll simply arrive by myself." She let out another laugh at that comment, shaking her head at the absurdity of it. Imagine, little thirteen-year-old Narcissa Black, arriving at the Malfoy Manor without any sort of guardian, and holding the attention of the young Master Malfoy the entire night. Oh how the rumors would fly. Those sort of things would indeed spread like a wildfire in the tight-knit, pureblooded and affluent community. The next thing everyone would be expecting of the two would be wedding vows. That's always what it came to, didn't it.

Glancing over her shoulder for a moment, checking the common room for any other students, Narcissa looked up at Lucius with a mockingly coy expression. "Why, Master Malfoy," she said, pulling his robes tighter around her. "The way you're talking, it seems as though you intend to ignore all of your other guests, and focus solely on me." Another smile graced her delicate features and she moved away from him, sitting back in her chair and - rather than sitting ramrod straight as she had before - curling up, trying to retain the warmth his robes provided her with. "That wouldn't be rather rude of you, wouldn't it?" She wasn't saying these things in a manner that would seem scolding, but rather she was showing him how amused she was at his attentiveness, and his desire to be around her. Yes, she was outwardly amused, and inwardly flattered, as before. Also there was a hint of delight leaking into her system, a feeling that she couldn't suppress no matter how hard she tried. It was a bubbly feeling, and entirely foreign to the youngest Black girl. And rather unwelcome, too. But there was nothing she could do about it, so she let it run rampant through her body, and it made her stomach flip slightly.

With the help of the robes Lucius had provided, a bit of color returned to Narcissa's cheeks as she settled back in the leather chair. She let a pale, slender hand escape the confines of the robes as she felt the material, an appreciative grin tugging at her lips. Of course, a Malfoy would only have the very best in everything. The robes smelled like him, Narcissa noticed, and it was a pleasant aroma. It made her want to do something bold, like maybe hug him and see what it was like to breathe him in while being so close, but naturally she would do nothing of the sort. That behavior was for someone of a lower station. But the temptation was very, very strong. And now that she allowed herself to focus on the temptation, she was able to realize that she was rather curious as to what he felt like - was his skin as smooth as it looked, his hair as soft as it looked? Surely it was. How could he be anything but flawless? Furrowing her brow slightly, Narcissa realized yet another thing - that she was admiring Lucius much more than she should have been. If she had been doing it objectively, as she would admire a piece of art or a sculpture, that would have been fine. But thinking about how he smelled, how he would feel under her fingertips..? That was anything but objective. And that was making her nervous. Narcissa chewed on the inside of her lip her fingers wrapping more tightly around Lucius's robes and she looked up at him yet again. What was this boy doing to her?[/size][/ul]

[NARCISSA PERSEPHONE BLACK]

[/i] for her silly behavior. That was a safe, easy route. No way could she be responsible for all of these girlish feelings. He was just working her over with a charm he knew he had and he knew was effective, and she was his helpless victim. Right? Right. And that was the story she would stick to. Not as though she would really need a story, because no one but her and Lucius would know about this little conversation they were having. At least, she wasn't going to go off and tell all of her little girlfriends about it, and she doubted Lucius was the type to go gossip to his peers. But Narcissa needed that excuse, needed to put her mind at ease and let herself believe that she wasn't really letting herself be charmed by him. She had to let herself believe that she was being forced into it.

Whatever conversation the two had been having about marriage was long gone, especially since Narcissa was entirely distracted by what was happening now, with him in front of her and his robes around her shoulders. Any thought of the future or the past or anything of the sort was lost to her now one-track mind. It seemed that she was becoming just as obsessed with him as he was with her. Although he showed it outwardly, pursuing her and striking up conversation and the like. Narcissa's own obsession would be entirely internal. As if she would give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was infatuated. His ego didn't need it and, to be quite honest, Narcissa didn't want to risk a blow like that to her own pride. Yes, it would be better to let him make all the moves, all the decisions, make all the attempts to further along... whatever this was going on between them. And he did just that as they spoke about the next get-together at the Malfoy Manor, at which Lucius was now promising her his undivided attention. "I would very much like your undivided attention," Narcissa breathed, a small smile gracing her features. "And a promise is a promise. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He wasn't the only one capable of charm, now was he? But that would be all Narcissa would allow herself to show him of her charm. Like she had decided. He would be doing all the work. At least, that would have been the right way for things to go.

And then there was an abrupt shift in the conversation, which Narcissa couldn't help but appreciate... slightly. It would give her time to recuperate after he had successfully muddled her mind into a wandering, wondering mass, though she had rather liked the way Lucius was working his charms. Despite her best efforts not to. 'So, a third year, aren't you?' he asked innocently. 'What classes did you pick up this year?' Narcissa settled back into her chair, pulling Lucius's robes around her a bit tighter and glancing at the fire. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," she answered simply, shrugging her thin shoulders. "I thought they seemed interesting enough, and I wanted to do something new." She paused, tilting her head to look at the older boy, a searching look on her face. There were a few things she might have liked to say then. Like maybe she would have made an observation about the change of subject, maybe grin at the fact that Lucius had decided to talk on such a safe, boring subject. But that would be too bold, wouldn't it? So instead of saying what she was thinking, she simply continued on with their conversation's current topic. "I'm especially excited for Ancient Runes. There are quite a few books in the library at home that are written in runes, and I'd very much like to be able to translate them someday." Where there had been a definite tone of interest in her voice before there was now only boredom, now that the things being said between them were now polite and much less... controversial. Narcissa wasn't exactly one for drama, but she was all too used to dull, droning small talk. Something she would have rather liked to avoid when in the company of Lucius Malfoy.

Narissa glanced down at the robes wrapped around her and idly played with the hem, letting out a small sigh. "Oh, I don't feel like talking about classes," she said suddenly, much to her and probably Lucius's surprise. She shifted her blue eyes to look at Lucius, a small pout on her pointed features. "It's so dull, and before long they'll be all I think about. Tonight should be about one last night of freedom before my classwork and lessons consume all of my time and I have absolutely nothing to spare for social things, or talks by the fire." Well, it would certainly be difficult to ignore a plea like that, or so Narcissa was hoping. As it was, she didn't wait for a reaction from Lucius, and instead got up out of her chair and turned it fully toward the older Slytherin with a flick of her wand before falling back into it, her body immediately leaning toward the warmth of the fire, which was now at her side rather than right in front of her. She was even more thankful for Lucius's robes, then, and she pulled them closer. Narcissa took a short breath and narrowed her eyes, the pout that was previously on her face gone and replaced with an inquisitive smile. What a strange turn of events that would seem to the Malfoy boy, but to be quite honest Narcissa enjoyed it when her mind was that wandering, wondering mass. For the moment she would forget about safety and innocent conversation, and she would try to get back to that playful banter they had been exploring before. This was her first proper conversation with Lucius, after all, and she didn't want to watch it trail into nothingness following slow chit-chat about lessons, of all things.

"Lucius," Narcissa began in a slow, somewhat drawling voice. "Why is it we've never had a conversation before this, I wonder?" Narcissa reached a hand out of Lucius's robes and ran her fingers through her blond hair, keeping her gaze intent on Lucius's face. "I have been at Hogwarts for three years now, you see," she explained, a hint of amusement in her tone. "But it has taken you that long to properly approach me and converse with me." Oh, if Druella could see her now. The woman's scream of horror would be heard all throughout Scotland, it would. But luckily for Narcissa, she wasn't present. In fact, it was lucky that there was no one at all present, because then she might not have been so very bold. "I wonder," the third year continued, and her gaze dropped to the fire. "If maybe you've been more interested in talking with my sisters for these past few years, rather than myself?" Had Bella or Dromeda ever mentioned Lucius having an interest in either of them? Narcissa felt as though she would remember such an instance, but... well, it didn't really matter, now. Because she had Lucius to give an explanation to her. Mostly for her amusement, but partly because she was curious. "Is it my age that deters you?" Narcissa asked in a conspiratorial whisper that ended with a laugh. Oh, how she wondered what Lucius Malfoy's reaction would be. Would he be horrified like so many other proper and etiquette-trained pureblood wizards would be, or would he play along?[/size][/ul]