A/N- Again, I'm fully aware that I probably suck something awful right now for taking my dear sweet time updating. I blame marching season, Mid-terms, PSATs, AP English, as well as, AP American History. But you can feel free to blame whoever or whatever else of your choosing.
Chapter 14- Plans
She sat down in the manor's atrium.
A powder blue sundress adorned her body; its fitted bodice, topped off by a sweetheart bust line, and mid-calf length skirt perfected the society matron look she was going for today.
She wasn't exactly sure why she decided to wear a sundress in the middle of January, but she was in the atrium and it was rather warm compared to the frigid weather outside its glass walls.
She looked at the small table before her; a seat opposite her, obviously meant for the guest she was planning to receive at any minute. There was a wide variety of small cakes and sandwiches, as well as a ceramic tea set with a royal blue floral pattern on it.
At that time, one of her many house elves approached her.
"Mistress, Miss Weasley is here to see the Mistress. Does Mistress want Nessa to bring her to the atrium for tea?" the small house elf asked with her head bowed.
Narcissa turned her attention to the house elf in front of her.
"Thank you, Nessa. And please send in Miss Weasley."
Nessa proceeded to perform a low bow in front of Narcissa before leaving the atrium.
* * * * * * * *
Ginny sat in Malfoy Manor's front parlour, patiently waiting for the small house elf who greeted her at the door to come back from the atrium.
Not five seconds later, the elf entered, clearing her throat to announce her presence to Ginny.
Ginny looked at the little creature, curious as to what Narcissa had said.
"Mistress Black will be seeing you now. If Miss Weasley could follow Nessa, Nessa can take Miss Weasley to the atrium," Nessa announced.
Ginny stood up and walked to where Nessa was, proceeding to follow the elf when she turned to leave.
The pair walked along a long hallway filled with portraits of various sizes, quite a number of them featuring Draco as either a small boy or as a teen at Hogwarts.
Ginny glanced at a couple here and there, chuckling when an image of Draco scowled or sneered at her once it realised who she was. Her favourite image, she decided, was a black and white photograph that seemed to be taken when he wasn't paying attention. It was a close-up of him at about sixteen, his head looking slightly to the left, but not enough so it was a direct profile. Ginny did not know what it was about this particular photograph that caught her attention, but upon further reflection, she realised it was the only photograph she saw in which he looked genuinely happy. Not the type of happy that Gryffindors usually feel, but just content. Almost as if he were to die right then and there, then he wouldn't mind.
Ginny did not notice that she stopped to stare at the photo until Nessa tugged on her skirt a bit, indicating that Narcissa was still waiting.
* * * * * * * *
Narcissa looked up as she heard footsteps signalling Ginny's entrance into the atrium.
After Nessa performed her customary bow and left, Narcissa stood up to greet Ginny, pressing her body against Ginny's in an awkward hug.
"Ginny, how nice of you to visit," Narcissa stated as she pulled away from the young woman.
"It's no problem at all, Narcissa," Ginny replied with a grin.
The elder woman led Ginny to the tea table, proceeding to sit down and prepare Ginny's tea as well as her own.
Once both women had a sufficient amount of tea and pastries within their bodies, the time for conversation began.
"So, Ginny, tell me why you are here," Narcissa said, before taking a small sip of her tea.
"I just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that isn't too much."
Narcissa waved a hand in front of Ginny, prompting her to begin her questioning.
"Well, the night of your party, I was talking to Draco's aunt, Sophia, and she mentioned something about her keeping up a line of communication between her and yourself, even though she was disowned. She also mentioned that whenever you or Draco would visit Italy, you would stay with her, but Antonio told me that your birthday party a few days ago was the third time that he's seen you."
Narcissa nodded in a rather violent manner before replying with, "So, what exactly is your question, my dear?"
"Do you think you could just explain that whole situation to me? I think it will help me with Draco's case."
"Of course I can. Trouble is where do I start?" Narcissa asked no one in particular before shouting out "Ah, yes!" and commencing with her story.
"I met Sophia the day of my wedding to Lucius. I was about nineteen when I married Lucius, he about twenty-seven and Sophia was twenty-one and had yet to marry. It was at the reception that we were introduced. While making our rounds of the guests, Lucius introduced Sophia to me. A few days after the wedding, she came by her house just before we left for our honeymoon. Lucius happened to be out, doing some last minute business before we left, so I took it upon myself to entertain his sister. We bonded immediately. I was never really all that close to my sisters growing up, you see, so I was excited about the prospect of playing a part in Sophia's life.
It was during my honeymoon that I found out that Sophia had been disowned by the Malfoy family. Lucius showed me the letter, disgust written across his features. He had been close with Sophia, but his family's pride and hatred for all things Muggle had a greater hold over him, so he had no choice but to comply with protocol. When we returned, there was a letter waiting for me from Sophia detailing her feelings of contempt and spitefulness toward her family. At the end of the letter, she requested a response and attached a photo from her wedding.
I couldn't understand why a family would want to do that to a family member, even though it happened quite often in my own. I made a promise that day to keep in contact with her; the sister I wish I had.
As to my visiting her in Italy, I did take Draco with me once over the summer, but he was too young to probably remember anything that happened. Antonio has only seen me twice because many of my trips to Italy were with Lucius and it was rather hard to get away from him, but if I went by myself, then I would stay with Sophia. As to the letters, Sophia did write as Luciana some of the time, but that was only after Lucius became suspicious of who I was really writing to. If Draco ever received a letter from her, it was signed as Sophia, but he knew her alias as well."
"Okay," Ginny replied, drawing out the word with a sigh. "That was pretty useful. Do you mind if I ask you something else?"
"Of course not; go right on ahead," Narcissa said.
"What really happened with Andrea Lowe and Natasha Atkinson?"
"Oh, dear," Narcissa replied, furrowing her eyebrows. "I had forgotten about those two. A mental block, if you will."
"But can you still tell me about what happened to them?"
"I can tell you more about Andrea than Natasha. With Natasha, I just didn't get along with her. And it wasn't just because I knew that Draco was trying to use her as his ticket out of St. Mungo's - yes, I knew about that - I just genuinely did not like her. I'm sure the woman could be very nice, but whenever I was speaking with her, it seemed like she was disinterested and plain rude. I could not stand her. Andrea, though, she was a different story entirely."
* * * * * * * *
-August 2002-
Andrea fidgeted on chaise lounge in the parlour of Malfoy Manor.
She was lucky to have secured a meeting with Narcissa; lately Narcissa Black had been dealing with the financial troubles one goes through when one's son is transferred from being in prison to being a mental patient at St. Mungo's.
But she had a feeling Narcissa would take time out of her busy schedule to chat with her.
Andrea didn't particularly know why, but Narcissa was quite fond of her. In fact, it was not uncommon for the two to spend a Saturday or have a nice afternoon lunch together. Narcissa was like the Barbie doll that she'd see her Muggle friends play with as a child: long, straight blonde hair, flawless complexion, a vast wardrobe, and a smile could always be seen on her face. Time with Narcissa meant time to play dress up, or Society Somebody for the day.
But today wasn't one of those days. Today Andrea requested to speak with Narcissa in regards to her now infamous son, Draco.
She had been thinking about Draco quite often lately and his behaviour during their sessions wasn't helping one bit. She was confused about many things, one of them being Draco, but she didn't know how to approach any of the topics that were swirling around like a tornado in her brain.
Narcissa had always given Andrea great advice time after time and she hoped this time would be no different.
Narcissa entered the parlour, taking in the sight of a visibly worried Andrea, and rushed over to the girl immediately.
"Is there something wrong, my dear?" Narcissa asked, her voice laced with concern.
"I fear I have a rather large problem, Narcissa," Andrea replied, looking up at the elder woman with wide eyes.
"I'm sure it's not that big of a problem. Whatever could it be?"
"This is probably going to sound crazy. In fact, I know it's crazy."
"Nonsense. I think you're just overreacting."
"Okay then," Andrea responded, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Narcissa, I think I'm in love with your son, Draco."
Narcissa stared at Andrea for a few minutes before laughing. Loudly. And in a manner that one would not expect from Narcissa Black.
"Oh, that was a fabulous joke, Andrea. And the look on your face! You almost convinced me for a moment. I'll have to tell Saphira about that one."
Andrea shook her head in a violent manner. "Narcissa, I'm not joking. I really think that I am in love with your son. I mean, look at me! I'm a nervous wreck and I've been skipping work frequently just so I don't have to be near him! Why would I joke about something like this?"
Narcissa cocked her head to the side, furrowing an eyebrow in thought. "Well, now that you mention it, I have noticed that you have not been giving me as many reports as you used to, but you must be joking. The thought of you being in love with my son is preposterous. He's mentally unstable, criminally insane. How in all of god's name could you have fallen in love with him? His psychologist no less?"
"Trust me, Narcissa, I know how crazy the idea is, but I can't stop thinking about him. It seems that even the littlest things lately will remind me of him. A game of Quidditch, chocolate, anything that's grey, a smirk or a smile, even your blonde hair reminds me of him. I can't take it anymore! I don't want to think about him anymore."
"I - I don't know what to say, my dear. I know that my son can charm the pants off of any woman, literally, but this is just, I don't know, strange."
"I've been trying so hard these past few weeks to avoid him. Especially since my review for the Board is coming up. I've heard the rumours regarding Thompson and the possibility of my replacing her as the Head of the Board. I know that I might very well in fact replace her. I don't need something like this ruining my chance for advancement." By that point, Andrea was standing, her face mere inches away from a retreating Narcissa's face. She backed away and sat down, fully aware of the anger flowing through her.
"I apologize, Narcissa, for possibly scaring you. It's just that I can't imagine what would happen to me if the Board found out that I have feelings for a man that is rightfully feared in the wizarding world."
"Have you heard of others falling for their patients?" Narcissa asked cautiously, hoping that her question wouldn't evoke Andrea.
"I have, but most of these cases are between a psychologist and someone in need of minor psychiatric help. Not a psychologist and her criminally insane patient."
* * * * * * * *
"I never spoke to her again after that conversation in August. It was sometime in late November that I found out that St. Mungo's had placed her in Azkaban after she attempted to break Draco out of the hospital. The last time I talked to her, I accepted the idea that she might very well be in love with my son, but after hearing that she went to Azkaban for him stripped me of all doubt. I still can't comprehend it, though, after two years."
"I can't comprehend it, either, and I spoke to Andrea not too long ago."
"Really?" Narcissa asked, narrowing her eyes. "And what did she tell you?"
"She told me about her attempt to get Draco out of St. Mungo's and how her being in Azkaban is actually improving her mental health."
Narcissa smiled at this. "Good. She deserves to be happy; she's already gone through so much in her life, being a squib and all."
"Of course," Ginny replied with a nod. "She seems like such a nice girl. Her brother is rather nice as well."
"You've met William?"
"Yes, when I went to talk to Andrea. He decided to be a guard at Azkaban after Andrea’s incarceration. I guess it's his way of making sure that his sister is okay."
"I always knew there was a reason why I liked that family so much," Narcissa said with another smile. "More tea, Ginny, dear?"
Ginny glanced at her wrist watch. "No thank you, Narcissa. I'm afraid I must be heading off. But thanks for answering some of my questions."
"No problem, Ginny. Was there any specific reason why you needed to ask me about the things that you did?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, not really; I was just curious after talking to Sophia and Andrea is all. Plus, I think it will help me understand Draco more."
"I see. Well, I don't want to prevent you from being where ever it is that you need to be. I shall see you again sometime, Ginny. It was lovely chatting with you."
"You as well, Narcissa," Ginny replied, turning to leave.
Ginny got as far as the doorway of the atrium before turning around to face Narcissa.
"Oh, Narcissa, is alright if I ask you one more question?"
"Go right ahead," Narcissa replied, motioning with her hand for Ginny to continue.
"Was there anything wrong with you the night of your birthday party because you seemed a little bit off, if you know what I mean?"
Narcissa sighed as she shook her head. "No, there was nothing wrong with me, dear. I was just a little flustered and fully cognizant of the fact that I would not be able to spend another birthday with my son. Nothing more, nothing less. Suffice it to say, I wasn't really pleased with the whole idea of having a birthday party because I would have to come to terms with what is wrong with Draco, but Saphira talked me into it. I apologize if I seemed out of sorts."
"You shouldn't have to apologize for something like that, Narcissa. Draco is your only child, so I can only imagine how hard life has been for you lately. But thank you for answering my question."
"It's no trouble at all; I'm glad I could help," Narcissa said with a smile.
"Now, I really must be going,†Ginny replied with a laugh. "Thank you again for everything, Narcissa; for answering my questions and your wonderful hospitality."
"It's always fun to entertain guests, Ginny, and you are no exception," Narcissa stated with a nod towards Ginny.
A crack sounded off near Ginny as Narcissa's personal house elf, Nessa, Apparated into the atrium.
"Nessa has come to fetch Miss Weasley and lead her to the manor's Apparition point," the small elf said with a bow. "Come, Miss Weasley, Nessa will show you the way."
Ginny nodded to the elf as she was led out of the atrium to the great room of the manor where the main staircase was.
"From the great room, Miss Weasley can Apparate back to where ever she needs to go," Nessa stated once they entered the large room.
"Thank you, Nessa and please pass on my compliments to your Mistress," Ginny told the elf with a smile.
"Nessa will do so, Miss Weasley," Nessa replied before snapping her fingers and Apparating to only god knows where within the manor, although Ginny assumed it was back to Narcissa.
Not too long after Nessa left did Ginny do the same as the elf.
With a whoosh, Ginny was gone from the great room in Malfoy Manor, back to her flat. Back to when everything made sense in her life.
A/N- Hmm...not much to say with this chapter. In my personal opinion, the name doesn't really do
this chapter justice, but I was running low on good chapter names. I just needed to tie up some things that became
glaringly apparent whilst I was re-reading this story for like the umpteenth time. Review and all that jazz to make me
a very happy camper.