Birth Right

Chapter 3

"Tell me about Malfoy Manor, Lucy. Is it as grand as they all say?"

Narcissa stiffened and shot a glare at her sister. Bella was sitting on the couches next to Lucius Malfoy and some of the older Slytherins — where she'd been every night this week, declining Narcissa's invitations to take a walk down to the lake or play a game of Gobstones. Her long fingers twisted in Lucius's hair — just as they'd used to with Narcissa's when they were younger.

Refocusing and shaking off the hollow feeling in her chest, Narcissa smiled across the chessboard at Evan Rosier before she cornered his knight.

"Of course," Lucius drawled. "It's the grandest manor house in all of England."

Bella hummed, and Narcissa's eyes lifted to see Lucius shift his neck in the other direction. Her skin prickled with irritation again.

"All of wizarding England," she said. "You forget that the Muggles have exquisite homes as well. Chatsworth. Wentworth Woodhouse—"

"Narcissa!" Bella scolded. Narcissa glanced back down at her chessboard, her cheeks flushed.

There was a brief silence.

"Wentworth Woodhouse is a wizarding estate," Lucius snapped. "Taken over by Muggles—"

"Longleat House has one of the largest libraries in the country, I've heard—"

"Merlin." Bella huffed and kicked up her feet. "Who cares about the bloody Muggles—"

"I've been to Longleat. The Manor's library is much bigger."

She could feel him scowling at her as she weighed her next move. Once she had checkmated the king, she finally glanced up.

"If you say so." She lifted a brow as Rosier groaned.

Lucius's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"The peacocks are neat," Goyle mumbled, breaking the silence.

Narcissa gave him a tight smile and blinked down at the chessboard. She collected the Sickles she'd won from a grumbling Evan.

Lucius's mouth opened — a reply on the tip of his tongue — before snapping shut. He swallowed and nodded to the chess pieces that were setting back up. "Care to play for Galleons?"

Narcissa's heartbeat fluttered as she tucked her Sickles into her purse. "You seem rather confident. I've bested every third and fourth year — and half of your classmates."

"And I've bested all of them, and most of the sixth years." Lucius stood. "Well?"

"I suppose," she said.

She watched his lean body move gracefully over to her, tug out the chair, and wave his hand over the chess pieces to reset. Bella sat up on the couch, a mischievous glint to her eyes.

Lucius rolled up his sleeves and stared her down.

Narcissa tore her eyes away from his bare forearms. "Shall we play for something worth more than Galleons?"

He tilted his head. "What did you have in mind?"

She crossed her ankles and leaned forward in her chair. "My sister."

Bella laughed. "I told you she knew how to play, Lucy." She laid over the arm of the couch and held her head in her hand as her eyes swept over them. "What fun."

Narcissa pressed her lips together as Lucius's gaze glided over her face, sliding down to her fingers as they rested on her queen. A warmth curled in her chest at having his full attention. It felt the same as when Miss Truesdale had singled her out for her perfect form in front of all the older debutantes.