WITHOUT YOU [draco malfoy fanfiction]

41. Gift and a Curse

Narcissa Malfoy née Black had a gift and she was determined to never use it. There was an exception of course, Narcissa Malfoy would never use her gift except to protect her son, Draco. Her entire life she had been thought to be the image of poise and perfection.

Narcissa Black was taught to be the perfect and obedient daughter. She would have the best mannerisms, she was expected to exist like a petite flower, she was to never raise her voice and act the same way whether she was happy, hurt or angry. There were only a few instances where Narcissa did not care about how she was expected to act. The first time it was when Andromeda, her dear Dromeda was disinherited from her own house only because she loved someone she was not supposed to. Narcissa had begged her sister to not leave her alone and had cried herself to sleep for a week after she was gone. The second time Narcissa had felt helpless and vulnerable was when Bella decided to join a bloodthirsty madman who wanted people like her own brother-in-law, Dromeda's husband to be eradicated. She had implored Bella to see reason, pleaded her to remember how much Dromeda had loved them but Bella wouldn't hear a word. Dromeda was no longer a sister to her, she was just a blood traitor Bella had said and it had pierced Narcissa's heart to see that her family had come apart like this.

Narcissa Malfoy was more stoic and stronger than Narcissa Black. She was the perfect pureblood wife, the perfect hostess, the one who always stood by her husband's side no matter what. She loved Lucius like no other and Lucius always made it a point to let her know of his affections no matter how stiff and awkward he sometimes. But Lucius was withering. He was being eaten away by the same poison fed by the madman Tom Riddle; she had seen her family fall prey too not long ago. She had tried to hopelessly reason with him too, but any witch or wizard that fell into the clutches of Lord Voldemort never returned. So she stood by him like the perfect wife she was. But everything changed when he held little Draco in his hands on 5th June 1980. Narcissa had never felt such happiness. She loved Lucius with all heart, but for Draco she would bare her heart, mind, soul and life. Lucius changed as soon as he saw the little blond boy wrapped in a green blanket. When Draco's little fist held on to Lucius' finger, it was the first and the last time she had ever seen Lucius Malfoy shed a tear. From there, Lucius never went to the Dark Lord's bidding unless he was summoned directly, he no longer looked forward to his revels where he had to kill people and then return to his little son. He still believed that mudbloods and muggles needed to be eradicated but he would rather wait for someone else to do it, instead of doing it himself. But Lucius came home one night looking agitated and disgusted. He refused to hold Draco that night even when he scrubbed himself clean for an hour. Lucius had been ordered to lead a raid on a man's family whose wife was a mudblood.

"They had a son Cissa, about the age of Draco" he said after nursing several glasses of firewhisky.

"He had blond hair and when Anotonin snatched him from his mother he kept wailing. Avery and Mulciber didn't silence the room they took her to and he kept crying while listening to her scream." Narcissa had to avert her eyes from Lucius. She felt disgusted. She felt cheap that her husband was part of a group where they raped women in their own houses in front of their children before torturing and killing them.

"When they dragged her back by her hair, bloodied and beaten he started crying even louder and kept calling for his 'ma'. Rodolphus said he was being too loud and silenced him the only way he knew." Tears were flowing freely from Narcissa's eyes.

"When he fell Cissa, I swear for a second he looked so much like Draco I could never look at the spot he fell again."

"No!" Narcissa shrieked. "No! Lucius don't ever dare say that about Draco again. He is safe, he'll always be safe. I'll protect him, we'll protect him." she clutched Lucius' hand in a vice grip and knelt next to him, "Lucius" she pleaded with tears in eyes and short bouts of breath "Promise me. Promise me you'll always protect Draco. I don't want him exposed to the darkness that you are a part of. I can't! Do you understand? I don't want Draco in a world led by a sadistic bastard who takes pleasure in destroying families no matter what their blood is. Promise me, promise me Lucius!"