Vile Temptation

FOUR

FOUR
Malfoy Brother Squabbles

                Dinner was mute besides the scraping of cutlery. Helios hadn't shown up but Narcissa had a feeling that the younger man followed his own schedule. The newly working Lucius looked exhausted from his day, the pureblood male unused to an honest days work. Narcissa was unfulfilled with life as of current. There was a sharp change from her family home that was just slightly more lively compared to the desolate Malfoy Manor.

She sighed quietly looking up at her husband as he sat at the head of the table. "How was your day?" Small talk was a bothersome thing. Their marriage was new and so was their knowledge of each other. Their hobbies were unknown to each other but now it felt too late to ask, having known of each other for years.

Clearing his throat and wiping his mouth with a cloth serviette, Lucius looked up at her with a tight smile that didn't pinch his eyes. "The usual." Narcissa wasn't satisfied with the answer. In fact, it was more dismissive than anything. "What is the usual," she tried to pry.

Lucius hadn't expected this by the look on his face. He searched for the words for a moment. "Back and forth between departments, meetings, nothing of any real importance."

A crack shook the dining room. Narcissa watched as the wine in her class sloshed but didn't spill. Lucius' brows drew together and his lip lifted into a sneer. Helios flashed a look of unease. "Oops, that was close." And finally a grin swept across his face. He straightened his shirt after removing his coat, hanging it on the back of a chair. It was a simple long-sleeve button up. Plopping himself on the chair opposite her and waving his hand to fill his glass until he finally looked to the both of them coming to understand the tension he had apparated in the middle of. And, Narcissa was only just realising the magical capabilities Helios had. Since when had he known wandless magic?

"Merlin," he exasperated. "This had got to be the worst and most tense dinner company I've ever had," Helios huffed and busied himself with different dishes of food.

Lucius dropped his cutlery gaining Narcissa's attention while Helios simply ignored him. "I wasn't aware you were joining us for dinner, Helios." The Malfoy in question looked up from his plate with a faux soft smile. "Your lovely wife invited me." Lucius face portrayed that the words couldn't be anymore absurd before looking to Narcissa with a hint of betrayal.

Narcissa also ignored this, looking at the younger brother sternly. "I inquired if you were joining us, I didn't invite you," she clarified. Helios looked at her smugly and quipped smoothly, "and yet there was a spot set for me wasn't there?" Helios was well and truly chuffed with himself, allowing his eyes to linger on hers long enough to gauge her reaction before smiling in all of his smugness down at his plate.

Narcissa, still pissed off and let down at her husband, who was more interested in bickering with his brother, decided to engage with him too. "How was your day, Helios?" Chewing on his dinner for a prolonged moment, Helios glanced around the room haphazardly. "It was rather boring, Narcissa." She hadn't expected him to answer directly with her name, but she had also used his so she would allow it. "One of many I'm sure," he continued.

Narcissa couldn't tell if Helios was humouring her out of pity, perhaps due to sensing the awful atmosphere in the room. "And how was your day?" At least he was more a conversationalist than his brother. Narcissa subconsciously sat taller in her chair. "Much like yours, I'm afraid." She hadn't meant it to sound like that. Helios had heard it, lifting his eyebrows in entertainment. She should attempt to redeem herself. "I haven't found a routine yet. A hobby maybe, then I'll be alright," she explained in a way so unlike herself.

Helios allowed her the escape, turning a wicked brow to his brother. "And you, brother? Busy carrying the Ministry on your back, I'm sure." It was easy bait, so clear that Narcissa could probably see it all the way from Hogwarts. Lucius looked at him, a deadly glare that didn't do much for intimating his younger brother. "You cannot speak so boldly, Helios, with your reckless and immature duty you've set yourself." He had bit it without a moment of hindsight. A pregnant pause settled the room. "Playing the good son won't get you far."

Helios raised his hands in surrender, chuckling quietly to himself. "Oh, I think I've hit a nerve. So sorry, brother. I'm simply finishing and furthering father's work that he had once set to you, my mistake if your termination from that duty is still sour."

"I am not sour!" Lucius had proclaimed. His voice had raised and, still, no one flinched. He definitely sounded sour. "I am relieved at your blind loyalty to our father so I could finally be unshackled from such a burden." Helios sighed at his brother's excuses, now it was like his food had been spoiled. "You're still so dramatic I see. Uptight and so high-strung." Wiping his face, Helios tossed his serviette to the table. "Father always said you believed yourself more important than you were worth."

Lucius had never looked so livid. "Again with father's words," he scoffed in return. "Have you ever had a single original thought that wasn't influenced by him?"

"Hah! Real rich coming from you," Helios mused, tight-lipped smirk reappearing. Narcissa felt stuck in no man's land. Given a front row seat to Malfoy theatrics. She processed a lot of the words, creating a number of new theory as to what made brother Malfoy brothers so dissimilar. "Give me one example where you didn't hide behind his coat-tail the moment you were landed on you arse."

Lucius sputtered, ultimately being on the defence had cornered him. The argument was a showing of intelligence just as it was a challenge of power. Still, he stuttered while Helios sneered in return. His eyes conveyed that he had been let down by his brother. At his inability to think comprehensively and handle any conflict with a stable mind was clear. "What, tell me, Lucius. What's all your babbling about? You'd be dead if you were actually this simple minded."

Lucius swallowed his tongue, seething to himself and keeping his attention on the table in front of him. He had been beaten, and Narcissa believed that this hadn't been the first time. Chair scrapping again, Helios rose in a demeanour that oozed arrogance and victory. It was granted in all fairness. Narcissa had noticed the layer of necklaces that roped around his neck. This had been a first, noting to herself that her focus should be elsewhere at the moment.

Helios focused on her now, a seemingly genuine but small smile on his face. "Thank you for organising dinner for me tonight, darl." Leaving no room for reply, Helios departed from the dining room, the noise of his footsteps growing faint.

Narcissa couldn't believe Helios had just left her alone with Lucius after such a fiasco.

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