Persephone Black

Chapter Nine: Crow, Raven, Eagle

Persephone had been sleeping in her aunt and uncle's room for the past week, terrified of being alone. Her clinginess toward her aunt was at an extreme, and she followed her everywhere. Narcissa did not mind and found Persephone's company to be enjoyable. However, as the holidays drew to a close, she was trying to convince her niece that she would be secure sleeping on her own.

"You know that I have a dinner party to attend tonight. I'm not going to be back until much later, and I want you to get sleep so you're awake bright and early to catch the train tomorrow."

"Please, aunt Cissa, I can't sleep in there after what he did to me."

"Persephone, you need to."

"I know, I just can't right now."

"What if your uncle sleeps in the bed with you until I return home?"

Persephone contemplated the offer before saying, "alright, that's fine."

"Good," she sighed, hugging her niece, "I'll go tell your uncle."

Following her aunt to the master bedroom, she waited outside until Narcissa returned, nodding her head. Lucius came out of the bedroom, too, closing the door behind his wife and proceeding downstairs after giving Persephone a quick kiss to the forehead. Once in the formal room, he sat in his usual chair, snapping his fingers to call for Dobby. The house-elf appeared, bringing him a bottle of scotch. Persephone found her way to the couch and curled her legs into her chest, closing her eyes.

"Young Mistress, would you like anything to drink before dinner?" Came the squeaky elf's voice.

"Just water," Persephone replied, her eyes still closed. A second later she heard a crack and Dobby reappeared with her water.

"Alright you two, how do I look?" Narcissa asked, coming into the room with her hair done up and wearing robes of navy.

"Stunning as always, my love," Lucius said, his eyes darting up and down her body. He meant every word that came out of his mouth, especially when it had to do with his wife and her appearance.

"I love it! Are those new?" Persephone asked.

"Birthday gift from your uncle," Narcissa blushed, rushing over to give her niece a quick hug.

"How late will the hags keep you, Cissa?" Lucius asked as she approached him. She smirked at his language and held out her hand for him to kiss.

"I'm sure Mrs. Parkinson will keep me long enough to try and convince me that Pansy and Draco are meant to be together. So however long that takes."

"Ah, I see," and Lucius rolled his eyes, pulling Narcissa close to him, and kissing her deeply on the lips.

"Take care of each other," she called, apparating on the spot.

Lucius sighed and turned to face Persephone, taking in her closed-off body language before asking, "want to play your poor, old uncle in a game of chess?"

She lifted her head to stare at her uncle before she smiled and nodded. Sitting up, Lucius levitated the chessboard to the table and set up the pieces. He was happy to see the look of excitement on Persephone's face, something he had not seen since her arrival back at the manor. Her happiness had been stripped by the encounter with Karkaroff, and Lucius was still wondering whether he had acted appropriately. He knew she was terrified of being placed in a similar situation again; however, he tried to assure her in every possible way that she would be well protected. Yet again, he could not be there with his niece for every moment of the day, and this prospect was something that worried him, especially as Persephone aged.