Hey, Soul Sister [Lucius/Narcissa]

Chapter Nine

Narcissa made her way toward the Great Hall without speaking to anyone, too lost in her own thoughts to make the effort. In fact, she'd ducked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as quickly as she could reach the door from her seat near the front in an effort to avoid anyone questioning her about her patronus. She'd been practicing the spell on her own for over a year, now. As soon as Andromeda had begun filling her head with stories about what it was like to find one's other half, Narcissa had become determined to be prepared, and she'd made certain to become proficient enough at the charm to give her patronus a corporeal form. She'd wanted to recognize it, when it appeared on her soulmate, and now it had. Showing an entire room full of students her patronus so shortly after a group of her friends had discovered which one Lucius now bore hadn't been part of the plan.

Neither had him witnessing it. She believed she'd caught sight of him standing outside the classroom door, but if so, he'd gone too quickly for her to be sure.

Maybe I'm just getting paranoid, she thought, which is ridiculous. There's no reason for me to be anxious around Lucius. She knew rationally that this was true. He was still the same person he'd been before the term had started and she'd become completely confused about where they stood with one another, but this confusion had made her uncertain of how to act around him. Her tendency to overthink things had become problematic.

She sat down at the Slytherin table and shrugged her schoolbag off of her shoulder to set it next to her and pull the book she'd been reading out from among textbooks, quills, and rolls of parchment. She opened the novel on the table and tried to focus on reading between bites of food with little success. With a sigh, she returned the book to her bag and removed the letter she'd received at breakfast.

***

Cissy-

Are you all right? It's not like you not to write back, and I'm worried. Please don't be angry with me for not reaching you sooner. I really wish we were able to see one another, and I'd like to find a way to arrange that, if you'll help me. Please owl me as quickly as you can.

Love,

Andi

***

Narcissa knew she shouldn't be angry with her sister for waiting to mention her marriage until after it had taken place. She wasn't angry, exactly—it was more that she didn't know what to say. Andromeda had dealt gracefully with losing contact with the rest of their family, and Narcissa felt that she herself was handling things very poorly in comparison. She wished the two of them were back at home, down the hallway from one another, where Narcissa could sneak into Andromeda's room after their parents had gone to sleep and ask her for advice without worrying like sounding like a petulant child who needed to learn how to deal with her own problems.

She rolled her shoulders back and pulled a quill from her bag, beginning to write her reply on a blank piece of parchment.

***

Andi-

I'm sorry I didn't write sooner. I promise I'm not angry with you—I wish you and Ted the best, and I'm sorry for how everyone else has reacted. I've just been trying to sort things out at home and at school. Our parents have decided that I'm to marry Thorfinn Rowle. He's still as awful as he was when you were in school, so no, I'm not thrilled about it. Neither is Lucius. As it turns out—and I'm still trying to process this, so please rein in your enthusiasm—my soulmate has been right in front of my nose the whole time. I'm not completely sure whether Lucius has figured it out, yet, and I don't know how to ask, so I'm starting to feel like I'm going mad. I'm afraid Mum and Dad won't care and will still want me to marry Thorfinn. Isn't that ludicrous? But you know better than anyone how unreasonable they are.