ALLURING || D.M.

Chapter 29

A loud thud echoed after Narcissa and Draco Malfoy entered the parlour. Without a word, the witch disappeared the luggage to her son's room upstairs. Draco lingered in place, his sharp features unreadable, but something twisted just beneath the surface like nostalgia, though it was far too tinged with dread to be comforting. It was routine for him to apparate with his mother at the end of every year, but this one was different, there was no cold, scrutinising figure waiting in the drawing room.

His father had been incarcerated, stripped of influence and stripped of every ounce of control he once held. He would not join at meals anymore, and though Draco would not precisely say he would miss the constant judging and nagging of his, he was wary of the implications his absence contemplated.

The boy dragged a hand through his hair, furrowing his brows before saying, "I'll be in my room" and walking up the stairs. Narcissa watched him go, she had so much to tell him, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Her heels clicked as she walked down the halls of her home. A nostalgic air about her, it was all crumbling. Everything she had just slipped through her fingers like sand. It seemed ironic how just one month ago her life seemed flawless. There were, yes, some things she would change or rearrange, but overall it all worked in her favour.

She was one of the last standing heiresses of the Black family, she had not just married Lucius Malfoy, she formed an alliance, a lineage of two of the most ancient and influential pure-blood lines in Britain. She lived her life by her rules, had a good marriage and a good name in the wizarding community, her community.

She liked it, her husband was not the most loving or the easiest temper to deal with, but they had learned to understand each other. Twenty years of marriage had given them the time to discover the perfect dynamic for them. He didn't suffocate her and she didn't suffocate him. Not romantic, steady.

They each had their space and their personal business, they didn't mingle if it didn't affect them and they found time to cultivate their partnership. It was realistic and well suited for the both of them. She could not complain, the Malfoy surname gave her a lot of things, above all her son. Her intelligent, cocky and infuriatingly charming son.

Thought carefully he was the only legitimate heir of the Black and Malfoy name. There were no other blood family members to claim the title, she used to smile when she envisioned Draco grown up, in a fitted suit with that smug expression of his. Holding more power than most people in Britain in his word alone.

Because even if people didn't see it, purebloods ran the wizarding world. For centuries, the important families have held a seat in the Wizengamot, they have a voice and a vote in the politics and laws to be made. It was an important share as well, a little over a third of votes were lineage seats. Without taking into account the other politicians they befriended or bought to turn things in their favour. More money to ever spend, a critical mind and a lot of free time.

They didn't run for office because it was too much of a hassle. The voting, the campaign, then waking up early in the morning for work. Why do it when they got everything they wanted just attending hearings a couple times a month and convincing people to do their bidding. They had different ways to entertain their time. Most turned to their interests, pursuing a pastime. But they were very traditional in some aspects as well, it was a very tight community, the purebloods.

Narcissa liked to think of herself as a woman of society, if there was a word to describe it. It was her element, her zone. She was at ease planning and hosting, mingling with the most important people of the country. But now it'd be scandalous to even be seen with her. Her name was on the ground, along with both surnames she used to carry with pride. She was set for a quiet, pleasant, easy life. And it all went south.