A Rose By Any Other Name

Chapter 1

There it sat, written in plain black and white ....

Pregnant

She was overcome with guilt and her legs were like lead, she didn't know how to feel. Not for the baby she was carrying, not for anything. Narcissa already had a 13 year old son called Draco who attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry. Her and her husband, Lucius, had discussed having more children but the stress of the first wizards game war and the rise of he who must not be named had put a strain on their marriage, making the possibility of another child practically impossible. Compared to other mothers in the wizarding world (especially the pure blood elite group), she had Draco quite late. She was 24 when he was born but he wasn't their first child. Almost 3 years before Draco was born,  Narcissa and Lucius conceived a child who on the 30th October 1977 was revealed to be a daughter. Despite Lucius and Narcissa loving her, the Dark Lord has other plans for their daughter. They named Lyra Evelyn Malfoy and within 3 months of her birth, she was sent to sleep by the one and only Lord Voldemort. All because she was a girl. Narcissa for months blamed Lucius, refusing to leave their room and forcing him to sleep in on of the guest bedrooms. They eventually rekindled their relationship but 3 miscarriages strained and tore at their tenderness. Draco, despite being a small baby, proved to be a challenge for Narcissa's fragile and petite frame and was told that another pregnancy would be dangerous and had a high fatality rate for both the mother and the baby. Lucius didn't seem to care, he already had his heir anyway. He had no use for Narcissa anymore.

It was as if these feelings of green guilt and pain were travelling to her chair, to the air around her.

Narcissa had felt the best she had in years recently. Her and Lucius recently returned from a holiday in St Petersburg Russia for a late birthday present/early Christmas present for her. Many of her friends joined her including Jemima Greengrass' second cousin Theodore Krum. Krum's son Victor attended Durmstrang Institute in Northern Europe which peaked Lucius' interest. Lucius had always hoped that Narcissa would give in and allow him to let Draco attend there. The school only excepted Purebloods and Halfbloods. The two men discussed the Triwizard Tournament that had been taking place at Hogwarts for the past few months. Victor was in his 7th year and was the Durmstrang champion in the tournament.

However there was something about herself that Theodore couldn't seem to resist. Narcissa often wondered wether the dress she had brought to impress Lucius for her birthday, impressed more than just her husband. It was a scarlet red dress with a fur coat as a fascinator as the temperature in Russia was icy and bitter, even in the unusual out of season warmth of early December . He asked to bars and to ballets; she frequently had to remind him that she was a married woman. Theodore's wife, Ekaterina, died 2 years ago from a blood curse. It had shocked Narcissa that Theodore had come all the way from Bulgaria for this holiday, Jemima said he was quite a distant, closed off cousin of hers but who would pass up the opportunity to go on a free holiday. Lucius never seemed to notice Theodore's borderline creeper manner towards his wife, he just saw it as friendly banter and fun. But half of that holiday he was drunk meaning his inspirational words didn't always come out the way he wished or thought they would but that is what two bottles of fire whiskey do to you.

Just thinking of the events of that holiday almost brought Narcissa to tears.

She had a dark secret!

No one knew. It slowly ate away at her. First it started with her muscles and now it's her heartstrings' turn. Lucius and Narcissa had patched up their tattered relationship, obviously well enough otherwise Narcissa wouldn't be in this situation. She placed the piece of paper into her snakeskin bag before exiting the hospital room. Midwives and nurses tried to stop her departing, insisting that she ...

"Must book a follow up appointment"

Or

"You need this pamphlet. It contains all the information you need for you and the baby."

She replied with a cold yet casual question.

"What's the point ?"

Some of the midwifes guessed that she refused their information and help because she had already had children so saw herself as fit and intelligent enough to handle the situation solo. But that wasn't the whole truth. She walked out, not even correcting the nurse already to answer her question. Her reply was a rhetorical question and even if it wasn't, she wouldn't have listened to the reply they would have given.

She was Narcissa Malfoy for gods sake!

Her life motto was to do "what you like, when you like and with who you like"

She crossed the entrance hall/reception area towards the fireplace. She had apparated to St Mungos but knew that apparition was bad for pregnant woman as splinching was common and often the baby would be harmed or even ripped out during the journey and Narcissa hated hospitals so decided to protect herself as much as she could.

And with that she stepped into the fireplace in the reception area and was engulfed in a dress of violet and emerald flames before vanishing into the dust of the fireplace.