Echoes of a Star

Narcissa Malfoy watched the cruel hand of her husband swing towards her face. She didn't turn her head she merely gazed into the cold, frozen eyes of a man who said he loved her, and cringed with the slap.

"Why the fuck do you have this?" yelled Lucius Malfoy as he waved about a silver dog tag.

"He gave it to me," she said matter-of-factly.

"To hell with him, Narcissa, you married me," he said as he raised his hand to slap her again.

"You gave me little choice. I could either disgrace my family with a bastard heir or get married and then give you the heir," she said hiding her tears. Oh, Draco why didn't I choose to raise you as the son of a disowned pure blood.

"Imperius is a wonderful tool, my little flower," said Lucius Malfoy with a smile that held no warmth. Narcissa merely stared at him, not letting herself think, breathe, or talk, preparing for the second slap. When it hit she fell over the pain was unbearable, but if she had learned anything from her marriage it was that everything is bearable.

"Hmm, I think I will take this," he said. His maniacal laughing and the taunting jangle of the dog tag were like a lullaby from hell, and it lured her into memory.

"Keep this, Narcissa," he had said pressing the cold hard steel into her hand.

"But what about Lucius?" Narcissa protested.

"He never has to know," He said in the hurried tones of a forbidden lover.

"Oh, I love you. Don't make me do this," said Narcissa collapsing into a fit of tears. He reached down and pushed her platinum blonde hair out of her eyes, He had sat there in the dark gardens of Malfoy Manor comforting her. Suddenly she felt him, she felt Lucius Malfoy approaching.

"Hurry, I feel him coming. Leave!" she said.

"Not without a kiss," said her lover bending sown and kissing with the pent up love he had kept only for her. His black hair meshing with her platinum, for a second Lucius Malfoy never had existed. The he got up and left running in all desperation off Malfoy grounds. Narcissa opened her hand to see his name imprinted clearly on her hand. Sirius Black, with his name still on her hand she reached down to touch her growing belly.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sirius Black's ghost has been haunting me ever since Hogwarts. The man's memory has been nothing but a plague to me thought Lucius Malfoy bitterly. Every time the light danced and illuminated the name it seemed to tease him. The dog tag seemed to say, "You were never good enough. Sirius will always be first." Every day was a bitter reminder of him, and every lonesome night was Black's legacy. Lucius held the tag over the dancing flames and watched the memory play before his eyes.

She was smiling and he was laughing. The happiness in her eyes was beautiful. He remembered that as the point that Narcissa went from crush to obsession. She sat next to Black playfully swatting away his hand as she talked to Lily Evans. The way the light made her hair a halo the way her angelic features watched Black it was all too much. Lucius had watched from the shadows of the Slytherin table. That was the day he dealt with the devil. That day was the last time he saw her smile and the first time he saw her cry.

~*~*~*~*~

Narcissa pulled herself up form the ground, and went up stairs to see what she could do about her wounds. She felt another fresh bruise growing on her cheek. She reached down to touch the dog tag, but the deep purple bruise on her breast was the painful reminder of its loss. Fuck you, Lucius. Do you know love? Do you know pain? Do you know kindness? This time Narcissa did let herself cry as she collapsed on her bed.

"Why did you let him take me," she whimpered, "why didn't you stop him?" Narcissa knew the answer, but the thought was too painful. This mess was of her own doing. She let a distant memory come into sight.

"What do you mean, Narcissa?" Sirius asked the hurt evident in his clear grey eyes. Narcissa struggled against the sweet pull of Imperius.

"It's over, Black," Narcissa's own voice sounded distant and cold. Sirius grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"What did he do to you? Narcissa I love you," said Sirius staring into her eyes as if trying to read the deepest corners of her heart. A single tear trailed down her cheek, it was her heart's final rebellion against Imperius. Narcissa shook off Sirius's hands, but it was too late he had seen the tear. He once again tried to read her eyes.

"Imperius isn't it? That little bastard," said Sirius. Then completely unbidden Narcissa's hand reached up and slapped Sirius across the face.

"How dare you slander my love's name," cried Narcissa in that icy far away voice. The real Narcissa, the one buried under the blanket of Imperius, writhed at the idea of loving Lucius Malfoy.

"Fine, you will remember soon enough, but too it is too late for us Narcissa. YOU are with child, you have to marry and it can't be me," said Sirius, and with that he kissed her with violent passion and then left before she could slap him again.

Narcissa decided to finally break the vow that bound her to Lucius Malfoy, the vow she took at her wedding, to death do us part. She lifted the knife its cruel dark beauty glistening with the flames in her eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Her body was limp and emotionless as she followed him through the foxtrot. Imperius was beginning to take its toll he knew that soon it would have to be removed, and that Narcissa would have to come face to face with evil. Lucius felt the presence of Black even though Peter had sent him miles away to Azkaban, where he would experience a hell equal to that of Lucius's. Lucius smiled and led his wife off the dance floor. Sirius Black was in hell and that made him happy.

Lucius Malfoy dropped the dog tag into the flames, but his moment of pleasure was interrupted by the piercing torturous scream of Narcissa Malfoy. He ran through the frigid, dank, halls of Malfoy manor to Narcissa's room. There she lay in a pool of crimson blood, it was her final defiance. He stooped down to pick up the knife. The hard blue tinted metal was laced with her blood and her tears. All he could see though was Black, all he could see was Sirius Black kissing her, defacing her innocence, and ruining his life. He knew Sirius Black would live on forever with him, Narcissa didn't need a note, he knew what drove her to this, Lucius knew he had murdered his wife. He forced her to death; he ruined her life as Black had ruined his. Suddenly Lucius Malfoy let out a harsh desperate laugh. It was the laugh of a man who had been pushed to the breaking point, and had shattered. So Lucius Malfoy sat in the remains of his tattered life and laughed.