Love Mario

The Great Hall was abuzz with excited chatter. It was Valentine's Day, and owls were continually flying in with Valentines for lucky people. Even the usually subdued Slytherin table was animated. Though he was only a fifth year, Lucius commanded the very centre of the table, with Narcissa seated to his right.

She'd already received three Valentines this morning; one of them was from Lucius. He'd bought a beautiful heart pendant for her. In true Slytherin fashion, an emerald encrusted snake encircled the heart. Narcissa had proclaimed it gorgeous, and had Lucius put it on her immediately. Of course, she knew that Lucius had sent it, as he hadn't thought to disguise his handwriting.

Suddenly, another wave of owls burst through, flying into the Great Hall. Four of them were headed directly for Narcissa. She pretended to not to notice they were coming her way, but her fidgeting gave her away. Still, Lucius decided to play along, as he was thrilled that she liked his present the best.

"Ciss, I think you have more admirers," he told her softly, giving her an elbow.

Narcissa looked up, about to feign surprise. She saw the look on Lucius' face, and decided against it. It was obvious he knew her game, so there was no point playing it.

"So I do," she replied, surveying the new owls. She opened each one slowly, smiling at the notes held within. Most of the boys that owled her weren't confident enough to leave their names. As she opened the third owl, she noticed something straight away. This boy had left his name. She made a second observation almost immediately. It wasn't from a boy; it was from a girl, named Amanda.

Narcissa looked up, quite confused. The only Amanda she knew of, was Amanda Burke. She glanced down to where Amanda was seated, to find her looking straight back at Narcissa, also looking quite confused. Sure, Amanda was an attractive girl, but she was just that; a girl. In her state of confusion, Narcissa completely missed the grin that her cousin Evan gave to Lucius.

"What's going on Ciss? A Valentine from Amanda? You two would be cute together."

Lucius wondered if Narcissa would swing. It was definitely something to be investigated further. He glanced at her, to find her still staring confused at Amanda. He poked her in the ribs with a finger.

"Hey, you still have another Valentine. Want me to open it?"

Lucius reached for the Valentine, but Narcissa snapped it up before his hand could get anywhere near it. She opened it, still very quiet, and read it quickly, keeping it hidden from Lucius. A small smile formed on her lips. Lucius was frantically trying to read over her shoulder, but all he could make out were the last two words.

'Love Mario.'

"Who's Mario, Ciss?"

"Oh, just some guy that I met in Italy over the summer," she said, waving it off as nothing.

"So, why's he sending you a Valentine then?"

"I don't know. He's a very friendly guy. Oooh look, and he sent me another picture."

Narcissa held the photo just right so Lucius got a good look of him. Mario was tall, dark and handsome with a tanned, muscular body. Just seeing that photo made Lucius' blood boil. He didn't want to know what that disgusting Italian had done to corrupt his sweet Narcissa. He also did want to know, so he could go to Italy, beat this ponce up, and defend Narcissa's honour.

Narcissa could tell just how angry Lucius was getting this, and all she wanted to do was fuel the fire more.

"Well, I suppose I'd better write him back," she said cheerily, disappearing from the table so fast, it was though she'd Apparated away.

There, of course, was no Mario. He was just some male model that was more than happy to have his photo taken by pretty witches. Lucius would never find that out though, and his thoughts would be plagued by Mario for quite some time after.