Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate

By Ari Starr

Lucius was sitting at his desk, feet up, and staring out the window. There was a large assortment of things on his desk, half-torn letters, an assortment of different colored globes, a few books, and a vase full of a dozen black roses. It was the morning of February fourteenth, Valentine's Day. Lucius let a half-smile creep across his pale face, the same smile his own son inherited, and took his feet off the desk.

He began riffling through the thick pile of papers that covered his desk. Potion recipes, Notes from the Dark Lord, photos, and letters were picked up and shoved into drawers.

"Not here," Lucius muttered.

He pulled open one of the desk's many drawers and began going through that, finally finding a little green book. Green, because black was to cliché. Lucius pulled the book out of his desk drawer and laid it carefully on his desktop. Inside this book was the list of his women, complete with pictures, descriptions, likes, dislikes, turn ons, turn offs, and blackmailing possibilities. The few people who had ever seen this book always went home thinking

If only he knew that much about Narcissa...

Lucius opened the bottom drawer of his desk, knowing what he was looking for was there. Inside was a bottle of Vodka and a fancy glass. He took both out and poured a careful amount into his glass, and put the bottle back into the drawer. He loved alcohol, he loved women, and he loved seeing people being tortured, he loved wathing people in uncomfortable positions. These loves were what make people feel unsafe around this man.

Opening the book Lucius took a sip of his drink, he had to narrow down this extensive list of his women to twelve, he only had a dozen roses. He would send the carefully picked twelve a rose each and whoever replied the fastest he'd invite home. These women of his were shallow gold diggers. They tried to please him in a way that would make him leave his wife and marry them instead; they were in it only for the money. Lucius knew this, and he played along, but he knew the game they were playing at the same time, and they would not win. He wouldn't leave Narcissa.

But that was not because he loved her, he hadn't felt a real love for her in a long time. She was arm jewelry to him; he loved her like a hunter loved his stuffed, ten-point deer. There was a possibility he loved her at one point, but the love faded away with his innocents. Lucius lost all purity when the Dark Lord approached him one day and asked him whether he wanted to stay the way he was or have power beyond imagining. He chose power.

Some of the women in this book he hardly remembered, and he wondered why, they were gorgeous, perhaps they got too close to wining the game. He quickly jotted down names on a scrap of parchment next to him to choose from later.

There was a knock on the door and without lifting up his head Lucius called for them to come in. The door creaked slightly and he looked up to see Narcissa. She was dressed in a red satin dress with black lace around the top and bottom; her shining lips were covered in a fresh coat of bright red lipstick as she smiled seductively. Lucius put down his quill and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, this looked promising.

"I got you something," she said and placed a heart shaped box on the desk.

Lucius looked at it and then picked out a scrawny rose out from the vase and gave it to Narcissa; maybe he'd stay in tonight. They haven't done that in a while.

As Lucius opened the box he didn't see the look of disgust Narcissa gave the rose she received.

"Chocolates?" Lucius said simply.

"Swiss dark chocolates," she said, playfully running a delicate finger around the edge of the box. "A colorful assortment too, cherry, gin, well I'll just let you find out for yourself."

Lucius looked at each of the dozens of chocolates and finally chose the one in the center. He carefully picked it up, smiled at Narcissa and popped it into his mouth.

Her smile widened as she watched her husband chew the chocolate. She continued smiling too as his eyes widened and then when he began choking. Lucius was coughing up a horrible mess of chocolate and blood all over the desk and as he looked up at the grinning mad woman in front of him, his eyes rolled back then finally closed.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Lucius," Narcissa said as she turned to leave.