Beyond These Things

I had always resigned myself to the fact that I would have to settle for some high-society girl, someone who had the right face and the right name.

But Narcissa Black had the right heart.

The striking white-blond aristocrat stood on the balcony in the cold, waiting. He was relieved to get away from the tedious Ministry affair that was taking place inside, but he also felt cold fear starting to spreading in his chest.

He didn't know whether he was afraid that she wouldn't come to him, or afraid that she would.

He looked up into the starless night and wished he was drunk.

The glass door slid open behind him.

Narcissa, immaculate and breathtaking as always, leaned next to him on the balcony, her ice-blonde hair catching in the slight breeze. The air was warm with expectation.

'I didn't think you'd come...' said Lucius, turning and looking into her pale, disarming eyes.

'I think we both knew I would' she smiled. 'And anyway...I had a couple of things to give to you.' She passed him a silver-edged envelope with his name on it.

'Thank you' he said.

'It's an invitation to my father's birthday party. We hope you'll be able to make it.'

He nodded.

'I'd love to. I have a lot of respect for Elijuan.'

'Yes. He's looking forward to it.'

'And what was the other thing...?' Lucius dared to ask, as he felt her warm hand sliding inside his suit jacket.

'Just...' she murmured, as she turned him to her and started to kiss him, soft, achingly slowly, her hand coming to rest on his chest.

He wasn't afraid any more.

* * *

About a week later, a beautiful, ebony-haired killer sat atop a tall stool at the bar in the exclusive after hours club, playing absently with the olive at the bottom of her Martini glass and wondering if she should have another refill.

She had only meant to stay for one, but a particularly engaging conversation had, over the last hour or so, being unravelling enticingly at the table behind her.

'Hey!' she barked, at the rather gangly, rather nervous-looking barman. 'Put another one in there will you, and don't hold back this time.'

He scuttled away obediently, and Bellatrix lit up an Italian cigarette.

The participants in the ongoing discussion had been getting more drunk as the evening had progressed, and were now talking quite openly about the recent activities of some of the better-known Aurors.

Interesting, thought Bellatrix. How would two young, scruffy-looking idiots know things like that?

Just as the thought left her, one of the men stood, and wandered off to the gents, stumbling into a table as he went.

Bellatrix seized the moment, and turned on her barstool to face the remaining man who now sat alone with a pint. This was going to be criminally easy.

The man smiled up at her.

Pathetic.

'What's a beautiful woman like you doing all alone?'

Nauseating fucking worm.

'Well, I was rather hoping I'd run into an attractive young man...' she said, as seductively as she could, as she slunk over to him, making sure he got a decent view of her long, shapely legs.

Men are so fucking pitiful.

'Well ...tonight might be your lucky night then' said the Auror, thinking all his birthdays had arrived at once.

I will rip your disgusting fucking throat out, I swear to God.

'What's your name, Auror?' she pouted at him, leaning in close.

'Mason Castledean. And yours?'

She smiled through the hate.

'Whatever you want it to be.'

* * *

The dying sun flooded the horizon with blood-red light; a sight disconcerting to most, but mesmerising to the young white-blonde woman gazing through the black-leaded window across the desolate autumn landscape.

And inside her father's ornate study, where she stood bathed in a rose coloured glow, shadows made mystery of every corner and every shape. Imminence hung thick and heavy in the air.

Lucius arrived at the Black Manor and was greeted by a servant.

'I'm here to see Bellatrix,' he said, lazily. 'I'm a bit early.'

The servant bowed.

'Come in sir, would you like to wait in the east study?'

'Alright.'

It showed him in then scuttled away.

Lucius approached the study door, but it was slightly ajar. He crept towards it and peered through.

Narcissa was standing looking out of the window, her back to him, her forehead pressed against the cool of the glass.

Lucius raised an eyebrow as a clench of nerves spread through him in an unexpected wave.

He pushed the door open with his fingertips and slipped silently into the room.

Narcissa's mind was pondering the horizon, and she shuddered then froze when a hand settled tentatively on the curve of her hip. She felt the warm presence of a strong body behind her, a touch on her arm, and smelled that scent which was so unmistakeably Malfoy.

She tensed completely, but forced herself to remain still.

Then, a soft, quiet drawl into her ear...

'Miss Narcissa...'

She felt a slow, soft kiss, on the side of her neck... then another...and another... then one on the other side...felt his smooth cheek against hers...felt his hand slide excruciatingly slowly over her arm...

She glanced down, at his defined forearm, his white shirt-sleeves rolled up, exposing the Dark Mark, burned beautifully deep into him, a permanent reminder of his power, lest anyone ever forgets.

Narcissa's eyes closed to the sky as he gently slid the fabric from her shoulders, and she let escape a barely audible whimper as he moved tenderly down the back of her neck with the softest trail of kisses.

He hesitated between her shoulder blades, where she felt his breathing, then a lingering kiss there, which sent tingles of pleasure all through her.

With every touch, her breathing was shallower, her mind unable to focus on anything except that he was doing this to her and that she never wanted it to end.

Lucius stroked against her white neck with his cheek, and murmured softly in her ear.

'Turn to me.'

Weakened by longing, Narcissa opened her eyes to the horizon with its fading light.

Turn and make your choice...

She twisted in the aristocrat's grasp and melted into his kiss.

And outside, birds abandoned the dying trees and flew away in search of a new beginning.

* * *

Bellatrix returned home from the bar, alive with excitement at what she had managed to extract from that pathetic, truly wretched mudblood male.

She had sent Malfoy an urgent message to come round tonight, and had been informed by a servant that he was waiting in the study.

She stormed through, in her enthusiasm to tell him what happened, but stopped short...

Her youngest sister was leaning up against the white-blond aristocrat, who was somewhat dishevelled and was positioned precariously against her father's writing desk. Narcissa's hands were inside his white shirt, and the belt to his trousers was hanging unfastened.

The two heads turned, and they sprang apart from each other, Lucius turning away immediately to right himself.

Narcissa was stunned, but gathered herself and moved quickly towards the door past Bellatrix, flashing her an 'I-don't-believe-you-sometimes-Bella' look as she left.

Bellatrix looked at Lucius with an amazed half-smile.

'Bella...' he said, cautiously, tucking in his shirt.

'Lucius...' The grin was slowly spreading as full realisation hit her.

Malfoy shook his head at her slowly, then smiled.

'You are something else, you know that.'

She cackled and nodded, flicking her jet-black hair.

'I know. But congratulations.'

* * *

Bellatrix's information had proved to be invaluable. Mason Castledean had drunkenly divulged to her that he was to go and prepare St Sebastian's church for a meeting of some kind of Auror meeting which was to take place a day later.

Malfoy was impressed by Bellatrix's news, and they had gathered three of the most able Death Eaters to complete the task ahead.

They infiltrated the church in the early evening, finding three very large plasma TV screens set up for use in some kind presentation.

There were white lilies in tall black vases dotted all around, and two ornate dishes filled with holy water on the altar.

Bellatrix and Lucius were in the control room, tampering with the electrics. Rodolphus Lestrange, and the two other Death Eaters inside the main church hall alerted them when Castledean and two other Aurors arrived.

The unsuspecting men walked through the large doors and looked up.

'Look at that...I wonder why the lights are on...' said Castledean.

There was a heavy metal clank as the doors slammed locked behind them.

Then the lights flickered once, and threw the church into pitch darkness. Silence descended as the three Aurors stood, paralysed with shock.

'Er ...what's happening?' one of them said.

A piercing cackle tore through the air, followed by a sinister, echoing female voice.

'My name is Bellatrix Black. Do try to keep your dignity, mudbloods, but it is my duty to inform you that you are going to die tonight ...the hard way. So ... enjoy your last night on earth.' She shrieked with laughter again.

Suddenly, the three large plasma screens over the altar crackled grey and black with distortion, until the picture clarified, and the now abjectly terrified men saw the face of evil multiplied by three.

Bellatrix glowered down at them, her ebony hair dishevelled in excitement, her eyes shining with malicious anticipation.

'Shit, shit,' one of the Aurors was whimpering. 'I know her...'

A purely demonic grin crept across the face on the screens.

'Ah yes...I thought you might recognise me, Mason Castledean. Rather keen on getting to know me better last time we met, weren't you? You won't be disappointed.' She laughed down at them, the light from the TVs casting menacing shadows all around.

The lights flickered on, then off again.

'And you needn't bother trying to escape ...my fellow Death Eaters are located here, here, and here,' she mocked, like some mad air hostess marking the exits. Her maniacal laughter bounced off the cold stone walls.

Out of the shadows, stepped three dark figures, their faces obscured. Each moved behind one of the Aurors, and kicked each to their knees.

Castledean tried to struggle, but was quelled by a vicious blow to the throat from his captor.

'Bellatrix, you're insane!' he wheezed, spitting blood onto the marble floor. 'What the hell do you want?!'

The smile vanished from her face, and she glowered down at the speaker through heavy-lidded, dark eyes.

'Damnation for the impure,' she echoed, her eyes glassy as she looked down from her screens over the crucifix, 'for now and forever.'

A white-blond man appeared in the three pictures, next to Bellatrix.

'Amen,' he drawled down into the cold room.

'That's Lucius Malfoy,' hissed one of the Aurors to Castledean.

'I fucking knew he was a Death Eater! I don't want him watching me suffer!'

'Don't worry Maidment,' growled Malfoy, 'I'm not here to watch you suffer, I'm here to watch you die'.

Bellatrix shrieked with laughter, and Malfoy disappeared from the screens, soon to appear on the church floor.

He walked slowly down the line of kneeling Aurors, who were being held fast by the three Death Eaters behind them.

'So what is it? What exactly is supposed to be taking place here tomorrow night?'

His clear grey gaze moved slowly from one mudblood to the next.

The Aurors remained silent, their heads down, quivering with fear.

Malfoy continued, his eyes flashing, his Dark Mark burning with hate.

'What is so important that you need to fix up a big church like this with more protection charms than the Ministry of Magic?'

Silence.

Bellatrix's image, in triplicate, lit up a cigarette on the screens.

'Every time you don't answer us, one of you dies,' she said, simply. 'And as there's only three of you, I'd start talking.'

Malfoy turned to the quivering victims, anger and malicious hatred glittering in his eyes.

'You know, you make me fucking sick,' he snarled, from the bottom of his heart. 'You are the disease that is defiling my, and every other decent person like me's life. Your disgusting little urges, your nasty little families, your vile, putrid, common little lives....

'You behave like fucking animals, you know no respect, you know no standards and you know no shame...But I'm gonna teach you. And I'm gonna make you choke on that poisoned blood.'

'You can't! You won't! Your wand won't work in here, it's a secure-sector, it's protected!' garbled Maidment, sweat beading on his forehead.

Malfoy turned and thrust a silver blade deep into the Auror's neck so fast that he never knew until the red mud blood was surging out down the front of his clothes, onto the marble floor.

Maidment fell forward convulsing, his fading eyes watching his life spilling out of him down the steps in front of the altar.

Malfoy wiped a smear of blood from his forehead with the back of his forearm.

'Well, sometimes you have to make do with what you've got, don't you,' he drawled, wiping the blade clean on Maidment's cloak, and stepping over the dead, twitching body.

The other two Aurors were trembling in shock.

'I..it's a meeting...it's a gathering...Auror training...' stammered one.

'Shut the hell up!' yelled Castledean, 'they're gonna kill us anyway!'

'No...' moaned the man, miserably.

The image on the screens shifted. Bella was bored.

'Just kill him, Malfoy. Let him die for his worthless contaminated cause.' Bellatrix's voice was calm, cool, and filled with disgust.

Castledean exploded with rage.

'Our cause! What about you! All that pureblood bullshit! It's just an excuse for you demented psychopaths to go around killing people!'

Bellatrix's triple image stood and disappeared from the screens...

She burst through the door at the back of the church, stormed over to him, and hit him hard in the face, a line of blood showering scarlet droplets onto the petals of the white-lilies behind him.

'You shouldn't even be allowed to look at me! You filth! Look!' she screamed, hurling a handful of the stained flowers at him as he writhed on the floor. 'You're the threat! You're the black cloud on the horizon of a pure future!' she shrieked, quivering with fury, before she stamped hard on his throat with her black boot.

'Rodolphus!' she called to the tallest Death Eater, who hurried to her side, and the two of them moved towards the main door, dragging the bleeding, spluttering Castledean between them.

Malfoy leaned against the altar, and washed the blood from his hands in one of the dishes of holy water. The two remaining Death Eaters released the last Auror, who slumped forward in terror, snivelling for his life.

Bellatrix's maniacal screams could be heard outside, as she tortured Castledean to death in the graveyard.

'Still want me now?! Still think I'm sexy?!' she shrieked. 'Still gonna leer at me now, mudblood, you sickening, contaminated piece of filth?! You aren't even fit to die in front of me!'

Castledean sounded like he was choking on his own blood, then there was a distinct searing noise, the casting of Avada, and not another sound.

Back inside, the remaining Auror vomited onto the floor. He looked pleadingly up at Malfoy.

'It...It's an intensive Auror training program...they're trying to educate as many of the most intelligent people as quickly as possible in defence against curses used by the...Death Eaters...it's a selection thing...tomorrow...for new people...'

Malfoy nodded thoughtfully. Then he took a handkerchief from his pocket and threw it at the Auror.

'Clean yourself up.'

Bellatrix appeared, followed closely by Rodolphus with Castledean's lifeless body under his arm, leaving a bloody trail behind them.

'This is over,' he said, throwing the limp body roughly to the floor.

Bellatrix's eyes were gleaming.

'And what about this?' she asked softly, looking at the remaining Auror. 'Do you want me to-

'No' said Malfoy firmly, 'We can use him. We'll have inside information after tomorrow. They'll find these two bodies, then their plans will go into overdrive. We'll know their movements from here on in. I'll put him under Imperius, he's in no state to resist.'

The man was hunched over, sobbing quietly.

Rodolphus picked him up, and the Death Eaters left the church, with the bodies of the two young Aurors lying where they fell, pale and motionless in their own vomit and infected blood.

* * *

The Black manor stool tall and terrifying on the landscape. Lucius apparated just outside the main gate, a package in his hand, and was greeted by a competent-looking servant.

'Evening sir, welcome to the birthday celebration for Elijuan Black. Please come this way.'

It handed him a glass of Cristal champagne off a silver tray, and scuttled ahead, through the gate and towards the manor, the surrounding trees adorned with tiny white twinkling lights.

'Enjoy your evening, sir,' bowed the servant, and showed Lucius inside.

The inside of the manor was decorated with the same lights as outside, and soft music was coming from the main room. Lucius took a sip of the Cristal and wandered over to the table where a number of birthday presents were laid. He stood his gift, a bottle of finest matured Irish whisky, adorned with the Malfoy family insignia, in front of all the rest, and turned to make his way to wish Elijuan a happy birthday.

But he stopped. And stared...

His attention had been caught by a large photograph in a white-gold frame, evidently taken as a commemorative birthday gift. The writing at the bottom read;

To our dearest father, Elijuan,

For giving us love, life, and always the best of everything, we are eternally in your debt.

We hope always to be your pride and your joy.

Wishing you a truly happy birthday,

Your forever devoted daughters

Bellatrix

Andromeda

Narcissa

The photo was of the three young sisters, wearing identical long, black elegant dresses, and elbow-length black gloves. They were standing together in what looked like a disused aviary, with burning white church-candles dotted around in the background.

It was a beautiful photograph, but Lucius was transfixed only by the youngest, Narcissa. Her eyes were the colour of a new morning, and had an unnerving serenity that is sacrosanct. She smiled back at him, and he felt touched by the pure happiness and sincerity she had so obviously felt in giving this gift to her father.

Not many people stirred a Malfoy heart, but his flurried desperately, like a chained hawk straining for freedom.

A sharp slap on the back jarred him back to the present.

'You know, your tongue's hanging out, dear,' jibed Bellatrix.

Malfoy stammered and tried to gather himself, and straightened his bow-tie.

'Oh, hello Bella. I was just...'

'Ah-ha...' she smiled. 'So I see.'

* * *

And when he finally caught sight of Narcissa tonight, there was no more sound in the room, apart from the echo of his heartbeat.

She was wearing a long black dress, with a split up one side, and knee-high black boots.

She moved fluidly amongst the guests, greeting them, smiling, making sure everyone's glass was full, and sending the servants in the right direction if it was not.

She was a credit to her father.

Lucius' evening passed in excruciating surveillance, which was not as covert as he would have liked as he was becoming increasingly jealous by how many heads she turned and how many conversations she stopped.

When it turned eleven o' clock, he was so miserable and envious and sick of politics and platitudes, that he got one of the servants to bring him an extra large whisky, then slipped through the conservatory doors and outside into the night.

As he marched off into the grounds, his mind kept racing back to that time in Elijuan's study, the scent of her as he'd caressed her pale, beautiful neck, the curiosity in her exploratory touch, the desperation in her eventual kiss ...

But to think, of how much he had not told her and how much he did not know.

The whole thing had electrified him at the time. Now it just hurt.

* * *

Narcissa smiled for a photograph with her father, then kissed him on the cheek.

'Listen, Narcissa, how about doing your old man a small favour?'

She smiled.

'Alright, as it's your birthday.'

Elijuan reached into his top pocket and pulled out a Cuban cigar.

'There's a young man outside, and I'd really like him to have one of these, to thank him for his splendid gift. I'd send one of the servants, but really, the number of these that have gone missing recently...'

'Alright. Who?' she asked, standing and taking the cigar.

'Young Mr Malfoy.'

Her smile faded slightly.

'OK...' she looked into her father's eyes, feeling slightly guilty about what she had wanted to do to young Mr Malfoy on Elijuan's finest oak desk.

She turned and made her way to the door.

* * *

Narcissa moved quietly through the twinkling trees, past the old sundial and eventually arrived at the deserted aviary beside the sunken pool on the very edge of her father's estate.

This is where she found the young aristocrat, alone under the stars, leaning against the curved wall of the white-domed aviary. His short, sleek hair was a little dishevelled, as if he had been running his hand through it too much, and he had shed his jacket. His dress-shirt sleeves were rolled up, his bow-tie hung loose around his neck, and he still clutched the whisky glass in his hand.

She stepped through the arches.

'Well. I'm sorry to see once again that you're not having a pleasant evening,' she said.

His head jerked towards her, and he stood up straight, startled.

'Oh, no no, it's just...I...feel a little lost.' He gazed at her. Then he stared down at the floor. Looking at her made it difficult to breathe.

Narcissa gazed at Lucius, her head on one side, studying him. Just seeing him fall apart in front of her made her ache inside.

She put the Cuban down on a ledge and stalked slowly towards him, stopping only inches away.

'And here I am to find you. You know...it's my father's birthday. All our friends are here. Most of the family. Half the Ministry. And all I can think about is how much longer I have to wait until I get to touch you again ...'

Lucius looked up quickly. He stared into that determinedly unwavering pale blue gaze, and moved a slightly shaking hand to stroke the side her neck. He spoke quietly.

'You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.'

Then he kissed her like she had saved him.

Narcissa pushed him up against the cold wall, her heart on fire with its release. She kissed him deep and insistent, her touch already exploring the hard heat of his body beneath his expensive attire.

Her white-silk hair slid through his fingers, his other hand tracing the curve of her body, down to the gap at the side of her dress. His fingers inched underneath the material, onto her smooth thigh, where he felt the lace top of her stocking, making him shudder with hunger for his Narcissa.

He wanted to go slow and stay forever, close to this woman, and trace every part of her, but he was driven by a longing greater than God as he pushed down one of the shoulder straps of her dress, and kissed her shoulder, smooth as marble, and felt goose-bumps spring up under his touch.

Narcissa was dizzy with pure, unadulterated need, as she closed her eyes and kissed his neck, her eyelashes brushing his jaw. The smell of him was compulsive, intoxicating, arousing her on the most primal level.

Something about him was meant to be hers, he felt like home. Their alchemy was perfect.

She dared herself, and ran her hand over the front of his trousers, a brave move, reciprocated immediately when he moved the top of her dress down, and she felt his warm kiss on her pale, perfect breast.

She unfastened the button at his waist and moved her hand inside, raising a flawless eyebrow at the extreme arousal she felt there.

Lucius couldn't suppress a slight gasp as she touched him, and he felt her smile through her kiss.

He stopped abruptly, his head down, the two white-blond foreheads touching, and tried to speak, breathlessly.

'I...won't be able...to stop...' he whispered, his breathing ragged.

Narcissa was already kissing him again.

'Don't stop,' she commanded, 'don't stop, please don't...'

He kissed her deeply, then picked her up roughly and switched positions, pushing her up against the wall, half-balancing her on the ledge under the archway.

She fumbled with his trousers, forcing them down to just above his knees, as his fingers ran up her slim thighs, pushing the material of her dress upwards, then slid inside her underwear. She shuddered as she felt him caress her, slow as he could, her blatant arousal only intensifying his own, which was by now almost at breaking point.

He urgently took hold of her underwear and pulled it down away from her body, until the pale pink and black lace that he had been imagining for so long lay discarded on the cold tiled floor of the moonlit aviary.

Narcissa's fingers grasped through his short white-blond hair, quivering in anticipation as he manoeuvred his own underwear out of the way.

She felt him brush against the inside of her thigh briefly, before she felt him fumbling to find where to go.

She helped him out, kissing him to assure him, then heard him whimper as she felt him enter her full and hard.

Narcissa moaned quietly as he moved, her eyes closing, not quite believing this moment had actually arrived at last.

Lucius ground into her harder, and harder, one of his arms supporting her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him deeper into her, her knee-high black boots cold against his skin.

All that longing, all that waiting, all that tension, it was all flashing through his mind. He couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe her and he couldn't believe this.

Narcissa gasped at his urgency, and whimpered, and could feel him on the edge, as he made pained murmuring sounds, then he took her free hand and slammed her forearm back against the wall, and she looked up and saw the outline of the Dark Mark pressed hard against her white skin, and she heard him gasp as he shuddered, his face buried deep in her neck

Then they were still. It took a moment for Lucius to gather the courage to look at her again and know he'd fallen in love.

It's time to stop running.

* * *

I will never recover from Narcissa. And I knew back then that I wouldn't. Playmate, partner, seductress, saviour. My weakness and my strength.

Whatever was to happen in my life, I wanted to take her with me. Ten months later I told her so, but I know she already knew.

The couple lay on the grass, touching, dreaming, staring into what remained of the light.

'It's all over the newspapers, those stupid little Aurors in that church said Narcissa, her eyes sparkling, 'God, I would have loved to have seen it when they found them...'

Lucius sighed in contemplation.

'How many more of them I will execute? How many, Narcissa? Until I get the world to change? I'm still waiting.'

She blinked, and wondered.

'Who knows what's going to happen. What's beyond these things. How it will all turn out in the end ...'

Lucius gazed into the deep scarlet horizon, watching two birds settle on a leafless branch. He was standing on the edge of forever, about to jump off.

He took her hand and touched her bare wedding finger.

'You know, don't you ..that I love you ...and when it's the right time ...I'll ask you.'

Narcissa smiled into the sky.

-end-