Friends And Lovers

Most residents of Hogsmeade paid no attention to the small little house sitting at the end of a dead-end street. It sat still and silent for months at a time, and when someone was there, the solitary resident of the house gave off the aura of not wanting to be disturbed. They never knew of the woman who Apparated in occasionally to visit with an old friend from school.

Narcissa checked her appearance once more in the mirror, satisfied that she had achieved the perfect balance. Her nerves were tingling, as they always were before she left to see her 'friend from school.' She was always carefully vague about whom exactly her friend was, letting Lucius assume that her friend was female. Strolling casually down the hall, she kept her face devoid of any of the nervousness that she was feeling, aware that the walls had eyes and ears, mostly from the house-elves. She didn't particularly care to think of the other methods employed in the house.

Coming to a stop at the second to last door on the left side, she knocked twice, and then poked her head into her son's room. Draco looked up from his almost-completed Potions essay and graced her with a small smile. Leaning against the doorframe, she smiled back.

"Almost done?"

Draco nodded. "Another three inches left." He looked at her outfit for a moment. "Are you going out?"

She nodded. "My friend and I are having dinner tonight." Already anticipating his next question, she continued. "Your father owled me earlier today and said that with the increased activity at the Ministry, he probably wouldn't make it home until quite late."

She could see the sardonic twist of his lips, gone before it really even came, and she felt like doing the same. Lucius wasn't fooling either of them, and his desire to have Draco walk in his footsteps was severely going against Narcissa's mothering instincts. She hoped that Draco was still malleable enough so that her friend could still reach him. Setting aside that particular thought for later, she refocused on her son.

"Well I hope that you and your friend have a good time, Mother."

You have no idea, she thought to herself. "We'll try. The house-elves will have your supper waiting for you when you're done. I should be back before ten, but if anything comes up..."

Now Draco looked distinctly amused. "Call Mrs. Getthe, I remember."

Blowing him a kiss, she walked down the stairs, her mask firmly back in its place. Accepting her coat from one of the house-elves, she kept it folded over her left arm, as it was still quite warm outside.

Walking down the path a bit, she folded her hands, keeping the jacket held in place there. Unseen by anyone, her right hand quickly removed the dull gold wedding band and the truly ostentatious engagement ring and slipped them inside a pocket of her jacket. Stopping just at the edge of the path, she concentrated for a moment on the place she was Apparating to, took a breath, then Apparated.

"I was wondering when you would arrive," a voice drawled from beside the fire.

Opening her eyes, she smiled at her friend. He was sitting in a very comfortable looking chair, a dog-eared Potions book beside him. His black hair was pushed back behind his ears, and his black trousers and shirt made his face almost look as if it were hovering in mid-air.

"I couldn't very well rush over here, now could I?"

"True." Standing, he strode towards her. Pulling her now bare left hand up to his lips, he gently nibbled on her knuckles. "Good. You took it off."

"I don't wear it if I don't have to."

He smiled. "Gold never suited you anyways."

A small shrug. "It was what Lucius wanted. What he wanted, he got."

"Not everything. Besides, you didn't come here to talk about your husband with me."

Her laugh was soft and musical. "However did you guess? Now why don't you say hello to me properly?"

Severus smiled and drew her close, setting his lips against hers. They immediately parted, allowing him access to her sweet mouth. Keeping one hand around her waist, the other burrowed into her silky hair. After the need for air became a pressing issue, he pulled back, enjoying the sight of her flushed cheeks and swelling lips. "Hello."

Her gray eyes, normally the color of ash, had darkened to a steel gray when she opened them. "Hello," she breathlessly replied.

"Shall we adjourn to more comfortable surroundings?"

"Let's."

Leading her into his bedroom, he pulled her into a kiss and nudged the door shut with his foot.

---

Later, after the edge of their desire had been worked off, they lounged in bed, gloriously naked under the sheets. He was running his hands through her hair and down her back hypnotically. She was lavishing in the attention he paid her.

"I'm leaving him, you know," she quietly said.

"When?" He couldn't keep the faint note of hope from the single word.

She shook her head and looked into his dark eyes. "Before Draco graduates. I can't allow my son to follow his father's footsteps."

One of his eyebrows quirked and his eyes rested on his left forearm. Narcissa rolled her eyes. "I'm not going there with you tonight."

A smirk replaced his previous look. Rolling her on top of him, they both felt the fire they had recently extinguished flare back into life. "How about going here with me, then?"

As his hands came up to caress her body, all she could do was whimper her assent.

-fini.