Revenge Is Sweet

Lucius was in hell.

The only good thing that was coming from this whole disaster was that Narcissa was pretending to be madly in love with him. Pretending, yes, but at this point, Lucius was willing to take what he could get.

It had been three days since Narcissa had discovered the truth. She hadn't hit him again, but Lucius secretly wished she would. Then he would at least be getting some real emotion from her. Whenever she was with him in public, she held his hand, kissed him, and generally hung all over him. But the moment they were alone, she turned into an ice queen. He soaked in every minute of her affection, fake though it was, knowing it wouldn't last much longer. When the week was out, her plan was to stage a huge breakup with him in front of everyone. Then she would be free of him.

But he would never be free of her.

Lucius knew that his heart was permanently attached to hers. Her memory would haunt him till the day he died. She would spend her life hating him; he would spend his life loving her.

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Narcissa stormed into the seventh year girls' dormitory and threw herself down on her sister's bed. Bellatrix looked up in surprise. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright!" Narcissa retorted. "I'm a complete mess!"

Bellatrix sighed and put her book aside, scooting closer to Narcissa. "What's happened?"

"What's happened? He's ruining everything, that's what's happened!" Narcissa was close to tears and hated herself for it.

"Who? Lucius?"

"Of course, Lucius! Bellatrix, he's following the plan exactly!"

Bellatrix laughed. "I'm confused. How is that a problem?"

"It's a problem because he's being so wonderful and it's nearly impossible for me to hate him anymore!"

"Narcissa," Bellatrix sighed, "are you sure you want to go ahead with this plan? Why don't you just forgive Lucius and be done with it?"

Narcissa buried her face in her hands. "I just can't!"

"But why not?" Bellatrix demanded. "Come on, just give me a reason!"

"Because that would show weakness," Narcissa whispered. "And Blacks don't show weakness."

"Good gods, Narcissa!" Bellatrix huffed. "It's not about weakness! It's about love! You know I don't put much stock in all that mush, but I saw you and Lucius together, and you two are in love, and you're just hurting yourselves by denying it!"

Narcissa looked up through tear-stained eyes. "I thought he loved me, but I can't believe it anymore, Bellatrix. I just can't. It hurts too much to believe."

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Bellatrix left the dormitory quietly and headed down to the Common Room. Narcissa had cried herself into an exhausted slumber on Bellatrix's bed, and while she slept, Bellatrix had hatched a plan.

She saw her youngest sister by the fireplace and walked over to her, taking a seat beside her on the sofa. "Andromeda, I need your help."

Andromeda nodded immediately. "Sure, what is it?"

Bellatrix looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "I need you to help me get Lucius and Narcissa back together, and I need your help in getting revenge on Rodolphus for starting this whole stupid mess."

Andromeda frowned. "Of course I'll help, Bella," she said, "but why are you so eager to get back at Rodolphus? I thought you fancied him?"

"I do," Bellatrix admitted, "but no one hurts my sisters and gets away with it."

Andromeda nodded again. "Right. So what's the plan?"

"It's easy," Bellatrix replied. "First, I'm going to have a little chat with Lucius. Then we're going to give Rodolphus a taste of his own medicine."

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Lucius was walking down the corridor, minding his own business, when suddenly he was ambushed. A small figure reached out from behind a suit of armor and grabbed his robes, slamming him up against the wall.

"What the - "

"Don't talk," Bellatrix commanded angrily. "Just listen. My sister is in love with you. You're in love with her. But you're both too stupid to fix it on your own, so Andromeda and I are going to give you a bit of help."

"But - "

"And," she interrupted, "you're going to be a part of our revenge on Rodolphus."

"Bellatrix," he insisted, "are you sure about this? For one thing, Narcissa hates me. Loathes me with the fire of a thousand suns. There's no way I can get her back - not after what I did."

"You're not listening, Malfoy." Bellatrix sounded annoyed. "Narcissa is mad about you, but she's also mad at you. However, luckily for you, she's also beginning to doubt herself. She's just afraid of showing weakness and then having you rub her face in it."

Lucius tried to take this in, but his head was beginning to hurt. "Alright. Let's say that Narcissa is in love with me as much as I am with her. How am I going to get her to forget about what I've done?"

Bellatrix smiled. "By continuing to play along with her stupid game. Be the attentive boyfriend in public like you have been, but don't let her push you away when you're alone. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"If you really think it will work..."

"I do."

"Okay," he sighed. "So what about this plan for revenge?"

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"How is it going with you and Narcissa?"

Lucius suppressed the urge to hit Rodolphus' smug face. "Splendidly. Why do you ask?"

Rodolphus shook his head. "It just seems too good to be true. She goes years without even speaking to you, and then suddenly she's falling into your arms? It's curious, that's all."

"I'm just that good, I suppose."

"Or she really is a whore like they say she is."

It took all of Lucius' control to keep from beating Rodolphus to a bloody pulp. Instead, he just shrugged. "You're just angry that you're out three hundred galleons." He grinned. "But since I'm such a good friend, I'll give you a chance to get it back."

Rodolphus frowned. "What are you on about?"

"I'll make another deal with you, and I'll double your money."

"I'm listening."

Lucius crossed his arms and leaned casually against the bedpost. "If you can shag Bellatrix by Friday night, I'll pay you six hundred galleons."

Rodolphus laughed. "Bellatrix? But she's practically my girlfriend already - that won't be hard at all. What's the catch?"

"No catch. I told you I was a good friend."

Rodolphus gave him a hard look, as if to determine whether Lucius was serious or not. Then he took a deep breath and stuck his hand out. "You're a fool, but it's a deal."

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"Did it work?"

Lucius found himself being accosted by another one of the Black sisters as he left his dormitory. "Did what work?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Don't be an idiot. Did he take the bet?"

Lucius nodded. "Of course he did."

"Good. Your part is over. Now you can worry about getting Narcissa back."

"Easier said than done," Lucius frowned in discouragement.

Andromeda grinned. "Don't worry. She's already in love with you - you just have to get her to admit it."

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Narcissa was on the verge of insanity.

It was late Friday afternoon, and they were in the Common Room due to the rainy weather. Bellatrix was flirting shamelessly with Rodolphus over a game of Wizard's chess, and Rodolphus was definitely letting her win. Narcissa was sitting with Lucius on the sofa, his arm tight around her waist and his chin resting on the top of her head. Her heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces.

Tomorrow at breakfast she would stage her huge breakup with Lucius, and it would all be over - but she didn't want it to be over. She wanted to stay like this forever. Stay and pretend that Lucius was in love with her and that everything would be fine. But Lucius didn't love her. Everything would not be fine. She would die alone, that's all there was to it.

"Narcissa?" he whispered in her ear. "Are you alright?"

She looked up and forced a smile. "Yes. I'm fine." As long as you keep holding me.

His blue eyes were intense and she couldn't look away. "They're not watching. We don't have to pretend anymore."

"What?" she whispered, her breath catching in her throat. No. Please don't let it end now.

"They're not watching us. You can kiss me because you want to, not because anyone else needs to see it."

Oh my.

Before she had a chance to respond, his lips were on hers, effectively stealing what remained of her sanity.

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Bellatrix watched Lucius and Narcissa out of the corner of her eye and suppressed a grin. He certainly didn't waste any time. It's amazing what a bit of threatening will do to a man.

She turned her attention back to Rodolphus, who was trying to decide where to move his knight on the board. She knew he was letting her win, and it worked into her plan perfectly. He was completely hers. Now if she could get him alone, she could finish what she'd started.

Bellatrix reached out a hand and placed it on Rodolphus' arm, stilling his movement. He looked up, surprised, and she gave him a slow wink. "Do you really want to finish this game?"

She thought his eyes would pop out of his head. "Wh-what?"

"I can tell your mind isn't on the chessboard, and they certainly aren't paying attention..."

Rodolphus suddenly caught on, like she knew he would. He cast one last look at Lucius and Narcissa before following Bellatrix upstairs.

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"Lucius, wait." Narcissa placed both hands on his chest and gently pushed him away.

He felt like he had been drugged. "What? What's wrong?"

Narcissa slowly moved to the opposite end of the long sofa and he felt bereft of her presence. "I need to know something."

Lucius nodded, although his mind was still quite muddled. "Alright. Anything."

"Will you tell me the truth?"

"Yes, of course."

She took a deep breath. "Why did you take the bet?"

That cleared his mind in an instant. The truth, Malfoy. She's giving you a chance to explain yourself. Tell her the truth. He sighed. "Because I'm an idiot. Because I didn't realize just how much you meant to me. I wanted to defend you to Rodolphus, but I selfishly thought that the bet would give me motivation to finally get close to you."

Narcissa frowned. "Why didn't you just come and talk to me?"

He laughed - a bitter, hollow sound. "Because you're Narcissa Black, Slytherin goddess. Good gods, Narcissa - every time I ever tried to get near you I would get scared out of my mind and lose all ability for intelligent conversation. And how would that look? You would have laughed in my face."

Her eyes showed her hurt. "Is that really what you think? That I'm so unapproachable?"

He shook his head. "Not unapproachable - just unapproachable for me. You're too good for me, Narcissa. I'm a jerk - an ass, as you so eloquently reminded me - and I don't deserve you at all."

Narcissa tentatively slid a bit closer to him, and he found his small supply of courage blossoming in his chest. Tell her already! Don't be such a bloody coward! Just tell her!

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Bellatrix was having a hard time sticking to the plan. It was incredibly difficult to focus on revenge when Rodolphus was kissing her like that. Would it be that terrible if she let him win the bet? Surely Lucius could afford six hundred galleons...

But what about Narcissa?

The thought was like a bucket of cold water on her face. She gasped and pushed Rodolphus away. "Wait."

He scowled. "What?"

Bellatrix pushed herself off the bed and matched his scowl. "This isn't right."

"Bloody hell, Bellatrix! What are you on about?" He angrily raked a hand through his already tousled hair and glared at her. "This was your idea in the first place, remember?"

Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan. "I know that," she retorted. "But I've changed my mind."

"What? Changed your mind?"

"Yes, changed my mind," she glared at him. "Aren't I allowed? Woman's prerogative and all that."

Rodolphus looked like he could spit nails. "I don't think so, Bellatrix. You're my girlfriend and you'll do what I say."

"Oh really?" Bellatrix was really getting angry now. Forget Narcissa - this was personal now. "And when, pray tell, did you ever ask me to be your girlfriend? I think I would have remembered such a momentous occasion such as that!"

Rodolphus pushed himself off the bed and stood before her. "I didn't think I'd have to ask! I thought you knew!"

"Are you kidding me?" she shouted. "You arrogant jerk! Did you ever stop to think that I might like to have a say in this?"

Rodolphus looked at her like she was from another planet. "Why would I do that?" he yelled back. "I knew you'd say yes!"

It was the last straw. Taking a page from her sister's book, Bellatrix let him have it.

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"You're too good for me, Narcissa... I don't deserve you at all."

Narcissa's heart was clutched in a vise. She watched as Lucius fought with himself over whatever he was about to say. She knew he was struggling with his pride, with his fear. The same things that I've struggled with.

It was time to take matters into her own hands. She slid even closer to him and took wove her fingers through his. When he looked into her eyes, she smiled. "Tell me, Lucius."

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"Damn it, Bellatrix!" Rodolphus clutched a hand over his bleeding nose and glared at her. "What did you do that for?"

"Because you deserved it, Rodolphus Lestrange!" she snapped. "You deserved it for making that bet about my sister! You deserved it for treating me like your property! And you deserved it for thinking you could shag me for six hundred galleons!"

His jaw dropped. "How... how did you find out?"

"Don't be daft, Rodolphus," she growled. "Who do you think came up with the bet in the first place?"

"Wait a min... you... I can't... you set me up?"

She gave him an icy stare and one last comeback before leaving him alone in his room. "I hope you've learned your lesson, Rodolphus - never mess with the Black sisters."

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Lucius swallowed around the lump in his throat and closed his eyes, gathering strength from her small hand wrapped in his. "Narcissa," he began, "I... I'm so sorry. For everything. And... and I want you to know that I meant what I said, about not believing the rumors. I know you, Narcissa. I know you because you're a part of me. I love you," he finished in a rush. He opened one eye and chanced a look at her expression.

Her eyes were filled with tears - but she was smiling. "I love you too, Lucius," she whispered, squeezing his hand and warming his heart. "I'm sorry it took us so long to figure it out."

"Me too," he agreed, before claiming her lips with his own.

FIN