Ad Mortem Festinamus

Christmas is the season of year with the highest rate of suicides, and also the highest rate of - partly violent - family brawls. Little wonder. Those people who have no family or friends feel their loneliness the keener. Those who have a family and are expected to have the time of their life, understand that genetic closeness is the only connection they got to their relatives in many cases.

Lucius didn't have any close relatives but his father, at least none that he felt obliged to talk to. But being compelled to spend three entire days with old Abraxas was torture in his eyes, and that one merely forced him to stay to annoy his son, because in all truth, he had no taste to be with him either. Two foul tempers trapped in a room - no whiskey, no amount of caviar could compensate for that sort of hardship.

Narcissa dutifully liked her closest relations, but thought little of the rest - and the Black family was wide-spread. But around Christmas, she had to meet with the whole lot of them, her uncle Orion's family, aunt Walpurgas's spinster sisters, and her mother's brothers, sisters and their dependants, adding up to no less than twenty people. She owed her parents that she behaved at her best, meaning: smiling like an idiot at all times, making small-talk, pretending interest when all she felt was indifference, at its best.

Christmas Eve was celebrated either in Cygnus' or in Orion's house, alternating year by year, and it always followed the same rite. After a 'free and easy' glass of Champaign, either Narcissa or Regulus (depending on whose brother's house they were in) had to play the piano, then there was a five-course-dinner, always with the same seating plan, and more music in the respective Grand Parlour next. The 'children' had to take turns on the harp and piano, much to Narcissa's grief, because she was spared the conversation part as long as she was performing. As far as she was concerned, she would have played the whole night through, but she wasn't allowed to.

This year, there was a slight change in the tradition, simply because Andromeda wasn't there. The seating plan had to be adjusted, and clearly, everyone had been told not to mention her. No one would have stirred on the awkward topic, but Sirius, who amused himself by dropping Andy's name whenever he could, was tickled pink at every blush he incited. Bellatrix, being the eldest daughter, was sitting next to him, being the eldest son, and informed him in an undertone that she knew a couple of appropriate curses to cure him of his blabbing, she could sew his mouth shut, make him swallow his own tongue, or if she felt particularly nice, she'd simply jinx him mute.

He giggled merrily. "Are you threatening me, cousin?"

"You bet I am, cousin. You don't want to mess with me."

Sirius was no coward; in fact, he was too courageous for his own good, but there was a subtle menace in Bellatrix' voice, a steely glint in her gaze that made him shut up for some time. He was just fourteen, she was almost ten years his senior - it was true, he didn't want to mess with her. If only half of the things he had heard about his second least favourite cousin (the unrivalled number one was that pampered, arrogant bitch Cissily) were true, she - but not even Bellatrix could be that evil, so he chose not to believe the stories that were going about.

While Regulus had to play a serenade, Narcissa sauntered over to her sister and asked what this one had said to silence their cousin so successfully. Bellatrix told her with a confidential smirk, making Narcissa snigger spitefully. "Suits him right," she murmured. "One day you've got to show me how to do one of those. He annoys me to no end in school."

"Oh, I can show you a whole lot. But you shouldn't use any of them in Hogwarts. The old crackpot doesn't appreciate that sort of magic."

Narcissa laughed even harder. "And since when do you of all persons care?"

"Believe it or not, but I have learnt the value of discretion, Cissy. It's no good to have a loose tongue."

"You needn't tell me, Bella!"

"Yeah, I know my little Cissy's the queen of secrecy. Oh! Coming to think of it! I do hope you let down your guard for once and tell me about that thing you've had with Lucius Malfoy!"

Narcissa couldn't help it, her cheeks turned pink and she faltered to answer for a minute. "Thing? There's no thing," she muttered at last, avoiding Bella's gaze. "He's asked me to go to his graduation ball together, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Oh, certainly. Maman told me how dashing you two have looked, Papa has told me that you've been taken in by a notorious lady-killer." Bella grinned pointedly.

"And that's all there is to say, except for the fact that I haven't been taken in, in heaven's name. The only crime I have committed was going to a ball with someone, for approximately fifteen minutes, incidentally!"

"What a pity!"

"Oh yes! I can't tell you how embarrassed I was when Maman dragged me away, after Papa and Andy had made such a big scene for everyone to see."

"I can imagine, but that wasn't what I meant."

"So what did you mean?"

"He's a handsome fellow, and pretty cool to boot -"

"And a complete jerk," Narcissa snapped, blushing some more. "Pardon my language -"

"Come on, you needn't apologise to me for that! It'd do you good to loosen up a bit, and Lucius Malfoy would have been just the right guy to teach you that!"

"You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, Bella! He is - oh, where to start! Papa was very polite when he claimed that Malfoy was a 'notorious lady-killer'!"

"Don't worry, he's used a very different vernacular when throwing him out of the house!"

Before she could think of the better, Narcissa already exclaimed, "When did he do that?"

"You don't know?" Bella looked amazed. "The poor guy, that morning after Andy's - well - the morning after Maman's collapse - he's come to visit you, having no idea what had happened in the previous night, and first you kicked him out, and then he got in the way of Papa! You truly didn't know?"

"No! I did not know!" Narcissa replied far more forcefully than she intended.

"Now that's a real shame, isn't it? He seemed to like you very much, you know? As a matter of fact, he seemed to be genuinely heartbroken!"

"Did he?" Narcissa swallowed, cursing herself for having such a quavering voice, and continuing in strained calmness, "But it doesn't matter anyway. His genuine affection didn't go very far."

"Papa's threatened to geld him, Cissy, if he ever came near you again! You will excuse his cowardliness, since he received no whatsoever encouragement from you either!"

Narcissa was baffled with what she heard. Could it be that Lucius hadn't simply forgotten her just like that, because he had been indifferent? Could it have come differently? Had she been too proud, too hard on him, too little - committed? Was it all her fault? Thinking about it - it had been a nice thing, that he had come that morning, he hadn't come to mock her for Andy's downfall, he had merely wanted to see how she was -

"My little Cissy," Bellatrix interrupted her silent musing, "I guess you're not always as icy as you want to appear, eh? That suits you good!"

"Stop it, Bella!"

"I will, I just got one more thing to say. There'll be a big party next week, for New Year's Eve - I know you hate parties, but perhaps you'll be in the mood to attend this one. I can take you there, you know?"

Despite herself, Narcissa asked, "And why should I want that?"

"Because good Lucius Malfoy will be there, too." And she arched her brows suggestively.