Twelve of the Table

Twelve of the Table

Part IX

Narcissa rushed towards Starr. It was late August, and Starr had been out in her garden at Snape Estate. 'Starr, can you come over here?' Narcissa called from a bench where she had sat down.

'Sure Narcissa. What's the matter, you are all flushed and red looking!'

'Nothing is the matter! Just a bit short of breath! Everything is great! That is why I came. I have something to tell you.' Narcissa was trying to catch her breath. She had devoted fifteen minutes to finding Starr, and most of it had been running around the grounds.

'Well, are you going to tell me! You've gotten me all excited, and now you are going to just sit there and gasp.' Starr smiled as she waited for Narcissa to start telling her, but when her friend continued to huff and puff she started to get worried. 'Narcissa? Are you alright? Do you want me to go get help.'

Narcissa felt like she couldn't breath. She was gasping for air and could hardly be bothered to listen to Starr, who was sounding frantic.

Finally Starr took Narcissa's arm and helped her walk to the house. Once inside, she grabbed the nearest house elf and told it to go find Severus, and if they weren't back within two minutes they would be dismissed.

The little house elf came scuttling back into the room after about a minute. 'Master Snape says he is in the middle of something. Can you wait?'

'I can wait, but Narcissa can't! Tell him he'll get his butt over here if he knows what is best for his health!'

The frightened house elf scurried away, and left Starr to pat Narcissa's hand and try to comfort her.

Severus arrived in the room after a few tense minutes in which Narcissa's breathing had become even more labored.

'Severus, go call St. Mungo's and get someone over here right now!' Starr yelled the moment he walked through the door.

He raced over to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder from the jar on the mantle. 'St. Mungo's!' He yelled.

After a few moments he pulled his head back and walked away from the fireplace. Suddenly five men in white uniforms emerged from the flames carrying all sorts of magical medical equipment. They rushed over to Narcissa, and Star backed away towards Severus.

'I wonder what is the matter?' Starr whispered into Severus's robes; she was firmly held to his chest. 'I wonder if she is going to be alright.'

'I'm sure she will be.' Severus said in the most calming voice he could. He still didn't know why Narcissa was laying on their settee looking all but dead, but he would find that out later, when Starr wasn't as worried as she was then.

'I'm sure she will be, too. But she had me so scared. I still don't know what is wrong with her.' Starr was almost crying, even though she knew that her friend would be well taken care of.

The mediwizards were casting spell after spell on her, first to stabilize her condition, and then to see what exactly had caused this problem. After a while they stopped poking her with their wands and turned to Starr and Severus. The head mediwizard began to speak. 'This lady will be just fine. We need to take her in to St. Mungo's for observation, but she should be out by tomorrow.'

'What is the matter with her?' Starr asked.

'She hasn't told you?' asked the mediwizard.

'No, she hasn't. What is the matter?'

'I think she will want to tell you herself. Right now, we need to get her to the hospital. You may come with us, ma'am.' The mediwizard and his team lifted Narcissa from the settee and onto a stretcher, then carried her into the flames, with Starr and Severus right behind them.

They entered the hospital, and were quickly shown to a waiting room. There they waited for half an hour before they were allowed in to see Narcissa. The waiting room was nice. They had plush chairs and plenty of stress balls had been strategically placed around the room. Severus laughed when Starr pointed that item out.

Finally, they were led down a white hall with paintings of little babies on them, by a nurse in a white uniform, to Narcissa's room. She was laying with her eyes opened on a medical bed. She smiled a little when she saw Starr and Severus walk in. The nurse closed the door when she was done checking on Narcissa.

'So, what is the matter, Narcissa?' Severus asked in a quiet voice.

'Well, I just over did it.' Narcissa seemed to find her white blanket very interesting.

'But the mediwizard that there was something more. And what were you going to tell me in the garden?' Starr sat down on the edge of Narcissa's bed and held her hand.

'Oh, yes. Well, I'm about four months pregnant.' Narcissa looked at Starr.

'Are you really?' When she saw Narcissa nod her affirmative she hugged her tightly. 'You were so silly to be running around the house! You should have just gotten a house elf to bring me to you! I'm so happy for you!'

'Narcissa, you should have told us before now!' Severus sat down next to Starr and kissed Narcissa on the cheek. 'Congratulations!'

'Thank you.' Narcissa smiled, but she was still in pain, so the smile did not reach her eyes.

All too soon a nurse came into the room and led Starr and Severus away. With a quick 'She needs her rest,' they were whisked out of the room while a team of doctors were headed in.

'We should go tell Lucius.' Starr thought out loud while they were sitting in a different, still white, waiting room.

'Do you want me to do that while you wait with Narcissa?' Severus looked over at his pale fiancee.

'No, there isn't anything I can do here, so I'll come with you.' Starr stood and walked over to the nurses desk, down the hall a bit. Severus followed her, but she didn't seem to notice him, or anything else for that matter.

'Hello?' Starr was trying to catch a nurse, but they all seemed too busy. Finally, she managed to get a nurse. She looked very young in her standard white nurses uniform, and her hair pulled back in a tight, but preppy looking bun. 'Hi, I was wondering if there is any way you could contact me about my friends condition while I'm gone.'

'Darling,' Severus interrupted, 'We'll only be gone a few hours at the most.'

'But what if something happens while we are gone?'

'She'll be just fine. We will not be gone long, and she isn't in serious condition. Don't worry about her, let us just go tell Lucius and come back quickly.'

'Fine. I'm sorry to bother you miss.' She said to the nurse, who quickly rushed off to greet a witch in labor who had just been rushed in.

Severus led Starr to the fireplace where they both used the Floo powder to go to Malfoy Mansion.

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Lucius was pacing in his study. Narcissa had disappeared. Again.

'Where the hell is she?' He yelled to absolutely no one. The house elves had long ago retreated to a different part of the house that was demanding cleaning.

Lucius looked out one of his huge windows. The grass was green, the flowers like a rainbow of color, and there were birds, blue birds and cardinals, flying around. It was August, and normally Narcissa would have been out with her gardeners planning the next year's gardens. But this year she had left it up to the gardeners. Her pregnancy was going to be hard, and she was experiencing terrible morning sickness all day and night long.

He stayed that way, just thinking and watching for over an hour. Two figures appeared silently in his fireplace and stepped out. Starr and Severus had arrived from the hospital. They stood for a moment by the fire, not sure if they should interrupt his reverie. Then, seeming not to even be thinking, Starr walked toward Lucius and put her hand on his shoulder. He jumped under her touch and then turned around. 'Oh, It's just you.' He turned back towards the window.

'Lucius,' Severus said as he strode to Lucius. 'Narcissa is in the hospital. She over did it at our house and couldn't breathe. She is going to be just fine, but she will be staying over night.'

'Oh,' Lucius turned to face Severus. 'Is that all? Well, that is too bad. Severus, I will be along soon, but will you go back to the hospital to be with Narcissa? I need to talk to Starr about a new project she will be working on.'

Severus thought about this for a moment, and then turned to Starr. 'If you want to stay, you can. I'll go be with Narcissa, and you can come along once you are done.'

'Fine by me. I want to get back to Narcissa, but as long as Lucius are quick about it, I'll stay here.' Starr smiled at Severus as he turned to leave. 'Wait!' She ran over and hugged him, then kissed him on the cheek. 'I want to thank you for how you are handling all this. There is something I need to tell you tonight.'

'Why don't you tell me now?' Severus squeezed her tight and smiled.

'Because I want to discuss it over dinner. And we still need to order my bouquet for the wedding.' She kissed him again. 'I love you.'

'I love you too. By the way, Lucius, here is a letter that I would like you to read.' Severus smiled, threw the letter to Lucius, then stepped into the fire and was gone.

'Alright, Starr, you are going to do some surveillance on the Potter's. I have found where they are hiding and need you to document their basic routine. You will have some equipment so that you may talk to me while we wait and so that you will remain invisible without the bulk of an invisibility cloak.' Lucius walked over to his desk and pulled out a black box and a letter opener.

'This is what you will use to contact me. You just talk into the heart.' He handed her the box and she opened it while he used the letter opener to cut open the letter. He didn't bother to read it, he just set it down, with the opener on top, on a table next to the settee. Inside the box he had handed Starr was a beautiful heart-shaped gold necklace. 'It is just a regular necklace, but I have charmed it.'

'It is very pretty. When will I start watching the Potter's?' Starr took the necklace out of the box and looked at it. It sparkled in the light, casting pretty patterns on the walls.

'You will begin tomorrow morning, but I need you to work with the necklace. I don't want you to talk into it too loud because it is set up to catch the smallest sounds.' Lucius took it from Starr and started to place it around her neck. He secured the clasp and then began to laugh, but not in a way that was nice, or even evil. It was a different kind of laugh that scared Starr.

'I've done it again!' He laughed some more and then turned to Starr. 'Never take that necklace off.'

'I'll take it off when ever I please.' She said a bit huffily.

'Just go ahead and try.' Lucius smiled and then began to laugh again. Starr reached up to take off the necklace. Well, she tried to, but her hands didn't move.

'What did you do to me?' Starr screamed over the laughter.

'Well, let me put this simply. You no longer can do anything I tell you not to do. So let's start out with some ground rules. From now on you will not disagree verbally with me. You will never touch me with the intent to hurt. You will do whatever I tell you to do with out asking why. That should cover it for right now.'

'You-You-You Bastard!' Starr said.

'Let me add that you will never call me any name other than Lucius.' Lucius smiled. 'Oh, and you will never resist my touch again.'

He started walking towards her, and she started backing up. 'Why don't I also add that you may never walk away from me when I am coming towards you.'

'Well, what can I do?' Starr said, trying to sound neutral so it wouldn't be considered disagreeing with him.

'Hmm, pretty much nothing, unless I tell you to. But that isn't a command. I want you to have some free will.' Lucius grabbed her around the waist, and even though Starr tried her hardest, there was nothing she could do. She felt as though the necklace was absorbing any energy she put into trying to do something she couldn't.

Lucius had her on her back on the settee now. She was feeling totally helpless. She looked around, trying desperately to think of or find something that she could use to get him away from her.

Starr looked at the letter Severus had given Lucius, and then noticed the letter opener. The blade flashed in the sunlight, but Starr felt cheated. She could never wield it against Lucius because of the blasted necklace and Lucius's bloody commands.

She looked around the room again, and then she knew what she needed to do. Lucius had said that she could never hurt him, but he never said she couldn't hurt herself.

Lucius was naked on top of her, and ripping off her clothing. Starr prayed for a moment that Narcissa would walk in, but she doubted that Narcissa would be able to do anything.

Starr reached out and grasped the shiny opener in her small, pale hand. She wrapped her fingers around the golden handle until her knuckles turned white. Right before Lucius had the last piece of her clothing off, she quickly moved her hand from behind her back where she had been hiding it, and plunged it into her chest.

She died almost instantly.

With her last breath she said her dying words. 'Severus...I love...you.'