The Snake and The Lioness

A/N: This chapter is a sort of recap of Lucius\' and Narcissa\'s relationship and why she commited suicide. It isn\'t gory or anything like that. I hope this chapter is good. I just came up with it and used itmostly as a filler. Also, a outlet for Lucius. He never realised that he needed closure until he told the story. Adrienne also learns that Lucius does trust her by telling her something he never told anyone else. Enjoy.

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Lucius sat up and rested against the headboard. \"Well, the story is quite long ... and dull. Why don\'t you just ask what you want to know and I\'ll answer it?\"

\"Alright. Fisrt, how did you and Narcissa end up together?\" Adrienne asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

\"Well, I\'m a year younger then Narcissa. Her parents started looking for her a husband as her seventh year came to a close. I wasn\'t exactly her friend, but I was probably closer to her then anyone else she knew.\" Lucius laughed. \"Anyway, her father came to my house one afternoon during the summer after she finished school. I was down at the quidditch pitch until my father called me. That was the first time I saw Narcissa dressed so ... elegantly. She had this white dress on, that was really unnecessary seeing that she had lost her purity years before.

My father then told me that I was to be betrothed to Narcissa. Even though I wanted to protest, I didn\'t. That would be horrid manners. Anyway, I waited until after her and her father left, then I started to protest, but it came to no avail.

Happily, I didn\'t have to get married to her until after my seventh school year, so that was something to look forward to. She visited me frequently during the year though. Some people thought it was wonderful and that I was lucky to be getting married to someone like her, but it wasn\'t. Then we got married soon after my seventh year ended. That\'s how we ended up together.\"

\"Oh, interesting. So, how was life like before Draco was born?\" Adrienne asked.

\"Life was ... testing. Narcissa was always so needy. She never wanted me to be away from home, even though I expressed to her that the Dark lord was quite demanding. She would always complain about him being more important then her and all that. It just wouldn\'t get through her head that you can\'t play games with the Dark lord. But, I just made sure I stayed away from home as much as I could. And when she became pregnant with Draco, her attitude changed. She was much more pleasant.\" Lucius said, giving a faint smile at the memory.

\"How so?\"

\"She was more attentive. She had known, from the healer, that this would most likely be the only child she would have. She didn\'t tell me this. But I figured that something was going on. Usually, she would start an argument about anything and everything. Now, she wouldn\'t say a word. She stayed to herself, in her rooms. So, life for me while she was pregnant was absolutely wonderful.\" Lucius smirked.

\"I\'m sure this has been forever etched in your mind. What happened the night Draco was born?\"

Lucius\' smile got much bigger at this. \"Draco. When Draco was born, I was away. On business. The Dark lord, who had been awaiting the birth of Draco, sent me home after word got to him that Narcissa had gone into labor. I apparated home as quickly as I could. I wasn\'t allowed in the actual birthing room, but I could hear Narcissa\'s cries and screams. For some reason, it didn\'t irk me one bit.\"

\"Gods, you must have really hated Narcissa.\" Adrienne thought aloud.

\"No, I didn\'t hate her. That would imply that I had any feelings for her at all.\" Lucius said, softly.

\"Oh.\" Adrienne said.

\"The only moment that I ever had any feeling for Narcissa was when I walked into the room and saw her holding Draco. It wasn\'t so much of a love feeling, just relief that Draco had not died within her.

Draco was perfect when he was born. A perfect duplicate of myself. I was quick to take him from Narcissa, to hold him in my arms. Of course, I had to give him back, fore he needed feeding. I was also relieved that Draco didn\'t get much from his mother. I would hate to have a reminder of her sitting around.\"

\"Did he get anything from her?\" Adrienne asked. She still couldn\'t believe that Lucius was even giving her this information.

\"He got his eye shape from her. His eyes were more of an almond shape. He also got his love of the outdoors from her. I\'ve never really liked the outdoors, well, not as much as Narcissa.\"

Adrienne closed her eyes and tried to imagine such a seemingly cold woman in the outdoors. Getting her feet dirty or climbing a tree. She couldn\'t.

\"Draco always spoke so highly of her. She must have been wonderful with him.\"

\"I must say that Draco must have increased the truth a bit. Narcissa did show more love for him then she did for me. Draco was always more of a father\'s boy. That bothered Narcissa, especially since she knew Draco would be her only child. She always wanted a child that would be close to her, so she sort of forced it on him. Making him spend time with her, even if he didn\'t want to.\" Lucius said, a frown growing on his face. \"Draco grew to like the time he spent with Narcissa, but after he went to Hogwarts, that disappeared. Narcissa noticed, as did I. She blamed it on me, saying that I was trying to turn Draco against her. That that was why I wanted him to go to Durmstrang in the first place. I laughed in her face, saying that those were outrageous accusations.\"

Adrienne, who knew Lucius, had to ask. \"Was she right?\"

\"Of course she was. But I wasn\'t going to look like the bad one. Draco had expressed to me that he felt smothered by her and I\'m surprised it took him almost eleven years to get that. So, I aided him by keeping him busy in other things, encouraging him to stay at school during holidays. But I insisted he come home on Christmas, but any other holiday, it was his choice to come home or not.\" Lucius replied.

\"I know this may be a sensitive subject, but why did Narcissa commit suicide and how?\" Adrienne asked, not believing that someone could commit suicide for any reason.

Lucius waited and cleared his throat before answering. \"Well, right before Draco was killed, their line of communication opened again. Narcissa was extremely happy about this, seeing that her and Draco\'s relationship had become quite bitter after his fifth year.
When I told Draco to stop seeing you, he went into a bit of a sorrowful state. That angered Narcissa to see him hurt. She tried to get me to take back what I had commanded, but I knew it would only end horribly, so I told her that I couldn\'t.

She, instead, went behind my back and told Draco that I had talked to the Dark lord and that Draco could see you again. Then, of course, it ended the way it did. When I told Narcissa why Draco was killed, she knew it was her fault and she took her life with a poison. Slow and painless. She took the poison before I left her that night. She had been sitting in a chair in the sitting room. When I came back, she was in the same place, only she wasn\'t living. I was surprised because usually she commanded more attention.\" Lucius said, with a sad smile on his face.

\"Do you miss her?\"

\"Sometimes. But that was before you came into my life. Now, you fill that void of having someone there. She didn\'t fill that void very well herself, but she worked. Sometimes when I think of Draco, I think of the first time I saw him, in Narcissa\' arms. I don\'t miss her as much as I would miss my right arm, but I miss her like if I had lost a piece of jewelry. Something that I could easily replace, but you do still remember when you had that piece. Do you understand?\" Lucius asked, turning to look at Adrienne for the first time since he started the conversation.

\"Yeah, I understand.\" Adrienne said, she was about to ask something else, but Lucius gave her a kiss and laid down under the covers.

\"Goodnight, Adrienne.\"

\"Goodnight, Lucius.\" Adrienne said. Lucius had turned from her, but Adrienne\'s eyes didn\'t leave him. She had opened a door that she felt had been locked away, never expecting to be opened. It made her feel much closer to Lucius and love him even more that he had given her entry to that door.

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