The Affair

Chapter Two: Life Part II









Only the misfortune of exile can provide the in-depth understanding and the overview into the realities of the world. – Stefan Zweig









Meanwhile, in a stately manor hidden deep in the wooded hills of Wiltshire Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were also sat down to dinner at opposite ends of a long, formal table. It was typical of any aristocratic, pure-blood couple, only they weren’t typical.









Lucius ate his meal in silence. It was what he was used to now. At the other end of the table sat his wife of over thirty years. She was still as beautiful as when he married her, but she no longer looked upon him warmly. She was cold and she loathed him. Dinner’s together were a sacrifice she made to keep up appearances though who for he couldn’t fathom. They were essentially in exile. His actions and connections to the Dark Lord had ostracized them and lost them their place among their peers.







Lucius didn’t mind it so much. He rather preferred his solitude. His wealth was secure and while socially he may have been a pariah he was still sought after and accepted in the business world. That was all the socializing he cared to do if truth be known.







Narcissa felt differently of course. She was a social creature and missed the days when they were at the top of the social ladder. She still attended the theatre and various other society functions only it was on the arm of their son. Once a year on the anniversary of Voldemort’s defeat he would accompany her to the celebratory ball personally. It was always an uncomfortable event where people gossiped and stared, there was the expected sneering and snubbing as well.







He had single handedly destroyed his family. His son spoke to him only when necessary and his wife had made it clear that he, and his attentions, were completely unwelcome. She would never forgive him. She would always blame him for nearly losing Draco. No matter how he tried to make it up to her forgiveness just wasn’t to be had.







She slept in a separate wing of the house from him, inviting him to her bed once a month and he suspected that was just in an attempt to keep him from going elsewhere. Not that their sex life had been anything spectacular before, but it had been intimate and he had loved her.





He wasn’t certain how she spent her days as she never mentioned it to him. She rarely spoke to him other than to tell him to pay the clothier or to ask for pocket money. She didn’t even comment on the weather. Essentially, he no longer existed for his wife; he was but a financier of her lifestyle and nothing more.







Draco was another matter altogether. He spoke to his father but never with any warmth. He lived on his own in a flat in London, still unmarried after his contracted marriage to the Greengrass’s youngest daughter fell through. He was quickly proving himself as a brilliant businessman and whilst Lucius was immensely proud of his son he wished the boy would just smile.





Lucius himself spent his time locked away in his study tending to estate and personal business. His evenings he spent in the attached library reading quietly before the fire. It was his life now, unexciting though it was. It was thoughts of his extremely unorganized library that had him attempting to engage his wife in conversation.







“Narcissa, there will be a contractor in the house over the next several months. A librarian I hired to organize the library.” He said, using an amplification spell so that his words reached her without necessitating shouting.





Her piercing blue eyes met his from the other end of the table, her lips curled up as though offended that he dared speak to her. Once upon a time she had sat beside him during meals with nothing but adoring smiles for him.







“And this matters to me, how?” She asked.







“I simply thought to inform you that someone would be in the house in case you stumbled across her is all.” He said, feeling the coldness in her voice like a knife in his heart.







“Why should I care about some old hag playing with your dusty old books?” Narcissa scoffed, completely uninterested.







“Not old at all actually, I have hired Hermione Granger-Weasley. She was the ministry librarian for years and by all her references quite brilliant.” Lucius said, figuring he was likely just speaking to himself.







“A mudblood? You hired a mudblood to sort your books? Oh that’s rich.” She sneered and rolled her eyes. “Do you expect that by hiring her it will earn you brownie points?”







“Not at all, I simply wanted someone qualified to handle my collection. I am sorry I bothered you with it, Narcissa.” He said quietly.







“Well I doubt very much that I shall come in contact with her since I avoid your library and study at all costs.” What she was really saying was that she avoided him at all costs.







“Again, I apologize for bothering you with it.” He laid his napkin to the left of his plate and stood. “If you will excuse me, I think I shall retire. Good night, Narcissa.”







He waited for her reply but none came. Lucius sighed in resignation and sought the quiet comfort of his study, a brandy and a cigar his evening’s companions.