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The next morning, I really didn't want to wake up. I hadn't slept well at all last night. My sleep had been fitful and I had a terrible dream about Walden breaking into the dormitory and stealing me away in the dead of the night. At three in the morning, I woke up with sweat dripping from my forehead and with my heart hammering against my chest. Once I realized that I had only been dreaming, I was able to go back to my light sleep. Unfortunately, it was not a deep sleep and I didn't feel rested by the time morning came around. In fact, it took Bella three attempts to get me up.

"Cissy?" she called me quietly at first as she shook my shoulder. When I ignored her, she sighed and decided to let me sleep for five more minutes. However, once the five minutes were up, she had no more sympathy. She came over, shook my shoulder, and yanked the covers off me as she yelled, "Cissy, you need to get up! I understand you're tired, but-"

Bella immediately cut off her sentence as she looked at me. A weird expression formed on her face and even in my sleepy state, I knew something was wrong. Trying to blink the tiredness away, I slowly sat up in bed with my arms wrapped tightly around me in an attempt to keep the heat in. Wanting to know what was wrong, I asked Bella, "Something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Bella repeated my words in a false cheery voice. "Of course not! I'm...um...going to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Why don't you get ready and meet me down there in a few minutes? I wish you could get some more rest. I know how tired you must be. We can't afford to ditch classes though. The last thing you want to do is have to go to detention."

Bella turned and left rather hastily. I watched her go, feeling rather suspicious. Something was up with Bella. I wasn't sure what it was, but there something she obviously wasn't telling me. Deciding that I would worry about that later, I climbed out of bed and grabbed the first dress and robe within reach.

Too tired to even pay attention to what it was that I was wearing, I slipped the dress and robe over my head and raked the brush through my hair before turning towards the door. However, just as I was about to leave, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of a mirror lying on Bella's bed. Wondering who the ugly person in the mirror was, I leaned down to take a closer look.

A gasp formed between my lips as I stared at my reflection in horror. My god, what had happened to me? My right eye was black and blue and looked hideous. My skin was a sickly paper color and my other eye was red and puffy from crying. Even though I had brushed my hair earlier, it was still sticking out in the wrong places. I looked like hell.

As I stood scrutinizing myself in the mirror, I felt very tempted to return to bed and remain there the rest of the day so nobody else would have to see me. Bella's words about detention came back to me at the last moment though, and I resisted the temptation. I tried to think of something I could do to improve my appearance, but no ideas came to me. No amount of makeup would make the black eye go away and I had already brushed me hair. I looked as good (or bad) as it was going to get.

Hoping that nobody was going to pay too much attention to me, I hurried down the hallway and out to the Slytherin common room. Thankful that no one was there, I exited out into the corridors leading to the Great Hall. Fortunately, nobody seemed to give me a damn as I scurried along the corridor, trying to hide my face.

I reached the Great Hall a few moments later and entered. There were still a few people sitting at the Slytherin table eating breakfast and talking amongst themselves. Sadly, my sister was not one of them. That was really too bad. I needed someone's comfort right now and Bellatrix was probably the only person I would get comfort from.

Since Bella wasn't around, I scanned the table to see who else was still eating breakfast. My eyes fell onto a tall figure with whitish blonde hair and gray eyes. Knowing that I was probably getting myself into a bad situation, I crept over to the empty seat to Lucius' left. I wanted to talk to him. Badly. I needed to know why he kept changing his mind about me. Why would he act like my best friend in the world for two minutes and then act like I was annoying him?

I slipped into the chair and studied Lucius' face carefully out of the corner of my eye. Lucius didn't acknowledge my presence or even glance in my direction. Shit. I was really hoping he was in one of his good moods. Hoping that maybe I could get him in a good mood, I opened my mouth and asked, "Um...Lucius?"

As soon as the words were out of my lips, Lucius had stood up, pushed his chair in, and was now striding away with his hair flowing elegantly behind him. I stared after him with shock and hurt. By now, you'd probably think I was getting use to this kind of treatment from Lucius. Apparently, I was not getting used to it though. Everytime he ignored me, it felt like a slap in the face. Feeling totally hurt and worthless, I did my best to blink back tears.

"Narcissa, it's nice to see you again," a different voice sounded in my ear and I heard a chair slide out next to me. Glad for any sort of company, I whipped my head around to see who was talking to me. It was Severus, the guy who had saved me from my fall last night. When I looked in Severus' direction, I noticed his eyebrows fly up. It must be my black eye.

Feeling like I should make up some explanation for my eye, I stammered, "I...um...fell and hit my eye." Okay, that's a very lame excuse. Even to my own ears, it sounded very false. Blushing furiously, I tried to change the topic, "So anyways, how are you this morning? It's nice to see you here. I thought everyone had already gone to their classes."

"Not quite everyone," Severus contradicted, eyes scanning the tables around us. I watched as his eyes stopped on something or someone at the Gryffindor table. I tried to follow his gaze, but couldn't quite figure what he was looking at. Curiousity filling me, I asked in a interested tone, "Are you looking for someone?"

Returning his gaze to me, Severus turned a little pink in the cheeks and said, "Yeah, kinda. See that girl with the auburn hair and beautiful green eyes?" Scanning the Gryffindor table, I was able to make out a girl with a head of flowing red hair. I nodded and waited for more of an explanation from Severus. Still staring at the girl, Severus stated, "That is Lily Evans."

From the glazed look on Severus' face, I figured he had a crush on Lily. The girl was pretty - there was no denying that. Still looking at Lily, I asked Severus, "Is Lily your friend?" As soon as the question was out of my lips, I immediately regretted asking it. Severus' face had turned dark and he looked very sad.

"We used to be friends. We were quite good friends for a long time," Severus admitted to me, depression heavy in his words. "I insulted her though. I shouldn't have. I don't know what I was thinking. I called her a mud blood. It was the worst mistake of my life. She still hasn't forgiven me for it. To be honest, she shouldn't forgive me. I don't deserve her."

I thought over Severus' words for a long time. Calling someone a mud blood wasn't that uncommon really. I suppose calling a friend a mud blood would be a pretty big insult though. Still, why was Severus mingling with Gryffindor girls with muggle parents? I thought he could do a lot better than that. I was going to tell Severus what I was thinking, but at that moment, he jumped to his feet.

"Oh god, Narcissa, look at the time! I'm going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Severus slung his bag over his shoulder and gave me a little wave. "I'll see you later, alright? Have a good day and take care of that eye of yours. Say, I know a potion that gets rid of black eyes. I'll mix some up for you."

I waved as Severus vanished and then got to my feet as well. I should probably be getting to Transfiguration even if the last thing I wanted to do was repeat "wingardium leviosa" over and over again. Hurrying out of the Great Hall, I tried to brighten my mood by thinking about Severus. I liked him a lot. He may not be the most attractive guy in the world, but he certainly had a kind personality. Also, I would be forever grateful to him if he made me a potion for my eye. The last thing I wanted to do was wander around with a puffy, purple eye for the next few weeks or even months!

~ ~ ~ ~

The first half of the day went by really quickly. I felt like I was only half-attending the classes. Most of the time, I felt like I was going to drift off to sleep at any moment. I had worn myself out mentally and my body still ached yesterday from yesterday's situation. It took all my strength to keep my eyes focused on the Professors.

Now, I was at Potions and had taken my usual seat next to Lucius. Once again, it occurred to me to speak to him. I was just getting up my nerve and was debating about starting a conversation with him when suddenly Professor Slughorn came bounding into the room. He was grinning widely at us and greeted us with a hearty, "Hello everyone! It's good to see you all. Today, we have a pop quiz! Don't expect to know all the answers to the questions on the quiz. I just want to see what you already know."

With a flick of his wand, Professor Slughorn caused the papers to lift up from the desk and float across the room as they dropped onto students' desks. I couldn't help but grimace as a test with very small print landed in front of me. The last thing I wanted to do was take a test right now. I was too tired to concentrate and the little words blurred and fused together.

"Alright class, you may get started now! Stop when I tell you to stop. You'll have about thirty minutes to work on the test," Professor Slughorn explained before plopping down on his chair. Everyone groaned, but started the test. I read the first question once. I read it a second time. I even read it a third time! However, I just couldn't seem to process the question in my brain.

Giving up on the test altogether, I just started randomly marking answers to the test. Thankfully, it was one of those tests were you just select option one, two, three, or four. I hate those tests that make up come up with your own reasons and then explain your reasoning. I mean, who the hell really cares how you came up with your answer anyway? All that matters is if you're right or wrong.

After what seemed like an eternity, Professor Slughorn commanded imperiously, "Stop! Time is up." With another little flick of his wand, the papers soared through the air and landed in a neat pile on the Professor's desk. I was glad to see the paper go. The little font and questions were starting to make my eyes hurt.

I was hoping that our lesson for the day was now done, but unfortunately, the Professor wasn't going to let us go quite yet. Smiling at us all, he said, "I just wanted to give you an update on the antidotes you made in your first Potions class. Everyone did a really wonderful job. Nonetheless, Lucius' potion is by far superior to any other ones. Wonderful job, Mr. Malfoy. You have the makings of a potion master in you! Say...didn't Narcissa help you with that potion?"

All eyes turned on me and my cheeks immediately went a bright pink color. I gave Lucius a sideways glance, wondering what he would say. You never knew what Lucius was going to say. He was the most unpredictable man I had ever met. Glancing at me for a millisecond, Lucius tossed his hair and said, "Narcissa? I wouldn't say she helped. She's the one always getting herself into shit. All she managed to do that day was get herself knocked out by getting in the way of Arthur Weasley's spell."

I stared at Lucius in total shock. What the hell? I didn't exactly expect him to give me praise for the potion, but still. He didn't have to be quite so fucking mean! Those repressed tears started to roll into my eyes again and I was glad when Professor Slughorn said quickly, "Ah...well...maybe Narcissa was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyways, you're dismissed for the day. I will correct your pop quizzes tonight and get them back to you tomorrow."