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Screaming probably would've been the best option. I mean, I can scream pretty loudly if I want to. My mother used to say that I was known for throwing loud tantrums when I was little. Throwing tantrums wasn't exactly something I had grown out of either. I could still throw one now if I wanted and burst everyone's ear drums with my screams.

However, even though I could scream if I wanted to, I made no attempt to say a word. Instead, I just laid still and let the hands travel over my body as I still pretended to be asleep. If I was being completely honest with myself, I had to admit that I liked the way this mysterious person (probably Walden) was touching me. I liked the way he cupped my breast lightly and the way his lips trailed around the hollow of my throat. Ugh, this is kind of sick, isn't it? I shouldn't like the way a rapist is touching me...

Okay, I couldn't bear the unknown anymore. I didn't really have that strong of a will and I just had to know who it was. If it was Walden, I was for sure going to hell. And most likely, it was Walden. I mean, who else would know I was stuck here in the hospital wing? Probably nobody. After all, the only reason Andromeda had known I was here was because she was a seer.

Ever so slowly, I dared to lift one eyelid. The first thing I was was a blonde head leaning over me and gorgeous gray eyes. I almost laughed with relief; it was Lucius and most certainly not Walden. My whole body immediately relaxed and I let out a sigh of relief. At my sigh, Lucius immediately jerked his head up and snatched his hands away from my body.

Obviously trying to maintain his composure, Lucius flushed a pale pink color and said, "Cissa! I didn't...um...realize you were awake. Maybe I'll just be going now..." Lucius quickly got up from where he was sitting, still blushing. Before he could leave me, I reached up and grabbed one of his hands maybe a little too hard. My nails dug into his skin as I clung to him and gave him a pleading look. The last thing I wanted was for Lucius to go and leave me here alone!

"Lucius, don't leave!" I pleaded with him, still gripping his hand and refusing to let go. I didn't want to be left alone. Lucius hesitated as he looked at me to the door. Frowning even more, I clutched his hand even more tightly and tried to pull him back to the chair next to my bedside. Luckily enough, Lucius gave in and sat next to me once more.

A few moments passed where we just looked at each other. I was looking at him with love and affection and was trying to memorize every detail of his face. Lucius, on the other hand, still looked a little flustered and was still rather pink in the cheeks. Finally, he cleared his throat and started out, "Um, Cissa? I didn't mean to touch you like that earlier. I got kind of carried away."

Lucius wasn't good with apologies. I had noticed that from the moment I met him. The fact that he was apologizing meant a lot. It meant he really cared about me and respected me. Seriously though, this was a situation in which no apology was necessary. Looking up at him from lying on my back, I slipped him a small smile, "Don't apologize. There's no need."

Lucius shrugged and avoided my eyes, "Oh. Well, I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea or anything." Wrong idea? I certainly wasn't getting the wrong idea even though some pretty dirty thoughts had popped into my head. Deciding it was probably time to change the subject, I asked, "So how did you know I was here anyways?"

Looking confused, Lucius gave me a blank look. Then a comprehensive expression came over his face and he replied, "Oh that. I didn't see you at breakfast and I got kind of worried. You always come to the Great Hall. I don't remember a day when you haven't been there. After my first class, I went to your first class to see if you were alright. When I got to Transfiguration, the Professor was gone and someone told me she had brought you to the hospital wing because you had fainted."

"I see," I replied, feeling a little jolt of happiness run through my veins. Lucius cared enough about me so that he had come to check on me during Transfiguration! How sweet was that? Before I could contemplate on Lucius' sweetness for too long, Lucius' voice went solemn and he said, "What happened in Transfiguration, Cissa?"

The question caught me in the middle of daydreaming and I replied, "Huh? Um, we were working on trying to turn plants into animals or something. At least, I think that's what we were doing. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention. I was kind of getting distracted. I should probably review the lesson when I get some time."

"No, no," Lucius shook his head, blonde hair whirling around his face. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was: why did you end up fainting in Transfiguration? Did something happen? What was it that distracted you?" Lucius was looking at me with lots of concern in those clear gray eyes of his. I had a sudden impulse to reach up and touch his cheek.

Nonetheless, I somehow managed to resist my impulse and instead answered his question, "Nothing major really happened." I didn't really see any point in telling Lucius about Walden. It would only piss him off. The last thing I wanted right now was a pissed off Lucius. I wanted him to smile and me and perhaps touch me again...

Lucius was not thinking along the same line as me though. It was also pretty obvious he knew I was giving him a half-truth. Raising an eyebrow suspiciously he said, "Sure, Narcissa. Of course nothing 'major' happened, but something still did happen. Come on, spill the beans. There's no need to keep secrets from me."

I thought about this and kind of agreed. There wasn't a reason for Lucius and I to keep secrets from each other. Taking a deep breath, I got rady to tell Lucius about Walden's threat. I started out slowly, "Well...you know how Walden is in my Transfiguration class, right? There was only one seat left at Transfiguration when I arrived since I was late, and so I was forced to sit next to him."

Lucius' jaw immediately tensed and I could see him ball up his fists. Narrowing his eyes, Lucius asked, "Why were you late to Transfiguration? You're like never late to class. And also, I don't want you going late to any classes that you're in with Walden. I worry about you a lot as it is. I don't want to have to worry even more."

"It wasn't my fault that I was late," I immediately protested, giving Lucius a defensive look. Feeling a new wave of vegence towards my sister wash over me, I added, "It was Bellatrix's fault. She always wakes me up when she gets up so I can get ready for school without rushing or missing classes. Without her to wake me, how was I suppose to know when to get up?"

Lucius paused and scratched his chin. Finally, he looked back at me with puzzlement, "Okay then. So why didn't Bellatrix wake you up? Was she sick or something? Or did you guys have a fight?" Had Bella and I had a fight? Well, not a physical one, but we were both pretty angry at each other. I wouldn't forgive her for what she did to that poor child and she wasn't going to forgive me for being angry at her. Silly really. I mean, like how was any of this my fault?

"We didn't exactly have a fight," I admitted to Lucius, thinking about the way I had confronted Bella in the dormitory the other night, "We just sort of had an argument. I told her what I thought about her helping Tom kidnap that poor little child into the castle." Taking a shuddering breath, I whispered, "That was pretty horrible. I haven't ever seen anything so awful before."

Lucius' eyes immediately softened and he reached out as if to take my hand. I looked towards his hand hopefully, wanting to feel the warm, gentle touch of our hands entwining. However, at the last moment, Lucius pulled his hand backwards and rested it back in his lap. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It was crazy how much Lucius' touches affected me.

"I know it was awful, Cissa, I know," Lucius told me in a consoling voice. He went on, "If I could, I would do anything to take it all away so you would never have had to see all that. But no matter how much I wish about that, nothing is going to change the past. We can only look forward to the future. See if you can forget what happened last night. It will only haunt you to dwell on it."

Lucius certainly did have a point there. Still though, it was much easier said than done. I mean, how exactly was I suppose to get those horrific images of the screaming child writhing and twisting in turmoil upon the floor? Memories like that didn't just fade away. Before I could get too obsessed with thinking about all this, Lucius spoke again.

"Let's not think about last night right now," Lucius decided for both of us, giving me kind of a worried look. "It's not going to do you any good, especially when you're tired and weak like this. So anyways, back to Walden. You said you were in Transfiguration and you had to sit next to him. Keep telling me about that."

I would've told him more about Walden, but at the moment, I was a bit pissed about him calling me "weak" and "tired". Okay, sure, maybe I was a tiny bit sleepy. But weak? I certainly wasn't weak...was I? Feeling like picking a fight for no good reason really, I frowned at Lucius and said, "I'm not weak. I'm strong. I can fight and stuff."

"Sure you can," Lucius replied, giving me a look that told me that he didn't believe me one little bit. Raising his eyebrow, Lucius changed the subject, "So are you going to tell me about Walden or not?" Oh right...Walden. I had been trying to push him to the back of my head. I hated the way his eyes glittered when they stared at me, I hated his sadistic grin, and I hated the way he looked at me. There wasn't a single thing I could like about the guy.

Sighing, I decided to go ahead and tell Lucius what Walden had said. Starting out carefully, I said, "Well, he didn't bother me at first to be honest. He pretty much just minded his own business until the very last five minutes of class. He did stare at me the entire time though, which was pretty unnerving. But anyways, during the last five minutes, he leaned over and told me that you couldn't keep me safe forever. And he said something about how he would have me whether I liked it or not."

I shuddered at the memory and attempted to block Walden's glittering dark eyes out of my brain. Lucius' eyebrows knotted together at my sentence and he replied, "Don't listen to him, Cissa. He's a stupid bastard who thinks he can intimidate you." That was true. Walden had indeed intimidated me. My heart already started racing at the mention of his name.

Looking up at Lucius with big blue eyes, I asked, "But what are we going to do about him? I'm kind of scared, Lucius. Everything is so weird here. My sister is turning into a total stranger, my other sister decides to pay me a random visit when she hasn't spoken to me in months, I'm forced to join the Death Eaters, and now I have a rapist threatening me."

I frowned and looked over at Lucius to see what he was thinking. Lucius had a hand under his chin and looked deep in thought. After a few seconds of me staring at his gorgeous face and of him thinking, Lucius finally turned to me and said, "Don't worry about Walden, alright? I'll take care of him. In the meantime, I just want you to stay away from him, okay?"

"Sure," I replied immediately. After all, it wasn't like I wanted to run into Walden or anything. Figuring that perhaps we were done talking about Walden, I hoped we could move onto a new topic. Maybe we could discuss our relationship. Maybe Lucius would kiss me. Maybe we could...

"Um, Cissa?" Lucius' voice was gentle, but there was an urgent tone to it. I sighed. Apparently, he had something more to say. So much for talking about our relationship or getting a nice, sweet kiss. Trying not to show my disappointment, I raised an eyebrow in Lucius' direction and replied, "Yeah? Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Lucius nodded, "Yes. I'm worried about you, Cissy. Walden wasn't the reason why you fainted earlier. You know that, right?" I thought about Lucius' words for a moment. Well, I wasn't exactly sure what had caused me to faint this morning. It could've been a combination of me being really tired, the shock of last night's ritual, and then Walden's threats.

While I was still thinking, Lucius was already carrying on, "You fainted because you're not eating. Don't even try to deny it this time. I know better. You're not nearly as strong as you think you are. I know you think I'm being paranoid, but I'm not, Cissa. I just care about you. That's all there is to it. Can't you just start eating again for my sake?"

Oh shit, here we go again on the food discussion. Why did everyone suddenly think I was anorexic just because I wasn't eating? That wasn't fair. I mean, it wasn't like I was super skinny like some of those supermodels or anything. In my opinion, I wasn't even thin. Frowning, I replied, "But I'm ugly, Lucius. And fat too! I don't want to eat and get even fatter, you know."