FicWad

Four pairs of eyes stared down from above me. One set of eyes was dark chocolate brown, another pair was a lighter brown, one pair was a beautiful blue, and the final pair was black and cold. Trying to get my bearings, I peered around me and realized I was lying on my back and was staring up at the sky. Unsure of what I was doing lying on my back, I blinked and asked, "Where am I?"

"We're in Diagon Alley," Bellatrix said in a tired voice. "You passed out and now you're lying on the sidewalk." Oh god, I had actually passed out in the middle of the street! How embarrassing was that? I wanted to just die here or disappear from humiliation. Frowning, I propped myself up on one elbow and considered whether or not it would be safe for me to try and stand.

"You're so weak, Narcissa," my mother's loud voice met my ears. I did my best to ignore her words. Being called weak didn't exactly help my self esteem. Unfortunately, my mother was not quite done. She went on, "You can't even stay conscious and you're always looking so sickly these days. I'm going to have to make you eat more. I think that's where all this fainting is come from."

My stomach lurched at me mother's words. She was going to try to make me eat more food? How dare she? Didn't she realize how hard all this was for me? Apparently not. Or maybe she did and just didn't care. Regardless, no fucking way did I want to eat more food. Food was the enemy. Food made my stomach bloat and made me fat.

I hurriedly struggled to my feet in an attempt to show my mom that I was not at all weak and that I really didn't need to eat more. Mom, unfortunately, was no longer paying attention. She had her back to me and was already heading towards The Three Broomsticks, calling over her shoulder, "Come along, everyone. This is where the party is being held. I'm sure you've all been here before."

Bella and Tom immediately followed her into the building, but surprisingly enough, Andromeda stayed behind. Giving me a sympathetic look, she reached down a hand to help me up and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Cissy. I had no idea Tom was going to show up for Christmas here. It really just proves my point though. You shouldn't go back to Hogwarts. Tom has his eye on you."

Andromeda was right about Tom having his eye on me. He always seemed to be staring at me, reading my mind, or was sending spies like Bella after me. Nevertheless, I wasn't exactly about to go ditching Hogwarts just because of Tom. After all, Lucius was still at Hogwarts and I loved him more than anything. Even if we couldn't be together at Hogwarts at least I could still see him and take in those beautiful gray eyes, the thin-lipped smile, and the platinum blonde hair.

Taking Andromeda's hand, I let her haul me up to my feet. It took me a moment to catch my breath and my balance. However, once I had recovered, I immediately contradicted Andromeda's last sentence, "No, I need to go back to Hogwarts. I love it there. It's my home now. I feel so much more at home there then I do at our house. Besides, imagine what mother would make me eat if I was home all the time!" Images of mountains of food and gallons of liquids entered my brain.

Frowning, Andromeda walked slowly next to me as we headed towards the entrance to The Three Broomsticks. Finally, she replied to my question, "No offense, but I don't think you really do love it at Hogwarts. You don't like the classes much, you've been having problems with some of the Professors, and we all know that you have to hide from Tom and Walden. I think the only thing you love at Hogwarts is Lucius and by now you really do know that you can't afford to keep messing around with him, right?"

Great, just what I wanted was another reminder about how I was suppose to stay away from Lucius. Feeling rather irritated, I sighed, "How would you know whether or not I can afford to keep messing around with him or not?" It was a stupid question really, but it somehow managed to pop out of my mouth before I had time to think about what I was saying. After all, Andromeda was a seer and she would obviously know what had gone on with Lucius and me.

Andromeda gave me a look that meant that-was-a-stupid-question and reminded me, "I'm a seer, remember?" I nodded and tried to come up with another excuse of why I wanted to go back to Hogwarts besides for Lucius. Unfortunately, nothing came and I just stood there looking rather stupid and confused.

Feeling like she might be gaining on me, Andromeda went on, "It really wouldn't be so bad staying home. You could easily convince mother to keep you home since you've been so sick lately." Sick? I wasn't really sick. The only reasons I was getting sick were because I was so exhausted and because my mom had made me eat way too much food.

"I'm not sick," I blurted out a bit defensively. "I'm just...tired." Andromeda didn't look like she believed me. Instead, she clucked her tongue and replied, "I hate to say it, Narcissa, but I am actually starting to think that mother was right about you. You aren't eating enough. You look like a skeleton. I know that's not the nicest thing to say, but it's kind of true. It can't hurt you to eat a little more, right?" Andromeda gave me an encouraging look that I immediately turned down.

"Yes, for your information, it does indeed hurt," I answered her coldly. I was in no mood for people to tell me that eating didn't hurt since my stomach still felt like it was going to burst from lunch which was hours ago at this point. I didn't exactly appreciate being called a skeleton either. Being called too thin or really skinny was okay. But skeleton? That was not okay.

As we stood outside the door to The Three Broomsticks, Andromeda opened her mouth to say something else. Luckily, she never got her words out. At that moment, the door popped open and Bellatrix stuck her head out at us. Giving us a suspicious look, she asked, "What are you two doing out here? Come inside. Mother is wondering what you're up to."

Normally, I didn't want to see mother. However, under the present circumstances, I decided it would be much better to be inside versus outside. Not looking in Andromeda's direction, I followed Bella into the building. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg immediately entered my nose. All the tables in the little store were crowded with people. Everyone either seemed to be talking, laughing, or drinking. The lighting in the building was dim and it was almost difficult to see.

Bellatrix led Andromeda and me to a rather large table at the back of the building. Mother was already sitting there with three other well-dressed women. All four of them were drinking and chuckling over some joke. Even though we were standing right next to her, she didn't seem to see us. That was rather odd. Trying to get her attention, Tom cleared his throat and said, "Mrs. Black?"

Mother quickly set her glass down and turned her attention to Tom for a few minutes. Raising her eyebrows at him, she replied, "Yes, Tom? Is there something you need?" There was obviously something Tom needed. I could tell that from the mischievous look in his eyes. Giving mother a very winning smile, Tom replied, "Well, you see, my uncle used to work at Nocturn Alley. I kind of wanted to go down there and see if he happened to be around. Would you mind if I take Bellatrix along with me?"

My eyes bulged at Tom's request. Nocturn Alley was kind of the opposite of Diagon Alley. It was a dark place where only evil kinds of things were sold. I totally expected mother to refuset to let Bellatrix go, so I was completely caught off guard when she said in a careless voice, "Of course not. Go ahead and do whatever you two would like. Just be back her in...hm...let's say two hours, okay?"

Gaping, I watched silently as Bellatrix nodded and said, "Of course, mother. Thanks for your permission. I'll see you soon!" With that, she grabbed hold of Tom's arm a little too tightly and the two of them disappeared in the crowd. Now that Bellatrix and Tom were gone, I wasn't really sure what to do now. I didn't see anyone that I knew here and the heat was starting to suffocate me.

Luckily, Andromeda took control of the situation. Before mother could go back to her drink, Andromeda asked, "Mother, may Narcissa and I go out into the shops in Diagon Alley? There's a book I need to pick up for school." I crossed my fingers as I waited for mother's answer. I wanted badly to get out of this place. It was too loud, too crowded, and much too hot for my liking.

Without even bothering to turn to look at us, mother replied lazily, "Sure, I don't care where you go really. Just make sure you're back in two hours like Bellatrix and Tom. Do you have money for that book, Andromeda? If you need some, I can give you the card to my Gringotts account." In case you don't know, Gringotts is the wizarding bank where everyone stores all their money.

"Thanks, but I already have enough money for the book," Andromeda said. And with that said, the two of us slipped through the crowd and started battling our way to the door. I kept getting squished and almost trampled by people. That was definitely a downside to being so short. Nobody ever notices you and it's so easy to get stepped on.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, I reached the door and burst outside. The cool air felt great on my face and I inhaled a large breath of clean, fresh air. Leaning against the building, I looked up and watched the stars twinkling above me. They were so gorgeous. I wished I could fly up to the sky and catch one of those stars.

I was so intent on watching the stars that I was totally caught off guard when a firm hand rested on my shoulder and a voice said in my ear, "Beautiful night, isn't it?" My first impulse was to get away, but by now, I was started to realize that I was paranoid about strangers. If someone was actually resting their hand on me like that, they obviously knew me. And besides, if the person wanted to cause me harm, they would've clapped a hand over my mouth.

Jerking my head to the right, I almost passed out with surprise. Standing next to me was none other than the boy I had been dreaming about all during Christmas break. Letting out a little squeal, I threw my arms around his neck and said with my eyes sparkling in the moonlight, "Lucius! You found me! I didn't think you were here."

"Of course I'm here," Lucius replied as if I was stupid to think otherwise. Raising a blonde brow at me, he replied, "I told you I would be here, didn't I?" I nodded, still trying to get over the excitement and shock of seeing him here. Lucius went onwards, "I decided to come out here because it was just too busy in The Three Broomsticks. They need to expand their shop or something."

"Yeah, I agree," I said, trying to get myself to stop staring at Lucius in all the wrong places and participate in the conversation as well. "I actually almost got trampled a few times. It was rather scary. But oh well. Everything's okay now. My god, Lucius, you have no idea how much I've been thinking about you and missing you over the last week or so."

"Maybe I do know," Lucius replied with a sparkle in his eye. Reaching out, he took my hand and suggested, "Let's go somewhere, shall we? How long do you have before you have to get back to your mother?" Suddenly, the two hours of freedom she had given me didn't seem very long at all. No, it seemed short and inadequate. I wanted at least five hours with Lucius!

Sighing, I replied, "Only two hours. I guess we might as well make the most of them though. So where do you want to go? Do you have anywhere you especially wanted to go?" Lucius thought about this for a moment before replied in a suggestive tone, "How about The Leaky Cauldron? It's the pub that leads to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Plus they even have hotel rooms there."

The hotel rooms thing immediately caught my attention. Raising my eyebrows, I replied, "Wow, that sounds great. Let's go, shall we?" Lucius leaned down to quickly press his lips against mine before he nodded. All the cold and dark feelings that I had been keeping inside over the last few days shriveled up and died. I was with Lucius again!