Wizard's Porn

CHAPTER FIVE: friends.





A/N: I’m getting fed up of killing off Narcissa, or painting her as the badguy in their relationship (or should that be badgirl?), or having her have an affair and get caught. I need her out of the way, and I went for the most simple way of doing it – but with it’s own little back story that makes me smile.



I\'m going to close the document with the recipe on it, because it\'s DETERMINED to be posted. (And my beta is laughing like a blooming hyena at me for it) So, any mistakes from now on are her\'s in retaliation for being laughed at. *blows raspberry*.



Just a reminder, ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE… but can you guess who Narcissa’s beau is? It’s not a particularly difficult conclusion to draw though. *wink*





The Manager had got back to ‘Max’ incredibly quickly, and he promptly had to rearrange his entire evening schedule for the next two months. He’d never had so much work, and he hoped his penis could handle it. ‘Juliet’ (whomever she was) had been a literal fountain of passion, but all that friction, even well lubricated, was going to chafe before long. He’d ask Severus to brew something for him, surely the Potions Master knew of a potion, and if he didn’t Lucius could use Slytherin tactics to subtly imply Severus couldn’t invent one so that he actually did, just to prove him wrong.



Their friendship was odd, to say the least.



The BDSM on the programs had dwindled, much to the violent complaints of his fans. Lucius never answered his fanmail, throwing it all onto the fire; his real life and sex life were two very separate disciplines, and he didn’t bring his ‘work’ home with him.



Luckily, his ruined social status left the vast majority of his evenings free. Narcissa didn’t visit his chambers, he didn’t visit hers. The adjoining door between them was kept firmly locked from both sides. She knew he went out in the evening, the elves told her, but Narcissa didn’t care where, as long as he wasn’t wrecking her life, as his actions had done in the past.



* * * * *



In her suite of rooms, Narcissa brushed her hair and changed her formal robe for something casual and comfortable. She stared into the mirror and as her reflection stared back, she reflected upon her life.



Narcissa wasn’t stupid, she knew full well that she did share the blame in their failure of a marriage; but in her defence she’d had no choice in the matter.



From birth, her sisters and she had been ‘trained’ to be the perfect pureblood wives by their Mother. Druella Black had ‘failed’ in society’s eyes through not providing a son for her husband; (not that society believed it was actually the male who determined the sex of a child – what a preposterous concept) and thus worked her hardest to provide society with three perfect daughters…



… which backfired quite spectacularly when Andromeda wed the Muggleborn Ted Tonks. Bellatrix wasn’t the perfect, demure, biddable wife (though, evidently Rodolphus was just as deviant as her, accepting her dominance)… Thus, Druella had worked extra hard with her youngest, Narcissa, and the poor girl was given no option in her behaviour – she would make up for her elder sisters’ failures; she would be the perfect pureblood wife.



Narcissa had ticked all the boxes, as far as female pureblood society went. She spoke only when spoken to; she remained with her chaperoning parents at all times at events, and thus she was not compromised in her chastity before marriage; she dressed impeccably; her manners were infallible. She had married the head of Pureblood society: Lucius Malfoy; she’d produced a male heir within two years of marriage (much to her Mother’s immense joy); she held perfectly planned and executed parties. She’d even managed to help save their existence by openly lying to the Dark Lord.



But she was dreadfully unhappy. Her life had been planned and scheduled since her infancy; her adult life was run by the gossip and society pages; she’d had to bow to a megalomaniac just because her husband chose to. Oh yes, he hadn’t been forced to follow V-V-Voldemort; but he’d been too caught in the web to back out when he was pulled too deep.



She had spoken frequently with Mr. Potter, who now worked at the ministry of magic as an advisor to the Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry spent more time arguing against laws that departments wanted to pass than for them. Harry had become the representative for the normal average Joe and Joanna, he knew how they lived and what they wanted. The Ministry had never been so popular, or run so smoothly.



Narcissa had taken to charity work like a duck to water, and was triumphing the case of the neglected pureblood wives who’d been roped into their husbands’ political ideas with no regard for their safety or the safety of their children. It wasn’t common knowledge, but pureblood women were not permitted to vote, and along with many ‘Azkaban Widows’ she’d fought to gain pureblood women the right to vote – and won. The imprisoned Death Eaters’ wives had promptly voted to keep their husbands in Azkaban, rather than for their release. The dominators were quite content to keep them locked up and miserable, or kissed.



Things were changing; she was viewed by the pureblood ladies, a higher fraction of society in comparison to male heirs, as a heroine. She was their guide in the new world where their husbands had no power. She took them forward without looking back.



She was proud of hers, and the other ladies’ changed attitudes; but it didn’t stop her being miserable when her friends left the party, conference or rally.



She’d met someone, someone she could truly be happy with. He had been shunned by the magical realm as a monster, but he was the most caring, gentle man she had met. Their conversation had begun at a Ministry event over one topic they both had in common: The love of chocolate.



Over the first two months of their friendship, the two visited the best chocolatiers in magical Britain, indulging in coco-based delicacies and discussing their merits and faults in depth. Narcissa had actually put on three pounds in the space of those months – not that anyone noticed.



After those wonderful eight weeks, he invited her to his home and personally cooked a candlelit dinner for two. It was simple and the courses really didn’t compliment each other – but the meals had all been her favourites, and she had never felt so happy to sit down to salmon cooked in a parsley and white wine sauce! (Though, there were a few suspicious looking black-and-crispy bits on it, yet she ate them anyway).



They’d sipped at a wine that didn’t go with the food, but it was another of her favourites. They began to talk more freely as the alcohol lowered their inhibitions, and before they had known what hit them, the dawn rose and cast the light of a beautiful new day through the little window.



She had encouraged him to publish his memoirs of his life – there were others with his condition who would welcome the advice. He had a wooded case of old diaries to draw information from, as well as personal experience. Harry Potter visited him a few weeks later, and also encouraged him in his literary venture; as well as another.



He had become an overnight success, and multi-billionaire on the publication of two books: “The Memoirs of a Werewolf” and “Harry Potter: the Truth Behind the Legends, Myths and Rumours, a Biography by a Friend”.. He was currently working on: “The Good Chocolate Guide” and they’d gladly re-visited their previous haunts.



Unfortunately, a constant auror patrol had to be placed around a family called ‘The Dursleys’; as upon reading that their saviour had been locked in a cupboard under the stairs and treated worse than a badly-behaved house elf, the population had gone into hysterics and attempted to kill them; and they still did attempt to cast killing curses at them on an average of three times a week.



They had taken their relationship slowly; few knew about their regular dinners and more private chocolate escapades. Her sister, Andromeda had been the most supportive of those who did know; and her elder sister had managed to convince her love struck daughter that he really wasn’t the man for her, that he was a little on the mature side and they had little in common.



Last night had been the turning point of their affair; after a light meal and a few glasses of another wine that didn’t match, he had kissed her gently before picking her up bridal fashion and carrying her off to bed. He’d taken his time to make love to her, reassuring her with kind and beautiful words throughout the evening. Narcissa had cried solidly for an hour after her last climax; her emotions running high and truly frightening the werewolf who held her in his arms and didn’t know what he’d done wrong.



Her reflection over, she had only come up with one solution to ending her misery; taking a deep breath she apparated to the door outside Lucius’s study.



* * * * *



“Lucius?” she said, knocking and waiting to be called in.



“Enter.” He said, she heard papers being shuffled.



She wasted no time in taking the seat opposite his huge curved desk; feeling more like a business partner than a wife.



“Lucius, I’ll be frank with you – just don’t speak until I have had my say.” She said, giving him a pointed look. “Lucius, I’m miserable here. Our marriage was one of expectance in society and pushed onto us by our families. Your involvement with V- V- V-” she took a deep breath, “V-Voldemort almost had Draco and I killed! You left me to my privacy and to run the household, but you never respected me.”



Lucius sat back in his chair, passive, a neutral expression on his face, a mask she knew well.



“Lucius, we’re both at fault for our failed marriage; but I’m tired of the lies, I’m tired of lying to myself… I – I have met someone. Someone who makes me truly happy. He makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world! He’s tender, so gentle, so loving. We have conversations; he brings me flowers because he wants to, not because they’re a broken stem of a prize-winning rose… I have never been in love before, but I think this might be it… He re-introduced me to my sister! Andromeda is back in my life! We forgave each other and it is like nothing ever happened!”



“Lucius, let me go. Let me escape the cage my Mother placed me in after Bella and Meda’s disappointments. Though, disappointments is not an appropriate word; they had the strength to forgo their teachings at her skirts and be their own persons; I was never strong enough, and feared my parents reaction if I did not obey.”



“Lucius, please dissolve this prison of a marriage, I think we’d both be happier for it, please.” She begged, close to tears.



Lucius took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his long hair, scratching the base of his neck as he did so. He smiled a genuine smile at the woman before him, but his expression changed as a thought struck him.



“What do we tell Draco?”



“I suggest we do something we failed to do when he was a child; we tell him the truth.” She said, giving a very unladylike shrug to his questioning raised eyebrow.



Lucius opened his top drawer and pulled out a heavily warded ornate box. Complex wand movements and constant counter curses for five minutes took away the protective charms.



“Please, do me the honour of listening to my speech.” He said, meeting her pale blue gaze, “When we married, your parents were already seen as a disgrace by society. Andromeda had done the unthinkable, at the time, and married a muggleborn wizard; Bellatrix was a frightening piece of work who ate men for breakfast. They pinned all their hopes on you, and to save face with society, and to give an impression of more wealth than they had; your Father sent an impressive dowry. I suspect it was Andromeda’s and a fair chunk of what was intended for Bellatrix… I took it as an insult, It made me feel like your Father thought I couldn’t provide for you and an heir.”



He slid the box over to her and opened the lid.



“I placed that money in a Gringotts vault in your birth name, Narcissa Black, and it was untouched for twenty years. I never told you about it, as you seemed quite happy with the funding I provided, and never needed more than was given.”



“However, two years ago, he-who-I-don’t-want-to-think-about, started using Malfoy funds in his campaign. Slowly I began to siphon money from my vault into this account and another I set up in Draco’s name. Luckily, he didn’t know much of finance, and never realised that the books didn’t add up. Your account now has the best part of three-hundred-thousand galleons in it, after all the compound interest and rewards from the bank for never making withdrawals. Draco’s account contains about one-hundred-thousand, and I intend to hand over the key when he marries – if he marries.”



“Narcissa, I failed you and my son miserably. I am truly sorry. I’m only glad to let you go because you have found someone who can be the man you truly deserve, not a failure. That Gringotts vault is yours, as are any items, save a few personal ones, that you wish to take from the Manor.”



The pair looked at each other for a moment.



“Lucius, I’m taking only my wardrobe with me, and I think its time to re-cycle those gowns, most have only been worn once! I can start a new trend! Wear an old gown to work days!” she laughed. “I couldn’t by any chance take Bippa with me? Could I?”



“After every second, third, fourth and probably fifth chance you’ve given me, I can’t begrudge one house elf. Is that all you want?” he said, wondering why she wasn’t taking anything else with her.



“Yes, we have been looking at a property to make ours, and we both want a fresh start, though I think I’ll use that money in redecorating it and furbishing it from scratch. You’d be welcome to visit; perhaps we could be friends?”



“I haven’t got many friends in the world, In fact, I’ve only got one! And Severus isn’t really the most friendly person to ever exist!” he laughed, a deep chuckle of true pleasure, “Yes, I’ll apply for a dissolvation of our vows at the ministry as soon as I work out which bloody form I have to request. I used to understand their forms before Shacklebolt restructured the department of records and applications… But I think we could be friends, Ms. Black.”



“Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. I’ll go and pack and be gone by nightfall.” She said, almost out of the door before she spoke again, “I’ll send a letter to Draco.”



“Friends do not speak on such formal terms, Narcissa.” He smiled gently, genuinely. The first genuine smile she’d seen on his face since Draco was tiny. “Draco should hear from both of us, I’ll write also.”



“I agree, Lucius.” He didn’t know what she was agreeing to.



“I wish you and your beloved well, though if he doesn’t treat you right – I’m going to be the biggest hypocrite whom ever lived and make him pay for whatever upsets you!” he nodded firmly, “As a friend, I’m allowed to do that.”



She paused, tears running down her cheeks while she smiled, “Find someone Lucius, find someone and be happy. For once in your life, find love. It does not make you weak… it gave me the strength to come see you today.”



“Nobody will ever love me, Narcissa, nobody ever has. I’m used to it, I don’t think I can cope with love.” He said, revealing more emotion in one sentence to his soon-to-be-former-wife than he ever had done in their twenty-two years of wedlock.



“Oh, Lucius.” She sobbed, rushing back over to where he sat, pulling his head to her chest as he clung onto her waist. She smoothed over his hair as he sobbed, his platinum hair darkening as her tears soaked into it.