Chapter Text
Narcissa was finally free. The first week, back at Hogwarts had proven to be tedious, to say the least, primarily because of the Prefect's duties that she had upon her shoulders now. Though being utterly exhausted and very much in need of a day out, Narcissa felt that she couldn't be any happier. All her hard work had paid off really well which made her feel accomplished. She vividly remembered the look of absolute pride that dawned upon her parents' face when she told them how she got the highest scores in her year, along with being chosen for the role of Slytherin Prefect. Adding to her happiness, Narcissa was betrothed to someone who genuinely cared about her.
Lucius loved Narcissa with every fibre of his being. Though he'd never openly said those words, they were clearly written in his eyes whenever his darling was in sight. The respect he had for Narcissa was proof enough for his unwavering loyalty and commitment to her. If asked, however, Narcissa would definitely have said that she'd gotten lucky in terms of her marriage as compared to her elder sister, Bellatrix.
Bellatrix. She was the only cause of tension and constant headaches in Narcissa's hectic life. She'd been acting crude towards her sister, ever since her engagement to Heir Malfoy in a very pathetic attempt to hide her jealousy. Jealousy over the fact that despite being an arranged marriage, Narcissa was loved by her future husband, while Bella had to endure the constant pain of seeing Rodolphus with other girls. She was envious over the fact that Narcissa had every ounce of Lucius' attention while Bella was ignored as if she didn't even exist in the first place.
The most prominent emotion of all, however, was anger. Bellatrix was enraged over the fact that she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with a man despite that she wasn't interested in him; when she had already devoted herself to the great Dark Lord Voldemort because he was the only one worthy in her eyes. She had neither met him nor seen him; she had only heard about him and his greatness. He was her God, and Bellatrix was hell-bent to cross any lengths to see him- face to face - just once. That was the reason she agreed on her marriage alliance with Heir Lestrange because the Lestrange's were part of the prestigious Inner Circle which will eventually give her the opportunity to get closer to her goal; to get closer to the Dark Lord. But Narcissa was scared because she knew of her sister's secret quite well.
Narcissa had made the mistake of confronting Bellatrix about the same reason, which resulted in quite a violent outburst from her elder sister; it was the first time Bella had ever slapped Narcissa - not that she told anyone about it - leading to the strained relationship between the siblings. That was how Narcissa concluded that Bella's obsession with Lord Voldemort had already gone too far.
Right now the youngest sister was sitting near the Black Lake. It was one of her favourite spots in Hogwarts - a place that brought comfort to her soul and some much-needed escape from the reality. Narcissa sighed in contentment when the light breeze tussled her neatly combed hair. All that she wanted to do at that moment was to let her hair fall freely and enjoy the slightly chilly weather, but couldn't. Her mother would have a fit if Narcissa even dared to pull a stunt like that.
"Cissa darling! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere," Narcissa turned around when her name was called out and saw Lucius coming. An instant blush covered her cheeks when she saw him smile lovingly at her. Heir Malfoy took a seat beside her and smirked slightly when he saw her blushing.
"Is there anything that you needed?" She questioned.
"No, I just wanted to spend some quality time with my future wife. It's been two weeks since I last saw you. But you were quite busy with your new duties, so I didn't want to disturb you," Lucius spoke as he gently interlaced his fingers with hers. Narcissa smiled and moved a bit to lessen the space between them.
"Father sent something for you," Lucius started in a whispered tone, "Its a family ritual that the bride-to-be gets a gift from her mother-in-law. However, since my mother had passed away and couldn't be here to give something to you, father chose this. Said he would love to see his daughter wearing this." Lucius pulled out a small velvet box and handed it to her. Narcissa's emotions were all over the place. Her happiness magnified; she was overjoyed knowing that Lord Malfoy didn't just consider her as Lucius' future wife but as his own daughter.
She took the box and smiled slightly when she opened it. It was a beautiful brooch in the shape of the Malfoy family crest and embedded with glittery, overly-expensive diamonds. It seemed that Lord Malfoy didn't leave any opportunity to show-off the grandeur of his house.
"It's beautiful. I love it!" Narcissa spoke with as much conviction as she could muster. She really liked the gift, but she didn't like how Lord Malfoy's behaviour and thoughts were that of a typical pureblood. She didn't like how much Lucius was devoted to his father and tried his utmost to have Lord Malfoy's approval, even if it meant going against his own morals. Narcissa hated that Lucius was a puppet in his father's hands and she didn't know how to voice her concerns. Lucius was about to speak when a frantic voice caught his attention.
"Lucius! Lucius!" The duo stood up quickly and saw Regulus running towards them. His face was all white and there was absolute rage raving in his eyes.
"What happened, Reggie?"
"What's wrong, Regulus?" Lucius and Narcissa spoke at the same time. Regulus stopped them with a raised hand, as he tried to catch his breath. "Severus. Marauders." It didn't take Lucius even a second to storm away in fury. Narcissa and Regulus ran after him too, worried as to what was going to happen now. This was the scenario every time the infamous Marauders' bullied someone from the Slytherin house in the name of pranks. These pranks and games, however, seemed to only increase over these past few years and more often than not the target was Severus.
They quickly reached the Great Hall where the commotion had taken place. A large crowd had already been gathered around by the time they arrived. Severus' whole face was covered in big, horrible pimples and his anger seemed to be rising even more as the mocking laughter from other students reached his ears.
"Well, you don't look that bad, Snivellus! The look actually suits that handsome face of yours," Sirius spoke in a haughty tone. His initial plan to prank Harriet may have failed, but he wasn't unhappy that Snape got trapped in his plan instead. However, as soon as those words left his mouth, Severus lost all of his control and punched him straight in the face. All hell broke loose. James tackled Severus to the ground while Lucius and Barty immediately took out their wands. The large audience that was previously snickering and laughing now seemed concerned about the growing fight.
"Somebody please call the Professors," Narcissa shouted for help. She was getting anxious with every passing minute. "Reggie, do something," she was holding onto Regulus' hand so tight that it would surely leave marks on his arms, but the young Black didn't seem to be fazed by it.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" McGonagall's furious voice thundered as she strolled through the corridor and struggled to break the boys apart. The Headmaster and Slytherin's Head weren't too far behind.
"Mr Black, Mr Potter, I demand you to stop this instant," the Transfiguration teacher spoke in a stern voice while Narcissa and Regulus took the opportunity to pull back Lucius, Barty and Severus.
"Will anyone please enlighten me as to what happened here? Why were you trying to squeeze the life out of each other?" McGonagall questioned the students from her house. She couldn't believe that her Gryffindors could act this brashly. Harriet who was coming to the Great Hall with the intention of having a nice lunch, halted in her tracks when she saw the large crowd.
"What happened here?" she asked Regulus. Harriet had never talked to him before, but from her observations, she could tell that he was a really polite person. The boy wearing a face too familiar to Sirius spoke, "They pranked Severus again. Afterwards, they started bullying him. Calling him callous names and what not." Harriet looked at her father and godfather and felt nothing but disappointment. She could easily tell that neither Remus nor Peter were part of this nuisance by the guilty look on their faces.
"Mr Lupin, please elaborate on the recent occurrences," McGonagall diverted her attention to Remus knowing full well that she wouldn't get a justified answer from either James or Sirius.
"James and Sirius decided to play a prank, in general, but unfortunately Snape got in the way. It wasn't intentional but they still didn't act appropriately and continued to make fun of him." Remus spoke, quite ashamed of them, but more angry at himself that he couldn't stop his two friends. He didn't dare tell the professor that the real target was the new, mysterious girl - Harriet Christopher.
"Now, now I'm sure there was a misunderstanding here, Minerva. It was just harmless fun. I think you shouldn't be mad at them about something this insignificant," the Headmaster spoke for the first time, "but the way Severus behaved and opted to physically harm James and Sirius concerns me a lot. You should've talked to him instead of trying to take the matter in your own hands, Mr Snape," Albus turned the whole blame game on Severus and Harriet stared at him in disbelief.
She wanted nothing more than to slap Albus in the face for acting so crude towards Slytherins. Being stuck in this era had shed light on some concerning matters, and this issue was one of them. Harrie could see how Dumbledore instead of trying to solve the petty house rivalry seemed to glorify it even more. His obvious favouritism towards the Gryffindors was bothering her too much. Was this how the Slytherins from her time felt? Was this the reason Draco Malfoy and co seemed to be jealous of other housemates? Was this the reason Professor Snape always took the side of his snakes whenever petty fights broke out?
She also pondered over Snape's rude attitude towards her. No wonder Snape hated Harrie. How could he give her a chance when Harriet never tried to prove herself. She always took pride in the fact that she was just like her father, until today. Today she felt a bit ashamed because she wasn't able to detect an ounce of regret on James' face. On the contrary, he looked quite happy that Snivellus involved in the mess.
"No Albus. The boys were equally responsible for such atrocious behaviour. I suggest detention for all three of them so that they learn not to repeat their mistakes. Also 50 points from Slytherin and 100 points from Gryffindor for causing a ruckus," the Gryffindor head spoke in a firm tone leaving no room for argument. But this frustrated Harrie for she could see how relieved the pranksters felt. She was on Snape's side this time and the fact that he was being dragged into detention as well, was wrong.
"But Professor, Severus did nothing wrong," Lucius spoke before she could. The half-blood boy, apart from Barty, was one of Lucius' best friends and one of his most trusted person. Heir Malfoy could always trust him, and he knew that Severus wanted to stay away from the four pranksters as much as possible. "He was merely defending himself and his honour. When did defending oneself become a punishable act?"
"Defending oneself isn't a punishable offence, Mr Malfoy, but physically attacking another student is," Albus spoke in a stern voice. "And Mr Snape will get what he deserves. Mr Potter and Mr Black would help Hagrid fetch some ingredients for the greenhouses, while Mr Snape would help Filch with all the cleaning this evening." Before either Head of House could protest, Dumbledore stormed away.
Everyone may have found it normal, but Harriet couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. The crowd scattered away, continuing on their merry way to the classes. The only ones left behind were fuming and aggravated Slytherins. Even their Head of House didn't help them this time. Severus felt utterly defeated; he was paying the price of mistakes that he didn't commit.
"Let's get you to the hospital wing, Severus," Narcissa brought him out of his stupor and he followed her without another word. Barty took off behind them. Lucius was too mad to think properly; this wasn't the first time Slytherins were subjected to such prejudice and he couldn't help them. He went in the other direction - he needed some fresh air. Harriet stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
"Does this happen often?" She asked Regulus. The boy was battling an inner dilemma. On one hand was his friend - one who helped him even if he seemed a bit closed off, and on the other hand was his brother - one who was now more of a stranger. He looked at Harrie with such defeated look, that she could only feel pity for him.
"Unfortunately yes. No one cares about us. They only know that we are evil, cunning people who'll go to any lengths to get what we want, but nobody is willing to see past that. I don't know how much more we'll have to suffer for others to realise that we are just like them," the way he spoke seemed that he was in his own thoughts rather than being totally aware of his surroundings.
Harrie decided to take her leave. She went in the same direction where Lucius had gone when a sudden realisation caught her. She hadn't seen Voldemort the whole day; not even caught a glimpse of him. Where was he? She just hoped that him missing a day out, wouldn't bring troubles for her in the future.