Light & Dark

August 16th, 1995

"Severus, I am so glad to see you!" Narcissa exclaimed, bringing her dear friend into her arms and holding him tightly.

"I am certainly pleased to see you as well." He mused taking her appearance in. "You look well Cissy; I assume this means you have not been staying at Shell Cottage often."

"Why bother when Lucius is rarely home…or when he is he sleeps all day because he has been out all night... It is awful Severus! I'm sure you've seen the headlines. Merlin, it's worse than last time..." She took a deep breath and they took their seats.

"Even the Muggles know something isn't right..." He muttered, sitting across from her. "I have noticed Lucius is quite the friend to the Minister. Promoting the lie that Voldemort has not returned. Filling Fudge's head with the idea that Dumbledore is out for his job…"

"Right, well, at least it is keeping him busy. I'd much rather have him at the Ministry spilling his bile than out torturing Muggles or Muggleborns or "training" Draco on Unforgivable Curses! I can hardly face him. I can't stop thinking about how that boy who died… Diggory was it? He was so young. Not much older than our Draco… I have been thinking about how I can possibly help the resistance…" Narcissa stated as she poured herself some tea.

"You couldn't possibly risk something like that." Severus rebuked, shocked.

"It's the least I can do. Neither you nor I want a repeat of 14 years ago… I've heard whispers that Dumbledore is reforming the Order. Is that true?"

"Yes…but how could you possibly-?"

"I want to give them Shell Cottage. They can use it as a safe house." She smirked proudly.

"And what if you need a safe house? What then? You can't just give away your one place of fortitude!"

"Severus, not you, I, nor Draco for that matter will be escaping anytime soon; I think you know that. At this point, in order to protect ourselves, we must play our parts. Just as we have always done."

"Cissy, have you lost your mind!? If we all 'play our parts' as you say, then Draco will end up taking this!" He exclaimed, rolling up his sleeve and revealing his Dark Mark.

"Do you have a better plan? I can't escape and it's not like Draco can either. Lucky for him he is away at Hogwarts seventy-five percent of the year; he is safe there… I will do everything I can to postpone him taking the mark. In the meantime, Dumbledore seems to have faith in this Potter boy; I think we should, too. If we lay low, play our parts, do what little we can to help...maybe, just maybe, Potter will pull through and everything will work out in the end."

"If only we could be so lucky…"

"And in the unfortunate case that the Potter boy does not…work out…then at least we will be on the winning side..."

"You do have a point…" Severus muttered.

For a while, they sat, sipping their tea, thinking over everything that had been said. They had always been comfortable with each other, the silence was never awkward. In ways, they felt that as long as they were there together, they were safe.

After a while, Narcissa moved to sit on the sofa next to her longtime friend.

She turned herself towards him and took his hands in hers. His hands were worn and scarred from years of potion-making, but soft.

"Severus, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything for you Cissy."

"Promise me, that no matter what happens in the crazy world we live in, you, Draco, Hermione, and I will make it out alive." She eyed him expectantly.

"I cannot make such a promise."

"Humor me then." She mused holding his hands a little tighter.

"I will always, do what I must to ensure your safety and the safety of the children." He was surprised by the intimacy of her touch but was comforted by the warmth of her hands.

Her perfume was nice, inviting even; he leaned forward, inhaling instinctively

"I'm sorry Severus," she murmured, backing away and releasing his hands. "I'm sorry I rely so heavily on you. The life you live is… stressful enough. I can't tell you how valuable your friendship has been to me over the years. You've also been an excellent role model to Draco. I couldn't ask for a better friend…"

She was facing him again.

"Sometimes I wonder," She continued, "what things would be like… if they could have turned out differently…if… you and…never mind. I should get going…"

Narcissa and Severus cut their yearly meeting short, deciding it was easier to say goodbye than to speak their true thoughts. They got up, awkwardly murmuring their goodbyes instead of their true thoughts.

"Wait," She offered, stopping on her way to the front door. "Do you have an owl I can borrow?"

"Yes, but the ministry is intercepting more and more owls every day...using my owl wouldn't change that."

"I," She paused moving back into the den, cinching her eyebrows together. "I have an idea...I just need a piece of parchment. Please."

"Cissy..." He cautioned.

"Trust me."

Her eyes were certain, her mind made up; he knew her well enough to know he wouldn't be able to change her mind. He nodded and swiftly retrieved his owl and a roll of parchment.

"Thank you." She nodded, taking the parchment in one hand and her wand in the other.

With two graceful flicks of her wrist, she severed from the roll two identical pieces of parchment. Smaller than one would usually use, but large enough to write a brief message.

Discarding the rest of the roll, she positioned the two sheets side by side on the coffee table. She moved her wand over the two sheets, back and forth, whispering an incantation Severus had never heard before. The papers glowed and rustled slightly as she spoke, ceasing only once she'd finished.

"What is this?" He asked.

"It's a spell I created; regrettably it took me much longer to perfect than I would have liked, but at least now it will be used for its original purpose. It's a way of sending messages, discretely."

"Show me." He responded curiously, grabbing ink and a quill and then sitting beside her.

"When Dromeda left, all those years ago, I was desperate for a way to contact her. I missed her terribly, I still do." She sighed, reaching for the quill. "I couldn't risk talking to her, not with how things ended, with Mother and Father...and then there was Lucius after that...I started working on this spell then, but didn't get it right until just a few years ago."

She paused, smiling to herself.

"Nearly 5 years ago, now. I was successful in creating a set for Draco and Hermione. Watch." She said, dipping the quill in the ink and putting it on the paper.

Andromeda Black Tonks.

Her delicate and ornate script disappeared from the parchment and reappeared on the other. Severus eyes darted from her to the parchments as she demonstrated their use; tapping her wand to the page and making the name disappear once more.

In disbelief, he copied her actions, writing the same name on the parchment, watching it disappear and reappear, then dismissed it with a touch of his wand.

"Revelio" he murmured, testing the papers, nothing appeared.

He attempted a few more spells before he fully trusted Narcissa's creation.

"This is brilliant Cissy, truly." He said at last.

"Thank you. I just need to send one to Andromeda... She's more likely to accept it if I use a bird she doesn't recognize. Much like the Black family, the Malfoys only own eagle owls."

"Surely she misses you too..."Severus offered.

"Once upon a time I would have believed that, but it's been nearly 25 years Sev. So many things happened back then and worse things have happened since... I hardly know if she would ever accept my son, given who his Father is, and it will be a miracle if she accepts this...but I have to try. She's one of the few people who will be able to enter and alter the wards I've placed on Shell Cottage. She's a descendant of the Black family and she doesn't not bear the Dark Lord's mark." She closed her eyes solemnly. "Soon, even Draco will not even be able to enter."

Leaving the parchment blank she sealed it within an envelope, using her own blood, ensuring that only Andromeda would be able to open she attached it to the owl's foot and let it out a nearby window.

Next, she opened her purse and used her wand to cut a small slit into the lining. It was discrete, just below the zipper.

She slid her piece of the magically paired parchments inside, then sealed the slit in the lining.

"I should go now." She muttered, getting to her feet. "Thank you, Severus."

"Always...Narcissa." He spoke dryly.

The air had run cool and awkward between them, creating a void that neither of them felt capable of filling. The unspoken words laid heavily on their hearts and pressed upon their shoulder, weighing them down; but somehow it seemed easier to remain silent, to carry that weight, than to release their true thoughts and feelings.

Once more they said their goodbyes, promising to see each other again soon. Locking eyes, and wondering if the other felt the same way.

The visit left Narcissa disturbed, perhaps even visibly shaken. Chills flew through her body as questions danced across her mind. What if things had worked out differently between her and Severus? What if she hadn't been Love's fool? What if he had been the Father of her son?

That would never have happened, she decided at last, because Severus loved another... always.