Shades of Silver and Black

THERE WEREN'T MANY THINGS THAT PERTURBED LUCIUS, at least that was what he liked to believe. Debating (borderline arguing) with Catalina, one of Master Garcia's apprentices, certainly did. Catalina was nearing seventy. However, age hadn't stopped her ambitions or passions to obtain a Mastery in History, something that Lucius admired her for.

Lucius had been in the company of an abundance of elderly people with a plethora of personalities; although, it was safe to say that he had never met someone like Catalina with her purple coloured, dread-locked hair, shining dark eyes and spit-fire personality. She reminded him much of Lady Black; minus the elegance, superiority complex, ruthlessness and utter unhesitation to completely ruin a person's life to achieve a small victory.

Catalina's knowledge in history rivalled his own, maybe even reached the level of Orion Black. She also possessed the uncanny ability to aggravate him with the simplest of words, such as claiming that she was better at history than he (which, might be true but Lucius had too big of an ego to accept it) and so, the two of them had frequent fights with respect to how a particular event took place or regarding the importance of a luminary; due to the two of them always quoting different sources of having varying perspectives.

After another tiring day of learning new things about the subject he adored, Lucius came home only to be perplexed due to Lyra's absence considering she usually raced him. A quick tempus informed him that she was due to arrive at their shared Manor more than an hour ago, making him worried. So, Lucius put on his coat once again and apparated to Lyra's workplace, intent on finding out whether she had left yet or was going to be working late; in which case, he would volunteer to bring her dinner and if she allowed it, stay with her.

He strolled into Argentina's Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, where Lyra had chosen to learn trauma-related magical healing. Some might have supposed that it was bold of Lyra to go dive straight into such a complex field of healing whereupon during a person's life was literally in her hands, but honestly, Lucius wasn't much surprised. This was Lyra Black in question, after all, and he had always known her to be in extremes- do everything or nothing at all.

It helped that she had the qualifications, though, obtaining some of the highest marks and a report card filled with O's for her N.E.W.Ts and having volunteered with Madam Pomfrey as her supervisor in the hospital wing vigorously while simultaneously doing plenty of self-study to learn basic healing and how to apply it.

Having bags of money helped to jump-start her into this critical field of healing as well but Lyra really did work hard. In nearly the three months they had been here, only one of her patients had unfortunately died and that was after he had achieved stability, after he had been unable to produce his own magic and even then, every healer in the hospital had consoled a distraught Lyra that the patient would have passed away had anyone of them operated as well. The injuries obtained had been too critical and the most that they could have done was give him a few extra hours to breathe, which Lyra had done.

However, this incident only served to make Lyra work harder, give it her all to keep her patients alive.

Lucius greeted the receptionists and healers who passed him. After having accompanied his fiancée to many of her work-dinners and playing with the cubes of vegetables in his salad with a scowl as everybody around him gushed over something medical-y. He couldn't recollect most of their names; however, their faces were familiar to him.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, he reached the emergency trauma corridor where Lyra usually practised healing and stepped towards the receptionist on the floor, addressing her with a small smile which she returned brightly.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy!" she spoke with the Argentinian accent that Lucius had become accustomed to hearing.

"Hello-" he quickly glanced at her name-tag- "Valentina," Lucius smiled again and she beamed, pleased that he had remembered her name.

Lucius raked his brain for more information about her. Lyra constantly invited Valentina and a few others to lunch and sometimes, to dinner, and they, her; so it was honestly a tad embarrassing that he didn't remember much about her. The sound of a baby crying in the background suddenly brought forth a piece of knowledge into his mind.

"How's your daughter?" He asked politely, recollecting Lyra cooing about how adorable Valentina's toddler daughter was a couple of days ago.

Valentina's face was decorated with the kind of smile that only a parent could own while remembering or talking about their beloved child. "Oh, she's wonderful! She started speaking recently. Calls everybody 'mama'. It drives my husband crazy." she fondly informed him with a chuckle at the end, something that Lucius mirrored.

"That's lovely," he commented before deciding that that was enough small talk. Lucius leaned against her desk. "Is Lyra done with work, by chance? It's been a little over an hour since she had to be home so I was quite worried."

Valentina's eyes softened. "No, unfortunately, Lyra's still in the operation room with a tricky patient."

"Tricky?"

"Well," Valentina hesitantly started before elaborating, "this man ate a brazil nut; or at least, what he had assumed to be a Brazil nut. Turns out, his son had been practising transfigurations and had turned a needle into a brazil nut. You know the rule of transfigurations- it is always temporary and although it may look like a brazil nut, it may smell like a brazil nut, it may feel like a brazil nut but it is definitely not a brazil nut. This man had to find that out the hard way. The needle ripped quite a few arteries, muscles and such."

Lucius couldn't contain the wince that showed on his face.

Valentina nodded understandingly, her face mirroring Lucius' as she resumed to speak. "I think it'll get over soon, though, don't worry. They've been in there long enough, I suppose." she paused, adding, "It is very sweet of you to worry about Lyra. Whenever I come home late from work, my husband usually doesn't notice- too involved in his potions. He's getting more attentive ever since Maria was born, but still..." she trailed off.

Lucius offered her a small smile. "I'm sure he cares, Valentina, he just doesn't know how to show it," he stated to which Valentina hummed unconvincingly. So, to make her feel better about her husband, Lucius resumed speaking. "Besides, you misunderstood me."

Valentina gazed at him curiously.

"I'm not worried about Lyra. She can handle herself. It's those who make the unfortunate decision to trouble her that I am very much concerned over. Her grandfather is extremely particular on receiving a three-day heads up in case she decides to commit murder, you see."

Valentina laughed at Lucius' explanation, believing that he made up a lie to cheer her up, not realising that at that moment, Lucius had been completely and utterly honest with his words. Just then, a ping sound was heard, causing Valentina and Lucius to swivel their heads towards the emergency operation room, where the glass doors were slowly opening.

A group of people came out, wearing a bright, purple suit that covered them from head to toe along with safety goggles while carrying chatter with them, seemingly happy if their smiles and laughs were anything to go by.

"Guess it's over," Valentina commented.

Lucius watched as a bunch of house-elves popped into existence, their hands thrust forward on which the healers discarded their medical equipment and the outermost layer of clothes. Then, in a union, they brought out their wands and muttered a spell. Lucius noticed that each of them was enveloped by a flash of light and when it dissolved, they looked...cleaner and a smidge more refreshed than earlier.

"Lyra!" Valentina called out, motioning with a hand for her to come there.

Lyra turned upon hearing her name, confusion and astonished upon spotting him standing beside Valentina's desk. She said something to the rest of the healers, most likely asking to be excused, before making her way over.

"Lucius," Lyra's voice contained hints of surprise as she approached him. "What are you doing here?" she paused, narrowing her eyes at him with worry. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" Her eyes roamed over his figure, checking for any oddities and being relieved when she didn't find any.

Lucius chuckled, although he was touched by her concern. "No, I did not sustain any injuries today." He shrugged his shoulders. "I came because I was worried when you hadn't come home."

Lyra threw her hands up in the air with frustration. "We've talked about this multiple times, Lucius, so I dearly hope for your sake that this is the last time I'll be repeating it: I. Am. Not. Going. To. Commit. Murder. Merlin! I mean, I'll think about it. I'll bodily harm people but I will not kill them; I like being part of the House of Black and do not wish to be disowned. Have some more faith in me, would you?"

Valentina, clearly eavesdropping, giggled; assuming this to be an inside joke between the couple not knowing that again, both Lyra and Lucius were being serious at the moment.

Lucius rolled his eyes. He trusted Lyra on many things- about her decisions regarding how to go about life, her fashion choices, that she wouldn't ask one of her pet snakes to bite him, to be faithful to their relationship, to carry his secrets with her to the grave and so much more.

However, he did not believe her words on two things: murder and insanity; for the simple reason that she was Heiress Black. Both qualities were in her blood, passed down from generation to generation and completely okay'd within her family as long as a quick heads-up was given on the former and the latter didn't cause them to commit murder without prior notice.

"Oh, all right. I promise to not question you about your murderous tendencies as long as you don't put them into practice without giving me a small forewarning. Happy?"

"Extremely." Lyra smiled, standing on her toes and softly kissing him in a way that lingered in the air and caused Lucius' heart to summersault.

"It's almost sunset," he whispered into her lips. "Would you like to eat an early dinner outside?"

"I would love that," she stated, kissing him again before drawing back, smiling. "Give me a moment to grab my things and we can go."

The corners of Lucius' lips tugged upwards. "That would be lovely." he intoned, prompting Lyra to give him one last smile -the kind that made her eyes twinkle like the stars that her family was obsessed with- before turning on her heels and heading off towards the staff locker room to obtain her personal belongings.

A dreamy sigh brought Lucius back to the present. He turned to face the general direction in which the sound had come from, making him meet Valentina's eyes. He sent her a quizzing look.

"Why can't my husband be like you?" she whined, pressing her lips together. "Or I, be like Lyra? Anything works, really."

"Because," Lucius started, a smile quipping his lips. "If you and your husband were like myself and Lyra, Maria wouldn't have been born. Now that would have been devastatingly tragic."

The mention of her daughter worked like a charm and instantly made Valentina's expression melt. Taking advantage of the fact that Lucius had to wait for Lyra, Valentina immediately began to elucidate all of her toddler daughter's habits, the ones that she found cute and the ones that she found disgusting, claiming that Maria received all the former traits from herself and the latter from her husband.

Lucius dutifully listened; or at least, made it appear as though he did by nodding his head at all the correct moments and release humming sounds at others, thanks to years of practise on applying this method during galas and whenever he had been obliged to speak with someone he didn't like.

Being rude to Valentina was out of the question, at least for another week or so, after which their stay in Argentina would end. Lyra invited Valentina along with her many, new-found colleagues frequently for lunch and she would be heavily disappointed in him should he strain her relationship with them or make matters awkward. So all Lucius could do was mentally pray to Lady Hecate that Lyra made herself visible soon.

The Goddess of Magic appeared to be taking it kindly on him today, possibly believing that Lucius had suffered enough for that day considering he worked with Catalina, for Lyra arrived with an arm slung into what he knew to be a bottomless handbag at the exact moment Valentina had been about to divulge into the strategies she had planned for Maria's bathroom-training phase.

Lucius had never been happier to see his fiancée. He immediately dashed to her side, looping his arm into hers. "Oh, there you are, life! Come on, we better get going, dinner is going to get cold, otherwise," he stated, all but dragging a highly confused yet amused Lyra towards the apparition point of the floor.

Lyra abruptly stood her ground, making Lucius halt as well, proceeding to gaze at her questioningly. "But I haven't spoken at all with Valentina today. Give me five minutes and then, we can go."

"But dinner will get cold if we wait any longer. I'm sure you can talk to her tomorrow." Lucius insisted, choosing not to add the when I am not here part at the end of his sentence.

Lyra's eyes glittered with mirth at his response. However, because she was capable of small mercies and also due to the pleading look that decorated Lucius' face, Lyra nodded her head understandingly.

"Alright. Let me at least say goodbye," she intoned, swivelling her head towards an amused Valentina. "Bye, Valentina."

"Bye, Lyra, see you tomorrow." Valentina waved her hand, a small smile on her face as she watched the interaction of the couple.

Lucius smiled politely as well. "Merry greet, Valentina, goodbye," he stated and before Valentina could return his greeting, Lucius had already rushed himself and Lyra to the apparition point.

Lyra made a show of rolling her eyes, prompting Valentina to giggle, nodding her head in agreement to the silent, exasperated sentiment of boys; before Lyra and Lucius disappeared in a whirl.

Valentina sighed as she gazed to where she stood. "They're adorable." she declared to nobody in particular before gathering her belongings and preparing to go home herself.

When Lyra and Lucius had initially arrived in Argentina roughly three months ago, they had been admittedly reluctant to explore the culture, especially with respect to food, being absolute on having tea and toast in the morning and such. It had only been towards the second month when they had tasted delicacies such as pisa la parilla and empanadas; after which they were hooked, prompting them to eat anything and everything that Argentina had to offer (which was a lot).

However, now that their three months in Argentina were coming to a swift end with only a week left, the couple were rushing to really dissolve themselves into the rich heritage of the wonderful country. It was sad that just as they had settled themselves into a routine, they were scheduled to leave. This fact also brought them to make a mutual, silent vow that the next places they visited, they would express no hesitation and try it all.

September brought the loveliest weather to the country. Back in Britain, where overcast skies were as common as brown eyes, Argentina was pleasantly warm with sporadic amounts of rain that month and with the sun shining for most days.

The Manor that they were staying at had wide grounds and a balcony that gave view to a mountain sun-set. That dazzling sight was what caused Lyra and Lucius to have very early dinners together, so they could be in each other's company while watching the sun slowly but surely dip into the space between the mountain peaks.

So, even that day, Lyra and Lucius quickly freshened up and got ready for dinner, sitting on the little table in their balcony, where a spread of Asados was being grilled on a parillo; had been laid down by the House Elves.

"What were you talking about with Valentina before I came?" Lyra asked curiously as they sat down. "You looked like you had just spilt blood on Grandmother Melania's carpets." She paused, adding. "Not that I speak from experience, of course."

"Of course," Lucius agreed simply because he didn't wish to know the alternative. He cleared his throat to answer. "Valentina was oh-so-kindly explaining to me the various strategies that she was considering to impose when her daughter would have to be...toilet-trained." he grimaced.

Lyra laughed, more at his expression than the incident itself, and since she was capable of granting small mercies (and because Lucius would whine otherwise), she expertly changed the topic, looking sideways where the sun was about to disappear.

"It's hard to think that it is the same sun that we see back in Britain, isn't it? I mean, I know it is, but there's something mystical about the way the sun sets here." she mused, eyes shining and smiling in a dazzling manner as she met his eyes again. "Don't you agree? Isn't it very beautiful?"

"It is," Lucius responded honestly, wearing a faint smile on his face as he gazed at Lyra.

Around them, a sunset scattered across the sky like the smearing of paint on a canvas, filling it with hues of bright pinks, soft navy blues and lilacs. Yet, despite all the beauty surrounding Lucius, he couldn't take his eyes off that smile.

Something about it cut deep into his soul, like a hand reaching into the spaces between his ribcage and jerking him forward; as if to make him pay attention- this was important. The person in front of him was precious.

The space between him and Lyra looked like an invisible, silk string, directly linking them together like they were a matching pair- two things that wouldn't make sense apart but made everything clearer together.

Lyra noticed him staring and arched an eyebrow with a silent question.

Lucius softly shook his head, his smile stretching. "It's nothing. I just wanted to say that I love you."

The light that entered Lyra's smile at his statement could have put a lumos maxima to shame with the way it made her eyes twinkle.

"I love you too," Lyra stated and her voice was the finest of velvets.

A song that Lucius had never heard played before she arrived into his life, but had now, memorised the lyrics to. Even after them being together for nearly two and a half years, each moment with her still felt unique in the most marvellous way possible.

And whenever those three words, more precious than his ancestral inheritance and more magical than Lady Hecate herself, echoed from the Lyra's lips, it tended to surround him and re-play over and over in his mind like a stuck record.

If Lucius could remain there forever, with Lyra, he would accept that opportunity in less than a heartbeat.

He wants to.

Lyra must have seen it on his face because a fond expression crossing her face was the only warning he had before she began laughing again. A symphony in its most exquisite form. A rush of serotonin bombarded him at that second. She was happy and seeing her happiness made him happy.

When Lyra calmed down, she asked. "So, how was your day?"

Lucius scowled at her question, eyebrows bunching together as he explained to her his frustration with Catalina's superior knowledge in history, not that he would ever admit it to her, of course; as they started to eat dinner, the sun finally setting for the day.

He remembered once in their fifth year, Lyra had stated that she loved sunsets because they were proof that endings could be beautiful; Lucius would now agree with her assessment. To him, there was nothing more flawless or beautiful than being with her at that instance.

Regulus' steps were pronounced yet haste, his eyes swirling with a striking resemblance to the storm that was taking place outside. The greys and darkness in his eyes reflected the turbulent tides of the sea when the tempest would swallow ships and men whole without remorse. There was also fury etched on his face and so, he was given a wide berth of space by everybody, especially those who had witnessed the same thunderous expression that had laid on his sister's face, knew to behave more cautiously whenever they spotted such rage on the face of a Black.

Regulus made a bee-line for Narcissa's room. Without bothering to knock, he simply swung the door open, abruptly announcing his presence. However, Narcissa had also studied in the same school as Lyra for five years and so, wasn't particularly surprised or startled by his intrusion.

Rather, she merely smiled while signalling with a slight inclination of her head for Leonard, who had been conversing with her, to leave. Leonard complied with her wordless command, slipping out of the room silently, understanding the need for privacy and that it was most likely a family matter while shutting the door behind him.

Narcissa's face was calm when she addressed him. "Hello, Regulus."

"This is the third time I've had to duel someone to keep my crown!" Regulus exploded immediately, not having the patience to say niceties. He briskly strolled over to where Narcissa was seated and settled down beside her, swivelling to face her. "Third time, Cissa. Third. And that is only this month. Combining how I had to duel six students in September and four in October, that would mean I've had to duel thirteen Slytherins till now and it's only November!"

"At least the numbers are decreasing." Narcissa offered placidly, ushering a glare from Regulus. That was when she took the opportunity to observe her cousin. Really observe what he was feeling in his depths rather than believe the image he projected on the surface.

With her brows bunched up, Narcissa pulled out her wand and before Regulus could come up with protests, waved it over his face, instantly causing all the very many and very heavy glamours that he had applied to fall, making Narcissa softly gasp.

He looked bloody exhausted.

Violent, violet bags were hung under his eyes while his hair was matted, tangled and unwashed. There were bruises of purple and blue littering his skin and his lips were shunned downwards. He seemed too tired to even smile.

Concern and worry instantly washed over Narcissa as she gently placed a palm on his cheek, taking care to not sting a deep, open cut that had marred his cheekbones. Regulus hissed at the contact.

"What happened to you?" Narcissa whispered.

Regulus' lips, which were split and bleeding, wavered into a weak, forced smile. "Third time, Cissa. Third time this month." He repeated.

Narcissa pursed her lips into a hard line. Mutely, she gripped her wand tightly and began to mutter healing spells, the ones that she had heard Lyra use so many times to heal simple wounds that they would receive. Narcissa sadly did not know how to heal his broken nose, his shoulder dislocation or any of the other, more serious injuries. It was times like this she wished that Lyra had never left.

Narcissa understood the reason why Regulus had applied those glamours. Injuries were seen as a weakness, something the king of Slytherin could not afford to have. The rulers of Slytherin were supposed to project an image of perfection onto others, represent all the ideals and mottos that the house was based upon and act as a pillar of strength for the snakes. Should Regulus and Narcissa show even a semblance of fragility, they would be immediately challenged for the crown, after which they would have to defend their throne and prove that they were still powerful.

Regulus winced under the cooling effects of the plethora of spells that Narcissa had cast. He physically looked better than earlier. However, he maintained the impression of a poor, dirty muggle who had been on the receiving end of her family's wands. Regulus, at that moment, seemed nothing like the pureblood prince he had been raised as.

"Thank you," Regulus said softly, eyes closed and breathing laboured. Narcissa simply nodded her head, not trusting her words to be coherent after having seen her little brother in such a horrid state. There was a heartbeat of silence between them before Regulus spoke, reopening his eyes. "Did Lyra have to deal with this? All this duelling? I mean, she and Lucius were eleven and were given authority to command seventh years and even actual adults. Did she have to constantly duel them all the time to assert her power?"

"I don't think so," Narcissa replied gently. "Yes, she did have to duel a couple of fools but it wasn't as often as you and I have to. I think she duelled the same number of people you did in these three months during her whole term. Lucius had to duel even lesser than that."

"Oh," Regulus stated because how else could he respond to such news? He sighed.

Regulus had had an irking that this much challenging to his crown wasn't natural, and Narcissa's words confirmed his suspicion. And unfortunately, Regulus had even theorised a reason to answer why this abrupt increase in mutinies was occurring during his and Narcissa's term as well.

The members of the House of Slytherin no longer believed in the House of Black to lead them.

In their defence, the House of Black had adopted a mudblood and allowed a blood traitor to remain. Two, if Sirius could be counted. Regulus had gotten accustomed to hearing about how his family, previously proud practitioners of toujours pur, should be unable to use that motto any longer. The abuse hurled against his family over that issue had only gotten worse when news of Andromeda being pregnant with a half-blood child reached the ears of the public.

The House of Black which had always followed the ideals and stood behind the opinions of the dark tier had recently begun supporting neutral-inclined bills and views; something that didn't sit well with the Lords of the dark families. Now, they were being dubbed as 'blood-traitors' in hushed whispers as the gossip being circulated lately consisted of the beginning of the downfall of the Most Ancient and, according to the public, once Noble House of Black.

Invites to galas lessened while rumours were surrounding them, ones that the House of Black hadn't originally started. Sure people still feared them but now, they mocked them as well.

There was also a subtle shift in the tides of power recently. It was seen in the way more and more students began to wear long sleeves to cover up the dark ink that had been branded onto their forearms. It was seen in the way people spoke of a saviour who would eliminate the muggle taint from their pure world. It was seen in the way students considered the authority of the Court binding no longer. How they cared no more and flocked towards the ones who held more power like moths to light. And now, the Dark Lord was apparently more powerful, influential and reliable than a system that had worked for thousands of years.

It hadn't just been him who was repeatedly challenged. Narcissa, the Silver Queen, herself had had to participate in seven duels till date and something told Regulus that despite what she had said earlier, the number of duels they would have to fight in to keep their crown would only increase henceforth, as the parasite that was the upcoming Dark Lord --at least, in the words of his grandfather Arcturus-- would only grow.

"At the rate that we are being challenged, we might not even have subjects to rule over." Regulus voiced and although Narcissa didn't comment, they both knew she agreed.

The Court customs clearly stated that should a challenger lose a duel, they along with all those who supported them would be barred from everything that the Slytherin Court would have to offer. They would have been socially boycotted and their futures, tarnished forever without the influence of the Slytherin Court behind them.

Previously in the past, it was considered very dishonourable and a great insult to have been kicked out by the Court and those persons would have been highly ridiculed, would find no opportunities and their dreams would have been shattered; as seen in the cases of Otis and Darla Selwyn, both of whom were unemployed and surrounded by misery.

Now, however, people behaved in a manner that suggested they were apathetic and oblivious to all the traditions and customs that were practised. Whenever a person lost in the duel against either Regulus or Narcissa, many of the snakes stood by them and subsequently, forgoed the Court system. While the rulers were pleased with the show of unity, they were horrified that the support was for all the wrong reasons, that the support was against the Royal Slytherin Court. As each duel to claim the crowns took place, the number of students that the Court governed noticeably shrunk.

Regulus had lost sleep in futile hopes of being enlightened with ideas of what he should do about this. He had consulted his grandparents, parents and Uncle Alphard, who had been a King himself; only to receive no real advice. These sort of incidents had never occurred during any of their times and so they, like him, were at a loss of what to do.

And while Regulus dearly wished to ask Lyra her opinion on this, he felt that move would be incredibly selfish of him. It was not a secret among the members of their family that Lyra did not like the Dark Lord and one of the reasons she had decided to accompany Lucius on his Heir travels was to get away from the Dark Lord's influence. Regulus had read her letters and she seemed to be happy. It was rare that his sister was allowed to be happy so Regulus did not want to wash away Lyra's happiness with his burdens.

Narcissa's musical voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I know what you are thinking about and I agree. I'm worried about that as well but honestly, I'm more worried about you. Let's get you healed up first."

"I'm not going to the infirmary." Regulus started immediately.

"I know," Narcissa responded, rising to her feet and walking towards the bookshelf in her room. "Lyra used to read in my room often and constantly forgot to take her healing books. I have some of them here. Let's see what we can do about your wounds."

Regulus was silent. Finally, he called. "Cissa?"

Narissa made a humming sound in acknowledgement as she searched for Lyra's healing books in a sea of romance novels.

"Don't tell Lyra."

Narcissa paused in her movements but did not turn or comment.

Meanwhile, Regulus resumed speaking. "I don't want Lyra to know about anything- what is happening with the Court and what is happening to me. Don't tell her."

"I won't," Narcissa promised, back turned towards him. "I was about to ask you the same, actually."

Lyra had handed Narcissa the keys to her kingdom with trust that she would be able to handle the pressure and carry on the legacy. Lyra had trained Narcissa on nearly everything, from debates to the art of passing laws. So, how would Lyra react if she saw Narcissa now- with her rule heading for ruins, with revolts frequently rising and members depleting not three months since she formally became queen?

Narcissa blinked away the intrusive thoughts as she successfully spotted a healing book and a short bark of laughter made her turn to face Regulus, who chortled despite the tremendous pain that coursed through him as he remarked, "Glad we are in agreement."

Narcissa smiled sadly. "As am I."