Ain't No Mountain High Enough

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[So he had run into his blood traitor of a sister-in-law. If he didn’t adore his wife, Lucius would wonder about why he married her when one of her sisters was extremely unstable mentally and the other had betrayed her family for love of a Muggleborn. He had nothing against love since he was happily married to Narcissa whom he loved more than life. He just wished that Andromeda hadn’t decided to leave. Narcissa would have been much happier if she hadn’t.

Of course, the last few months since he had gotten out of Azkaban their relationship had been rather rocky. He had been slowly working on fixing things between them and it seemed to be working. There were still hiccups but that was true with every relationship and theirs was no exception. But them working through their troubles however painful it could be was far better than her avoiding him. And he was eternally grateful that she was giving him a second chance.

He had apparated home soon after his run-in with Andromeda and had told a House Elf to let their Mistress know he was home and would be in his study should she need him. He rather hoped that she would come and ask him how his day was. But anymore, all those routines that had been established since they were married had been shattered, and not just by them. He stood at his desk, leaning heavily against it for a moment before he poured himself a generous glass of firewhiskey, though he nursed it as he settled into an armchair in the room.

He started slightly when a House Elf brought his Master some coffee and he nodded curtly at it, the closest he would ever get to thanking a House Elf. It scurried off and left him alone with his thoughts. He poured himself a cup of coffee and then added some of his firewhiskey. He leaned back heavily and pursed his lips as he considered Andromeda Tonks and what he was going to about it in regards to his wife.

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Narcissa had just tossed the last teaspoon of ground bezoar into her potion when the tiny head of a house elf crept into view from behind the cracked door. The lady of the house stiffened and brushed her hands off on the smock she wore, raising a brow at the creature as she stirred the potion twice, waved her wand over it, and watched as the smoke turned a misty white and then a bright turquoise. It continued to smoke, as it would for the next several days, and Narcissa's work was done. She turned to the small creature. "Is there a reason you are standing there like you've lost whatever minute amount of wit you had?" She asked as the timid looking thing stepped further into the room.

"Master sent word that he is in his study, Miss." The small creature squeaked. "Very well," Narcissa said dismissively. "Run along. Surely there's something to clean in this house. If not, clean anyway." She waved a hand and turned her nose up as she carefully untied the black potioneer's apron from around her waist and folded it neatly, laying it beside the gold plated cauldron. 

Head held high, she strolled through her home - purposely ignoring the presence of anyone who dared look at her with any kind of contempt - and made her way to her husband's study. She knocked twice against the doorframe, less to ask permission to come in and more for the purpose of announcing herself. "The elf told me you were home, Husband," She said, voice shockingly casual as she strolled in and perched herself gracefully on the corner of his desk. She glanced down at his cup, full of hot coffee and raised a brow at the choice of beverage."Coffee?" She questioned, purposefully not questioning the obvious scent of the firewhiskey he'd poured into the scalding cup. "Is this a new preference or did you simply have a less than satisfactory day?"

Truthfully, as wounds were mended between the pair, Narcissa had grown more and more uncomfortable with Lucius being out and about. He was a wanted man - public enemy number one, really. His position as a death eater had long since been made clear, and no claims of an unforgivable would save him now. The only thing with the power to restore the good Malfoy name at the current juncture was Draco who, much to Narcissa's pleasure, was doing quite a good job of doing so.

Smoothing the lines of her skirt as she looked to her husband in his armchair, Narcissa canted her head. Lucius looked more weary with each day that passed; whether that was because he was growing more tired or Narcissa was growing more observant was anyone's guess. The woman heaved a quiet sigh and stood from her desk corner perch to make her way over to the armchair where Lucius reclined, placing herself gingerly on the arm of the seat instead. She wrapped an arm around her husband's shoulders and leaned into him. "What is troubling you?"

CODED BY DELL AT BTN:V5

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His thoughts were rather mixed as he stared into his cup but Lucius heard the two knocks on his study door before it opened and he looked up to see his wife stroll in and perch herself on the edge of the desk. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he took Narcissa in. He raised his eyebrow briefly at being called 'husband' but he nodded to show that he had indeed sent a House Elf to tell her that he was home. He evenly said, "Yes," when she asked about his choice of beverage. He would drink it any time of day. He did snort at her question. "I've always drank coffee, Cissa. Though the day wasn’t exactly pleasant." And it was mostly her disowned sister's fault.

He was glad that things gad gotten better between the two of them, it gave him one less thing to worry about, though that was not the reason he had been trying to mend their marriage. He could see her regarding him and knew that he likely looked like a bit of a wreck, though that was hardly anything new. Azkaban had changed him more than he would have liked, and not just in appearance. There were times when thought he might go crazy when he was there and he could even now feel that his composure was much frailer than it was before he was arrested.

It amazed him that she would willingly stand up and sit on the arm of his armchair, placing her arms around his shoulders and leaning against him. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have done that. he wrapped the arm closest to her around her waist and leaned against her as well, a sigh passing briefly through his lips, though whether it was a weary one or one of contentment, he wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it was a little bit of both. Then she asked what was troubling him and he wanted to say everything but he held his tongue and told her as casually as he could, all while watching her carefully. "Andromeda literally ran into me at Flourish & Blotts this afternoon, Cissa."

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Narcissa wrinkled her nose at the revelation that her husband had always drank coffee. She, apparently, had not been paying very close attention to that particular habit. Pursing her lips, she did look down at him as he confessed that the day had been less than pleasant. That certainly wasn't good, but at least it warranted his less-than-put-together appearance. Smoothing out a few frazzled strands of blonde atop her husbands head, she was about to question what had caused him his stress when the answer came tumbling from his mouth unprompted. Narcissa's already pale face blanched and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her composure as she struggled for words.

Slowly shifting away from Lucius, the woman looked at her husband almost incredulously, as though she had not heard him correctly. She swallowed, throat impossibly dry, and in one of her less dignified moments turned to take a shot of the firewhiskey resting on the desk before she could get a single word out. She let it scald her throat and settle warmly in her stomach before she spoke slowly. 

"Andromeda. You're certain?" Though Narcissa hardly doubted the validity of Lucius' claims, she was stalling; she needed to find the proper words to say. Lucius knew full well how sensitive a subject her elder sister could be for the youngest of the Black brood, so it wasn't likely he would question her hesitance. 

"What did she say to you? Rather, what did you say to her? Did she look well?" Angry as Narcissa might have been with her sister for her actions over the years, there was still a deep love for Andromeda ingrained in her that likely would never fade. Bitter as the woman was about her sister choosing someone (a mudblood, no less) over her, family was family, excommunicated or not. That compassion for those tied to her by blood had always been Narcissa's downfall. "Her husband wasn't with her, was he?" 

Not only did Narcissa loathe Ted Tonks, she speculated that he would be the type to turn Lucius in if he spotted him. Andromeda, for all her faults, wouldn't dare do such a thing. Cissa had faith in that much. 

CODED BY DELL AT BTN:V5

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Lucius smirked at his wife's wrinkling her nose at the news that coffee was his beverage of choice for as long as he could remember being allowed the caffeinated beverage. It was slightly adorable and yet a bit sad that she hadn’t paid attention to what he liked to drink. Her lips pursed when he told her that his day was less than stellar and he gave a sigh as she smoothed back a few errant strands of his hair, hair he hadn’t even noticed fell out of place. He frowned when he saw her pale and knew that she needed some time to process what he had just said.

He patiently waited for her respond, smirking when she downed a shot of his firewhiskey. Normally he would have said something about that but he knew that she was steeling herself for whatever he said. She asked if he was certain but he knew that she believed, yet he still nodded. "Quite certain." He picked up his coffee and swirled the warm liquid around before he took another sip, letting Narcissa gather her thoughts. He knew that it was very sensitive and yet she needed to know that they had exchanged words.

He sighed at her questions. "She seemed well enough I suppose, though hardly pleased to see me, just like I was not terribly pleased to see her." He considered what to tell her. "We exchanged words, including me asking why she chose that Muggleborn husband of hers." He moved his arm so he could hold her hand, rubbing comforting, idle circles on the back of her hand with his fingers. He wrinkled his nose at the question of if the Muggleborn was with her. "Thankfully he was absent." He regarded her with slight concern. "Are you alright, Cissa?" He knew that she was close to Andromeda before she had been disowned and blasted off the family tree.

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Lucius' obvious distaste towards having seen Andromeda made Narcissa recoil slightly out of pure instinct. It was a reaction ingrained her very core from years of fussing over her older sister. Narcissa had taken her role in the family a little too seriously, and - always being the quietly sensitive one - had been the one to take offense when anyone spoke out against Andromeda and, to a slightly lesser extent, Bellatrix. She had, eventually, grown out of that, but sometimes the traits and habits that had come with it liked to rear their ugly heads. Soothing herself silently, Narcissa took a step towards her husband again, negating any space she'd put between them.

"I'm fine," She assured him, though her voice wavered slightly.  "Never better in fact." Her tone there was curt and clipped, almost sarcastic. Cissa sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Gaze flickering to the floor, then towards the door, then back to Lucius, there was a long and somewhat uncomfortable pause before the woman spoke again. "I'm glad to hear that she at least seemed well. Happier still to know that she did not have the filthy mudblood in tow. That's always a bonus, isn't it?" Her lips pursed, smug and distasteful all at once as she perched herself on the desk once more. Her hands folded into a thoughtful steeple on her lap.

"I imagine you exchanged words." She didn't really even need to question that. Lucius had never been shy about speaking his mind, and his wife had a hunch that his meeting with Andromeda had been no different. The man she had married no doubt had a few choice words for the bloodtraitor, though for his sake and Narcissa's both, she hoped that he had at least attempted to be polite. "What was the outcome of the conversation? Anything of note or import?"

CODED BY DELL AT BTN:V5