Narcissa bent to pick up the copy of the Daily Prophet she had knocked off of Lucius's desk as she searched for a partial potion recipe she had scribbled down and placed there a week ago and then forgotten.  She peered at the date and only then noticed that it wasn't a current issue, but an old copy of more than a week ago.  The blond woman frowned, wondering why on earth Lucius was saving old copies of the newspaper.  But then she looked at the front page article and raised her eyebrows.  Merlin's shorts, but Snape rescued a child in Diagon Alley.  How oddly heroic.  No wonder Lucius kept this.  He tends to keep tabs on those who disappoint him and watch them closely.  And now he regards Snape as a traitor.

She began to read the article, her own feelings towards Snape were not so harsh, at one point she had considered going out with him during school, but that was before Lucius had expressed an interest in her.  She used to consider her husband a fairy tale prince, but that had been when she was young and foolish, before she realized that his suave charming air hid an obsession with dark magic and a finely honed streak of cruelty.  She had always been careful not to anger him, he was dangerous when roused, like a spitting king cobra, and yet she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. 

But though she had been raised in a pureblood environment, she was not a fanatic like her sister Bella was.  When she had discovered that Lucius was a part of Voldemort's inner circle, she had been frightened, for Voldemort was deadly and unpredictable, and she was afraid that if Lucius managed to displease him, he would die.  She did not trust Voldemort, he was mad and his wrath fell on his followers as often as it did on enemy wizards and Muggles.  She had often wished Lucius would not have involved himself with the Death Eaters, but knew better than to voice it aloud.  She had wished for it even more once she had Draco, for she did not want her son to travel the dark path.  Voldemort's supposed demise had caused her to feel more relief than anything else, though she was careful to display the appropriate rage and sorrow around her husband.  It was what was expected of a Death Eater's wife, and Narcissa had been raised to follow the expectations of her family. 

She peered at the picture of the child in Snape's arms.  Funny, but she looks a good deal like my Draco when he was that age.  How strange.  Lucius assured me he was the last of the Malfoys, there were only a few distaff cousins, his sister died from dragon pox when she was small. 

Narcissa drew her wand and tapped it against the paper, enlarging and clarifying the photo.  Yes, there definitely was a resemblance, Narcissa mused.  She had the same shade of hair as Draco and Lucius and the same set of nose and jaw.  Narcissa resumed reading the article, trying to see if a name was mentioned anywhere, but there was nothing save a brief mention that she was a Squib and used to live in Astoria Park, with her mother, until the latter's death. 

Astoria Park was an upscale wizarding neighborhood, Narcissa knew from visiting acquaintances who had flats there.  She wondered how it had come about that the girl had ended up on the streets.  Had the mother spent all of their money? Perhaps that was why Lucius had saved the paper.  To check a connection with this unknown child, Squib or not, family was important to purebloods, Narcissa mused.

She set the paper down and resumed her search for the potions recipe, only to come across a piece of parchment wedged in the crack at the back of the desk.  Maybe the recipe had gotten caught here.  Narcissa pried the parchment free and opened it. 

But it was not a potions recipe.  It was a letter to Lucius.  Narcissa was about to fold it and set it aside, she did not read her husband's correspondences, but the signature caught her eye.

Hugs and kisses,

Your beloved,

Valina

Narcissa froze.  She knew no one named Valina.  Unable to stop herself, she read the entire letter, which was a note asking Lucius to come and visit soon and see her baby daughter, Holly.  She is so precious and sweet, I love her to pieces and know you will too when you see her, Dragon.  I think she looks like you, but you'll have to see for yourself.

Narcissa put a hand to her head.  Her temples were beginning to throb and she sat down abruptly in the desk chair.  She re-read the letter again and yet again before her shocked brain could comprehend everything. No.  This cannot be happening.  Lucius would not . . .he would not do that to me . . .I've been a good wife, I gave him an heir, I host all the meetings and parties he wishes to further his career in the Ministry . . .

But there she was, holding a letter from a woman who had obviously been Lucius's mistress, and who had apparently borne a child by him.  Suddenly it all clicked.  The times during their marriage, right after Draco was born and she was sick, Lucius had gone out frequently, claiming he had business meetings.  That pattern had continued throughout the years.  She had never really thought anything of it, her husband was a busy man with a prominent post and thus it required him to be away much of the time.

Except now she saw those little trips for what they truly were-lies and deceptions.

She recalled her mother talking to her once, when she had become engaged and was still a giddy girl.  You must be constant, Narcissa, and accepting as well.  A good wife understands that sometimes a man . . .well, they are different from us, and they sometimes grow restless . . .perhaps even stray from you for awhile . . . but if you don't make a fuss he will return to you a wiser and better man.

She had not understood what her mother meant then, but now she did.  Now she understood all too well, she thought bitterly.  She felt deeply hurt, that Lucius could betray her like that, after all she had done.  She had always been faithful to him, she had never so much as looked at another man once she was married.  And all the time she had been taking care of their son and hosting banquets and such for his clients and the Minister, Lucius had been out having a good old time with . . . with Valina.

Tears burned the back of her eyes and she gritted her teeth and half crumpled the letter in her hand.  She scanned the picture in the paper again, and this time she noticed just how much Holly resembled her father.

Damn you, Lucius! Damn you to the darkest hell!

She wanted to rip the picture and the letter to shreds, but she restrained herself.  They were proof of his infidelity.  Her mother's voice floated back into her head.  Sometimes they stray . . .you must be accepting, Narcissa, they are only men . . . and men have always been creatures of impulse . . .

She bit her lip hard, furious.  Is that what you did, Mother? Turned a blind eye when Daddy went out to visit his other woman?  Well, not me! I'm sick and tired of playing the good little wife.  I'm not a doormat, damn it! I refuse to have a double standard, not in my home!

Narcissa wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  Her mother had been wrong.  She could not just ignore this.  She was not at fault here, she had always done her best to be considerate and supportive, her only flaw had been her inability to provide Lucius with more than one child.  The Black women had always had problems carrying children to term and were lucky to have more than one child.  Having Draco had almost finished her, after that the Healer had said she was at risk and should not have any more children. 

Is that why you went and found her, Luc? Because I was used goods and your perfect Malfoy self could not bear it? Did you love her? Did you think of her at night when you slept next to me?  Was she pretty? Did she make your heart race, damn you?

She stuffed the letter and the paper in her pocket and decided to satisfy her curiosity about Valina once and for all.  Angry as she was, she couldn't help wondering what the other witch had been like.  Given the headline in the paper, she was certain that everyone in that neighborhood would know where Valina had lived and perhaps some of them would be willing to talk about her.  A little girl.  You could have had a little girl with me, Luc, if only . . .Stop it, Cissy.  What's done is done.  But I will never forgive him for carrying on like that under my nose.  All those years . . .She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, casting a quick Glamour charm to hide the fact that she had been crying. 

She had a good two hours before Lucius came home from work and Draco from his tutor. Plenty of time to unearth some secrets.

* * * * * *

Lucius had just arrived home from the Ministry and had hung his cloak up on the cloak rack and was about to summon Dobby to get him a shot of firewhiskey when Narcissa entered the manor. Startled, Lucius looked up and saw that Narcissa looked mad enough to cast the Cruciatus on him.  Puzzled, he inquired, "Cissy, where were you?"

"Finding out some information," she said shortly.  "We need to talk, Lucius."

"Can it wait? I just got home."

She shook her head.  "No, it can't."

He rolled his eyes.  "What could possibly be so important that it can't wait until I've had a drink and something to eat?" Seeing the light of battle darken her eyes, he waved her across the long black and white marble tiled floor to his study. 

She strode into the wood paneled room and remained waiting until Lucius came in.  He promptly seated himself in his comfortable leather chair and put his feet up casually on his desk while eyeing Narcissa in frank amusement.  "Dobby!" He snapped his fingers.

The house elf appeared immediately.  "Yes, Master?"

"Bring me a shot of firewhiskey and some of those crab canapés."

"Yes, Master Lucius.  Right away, sir." Dobby bowed, practically groveling, and then vanished.

Three minutes later, a plate and a glass popped up on the desk. Lucius flicked back the firewhiskey with lazy precision, then set the glass down.  "Now, Cissy, what's got your skirt in a knot? Your little women's club cancel the annual spring party or whatever?"

Narcissa bristled inwardly at his condescending tone. She removed the paper and the letter from the pocket of her midnight blue robes and slapped them pointedly down on the desk.  "Recognize these?" she demanded.  "This is what has me spitting mad, Lucius Daine Malfoy."

Lucius looked at the newspaper clipping and the letter and went pale as a dead flobberworm.  "Where did . . .how . . .?" he sputtered, at a loss for words.

"I found both of them on your desk.  Actually, the letter was stuck in a crack at the back of the desk."

"What were you searching for, Cissy?" he immediately recovered, taking an aggressive tone.  "You know I hate you going through my papers."

"I was looking for the potions recipe I'd left there.  You were examining it last night.  And instead I found those." Her fingernail stabbed the papers angrily.  "How long have you had this mistress, Luc? Did you engage her right after Draco was born, or did you wait a few weeks out of courtesy?"

Lucius was swearing a blue streak silently, furious at his oversight.  He should have made sure all of Valina's letters were cinders and that particular copy of the Prophet burnt to ash as well.  But after his humiliation at Snape's house, he had forgotten he still had a copy of the Prophet, and somehow that single letter-the one announcing Holly's birth ironically-had escaped his notice.  The sins of the past shall come back to haunt you threefold.  The old saying drifted into his head, but he brushed it off and composed his face into something resembling neutrality. 

"It was a moment's indiscretion, Cissy.  And it's over.  Don't get yourself all worked up over nothing, darling."

"Nothing! This is not nothing, Lucius! Merlin's blasted balls, but you had a child with this woman-Valina Sinclair.  You bloody bounder, you cheated on me!" she exploded, shaking with the force of her rage and hurt.  "Was she younger than me? Was that how you rationalized your behavior?"

Lucius's own temper began to ignite, for he did not like the tone his wife was taking with him, nor the slight feeling of guilt her words stirred in his cold heart.  "I need explain nothing to you, Narcissa.  Suffice to say that I needed a woman and she was available and willing when you were not. As I said before, she was a fling."

"That's not what this says," Narcissa picked up the letter and thrust it under his nose.  "I love you now more than ever, Dragon.  You have given me a gift beyond price and now we are truly one."  That doesn't sound like a momentary fling to me, Luc! She really loved you, damn it!"

"So what if she did? She was a romantic fool, like most women.  She knew it could come to naught, I made that perfectly clear to her the first time I escorted her home.  But she refused to accept that, and when . . .the baby was born . . .she became even more attached to me."

"Because you had given her no reason not to be!" Narcissa snapped.  "You brought her presents and flowers and jewelry, her and her little girl both! I know, I asked her neighbors and they told me how you used to visit there three times a month sometimes and you always brought something with you.  And it went on for years-years! I wouldn't consider that a brief affair, Malfoy!"

Lucius brought his hand down on the desk top with a sharp smack.  "And I told you-it is over, Narcissa. So what does it matter now?"

"She might be dead, but her daughter isn't! What about her, Luc?"

He waved his hand in dismissal.  "She is a Squib.  Useless and of no importance to me."

Narcissa was speechless for a moment.  Holy Merlin, I knew he was prejudiced against those who bore almost no magic and Muggles especially, but this . . .this is his own flesh and blood we're talking about! How can he just abandon his own daughter? Not that I want here here, but still . . .His callus attitude shocked her and she cried, "You would treat your own daughter that way?  How could you?"

Lucius's eyes narrowed.  "Why would you care, Cissy? She is not your concern.  Or mine anymore."

"She is your daughter! Don't you care enough to see that she is looked after?"

Lucius shrugged.  "That was her mother's concern, not mine."

"But she's dead."

"I know.  Dead these four weeks, in an unfortunate potions accident."

Something about the way he said that made Narcissa's blood run cold.  And suddenly she knew that Valina Sinclair's death had been no accident.  "It wasn't." The slender witch whispered, almost to herself.  "You did it."

"Did what? Rid myself of an inconvenience?" drawled her husband.  "Yes, I arranged for the wrong ingredients to be brought down to her workstation, mislabeled.  Don't tell me you feel sad that she is dead? The rival for my affections?"

"I . . .I . . ." Narcissa stammered.  Earlier today she would have said she would never weep for the woman who had stolen away her husband, that she had deserved to die.  But that was before she had gone searching for answers and discovered that Valina Sinclair had been a halfway decent woman, according to those she had spoken to.  None of them had said anything derogatory about her, save that she had fallen in with a bounder, a man who would never love her. "I would not wish that death on anyone," she managed at last.  "Why did you kill her?"

"She refused to give up her daughter.  And she lied to me, hiding the fact that girl was a Squib from me.  Treacherous bitch!  Expecting me to continue supporting her and her brat, when the child was a Squib! I had hoped, with her lines and mine . . ."

"You sound like someone looking to breed a horse," Narcissi said disgustedly.  "Was that why you went to her? Because I could have no more children and was flawed?"

"I never said that," he began, trying to placate her.

"You didn't need to.  I know you too well, Luc.  If something is broken or imperfect you do what Malfoys always do-you get rid of it.  I couldn't have any more children, so you found a mistress.  When she bore you a Squib you decided to get rid of her and her daughter too! What's next? If Draco disappoints you, will you disown him and leave him in the snow to die?"

Lucius scowled.  "Oh, quit being so dramatic, Cissy.  I would never disown Draco, not unless he did something unforgivable . . .like marrying a Muggle or something.  You're making a mountain out of a molehill."

"I think not.  At first, I thought you had fallen in love with her, and while it hurt, I suppose I might have eventually forgiven you it.  I should have known better.  You love only two things, yourself and your precious Malfoy name.  Three, because I think you love Draco.  Merlin only knows if you loved me once.  But I would have been content, Luc, because I loved you and that was enough. I-"

"Narcissa, enough! I refuse to discuss this further!" he thundered, a warning gleam in his eye.

"I don't give a damn what you want, Lucius!  Your little affair just ruined your marriage, you selfish self-serving prig!" shouted Narcissa, incensed that he thought she would take this lying down.

"Ruined our marriage?" he repeated incredulously.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm divorcing you."

"Divorcing me?" he burst out laughing.  "Oh, Cissy, how many champagne cocktails did you have? Divorce? Over this? Please, talk sense, for Merlin's sake! I've done nothing to insult your honor, dear wife.  It's perfectly acceptable for a man of my class to have a mistress.  Your father had one, and did your mother divorce him?"

"I am NOT my mother!" shrieked Narcissa.  "I refuse to live her life, you bloody hypocrite! I was faithful to you always and this was how you repaid me-by having an affair and a child with another woman! And if you think I'm going to just stand here and say-oh, that's nice dear, now let's go have dinner-think again, Mr. Malfoy!" To her horror, tears began to roll down her cheeks. She quickly dashed them away.

"Cissy, you wouldn't dare divorce me.  The scandal would destroy you."

"I don't give a bloody damn."

"You do.  And think about Draco.  You wouldn't want him to start Hogwarts with that hanging over him, now would you?"

"Better that than living in a house with two people who despise each other," Narcissa flared.  "And you'd have more scandal to live down than I would!"

Lucius stood up abruptly.  "Narcissa, don't push me." His face was like granite.

Once she would have backed down.  But she was too angry and for once she stood her ground.  "Or what? You'll arrange for me to have an accident too? Be careful, Lucius.  Two dead woman and people will talk, maybe even investigate.  Wouldn't want the Malfoy name dragged through the muck, now would you?"

"Don't threaten me, little witch." He loomed over her, but she was not cowed. He reached for her and made as if to kiss her, but she drew away.

Then she slapped him hard across the face.

"Bastard! Do you think you can buy me off with that, you rotten pig? What do you think I am?"

"A foolish hysterical idiot, like most of your sex.  If you walk away, Narcissa, you won't ever see Draco again."

"An empty threat, Lucius! I'm his mother, and they usually grant custody to mothers. You can expect a visit from my solicitor," she declared haughtily, then she snatched the papers off the desk, spun on her heel, and walked out.

She almost ran over Draco, who had come home from his tutor and had been listening in horrified astonishment to his parents' quarrel. "Draco!"

"Mother? What's going on? Where are you going?"

"Away for awhile.  I promise I'll explain everything later." She said quickly, hugging him briefly. When she drew away, he caught sight of the picture of Snape, Harry, and Holly.

"Who's that girl?"

"Your half-sister, Holly."

Draco goggled at her.  He hadn't been quite sure he'd heard correctly, but his mother's words confirmed the astonishing terrible truth. 

"I'll write you as soon as I can.  Don't do anything to cross your father, dragonling. Act like you know nothing.  I'll come for you soon, promise. Love you." Then she kissed him on the cheek and Apparated before he could say anything else. 

Draco stood there in the middle of the foyer, his mind spinning round and round.  Surely this was some bizarre nightmare, he had fallen asleep again over his penmanship exercises and soon his tutor would awaken him with a sharp shake. But his mother's words echoed in his head . . .Your half-sister . . .You'll arrange for me to have an accident too . . . I was faithful to you always and this was how you repaid me-by having an affair and a child with another woman!  Before he could ponder any further on the conversation he had overheard, the door to the study opened and Lucius came out.

"Draco, when did you get home?" he inquired calmly.

"Just now, Father.  Why?"

"No reason."

"Where's Mother?" Draco asked casually, wanting to see how his father would react.

Lucius did not twitch an eyebrow, saying quietly, "She has gone away for awhile.  To her sister's.  Your Aunt Andromeda."

"When? Today? How long will she be gone?" Slick, Father.  Very smooth.  I might have bought it, if I didn't overhear what I did. Draco thought angrily.

"A month or so.  She needed a little vacation, son.  But I think you and I can manage ourselves just fine. Right?" He clapped his son on the back and gave him a small smile.  Draco nodded quickly.  "Now, I believe you have homework, yes? Go upstairs and work on it.  Dobby will call you for dinner in an hour and a half. I have some business to settle."

"Yes, Father," Draco said obediently, and made as if to go upstairs.

Lucius returned to his study, and Draco quickly went and put an ear to the door. Lucius's words had unsettled him deeply. 

Inside the study, Lucius was pacing and cursing.  "Damn that Squib girl to hell!  Had I known the trouble she would cause, I would have drowned her at birth. I must get rid of her, then Narcissa will return to me." He paused, then added, "And I shall Obliviate Narcissa, so this subject will never come up again."

Draco backed away, his gray eyes wide.  He had always known his father was not a man to cross, he had learned early to never throw tantrums around him, or else receive a swift whipping, and he had always feared more than loved the elder wizard.  But he had never understood just how ruthless and cruel the man was until now. 

He crept away and up to his room, shaking slightly and wishing he could have left with his mother.  His world had been turned upside down and he did not know what to think or what to do.  Except for one thing.  He quickly pulled out a clean piece of parchment and began to write. 

After five minutes, he whistled for his sleek eagle owl, Bolt.

The big gray owl flew over and perched upon his shoulder, chirruping eagerly.  "Here, boy.  Deliver this to Mother, okay?" He ruffled Bolt's feathers gently. He tied the note upon the owl's leg and opened the window.

The owl flew off into the sunset and Draco shut the window and then lay down on his bed, trying to make sense of the disaster that had occurred.