Friends by Chance Lovers by Choice

Stress and Anxiety

There were only a couple of days until the New Year's Eve Ball and we were frantically trying to get everything ready. The house elves were working themselves into exhaustion as were we, but it was looking incredible.

The ball room was covered in floating candles and twinkling lights, the entryway was lit up by the incredulous chandelier swinging overhead, the elves were beginning to prep for the feast, and a live band had been scheduled to play along with the enchanted orchestra.

I hadn't seen much of Cissy or Draco, all of us doing our own thing to prepare for that night. I was currently working on the guest list and adding those that had replied to the invites in the last day. We were nearing close to 100 different families at this point. Merlin knows how many people were actually going to be at this thing.

I wasn't a big fan of social gatherings, especially ones of this caliber, and was a bit nervous. Being a pureblood myself I had attended many of my parent's parties as well as the ones they were invited to so I was well accustomed to hiding my anxiety.

At least this time I'd have friends and Narcissa. Glancing down the guest list I recognized quite a few names from school: Parkinson, Zabini, Nott, and several others, all Slytherin students. Pansy would keep me company that night if she wasn't off snogging some random guy in the Malfoy's dungeon.

I sat back in my chair and sighed, needing a break. I walked down to the kitchen for a glass of water and ran into Draco seemingly doing the same as I.

"I'm already ready for this to be over. Mum has me running around like a bat out of Hell. I'm happy to help but Merlin, there's a lot more to these things than I ever knew." Draco ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the counter.

I grabbed my glass of water and leaned on the counter beside him, agreeing. "Yeah she seems quite stressed about this whole thing. I think she's still afraid of it not living up to the normal expectations." I wished I could soothe her fears, but that wouldn't happen until everyone had left and no one had complained.

It was now dinner time and only Draco and I were eating. Narcissa had been MIA all afternoon, locked in Lucius's office. Once we finished up, Draco went back up to his room and I went to make sure Cissy was alright.

I gently knocked on the door and heard a soft "yes?" from inside. 'Is she crying?' I thought to myself. Her voice was muffled and sounded thick with tears.

"Cissy? It's me, can I come in?" There was a pause before I heard a hesitant "ok". I walked in to find her sitting at the desk looking up at me with tear filled eyes. "Hey, what is it?" I asked, closing and locking the door behind me.

"It's just.. so much to do. I don't know how I'm going to pull this off" she covered her mouth with one hand to try and stifle the sobs but failed. The tears streaming down her face and her shaking shoulders absolutely broke me.

I quickly walked over to her and started rubbing her arms, leaning over her and kissing her forehead. She spun around in the swivel chair and buried her face in my stomach, hands desperately clutching at my shirt.

I rubbed her back and let her cry it out, occasionally offering a few words of encouragement. "I promise it's alright my love. We'll figure this out together. You are not dealing with this alone."

Her heart wrenching sobs made me tear up a bit and I forced them back down, knowing right now she needed me to be her rock. When she finally sat back up I took her face in my hands, kissing her forehead again and wiping her tears with my thumbs.

"Cissy I promise the party will be just as wonderful as it always is. Please, stop letting this worry you so much." She swallowed her tears and looked down, obviously trying not to start crying again.

"You're right y/n. I know you're right. Lucius just set such high expectations for these things and I don't want people to think that I'm weak without him." I forced her to look up at me.

"Narcissa you are not weak without him. I know your family taught you that you need to be owned by a man to be worth something in this world, but you do not. Do you understand me love? You don't need him to be successful in life. He's been gone what? 4 months? And you've done just fine without his presence here."

She hesitantly nodded and I knew she was fighting with her mind to truly believe my words. I sighed and released her, cupping her cheek one last time before backing away from the desk.

"Come on. You missed dinner and I'm guessing you missed lunch as well. You need to eat." I extended my hand for her to take and she accepted, allowing me to pull her to her feet and begin walking towards the kitchen.

The house elves had left a plate with a warming charm on it for when she decided to show up, and I placed that on the table in front of her before sitting in the chair opposite of her.

I kept her company but was mainly watching to make sure she did in fact eat enough. I had noticed she didn't eat much when she was stressed and I wasn't going to let her make herself sick by starving herself.

After she had eaten an acceptable amount, we went upstairs to my bedroom for the night. We took a quick shower together, letting the warm water wash away both of our worries, and climbed into bed. I draped an arm over her and intertwined our fingers, nuzzling my face into her neck. We both fell into a peaceful sleep, escaping our many problems if only for a little bit.

/   /   /   /  

The next day was a bit more relaxed. Narcissa did try and heed my advice, not worrying quite so much about everything turning out perfect. It's now December 30th, the ball will be held tomorrow night on December 31st and we will be ringing in the new year with friends and family.

Everything was mostly done, we were just adding the finishing touches to the scenery today. The music was all set, the food would begin cooking tomorrow morning, so now we wait.

Draco and I played a few board games to pass the time this morning, but after lunch he disappeared upstairs as usual. I didn't know where Narcissa was and decided to take a little walk around the garden.

I grabbed my winter cloak and headed out into the icy wind. I just walked around for a bit, thinking. Thinking about the fun I had had this Christmas and unfortunately school. Draco and I would be going back soon and Cissy would be alone once again.

I cast that thought aside, vowing to deal with it another time. I didn't want to spend my last few days here moping around when I could be spending them with her.

By now I had made it back around to the bench underneath my bedroom window and I took a seat, just enjoying a moment to myself. As much as I loved ferret face and his mother, I wasn't used to socializing this much and it was nice to just BE for a moment.

I guess I spent longer than I realized sitting out there because suddenly I felt someone sit down beside me and wrap their arm around my shoulders. I glanced up into the worried eyes of Narcissa as she pulled me closer to her. I realized I was shivering a bit. 'No wonder she looks so worried. I've been shivering and staring out into space for Merlin knows how long.'

"What's wrong darling?" She asked, trying to rub some of the warmth back into my body. She moved her cloak so that it was wrapped around the both of us and continued rubbing my shoulder.

"I'm alright. Just didn't realize I'd been out here this long." I gave her a small smile and checked the time, seeing that I had once again missed lunch and it was almost dinner time.

She pulled me up, still underneath her cloak, and we walked back inside. The warm manor was a welcome reprieve from the bitter winter wind I had been sitting in for the past few hours.

We all sat down in the living area that night to watch a movie. I only made it about halfway through before falling asleep on the sofa. Narcissa woke me up around midnight and I looked around sleepily. Draco seemed to have already gone to bed and I took the hand that Narcissa offered me and walked upstairs. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and we all needed as much rest as possible.

Author's Note: I'm sorry I know this isn't that interesting I just needed a filler chapter before the Ball