Lucius apparated home early that night. "Narcissa," he called from the front door. She came in from the adjacent room to his left.
"Your home early," she said, giving him a kiss. Her smile faded when she looked at his face. "What's wrong?"
"I need you to go out tonight; the Dark Lord is coming here."
Narcissa didn't argue, she grabbed her cloak and slipped it on. "Contact me when he's gone."
Lucius nodded, sharing a deep and passionate kiss with her; and reluctantly releasing her. Once she had apparated, Lucius relaxed enough to compose himself and waited for the Dark Lord to arrive. It was nearly midnight when he did, and Lucius had almost fallen asleep. He was in the dining room when Voldemort appeared.
"Lucius," Voldemort hissed.
Lucius Malfoy looked up at his Master and bowed deeply. "My Lord," he said. "What is it that you wish?"
"Did you find the prophecy?"
"My Lord," Lucius said, "I have located it. The only problem is that, only the person who the prophecy's about can retrieve the prophecy. And I don't know the exact shelf it's on."
Voldemort sighed; a sign that made Lucius extremely nervous. "You disappoint me, Lucius." He waved his wand and two Death Eater's, Rodolphus and Rebastan Lestrange, brought his wife in. Bellatrix walked in right behind her, then took her spot next to the Dark Lord. Narcissa's face was impassive, but Lucius knew she was scared; he had thought that she was safe, but apparently he was wrong.
"You thought that by sending her away from here that she would be safe from me," Voldemort said, then laughed. "Lucius, you should've known better." There was a tense pause; Lucius was practically holding his breath, praying that Voldemort didn't cast the curse onto his wife. "However, since you have been so useful to me, you shall lead the attack. I'll lure the boy there, and then with his help, you get the prophecy." Lucius exhaled with relief; but he had done it too soon- that was when he heard the Curse. "Crucio!"
"No!"
Narcissa fell to the ground screaming in pain- despite her obvious attempts to suppress them.
"Stop!" Lucius cried, stopping only a few feet from his wife's writhing body. Bellatrix looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. Lucius knew that she would've let Voldemort kill her sister, despite the fact that they were pretty close to each other. Family didn't matter to Bellatrix when it came to the Dark Lord; but it did to Lucius. "Stop, please."
After a few more minutes, Voldemort lowered his wand, and Narcissa's cries stopped. "Get me the prophecy, Lucius; or the Cruciatis curse isn't the only thing she'll be recieving." As soon as Voldemort and the other Death Eaters dissappeared, Lucius carefully picked her up and took her back to their bedroom. After placing her on the bed, he gently stroked her hair, and took out his wand. "Obliviate," he whispered, wiping the memory of the Cruciatis curse from her mind.
She was too weak to move at all, let alone talk or comprehend anything. When he was done, he kissed her gently. Narcissa mumbled something unintelligible, and Lucius started to cry, lying down next to his love . "I'm sorry," he whispered gently, his tears falling on her beautiful face. "I'm so, so sorry, Narcissa." Lucius knew that if he didn't participate in the battle, that she would be the ultimate punishment. If he lost her, he knew that he would fall apart, and that was the last thing he needed.
He fell asleep next to her, arms wrapped protectively around her- as if he were trying to undo what had happened that night. The next morning, Narcissa groaned when she woke up; waking up Lucius immediately. He had completely forgotten about the after effects of the Cruciatis Curse; it was too late now to try and modify her memory. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Awful; like I have been burned from the inside-out."
Lucius cringed when he heard that; thankfully, Narcissa hadn't noticed- probably because she was trying to comprehend why she was in so much pain. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"I've decided to take the day off," he said, pulling back a strand of her hair. "I also have an excuse if you're not feeling well."
Narcissa shook her head. "Not really."
Lucius kissed her forehead, then got out of bed. Instead of making the house elves do it, Lucius decided to make Narcissa breakfast; it was the least he could do as payment for putting Narcissa in the situation he was in. When he was done, he took it upstairs and placed it in front of her. She sat up painfully, but managed a grateful smile. When she was done, he placed his hand on her forehead; she had a slight fever, another one of the side effects from the Cruciatis curse.
"Are you alright, Lucius?" Narcissa asked, tilting her head curiously. "You seem a little distracted today."
"I'm fine, Narcissa," Lucius reassured her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "I'm just worried about you; that's all." Narcissa smiled, then sighed tiredly. Lucius gently laid her down. "You should get some more rest. I'll check on you in a few hours."
Narcissa yawned as she nodded off. Lucius went downstairs and read a book for awhile; although, he was actually fretting over his wife's health. There was a knock on the door; Lucius opened the door to find his sister-in-law standing in there. "What do you want, Bellatrix?" Lucius said in a low cold voice. He still didn't believe that she hadn't tried to help her sister; even though, they had originally sheltered Bellatrix after she was broken out of Azkaban- much to the relief of Narcissa.
"There's no need to talk to me like that, Lucius," Bellatrix snapped. "I just came by to tell you that you will need to be ready soon; the Dark Lord is almost ready to send out his message. The boy is taking his O.W.L.'S today."
"Tell him, that Narcissa is ill, and that I can't make it," Lucius replied, closing the door in her face- but, Bellatrix raised her wand, and made the door stay open.
"You have to come, Lucius," Bellatrix replied; there was a hint of desperation in her voice. "If you don't he could do something worse to Cissy."
"What can he do that's worse than that?" Lucius demanded. "He's already used the Cruciatis curse on her- and she's ill because of that!"
"He could kill her!"
"The Dark Lord knows that if my wife is dead, then he'd no longer have my support, and I would turn everyone in to the Ministry- except you. Narcissa would never forgive me if I turned you in." He looked at her directly in the eye. "You're lucky I erased what had happened from her mind last night- I'm sure she would be in a far worse condition than what she is in now- especially if she realized her own flesh and blood didn't attempt to stop the curse."
"I didn't have a choice," Bellatrix hissed. "It's your fault anyway; if you had just gotten the Prophecy in the first place, none of that would've happened."
"I can't go," Lucius repeated firmly, trying to close the door again, but Bellatrix found his weak spot.
"What about Draco?" She asked, looking him in the eye, as if she were trying to see the fear in them. Even if you no longer supported him, Narcissa would never forgive you if he killed your only child."
Lucius held the door open half-way. Bellatrix was right; Narcissa would never forgive him- in fact, she would pretty much disown him. He looked toward their bedroom, and back at Bellatrix. "Fine, I'll come. Just, let me check on Narcissa."
Bellatrix huffed, but didn't say anything. Lucius hurried up the staircase to find Narcissa reading a book. "I didn't know you were up."
"Only for about a minute or so," Narcissa replied, looking up at him with a sad smile. "You're going, aren't you?" She didn't ask him any specifics, she didn't need to.
"Just for a little bit," Lucius replied. "I'll be back before you know it."
Narcissa smiled and kissed him goodbye; although, Lucius didn't want her to stop- he just wanted to stay in that moment forever. An angry knock on the door made them stop, though. "Hurry up, Lucius!"
Lucius sighed; Narcissa looked at him with full understanding in her eyes. "I know," she whispered.
"I love you," Lucius said, giving her one last kiss before heading out.
"I love you too," Narcissa replied. "Be careful."
Lucius nodded and made his way downstairs. "So?" Bellatrix asked when he reached the door.
"She's fine, for now," Lucius said, walking down the walkpath.
"Good," Bellatrix said, closing the door. "Now you can stop worrying about her and focus."
Lucius wanted nothing more than to jinx Bellatrix, but he knew he'd be severely punished for it. "I just hope she doesn't get worse."