Chapter 18
ALDER EVANS
Asking out Narcissa Black on a date was a huge gamble. He half expected the girl to refuse him, so he was quite surprised when she did show up. He had already made a few reservations, and so he led her to the newly established Madam Puddifoot's café, even though he considered its styling an affront to his eyes.
"The Private sitting please," and the woman smiled as she led them to the stairs.
"Just up ahead," and so with her on his arms, they climbed the stairs and reached a private booth with closed-off curtains for privacy. And this had been his suggestion to the witch, and given how all of them were already full, it was quite a success.
"You made a reservation for us," Narcissa whispered, as the two of them settled down.
"Yeah, I did," and those blue eyes narrowed slightly.
"You were so sure that I would come?" she asked, and he smiled confidently.
"I was," though that was a lie. But she did not need to know that.
"These are the private booths, right?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, these curtains are magically enchanted so that no one else can see or hear the people inside the booth," but they were half curtains, so it showed that a booth was occupied from the outside, and that anything truly inappropriate was not happening within them.
"They did not have these at first," and he nodded.
"Yes, they did not," and so she glanced at the menu and ordered what they could.
"Why did you ask me out?" she blurted out after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I enjoyed your company. I enjoyed talking with you about magic and life and other things," he answered softly, as he leaned forward on the table.
"I asked you on the date because you are one of the most beautiful people that I know," and she blushed at his words.
"Yet I cannot even meet you in my own form," she whispered, and he chuckled as he added.
"Don't worry. I have sneaked enough glances of it to have it memorized already," and he really did, for one of his hobbies was to sketch.
"You doubt me?" he asked, and she shrugged.
"How can one memorise a face?" she asked, and so he reached into his pocket and passed her a piece of rolled parchment.
"Like that," he said, and she opened it with a frown, and her eyes widened as she saw herself staring back at her own face. It had no color, but it was rather well drawn if he were to say so himself.
"When?" she gasped.
"In the library," he answered, and a few days ago, he had been sitting there rather bored, and had his eyes glancing towards her constantly, and his hands had moved on instinct, and sometime later, he had found himself with a hand-drawn portrait of one Narcissa Black.
The food came with a pop, and it was nothing special, and he saw her frown as her face began to morph, as she reached into her pocket for the metallic flask, and just as she was about to open it, he grabbed her hand.
"Let it be," he said, looking into those greying eyes. She hesitated for a second.
"You don't need to use it while we are here. No one can see us," he assured her, and she nodded as her body shifted in front of his eyes, and a few seconds later, he found himself staring at a grey-eyed and half black and half-blonde-haired Narcissa Black.
Sneaking glances and staring at him were two entirely different things, and she must have truly felt his gaze, as she blushed and added.
"I thought you had my face memorized," she retorted, with a mischievous grin.
"That doesn't mean that I wouldn't mind staring at it for hours upon hours," and so they ate their food, as the conversation turned towards other topics, of magic and school, and classes.
"Andy told me that you were the one who came with the Polyjuice trick," she asked out of nowhere, and he nodded.
"Yes, I did," he answered.
"Why?" she asked, and he raised a brow.
"Why what?"
"Why go to such lengths to help her? After all, you know our family? Know what many of us think of people like you," and her words became a whisper as she said those last words, and he put down the fork.
"Because I know that there are many of you who don't actually believe that propaganda about Blood Purity," he answered, and took a deep breath.
"I wanted to give everyone a bit of hope, a bit of help, and a bit of exposure so that you may see beyond the lies that you have been fed about Muggles and Muggle-borns, because the truth is Narcissa, that nearly each and everything that you people know about Muggles is either archaic or false," for no one in the wizarding world cared about muggles and what they were doing.
They considered them an entirely different species, and while that way of thinking may work for a couple of more decades, it wouldn't last for much longer after that.
"I did not mean to offend you," she whispered, and he shook his head.
"I am not offended," he clarified, and he was just.
"I am just pained by the ignorance and stubbornness," and he had a self-mocking grin on his lips as he leaned back.
"Most of the pure blood students are either too afraid or too misinformed about us, and then they get fed that blood purist spiel from the likes of Malfoy and his ilk, and it becomes their whole world. They get indoctrinated, and the cycle continues," and it was truly painful.
"We should talk about…"
"Show me…" she cut in, suddenly.
"What?" he asked.
"Show me the Muggle world. I want to see it for myself," and he raised a brow.
"Right now?" he asked, and she shrugged.
"Why not?" she suggested, and it was a rather bold idea. He had made some rather tame plans for their date.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, and she nodded.
"I am, and then there is the fact that out there I won't have to pretend to be Pandora," she suggested, and that was quite an advantage, and so with some thought, he agreed.
"Well then," and he put forward his hand.
"Have you ever apparated before?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"Don't let go then," and with a pop, they vanished from their booth and appeared in front of one of the largest cinemas in London, and as the grey-eyed girl steadied herself, they found themselves standing amidst a large crowd shouting and screaming for tickets.
"What is this?" she asked.
"This is a cinema…"
.
.
.
And as he returned to their dorm after a rather elaborate and joyful date, he found himself facing a flushed Marlene, bubbling with rage, who whispered but a single word to him.
"Narcissa Black…"
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MARLENE MCKINNON
Marlene could not fathom just how stupid she had been. Both she and Lily had been scurrying to find the secret identity of the woman pretending to be Pandora, when the answer had been in front of them all along.
"We should take it elsewhere," Alder added, softly, and scoffed angrily.
"That would be best," and so he led her to one of the corners of the room, as he quickly cast a silencing ward and a strange spell, and she lost it on him the next second.
"What the hell are you thinking?" she asked, and she was not against him finding love, but she was against him dying.
"Narcissa Black. BLACK!' she nearly screamed, as Alder's expression shifted for a second, as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Do you have a death wish?" she asked, and he chuckled and shook his head.
"I would like to think I do not," and she did not agree with him.
"I think you do. Because you, apparently, thought it a good idea to date a Black. One betrothed to none other than a Malfoy," and the Blacks were bad enough on their own, but to insult the Malfoys besides that.
He was truly testing them.
"Have you finally calmed down?" he asked, as she stopped screaming. She was anything but calm, yet she nodded.
"I don't understand why you are so angry?" and she was not angry. Not truly.
"I am not angry," for she would be the last person who would ever stand in his way of happiness, but she saw it for what it was. A mistake. A grave and dangerous mistake.
"But you don't know the Blacks like I do," she answered, looking him in the eye.
"They are half mad, and if it ever got out that you, a Muggle-born, were seeing one of them, the consequences for you would simply be too dire," and then there was the fact that Narcissa was the youngest of three sisters, and her elder sisters included the domineering Andromeda, and the batshit crazy Bellatrix.
If there was one person Marlene was happy to never ever see again, it was Bellatrix Black or Lestrange as she would be by now.
"We have not done anything," he defended himself, though his next words were damning enough.
"Yet," and she rolled her eyes.
"Merlin's beard," she cursed.
"It was just one date. One rather good and exciting date, but nothing more," and she wanted to slap some sense into him, but held back as she saw the smile on his face.
"She is engaged, Alder," she repeated softly, hoping that her friend would see some sense.
"I know. But she is not married. Not yet," and while that was true, engagements in their world were far more serious than the Muggle one. Especially one between two old and traditional families, such as the Blacks and the Malfoys.
"She might as well be," and it was not just the retribution that she feared. No, it was something else as well.
"How long has this been going on?" she asked, and given the thinning of his lips, he knew exactly what she was asking about.
"After the attack," he confirmed, and it had been a few months.
"How did you even meet her?" she asked.
"We were introduced through a mutual acquaintance," he answered, and she wondered just what kind of person would be acquainted with both him and Narcissa Black.
"Who?" she asked, and as he shook his head.
"I can no…"
"Don't lie to me, because I swear on Merlin's grave that I will bash your head in if you don't tell me everything right now," and he seemed to consider his options before he looked around.
"You cannot mention it to anyone else. And I mean anyone!" he insisted, and she nodded.
"It was Andromeda Black," and for a second, she felt that was just taking the mickey out of her. But as his face refused to shift, she realized in absolute horror that he was not lying.
That he was telling her the truth.
"How in the hell do you even know Andromeda Black…." And he sighed.
"It's a long story," and she looked around, pulled a chair from the side, and plopped down and crossed her arms.
"We have time…" and so she found herself learning about one of the most damning scandals of their school, one that had enough in it to shake the very foundations of the pureblood society.
And at the heart of this scandal was the Black family, and her dear friend Alder.
"Do you really not have a death wish? Because only someone who does would involve themselves like this with the Blacks," and she was not finished.
"They are half mad, Alder. All of them," and he raised a brow.
"Sirius is a Black," and that was not as great an argument as he thought it to be.
"That's exactly my point. Just think what kind of people they are if Sirius is the best of them," and by now, she did not even know what to say.
To think that he had been keeping such a secret from them all for such a long time. She felt somewhat betrayed, but also hopeful as she realized that their society was not yet entirely doomed.
That even in the worst of their kind, a sliver of hope remained.
"This does not mean that I don't think that you dating Narcissa is a bad idea," she added, and her friend shrugged.
"We have not done anything scandalous," and how wrong he was.
"But you are involving yourself in matters that are way more complicated and dangerous than you think, Alder," and she did not wish to see him put in any more danger than he was in already.
And she saw his face shift as he turned to the side, and as she followed his gaze, she saw him looking at Lily, who sat there with the Marauders, with Sirius eyeing the pair of them guiltily.
"My involvement was decided long ago," he whispered, and what could she say to that?
Robbing him of his happiness was the last thing she would ever want to do, so she shook her head.
"Promise me, Alder. Promise me that you will be careful," she insisted, and he nodded.
"I always am," and that was as good a lie as any.
"Are you going to tell it all to Lily?" and of course she was.
"She has to know," she insisted.
"She will worry unnecessarily," Alder added.
"She needs to know Alder so that she knows to watch her back, and yours as well," for if any of the Malfoys got even a hint of this.
"I am going to get yelled at again, aren't I?" and she chuckled.
"You have no idea," she whispered as she walked away, as Sirius passed by her and rushed towards Alder, with a guilty look on his face.
"I am sorry…."
.
.
.
"I am sorry," Sirius began, and despite the beating, Alder smiled.
"It's fine," he whispered, as he slapped its shoulder.
"I know how she can be…," and Sirius shook her head.
"She is mental that one," he argued in dazed tone.
"One hint. One hint, that is all it took for her to piece it all," and Alder chuckled at those words, for Sirius underestimated her intuition, but McKinnon was as sharp a girl as any.
"It's fine," he assured her, but the grey-eyed boy seemed genuinely remorseful.
"I want to ask you a favor," he began, and that was a surprise.
"What favor?"
"I want you to help me meet someone in secret," and that was a surprise.
"Who?" yet before he could answer, he saw his twin barreling towards her as an angry and raging Lily whispered menacingly.
"We need to talk…"
"…NOW!"
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