Toujurs Pur

“Come now, don’t make that face, or it’ll stay that way.” He teased as he tapped her nose again, still grinning. “You won’t need me then. You’re going to do just fine. No more worrying about it.” His offer to play did exactly what he’d hoped it would, and Regulus laughed as Narcissa finally brightened. “Of course. No one else should be there. There’s no reason we can’t. We have plenty of time before dinner.” He gave her a little squeeze then rubbed his nose to hers, a soft chuckle matching his eyes. “Do you need anything, or are you ready to head down there now?”

She kept her face scrunched up despite his words. “I always need you, Reggie.” But she dropped the subject as per his order, already far more eager to think about his method of distraction than OWLs. Flying had always been a good way to clear her mind, and she could certainly use that now. Giggling as he rubbed their noses together, she shifted to kiss his cheek. “You’re absolutely brilliant, did you know? This is why you’re my favorite. I can go now. I’d rather go than waste anymore time.” She stepped back, reaching for his hand and starting off down the corridor.

“How could I forget. But I needed your full attention. And it worked.” Regulus’ side smirk grew, though it was one he used only for her. Narcissa was quite lucky he thoroughly enjoyed spoiling her, giving her little presents as often as he could, birthday or not. “I assure you, love, no one ever will. No one ever could.” His smile faltered again at the mention of betrothal and he took back the nearly forgotten sugar quill to absently suck on it while she inspected her ring. “You shouldn’t need a bethrothal, ever.” He muttered under his breath, biting off more of the candy.

She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything; it was hard to argue with his results, after all, and she was far too excited about the present as it was. But she did stop to give him a long look; he’d been unsettled about the thought of being replaced in her affections, and she had to admit to the same feeling. “Good. I’m not so easily replaced anyway.” But the thought - ooh, she didn’t like it. Some other girl sneaking in and pulling his thoughts away from her. It couldn’t be allowed to happen. Still admiring the ring, she nearly overlooked his comment, but glanced over after a moment anyway. “Well, I don’t really need it but apparently Father does. Can you imagine if I didn’t have to be betrothed? That would be lovely.”

Peter often wondered if Sirius exaggerated any part of his family life, its members included. But when he happened to come across situations like these, Peter didn’t have to wonder that nearly as much. They really weren’t the nicest to outsiders, and the real wonder was how Sirius was born into such a family, given his disposition. Narcissa picked up on the hint Peter hadn’t exactly meant to make, and he looked down, fearing…something. his ears and cheeks burned, like it was his personal fault Sirius had left his family. Maybe he had a small part to play, but really, it as all James’ fault, if Narcissa really wanted to point fingers. Not that should would care one way or the other, Peter guessed. “No, no. Being loyal to your family is important. I understand. My apologies for mentioning it.” He swallowed and shifted nervously, not sure what to do or say. The last thing he wanted was to offend a Black and have them all come after him. “I’m sure you’ll do your family proud.”

Her lips quirked at the change in expression. Good. He should feel badly for bringing up such a sensitive topic. For stealing her cousin. All of those boys should. Although she ought to just leave, or come up with something to say to further emphasize her displeasure, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Maybe because even so much as thinking about Sirius always made her emotional, or maybe the pressure she was under made her softer. “All I have in the world is my sisters and cousin,” she said softly. “If I lost them, it would break me. I can’t do that. Your apology is accepted, however.” Hopefully he wouldn’t be stupid enough to make that sort of mistake twice, and hopefully she’d be lucky enough to avoid him in the future. She huffed, unable to picture a future where her parents were actually proud of her. Reggie and her sisters, maybe, not not Cygnus and Druella. “There’s only one way I’m going to ever make my parents proud and it has nothing to do with my OWLs.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he said, smiling, then thinking of when exactly he would be able to fit her in between all his studying. He, of course, did have to do more studying than he let on, but he was raised to be of help to others who were worthy of and needed it. He pondered over his schedule before deciding, “alright then, shall we meet tomorrow afternoon? Right before dinner?”

“Of course, I certainly feel similar about my family. Rather, my parents. Not much other family to worry about.” Probably just his mum would he do anything for, actually. He was not exactly in good standing with his father as of that moment. “I envy you, having a real family. I wish I had a little more people in mine, perhaps a sister –– though, I guess I’ll have two in-law soon enough…” he trailed off into a mumble, not particularly ready to talk about that arrangement with her. “But, yes, family is important. I couldn’t think of anything more important than upholding my family name.”

Cissa smiled, waiting for him to finish mulling over his thoughts. This was a good plan; she knew it was, and she was glad to have help from someone older who would have more insight for the exams, but it still felt a little odd. Life would have been so much easier if she didn’t have the weight of a likely betrothal hanging over her head, and the knowledge that her parents would expect her to cultivate a good relationship with Lucius. “Tomorrow afternoon before dinner will be lovely. Thank you. I do appreciate your help.”

Regulus at least had the decency the feel somewhat bad when Narcissa scowled at him for ruining the surprise. He bit his lip and looked at the ring instead of her, waiting for a smack to his arm. But instead, she said exactly what he’d hope she’d say, and his grin returned, though still a bit nervous. “I know. I just – I know. I guess I just needed to hear you say it.” He sighed, not sure where his uncertainty was coming from, but it dissipated quickly, and his light smile matched hers once more. “And you’ll always be mine.” He took the ring out and set the box down, taking her hand in his. He debated a moment on which finger to place it, then smiled as he looked at her and slid it onto her fourth. He kissed her knuckles before releasing her to let her admire it. “There. Now everyone knows you’re taken.”

“Well next time just ask me instead of putting a present in front of my face and taking it away. You know how I am about presents.” Still smiling, she held his gaze until it was clear that he felt better. Maybe she could do better about reminding him how much she loved him; it should be obvious from her actions, but hearing it was important. Especially if her betrothal was looming in the imminent future. “Good. If anyone ever takes my place, I’ll be very angry at you.” She waited as he studied her hand, pushing down the urge to just tell him which finger to put it on. But she was glad she waited, as his choice was by far the best one. “That’s perfect,” she murmured as he kissed her knuckles. Giggling, she held her hand up and wiggled her fingers. “Good. Maybe this will make all the betrothal talks stop. I don’t need to be betrothed just yet. There’s years for that still.”

His chest puffed ever so slightly at her praise, a small smirk replacing frown. How he would have loved for Narcissa to have been a Prefect with him, then there would have been three Blacks in power, and no one would have ever crossed them. But Narcissa didn’t want it, not that it stopped her from ordering people around anyway. “No, we will.” Regulus emphasised, adjusting when she did, draping an arm around her shoulders as she buried more into him. He never meant to make her worry more, and he frowned, wondering if he had indeed pushed her too far. But no, Narcissa was resilient, and she could do anything if she put her mind to it. She just needed the confidence, something she was never short on when it came to just about everything else. “You bit your tongue, Narcissa Dione Black.” He lifted her chin to look up at him with his free hand, tapping her nose. “You’re going to do brilliantly. You have me. We’ll just figure out which two you’re going to get the O and E in, and we’ll study up extra on them. Ooor…” He held out the word, smirking. “We can go fly around the quidditch pitch, throw around the quaffle, and not think about anything? Maybe you’re studying too much. You need a break.”

She just groaned as he tried to tell her they would both do well, muffling the sound against his chest. It felt impossible at the moment; achieving an E in even one subject seemed out of the question, let alone an O. She couldn’t remember actually getting marked that high ever, in her entire school history. But she didn’t fight as he lifted her chin - though she did make sure he could see just how upset she was in her expression. “I won’t have you when I take the exams,” she muttered, frowning at him and wrinkling her nose. She had already worked out which classes she was scoring well in, but before she could tell him that, he dropped his other suggestion - the better suggestion. “Could we, Reggie?” Getting out of the castle, flying for a bit, forgetting exams - surely that would do the trick. At least it would distract her for a little while, and that was all she wanted.

This wasn’t the best idea, to stick around longer than necessary, which was about 30 seconds ago, but still, Peter found himself rooted to the spot, conversing with the second scariest Black at Hogwarts. “No, no,  your’re right it’s not. So thank you, for sharing it.” He added a hesitant grin, in no way being sarcastic. He wouldn’t dare. “But if I may offer more advice that you don’t want, why accept it then? Can’t you make your own future, one you want?” Like Sirius, he wanted to add, but Peter was pretty sure that was an already sore subject, and he’d rather not bring it up. Salt in the wound and all that.

She didn’t smile back but neither did she scream at him the way she really wanted to - particularly when he tried to tell her that she could just do whatever she wanted. Cissa was smart; she knew precisely who he must be thinking of to say something like that. But pursuing her own interests would mean the same fate as her former cousin, and she wasn’t willing to risk that. “If I tried something like that, do you know what would happen? You should. You’ve witnessed it firsthand. My parents wouldn’t hesitate to burn me off the family tree and throw me out of the house. I’m loyal. I wouldn’t do something like that to the people who love me.”

Peter’s brows furrowed as the 5th year walked away, not sure where the voice had come from. It certainly wasn’t who he had just been talking to. Turning a bit, he saw the blonde, trying to hold the book up but also looking over it, very much disgusted. It didn’t take Peter more than half a second to recognize his best friend’s cousin but also his girlfriend’s close friend, Narcissa Black. Not awkward at all. He typically tried to steer clear of any Blacks, except for Andromeda who was always friendly towards him, and who’s sister this was. But as she was Rita’s friend, and she’d already spoken to him, Peter figured he might as well be polite. “Good call. I’m rather rubbish at most subjects, maybe except Transfiguration. But, it always matters. At least, that’s what the professors keep telling me.” He smiled nervously, sure this was going to go down hill quick, but at least he could say he tried instead of running away scared.

Cissa wasn’t fond of Peter Pettigrew. Although really, the list of people she was fond of who weren’t her family was quite small. He was off the list simply for being one of the awful boys who stole Sirius from them, and that betrayal went far deeper than he could make up by dating Rita. What Rita even saw in him was beyond Cissa but since they were dating, she had to try to be civil. Or a little more civil. “Well that advice isn’t applicable for me and the future I’m anticipating. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Yes, I know why. But those marks didn’t matter until now. I just want what’s best for you.” Regulus waited patiently, this request taking an unexpected sober tone. He hadn’t meant it to be, but he knew Narcissa was brilliant, just as good as he was even. But she constantly held herself back just because she was told to. He was no stranger to following parent’s orders, but this one just seemed ridiculous, even to him. He brightened when she finally agreed, leaning forward to return the earlier kiss to her cheek. “That’s my girl. Right then.” He pulled the small box from his pocket, suddenly nervous. He swallowed and inhaled, then opened it, revealing an ornate yet delicate ring, with the Black crest set in the middle. “I know how you’ve always been upset I got one from Father our first year. So, I had one especially made for you.” He let her look, but as soon as she reached for it, he snapped the box shut, pulling his hand away so she couldn’t reach it. “I know, I know. I’m awful. But this ring has a stipulation as well; you only get it if you promise to always be mine and that I will always be yours, first and foremost.” Regulus stared at Narcissa as he held it back out, opening it once more for her.

Despite her concerns about what her mother would say about this, Cissa couldn’t deny how happy she was that she had pleased him with her choice. She brightened as he pulled out the box - it had to be jewelry, and she loved getting jewelry. Her excitement only grew as he opened the box and explained the reasoning; she’d thrown a fit over not getting a ring when he did, because it wasn’t fair, but it had done no good and she’d been jealous ever since. “Oh, Regulus, it’s beautiful - thank you, I love -” She reached for the box and her voice cut off abruptly as he took it away. “You are awful,” she snapped, crossing her arms and scowling at him. As if he needed a promise like that from her. “Reggie, you know that I’ll always be yours, and you’ll always be mine. No one is ever coming between us. No matter what happens.” Was he worried about something? Her parents were stepping up the betrothal talks, she knew, and maybe he was afraid her attention would turn to someone else. Which was silly; she could hardly stand any of the other boys at school, even someone like Lucius. “You’ll always be my favorite,” she said more gently, holding her hand out to him. “Put it on me.”

Narcissa’s appearance wasn’t unexpected, nor her approach. It actually made Regulus almost chuckle, the way she would just barrel through a crowd, and the crowd would just…part. It was always a spectacle to behold, and when she was on the war path, it was even more amazing. He quickly regained his composure though, the 4th year more shocked than anything that two Blacks were now staring him down. He quickly turned and hurried off, Regulus calling after him. “That’s still 10 points! And I don’t care it’s my House!” Regulus glared after him, squeezing Narcissa’s hand as she rested against him. He finally relaxed, exhaling slowly. “I know, love. But we’ve been studying. We’ll be alright. And just think, no big exams like this next year.” He kissed the top of her head as an added reassurance. “We’ll be alright,” he repeated, for both of them.

“Oh, I do so love hearing you use your authority as a prefect,” Cissa said with a little laugh. Her smile didn’t last for very long though as she turned a little to wrap her arms around him. His words were meant to be reassuring and they probably would have been under any other circumstances but everything that had happened at Christmas left her feeling so off. “You’ll be all right,” she said, frowning even if he couldn’t see it. “I’m not going to be, not after you made me give you that promise.” She was beginning to regret that; life would have been so much easier if she was only getting As. But now she had to actually try and that was scary. “I’m not going to be able to do it. I can’t focus on anything anymore.”

He didn’t bother responding after that, only giving a very innocent grin as he batted his eyelashes, something Regulus had seen Narcissa do, though he was in no way as good at it. He returned to the candy, going still when she mentioned marriage to someone. “No, I expect not.” Regulus’ eyes grew dark as they unfocused, but it was gone in a blink, as he reached to take the sugar quill back, his side smirk back in place. “You drive a hard bargain, love. So, I suppose I could indulge you. You only turn 16 once after all. But first, before I even show it to you, this is how you’re going to make it up to me.” He paused, handing her back the treat as he placed his hand in his pocket, fingers enclosing on the gift. “You have to get at least one Outstanding and one Exceeds Expectations on your O.W.L.s, because I know you, and I know you’ll only get Acceptable when you can do so much better than that.” He paused again, actually serious, as he waited for her to agree.

Cissa was giggling and almost missed the change in his expression, as quick as it was. But it couldn’t be anything serious, as he was back to his usual cheerful self almost immediately and she put it out of her mind for the moment. If he kept getting upset like that, she’d worry but not for now. A triumphant smile curled her lips as he agreed and she leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek as she took the sugar quill back. She wasn’t worried about what he might expect from her as repayment, but neither was she expecting what he said. “What?” There were few people who knew that she was capable of much more academically, and she simply wasn’t putting out any effort, and Reggie was probably the only person who knew to what extent she was hiding her ability. He’d always encouraged her to do better but this was on a different level. “Reggie, you know why I don’t get better marks.” Hesitating, she glanced down at the sugar quill and spun it. Her mother’s voice whispered in the back of her mind about connections and how little use her education would be when she was married, but it wasn’t as loud as Reggie’s voice beside her. Really Cissa hated to disappoint him, and she knew she’d been consistently disappointing him in this particular area since their first year. She bit her lip but decided there was only one real answer she could give him - she really wanted her present now. “All right. It’s a deal - one O and one E on OWLs. At least one of each,” she amended hastily, sure he would comment on the difference. Mother would just have to accept it.

“Best of luck with exams tomorrow!” Peter grinned and clapped his fellow student on the shoulder, grinning widely. It was a nice feeling, not having to be stressed about such huge tests. He hated it last year, and he could definitely wait for next year. For now, he was just going to enjoy his free time. “And it would probably be best to not ask me for last minute tutoring… unless you really had no one else. Just saying.”

Cissa had a book in hand - one of the few times she’d actually let herself be seen with a book. Normally she did her reading in her dorm room, where no one could see that she was actually interested in school. But she was running out of time now and sacrifices had to be made, and her reputation was more easily fixed than bad scores on her OWLs. She wasn’t involved in the conversation but looked up anyway, wrinkling her nose at him. “I wouldn’t ask you for help anyway. Not that it matters how I do.”

“Look, i’m not going to keep arguing with you about this. I want to go eat, so I can then go finish studying for my first O.W.L. exam I have tomorrow, then get a decent night’s sleep. So, let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Regulus glared, the signature Black stare, as he waited for their answer, hoping it would let him leave and continue his night in a more peaceful manner.

Cissa was stressed. She had too much on her mind and she was afraid it was going to show up in her exam scores - she didn’t even want to do extremely well, she just wanted to maintain her current mark levels, but she could hardly focus on what she meant to study. So her patience levels were not very strong and when she spotted Regulus in the midst of an argument, she didn’t even care if she was interrupting. “Move,” she hissed, pushing the other person out of the way and slipping her arm through Reggie’s. “I need my cousin. You need to leave before I get angrier.” Whether it was Reggie’s glare or hers, it did the trick and she sighed as the other student left. “Can’t we just . . . not take OWLs?” She muttered, dropping her head to rest on his shoulder for a minute. No matter how frustrated and upset she was, being around Reggie always calmed her down again.

“I ended with an explanation. I feel that warrants the same thing. Besides, you gained much more in this transaction, so just hush and be grateful I love to spoil you so.” Regulus couldn’t get through his argument without smilng, knowing Narcissa wasn’t upset either way, especially at how he did spoil her. He situated himself next to her better, continuing to grin, sucking on the quill. “What do you mean, ‘it’s too much’? It’s never too much. Not for my favorite person in the whole world. And of course you’d share, I knew you would.” He laughed softly then held out her original sugar quill to her as she leaned into him. “Do you still want some? And if you want, I will give you your last gift now. I was planning on waiting until after dinner, but you know I can’t tell you no if you were to, I donno, beg for it.”

“You’re lucky that I can never stay angry or argue with you for too long,” Cissa said, but she let the subject drop with a giggle. He did spoil her terribly but she loved it. She’d been brought up believing that she deserved that sort of treatment and Reggie had always exceeded her expectations when it came to spoiling her. “I mean you’re making my standards far too high for whoever I’m married off to. No one could ever live up to you.” Beaming at him, she reached for the sweet with a decisive nod - better to share this one rather than open up the package just yet. She sucked on the quill, eyeing him for a moment as she debated on asking for the present now or waiting. But she had never been good at waiting, not when it came to Reggie’s gifts. She handed the quill back and clasped her hands together, fixing him with a pleading look. “Please, Reggie, I won’t be able to stand it if you make me wait til after dinner. I’ll be ever so grateful - I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“You think Ravenclaws study more than I do? Just the other night on prefect duty I caught one of them drinking cheap mead alone in one of the alcoves. We all have enough free time to do what we wish. It’s just that what I wish to do is a little more responsible.” Of course, he had spent nearly all his time studying, and if he were to take break from it he thought the best way to do so was to at least get himself involved in more studying. “Besides, will helping you not allow me to review some OWL material that I may have let go of? The NEWTs are cumulative, it would help me just as much. But, I may not have much time on my hands anyways, so if you don’t need my help…” He smirked, leaning forward to sit up as he said, “I’m doing quite well in transfiguration. I could certainly help with vanishing spells, if that’s all you need help with, it won’t take much of my time at all.”

With a nod, he agreed, knowing he need not buy her anything else. Maybe it was best to wait on spending his money on her, as he was sure he would be doing so plenty of times in their future. As for now, he knew the Blacks were wealthy enough that whatever she wanted, she could have. “Of course, your sisters are quite lovely, I have no doubt they treat you quite well, doing favors and giving gifts. You three almost make me wish that I had siblings to spoil. Or, cousins, in Regulus’s case. Quite the lovely family.”

“That’s just one person,” Cissa said dismissively. One student didn’t negate the truth of her statement: as a whole, she was fairly certain that any Ravenclaw hearing someone claim they had studied too much would go absolutely crazy. She still didn’t know if she quite liked his attitude about this whole affair, but it was to be expected, coming from Lucius. Besides, Cissa was smart. She wasn’t going to turn away help from a competent person just because he was annoying. “If it’s going to be helpful for you as well . . .” She watched him for a moment, lips pursed before she nodded. “I would appreciate some help, if it’s not taking away from your own studies.” Cissa had worked hard to maintain her reputation, and she didn’t want anyone thinking she was trying to do well in school, but she was. She had expectation for her marks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you’ve been sniffing far too many cauldrons if you think that’s what really happened- you really should check yourself before you embarrass yourself any further trying to dig up gossip about me. Remember who you’re speaking to” 

Cissa was not really in the conversation but when she spotted Rita ahead of her, she increased her speed and pushed her way between Rita and the other student with a withering glare at the offending party. “Go away and be stupid somewhere else. Rita, it feels like ages since we’ve talked.”

“I’m going to kill him,” she growled as she stormed through the halls of Hogwarts, heels clacking on the stone, “I don’t even know which brother did it, but whichever one it is…is absolutely dead.” Gladys’s usually calm demeanor was clearly flustered as she balanced her bag on her forearm and seemingly kept readjusting her fists.

Narcissa was sitting on a bench with several of her little followers about, but when she spotted Gladys in the distance, moving with such purpose, Cissa shooed the others away. Standing, she smoothed her skirt and fell into step with Gladys, eyeing her curiously. “What did he do?”