Vicious

“I-”

Kingsley is suddenly mesmerized by Maya Zabini. She’s ravishing, sure - she’s always been. One of the more beautiful, conniving, morally-gray people he’s ever had to speak to.

But right now, he forgets about all of that. That interview a while ago floats blissfully away from his consciousness. He’s not forgotten it - no - it just doesn’t matter as much anymore. Not right now.

“Thank you,” he replies gently. He turns his entire body to face hers, and takes a long glance up and down her frame. She’s wearing an impressively tight dress for an event that requires you to rotate at least a little bit. He’s fascinated by how she would possibly be able to get out of the dress at the end of the night, which trails into other thoughts he shouldn’t have but does anyways. 

Why is he wondering what Maya Zabini looks like naked?

“No surprises here. Just in need of a glass of wine.” He tries to choose his words carefully, but his mouth can’t keep up with his mind, and he’s already plotted several ways she could be undressed, if she wanted to be, if someone was going to help her, it certainly wasn’t him, why is he thinking like this? “Can I help you?”

“So formal, even at a party like this.” She says softly, a smile playing on her lips as she lets her eyes dip to his. 

“I don’t know if what exactly I have in mind is exactly...cooth when it comes to mentioning it in company.” 

She laughs, tilting her head back so he can look at the extent of her neck.

snapesniped‌:

He quite enjoys this. For all of the nonsense the purebloods spouted, it never failed to vindicate him that they needed his help. He tried not to gloat or publicly relish in it, lest he earn even more of his wrath, but fuck it felt good sometimes. He was a smart bastard, he knew it, they knew it, and this was a moment where he just got to appreciate that small fact. 

He tunes out her insults in favor of the information she’s just given him. “There’s multiple? Did they just show up out of no where or have they been there the entire time?” 

He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing and willing the ever-present  headache that materializes with the presence of Maya Zabini to go away. “Somehow, I think it would in my capability to resist your no-doubt gaudy chambers.” 

“Anything you’d consider in poor taste I would hold in the highest esteem, you twat. Look I’m offering you probably more money than you make in a year, I just want them gone.”

She sighs dramatically. “I don’t bloody know. I suspect the idiot I was married to had some sort of charm or something in place to keep them at bay, but now that he’s gone...” 

She clears her throat, remembering herself, setting her features to one that’s a bit more mournful.

“If he...if for some reason he’s stuck around, I don’t-that’s not a life I want. I can’t be married to a ghost.”

She says, snapping back into her true emotions.

“At least my attempt at one.” Lucius drinks his wine, unsure of how they got into such a serious discussion, or how the two of them hadn’t lashed out at each other by now. He’d never considered having a girl, that possibility terrified him. He wouldn’t know the first thing about raising a respectable woman, especially without Narcissa.

“She’d be doomed.” He chuckles and orders another bottle of wine for their table. “Would you want a girl, if you had a child?”

Maya laughs.

“I’m pretty sure the only motivation I’d ever have for having a child was to use it to get what I want. So I suppose if I was cursed with one, what it was wouldn’t matter in the slightest.” 

“Why should she be doomed? For the crime of not being a boy? Or because you’re in the picture?” Maya laughs. “I’m sorry to say that if that’s the case what it is won’t matter.” She inhales again, speaking around the smoke.

Don’t come back, you fuckin’ bitch! 

Narcissa herself is dressed to the nines, in a long green dress that glitters and gleams as she moves about the room. Her hair is done up in something fancy, makeup carefully applied to compliment her outfit without being too distracting. It’d all required quite a bit of work, but she was happy with it. She spots Maya across the room, looking absolutely stunning in her gown, and Narcissa decides to swoop in and properly greet the woman. 

As soon as she’s near, she hears Maya speaking. She smiles sadly and peers out over the crowd. “Yes – they do.” She hadn’t been asked to dance nearly enough, partly because of her responsibilities and partly (she suspects) because people are afraid of Lucius. “I miss having one that wouldn’t hide in the shadows at his own party.” 

“How are you, Maya? You look stunning.” She smiles, feeling in better spirits than normal. 

“Thank you.” Maya says, distracted for a moment by the dancers.

“You do as well.” She says without looking at her friend before turning to face her and laughing.

“Oh! You really do, I don’t even have to be false.”

“I’m...well, I’m actually having a grand time. But I-” She lets her voice catch, hoping she’s believable despite the amount she’s been drinking.

“I keep forgetting myself. Thinking Archie will be here...I’m wracked with guilt, Cissa. Over a good time.”

She sighs, hoping it sounds wistful instead of irritating and looks back out at the dancers.