&& night songs [open]

[Narcissa Black]

Why was Narcissa Black here, out of all places, still attempting to write an essay? In the past few weeks now, she had been given foul luck with writing essays. One time, she spilled ink all over one that was almost completely finished, and the second draft of that was stolen by a first-year Slytherin. So, this was her third attempt, and the essay was due on the same day, which was why she chose the morning hours in hope to get it done. Her fingers were aching by now, and her glacial, blue eyes squinted down at the first draft she had made, which was coated in a thin coat of ink. She was copying from the parchment, her left hand to her splitting head as her right one wrote frantically. Her handwriting was hardly readable, considering she was frantically trying to just get the assignment done.

Finally, the last word had been jotted down, and Cissa dropped the quill, groaning with agitation as she dropped her feather quill. She now put both hands to her temple, rubbing her forehead briefly with the pads of her index and middle fingers in hope to soothe the ache. She flexed her fingers, causing the joints to crack a bit. The girl leaned back in her seat, stretching her arms over her head and looking down at the essay she had just finished...for the third - hopefully last - time.

She then took a glance around, not having noticed just how empty the library was. Not a soul was in sight. Everyone was probably enjoying their Saturday breakfast or the nice, sunny weather outside. Food actually sounded quite nice, really, after all this brain work.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius grinned, his lips curling up over his teeth in what anyone around him would call a smirk. But smirking was for slimy snakes, not for Sirius Black. He glanced around him, at the shelves among shelves of books and groaned. He detested the library, almost as much as he hated Slytherins, his family, and Potions. He ran a finger through his hair, smiled disarmingly, and muttered to himself, "Why didn't I just get Remus to come do this, again?" After all, Remus was the best of all of them at researching and finding the perfect book in the least amount of time. "Ugh. The library.." He ducked his head, admonished, as the librarian turned and hissed at him.

His grey-blue eyes shone with an opportunity as he sidled up behind his cousin, Narcissa. Now, he didn't hate very many people. This, however, was definately one of those people. She was a Slytherin, She was a blood supremist. Toujours pur was her motto. Enough said, right. He leaned down to her ear, and whispered, "Boo."

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[Narcissa Black]

In agitation, Narcissa had been clenching her grip firmly around her quill. All this writing was really starting to get to her, as doing work was never a fancy of hers. The professor was bound to see her in a very foul mood by the she turned in the finished essay, given if it would ever be finished to begin with.

By the time she was finished, she felt near tired enough to just pass out. Her relief, however, altered into utter surprise and despair as she heard an all-too-familiar voice against her ear. Jumping out of her chair and nearly out of her skin, Narcissa turned to face her cousin, who she simply could not stand. Now, even though she was prejudice against the traitors and half-bloods, Cissa wasn't quite as cruel as Bellatrix Black was. She never cared to admit it, but there were times when she felt horrid for the treatment of Andromeda and Sirius. She sometimes tried to tell herself that they had every right to socialize with whoever they desired. She was afraid of Bella, though, and didn't want to even dream of getting on her bad side.

Sighing in irritation, Narcissa would narrow her eyes at Sirius. "You scared the bloody hell out of me, Sirius!" she sneered coldly before turning her back to him, beginning to collect her things together from the table. "Don't you know not to sneak up on people? You might get hurt." She partially grinned over her shoulder at him.

[Sirius Black]

"Of course I know, Cissa, dear. But where is the fun in ever following the rules." He grinned and leaned against the back of her chair, eyes softening as he saw how much he really had startled her. He knew he'd never liked it as a kid, and even though he might despise his younger cousin for her beliefs, if he put all those aside, she really was a decent human being. Of course, if she wasn't dating that horrid Lucius Malfoy, he might feel a little differently.. The protective older brother instincts that had never shown themselves with Regulus really shone through whenever he saw her with that pompous arse of a human being.. If anyone would follow Voldemort, it would be him.

"And how is it, down with the purebloods? Torture any muggleborns lately?" He'd heard the rumors. They all had. The reason you never saw any muggleborns in Slytherin were because they were all run out within the first month. And he knew for a fact there were quite a few muggleborns sorted there this year.. Damn good students too, if what he had seen in his tutoring sessions were anything to go by. The new Lions this year were good as well.. "By the way.. Since mother will kill me if I don't ask.. She wants to know if you'd like to come visit over Christmas this year. There's going to be a ball, from what I understand." He rolled his eyes. "Obviously, I'm not invited. Seeing as how I'm a blood traitor. Living with the Potters and all." Oh, that had been a scene to behold..

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[Narcissa Black]

"Of course I know, Cissa, dear. But where is the fun in ever following the rules."

She chuckled, though there was something slightly bitter about her tone. Stacking several books on top of each other, she would move to the nearby bookshelf and return the books to their rightful places. Luckily, they had all been found in generally the same area, so the Slytherin girl didn't have to travel far. Shifting her eyes over to Sirius as she placed away the second book, she chose her words to speak. "It's attitudes like that that promise you some serious trouble, Sirius, and that's not a threat." It was a matter-of-fact statement. If he was looking to break the rules, he'd get in trouble with people of authority more than those who didn't like him.

After all the books had been put away, she moved back to the table that she had been working at, taking her finished essay quickly as though she feared some other horrible disaster would bring it to ruin. She folded it within the remaining book on the table, which was her own textbook, and looked back over to Sirius as he had asked if she tortured any muggleborns lately. She wasn't sure whether he was merely teasing her or not, though Cissa, as everyone should have known, only used words to hurt those she did not like. "You should know me better, Sirius," she replied in a tone that might have suggested she was offended. However, this was not entirely the case. "I leave that to Bellatrix."

"By the way.. Since mother will kill me if I don't ask.. She wants to know if you'd like to come visit over Christmas this year. There's going to be a ball, from what I understand."

Of course, she would. Narcissa would not miss out to spend some time with the Black family, even if she did partially prefer to remain with her friends during the vacation. Regardless, it showed loyalty to the family, and that was something Cissa always ensured.

"Obviously, I'm not invited. Seeing as how I'm a blood traitor. Living with the Potters and all."

"Well, at least you know," she returned dryly, then eventually paused for a moment, unsure if she really took as much pleasure in replying in the cruel manner as she had appeared to have. Absently running the tips of her fingers along the closed book on the table, Narcissa sighed a little. She hated to still love both Andromeda and Sirius, merely because of the fact that they had 'betrayed' the family in the eyes of those who were so stern on their pure-blood morales. Still, she could not help but possess a bit of guilt for their treatment, as well as sympathy. The only reason she never talked with them on kinder terms was because of the firm belief of her oldest sister that they were horrible, disgraceful people.

"Sirius," she eventually sighed, her voice much more serene, almost dropping to a whisper. "I really must apologize for how I and the rest of the family have treated you." She felt like a damn fool for bringing this up, but she couldn't stand to be looked at as the bad guy when in reality, she was more-so put under pressure by Bellatrix. She needed to start thinking for her own self. "But this gets to no one. Do you understand?" she demanded more sternly.