01/05/1979: Narcissa & Regulus (Series of Unfortunate Events)
Getting more annoyed by the second, Narcissa looked around the train’s cabin for two open seats. They needed to sit down soon and ideally far, far away from anyone else. This would count as the third time that Regulus and Narcissa had moved locations since they started their journey. Shortly after sitting down the first time, a widely obese woman had sat down on the other side of Regulus -all but sitting in his lap- so that wouldn’t have been appropriate for the 2.1 hour trip back to London. Their second post hadn’t been any better when an obnoxious child kept trying to play with her flowing blond locks. Narcissa was just about to hex the damn Muggles -all of them- but showed exemplary self-restraint by leaving the scene faster than one could say ‘Crucio!’. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they were traveling like the vermin, they weren’t even in so-called First Class because the cabin was sold out. Their situation was hardly ideal, but they didn’t have a choice. Earlier the cousins had awoken to a snow-covered Paris, which made Narcissa uncomfortable about traveling by broom.
Narcissa was ready to pass out. Her limbs were growing weary and she needed to change out of her high heels before she fell flat on her face. All she could think of was her inviting bed back at Malfoy Manor. She wanted to sleep for days, even if her husband would never allow it. Sadly, she didn’t think she could make it back to the manor in her sorry state.
“I might need to spend the night at your house.” Narcissa lamented and quietly yawned, settling deeper into their new and hopefully last seating arrangements. “… Nevermind what your mum says.”
Regulus’ mum had a tendency to be strict about receiving visitors. “She’ll know it was my idea.”
Narcissa got on with Orion just fine, but Walburga notoriously favored Bellatrix as the daughter that she never had. Walburga could be harsh and often condescending to her, which made no sense. Narcissa had married above-average and rarely showed disrespect to any relatives. At least Narcissa had the decency to teach Regulus about their roots, beyond the blood running through their veins. She could hardly believe that this had been the kid’s first real trip to Paris.
The cousins had barely rested a moment during their 5-day holiday. Narcissa’s enthusiasm to play tour guide had only flourished after witnessing Regulus flinch seeing the portraits of Sirius at their family’s estate. It had reminded her of how she used to flinch seeing any of Andromeda’s things before they were cleared out. Narcissa knew that there were no words in any language that would heal the loss of a sibling. Both of them had been abandoned by their own flesh and blood, but commiserating over the fact wouldn’t get them anymore. They needed to live regret free and move forward! So instead of dwelling on their significant woes, Narcissa knew that great distractions were in order. The cousins had strolled through the Arc de Triomphe, devoured the most delicious sweets from various bakeries in the city, taken the wizard’s tour of Versailles Palace and of the Louvre. And needless to say, they had also shopped. Diagon Alley paled in comparison to the extravagant Boulevard Haussmann. Regulus was dashing in all of his new blazers, as he should look.
“Mum! Look! Look!” A young boy behind them shouted, jumping up and down in his seat. Narcissa groaned at their interrupted silence. What did it take for everyone to shut up?
“Yes, dear.” The woman that had to be his mum replied tersely. “It’s just an… owl.” The surprise was evident in her voice, taking note of the bird flying near their window.
Narcissa instantly stood from her seat and looked over to their window out of curiosity, having heard the entire conversation since they were alarmingly loud. With one quick glance at the Malfoy’s white eagle, she plopped back down in her seat in horror. Narcissa was positive Regulus had thought that she wanted to move seats again seeing the look on his face.
“That’s my….” She said in shock, head snapping in Regulus’ direction to explain. “I wrote Lucius early this morning before we left our home. Our owl is out there in this fright with his reply.” She chewed on her lip in wonder. She couldn’t think of a way to retrieve his letter from their current position.
They were stuck on the train for at least another hour before arriving in London. She only hoped that the stupid animal wouldn’t lose her letter. She surely looked forward to hearing from her husband and prayed that he didn’t have any pressing matters to discuss with her. After all, it had been days since they last spoke to one another.
If nothing up until this point in time had confirmed the deeply rooted hatred for Regulus had for Muggles and everything about them, this train ride would have been the final straw. Regulus had protested diligently against this inferior mode of travel, his skin crawling at the thought of being stuck in a confined space for hours with such filth. He was sure that if they'd bundled up plenty, and if Narcissa stayed close on his tail, that the pair would have made it home safely via broom. But Narcissa objected, and to continue to argue with her would have only made for a more unpleasant journey. So, with much reluctance and a deep breath, Regulus boarded the train along with his cousin and only hope he'd be able to sleep his way through this hellish experience.
The train ride started off with a bang, when the woman who decided to occupy the seat next to him took up half of Regulus' space. His grimace didn't go unnoticed by Cissy who gave him a knowing look before the pair slipped away in search of a more comfortable space. The second compartment didn't serve to Narcissa's most picky expectations either, and right when Reg had cautiously began to settle in, his cousin was on her feet again and fleeing the scene. Heaving a deep sigh, Regulus scooped up his things once more, shooting a dangerous look at the scummy little child who didn't have the manners to keep his hands to himself.
Scanning the car, he spotted Narcissa in a new seat and trudged his way over to join her, hoping in silence that their new neighbors didn't have a hacking cough or badly behaved kid or anything that would cause Narcissa to take a step closer to losing it and hexing the entire train. Before he took one the seat adjacent to the blonde, he shrugged his jacket off and tossed it onto the empty seats in front of them, ignoring the looks of disapproval he got from some of the surrounding people. The less seats available around them, the greater the chance of a little relaxation they had.
Turning to Narcissa when she spoke, he managed a tired nod of agreement. The train station back in London was just a few blocks from Grimmauld and judging by the wintry state outside the window, the blizzard showed no signs of giving up anytime soon. Walburga would be anything but pleased, having taken a certain disliking to Narcissa for reasons unbeknownst to him, but hopefully she'd be asleep by the two arrived home at last.
Regulus' attention was drawn back to the window, and the flurry of white that shot by as the train chugged on. He watched the flakes dance around behind the glass, letting memories of the past five days in the beautiful city of Paris fill his mind instead of what sort of orders from the Dark Lord awaited him at home. Narcissa had been wonderful company, as she always was (aside from the minor annoyance of dressing Regulus up like her own personal doll and making him spend hours in dressing rooms of fancy boutiques.) He'd found himself smiling more than he had remembered doing in years, in between the pangs of guilt in his stomach due to the fact that Narcissa had no idea who he truly was. After everything she'd done for him, she at least deserved to know he was a Death Eater. Reg closed his eyes and tried to shove the thoughts to an unreachable part of his mind, trying to catch a much needed snooze when a shouting child put a quick end to that. Regulus was trying to estimate how quickly he could draw his wand, silence the child, and put it back under his shirt before anyone noticed when he saw Narcissa's shocked expression. "Narcissa, we are not mov-" he began before she hastened to explain that the bird flying alongside the train belonged to her husband.
Some of the nosy Muggles began to shift in their seats to get a better look at the so called owl that was spotted. Certainly, the strange behavior of the animal might raise some suspicions, especially if they found out it had a letter tied to it. Lowering his voice, he moved closer to Narcissa to avoid any unwanted eavesdroppers. "Do you think I should try and get it?" he asked, pondering over how willing he would be to make his way out onto the snowy platform of a moving train to grab a letter off a flying owl. "The bloody thing isn't going to give up, it'll follow us the whole way back to London... he might not make it the whole time fighting against snow at this speed. And if it's something very important..."
