Most residents of Hogsmeade paid no attention to the small little house sitting at the end of a dead-end street. It sat still and silent for months at a time, and when someone was there, the solitary resident of the house gave off the aura of not wanting to be disturbed. They never knew of the woman who Apparated in occasionally to visit with an old friend from school.

Narcissa checked her appearance once more in the mirror, satisfied that she had achieved the perfect balance. Her nerves were tingling, as they always were before she left to see her 'friend from school.' She was always carefully vague about whom exactly her friend was, letting Lucius assume that her friend was female. Strolling casually down the hall, she kept her face devoid of any of the nervousness that she was feeling, aware that the walls had eyes and ears, mostly from the house-elves. She didn't particularly care to think of the other methods employed in the house.

Coming to a stop at the second to last door on the left side, she knocked twice, and then poked her head into her son's room. Draco looked up from his almost-completed Potions essay and graced her with a small smile. Leaning against the doorframe, she smiled back.

"Almost done?"

Draco nodded. "Another three inches left." He looked at her outfit for a moment. "Are you going out?"

She nodded. "My friend and I are having dinner tonight." Already anticipating his next question, she continued. "Your father owled me earlier today and said that with the increased activity at the Ministry, he probably wouldn't make it home until quite late."

She could see the sardonic twist of his lips, gone before it really even came, and she felt like doing the same. Lucius wasn't fooling either of them, and his desire to have Draco walk in his footsteps was severely going against Narcissa's mothering instincts. She hoped that Draco was still malleable enough so that her friend could still reach him. Setting aside that particular thought for later, she refocused on her son.

"Well I hope that you and your friend have a good time, Mother."

You have no idea, she thought to herself. "We'll try. The house-elves will have your supper waiting for you when you're done. I should be back before ten, but if anything comes up..."

Now Draco looked distinctly amused. "Call Mrs. Getthe, I remember."

Blowing him a kiss, she walked down the stairs, her mask firmly back in its place. Accepting her coat from one of the house-elves, she kept it folded over her left arm, as it was still quite warm outside.

Walking down the path a bit, she folded her hands, keeping the jacket held in place there. Unseen by anyone, her right hand quickly removed the dull gold wedding band and the truly ostentatious engagement ring and slipped them inside a pocket of her jacket. Stopping just at the edge of the path, she concentrated for a moment on the place she was Apparating to, took a breath, then Apparated.

"I was wondering when you would arrive," a voice drawled from beside the fire.

Opening her eyes, she smiled at her friend. He was sitting in a very comfortable looking chair, a dog-eared Potions book beside him. His black hair was pushed back behind his ears, and his black trousers and shirt made his face almost look as if it were hovering in mid-air.

"I couldn't very well rush over here, now could I?"

"True." Standing, he strode towards her. Pulling her now bare left hand up to his lips, he gently nibbled on her knuckles. "Good. You took it off."

"I don't wear it if I don't have to."

He smiled. "Gold never suited you anyways."

A small shrug. "It was what Lucius wanted. What he wanted, he got."

"Not everything. Besides, you didn't come here to talk about your husband with me."

Her laugh was soft and musical. "However did you guess? Now why don't you say hello to me properly?"

Severus smiled and drew her close, setting his lips against hers. They immediately parted, allowing him access to her sweet mouth. Keeping one hand around her waist, the other burrowed into her silky hair. After the need for air became a pressing issue, he pulled back, enjoying the sight of her flushed cheeks and swelling lips. "Hello."

Her gray eyes, normally the color of ash, had darkened to a steel gray when she opened them. "Hello," she breathlessly replied.

"Shall we adjourn to more comfortable surroundings?"

"Let's."

Leading her into his bedroom, he pulled her into a kiss and nudged the door shut with his foot.

Later, after the edge of their desire had been worked off, they lounged in bed, gloriously naked under the sheets. He was running his hands through her hair and down her back hypnotically. She was lavishing in the attention he paid her.

"I'm leaving him, you know," she quietly said.

"When?" He couldn't keep the faint note of hope from the single word.

She shook her head and looked into his dark eyes. "Before Draco graduates. I can't allow my son to follow his father's footsteps."

One of his eyebrows quirked and his eyes rested on his left forearm. Narcissa rolled her eyes. "I'm not going there with you tonight."

A smirk replaced his previous look. Rolling her on top of him, they both felt the fire they had recently extinguished flare back into life. "How about going here with me, then?"

As his hands came up to caress her body, all she could do was whimper her assent.

It took another two months before the opportunity arose for Narcissa to leave the marriage that she so hated. Lucius had informed her one night that he would be out of the country for the next three weeks (or even more) on a business trip he could not put off.

It was all she could do to mask her excitement. In little more than a week, Draco would be back at Hogwarts, and during those three guaranteed weeks of freedom, she could find a place of her own. Nodding contritely, she accepted his goodbye kiss the next morning, which was almost as cold as a Dementor, and bid him farewell.

Eight days later, she watched Draco get on the Hogwarts Express, standing there on the platform until the train was out of sight. Ignoring the curious looks she was getting, she turned back to the barrier and re-entered Muggle London. Once outside the station, she hailed a taxi.

"Where to, Miss?"

Grabbing the small piece of parchment, she carefully read the street address to the driver. The address belonged to an up-and-coming lawyer Serverus had found for her. The lawyer, one Esmerlda Jones, had numerous trial wins under her belt, but had not yet relocated to an office in Diagon Alley, making her about the only lawyer Narcissa could go to. She presently worked out of her home, in a mixed Muggle and magical suburban neighborhood.

Pulling up the hood of her Muggle-like jacket in deference to the rain (it also concealed her notable white-blonde hair), she paid the driver and rushed up the steps to the covered porch. Knocking on the door, she was met by a young witch with long brown hair and equally brown eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Esmerlda Jones?"

"Yes."

"Then you can."

Esmerlda's lips twitched upwards as she moved aside to let the woman in. Her initial impression of pureblooded aristocracy was confirmed as soon as Narcissa removed her hood. Esmerlda felt almost drab as a pauper standing next to a queen. Even if the queen was Lucius Malfoy's wife.

"What can I help you with?" Now Esmerlda was curious, and more than a little suspicious.

"I -" Taking a deep breath, Narcissa forced herself to say the words. "I'm looking for a divorce."

Blinking twice in shock, Esmerlda quickly gathered her wits. "I see. Have a seat," she gestured to one of the chairs at the table. Picking up her wand, she summoned a Muggle legal pad and a pen. "Would you care for something to drink?"

Narcissa's nose had already informed her that there was coffee in the homey kitchen she was currently sitting in. "Coffee will be fine, thank you."

Setting down two steaming mugs of the brew, Esmerlda took a careful sip and picked up her pen. "Why are you wanting to file for a divorce?"

"Besides the fact that I do not love my husband?" Narcissa countered dryly. "I can barely stand to be in his presence."

Jotting down a note, Esmerlda continued asking the usual questions. "Do have any suspicions of or know of an extra-marital affair on his part?"

"No. But I am having an affair of my own."

Esmerlda's surprised look lasted a good fifteen seconds. "If his lawyers find out about it, that drastically reduces the amount of settlement you can get from him."

Narcissa shook her head. "I do not want his money. I have my own. I merely want two things: my son and to be away from him. That is all I need."

"How old is your son?"

"He just turned sixteen last month. He's currently attending Hogwarts."

Tapping her pen against her mouth, Esmerlda thought. "Since he is sixteen, he will most likely be asked whom he wants to live with."

"Is there a possibility of Lucius keeping my son?"

"Possible. But since he is sixteen, he is legally old enough to decide which of you he will reside with."

Narcissa ran her fingers through her hair in an uncharacteristic display of frustration. "And unfortunately, I'm working on a time limit. Lucius is back in the country in two weeks, maybe more, and I want to have this done by then."

"I'll see what I can do."

Narcissa's next step didn't take place until the weekend. Esmerlda had worked major miracles, cutting through mountains of paperwork and persuading Ministry officials. She had informed Narcissa that everything was in place, she just needed to get a home of her own, and Draco's statement about where he wished to live.

The first part would be a lot easier than the second. Owling Serverus, she explained the quandary she was in. He had owled her back immediately, saying that he would talk to Draco, and Headmaster Dumbledore. Surely there were some protection spells and charms that could protect her.

Apparating up to a magical village outside Hogsmeade, she went to various houses for sale, none seeming right for her. As she and the realtor she'd hired walked back to his office, Narcissa's eyes caught a house up for sale near a dead-end street. Asking about it, the realtor informed her that a couple had started building it, but had decided not to live in it before it was completed.

"But it does have most everything. It's all interior decorating that is left to be done," he said. "Would you like to see it?"

Narcissa nodded. As soon as she stepped foot inside, she knew that this was the house. "I'll take it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"All right. Once we get back to my office, I can draw up the paperwork."

Narcissa smiled. It would be nice to have her own house.

Since she was already close by, and school was out of session for the weekend, she gathered up her courage and Apparated into Hogsmeade. Relaxing for a moment in Serverus' house, she decided to warn him that she was here instead of showing up unannounced.

Smiling when his head appeared in the fire, he looked a bit surprised to see her.

"I found a house today, Serverus."

His face lit up a bit. "Excellent. How is Ms. Jones working out for you?"

"She's the best, and thank you for recommending her. Since I have my house, I only need Draco's statement of where he wants to live."

"And that's all?"

"Esmerlda says that everything's in place."

"Good. Come on up to the castle. I'll be waiting by the front doors."

Three weeks later, with a barely noticeable dent in her family fortune, Narcissa was once again a free woman. Looking around at her still-gleaming kitchen, she felt a surge of satisfaction at her own work. Eschewing the idea of hiring someone to tell her what went with what, she decorated the house herself, leaving Draco to decide what he wanted for his room. Her divorce from Lucius had created several ripples within the magical community, but she paid them no mind. She was free, her son was with her, and that was all that mattered.

Esmerlda, for her part, had received a large pouch of Galleons for her work, and several Aurors placing protections spells over her house.

Laughing, she told Narcissa over drinks on the day of the divorce hearing, that she couldn't have asked for a better security system.

Draco had taken the news calmly, almost as if he was expecting it to happen. In fact, he had been the one to slip her wedding ring off when she told him. He confided to her later that it had never occurred to him to live with Lucius. Narcissa knew that he would be dreadfully unhappy following the Dark Lord, as he gathered people to him rather than being one of the followers gathered.

Sipping a cup of coffee, she watched the sun set from her kitchen window. Hearing the audible pop of someone Apparating in, she smiled. Normally, she would have had her wand in hand, but today was Friday, and she was expecting her guest.

Serverus was looking around, inwardly liking her style of decorating. It was subtly classy instead of the bludger-force richness Malfoy Manor held.

"Well?"

He smiled slightly. "I do like your style of decorating."

"My bedroom's even better." Setting down her coffee, she held out her now ringless left hand. "Care to see it?"

He silently took her hand.

-End.