Chapter Text
It’s been a long time coming, really- things haven’t been the same since Lucius came back from Azkaban.
Narcissa has divorced Lucius. She’d gone through the paperwork with her lawyer, and after deliberating over what to do next, she’d moved to a little town called Boxford, in Suffolk. The main street is called Swan Street, which she takes as a good sign-her patronus was a Swan, after all.
She’d told Draco about her decision before she sent the papers-it wasn’t an easy conversation, but he understood why she wanted to do it.
She rented a little cottage, initially for six months, and then had extended the lease. Lucius, although angry, agreed to the divorce and signed the papers.
It was about 18 months since the war, and around a year since the divorce had been finalised.
Lucius was never abusive towards Narcissa, but when Draco started at Hogwarts and after Voldemort returned, the cracks started to show in their marriage.
When they were teenagers, Narcissa had begun dating Lucius, but she’d never imagined that she’d end up marrying. She’d only really done it to please her parents-both the Blacks and the Malfoys were thrilled at the idea of a union between their two houses.
That was that. Narcissa didn’t regret marrying him, because they’d had Draco, whom they both loved very much. That being said, she didn’t regret divorcing him, either. Azkaban had changed him, and the second war had changed all of them. Narcissa knew that the war had taught her that Draco was the most important thing to her, not her marriage. Lucius had become someone that she no longer recognised-he was certainly not the man she’d married.
And so, that was how Narcissa found herself awakening to the sound of her alarm going off at 7:30AM on a Tuesday morning. It was time for her to get up for work.
Not that she needed a job, really- she had plenty of family money in the bank. It was still at Gringotts, which had been rebuilt, along with Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. Her job was more of a distraction, something to do. She had little else to fill her time, after all.
She got up and decided to have a quick shower, and after she was done, she got ready for the day.
She checked her phone-it was a Muggle invention, but she found it rather useful, and Draco had shown her how to video chat him on it. It was 8:20AM, she had a few minutes before she was due to leave for work. So, she decided to have some toast for her breakfast.
Boxford was a tiny village, and it counted a reasonable number of witches and wizards amongst its residents-the small magical population even had regular social evenings at the local pub-the landlady was a witch, her familiar was a white cat called Quartz. Narcissa often saw the little creature wandering around the village. She was yet to attend one of the meetings, she hadn’t plucked up the courage.
Narcissa was working hard to get rid of the prejudices she had against pretty much anyone who wasn’t a pure blooded wizard. This proved difficult at times, but she was getting better at it, little by little. In fact, Draco was dating a lovely witch called Astoria. Narcissa’s, or indeed, Lucius’s parents would never have approved of her as a potential partner for their grandson, as she wasn’t a pure blooded witch.
She hadn't been too sure at first, but had soon learned to trust that her son would find someone worthy enough to be his partner in life, and to let go of her prejudices. Lucius, however, was still coming around to the idea. That was one of the many reasons why Narcissa was glad that she’d divorced him.
A few of the magical folk in the village recognised Narcissa, and she wouldn’t have been shocked if they all knew who she was- witches and wizards loved a good gossip as much as Muggles did.
After she’d finished her breakfast, Narcissa washed her dishes up and gathered her things together, before letting herself out of her house and locking the front door. She’d been in the village for about three months, and was enjoying the quiet life. She didn’t feel isolated like she once had done at Malfoy Manor.
Narcissa worked as a waitress in a cafe, and she actually quite enjoyed it. It was a good way to get to know the local population without going out of her way to be sociable.
She made her way to the cafe, it was called The Cup & Saucer.
Narcissa let herself in at the staff entrance, it was still early and the cafe didn’t open until 10AM.
“Morning, Narcissa.” Her boss, Poppy, greeted her with a smile. “Could you get started with setting up the tables for me, and then could you put the coffee machine on please? Make yourself a cuppa if you like.”
“Thank you, Poppy.” Smiled Narcissa.
Poppy was a young witch in her early 30s, her family had owned the cafe for a good few generations. Poppy ran it with her wife, Anna, who was also a witch.
Narcissa liked them both-they were kind to her, despite everything they knew about her, and they’d given her a job in the first place.
She got to work, and lost herself in the now familiar routine.
Soon enough, it was time to open up. Narcissa did the honours, opening the door leading into the cafe. Waiting patiently was Maude Ainsley, and her dog, Daisy, who was a golden Labrador.
“Hello Maude, Daisy.” Narcissa greeted them both with a smile, bending down to pat the dog, who was wagging her tail happily.
Maude and Daisy went to the cafe every morning without fail, and on the one occasion they didn’t turn up, Narcissa found herself worrying about them. Luckily, Daisy had had an early morning vets’ appointment for her yearly booster injection, nothing more. Narcissa had been relieved to see them later that day, when she was walking home.
“Hello, dear.” Said Maude. “I’d like my usual, please.”
“Coming right up.” Replied Narcissa, and made her way to the counter.
Narcissa made Maude a cup of tea, then toasted her a teacake.
She put everything on a tray, and set it down at the table Maude was sat at. “Here you are, Maude. Come and pay at the till when you’re ready. Is Daisy allowed to have a dog biscuit?”
“She is.” Replied Maude, and Narcissa retrieved a small gravy bone dog biscuit from her apron pocket, asked Daisy to sit, and fed her the dog biscuit.
“Thank you, dear-you’re very kind.” Smiled Maude.
“Anytime, you and Daisy are very welcome.” Narcissa replied, and went back to work, as the cafe was beginning to fill up with customers.
A while later…
“Narcissa Malfoy- or is it Black, again? I never thought I’d see you here!” Said a voice.
Narcissa, who was taking a customer’s order, couldn’t believe her ears. She turned around, and set eyes on someone she hadn’t seen for years. “Hello, Atlas Hawthorne. I never thought I’d see you here, either.”