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Draco was almost at the door when he turned back, pale eyes flickering from his mother to his fiancee.
"For Merlin's sake, Draco, I'm not going to eat her." At that, a delicate snigger came from an empty portrait in the parlour -- Draco and Narcissa simultaneously turned to scowl at it before looking back at Astoria.
Astoria forced herself to smile. She had been counting down the days with no small amount of dread -- melodramatic, yes, but also true. Making eye contact with the icy, statuesque woman in front of her always had made Astoria consider puking in the nearest thousand-galleon Ming vase. "It's really fine, Draco, I'll see you later, alright?"
Narcissa turned to her once Draco had left, eyes appraising. Finally, she spoke. "Let's go somewhere else. Phineas Nigellus enjoys eavesdropping too much for my taste."
The empty portrait coughed.
Astoria followed Narcissa's clicking heels down several winding corridors into a sunroom, where tea had been laid out. She took a sip, scalding her tongue, and gazed out the diamond-paned windows at the sprawling grounds. "The Manor is really overwhelming, honestly."
Narcissa chuckled. "I think it took me years to really get to know the place. And it's a temperamental house -- I think it only recently forgave us the war intrusions." The sunlight glittered harshly on her diamond ring and earrings. "Anyway, I wanted us to be able to talk frankly -- and privately -- about a couple of things."
Astoria's eyebrows raised. Lucius and Narcissa had always been cordial to her with a clear wall up -- she had no illusions about singing Christmas carols together. ("Pansy always thought it was a clear case of 'no one's good enough for our baby' with them," Daphne had told her, "So maybe don't take it personally." As if Astoria needed the warning -- being Draco Malfoy's girlfriend was a life lesson in not taking it personally.)
To Narcissa, she only said, "What kinds of things?" A beat, and a breath of courage, "I mean, Draco told me that you and Lucius aren't--"
"I am extremely happy for both of you, but as I'm sure you've surmised, I'm not a confetti-throwing type. Lucius will come around."
"Draco seems to think he won't." Not that it matters.
"He will. In any case, it's never been easy to have a Malfoy as a father-in-law," Narcissa said waspishly. "Lucius has conveniently forgotten how much Abraxas disliked me until Draco was born."
Astoria couldn't help herself. "Really? Why?"
"My family has always tended to cause a lot of drama," Narcissa said, which Astoria was sure was the understatement of a lifetime. "And I'm sure he thought Lucius would get dragged into it if he married me, and he wasn't entirely wrong." She paused. "I'm telling you this not because I particularly enjoy rehashing it, but because I think it's important for you to understand the context here if you're marrying my son."
"I understand that," Astoria said, cutting a cake slice into several smaller pieces. "I want to have good relationships with both of you, but I'm not going to change my political views, or my friends, or my job. And I'm aware Lucius doesn't approve of those, and is worried about my mother's family's curse --"
"Oh, that," Narcissa said disdainfully. "If you brought me our copy of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Directory I could tell you a curse about every family in it. C'est la vie. Lucius isn't going to tell you himself, so you'll have to take my word for it that he only wants happiness for Draco. This family -- its history, yes, and what's left of it -- is simply everything to us, my dear, which is both a blessing and quite a weight."
Astoria's face was still dubious, but her heart was no longer pounding with panic. Every family had its good, bad, and ugly, and she would manage this like she managed the rest of her life -- thoughtfully, optimistically, with Draco beside her. Outside, the sun was slowly setting, casting orange light on the gardens and trees.
"You're a brave girl," Narcissa said, half smiling as if she could hear Astoria''s thoughts. She drummed her well-manicured nails against the table contemplatively. "I think I'd like a stronger drink. Why don't you follow me inside and I can show you the wedding jewelry collection?"