Narcissa was going to quit the Charms Club.

It was her first day back, and she didn't have time to play games with little miss muggle, especially not at seven o' clock in the evening when she could have been reclining peacefully in the Slytherin common room. Lily Evans was the bane of her otherwise perfect existence, and Narcissa was not in the mood to practice confunding somebody, especially not the arrogant redhead, who would undoubtedly enjoy using the Confundus Charm against her.

"Alohomora."

Whispering the spell, Narcissa stepped into the armor gallery with a haughty expression on her beautiful face, turning up her nose as a few of the rustier suits of armor shifted around, hiding themselves instinctively from her condescending view. She positively loathed arriving at destinations first, preferring always to be fashionably late. As it happened, she was fashionably late. Lily was simply being rude by not having arrived on time, as they had both reluctantly agreed to do so. Yes, Narcissa had entertained no real thought of showing up when she was supposed to, but Lily was in bloody Gryffindor, for merlin's sake! Weren't those egotistical show-offs supposed to have a higher caliber of integrity and honor?

"Confundus!"

Narcissa hissed the spell out through gritted teeth, and one of the creaking suits of armor tumbled backwards, unable to regain its balance. Narcissa repeated the process, and another one banged confusedly into a nearby wall. Narcissa wanted to hit Lily good and hard with the charm, suspecting that Lily would show her very little mercy, and as she jabbed her wand outwards for a third time, the suit of armor on the recieving end of her spell changed directions so violently that his rusty arm crunched off, falling to the floor with a resounding "bang!" Oh, yes. Narcissa was ready for Evans.

Straightening up, Narcissa found that she was panting heavily, and she took a moment to compose herself. It wouldn't do to have Evans walk in on her in the midsts of a towering temper... after all, something so intimiate and regal as a pureblood's flushed face shouldn't be displayed in front of a lowly mudblood like Lily Evans, especially not when that flushed face belonged to Narcissa Black. Clearing her throat gently, Narcissa shook back her head of snowy blonde hair, running her feminine fingers through the girly tresses. Forcing her breathing to return to normal, her cheeks paled slowly, and Narcissa flipped her wand into the direction of her hair, sending it curling into a perfect bun. Her deft hands flew over the front of her uniform, removing her cloak as an afterthought, and she was left standing in her black skirt, Slytherin tie, and button-down blouse. Setting down her discarded cloak, Narcissa unbuttoned the cuffs and began to roll them upwards, past her elbows. It was a display of spartan efficiency, and Narcissa reflected on the fact that Bellatrix, her older sister, had never seemed to find any use for that type of battle preparation.

Narcissa was often reminded of the fact that she and Bellatrix were completely different animals; physical composure and extravagancy set them apart like a completely unrelated species. Narcissa was purposeful in everything that she did, from her outfits to her social decisions. She was exacting in her movements, deliberate in her words, and composed in her appearance, everything that her parents expected from her...but Bellatrix had always been a wild woman, torn and twisted and obviously untameable. She did what she wanted, wraught her vengence haphazardly, and never thought twice about attacking a desired target, but Narcissa...Narcissa was a house pet, born and bred to produce the desired effects of a prim young lady. These traits showed in her fighting style, for even as Bellatrix would have worn unreasonable gowns and expensive jewelry, Narcissa preferred the simplicity of skin and magic, accompanied only by the necessary encumberments. Not that Narcissa didn't indulge (and heavily so) in the extravagancies of gowns and jewelry...but Bellatrix danced across the battlefield as though she were waltzing through their father's ballroom, and Narcissa had never been able to follow her frenzied, singular movements.

Glancing up at the door, Narcissa exhaled steadily as she imagined her sister, two-stepping around the fallen body of a newly murdered victim. Narcissa reserved prettiness for the parties and organized strategies for the dueling room, but Bellatrix was never more beautiful than she was when in the light of one of her many curses' afterglows.

"Evans, you're late. How expected of you."

Narcissa saw a flash of red from the corner of her eye and knew that the freckly Gryffindor had arrived. Poised for battle, Narcissa turned around and faced the lesser female, flashing her clear blue eyes over Lily's entire appearance. Wrinkling her nose in an automatic display of disgust, Narcissa sniffed and turned her face away, stating,

"Let's get this over with, Evans. I don't like wasting my time with Gryffindors."

Twirling her wand between her forefinger and thumb, Narcissa brazenly showed her back to Evans, exposing the unprotected territory as though she were asking the Gryffindor to hit her from behind. Narcissa knew that Lily wouldn't do it, but it was amusing to imagine the muggleborn giving into the tantalizing temptation of cursing Narcissa into a thousand little pieces. Oh, but that would be so dishonorable, and no self-respecting Gryffindor would ever stoop so low. Narcissa, on the other hand, was completely unafraid of attacking her oppenent when their guard was down, and if Lily gave her the chance to strike in that fashion, she would take it.

"I'm so sorry to hear about you and Severus, Evans. As I understand it, you two were unable to see eye-to-eye on a few key issues...pity, that your friendship had to suffer as a casualty to your inability to agree. You should learn in the future to accept the truth of a situation when you hear it, Evans. You can't blame Severus for calling you by your proper title."

Smirking, Narcissa faced Lily once more, cocking an eyebrow upwards in open challenge.

"Mudblood."

"Lets just get on with it, Black."

Lily sounded as irritated as Narcissa felt. Even though she'd grown accostomed to the blatantly disrespectful ways in which the Gryffindor house chose to address her, Narcissa was still sensitive to the callous insults and passing comments. How dare they treat her like an equal, as though she were directly on their level? Moreover, how could this filthy little mudblood be allowed to stand opposite to her in a dueling match? It was unfair, it was cruel, and more than anything else, it was degrading.

"You need to watch your tone around me, Evans. You act like you think that you and I are on the same level, but you could not be more wrong. Compared to me, you are nothing but a snivelling little toad, born and bred to become an undesireable member of society. You reek of muggledom, the way a tadpole reeks of swamp water. Why don't you crawl back into the primordial ooze that you came from, mudblood?"

Glaring meanly at the girl across from her, Narcissa pursed her lips into a twisted little pout and whispered,

"The time is coming in which people like you will be separated permanently from people like me. I will never have to cross wands with prissy little lowlifes like you again...but until that happy day arrives, I suppose that I will have to endure the embarrasment of having you as a practice partner."

Pacing close to Lily, Narcissa tread dangerous water as she approached the redhead, intentionally shortening the distance between them so that only four feet of air was left to shield the Gryffindor from the almost palpable sizzle of Narcissa's hatred.

"As you said, let's get on with it."

Without warning, Narcissa slashed her wand through the air suddenly and yelled, "Confundus!", aiming directly towards Lily with more force than was necessary. A crackling jet of pale yellow energy shot out of the tip of her wand, and Narcissa watched with angry anticipation as the spell ricocheted towards its mark. With all of her willpower, she urged the supposedly "innocent" charm to strike Lily Evans square in the chest, and she imagined the arm bending off of the knight as she thought this, pleased with the violent imagery. If she didn't already, after this training session, Evans would rue the day that she and Narcissa had been paired together in Charms Club.

Narcissa had expected Lily to retaliate, but not that quickly; raising her wand a second too late, Narcissa instinctively turned her shoulder, and the spelled knocked her sideways, right into the arms of the knight that she had previously dismembered. Startled by the attack, she blinked her eyes confusedly and tried to regain her sense of direction, barely able to support herself as she pushed away from the suit of armor to stand on her own, a renewed feeling of hatred coursing through her veins. How dare that horrible little muggleborn attack her? Seeing red, Narcissa swung around angrily, and the momentum of her curse nearly scorched through Lily's shield as it slammed into it, bursting into evil colored flame like a bubble of inferno.

"Put down your wand, Lily. It's my turn to try."

Narcissa's words were neither friendly nor calming as she spat them out, pink-cheeked and raging in her flowering temper. Pieces of downy blonde hair crept out of her bun, and they hung about her face messily as though to outwardly suggest the brewing storm inside of the pureblood witch. In this moment, it was easy to tell that Narcissa and Bellatrix were sisters; the fierceness in her eyes was practically manic, and as she inhaled and exhaled heavily, a prideful swell began to lift her stature, so that she looked like a goddess descending to earth for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc.

"Stop cowering! Or do I have to rip through that pathetic excuse of a shield to practice on you?"

The way Narcissa phrased it made her intentions sound less than admirable, and as she spoke, she slashed her wand through the air and brought it whistling down, sending another jet of fire towards Lily, this time purple. Remembering only how to produce these two types of flame from her father's book of dark magik, she racked her brain for any other type of curse but found, regrettably, that she had forgotten the lessons that Bellatrix had occasionally sought to teach her. Left with nothing in her arsenal but the staple Hogwarts students' set of jinxes and counter-curses, she vehemently lowered her wand and took a moment to catch her breath, running her hand over her forehead in an attempt to regain her composure. This wasn't working at all.

"We're supposed to be practicing, Evans, but that's difficult to do when you insist upon keeping your guard up. Would you like our little practice session to end here? Would you prefer it if I told the Charms Club president that you refused to cooperate with me? Because that can easily be arranged. If you're too scared to face me, I'm sure that the rest of the club will understand."

A type of angry satisfaction filled Narcissa as Lily lowered her shield, but she waited a moment before attacking, gathering her strength and her composure while the redhead prattled on about some mindless school rule involving dark magic and how students weren't supposed to be practicing it. Never mind that Narcissa's whole family was steeped in the history of the dark arts, or that producing cursed flame came as naturally to her as swimming came to a fish. Of course, she might not be as keenly defined as Bellatrix when it came to illegal curses and elemental spells, but she far preferred them to the simple "must haves" that Hogwarts insisted upon teaching its students. It was no great secret that the Blacks possessed knowledge of forbidden tortures and spells, and Narcissa knew that if Lily were to turn her in, she wouldn't be punished for her behavior. Sure, she might receive a detention, but anything more severe than that was unlikely; her father was known for being extremely influential, and nobody, not even the headmaster of Hogwarts, would be stupid enough to cross him.

"Your attempts at blackmail are pathetic, Evans. As if anything you could say would be taken seriously by the Headmaster! I'll let you in on a little secret: all Blacks are above the law, myself included. I could turn you into a sniveling newt and the worst that I'd receive would be a detention. You, on the other hand," Narcissa continued, lowering her voice to a lazy drawl, "could be expelled for so much as bruising the surface of my precious skin."

Hissing the last word carelessly, Narcissa flicked her wand and stated, "Confundo." This time the spell was not abnormally strong, but because Lily was still so close, it promised to hit her hard. Continuing her speech as though there had been no interruption, Narcissa put up a thick shield of her own.

"The problem with mudbloods isn't just your lack of magical intelligence, but your absence of refinery and taste. You have next to no knowledge of how to treat your superiors, and its really quite rude. Take this as your first lesson, Evans; no matter how hard you try or where you choose to go, a pureblood will always come out on top, guaranteed. An intelligent creature would give up after coming to terms with that knowledge, but again, that's the problem with mudbloods: you all lack basic intelligence."

Narcissa's shield deflected Lily's charm easily, sending it rolling away from her like a gust of insubstantial wind. A cruel smirk twisted her lady-like lips into a snarl, and she listened to every one of Lily's petty insults, hearing very few of them and feeling none. Almost as though her shield were equipped to block out the sting of snide remarks coming from the Gryffindor, Narcissa was surprised to find her temper cooling, and her expression froze into one of disdainful hatred.

"I expected nothing more from you, Evans. You crawled into this school as though you belonged here, dragging in the muck and slime from those muggle pigs who raised you. Even now, I can smell the stench of them on you. Did they teach you morals, Evans? Did they tell you right from wrong? How disgusting, to imagine such lowly beasts training their suckling little piglet to behave like a human. Even a swine who stands on two legs and grunts like he understands can not pass for the man he is pretending to be, and you are no different. Everyone knows you for the animal that you are."

Lowering her shield with a harsh swish of her wand, Narcissa lifted her nose into the air and turned her back to Lily, bending down to grab her things. She could not believe that she'd actually dueled with the mudblood, even knowing that she could have backed out. Yes, she would have been forced to leave the Charms Club, but of what consequence was that to her when they allowed muggleborns like Evans into their ranks? You need ssomething that's yours that nobody can take away, Narcisssa reminded herself. Charms was that thing. If her parents ever found out that she was wasting so much time in an activity that was non-acedemic, they would force her to quit and punish her by making her write home every day with one of their "truth quills", an object that, when being used, forced the writer to spell out only the reality, never lies. "What did you do today," they would ask her, and Narcissa would be forced to reveal her activities, lest they come down to the school and punish her physically.

Straightening up, Narcissa turned to face Lily and said loftily, "I have mastered this charm, and our practice is no longer necessary. Put away your wand and get out of my path."