Author's Note: This story is basically a re-working of a previous story I've written. There will be new scenes, and the plot is slightly different. Plus, in my opinion, it's just better. Enjoy!

Narcissa Malfoy held her husband's arm as they Apparated to their home, landing just inside the gates. Trembling, she struggled to remain upright as Lucius hurried her indoors. Only a few steps more... She managed to make it to the entrance hall, but felt her knees buckling as the doors closed. Her husband's arm quickly reached out to steady her. She looked up at him gratefully, ready to sink into his awaiting embrace.

But there was no embrace. Instead, Lucius was looking down at her contemptuously. Narcissa began to pull back, but it was too late.

He grabbed her by the shoulders unmercifully. "Have you gone completely mad, Narcissa?" he snarled.

Startled by her husband's reaction, Narcissa could only stammer, "I... Lucius, I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "You didn't think that the Dark Lord would mind?"

Narcissa's heart thudded wildly in her chest. "I didn't intend to..." She couldn't take another moment of his venomous gaze, and closed her eyes briefly. "...I was not disobeying him, I just wanted to voice the concern... that..." she trailed off, silenced by his expression.

Lucius's grip on her arms was steadily tightening. "The Dark Lord has much wiser and more informed advisors than you," he hissed.

Unable to bite her tongue, she retorted, "Who encourage the recruitment of children? What fools would approve of that?"

"Fools who stand at the side of the most powerful wizard in the world," he shot back.

Her emotions were running high, and she felt her cheeks flush. "Perhaps we are fools, to stand beside him."

Before she had time to process what was happening, her husband's hand flew at her cheek so hard that she nearly fell. Her own hand rose quickly to her face, holding the burning skin where he'd made contact. A sob rose in her throat, mostly from shock. Slowly, in silence, she lifted her eyes to look at him, and it took her that long to comprehend: he had struck her. Their stares locked for a moment.

Fearfully, she took several steps backward and started to turn for the stairs. Lucius lunged after her, trapping her arms as he pulled her close against himself. Narcissa desperately wanted to stop crying, but for the life of her she couldn't control the sobs that were building in her throat. Shaking, she hid her face against his robes, hoping to Merlin that he was finished reprimanding her.

Lucius kept his arms around her tightly, digging his fingers into her ribs. "Bloody hell, Cissa," he cursed, squeezing the breath out of her. She detected a slight quaver in his voice. He bent his head down over hers, resting his cheek on her hair. "I've seen execution for less."

Guilt swept over her, mixing with the plethora of emotions she already felt. Her trembling, mostly an after-effect of the Cruciatus Curse, was slowing, though her sobs weren't. She managed to free her arms enough to return his embrace.

When her weeping had finally reduced to a few tears, Narcissa turned her head slightly. The portrait of Abraxas Malfoy was glowering at her from the wall. Slightly unnerved, she closed her eyes and held on to her husband tighter. "Forgive me," she whispered.

After several long moments, when she was certain he hadn't heard her and was about to repeat herself, Lucius lifted his head. He slid his hands to the sides of her head, gently making her look at him. Judging by the look on his face, he was formulating exactly what to say.

"I would not want to live without you," he said quietly. He kept his gaze focused determinedly on her cheek, her nose, her chin, anywhere but her eyes. Narcissa felt more tears welling up, but fortunately Lucius hugged her again before they managed to spill down her cheeks.

The next morning, after staring at the ceiling for most of the night, the events of the previous evening still haunted Narcissa's mind. She glanced over at Lucius. He was finally sleeping. She turned over so she faced away from him.

Narcissa's voice had cut off abruptly when she saw the look she was getting from the Dark Lord. Realizing that she'd gone too far, she bowed her head and stared at the ground.

"It would seem that you've grown tired of following my orders," his voice hissed softly.

Her throat clenched, but she forced out, "No my lord, I..." She trailed off, having no excuse.

He took several menacing steps closer to her. "You know the penalty for disloyalty, Narcissa."

"No!" she exclaimed quickly, her eyes flying up. "My lord, I meant no disloyalty, truly, my lord..." She glanced desperately around at the others. Lucius seemed petrified, his haughty expression plastered onto his face in an effort to hide his fear. Her sister was unusually somber. Narcissa quickly returned her eyes to the ground. An unnatural chill swept over her.

"Look at me."

She obeyed. His piercing gaze made her stomach churn, but she didn't dare look away. He lifted his wand, considering her. "Do you get away with this at home?" he asked mockingly.

The other Death Eaters laughed nervously, with the exception of Lucius and Bellatrix.

Unable to bear the tension, Narcissa dropped to her knees. "Forgive me, please, my lord," she begged. "I..."

The Dark Lord flicked his wand and suddenly she was lifted a meter off the ground, then slammed down flat onto her back.

Narcissa felt her husband stir, and realized that she was shaking again. She closed her eyes, willing her body to be still, but it was too late. Lucius slipped an arm around her waist, scooting in close behind her. Silently cursing herself for waking him, she tried to relax. Despite this, the images continued to pervade her consciousness.

The force of hitting the ground had completely knocked the breath out of her, and for a few moments she literally could not breathe. From the ground, she watched in dread as the Dark Lord turned to Lucius.

"Your wife has lost faith in me."

Lucius shook his head slightly. "She merely spoke without thinking, my lord."

Voldemort cocked his head slightly. "Something you encourage, Lucius?" The others laughed again. Lucius remained silent, though his cheeks flushed. The snake-like figure gestured to Narcissa, inviting Lucius to step closer to her. "I'll allow you to handle your own problem, Lucius, but I insist you use my method." He paused for effect. "The Cruciatus Curse will be an excellent reminder that she should not question her master."

Terror filled Narcissa's heart. Would Lucius even be able to cast the spell against her? What would the Dark Lord do if he could not? Leaning back on her elbows, she looked up at her husband. A sheen of sweat was visible on his face.

After gazing down at her for several long moments, Lucius turned to face his master. "I fear that my incantation will be useless against her, my lord."

"Try your best," the Dark Lord responded, dangerously congenial.

Ignoring the snickers of his fellow Death Eaters, Lucius faced Narcissa again. She made eye-contact briefly, and he narrowed his eyes. She looked away, trembling. Finally, she heard him utter the incantation. "Crucio!"

A red flash hit her, and for a long moment she felt as if she were burning, but the effect wore off very quickly. She didn't bother looking up. "Crucio!" This time when the spell hit her, she felt her entire body contort as invisible flames consumed her. It wore off rather quickly again, but it was more than enough for her.

"Crucio!" Narcissa flinched and expected to feel the fire again, but the voice had distinctively belonged to the Dark Lord, and she watched as her husband fell to his knees.

He hunched over, twitching and moaning, and Narcissa thought she would be sick. What was likely only a minute felt like hours as she watched his torture. The Dark Lord seemed agitated. "I don't have time for this." He flicked his wand, and Narcissa found herself being yanked upward by her throat. Choking, she hovered a few inches off the ground before the Dark Lord. He glared into her eyes, watching her panic as she struggled for air. "Do not betray me, Narcissa Malfoy," he hissed. "Do not even think it, for I will know." Without further ado, she was flying backwards, landing hard on the ground once more.

The Dark Lord turned. "Take care of it, Bellatrix." With that, he held up a hand signaling the others to follow him, and strode into the next room. The others filed out without a second glance, leaving Lucius, Bellatrix, and Narcissa alone.

Narcissa held her throat, gasping for breath. Lucius had risen, when Narcissa looked up he was staring at Bellatrix. Her sister had drawn her wand. Narcissa swallowed, feeling sick. Her sister was renowned for her special affinity for the Cruciatus Curse. The darker woman took several steps toward her, then glanced at Lucius, who also had his wand out. "Don't blame me," Bellatrix said to him, her voice low.

Tears welled up in Narcissa's eyes as her older sister stood over her. Never in her life could she have predicted being in this position.

A sudden blinding flash of red light stopped all her thoughts, and was quickly followed by all-consuming pain that seemed to begin deep within her body and rip through her. For what felt like hours, she screamed, shrieked, and cried, twitching and contorting uncontrollably. She felt her body twisting until she was sure that her spine would snap in half.

When Narcissa opened her eyes finally, she saw Lucius roughly release her sister's arm. "Enough," he growled.

The arm around her waist tightened, and Narcissa felt a second arm trying to coax her into turning toward her husband. She gave in reluctantly, brushing the tears off her face first. Lucius looked into her eyes, his expression serious. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

Embarrassed, Narcissa nodded. He continued to study her. "Don't dwell on it."

She took a shaky breath. "It's... just a little difficult to forget, that's all."

He frowned slightly, and stroked back a few strands of her hair. "I don't expect you to forget it."

Narcissa looked away. A question burned on her tongue, but she was terribly afraid to ask it. "Do you think..." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Do you think I've compromised your position? I mean, ...do you think I've put you out of favor?"

Lucius was silent for several moments. She could tell from his expression that he'd already thought of this. "Let us hope not," he replied eventually, agitated. He paused again. "We'll find out soon enough."

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Narcissa closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He said nothing, merely tucked her head under his chin. "Cissa," he said after a long silence, "I hope you only said those things because you were upset."

She opened her eyes, her body tensing slightly. The silence was baited, and she realized that he was waiting for her response. "Draco is only fifteen," she said slowly, choosing her words. "He is too young to be of any use to the Dark Lord."

Lucius looked at her. "I was only nineteen when I received the Mark."

"Four years makes a world of difference, Lucius," she responded.

Her husband considered her. "The Dark Lord is the most powerful wizard in the world. We would be fools not to side with him."

"Yes, I know," she said quietly, feeling anxious.

Lucius sat up, propping himself up on an elbow, and stared down at her, his expression something between surprise and suspicion. "Are you really having second thoughts?"

Narcissa bit her lip. She had always supported the Dark Lord, but only as long as he didn't hurt her family. Last night she had watched him torture her husband, and it had sickened her. Would life always be like this? Looking up at Lucius, however, she knew that she couldn't say these things. "I'm afraid," she told him simply and truthfully.

He seemed to accept this. Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead. "Trust me," he said softly. "I won't let anything happen to you or Draco."

A/N: Reviews are very welcome!

A little bit about this story: It begins much like my first Lucius/Narcissa story, but it will be taking a few different twists and turns and hopefully have some sub-plots. Once this story has reached about the same point as the older story, "A Grave Mistake" will be taken down, and "Grave Mistakes" will be continued to the end. So if you read "A Grave Mistake," be sure to follow this story, because THIS is the one that's going to be continued!!

I hope that made sense. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. :)