Title: Ribbons
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Lucius/Narcissa and Ted/Andromeda mentioned
Rating: G
Summary: The weirdest things link sisters together.
The hair ribbons were small, and a dark plaid. They were square at the edges. They had been purchased on a whim at a shoppe at the insistence of one of the three girls, although which of the three it was was a memory lost to the ages. It was especially difficult to tell since they were one of the few, if not the singular, thing the girls had all agreed on.
Cissa had nearly lost hers fifth year. It had been Lucius, smiling and flattering, who had returned it to her at lunch with the stipulation that she agree to accompany him to Hogsmeade for dinner at a restaurant with entrees so expensive that most of the students were completely unaware of its existence. Narcissa was, of course, somewhat flattered by the invitation, and agreed to go without hesitation. He returned the hair ribbon with a gallant bow and left the room gracefully, accompanied by all of the most desirable men of his year clapping him on the back. She still, to this day, has a suspicion that he had stolen it from her for just this purpose, as she has no idea of how he came to possess it otherwise.
Bella wore hers almost every day, but it was usually difficult to see when entangled in the mass of dark curls that swept across her shoulders and down her back. In fact, had one not been looking for it, they might not have seen it at all. However, since Narcissa was, by nature, very observant, she never missed it. Not even when, in a tiny little house in Spinners End, Bellatrix mocked her for her unwillingness to sacrifice her only son to the honour of a creature that Narcissa still wasn't sure that she wanted in power. It hung in Bella's hair like a limp, plaid flag, reminding Narcissa of their shared childhood. It was all Narcissa could do to keep from vomiting.
Andromeda wore hers for the last time when she married Ted. It was her way of reminding herself what she was giving up. It was her last connection to the family that she fled, like a fugitive, in the middle of the night to marry a man who made her happier than she'd ever imagined she'd be. After the hurried but tender ceremony, she laid the ribbon at the bottom of her jewelry box, to be covered up by other things, but still barely visible, like her own abandoned heritage.
In the end, the hair ribbons were tiny, and basically insignificant, but they bonded the Black sisters for life, and none of them could ever forget that.
