Author's Note: As I am not J.K. Rowling, I own nothing. Reviews are love.
Narcissa is doing her summer assignments, her back arched up against the tree as she reads about divination. It's not exactly what she likes to do on a summer day, but Bella is out with her friends and Andy is shut up in her room, writing letters, and she might as well get her reading done now.
She thinks she might fall asleep amid the humidity radiating around her, and in truth she doesn't think that she'd mind very much if she did. She's in a comfortable position now, and honestly she'd much rather be sleeping than reading about a subject she took because she wasn't sure what else to add to her schedule.
Her eyes are closing when she hears footsteps pad the ground next to her. She opens her eyes slowly to see bare feet beside her, then she sees Andromeda sit down, two cups of tea in her hands.
"It's hot out here, so I thought you might like some cold tea," Andromeda says brightly, handing one to Narcissa. She takes it carefully, still drowsy, and drinks.
"Thank you," she says, leaning back against the tree and closing her eyes again. She's secretly thrilled to have Andromeda here, for she's been so distant this summer, but she won't show it. She's not a little girl anymore; her happiness doesn't hang on whether her moody older sister will give her attention or not. Even if it does, she won't let Andromeda know that.
Narcissa lets the book drop, and Andromeda picks it up. "Divination?" she asks, not bothering to disguise her scorn. Narcissa lets a brief smile come to her lips.
"I know your feelings on the subject already, Andy," she points out, even though she doesn't really care enough about divination to argue it with her sister.
"That still doesn't change them," Andromeda replies promptly. She rests her head in Narcissa's lap after taking a sip of her own tea, tossing the book away from them. "How are you, Narcissa?" she asks after a few moments of silence.
Narcissa isn't sure how to answer; it's such a common question, and something that Andromeda shouldn't need to ask. But she doesn't want to drive her sister away right now, so she shrugs. "I'm all right. Tired." Andromeda looks tired too, her eyes closed against the brightness of the sun, which permeates the minute shelter of the trees and bathes them in warmth. "What have you been doing lately?" she asks her sister, not without some implications that Andromeda doesn't deign to address.
Upholding her cheery demeanor, she answers pleasantly. "I've been reading Shakespeare, actually. I've never read anything like him before. You should give him a try."
"Never heard of him."
Andromeda laughs. "In the Muggle world, they practically worship the ground on which he walks." She must feel Narcissa's body stiffen, but she makes no note of it. "Anyway. The prose is archaic, but lovely. I have copies of some of his plays, if you'd like to read them."
"Maybe." They both know that she never will.
Silence comes again upon them, but it isn't uncomfortable for Narcissa. It replaces things that she doesn't want to say, things she doesn't want to hear. In comparison to those things, a peaceful silence is all the sweeter. She basks in it, never wanting to let it go.
"Do you know where Bella is now?" Andromeda asks, breaking into the haven Narcissa has quickly crafted for herself.
"She's with Rodolphus," Narcissa answers warily. Andromeda doesn't approve of Bella's friends, and especially not Rodolphus. Still, lying to Andy is impossible, and she hasn't tried for a long time due to the futility of it.
It seems that Andromeda is holding back a comment, but then she sighs and stretches, sitting up and reaching for her cup of tea. "She likes this kind of weather," she says instead. Narcissa breathes a sigh of relief because of it.
"She's the only one." It is all too extreme for Narcissa, for while she likes the sun, the humid heat, the insects buzzing around her. She prefers milder seasons like spring and autumn, the in-between climes that aren't blazing hot or freezing. The only good thing about summer is that Narcissa and her sisters are all together, which has been something to look forward to since Bella graduated.
An emphatic nod from Andromeda confirms that she agrees. "Definitely." She looks around at the gentle swaying of the trees, and then shrugs. "It is peaceful, though." She smiles. "Here in this garden, with the summer warmth, it feels so much like home." Narcissa wonders if it is her imagination that Andromeda's smile seems to be tainted with some kind of wistfulness.
"The clouds up there look like rain," she observes, trying to take her mind off of it.
"Maybe not." It seems like there is something desperate in Andromeda that needs there not to be rain contained in those clouds, but Narcissa knows that a storm is inevitable.
"Probably tonight."
Finally Andromeda seems to accept it and shrugs. "Let's enjoy the sun while it lasts, then." Narcissa looks up at the sky and nods, agreeing. She leans back against her tree.
Andromeda sighs and stares at Narcissa, daring her to meet her eyes. Narcissa takes the challenge, even though she's positive she knows what Andromeda will say.
"I'm leaving all this behind to be with Ted," she says quietly. Narcissa thinks she feels the first drop of rain, a gentle pinprick against her neck.
"I know."
Seemingly assured by Narcissa's calm reception of the groundbreaking information, Andromeda continues. "If you only knew him, Cissy, you would like him. Please give him a chance, for me. Please don't shun me like the others will."
Narcissa rises from her seat. Her legs ache from sitting for so long. "Andy, don't," she pleads. "Don't make me choose."
"I'm not asking you to choose," she says gently. "I'm asking you not to choose. Pick both sides."
She shakes her head, and as she does so rain begins to pour out of the clouds so heavily it hurts to feel the drops. They both start to run into the house; Narcissa falls into the dirt, smearing her clothes. She gets to her feet and continues into the house, realizing belatedly that Andromeda was waiting for her. Once they reach shelter they crouch outside the door, huddling.
"Will you tell anyone?"
Narcissa ponders for a moment, then shakes her head. "No, I don't think so. That's your job, not mine."
They both stare at the storm through the window, Andromeda drumming her fingers on her knee to the rhythm. Lightning begins to strike from the sky in powerful bolts, illuminating the garden in all-too-brief snatches of light. It seems mystical, almost, how quickly and magnificently the lightning comes and goes.
"It's a bad storm," Narcissa observes.
"It is. But it can be weathered," Andromeda insists. "All storms can be weathered, Narcissa."
Narcissa turns to look straight at her sister, for the first time since Andromeda's announcement. "I don't know about this one, Andy." She rises to her feet. "I'm going to go change my clothes," she announces.
"Wash them off?"
"Yes."
Andromeda's voice, for the first time, is bitter. "Will you try to forget about me?"
Narcissa stops halfway cross the room. She doesn't look at Andromeda as she answers. "I don't think I could."
"Good." She pauses, then says, "Cissy, let's go back outside."
This time she actually turns around, disbelief moving her more than anything else. "Are you insane?" she asks wildly. "There's lightning, and there's rain, and…"
"Your book is out there," Andromeda says. "And our tea."
"I don't give a shit about my book, and we can collect the cups later. Do you really want to drink it once it's been diluted with water?"
Andromeda shrugs. "It'll be one last thing that we do together." Her voice isn't pleading, just calm. It implies that Narcissa will regret this if she doesn't do it. Narcissa raises her head, meeting the tacit challenge.
They stream out the door in the coursing rain, on a mad quest to reach their possessions. Narcissa scoops up her soaked book while Andromeda snatches the cups. Narcissa is about to bolt back into the house, when Andy clutches at her sleeve.
"No. Just…stay here a moment."
For that moment, the storm doesn't seem to bother Narcissa, though she knows it's raining all around her and there's lightning and they're standing next to a tree that very likely could be struck. Yet it doesn't seem to register in that moment; the weather might as well be sunny and bright as it had been before. Then Narcissa glances at the house and suddenly it is raining again. She glances at Andromeda, who nods.
"All right." She smiles sadly.
Narcissa truly can't bear to see her sister like this; she can't accept what she will do, but she can't view this expression. She fights to make herself heard over the rain. "Race me back?"
The brief, undisguised happiness crossing Andromeda's face is gratification enough. They course back through the rain to the house, then Andromeda pulls Narcissa down again and they both become muddy before scrambling to their feet and continuing to race. By the time they reach the house again, their mother is there, wondering how she raised two unruly daughters.
They both simply laugh.
The next morning Andromeda is gone, and Narcissa makes no attempt to contact her.
She doesn't wash her muddy robes, though. She stashes them under her bed and keeps them there, dirty and smelling of the rain. She wraps them around the tattered divination book, telling her mother that she lost it and needs a new one. She doesn't show these to anyone, not even Bella, and occasionally she takes them out just to look at them. It's painful, for these possessions now practically shout Andromeda, but she keeps them.
She won't ever let anyone find them; she won't ever let them go.