A/N: Prompt #043: flower. The story of Narcissa Malfoy starting before the book begins and ending after the final battle. Spoilers for Deathly Hallows.
Petals and Starlight
All your life,
you've been a fragile little flower
(narcissa)
surrounded by stars and constellations
(regulus, sirius, bellatrix, andromeda)
burning hot and bright and fast
before they explode into
supernovas
quasars
black holes
.
Stars that quickly burn through
all the life they've been allotted
before collapsing in on themselves.
(sound like anyone we know?)
Stars that take their time
let their lives last long
before burning out entirely.
.
Many a time,
you are jealous of them
older sisters and little cousins.
They get to live in the sky
amongst constellations and galaxies
while you are rooted to the Earth
dirt and bugs and animals.
They can pick
out their names in clouds.
Untouchable.
You are your mother's
precious flower, to be
primped, poked, and prodded.
.
Yeah, you're jealous.
.
Before the collapse,
that is.
.
Though some would argue
Andromeda is the first to burn out,
you know it is Bellatrix,
the eldest sister Black.
Already beginning to burn out,
she is drawn in by the Dark Lord,
his web of lies.
As soon as she gets that Dark Mark,
Bella's star collapses.
She becomes a black hole
sucking in all who made the mistake
of crossing her event horizon.
.
(andromeda was lucky.
she broke her chains
when she had the chance.)
.
Regulus is the first
to be sucked in.
Light snuffed too soon.
The little king loses his crown.
No longer inherits anything,
except a place at the Devil's table.
(did he save a seat for Bella?)
.
You are no longer jealous of the stars.
.
Little flowers
rooted in the earth
can't possibly be sucked
by big black holes up in space.
But Bella is Bella
and somehow
you are drawn in.
A little flower in
the blackness of the universe.
.
You are able to forget
the difference between
flowers and stars.
They don't matter in a place
where pain and death and destruction
are the norms.
So, when your son is born
he is named after a star.
You realize your mistake,
but it's too late.
Your little Draco is already
explosive,
volatile,
ready to leave you
Turn into the black hole.
.
You know that you should have named him
after a damned flower.
Who cares about tormenters?
Flowers are
beautiful
delicate
always come back after the snow.
(unless yanked by the roots)
Stars leave you behind.
(andromeda, sirius, regulus, bella)
.
You seal yourself in
with a wall of ice and mortar.
It isn't hard.
Maybe your parents were right
in their naming of you.
Since Andromeda left,
numbness has been how you deal
with life's curveballs.
.
When you hear about
Sirius' death
two thoughts
simultaneously spring through your wall.
(I knew he'd burn out.)
and
(The final brother
sucked into Bella's black hole.
There goes another star.)
.
The years soldier on.
They get darker
(flowers can't live without light.
stars, however, thrive)
It's time to decide
where loyalties lie.
Looking down,
the moment of truth.
You will no longer be sucked in.
.
"He is dead."
And you are free.
.
Years later,
while reading a book
on Muggle horticulture for your flower garden,
(times have indeed changed)
you stumble across it.
.
Andromeda- Pieris japonica:
an evergreen shrub
of the heath family,
typically with small bell-like
flowers.
.
You nearly drop the book.
.
She too,
the middle sister long forgotten
is a flower among stars.
(well, a shrub
but that's semantics)
It is then you decide
it's time to mend fences.
(are you too late?)
.
When you reach her door
you remember
and laugh at yourself for coming.
She's lost everything
(son-in-law, cousin, sister, husband, daughter)
to the Black hole,
more than you, and it's
all
your
fault.
.
You almost turn around,
but you've come this far.
Another flower is truly breaking free.
Ring the bell.
Hear it echo.
Footsteps.
A turquoise haired boy answers
and calls for her before scurrying away.
(the grandson.
teddy, right?)
.
She appears, taking you by surprise.
Time and grief have sanded her face
into something strange
yet frighteningly familiar.
"Narcissa?"
"Andromeda."
She's an odd mix
of you and Bellatrix
you decide.
.
Maybe that's what it takes
to break the Black family chains
and live to see the new dawn.
(who needs toujours pur?)
Not just the fragile flower (narcissa)
or the blazing stars (bellatrix, regulus, sirius)
You need both,
at an equilibrium.
.
"I know it's not much,
not at all,
especially after all this time,
but it has to be said.
I'm sorry.
For everything."
.
Her face is granite.
"You're right.
It's not much."
(what did you expect?)
However, her countenance softens
with a glance at your guilt-ridden face.
"But it's a start."
.
The remaining sisters Black,
separated by years and wars and bloodshed,
begin to come together again
at the happy medium of stars and flowers
only found in Andromeda.