Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters are copyright Joanne Rowling.
Warning: As this is a missing scene from Deathly Hallows, it contains spoilers for said book.
Note: The story starts at the line break. I wrote a bit of back-thought analysis on Bellatrix and Narcissa before beginning writing the story and it become… excessive. If you want to read it, kudos to you.
Thoughts: Though Bellatrix Lestrange is very likely clinically insane, I have noticed that in her more lucid moments she is, well, lucid. This seems particularly so when she is alone with her sister – the chapter "Spinner's End" in Half-Blood Prince showed us that Narcissa Malfoy is probably the only person Bellatrix actually cares for. She has no care for Draco, her nephew ("You should be proud! If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to service of the Dark Lord!"), no care for her other sister (Andromeda is, after all, a blood traitor) and though we don't actually see them interact, it is likely that she has very little love for her husband (a Pureblood marriage from the Black family is likely to have been arranged, and Bellatrix thinks far too much of herself for it to work).
This, of course, leaves the Dark Lord and Narcissa. We have no doubt that Bellatrix has a great love of her master – she would do absolutely anything for Voldemort – but does she think the same way about Narcissa? Could the one family member she likes, and perhaps even protects, be her baby sister?
Narcissa Malfoy proves herself to be more capable of love than Bellatrix, though it bears the same narrow-minded thought that Bellatrix' love holds. Narcissa coddles her son (despite Draco's objections to the treatment) and is willing to defend her husband to Bellatrix (quite a feat, unless, perhaps, it is risk free for Bella's favourite sister?) Narcissa, however, doesn't seem to reciprocate the level of caring that Bellatrix shows her.
Of course, this could be for a number of reasons: 1) Narcissa believes just as much as anyone else that Azkaban didn't agree with Bellatrix; 2) her sister has been a constant since childhood, and she takes advantage of that relationship or; 3) Narcissa has to work to keep her family together, lest it be ripped apart by the war, but she knows she doesn't have to work to keep her sister partial to her. Again, taking advantage of the relationship, but that's family. Whatever the reason, Narcissa proves in "Spinner's End" that her narrow idea of love mostly engulfs Draco and leaves little room for anyone else.
We must never, of course, forget that both Black sisters love themselves a great deal, though the importance they place on their own lives differs in a rather predictable manner – it's really the only real information that we're given on either character. Narcissa is a mother, and places Draco's life above her own. Bellatrix is not, though it does seem likely that she would be willing to spring in front of the Dark Lord to defend him if she thought it appropriate. Though in such an instance, we must remember that Bellatrix does, in fact, come from an inbred Pureblood family, and that she did, in fact, spend nearly a decade and a half in Azkaban, so her sanity really isn't the most reliable thing.
As Different as Night and Day
Bellatrix peered around the door jamb to find Narcissa busying herself straightening cushions on Draco's bed, an unnecessary task as Draco had been at Hogwarts for the past month and a half and thus the bed hadn't even been used. The dark haired woman watched her sister for a few long moments, before stepping across the threshold and entering the grand room beyond, announcing her presence with a soft 'tut'. She knew that something had happened to the Malfoy's house elf, but that was no reason for Narcissa to be lowering herself to the level of housewife. Especially in a room as neat as this one.
What had once been a nursery now looked nothing of the sort – after all, her nephew was now seventeen and in his final year at Hogwarts, and a member of the Dark Lord's inner circle. A baby's room simply wouldn't have suited him, though Bellatrix was sure that Draco had had to fight to get his room such that it suited an adult. Narcissa wasn't one to admit that her son was no longer a small child, no longer someone whom she could coddle and protect to her heart's content. Draco had a mind of his own – or he would, if his thoughts didn't parallel Lucius' so much that the young Malfoy often seemed brainwashed.
Bellatrix met Narcissa's eyes across the pile of silk pillows that occupied the head of Draco's bed, and her sister abruptly dropped her wand hand down by her side, causing the pillows – which had been arranging and re-arranging themselves – to drop where they were in a random mess, some of them even falling to the floor as though they were attempting to vie for freedom from the woman who wouldn't leave them alone.
"We need to talk," Bellatrix said calmly. Her sister sighed, pale eyes falling to stare at the bedspread as though she were unable to meet Bellatrix' dark ones any longer. Bellatrix hated – no, detested - seeing her sister so defeated. Narcissa was, first and foremost, a Black woman, and they weren't allowed to feel defeat, let alone show it.
"Not now, Bella…" Narcissa trailed off and turned her eyes back upward, the look in them beseeching. She didn't want to know what was going through Bellatrix' head, that much was clear. Bellatrix often wondered if Narcissa still trusted her as much as she used to – the woman had acted strange around her since Bellatrix escaped from her term in Azkaban. Bellatrix had shrugged it off, telling herself that it was simply because Narcissa was aging, that they hadn't seen each other in years, and that Narcissa had Draco to worry about, but she was beginning to think that it was more her attitude in these situations that Narcissa worried about, not her son, or the war, or any of it.
"Yes. Now, Cissy. We need to talk about the war, and about you, and about your son." Bellatrix stated, challenging Narcissa with her eyes, daring the woman to avoid this conversation, or to shrug it off, now that her precious little son had been brought into it. Narcissa kept her weaknesses far too obvious to those around her – her son being the largest weakness of all – and it made it far too easy to get the woman to do something when one invoked the thought of Draco.
Even worse, was that Narcissa had taught Draco the same tendency. The Dark Lord could get Draco to do anything he wanted, just by mentioning his family. If Draco loved less, then Narcissa wouldn't have to worry about her son as much, but Draco loved, and Narcissa loved, and it was going to send the whole damn family to their deaths, which Bellatrix wasn't going to let happen – after all, Draco was the last of the Black line, and the only heir, even if he didn't carry the name. He still had Black blood in his veins, and the onus fell upon him to keep their line alive.
So obviously, something had to be done now, before the end of the war, to ensure that the Black family came out unscathed – for Bellatrix had no doubt that there would be a last battle. Harry Potter was on the run, but he would be found eventually, and he and the Dark Lord would duel. No matter the outcome of that duel, the Black family had to remain, somehow. Her aunt had always taught them that the Black family had to remain, to remind the Wizarding World what Pureblood really meant.
"Bella?" Narcissa had perched on the edge of the bed and was looking up at her sister attentively, worry deep in her eyes. Bellatrix sat next to her, lounging back with just her heels touching the rug that covered the hardwood floor of the room, supporting herself on her elbows as she looked critically at the side of Narcissa's very blonde head.
"The end of this war is coming, Narcissa. The Dark Lord has mentioned that the final duel may very well take place at Hogwarts. He wants to kill Harry Potter in that one place that Potter has always felt safe, just as he had Dumbledore killed in the one place that cared for him the most," her eyes narrowed, staring past Narcissa who was now watching her with rapt attention.
"We will all be there, that night…" Narcissa trailed off at the end of the thought, her voice so soft that Bellatrix almost missed the words, despite sitting so close to the woman.
"The Dark Lord does not wish for any one to dispute his conquest." Bellatrix said simply. Narcissa cut her a look with her eyes.
"The Dark Lord wishes only to gloat," she barked. Bellatrix' eyes widened and she stared, shocked, at her sister.
"Narcissa!" she exclaimed, but Narcissa showed no remorse. Did the woman not realise what it meant for the Dark Lord to have his base under her roof, and for her to speak in such ways while he was in the vicinity?
Narcissa's eyes held a fire not often seen within them, a fire that came from her Black blood. "The Dark Lord still wishes to see Lucius dead for his failure in the Department of Mysteries last year. He took his wand, Bella!" Her eyes were pleading, and Bellatrix sighed, rubbed her forehead, and almost gave in, before remembering the real reason for their conversation.
"Lucius will have to deal with his failure." She said. Narcissa stared at her.
"You were there that day as well!" she exclaimed, voice pitching toward hysterics. Bellatrix glared at her.
"We have had this conversation, Narcissa. Cissy, there're more important things to discuss now. The Department of Mysteries is in the past. We're talking about your son's future." 'The future of the Wizarding World.' She added silently to herself. Narcissa needn't know what Bella's motives were for this. She only needed to know that Bellatrix wanted Draco alive at the end, and not killed by the Order, the Potter brat, or in friendly fire by a fellow Death Eater.
Narcissa was giving her that look of rapt attention again, as if she could drink in Bellatrix' words and memorize them, then recite them back word for word. Considering her words concerned Draco, Bellatrix wasn't sure that she couldn't. Narcissa often became very odd when things concerned her son.
"How do I keep him alive, Bella? He's made so many enemies, the worst sort, and since he's taken the Mark… I don't want to lose him!" Bellatrix could have sworn aloud, and would have, if she didn't think that it would make the entire situation worse. Narcissa was on the verge of tears. Her sister was too delicate for what her son had entered into – Narcissa was too delicate to be involved in the Dark Lord's plans. It was a shame that he would never let her go.
"Cissy, Cissy, shh…" Bellatrix said, almost softly, straightening from her reclined position and pulling her sister into her arms. The hug was awkward, as Bellatrix wasn't really used to giving much affection to anyone – Azkaban worked wonders for estranging people from such normal things as hugs. "Don't you dare start crying on me," she ordered.
Narcissa looked up at her, her eyes welling with tears, and Bellatrix knew it was just her force of will that stopped the drops from falling. Bellatrix was quite frankly glad of that force of will, because she had no idea how she would react if her sister started blubbering all over her. Sometimes her reactions were unpredictable, even to herself. She swore it was because of the strength of her magic, but the psychologist at Mungo's when she was first entombed in Azkaban had disagreed. Not that that Mudblood knew anything.
Bellatrix watched Narcissa carefully as the woman blinked away her tears, and then released her and reassumed the position she'd been in before. "So you make sure Draco knows to stay the hell out of the way that night, day, whichever." Bellatrix said calmly, as though the woman beside her hadn't almost come to tears moments ago.
The look Narcissa was giving her told her plainly that she didn't think it was that easy. "No matter what you've been teaching him, his skills aren't at the level of yours, and he doesn't have the nonchalant attitude toward everything that you do. He's seventeen, Bella!"
"Exactly. He's seventeen. He's a man, Cissy. In the eyes of the Ministry, and in the eyes of everyone but yourself and Lucius, he is a grown man. You cannot coddle your son anymore. He has made a decision—"
"He has not made a decision! The decision was made for him, by the Dark Lord!"
"Who has had a claim on him ever since he was born, as you well know!" Bellatrix retorted. Narcissa looked as though she'd just been slapped, but Bellatrix wasn't willing to back down on this. If her sister couldn't realise the point that she was trying to make, then perhaps Draco wasn't worth the effort at all. 'Blood line.' Her mind urged. Right. It was a shame she wasn't fonder of her nephew.
"I know you've been teaching him all sorts of things, Bella, but he doesn't have your skill," Narcissa was pleading now. She knew that Bellatrix had the power to protect Draco, power that others didn't – except Snape, who had actually been doing well until now, with the threat of the end of his life with the Unbreakable Vow still in place – but Bellatrix was family, and Narcissa trusted family more than outsiders.
"Flattery, Narcissa," Bellatrix said blandly.
"It's true!" Narcissa barked. "I've seen what you can do, Bella! What you hide from everyone else now, but used to show off when we were younger!" Bellatrix laughed, a low seductive chuckle, as she remembered all of the things she used to regal her siblings, cousins and classmates with.
"If you didn't have such strange theories of right and wrong, you'd be able to do it too," Bellatrix murmured, raising her eyebrows. Narcissa shook her head, and Bellatrix waited for a comment on how soulless she was, but none came. Amazing; Narcissa had changed in the years they'd been apart.
"I've taught Draco Occlumency, and he's damn good at it, maybe even good enough to keep the Dark Lord out, or to plant false information in front of his shields and keep the Dark Lord from finding the truth," Bellatrix stated. Narcissa cocked her head at her, showing she was listening.
"What good will it do though, Bella? How will risking the Dark Lord's rage help Draco avoid death?" Narcissa asked. Put that way, Bellatrix could suddenly see why Narcissa was so worried.
"He must avoid the battle, Cissy. If it falls on Hogwarts' grounds, or within the walls of the castle, then he must remain in his common room or another place that will be safe. And you, you also have to remain out of the Dark Lord's way, and out of the way of the Order. The Dark Lord will have you and Lucius by his side, of that I have no doubt, but when you can, find Draco and stay alive." She gave Narcissa a stern glare, and Narcissa frowned abruptly.
"What about you, Bella?" She asked, something in her expression telling Bellatrix that Narcissa had reached a conclusion, or found a hole in the explanation that she hadn't.
"What about me, Cissy?" She asked blandly. Narcissa frowned.
"You need to stay out of the way as well. They'll be after you!" The woman exclaimed. Bellatrix' expression turned droll. Truly amazing, that Narcissa could think of her sister's fate at the same time as her son and husband's.
"I will fight alongside the Dark Lord, as his lieutenant, as I have always done," she stated, pride sneaking its way into her voice. A stubborn line wormed its way into Narcissa's otherwise beautiful features.
"Bella! You'll get yourself killed!"
"So be it. If the Dark Lord is not victorious, I will refuse to return to Azkaban only to face the Kiss. I would rather be dead, Narcissa."
"But Bella!"
Bellatrix cut her off with a look and rose from the bed. "You will talk to Draco, then? Ensure he knows every aspect of the plan. If the Dark Lord confronts him afterward, demanding to know why he was not on the front lines, he must have his defences ready and his alibi strong. Have Snape work on it with him, if you can. If not, Lucius will do, but loathe as I am to admit it, Snape would be better."
"I will," Narcissa said, nodding. There was still a hesitant, slightly worried look in the back of her eyes, but it was over-shadowed by her need to keep her son safe, and her family together. Bellatrix gave a firm nod.
"Then I will see you later," she said and departed the room for the guest chamber that she was staying in with Rodolphus, thinking all the while as she made her way across the house to the guest wing that she and Narcissa, though sisters, were as different as night and day.
End.
---So, I'd love some feedback here, as this is the first Harry Potter fan fiction that I've written in a long while. If you've spotted any typos or grammatical errors, please point them out as this is un-betaed.