She was hurting. No she was angry. She was hurting because she was angry. Betrayed. Shocked. But most of all she was heart broken.
Narcissa was still sobbing on her lap, the blondes pretty face pressed into her thigh wetting the expensive fabric of her black skirt. Elegant fingers stroked through almost white silken tresses but Bellatrix wasn't thinking what she doing, there was no comfort in her touch, she was too hurt, too angry, too betrayed, too many emotions all at once to give anything to anyone else even if it was her baby sister who needed it.
The distant sounds of her fathers booming voice had stilled, her mothers shrill one swiftly following and now the silence was louder than the chaos earlier. And Bella wanted to scream, it was building inside her like a slowly kindling fire, rising until the heat threatened to burn her from the inside out.
Pushing Narcissa's still crying form away non too gently, the dark haired witch stood from the bed and was half way across the room, wand in hand before the younger found her voice, "Bella, please don't hurt her! Promise you won't!"
Her grip tightened on her wand, she had stopped just at the door and was grateful Narcissa had the sense not to have followed her but had stayed sitting on the bed, red eyed and sniffling. If anyone else had asked her such a thing, she'd have laughed at them, but Narcissa wasn't anyone else, so with gritted teeth Bellatrix nodded, "I promise." Then she was gone.
Andromeda's chamber doors where closed but Bella didn't hesitate in throwing them open, her fury a wild thing now as it had grown with each step down the long hallway from Narcissa's rooms to where she now stood, wand shaking in her hand and every curse, hex, and dark magic spell she had been taught dancing on the tip of her tongue. 'Bella, don't hurt her' she heard Narcissa's voice in her head and fought the want to hex her middle sister into oblivion. "How could you? How fucking could you?! How could you betray your family! Me. Cissy. How could you just so easily just toss us aside, for a fucking mudblood. You selfish cunt, fucking blood traitor!"
With each word her voice had risen until she was screeching at the middle Black, eyes wild and body tensed to pounce like a hunting animal, she had advanced on Andromeda now, wand drawn up and teeth bared into a snarl, "I should kill you where you stand, cleanse the family tree of your filthy betrayal. A blood traitor, my own sister!"
For the first time since the enraged witch had entered the room, Andromeda spoke, her usual soft voice, a hard tone and her eyes just as iron, "Blood traitor? That beats blood, bitch. Look around you, Bellatrix, look at the mess we call a family, look at the childhood we had! I will not bring my own children into this.. this vipers nest. I will not relent and have my tyrant father dictate to me any longer, I love Ted, I don't care he's a muggle-born, I love him and I'm going to marry him, if you can't accept that then.. so be it."
Bellatrix stood frozen to the spot, her sisters words sinking in and for the smallest of seconds Andromeda's bravery overwhelmed her, the courage it had taken to make the stand, to want a life away from the vile hands of their father, their mothers cold cruelty. She felt tears in her eyes and her wand arm wavered, lowering a fraction of an inch but the feeling past and the betrayed anger rose again, "get the fuck out and stay away from me and Cissy, you made your fucking bed, you can die in it."
The words hurt Andromeda deeper than any curse ever could, and Bella knew it, she saw it in her sisters eyes but she'd kept her promise to Narcissa, she'd not physically hurt the other brunette but her words would leave lasting scars much more painful than any physical wound.
"I love you, Bella. Look after Cissa."
Bellatrix stood in the empty room long after Andromeda had gone, she'd left almost everything behind apart from a few sentimental items given to her by her sisters but Bella didn't notice what was gone and what wasn't. Her wand was still twitching in her hand, but the anger was giving way to pain, the pain of loss, deep and aching in her chest, tears welled in her eyes and with a painful sob the dark witch crumpled to the floor on her knees, wood clattering on wood as her wand slipped from her hand and landed on the ground, head bowed, sobbing harsh cries that shook her shoulder and hurt her chest.
It was the only time she ever shed tears for Andromeda. From that moment on, she had only one sister the other had died that day and Bellatrix never spoke her name again.