A/N: This takes place shortly after OotP. It is obviously AU. Please review, as this is my first fanfic and I would love feedback. I plan to continue the story and this will eventually be Narcissa/Remus. Sorry about making Lucius the bad guy-somebody had to be. This first chapter is really just an introduction. I plan to delve further into the Black family in this story. Thanks!
Narcissa walked down the long hallway in her manor. Her quick footsteps echoed in the cavernous hall with vaulted ceilings and portraits of long-deceased family members smiling down their approval at the beautiful pure-blood woman. Outwardly, Narcissa was the picture of perfection. Not a strand of light gold hair or a thread of navy silk escaped her notice and inspection. Narcissa wore an expression of polite interest, her sapphire eyes veiled by long lashes reflecting grace and elegance ingrained from birth. Inwardly, Narcissa was seething. Narcissa spent her days inside the manor or outside in the garden, her nights entertaining other pure-bred acquaintances or friends of Lucius. The only permitted ventures were supervised shopping trips to Diagon Alley or visits to pureblood friends or family. Narcissa was content to live this life, being Lucius' trophy wife, the beautiful flower gracing the balls and social events, the refined leading lady of the wizarding upper class. She had been born for this life. Her entire childhood was spent preparing for her inevitable marriage to a pureblood wizard and carry on the noble line of the Blacks. Her parents had employed harsh measures to ensure that she understood her responsibility as a female Black, even more so after Andromeda ran away with her love. Narcissa had always been obedient, eager to please the parent who rewarded her with a rare smile if she satisfied them, and punished her if she displeased them. She had always been delicate and vulnerable, the baby of the family. Her family pressured her to accept Lucius' proposal and accept she did, with a heavy heart. She had only ever done what was expected of her, only ever did her utmost to be the perfect daughter, the perfect wife. She turned a blind eye to her husband's and sister's dark activities. She had no choice, as Lucius had showed early on that he had no qualms about punishing her for displeasing him as her parents had. She had been content to live inside the safe limits of the manor. Everything was safe, nothing important.
With this news, though, something inside Narcissa snapped. Broke, pushed her over the edge. Sirius had been killed. Bellatrix had killed him. Revenge must be exacted. Although the Sorting Hat had considered her for Hufflepuff, due to her once-consideration for others, she was a true Slytherin to the bone. She was cunning, she could plan and plot, she could act, and she was out for blood. She was also currently awaiting the arrival of her eldest sister, Bellatrix, in the foyer of Malfoy Manor. With a pop, Bellatrix Apparated into the large room.
"Hello, Bellatrix." Narcissa said coolly.
"Narcissa." Bellatrix acknowledged. She looked around, her gaunt face and thin frame looking out of place in the lovely front hall. "I don't suppose there is a reason behind your sudden desire to see me, Narcissa." She pointed out acidly.
Narcissa ignored her older sister's tone, inwardly too angry too care, and also seeing the insane glint in Bellatrix's eyes. That was inevitable, plunging too far into the Dark Arts to return to the land of the sane. Instead, she turned and beckoned for Bellatrix to follow. She kept up her mask of civility with ease, having had much practice. She and Bellatrix stepped through the winding halls silently, Bellatrix contemplating, with some annoyance, about what her baby sister wanted. They reached their destination, marked by Narcissa slowing down. Narcissa opened the door and led Bellatrix into a tearoom decorated in pink and white. A porcelain tea set was laid out along with pastries following the décor of the room between two comfortable seats. Narcissa mentioned for Bellatrix to sit, which she did, before taking a seat. Bellatrix took this opportunity to inquire as to the nature of this meeting.
"Narcissa, while it is always lovely to visit with you, I naturally wonder the purpose of this reunion."
"I heard of your dealings with that abomination, to use our mother's term, and wished to congratulate you." Sorry, Sirius. I have to lull her into a false of security. Bellatrix's lips curled in a grim imitation of a smile, more of a grimace.
"So, you are a true supporter. I had doubted your strength." Narcissa shot her sister a glare for this insult while pouring tea. The hot liquid fell like a summer rain into the cups, and sent a puff of steam into the air. Narcissa handed the cup to her sister wordlessly. They sipped at the fine tea for several moments.
"Did you ever love him?" Narcissa asked suddenly of her sister, her eyes intense.
Putting down her cup with a clang, Bellatrix stood up, manic glint prominent in her eyes.
"I never loved him. He was a filthy blood traitor, and he utterly deserved what he got. He was a waste of space, a waste of air. All of them are." She hissed venomously, pure hatred evident in every particle of her being. "He could have been so great, one of the best, one of us. The Dark Lord could have given him everything, but he chose that weak fool Dumbledore, who could give him nothing. He was weak, Narcissa, a pathetic excuse for a human being, just like all of them." She was pacing the room now, becoming angrier and more lethal with every step. Narcissa watched her sister's every movement with the patience and anticipation of a cat waiting for a plump, delicious mouse to fall for her trap. "He cast his lot with the stupid, useless nothings. He gave up power for what? Nobility? There is no such thing!" She was waving her eyes, spitting with her fervor to denounce her cousin. Her hair was wild now, like the rest of her, totally uncontrollable.
Bellatrix seemed to lose control abruptly and collapsed on the sofa. Narcissa moved silently, like a predator before a kill, so she was looking into her sister's eyes. Where a moment ago, Bellatrix's eyes were alight with insane devotion to her cause and her master, they were now filled with apprehension, and, Narcissa was pleased to see, fear.
"Cissa?" She pleaded, reminding Narcissa of earlier, simpler, happier days when love was pure and they played games in the rose garden, pretending to be powerful enchantresses. "What's wrong with me?"
"You swallowed a potion that rendered your muscles incapable of movement." Narcissa responded serenely.
"Wh..Why would you slip me that potion? I don't understand."
And, for the first time in nearly twenty years, Narcissa let the mask fall and her sister see her hatred and pain. "No, you don't understand. Sirius did. Sirius cared about me- he was the only one. Andie did, until she left for Hogwarts and became immersed in her studies. She protected me in her own way, but we were in different houses. You-you were deep in the dark arts when I first started school. You cared about nothing but that. Sirius found out my secret-and he protected me, was kind to me, talked to me. I loved him. I was closer to him than I have been to anyone else my entire life." The tears began to fall, hot and thick. Narcissa ignored them-they were inconsequential. "I told him everything. About the pain that I had to hide. The shame, the hurt. Sirius told me it wasn't my fault, that I was an innocent girl who was caught up in events that little girls shouldn't be caught up in. After he found out, he protected me. I loved him. And you killed him, Bella. You killed him!" The last sentence was spoken with such anguish and fury that Bellatrix was chilled. She would be chilled forever by the next words spoken, however.
"Avada Kedrava." A flash of green light and all the emotions swirling in Bellatrix's eyes-anger, surprise, betrayal, madness- faded to blankness. Narcissa gently laid her sister's corpse on the couch, as though Bella had lain there and peacefully died.
Narcissa picked up her teacup, awaiting the arrival of the aurors who had the manor under surveillance and would be there in a matter of minutes. She listened to the clock ticking and the oppressive silence before hearing hurried footsteps and shouts. She sat there, unmoving, until the door was burst open by a wizard with graying hair. The wizard took in Bellatrix's body and the composed Narcissa sitting calming, sipping tea, directly across from her dead sister. Soon, all the aurors were there, stunned by the scene.
"I almost might think that you had never seen a dead body before." Narcissa remarked. The aurors regained their thoughts.
"Mrs. Malfoy, what happened?" An auror with brown hair asked.
"I killed Bella." Narcissa answered with the air of one explaining why two plus two equaled four to an extremely thick child.
"But why? She was your sister, was she not?"
"I rather think it is your job to catch Dark Wizards, not to figure out why the siblings of those wizards kill them." Narcissa replied icily.
"Very well. Come with us, Mrs. Malfoy." The auror requested, and Narcissa complied.