Author's Notes:
WARNING, WARNING, WARNING. This chapter contains major Half-Blood Prince spoilers. So please read book six first.
I just wanted to write a story that wasn't a Snape/Hermione 'ship. I think the Black sisters have a lot of potential. I can really load on the lemons, too. This story will be very smutty at times.
This chapter was beta'd by Nakhash Makashefah. Even through sickness and being over-worked, she still found time to help out a grammar-challenged author.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Co. I own nothing.
Return To Black.
Chapter 01. Ruined.
Wind swept through the open windows of Malfoy Manor. A lone figure sat by the fireplace in the main hall. The stool she sat on was the only piece of furniture in the large room. For months the collectors had come, taking all the family's possessions for payment not received. Nearly all the rooms in the large mansion were now bare. Tonight would be Narcissa's last night in the place she had called home since her seventeenth birthday. Tomorrow, wizards from Gringotts would take possession of the Manor.
The Malfoy fortune was now gone. Lucius had used manipulation and intimidation to control the family assets. As soon as he was sentenced to Azkaban for life, the feeding frenzy began. The Ministry had frozen all the Malfoy assets in Gringotts. Seized would've been a better word. Narcissa had received a very polite letter from Minister Scrimgeour informing her that the seized funds in Gringotts would be used as reparations for war victims. A war the Ministry said Lucius helped start. They'd waited until her son was accused of being a Death Eater, involved in the murder of Albus Dumbledore, before taking her home.
She was left with nothing. No place to go. The Ministry had used the Daily Prophet to make a pariah out of her. Aurors followed her everywhere she went. Even if she'd had any money, most stores in Diagon Alley refused to sell to her. Narcissa's old pure-blood friends wanted nothing to do with her. She brought unwanted attention their way. Being seen as poor and a failure was as bad as being a Mudblood in their eyes.
Narcissa really didn't care. She'd seen the writing on the wall as soon as Lucius had been arrested. She'd known it was only a matter of time before they took everything from her. But the Ministry couldn't take Narcissa's greatest treasure: Draco, her son. No, it was the Dark Lord himself who'd done that.
Her only goal in life had been to be a good wife and mother, like her mother said all good pure-blood witches should be. The day she'd given birth to Draco was the greatest day of her life. Now, she didn't even have her son. He'd disappeared with Snape after Dumbledore's death. The Ministry had put a bounty on Draco's head. They wanted him dead or alive. Five hundred Galleons if he were brought in alive. A thousand if he were dead. They planned to make an example of him. Something to prove they were winning the fight against the Dark Lord.
Narcissa wanted desperately to see her son once more. She knew it was impossible. The Aurors that constantly watched her would kill him on sight. She had owled her sister Bella many times for word of her son. She needed to know that he was okay. Bella had sent her word that she would have news of Draco soon. The only place safe for the sisters to meet had been inside Malfoy Manor. The Ministry still couldn't get past the house wards. That would change tomorrow. The wards would fall as soon as the Manor changed owners.
For a week she'd sat by the fireplace. Each night hoping Bella would arrive. Tonight would be the last chance for the sisters to meet for some time. Narcissa knew Bellatrix would come with news of her son. She had to.
So Narcissa sat on a stool by the fireplace waiting with a single suitcase by her side. Everything she owned was in the case. She knew when the men from Gringotts arrived at seven am, they would want her to leave immediately. If Bella came, Narcissa would leave right after talking with her. She wouldn't give the men from Gringotts the pleasure of throwing her out of her own home.
It was almost midnight when the flames in the fireplace turned green and erupted. Bellatrix stepped out of the fire. Narcissa launched herself off the stool. She embraced her sister in a warm hug.
"Bella, I've been so worried. Please tell me he's alive. I need to know I haven't lost him," Narcissa said through tears, as she hugged her sister.
"He's alive," Bella whispered in her ear.
"Thank Merlin," Narcissa said with relief as she released her sister. Narcissa took one look at Bella's face and knew something was terribly wrong. Her sister's face was full of sorrow. It was something she hadn't seen on Bellatrix's face since the death of their mother. "What is it? Is Draco hurt?"
"No," she answered.
"Then what, Bella?" she demanded.
"The Dark Lord is very upset with Draco," Bella said as she looked away from her sister, not wanting to meet Narcissa's eyes.
"Why? Draco did as he asked. He got the Death Eaters into Hogwarts,"
"That's not all he was supposed to do, Cissy. He was supposed to kill Dumbledore himself," Bella told her.
"That's insane," Narcissa angrily said. "He's just a seventeen-year-old boy. How was he supposed to kill a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore? It would've been suicide."
"The Dark Lord was very upset with Lucius for failing to retrieve the Potter Prophecy," Bella explained. "He felt Draco needed to prove his and your family's worth. If Draco didn't succeed in killing Dumbledore, both you and he were to be killed."
"But he did succeed. Dumbledore is dead. Why is the Dark Lord angry at Draco?"
"Because he couldn't kill Dumbledore himself. Snape had to do it for him. He thinks Draco is weak like our cousin was. He wanted Draco to prove his worth in blood," Bella answered.
"He's angry at Draco because he wouldn't murder someone?" Narcissa angrily asked.
"Killing blood traitors isn't murder. It's preserving our way of life," Bella firmly stated.
"YOU CALL THIS PRESERVING OUR WAY OF LIFE?" Narcissa yelled at her sister. "We were the most respected family in Wizarding Britain two years ago. The Minister of Magic himself invited us to the World Cup. Now look at what is left. Nothing! Is this the future your Dark Lord has in mind? I must say it suits him. It looks pretty dark to me."
"Narcissa, do not mock our Lord. Things are bad enough without you adding to them," Bella warned.
"How can they get any worse than this?" Narcissa asked with a frustrated look on her face. "The Ministry has locked my husband away for life, and they want my only son dead. It can't get any worse than this."
Bellatrix looked away again. There was something she wasn't saying.
"What is it, Bella? What are you not telling me?"
Bellatrix sighed then turned back, giving her a sad look. "After the attack on Hogwarts, Snape brought Draco before the Dark Lord. He demanded that Draco still prove his worth in blood. That filthy rat Pettigrew told the Dark Lord that we came to Snape on Draco's behalf. The Dark Lord ordered Draco to demonstrate that he was loyal only to him, not family. He gave Draco one week to prove himself or forfeit his life. Draco didn't do as the Dark Lord asked. He and Snape haven't been seen since."
"What did the Dark Lord order him to do?" Narcissa asked.
"He…he wanted Draco to kill you," Bella hesitantly told her.
Narcissa felt dizzy. The room started to spin around her. She sat back down on the stool. With tears in her eyes, she asked, "This is what we get for our years of loyalty? It's not enough that my husband is gone forever and everything has been taken from us. Now my son is to murder his own mother? How can you still follow that monster, Bella?"
"I have no choice, Cissy. He is the only one stopping the half-bloods and Mudbloods from destroying our world."
"IT'S ALL LIES, AND YOU KNOW IT!" Narcissa screamed at her. "Your precious Dark Lord has killed more purebloods than he has half-bloods or Mudbloods. He's a filthy half-blood himself. He doesn't care about anything but power. We are all just slaves to his evil purpose. He will kill us as easily as he would an enemy."
"We must have faith in him, Cissy," Bella weakly said.
Narcissa knew Bella didn't have any faith. How could she have faith in the wizard that had destroyed all their lives? She jumped off the stool and ran to the fireplace. "Do you see this?" Narcissa angrily asked as she snatched up a small picture frame from the mantle. She handed it to her sister. "Do you remember what our grandfather said about this picture?"
Bellatrix stared at it. It was a picture of five children from ages eleven to four: the Black sisters and their two cousins, Sirius and Regulus.
"He said that we were the future of the Wizarding world," Bella answered. A look of loss filled her hooded blue eyes.
"Some future," Narcissa said with spite. "Your Dark Lord destroyed everyone in that picture with the exception of Andromeda. She was the only one smart enough to see what he was. She's the only one that has found any real happiness. And she did it with a Mudblood."
"Andromeda will suffer the Dark Lord's wrath one day, all blood traitors will. We're in a war, Cissy. Sacrifices have to be made. We must all be prepared to lose what we love. It's for our pure-blooded future," Bella said as she handed her back the photo.
"I will not lose my son, Bella. He is my only future. Your Lord can go to hell for all I care," Narcissa furiously stated. "Tell me something, Bella. Were you just going let to Draco kill me if he'd decided to do so?"
"I would never let that happen, Narcissa. You know that. I wasn't there when the Dark Lord ordered Draco to kill you. It was already too late for him when I found out. The Dark Lord never expected him to go through with it. Snape was to kill him if he didn't."
"Severus is going to kill Draco?" Narcissa asked with a shocked looked on her face. "Maybe he has already. That's why no one can find Draco." Narcissa felt faint. How could she have trusted her only son to that man?
"Snape won't hurt Draco. He can't," Bella assured her.
"How can you be so sure? He killed Dumbledore," she asked.
"You're forgetting his Unbreakable Vow, Cissy. He can't harm Draco. He must protect him or die. Thankfully, that rat Peter didn't know about the vow Snape took."
"What about you, Bella. Will you kill my son if the Dark Lord orders it?" she asked.
"He has already ordered Draco's death, Cissy. Any Death Eater that finds Draco is to bring back his head, myself included," Bella answered.
"YOU WOULD KILL MY SON?" Narcissa furiously screamed.
"He is weak, Cissy. Like his father," Bella said as she turned her back to Narcissa.
"He is not weak, Bella. You know that. He's a very bright and sensitive boy. He's ten times the man Lucius is. Not wanting to kill someone in cold blood just proves it. How could you possibly want him dead? He has always loved you," Narcissa pleaded.
"I WON'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Bella yelled as she placed both of her hands on the sides of her head. "If I don't do as the Dark Lord asks, he'll kill me."
"Then run away, Bella. Go somewhere he can't find you. You spent fourteen years in that hellhole for him, isn't that enough? You must know sooner or later he will kill you. It's only a matter of time," Narcissa told her sister.
"I know," Bella said in a low whisper.
"Then why not leave?"
"The Dark Lord is all I know, Cissy. I have too much blood on my hands to turn away from him now," Bella told her.
"You still see him, don't you? When you close your eyes, you still see Sirius falling through the arch."
"Yes." The answer was barely audible. "I thought I had just stunned him, like I did Nymphadora."
"Sirius was your enemy, but he was also your blood. Will you kill Andromeda if the Dark Lord commands you? You must leave him, Bella. If you don't, more of our family's blood will be on your hands."
"It is too late for me, Cissy. I've accepted my fate. But it's you who can start over, Narcissa. Leave Britain now. Forget about everything and everyone here. You're still young. You can have another family if you choose," Bella suggested.
"I'm not leaving this country without my son, Bella. Besides, I don't have five Galleons to my name. I couldn't leave if I wanted to," Narcissa told her sister as she stared at her small suitcase.
"Where will you go?" Bella asked.
"Goyle Sr. has offered me a job cleaning and doing laundry at his establishment in Knockturn Alley. He's offered room and board, as well," Narcissa answered.
"That's a brothel!" Bellatrix said with a shocked look on her face, "And the sleaziest one there. You can't possible work or live there."
"It all I could find, Bella. The Ministry made it very clear that anyone giving me help would feel their fury. Washing the sheets whores use is all I could find. It was that or live on the Muggle streets of London."
"You can't trust Goyle, Cissy. The Dark Lord is very angry that no one has found Draco or Snape. He would never ask me, but he may use another of his servants to harm you," Bella warned.
"As long as my son lives, I don't care what he or anyone else does to me," Narcissa firmly stated.
"I care," Bellatrix said then she hugged her sister.
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Her first day at Goyle's brothel, The Dirty Rooster, was the longest of Narcissa's life. The place was even more disgusting than Bellatrix had warned her about. A parade of seedy characters came and went all day long, each one smelling worse than the last. She thanked Merlin no one she knew saw her scrubbing the floors, but all the lewd, perverted stares the clientele gave her made Narcissa very uneasy. Most of the girls there were Muggle whores Goyle had rounded up and used the Imperius Curse on. The place was filled with bugs, rats and all sorts of vermin. Narcissa was amazed the rotted old wooden, three-story building hadn't collapsed a century ago. All of the cleaning spells she'd used had drained her. Sometime she had to clean with her bare hands to get it done.
Every bone and muscle in Narcissa's body ached. What she needed was a nice long hot bath, but that wasn't going to happen. There were only three showers in the place, and they were reserved for the whores to rinse the filth of their customers off themselves.
Narcissa had to make do with a small sponge and a bowl of lukewarm water in her room. It wasn't that much of a room. It was little more than a closet at the top of the stairs, just big enough to fit a small cot and nightstand in, no more. After giving herself a sponge bath, Narcissa slipped into her nightgown. She sat on the end of her cot and placed her head into her hands. Depression overtook her. Not for herself, but for her lost son. Draco was out there somewhere with the whole world hunting him. She knew he must feel even more alone than she did right now. Narcissa had known Snape since she was a child. He was a cold and heartless man, but he was the only thing keeping Draco alive. She knew that if Snape found a way around the Unbreakable Vow, Draco was as good as dead.
The sound of someone coming up the stairs broke her sobs. Narcissa quickly reached for the sponge to dry her eyes. She didn't have much pride left, but she was determined to hold on to what she had. She stood as Goyle, Sr. opened her door. Three very unkempt-looking wizards followed him into the room. Each was leering at her with depraved hunger in their eyes. A chill ran down Narcissa's spine.
"Gregory, what is this about?" Narcissa nervously asked as she crossed her arms over her breasts.
"This is about you earning your keep," he said with an evil smile on his fat face. "You don't think I brought you here to clean and do laundry, do you? I have Squibs for that."
Narcissa quickly backed up until she reached the wall behind her. The room suddenly seemed a lot smaller to her. Her heart started to hammer in her chest. She glanced down at her wand on the nightstand.
"These men paid me a lot of money to have an hour with you. There are a lot of wizards out there that really want what Lucius had," Goyle casually explained.
"Do you remember me, Mrs. Malfoy?" A stocky wizard with bad teeth, pockmarked face and dirty brown hair asked. "I was your gardener for a week. You fired me because you didn't like the way I looked."
Narcissa remembered him. She'd had him fired because of the way he always looked at her. Like some dog, staring at a piece of raw meat. It had given her the creeps.
"These are my brothers. They've been anxious to meet you ever since I told them about you," he explained, and then smiled, showing her his crooked, yellowed teeth. Narcissa felt sick.
The others were even stockier than he. They were even uglier, too.
"Well, lads, I'll leave you to it. Just remember, nothing that can't be fixed by a wand. Broken bones, burns and cuts are fine, just don't kill her or chop something off. I have Mrs. Malfoy's dance-card full all week," Goyle said as he started to leave.
"Gregory, you were Lucius' friend?" Narcissa asked as tears rolled down her face. She couldn't believe the situation she was in.
He just laughed. "You stupid bitch. Lucius never had any friends," Goyle said as he closed the door.
Narcissa didn't wait for any of them to move; she dove for her wand. She was only inches away from it when a large hand grabbed her by the hair, sending an explosion of pain shooting through her scalp. She was thrown back, her head slamming into the wall. Small black spots blurred her vision. The ex-gardener pressed himself up against her. She could smell the foul stench of whiskey on his breath. His brothers pinned both of her arms to the wall beside her head. She struggled but it made little difference. He leaned forward and licked the left side of her face. She screamed. The terror in her mind clouded Narcissa's every thought.
"Scream, whore. That's what we paid for," the man to her left cruelly teased.
"Do you still hate the way I look, Princess?" the gardener asked as he groped her breast painfully. Narcissa closed her eyes; she couldn't stand to see their faces anymore.
When Narcissa felt a hand reach under her nightgown, her eyes snapped back open. Her heart wanted to explode inside her chest.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…" she screamed.
All three men just laughed at her plea. The gardener shoved his rough hand into her knickers. She screamed when two of his thick fingers invaded her. His rough fingernails tore at her flesh.
"She's tight, mates. She hasn't had a real man yet," the gardener happily told them. "She isn't that wet, but she will by the time I'm done."
He removed his fingers from her. He put them in his mouth to taste her. "She's as sweet as peaches on a sunny day," he said with a malicious look on his face.
With both of his strong hands he tore open the front of her gown, exposing her bare breasts. He ripped the gown the rest of the way, and then tore her knickers from her body with a single pull, exposing her sex for all to see. The gardener took hold of her hair, forcing her onto the cot. One of his brothers grabbed her legs, spreading them wide for his brother.
'This can't be happening,' she thought with denial. But the pain from the men's brutal hands assured her that it was all too real. Her body recoiled with revulsion. Her stomach lurched, filling her throat with bile.
Narcissa tried to fight but wasn't able to move under their powerful grips. She could only move her right forearm a little.
She stared at the childhood picture she had shown Bella. It was sitting on the nightstand. If she could reach it, she might be able to break the glass. Narcissa knew a piece of glass couldn't fend off three large wizards, but she might be able to slash open her own throat, ending this nightmare.
Just as her fingers were about to reach the picture frame, one of the brothers grabbed the nightstand and shoved it across the room, spilling everything on the floor. He stood next to her and held her shoulders down for his brother. The gardener took this opportunity to lower his pants. Narcissa closed her eyes. She wanted to crawl deep inside her own mind and just disappear forever.
This angered the gardener. He slapped her hard across the face and yelled, "LOOK AT ME, BITCH!"
It took three more hard backhands to get her to reopen her eyes.
"I want you to see my face, whore. You didn't like the way I looked when I worked for your fancy husband. Let's see if you like the way I look when I force myself inside you!" the gardener shouted, covering her face with spittle.
Narcissa gasped as she felt his pressing against her, ready to enter her flesh by force. She did look into his cruel eyes. There was no lust there, just pure hated. These men were here to hurt her, shame her and maybe even kill her.
A loud crash filled the room. The small lamp in the ceiling went out. Shouts and screams filled the room along with the darkness. Narcissa saw what looked like a flash of something metallic and shiny. A thick liquid was splattered across her face, stinging her eyes. She felt the gardener's body slump down on top of her. His dead weight made it nearly impossible to breathe. She realized no one was holding her anymore. With all the strength Narcissa had left, she pushed the gardener's body off herself. It fell to the floor with a loud thud. The room was suddenly silent. Narcissa drew her knees up in front of her. She was even more terrified than before. What new horror awaited her now?
Unexpectedly, the light came back on. Her sight was very blurry. She quickly wiped her eyes to clear her vision. The sight of blood on her hands took her breath away. Narcissa knew it wasn't hers. She looked to her right where the gardener's body had fallen. He lay on the floor, face up with a blank expression. His throat had been cut open from ear to ear. His two brothers lay in pools of their own blood, near him.
" Oh, how the mighty have fallen, cousin," a smooth male voice called from the doorway.
Narcissa stared at the figure in the doorway; his voice sounded so familiar. He was tall, handsome with a long mane of raven-black hair and gray fathomless eyes. He held a long razor-sharp dagger in his right hand. She wiped her eyes again. He couldn't be here. He was dead. Bellatrix had killed him.
"Sirius?" she asked the figure dressed in fancy black robes.
"No, Cissy. But close," he said as he moved closer to her.
Narcissa looked again. Shock and fear filled every part of her. She trembled and said, "My God. Regulus!"
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Next chapter coming soon.
So what does everybody think? Is the Black family worth saving?