AN: I see in the statistics that many of you abandon this story after the first chapter. And I believe this might have something to do with the somewhat unusual style of narration. However, hang on even if it is 'not your thing'. Because starting with chapter 2, you'll have the good old 3rd person narrator - as well as the past tense.
So, enjoy ;-)
She is with her sister during the rainy night in which her niece is born.
Bella is clutching her hand until she's certain the bones will break but she merely continues whispering to her and wiping sweat off of her forehead. It is not an easy birth but what else would someone expect? Bellatrix was barren, unable to conceive a child. The Dark Lord was more dead than alive. Still, somehow they had managed to create a life.
She shudders when a thought takes up residence in her mind. What if this wasnt really a child? What if it was a monster?
Nevertheless, she urges Bellatrix to push.
Until finally,
finally a blonde head crowns, soon followed by the rest of the infant. Narcissa holds the child in her arms, cuts the chord that connects her to her mother, and gives her back a gentle pat.
And there it is. A newborn's first strong cry, not unlike her Draco's.
"It is a girl," Narcissa smiles, all pain, fear and tiredness forgotten. "She is beautiful, Bella. She has your eyes."
Bellatrix reaches out for the child and Narcissa carefully places the naked bundle in her arms.
She watches her sister closely and gasps when for a moment, time seems to stand still and Bella reminds her of the woman she once was.
"She does have your hair," Bellatrix snickers, running a finger through the fine blonde hair. "I don't think you'd ever approve of the blue tips though." She indulges in cradling the babe for another brief moment before she starts moving around on the bed.
"Take her," she says, passing the girl to her little sister without sparing the child another glance. "I need to inform our Lord of her birth. He will be disappointed that it is not a son…"
"But-"
Bellatrix casts a quick cleansing spell on herself and leaves the room without looking back, leaving behind her sister and her newborn child.
Narcissa sighs when the baby begins to cry. Was it merely the hunger? Or did she feel the loss of her mother as strongly as Narcissa felt the loss of her sister? She softly sings an old nursery song to the unnamed child, rocking her in her arms.
She studies the little girl as she slowly starts to calm.
Her niece is a beautiful newborn. She has obviously inherited her grandmother's hair and the fine blonde wisps contrast beautifully with her dark eyes. Narcissa briefly wonders about the blue tips, wonders if they somehow belong to her just as the tiny button nose or whether this could be something else; could she be a Metamorphmagus like Nymphadora, Andromeda's daughter?
Once the crying has subsided, she calls out for Winky, one of their female house elves, and asks for a bottle of warm baby milk.
She makes her way to the nursery on the first floor – a small room furnished with Draco's old crib and changing table – and sinks down in the new rocking chair she'd added to the collection herself. Looking down at the baby, a wave of sadness overcomes her and she is struggling to hold back tears. A child should be welcomed with open, with loving arms, and neither of her little niece's parents was likely to offer either. She'd known so from the day Bellatrix had told her about the pregnancy, had known from the clinical tone her eldest sister had been speaking in, but hope was always unavoidable and painful. She'd hoped against hope that this child could change her sister, could turn her back into the woman she once was and save her from the darkness. It had been a futile hope.
"Mistress?"
She snaps out of her thoughts and finds Winky standing in front of the rocking chair, holding out a bottle of formula as well as a receiving blanket.
She takes the things from the elf and nods. "Thank you, Winky. You may retire for the rest of the night, I won't be needing anything else."
"Yes, Mistress. Winky lives to serve, Mistress. Is happy to help."
"I know you are. However, this is not a matter you or I can resolve. – Good night, Winky."
The first few months are especially exhausting. Bellatrix and the Dark Lord have all but abandoned the child to her care and Narcissa knows little Delphi feels her parents' absence. The babe is crying throughout most of the days and nights and has recurring fevers and stomach aches. Delphini Riddle is a frail, a weak child, and Narcissa still feels surprise at the fact that yet she lives.
Caring for the infant is tiring, a real challenge, but Narcissa finds she is quite happy about the distraction. The things that happen in and out of the Manor are turning worse every passing day and if it isn't Delphi that keeps her up at night, it is the screams of someone being tortured with the Cruciatus and … other methods.
Over the months, Delphi gets stronger, healthier. Her cries have mostly ebbed away and she has turned into a beautiful, curious child once she reaches her seventh month. Narcissa cares for her as if she were her own, even redecorates the nursery and buys an enchanted mobile with black unicorns and majestic hyppogriffs. She is excited when she notices the girl's first tiny tooth and thrilled when the first word she says a month later is "Ci".
Mostly, she and the girl stay on the first floor of the house. No one except the Dark Lord, Bella, her husband Rodolphus, Lucius and herself even know of the child's existence; Lucius is still in the false believe she is Rodolphus'.
Delphini is a bargaining chip, a weakness the Dark Lord can't afford. He may not love the child but she is his sole heir and will one day hold his legacy. Narcissa agrees with keeping her a secret but has her very own reasons. She doesn't want Delphi to be in more danger than she already is – she doesn't want to lose the child she loves very much like her own. One day, she'll have to face her heritage, but this day is still in the future.
When Delphi is almost 9 months old, all hell breaks lose. Snatchers come to the Manor and inform them that they might've captured Potter and his friends.
Narcissa is with Delphi when they come, doing magic to the girl's delight. When Winky imposes on their time together without being summoned, she immediately knows that something has happened. She tells the elf to fetch her husband and meets the Snatchers at the Manor's gates. They claim they have captured Potter and at first Narcissa is sure that this can only be a mix-up. Surely Mr. Potter and his friends wouldn't let themselves be captured by mere Snatchers.
As soon as her eyes fall onto the three captives though, she thinks that Greyback might very well have caught the boy-who-lived. His face is swollen - maybe a stinging jinx? - but his coloring is right and the other two are definitely Hermione Granger and the Weasley boy.
When the three teenagers are being pushed into her living room, bound and gagged, Narcissa immediately notices that not only Lucius, but her sister and son as well have arrived. She is by now rather sure that they really have Harry James Potter beneath their roof, but she isn't about to let them know.
She is proud when her son doesn't identify the boy either, knowing it would be Potter's certain death. And she stops Bella when she gets a little too rough with Draco.
She cringes when her sister notices the Sword of Gryffindor in the hands of one of the Snatchers and her gut clenched in terror when it's revealed that it was found in the girl's things. She's ordered to take the boys to the dungeons but Pettigrew takes that duty from her before she can even go the first steps. So she goes back to join the others, her eyes falling onto the girl who is hit with Cruciatus after Cruciatus.
Hermione Granger looks too young to be the brightest witch of her age, too young to be of such importance for the outcome of the war. Too young to hold such fear in her eyes. And definitely too young to be hit with the Cruciatus.
It pains her to watch as the girl writhes on her living room floor, her muscles spasming from the torturous energy.
Bellatrix crucioes her until she almost passes out but the girl does not give in, does not give up their secrets.
Finally, Bella loses her patience and a grin steals onto her lips, her dark eyes glinting devilishly.
Narcissa almost gasps aloud as she sees the silver knife appear in her hand, as Bellatrix kneels down next to the quivering girl and starts rolling up the sleeve of her shirt.
"I am going to brand you for what you are. Mudblood," Bellatrix giggles and the sound sends a coldness through her body, her veins.
She makes her decision in the matter of a second, doesn't have to take time to think this over, time there really isn't left. She only knows one thing: She will not stand by and watch her sister forever mark a girl who is the same age as her son. There hadn't been a thing she could've done against the Cruciatus. It didn't work with the Unforgivable.
But there was something she could do now.
"Dolorulcus transmissimo," Narcissa whispers as Bellatrix sinks the knife into the pale flesh of Hermione Granger's forearm.
The pain flashes through her like a lightning bolt, threatens to engulf her. She gathers her strength, gains back her carefully crafted composure as she, Lucius, and the Snatchers passively watch Bella carve into the girl's arm.
The Gryffindor whimpers and bucks against Bellatrix' hand holding her down as one after the other, eight angry bleeding letters appear on her formerly unmarked skin:
M - U - D - B - L - O - O - D.
Narcissa wishes she could take all of the pain but knows she can't. Bellatrix mustn't suspect a thing.
So instead, she clutches at her own arm and bites her lip until she tastes the metallic flavor of blood on her tongue.
She is drenched in sweat by the time Bellatrix finally finishes her masterpiece; upholding the spell and keeping herself from crying out has taken all her strength.
The Granger girl doesn't know that the mark on her arm will fade away in a day or two and that the pain she felt was only a tiny part of the pain Narcissa felt. She doesn't know that after today, Narcissa will forever bear the word 'MUDBLOOD' on her own arm.
The blonde murmurs a quick spell to at least stop the bleeding from her burning arm, just as Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley appear in the room, aided by Dobby.
A fight breaks out during which Narcissa unfortunately 'loses' Ms. Granger's confiscated wand, practically levitating it into the girl's hand. Curses and jinxes fly back and forth until Dobby finally grasps the three teenagers and apparates them all away. Not without laying down his own life though. Narcissa knows he won't survive; the Sword of Gryffindor has embedded itself right in his little chest.
While Bellatrix and Lucius argue with the Snatchers and curse about losing Potter and his friends, Narcissa excuses herself to see after Delphi. She knows that she is safe and well taken care of whenever she is with Winky but she needs to get away from this room, from her sister, needs to tend to her arm and disguise it before Bellatrix spots the blood on her sleeve. Delphi is a good and welcome excuse.
NDHNDHNDHNDHNDHNDHNDH
Narcissa sleeps fitfully that night. The cursed wound on her right forearm is burning her up and pain is still pulsating through her blood. It doesn't help that she sees Hermione Granger's accusing eyes as soon as she closes her own... The girl had begged them for help, had begged her for help, keeping her eyes trained on her, hoping to get to her and to awaken her conscience.
And while Narcissa HAD cared, HAD helped – it just hadn't been enough. It could never be enough.…
Eventually, she gives up on sleep altogether and heads to the nursery to check on her little girl. To her surprise, she finds Delphi awake, watching the little unicorns and hyppogriffs flutter above her crib.
"Ci, Ci!" she smiles when she notices Narcissa, immediately reaching out with her little arms, demanding to be held. "Ci," she happily giggles once Narcissa picks her up and sits down in the rocking chair.
"Aren't you tired, little princess?" Narcissa feels her pain slowly ebb away as she snuggles the child, a layer of comfort and warmth settling over her. She always feels better when she is with the little girl but she knows right away that this is something else.
"It is your magic, isn't it?" Narcissa smiles, her eyes teary as she cradles Delphi to her chest. "You're soothing the wound. Soothing me."
The child merely giggles to herself and grabs two fistfuls of Narcissa's long blonde hair, observing it with eager interest.
"I love you, Delphi. I know you are not mine but yet you are. You are my daughter and you always will be."
Delphi doesn't stop crying in the three days after the Battle of Hogwarts and the defeat of Voldemort. The one-year-old feels, knows that something is wrong. Somehow, the little blonde knows that her parents have left this world.
But it isn't for them alone that she cries. Her Ci hasn't come back either and she misses her with every fiber of her tiny being. The toddler knows abandonment all too well even if she doesn't yet understand the concept nor the rest of the world.
She knows she's alone. She knows there's only Winky.
In the evening of the third day, a stranger comes and takes her from her home. The place he takes her to is foreign to her but the voice she hears upon arriving is instantly stopping her tears.
"Delphi," Ci cries as she takes her into her arms. "Don't cry, princess. Mama's here now."
Narcissa feels infinite relief wash over her at holding the child in her arms again. After three long days of being held prisoner in a classroom at Hogwarts, she'd come to the decision to lie about Delphini's true parentage. She couldn't bear to leave her alone for even a minute longer and had demanded that they bring her daughter to her, thus claiming her as her own.
It didn't matter though. Both Bellatrix and Voldemort were gone – she was all their little girl had left. And, she'd rationalized her decision, she was the child's mother already. Maybe not by birth but that was only a minor detail as far as she was concerned.
"Why wasn't the birth of your daughter registered at the Ministry?" the Auror wants to know, closely watching her interaction with the toddler.
"Lucius and I were afraid for her life," she lies easily, stroking Delphi's blonde curls. "In times of war, a child can easily be turned into a weapon. We thought it prudent to keep her a secret for the time being. I am sure you can understand."
Other questions follow the first one, some of them downright insulting, but Narcissa is too happy to have Delphi back to actually care. She can see the sadness in her dark expressive eyes. Somehow, Narcissa thinks, she knows that her parents are no longer in this world.
"That will be all for now," the young Auror finally says. "Of course you will have to remain here until a decision is made; risk of flight, you know."
"I do. However, could you at least send in a house elf with something to eat for my daughter?"
The man nods and leaves the room, locking it behind him.
She's been in this room for three long days now.
NDHNDHNDHNDHNDHNDH
During the first 24 hours, she'd been mostly left alone with the exception of a single house elf who would bring her her meals, scarce as they were. She'd been worrying about her son and filled with grief about her sister's death. She'd been wondering if Delphi was alright.
The second day had been the day she started worrying for herself. Aurors came into the room thrice that day, each of them questioning her on her role in the battle, housing the Dark Lord, and her husband and sister's 'activities'. She answered their questions truthfully, telling them about the torture, the screams and even her own fear. She told them about the night two months back, when Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had been held at the Manor; however, she omitted the details of the girl's torture under her sister's hands. This was a story for the Gryffindor to share, not for her. She knew revealing what she had done, showing them the painful, still reddened scar on her forearm would benefit her own defense, but she would not speak up. She doubted Ms. Granger wanted the whole world to know about what happened that night; if people knew, they might try to push her into the victim's role and she'd be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. No, she would not be responsible for causing the girl even more suffering.
She owes her and everyone else her family had harmed that much and so much more.
On day three, she'd been informed of Severus' death. Another painful loss to add onto her list. They'd met at Hogwarts when they were first years and been close friends ever since, connected through the Dark Lord but also their shared passion for Potions as well as literature.
She fondly remembered the many nights they'd been sitting arm in arm in the Slytherin common room, Narcissa casting the 'Lumos' while Severus read to her from one of his muggle books; she'd enjoyed 'Jane Eyre' the most – the story of the lonely and mistreated orphan had touched her heart and soul.
"Ci," Delphi wriggles in her arms and draws her attention back to her, back to the present. "Down!" the small child with the wild blonde-blue curls demands and Narcissa smiles, setting her down. The Aurors have transformed one of the desks into a makeshift bed but apart from that, the room is still very much a classroom. Luckily, there is a small bathroom connected to it.
Narcissa watches as the girl wobbles through the room and feels herself relax for the first time since the night before the battle. Somehow, things would be alright. They had to.
AN: Welcome to this new "playground" of mine. I wrote this draft only a few days after reading the Cursed Child and I finally got back to it. To some, Delphini Riddle is just a bit too much, others, like myself, find her to be a very fascinating addition to JK's Wizarding World. And while I really don't want to picture Bellatrix and Voldy doing the nasty *cringe*, I do see some logic in it.
And I couldn't help but wonder about the girl Delphini could've grown up to be if only she'd known a mother's love.
And I suppose that's actually it already. From my side at least. For I hope you guys have something to say about this first, very long chapter of my story. :-)