Narcissa Black tried to hold back the yawn as her parents guilted and impressed some future co-workers of her father. Unfortunately, her mother saw and decided to use this as an excuse to send the twelve year old to bed.
"Hu! I can't POSSIBLY believe how late it is! Narcissa dear you must be tired, head on off to bed will you? And Bella, why don't accompany her?" Her mother said over dramatically, making Narcissa fight to not roll her eyes.
Narcissa knew better than to argue when her parents were entertaining, she had learned that lesson by watching her cousin Sirius. So she bit her tongue, and smiled sweetly at her mother. "Of course mother, I'll see you in the morning. And goodnight father, I very much enjoyed meeting your friends." She said as politely as any pure-blood girl should.
Bella, on the other hand, seemed to be fighting an internal battle. She was nineteen, an adult. Not to mention temperamental and nosy. But finally, she nodded jerkily. "Good night mother, father." She stated curtly, completely ignoring the guests except for a sharp nod in their direction.
On the way out, the girls could hear the future business partner's wife say, "You have great daughters. I'm sure you're glad you're middle left so she didn't ruin Narcissa aren't you?" Her shrill voice asked. Honestly, Narcissa had no idea WHAT her name was. She hadn't paid that close of attention to anything her annoying voice had to say. But this, this made her freeze outside the dining room and glance at Bella who also seemed frozen.
It didn't help when their mother said, "Oh you have no idea!"
Bella suddenly put her arm on Narcissa's shoulder making he jump. "Come on!" She hissed. Narcissa nodded quickly and, with her sister now leading, went to her bedroom.
"Well at least they admit she exists," Cissa stated softly.
"What was that?" Bella snapped with eyes glaring daggers.
Narcissa quickly looked at the ground. "I-I just meant that they've been pretending that Andy doesn't exist so, even if they are insulting her, at least they admit she's their daughter." She stated softly and refused to meet her sister's eye.
But Bella would have none of that. She grabbed Narcissa chin up sharply so they would be eye-to-eye. "Don't ever say her name! She's a traitor, and she's not family!" Bella snarled.
"But she just made a mistake! When she realizes it she'll come back and everything will be back to normal," Narcissa stated innocently.
Bella sneered. "Guess you haven't heard Cissy, that bitch isn't coming back. She's pregnant with the scum's daughter. And even if she did fix her mistakes as you put it, nobody will ever forgive her. If I ever see her or her spawn I will kill them without the least bit of guilt. And you should think the same."
Narcissa gaped at Bella. It wasn't that she was surprised that Bella would never forgive Andy, it was the fact that Bella knew she was pregnant. And Narcissa hadn't. "She's pregnant?" she murmured to herself. Luckily, Bella didn't hear.
It didn't make sense though. Why would Bella know when she didn't? And how did she know? Did Andy tell her, to try to get Bella to forgive her? Or just because she thought she could trust her? Narcissa had always believed her and Andy were close. Andy had been her favorite family member. Yet… that didn't stop her from leaving without a glance back.
Bella's cackling laugh brought Narcissa away from her thoughts. She looked to see what was so funny and felt her blood run cold. Bella was holding the teddy bear Andy had bought her when she turned three. It was a simple little brown bear with black eyes. Nothing special, but it meant everything to her.
"Why do you still have this thing?" Bella asked with that cruel smile still on her lips. Cissa remembered Andy saying she always wanted to slap that smile off of her. Cissa couldn't help but agree.
"I don't know. I just…" Cissa trailed off unsure of how to tell the truth without Bella making fun of her for the rest of eternity.
But Bella knew. Her smile turned mocking as she looked down at the blond. "How immature could you be? You thought SHE would come back! As if, she doesn't care about you, she doesn't care about any of us! And then you thought we'd welcome her back with open arms if she DID return. Hell she wouldn't get out alive if she came anywhere near any good pureblood home! And now… this? You still have this stupid teddy bear?" Bella sneered. "You're pathetic." With that she threw the bear at Cissa who caught it and stomped out with a slam of the door.
Tears began to fall down Cissa's face as she hugged the bear into her tightly. "Why did you leave me?" She whispered. "How could you do this to me?" She sobbed as she thought of her smiling sister. The sister she had gone to for everything. The sister that had actually loved her. The sister that, up until this point, she believed had actually cared.
With shaking legs she sat on the bed and hugged the bear in tighter. "I'm so sorry Bella if you think I'm immature. But the only reason I can't ever throw out that old teddy bear of mine is because it's the only thing that comforts me at night when no one else does. It's the only thing in my life that still cares."