Reminiscence
Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to my story called Reminiscence. This is my first fanfic EVER, and I hope you will be able to enjoy it as much as I am just writing it. Always remember that reviews are neccessary, as I do want and need criticism! I think later on, once all the characters are introduced, I'll do a little quick summary of each one (personality, appearance, etc.), but for now, just read and put the puzzle pieces of this mystery together.
Chapter 1: Dark Horizons
The rain was pouring and pouring, never-ending as it swirled through the dark black skies. It was the middle of February, winter was having its last wild days, and it was bitterly cold outside. A lone figure hurried through the darkness, disguised in a long, thick black cloak. The cloaked person ran quickly along the winding road, through rows of abandoned and run-down Muggle shacks, until, finally, stopping on the doorstep of a beaten up cottage. The cottage was small and weathered, and it seemed as if no one had lived there for quite a while, but as the figure rapped twice on the wooden door, the lights inside the cottage snapped on. The door slowly creaked open, and two dark, heavily lidded eyes peered between the cracks. The cloaked figure threw back the hood to reveal shocking long, white-blonde hair, and the face of a thin, haughty-looking woman.
"You called?" The woman asked in a drawling whisper, her lips tightly pressed together in a hard line. Her cold gray eyes narrowed as she drew back the sleeves of her black cloak, her pale, bony fingers reaching for the door handle.
However, before she could touch the handle, the door flew open, and behind it stood a tall dark figure of a woman, her thick, wild black hair strewn across her face. The woman stepped aside, letting the other woman pass into the cottage; casting a furtive glance outside, she quickly shut the door.
"'Cissy, please, you must help me," the hoarse voice of the dark woman pleaded, ringing her hands together as she walked over to stand in front of the other woman, who had sat down upon the ratty, stained couch.
"When you said this was urgent, I suppose you weren't lying, Bellatrix…" the blonde woman said, her expression amused.
"Narcissa! Please! This is no laughing matter; I have to find a way to get rid of them!" Bellatrix snarled, her dark eyes flaming with anger and frustration.
Narcissa tilted her head slowly, confusion flashing in her ghostly gray eyes, and she pursed her cracked lips. "'Them?' What are you talking about, Bella?"
Bella gulped, not meeting her sister's eyes as she walked away from her into the darkness of the house. Narcissa waited in a tense posture, pulling out her wand as a precaution. Bellatrix appeared at the doorway to the main room once more, holding something – seemingly quite large as she was struggling to steady it in her arms – wrapped up in a wooly blanket. Narcissa's eyes went wide in disbelief as the dark woman sauntered over to her, thrusting out her arms so she could get a better look.
Narcissa slowly, her fingers trembling, pulled back the blanket, and shrieked in shock, leaping backwards into the couch. Her eyes switched to Bella, furious and as cold as winter. "What in the bloody hell are you doing with them!" She whispered furiously, snatching the bundle from Bella.
She stared down into the faces of two very angelic looking babies; one was a baby girl with blue-black curly ringlets and distinct amber eyes – there was a faint trace of familiar lidded eyes; the second was a baby boy with straight black hair that stood flat, and his eyes were so dark you could have mistaken them for the night, save for the soft gray flecks around the pupil. Both babies were so intensely beautiful Narcissa had to hold her breath; the twins were staring up at her with curious eyes, something that unnerved her greatly.
She turned to Bellatrix, her nostrils flaring as she handed the babies back to her, shock still flitting across her face. She searched her sister's eyes imploringly, taking a deep breath. "When…how – have you told Rodolphus?" She asked slowly and hesitantly.
Bellatrix growled suddenly, her upper lip curling to reveal cracked and yellow teeth. "I'm not telling him – and neither are YOU!" She whispered furiously, cradling the quiet babies in her arms, as if protecting them from an invisible monster. Her lower lip trembled suddenly, and she glanced down at the babies' faces. "A-And don't tell…tell him either…he need not know…I cannot give them up…" she trailed off, her eyes flashing to the pale face of her sister.
Narcissa bit her lip, holding back a nasty retort, and then held out her arms again, nodding to Bella in encouragement as Bella hesitated to give her the newborns. "How old are they?" She asked tentatively, her expression becoming soft as she gazed at the children.
"A week old," Bella replied, scowling. "And believe me, it's not been easy hiding from him…or both of them, for that matter."
"I thought you were just getting fat…but you did hide it well."
Bella snorted, plopping down next to her sister and leaning back into the couch. "'Cissy, I don't know what to do…I need to give them away. I can't give them to the Dark Lord, he'll know…" She paused for a moment, her hollow eyes zeroing in on Narcissa and she gave her a pleading look. "'Cissy, please, take them! Take them away from me, because I know I won't help them. Give them away!"
Her voice was steadily rising into hysteria, and Narcissa jumped off the couch, the twins still nestled in her arms. "What would you have me do, Bella? Kill them? I cannot kill my nieces and nephews!"
Bella shook her head violently, pushing Narcissa towards the door. "Take them! Take them anywhere, I don't care! Just make sure they never come back! A-And you should practice Occlumency often so Master does not find out!" Her voice was trembling as she screamed at her sister, opening the door and letting the violent wind swirl into the main room. Narcissa gave her a fleeting look and then hurried out the door, only to stop quickly and turn back around to face the dark sister.
"Bella…why don't you want the Dark Lord to know about the children?" she asked in a guarded manner.
Bella stood there for a moment, before spluttering: "Because he'll kill me…and them."
And with that, she slammed the door in her sister's face.
The manor was bitterly cold and dark as Narcissa sat at the long drawing room table, her eyes staring off into space as the other Death Eaters gathered around her. She hated having the dark wizards there – it terrorized not only her son, but also her whole family. She mentally cursed Lucius and his pride, as well as the Dark Lord's unfailing attempts to humiliate her whole family.
Beside her, Draco stirred, his emotionless eyes glancing up at her. Underneath the table, she slid her hand over his, squeezing his fingers tight as a way of comfort. He sighed softly, so soft only she could hear it, and then turned his gaze away from her once more. On her other side sat Bella, her dark eyes clouded with something Narcissa neither knew nor would attempt to find out about.
Suddenly, there was a swish of cloaks and the Dark Lord appeared, his pale, almost translucent fingers grabbing hold of the back of his chair as he lowered himself into it. Out of the corner of her eye, Narcissa saw her sister turn her full attention on her Master, her gaze adoring, but her lips still trembling as he sat down next to her.
He turned his demonic red slits of eyes to Bella, give her something along a grimace – she supposed it was an attempt at a smile – that made Bella whimper happily. "Bella, what are you hiding from me? I sense you haven't told me everything you should have," his cold, high voice rang in the silent room, and she knew there was a malicious tone to his words.
Bella took a deep breath, and Narcissa knew her sister was using all the Occlumency she could muster. "My Lord…Master…I have some news to give you. I am sure you may have well noticed that I was..." she paused, her face scrunching up as if she couldn't possibly be able to say the word – "…pregnant," there was a quick gasp around the room, "and I gave birth three weeks ago. I Imperiused a St. Mungo doctor to help me deliver…however, there were complications to the birth, and the child died shortly after being born."
She was surprised at how steady and confident in her words Bella sounded, and the Dark Lord only narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding slowly. "…And what did you do with the child, Bella?" His high, slithery voice drawled slowly while his upper lip began to curl.
"I threw it into a lake," she said softly, her dark eyes still wide and gazing almost lovingly at her Master.
Farther down the table, Rodolphus Lestrange coughed, a furious look in his eyes, and the Dark Lord turned to him, smiling sadistically. "I am sure that the child was yours, then, Lestrange?"
He nodded slowly, his cold eyes giving Bella a withering look that she ignored. Narcissa knew he would probably be angry, as a child of the Lestranges would keep the pureblood line alive, and she guessed a dead child was a blow to him, as if calling him infertile and incapable of keeping the Lestrange line extant.
She was glad that the Dark Lord asked no more questions and did not turn upon her, so that she did not have to attempt Occlumency against him as she was not the best at it. He would have surely found out the truth, and would have hunted down the twins. She still could not live with herself for what she did with them…but at least they were alive…
There was a dark horizon as Narcissa hurried through the small Muggle town that was called, according to the sign, Little Hangleton. She had just Disapparated from her sister's run-down cottage, and she knew not where she was going and why she had chosen this town, but wherever she was going, she was certain it would take the two heavy babies out of her hands.
She came upon a nice-looking house, almost as the big as the Malfoy Manor, and she nodded to herself. Even if the children had to live with some Muggle, at least they should be rich. She hurried onto the doorstep of the home, gently setting the twins down on the Welcome mat before ringing the doorbell. Slithering away into the darkness, Narcissa hid behind a nearby tree, peering at the house as the door opened.
A very pretty, young Muggle woman stood at the door; she had a round face and dark brown hair that fell past her shoulders in little ringlets; she must have been only about five feet tall. She looked around with a confused expression for a moment before looking down at the mat, and suddenly emitted a terrified screech.
"Andrew! Andrew, come quickly!" Her tiny voice wailed, and a tall, muscular man with blonde hair sticking out in tufts appeared at her side, where he drew in a shaky breath; his hand went to his mouth and he turned to look at his wife.
The woman, still terrified, gathered up the twins in her arms and rushed inside while the husband nervously glanced outside, his eyes landing on Narcissa for only a second, but she knew he couldn't see her.
She stood there for a little while longer as he closed the door and walked into the living room, where you could clearly see, through the window, the wife snuggling the babies close to her with a mixture of nervous terror and ecstasy on her face. She seemed almost happy about it. It was at that point Narcissa knew that she had chosen the right family (however blindly it had been), and then she Disapparated once more into the darkness.
Narcissa shivered involuntary, but it went unnoticed as the meeting went on. There was still something fishy about the way Bella was acting about the twins…and why was she not telling the Dark Lord? She pondered long into the night, her lips tightly pressed together. Would she ever try to go look for them? Probably not, as there wasn't much use to it. She only hoped the two children would be able to live a healthy life, and soon enough, join the Wizarding world.
A/N: Alrighty! So there's the first chapter. :) I know it leaves you kind of wondering, but its all key to the story. Read and review please! And don't worry, the second chapter is coming soon, and it WILL contain the main characters. Thanks!