Narcissa had awoken early on a Saturday morning in the Hogwarts Castle. It wasn't just any normal Saturday around the castle. Today was February 14th. Valentine's day. Narcissa was usually neutral to these sorts of holidays. She had never been one for romance, mainly because she had never been involved with anyone before. This year was different. This year she had noticed a certain set of ice blue eyes settling on her longer than normal. He was a sixth year and to tell the truth, he intimidated her. She was no stranger to being the youngest in a crowd due to her sister dragging her along with a bunch of older kids, but this was different. None of them made her cheeks heat up and redden just by saying her name or from a simple glance. It didn't take long for Bella to catch on to the silent romance that was unfolding between Narcissa and Lucius and had been giving her sister a hard time ever since. She had made it clear that she didn't like nor did she approve of Lucius, but she couldn't do much about it. Their families had already agreed upon an arranged marriage between the two.

Surprisingly, Narcissa didn't mind. She had known from her younger years that her family was big about keeping their blood pure. Her sister was to marry a charismatic boy that had been involved with their tight-knit group of Slytherins for quite a while – Rodolphus Lestrange. Bellatrix had shown little inclination towards him romantically. But she too knew what was good for her. He was another pure-blood. Strong. Smart. Powerful. Just as Lucius was. Bella always said love was for the weak. Narcissa felt sorry for her sister. As of late she had been growing colder, meaner. Narcissa didn't like it, and she couldn't get Bellatrix to open up as to why the sudden changes were happening. She chalked it up to the fact that she was soon to be married to Rodolphus once they had both left Hogwarts.

It was a particularly nice morning, which was surprising. The sun was fighting through the clouds to shine over the grounds and through the windows as Narcissa walked down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. Romance was definitely in the air, couples were already starting to spread out throughout the castle. Narcissa smiled to herself as she entered the Great Hall with thoughts of perhaps spending the day with Lucius. Just the two of them. Nobody else around to interrupt their conversation, not that they had really had one as of yet. But with all the love wafting in the air, Narcissa couldn't help but to become infected.

She sat down in her usual spot around the usual group of Slytherins. Lucius and Evan were in hushed conversation across the table and Rodolphus was diving hungrily into his breakfast, not giving him enough time to breathe even if he wanted to enter the conversation happening across from him. Narcissa had thoughtfully left a space to her right, in-between her and Rodolphus, noticing that her sister Bellatrix was missing at the table. It didn't take long for the boys to realize her presence and drop all conversation. That had been happening a lot lately. She had been being included less and less in the whispers and outings of the group. She was usually invited or pulled along by her sister whether she was willing or not, but she wasn't going to let that bother her today.

Lucius smiled as she reached across the table for pumpkin juice, which was just out of her reach. His pale hand reached in the same direction as her's and successfully grasped the pitcher and held it out to her. "Looking lovely as always, Narcissa," he said, his ice blue eyes grabbing her own blue orbs in a hypnotizing trance. She took the pitcher from him, her hand brushing against his for a short moment in the exchange, and her cheeks reddened instantly. She smiled bashfully and tore her eyes away from him as she poured herself a glass of juice. "Thank you, Lucius," she replied, not daring to look at him although she could still feel him looking at her. She took a drink and placed the glass down, clearing her throat. "So, what do you have planned fo-"

"Morning, Cissy," a voice hissed joyfully in her ear. She turned her head to her left and saw the pale faced Bellatrix smiling at her.

"Morning," Narcissa replied less enthusiastically than she knew her sister would have liked. She glanced over at Lucius with an apologetic look, only to see he had resumed his conversation with Evan.

Bellatrix had been studying her sister carefully as of late, and this morning was no excuse. She saw this hopeful glance with a look of apology that she knew was for her own presence. Ever since Lucius started paying more attention than usual to Narcissa, it seemed as if she wanted her older sister around less and less. She had just opened her mouth to speak, but this was interrupted by Rodolphus.

"Happy Valentine's Day, darling," he purred, leaning over the space that Narcissa had left for Bellatrix and behind Narcissa to get to his intended.

"Yes, well. That's lovely." She sounded bored and rolled her eyes as she spoke, refusing to turn and look at him. She dismissed him immediately and began to put food on her plate and eat her breakfast, although her appetite had significantly dropped after that little sad show.

Narcissa turned to her sister with a look of disapproval. "What has gotten into you lately, Bella?" she asked quietly. "He's just trying to be nice. You should really try that sometime."

"If you haven't noticed, being nice will get you nowhere, Cissy. Anyway, I have much more important things to tend to and that leaves me no time for him and his foolishness."

"Foolishness!" she quietly exlaimed. "He is to be your husband! The least you could do is give him a chance, Bella. Especially when he's trying! You might actually end up, oh I don't know, liking him! Crazy, I know." A teasing smirk had appeared upon Narcissa's lips.

"Oh, shut up Cissy," Bellatrix huffed, playfully hitting her sister's shoulder with her own. Her eyes shot sideways and lingered upon her sister's face for a moment before she turned her attention back to her breakfast.

All was pretty much silent between the friends as they ate, Bellatrix had killed the jolly mood as always. That was something that she had become quite good at.

Suddenly Evan and Lucius rose from the table.

"Where are you two off to?" Bellatrix asked. She had also taken a liking to being a nosy nancy. She always had to know everything, whether it included her or not. If it didn't include her, she would find a way to get herself involved.

"We have some business to attend to. Elsewhere. That is all, Bella," Lucius said mechanically. He had gotten used to Bella's incessant prodding and although it annoyed him sometimes, he knew better than to cross the testy witch. He was quite fond of all his appendages and would like to keep them. All of them.

"Rodolphus, you coming?"

He immediately shot up from the table as if he was intently waiting to hear his name called from either of the boys. Rodolphus couldn't deny that he was thankful to be invited. He had been dying for a reason to leave the table without causing a fight between him and Bellatrix from the second he had been shot down. Another blow to his ego, and to his hopeful heart.

"Absolutely," he replied, taking one last sip of his juice. He took a few steps and stopped, facing Bella's back, looking down at her.

Narcissa's hand shot sideways after a silent moment and she hit Bella's upper arm.

"Ow, you twit!" She looked over at Narcissa, who was looking at her imploringly as both Lucius and Evan looked down at her from across the table, obviously waiting to leave. "Bloody hell, Cissy," she hissed, rolling her eyes. Narcissa did not back down.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and glared sideways at her sister, and then came the sigh of defeat. "Alright, fine. Fine."

She picked up her cloth napkin and pressed it to her lips a few times before singing her legs around so that her back was now pressed against the edge of the table. She didn't look at Rodolphus directly at first, but forced herself to look at his face after a moment. Their eyes met and although he had a cold and detached look upon his face, his eyes gave way to what was truly happening – his heart slowly breaking, cupped in the bony hands of Bellatrix Black.

"Yes?" she asked. Her voice was cool and almost professional sounding, as if they were carrying on some business transaction.

He simply looked at her for a moment before bending down so his face was level with hers. He paused and then went in to place a kiss upon her lips, but her head jerked sideways so that his lips met her cheek instead. After lingering for a few seconds, he slightly pulled away and audibly sighed before straightening up, the others looking at him all with sorry expressions written all over their faces.

He cleared his throat and looked upon Bella once more. "I guess I'll, uh... see you... later on..." he trailed off and quickly headed towards the doors of the Great Hall – salvation – desperate to get out of that uncomfortable situation.

Bellatrix shot back around so she was facing the table once more and silently got back to her breakfast once more without saying a word. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

"Goodbye Narcissa," Lucius said, finally shaking off the scene they had all witnessed and being the first that dared to speak. He flashed her a smile and a wink before he and Evan followed Rodolphus out of the hall.

"Honestly, Bella. You're breaking his heart. Will you please just give the poor boy a chance?"

Bellatrix dropped her fork with a loud clatter onto her plate and slammed her fist hard onto the wooden table. Narcissa jumped at her sudden outburst. She hated when Bellatrix was testy, and especially when she was angry with her. But she had grown up with this, her sister – the ticking time bomb.

Bellatrix sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was much calmer. She turned to face Narcissa who was now obviously ignoring her and taking a heavy interest in her breakfast.

"I'm sorry, Cissy," she said quietly. Sincerely. "But you're young, you haven't figured out how this all works." Narcissa continued to be much more interested with the food on her plate, showing no signs of even having heard Bella speak, but Bellatrix continued on. "Our families are all pure-bloods, and will remain so. That's what this is about. Blood status. It isn't about romance and it definitely isn't about love. Once in a great while there is that perfect match, I'm sure, where the intendeds fall lucky in love. But nobody is that lucky, really." There was a moment of silence as Bellatrix looked sadly upon her little sister. She knew this day would come, but she still hated having to be the one to teach her sister this lesson and shatter any naivety left within her. "Not mommy. Not me," she went on, getting up from the table. "Not even you."

She looked down at Narcissa once more and kissed the top of her sister's head. Without another word she set off out of the Great Hall, curious to see what sort of business Lucius had been talking about.