Narcissa Black had always been a strange child. Like her cousin Sirius, the lessons pressed upon her about blood purity and the importance of keeping power to purebloods never seemed to stick. She was constantly in trouble growing up for befriending children before finding out their blood status, and even had the nerve to call a muggle girl one of her friends. It was after this incident that she was forbidden from not only making her own friends, but from doing anything other researching the importance of her blood status.
Her sister Bellatrix constantly made fun of her for her punishments, and was seen as perfect in their father's eye.When she was sorted into Slytherin, it was like icing on the cake for Cygnus and Druella, who long considered their oldest the perfect example for their two younger daughters. For Andromeda, slytherin was not the house for her, and both she and the hat agreed that Ravenclaw was the house she truly belonged in. But she urged and begged, and the house placed her in Slytherin, where she was sat next to her proud older sister, and miserable for the entirety of her education.
Narcissa, liker her older sister Andromeda, did not exhibit any of the signs of being a Slytherin either. She was too nice, too friendly to everyone she met, and, if asked in private, without the scrutiny of all the other purebloods surrounding her, she would have told anyone that she didn't give a damn about the blood in ones veins. So, it seemed fitting to the sorting hat, at least, to place her in the friendliest, mixed blood house there was. But,with a quiet voice only the old, worn hat could hear, the small blonde begged. "Please put me in Slytherin! Slytherin, please!" It didn't take a genius to know just what would happen to her if she was placed elsewhere, and he was, after all, a magic hat. And while he wanted so dearly to place Narcissa where he knew she'd flourish, and be happiest, he granted her wish, and with a loud voice declared her Slytherin, much to Bellatrix's delight, and that of her parents.
She always wished she could have gone back, and allowed herself to live the life she was meant to, but time was funny thing. One always wanted to change it, but that, was never meant to be.
Narcissa fell into a pattern while at Hogwarts. When in class, she was a perfect little snake, she flaunted her blood status, and insulted muggle borns. She sneered at half-bloods in the common room, and listened to her oldest sister as she spoke of the importance of making alliances with other Slytherins.
But tucked away in the library, surrounded by Andromeda and her friends, she felt truly at home. All three sisters had been born two years apart, and while most third years would not want to hangout with a first year, especially a Slytherin, at that,one explanation from Andromeda was all it took for her to be quickly accepted as the closeted Hufflepuff she was. She got along well with all the other Hufflepuffs in her year, as well as those in years above.
It was with her older sister she really felt like she could be herself.
That all changed in third year, when her parents told her of her marriage contract with one Lucius Malfoy. He was a year ahead of her, and was known for being both handsome, and cruel. She had wanted to cry, to tear all of her things in half and run away. But it was her sister Andromeda that made her stay.
"But I don't want to marry him, Dromeda, I can't!" She had cried. The letter had arrived two weeks after the start of her third year. The decision was made without her, and she would have no choice but to follow through with it.
"I know Ciss, but you know what mother and father will do if you if you don't agree to this," Andromeda had whispered, clutching her sisters hands in her own. No marriage contract had been made for her yet, and she knew plenty why. She couldn't blend in like Narcissa, no pure-blood wanted to marry a muggle supporter. "You don't want to end up like me. It's too late for me to find favor in their eyes, but you still can."
Narcissa remembered every detail of that moment. The feeling of her sisters warm grip on her cold hands, the way Andromeda's dark brown hair fell off her shoulders in chestnut curls. The look in her brown eyes as she waited to hear Narcissa's answer. She nodded her head in acceptance, and took up her quill to write her reply to her mother. In the letter she expressed great happiness to have the opportunity to marry such a handsome pure-blood. But inside, she felt as though she had died inside.
It was the next morning that Bellatrix had revealed her expectant marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange after she graduated from Hogwarts in the spring. She was beyond excited, and Narcissa began helping her plan the wedding.
Narcissa was twenty-five when she gave birth to her son. Lucius hadn't been there as Voldemort had called a meeting that night to discuss an upcoming raid. She had been aided by their only female house elf Twinky until her healer could arrive. It was a long two hours, but in the end, she heard her baby cry, and she knew he would become her whole world.
"Congratulations, my lady. He's perfectly healthy," The healer told her, handing over the cleaned baby wrapped in a soft, blue blanket.
"Thank you," Narcissa whispered, all of her attention on the child, her child, in her arms. The woman was right, of course. He was perfect. She moved her arm to wipe the tears from her eyes. She was never the emotional type, but seeing her child was enough to make the tears start flowing.
She wished Andromeda could see him.
After placing two bottles of pain potions on the bedside table, the healer took her leave, allowing the mother and child to have their moment.
Thinking quickly, Narcissa called for Twinky. "Misses Narcissa is needing me?" Twinky answered, giving a short bow.
"I need you to fetch my sister for me," she told the house elf, her eyes never leaving her son.
"But misses Bellatrix is with master Lucius," Twinky said, confused.
"My other sister, Twinky. Her name is Andromeda Tonks. Please, I need you to find her,"
"Twinky will do my best, ma'am." She snapped her fingers, and disappeared with a pop.
While waiting for her elf to return with her sister, Narcissa fixed the pillows behind her and leaned back, resting her eyes as her baby slept in her arms. She was awakened from her dozing by a faint pop, and the sound of her older sister thanking Twinky.
"Dromeda, you made it," she said tiredly, opening her sky blue eyes to take in the sight of her sister. With a slight start she realized she wasn't alone. Clutching her hand was a child, around the age of eight or so. "Is that Nymphadora? Oh, she looks so much like Ted,"
The little girl smiled slightly at Narcissa as Andromeda sat down beside her and pushed some stray hairs behind her ear. "Of course I made it, Cissa. I wouldn't miss this for the world." She looked down at the baby in her sisters arms and smiled softly. "He looks just like you,"
Narcissa smiled at that, and looked back down at her son. "He wants to name him Draco, but I like Devin more," she explained, moving the blanket away from his face. "Nymphadora, would you like to say hi to your cousin?"
The little girl jumped slightly, she wasn't expecting to be spoken to at all. "He's so small," she commented, making the two women laugh.
"You know, you were as small as he was, when you were born," her mother told her, a small smile on her face. The trio stayed and spoke in soft in tones, Twinky had never seen her mistress so happy, and so, when she sensed master Lucius approaching, she made the decision to warn her.
"Master Lucius approaches, madam, would Missus like Twinky to escort missus Tonks home?" She spoke as soon as she appeared in the room, and was grateful of Narcissa's kindness towards her. The woman was never cruel to the house elves like Lucius.
"Goodbye, Cissa. I'll see you soon, okay?" Andromeda said as she stood, she grabbed Nymphadora's hand and they both waved goodbye as Twinky apparated them back to their house.
Little did either of them know it would be the last time they saw each other in at least a year.
Draco was two months old when Lucius finally bothered to look at him. The baby so far had not taken on any of the characteristics of the Malfoy bloodline. His hair was blonde, but it looked more like Narcissa's sandy blonde hair. This of course displeased Lucius to no end, but there was nothing to be done about it.
However, that didn't mean he didn't hold a grudge against his wife, no matter how ridiculous, for not producing a suitable Malfoy heir. He only held the child once, and it was with a look of almost pure disgust. Most babies had shown signs of magic by now, but his child had yet to show any inkling of magical ability.
After Draco's birth, Lucius seemed to focus more and more on aiding the Dark Lord. He spent most nights on raids, doing unspeakable things to people they went to school with, to children, and the elderly. She never asked him what he'd did on those long nights, and frankly, Lucius wasn't the talkative type any way.
One fateful day in October, Draco was awoken from his afternoon nap by the loud pop of three death eaters apparating into the sitting room of the Malfoy Manor. It had been a quiet day, with his father busy in his study, and Draco's mother sitting in the rocking chair of his nursery, her needlepoint in hand.
Lucius ushered them into his study, closing the door as Draco began to cry. "Hush darling, Mama's got you," she said to him, rubbing his back. She was sad to say that he was growing up, her baby was already one year old, and it seemed like yesterday he had only been a newborn, barely able to sit up.
"Would you please stop that infernal crying!" Lucius called from across the hall, barely masking the annoyance in his voice.
"Well you shouldn't have awoken him," she replied, eyeing him as she soothed her son. He eventually stopped crying, and fell back to sleep, his cheeks still stained with tears.
Across the hall, she heard the men arguing about the mission scheduled for that night. She usually didn't bother herself with the plans they made in that room, she made her stance on the Dark Lord very clear when she had married Lucius, and she had remained completely uninvolved for the duration of her marriage. But it was the name 'Potter' that caught her ear.
She had met Lily during her fifth year, the young girl had been sorted into Gryffindor, and separated from her friend Severus, who had been put into Slytherin. She'd helped both of them in potions, and even helped tudor the girl on how the Wizarding world worked. When she had heard that Lily and James had had a baby, just a month after she did, she was so happy for them, and she even sent Twinky to them to deliver a handmade baby blanket. Although her house helf couldn't find them, she had gotten a written promise from Albus Dumbledore that he would deliver it.
"The Dark Lord is sure the chosen one is the Potter boy, but we must not leave anything to chance," Lucius was saying, his pale eyes focused on the letter in front of him. "He wants Bella and I to go after the Longbottoms, while he and the rat go take care of the Potters,"
Narcissa felt a cold drop of fear, they were going to attack two of the nicest people she'd ever met, so they could kill their babies? Udder disgust filled her, and she glanced back at her son, fast asleep in her arms. The thought made her angry, yet she felt like throwing up too. 'I could tell Albus, he could help them!' She thought, her mind racing as she quietly made her way past her husbands study, and down the stairs to her drawing room.
She placed her baby on the couch, and covered him up with the royal blue shawl she'd worn to keep the fall chill from getting to her. But now, she welcomed the cold as she sat at her little writing desk, her ink and quill waiting for her as she first penned her sister, asking her for help, as she was about to not only betray her husband, but the Dark Lord himself. That was enough to make her a target of any of his supporters. But Andromeda was smart, she was sure come up with some way to help.
Once the letter was finished, she folded, and called for Twinky. The female elf appeared the instant she was summoned. Twinky, Narcissa knew, she could trust, the little elf was awfully smart, and even though they had four other house elves that more powerful, and more obident, Twinky was the one she knew would get the job done.
"Missus has called me?" She asked, her big brown eyes scanning her master's face.
"Twinky, I need you to deliver this to my sister, immediately. Then come straight back, I'll another for you to deliver," She said, her quiet, and her eyes crystal clear. Understanding flooded Twinky's eyes, and she nodded, taking the letter and disappearing with a quiet pop.
After Twinky left, Narcissa turned back to her roll of parchment, and wrote to Albus. The man had always been kind to her, even when she was pretending to be a full fledged Slytherin. He'd always had that gleam in his eye that made her suspect he knew she wasn't really supposed to be in Slytherin at all. She ended her letter with a quick explanation of her plan, to run and change her identity. She hoped he wouldn't make her become a spy, it was a life she simply could not live.
Her elf appeared again, this time with a reply from her sister. She took the letter, then handed her Dumbledore's letter, and instructed her where in Hogwarts to find him. This time, Draco woke up, his big blue eyes exploring the room. He usually spent most of his day in the drawing room with his mother, so it wasn't that big a surprise for the sixteen month old. "Mama!" He said, and she turned from her letter.
"Well hello! Did you have a good nap?" She asked, feigning happiness as he walked over to her, his chubby little legs were cold as she lifted him up into her lap, and she covered them with her sleeves. He sat quietly as she read the note, his head resting back on her chest, he could feel her heartbeat increase, but didn't know what it meant.
Andromeda understood the gravity of the situation, and she knew exactly what to do. The Tonks weren't by any means rich, Andromeda had been cut off from her share of the Black fortune, and Ted's job didn't exactly pay the best, but they still owned a small cottage in the wizarding countryside, a little ways from the house the Weasley's lovingly called the Burrow.
The plan was for her to move in, under a different name, and say she had distant relation to Ted's side of the family, a wizard relative from France. She would be safe from the Death Eaters, and she could finally live in peace.
By nightfall, her husband had left to do his horrid deed, and she had packed herself and Draco a bag, each enchanted to hold as much as possible. She had chosen the few plain dresses she owned, some shoes, and as much valuable items as she could. Draco's was full of his toddler clothes, and a handful of toys. She had told him he could bring more than just the set of blocks, and toy train, but he simply shook his head, and smiled at her.
She wouldn't notice until they had left that they were the toys that Andromeda had given him.
"Twinky!" She called, her hands sweaty with what she was about to do. Resting in her left hand was a silk glove, the best she owned. The elf appeared, and her already wide eyes widened even more upon seeing the navy blue glove. Narcissa knelt down, and made herself eye level with the little elf.
"Yes, mistress?" She asked, her voice quiet as she took in the moment. Had she done something wrong?
"I'm going away. Me and Draco are going to live somewhere else, away from Lucius. And I want to badly to take you with me, but you are tied to the Malfoy family, not the Blacks, so I'm setting you free, so you can decide where to go," She told her, her voice soft.
"Twinky hasn't been bad?"
"No. Twinky has been so good, that I want you to come with me,"
The elf's eyes began misting up as she smiled, and took the glove from Narcissa's hand. Her fingers shook as she placed it on her own hand, the fabric hanging from her fingers. Slowly, she felt the bond that kept her tied to the Malfoy's slip, and she quickly remade it, tying herself to Narcissa's magical energy.
Standing up, Narcissa slung both bags onto her shoulder, and held a hand out to Draco, then another to Twinky, and together the three of them apparated to their new home, and their new lives.