DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.
"It's just a mirror, Cissy!"
"It isn't just a mirror!" Narcissa shouted. "And you know it isn't, I know you do!"
"Calm down," Andromeda chimed in. "It just talks, Cissy. All mirrors talk. It isn't dangerous at all."
Narcissa looked from one sister to the other in complete disbelief. Was it possible that they had both forgotten what that mirror did?
"You can't leave me in here alone with it," she said. "With her."
"You're such a child, Narcissa," said Bellatrix. "If it annoys you, tell it to shut up. And it is not a her because mirrors don't have genders."
"Well, this one does," Narcissa insisted.
"Bella," said Andromeda, putting her hand on her older sister's shoulder, "maybe one of us should stay back and sleep in here with her."
Bellatrix shook her hand away, irritated. "She'll be fine," she said. "She has to learn to sleep by herself at some point. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with that mirror. Come on!"
She turned to leave the room, but Andromeda didn't follow her; she sat down on the bed next to Narcissa.
"I'm sorry we have to leave you," she said.
"You don't have to leave me," Narcissa grumbled. "It's just a stupid party."
"Just a stupid party?! I've been waiting months for this!" Bellatrix exclaimed.
Andromeda glared at her older sister. "The point is, like Bella said, the mirror isn't going to do anything to you while we're away. I know it says nasty things sometimes, but if you tell it to shut up, it will."
Narcissa stared from one sister to the other. "Don't you remember?" she pleaded. "It can do things! It doesn't just talk!"
Andromeda frowned. She was generally more compassionate than her sister, but she too was starting to lose patience. She was looking forward to the party more the Bella, being the more social of the three sisters, and it was the first one she'd been allowed to attend. And she didn't understand why Narcissa was so afraid of the mirror.
"Look," said Bella, "you can ask Nippy to sleep in here with you, if that's what you want."
"I don't want a stupid house elf! I want you!" Narcissa wailed. "You're braver than me! You can protect me."
Bellatrix patted her sister's hand. "That's very kind of you," she said. "But we really have to go. The mirror won't do anything, I promise. Come on, Andromeda, she'll never stop clinging, just leave."
The door swung shut behind the two of them, and Narcissa was left sitting on her bed, staring at the long mirror in the corner. After a moment, she jumped to her feet and pulled the blanked off of Andromeda's bed. It was difficult, as she was so small, but she eventually managed to cover the mirror with the blanket.
"That's rather rude," remarked the mirror.
Narcissa turned away hastily and scrambled back into her bed.
It was eight o'clock, and little Narcissa was fast asleep.
She didnt' hear when the blanket slid off the mirror, or when something landed with a soft thump on the floor.
She didn't hear the footsteps that padded to her bedside.
"Oh, hush," Andromeda said to Bellatrix as they made their way to their bedroom. "You'll wake Cissy."
"All right, all right," said Bella amiably. She'd had a good time at the party and was in a very decent mood. "I wonder if she fell asleep? She was so scared when we left."
"You know Cissy," said Andromeda, opening the door to the room the three girls shared. "She sleeps like a-"
She broke off with a loud scream.
"What?!" Bella cried, startled. She grabbed Andromeda's arm. "What is it?"
Andromeda backed out of the room, her face white; she seemed unable to speak. She could only point.
Holding her sister's arm tightly, Bella inched to the doorway and peered in.
All she saw for a second was blood - red blood, the color of pain and death; blood bathing the bed, the floor, and the body of her little sister.
"Cissy!" she cried, as if it wasn't true, as if Narcissa was going to wake up as soon as she heard her name. "Oh, Merlin! What happened?! CISSY!"
"She can't hear you!" Andromeda wailed. "She's dead, Bella!"
"How do you know? Maybe she's still alive," Bella cried. She knew, in her heart of hearts, that Narcissa couldn't be alive. She'd seen the body. There was no way that anyone could have shed that much blood and still be alive. But her mind refused to acknowledge that Cissy was dead - especially because, if she was, it would mean that Bella was somehow at fault for leaving her alone.
"What are you doing, Bella? Don't go in there!" Andromeda shouted, grabbing at her sister's hand. It was too late; Bella had stepped into the blood spattered bedroom. Andromeda sank to the floor just outside of the doorway, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Like Bella, she hadn't fully processed the fact that her little sister was dead; but unlike Bella, she was extremely leery of blood, even when it was just a little bit of blood.
Seeing this much of it made her want to pass out.
Bella was not afraid of blood in the least, and so it wasn't the sight of it that made her tremble as she stepped towards her sister. No, it was the fear of what she would find when she turned Narcissa's body over; the dread of having to see her face and know that she was really gone.
She never made it to the bed.
"BELLA!" Andromeda screamed. A shadowy figure was bent over her sister; it wore a long white robe, stained with blood; its face was covered with a hood; and its hands seemed to be buried in Bellatrix's chest.
Andromeda's throat felt raw from screaming. She was terrified that the thing would turn to look at her, but somehow, she just couldn't shut up. She could only watch as Bella tumbled to the floor, blood gushing from her chest.
The figure turned its head.
Andromeda froze in the doorway. She felt rather as you sometimes do in a dream, when you know you must run to get away from something dangerous but you feel as if you cannot move a step; her limbs felt frozen.
The figure rushed at her.
At the precise moment at which Andromeda gave up all hope, the figure stopped short. It was poised in the doorway, and it seemed to be trying to pass through; but try as it might, it couldn't reach Andromeda.
When it realized this, it gave a loud screech of rage and flew back into the bedroom - straight back into the mirror in the corner - where it finished its scream before settling into silence.
Andromeda stared at it.
Narcissa had been right. There was more to that mirror than met the eye; there was something in that mirror, something as real as she was and infinitely more dangerous.
But even as she thought this, she felt dizziness overtake her; her muscles gave out, and she fell forward in a dead faint.
She was unconscious when she fell, and so she couldn't control the fact that she landed directly in the doorway of the bedroom.
Myths & Legends Assignment: Your scary story should include a spirit that is kept within a mirror.
Triwizard Tournament Restriction: Must be written in third person omniscient.