This piece is written for "Tuesday 24th prompt of the day, on Hogwarts Online.
Prompt: Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Narcissa x Andromeda. NO ROMANCE
To Heal Their Hearts
The doorbell rang for what felt like the thousandth time. Didn't people understand that she didn't want to see anyone? The bell was just a daft muggle contraption that Ted had insisted on installing. Seemed to think it was politer than apparating directly into their front room, and that it also gave them the opportunity to ignore whoever was there. After he'd died she kept it there to remind herself of everything they'd once shared. Whoever was stood on the doorstep was certainly persistent for the bell continued to ring. Not bothering to wipe away her tears she stood up and stepped out into the hall.
Narcissa stood on the front step; her heart hammering nervously in her chest and tears dripping steadily down her cheeks and mingling with falling raindrops. For the fifth time since she'd been standing there she found herself anticipating Andromeda's reaction, and could picture the door slamming shut in her face. Not that she could have blamed her because she'd brought everything on herself. She'd listened to her parents for years and now it was time to pay the price.
The door opened a fraction and Narcissa wasn't sure what to expect but it wasn't what she was met with. Andromeda looked old and worn out. Her face was a white as a sheet, and her eyes were red from crying. Their eyes met, and there was an uncomfortable silence. Narcissa didn't know what to say. "You have some nerve coming here today," Andromeda croaked. Shock, anger and her grief coursed through her system in an equal measure.
"I didn't know where to go," Narcissa whispered looking away, her guilt rendering her unable to meet her gaze. "I just thought-" she paused hesitantly. "You always told me I was welcome here."
"And you think that STILL APPLIES NOW?" Andromeda's voice rose hysterically. "After everything that's happened – I've lost my husband and now my daughter; my seven-week-old grandson has just lost his mother – and you, you just expect to walk in here and have me praise you for making the right decision at last."
"No- it wasn't like that at all," Narcissa crumbled before her eyes at the contempt in her voice. Over the years Andromeda had changed more than she'd expected. "I just, I need your forgiveness Andy!"
Her disowned sister flinched visibly at the renewed use of her childhood nickname. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" She began scornfully, although tears laced her words. "The Lady of Malfoy Manor wants my forgiveness. You've never ceased to amaze me Narcissa. After everything your Dark Lord has done, after everything you've done –" She broke off, unable to put her emotions into words.
Narcissa's tears streamed down her cheeks and wordlessly she pulled up her left sleeve to reveal no dark mark. "I wasn't His follower," she said quietly. "I didn't take the mark."
"And you what? You think that makes you better than Bellatrix? She's a lot of things but at least she was big enough to admit whose side she was on! You've just hidden in her shadow for years!" All the things Andromeda had been thinking since she left came out in the heat of their argument, as she brought their disowned sister into the fight. If she'd been thinking rationally she probably wouldn't have said them but, her emotions were all over the place – her heart was screaming indignantly at the loss of her only daughter, and now here she was faced with everything she tried to forget over the last twenty years.
"I can't deny that," Narcissa said shakily. She'd gone through most of her life surrounded by a carefully constructed wall of secrets and lies. Today it was time to start again, which meant that the truth was the only way forward. "Everything you're saying is true, and I don't blame you for hating me–"
"I don't hate you," Andromeda interrupted surprising them both. She hastily corrected herself. "I don't have the energy to hate you right now."
Narcissa didn't know how to respond to that so – on sensing that Andromeda's anger was evaporating – continued what she was saying before. "I know it seems like too little, much too late and I'll understand if you never want to see me again but –" She stopped, regaining her confidence and meeting her eyes again. "I've lost one sister today, and regardless of everything she did, I loved her. I've wasted too many years, and I want to get to know my big sister again, if you'll let me." There was another silence in wake of her silence.
"I can't have this conversation with you now Narcissa." Tears sparkled in tired brown eyes. "We'll talk about it one day, but not today."
"I understand that," Narcissa replied softly. "I'm really sorry for your losses," she added. Andromeda didn't speak and her sister looked on as she started to cry silently again. She wanted to reach out and comfort her but her courage failed her at the last minute. She'd been brave enough to lie to Voldemort, yet she didn't have the strength for this.
"I need to go back inside now," Andromeda managed, and they could both hear the faint strains of baby Teddy beginning to bawl. Narcissa nodded, turning to leave. "Cissy?" Her sister said quietly. She turned back to face her, hope flickering behind her eyes and a warm feeling in her chest as Andromeda by her nickname. "Will you stay? I don't want to be on my own."
If she hadn't seen the words come from her sister's lips, Narcissa would have sworn she'd imagined them. The first lines of a sombre smile flickered on her face, and she winced in mild discomfort as a cut from the battle, stood out, raw and ugly on her cheek. She reached out a tentative hand, and squeezed Andromeda's hand gently in her own, steering her inside the house. The door shut with a quiet click behind them.
There would be a time in which to talk, and piece together the events of the past. But today wasn't it. Today they needed to grieve for those they had lost, and slowly learn to accept the things they couldn't change. Only then would they be able to heal their hearts.