Author's Note: This fic takes place soon after the events of one of my other fics, "The Lost Baby," but all you have to know about that fic in order to understand this one is that Narcissa had a stillborn daughter that she and Lucius decided to name Ara. It may help to read "The Lost Baby," however, to gain a better understanding of Abraxas's character.
It had been a while since Bellatrix had seen Narcissa, so she decided one day to go to Malfoy Manor.
The visit, however, started off badly from the beginning.
Bellatrix was greeted by the house-elf Brenan. Bellatrix would have rather be greeted by Dobby because she knew that she could do whatever she wanted to Dobby without fear that the pathetic house-elf would go to his masters and complain.
Brenan, however, was nothing like Dobby. Abraxas Malfoy, even though he never seemed to show any affection for his own son, seemed to have some affection for his house-elf. If Brenan complained to Abraxas, Bellatrix would end up hearing about it.
And Bellatrix really didn't want to deal with Abraxas. He made Lucius seem tolerable.
And Brenan himself was quite the nasty thing. Not that Bellatrix couldn't deal with him if she really wanted to, but she really didn't want to deal with Abraxas if she could help it. Not that she was afraid of Abraxas or anything. Bellatrix just preferred to avoid the elder Malfoy as much as possible, and she knew that he felt the same way about her.
"What can I do for you, Mistress Bellatrix?" Brenan asked.
Bellatrix frowned. She swore that the house-elf was actually sneering at her. The audacity of that creature.
Bellatrix began to go for her wand, but then Abraxas suddenly appeared behind the house-elf.
"Why are you leaving the door open for so long, Brenan?" Abraxas asked. "Who's there anyways?"
Abraxas then caught sight of Bellatrix. "Oh, it's you," he sneered. "What do you want?"
"I'm here to see my sister, Narcissa," Bellatrix replied. "Is she here?"
"Brenan, show our guest to my son's wife," Abraxas spoke, "and then bring me some tea."
"The guest's name is Bellatrix," the dark-haired witch snarled, "and your son's wife has a name as well. Her name is Narcissa."
As much as Bellatrix despised Lucius, at least he called his wife by name. And he also called Bellatrix by name. True, Lucius usually spoke Bellatrix's name with disdain, but at least he spoke her name. Abraxas, on the other hand, didn't seem to know either Bellatrix's or Narcissa's name.
"Whatever," Abraxas said with a roll of his eyes. "Just keep yourself and your sister out of my way."
"I won't have any problem with that," Bellatrix responded. "I'm not here to see you anyways. I'm here to see Narcissa."
"Brenan," Abraxas spoke.
"Come with me," Brenan told Bellatrix. "I will take you to your sister."
"You are so kind," Bellatrix said sarcastically.
Brenan looked up at her, and Bellatrix swore that she saw the house-elf roll his eyes at her. The audacity of that creature.
If having to deal with Abraxas wouldn't have been such a big fuss, Bellatrix would have taught the house-elf a lesson. But Abraxas, despite his old age, was still a very capable wizard. And he was also very annoying. No, it was best to keep the old man semi-happy.
Bellatrix swore that Brenan was strutting the entire time he was leading her to Narcissa. Honestly, the audacity of that creature.
Narcissa was sitting on the couch in the study that Bellatrix knew from past visits was her sister's favorite one in the entire manor.
"Bella," Narcissa greeted in surprise, standing up, "it's been a while. Come, sit down. Brenan, get us something to drink. Some elf-made wine will do."
"Master Abraxas wants me to get him some tea," Brenan replied. "I'll tell Dobby to tend to you."
"Fine. Whatever." Narcissa rolled her eyes.
Brenan disappeared with a crack.
"You let that creature talk to you like that?" Bellatrix said angrily. "Have you no respect for yourself, Cissy?"
"Messing with Brenan means messing with Abraxas," Narcissa replied, "and I like to stay away from him as much as possible."
"I can't blame you there," Bellatrix muttered, taking a seat on the couch beside her sister. "He makes Lucius seem pleasant."
Narcissa glared at her sister, but before she could say anything, there was a crack and Dobby appeared. He gave both witches a glass of wine.
"Do you need anything else?" Dobby asked in that wimpy voice of his. Well, at least he knew his place. Not like some other house-elves that Bellatrix could think of.
"No, that will be all," Narcissa said. "Leave us now, Dobby."
The house-elf disappeared with a crack.
"What can I do for you, Bella?" Narcissa asked.
"I just wanted to see you," Bellatrix replied. "Like you said, it's been a while."
"Yes, it has," Narcissa responded in a soft voice. She looked down sadly at the floor and unconsciously rubbed her stomach, where she had been (until recently) carrying a baby, a baby which had ended up being a stillborn.
"You're not still mourning for that stillborn, are you?" Bellatrix said in disbelief. "Cissy, it was a stillborn. There was clearly something wrong with it. Get over it already. It happens sometimes, even in Pureblood families as great as ours."
"Her name was Ara," Narcissa snarled, "and she was not some defect."
"Whatever," Bellatrix returned. "I didn't come here to talk about it."
"I didn't expect you to understand," Narcissa said, half-angrily, half-sadly. "You've never been pregnant. You don't know what it's like to carry a baby and then to deliver that baby, only to hear moments later that the baby had been born dead."
"You're too sentimental, Cissy. You've always have been. And you should know better than that. Besides, both you and Lucius are still young. You have plenty of time to have another baby, a perfect baby."
"Enough," Narcissa spoke in a soft but deadly voice. "If you're going to be this way, then you can leave."
"All right, I'm sorry. Let's just talk about something else."
The two sisters did not end up talking for long. They had never been good at having casual conversations, not even when they had been children.
"Thank you for coming, Bella," Narcissa said as they both stood up. "Try not to wait too long before coming again."
"You know that I've been busy serving the Dark Lord, Cissy, and you know that he always comes first," Bellatrix replied, the longing in her voice clear.
"Yes, he does," Narcissa replied.
Bellatrix swore that she heard some bitterness in her sister's voice, but that couldn't be possible. Narcissa understood the importance of what the Dark Lord was doing. Didn't she? She knew that Bellatrix was a Death Eater. She also knew that Lucius was a Death Eater as well, for crying out loud.
That was it. Lucius. It was always Lucius. Narcissa probably didn't like having Lucius away from her for so long. Narcissa had always been way too attached to Lucius then was good for her. It was as if Narcissa actually cared about her husband, maybe even loved him. That thought disgusted Bellatrix.
Narcissa should be more devoted to the Dark Lord than she was to her husband. The Dark Lord should be Narcissa's world, not Lucius. Narcissa should be willing to sacrifice time with her husband in order to help the Dark Lord in his mission to eliminate Muggles, Mudbloods, and Blood-Traitors. That should be the most important thing to Narcissa, not Lucius.
"I'll show you out," Narcissa offered, sounding once more like the perfect hostess. Narcissa was always perfect in everything.
As fate would have it, however, the two sisters ended up bumping into Abraxas on their way out.
"We're walking here," Bellatrix said. "Do you mind?"
"And this is my house you're walking in," Abraxas replied.
"Actually, it's mine and Lucius's house," Narcissa sneered.
"You forget your place, woman," Abraxas hissed. "You make too much out of the fact that you're Lucius's wife."
Bellatrix pulled out her wand. Abraxas merely sneered at her. He had never been afraid of Bellatrix. So, that was where Lucius had gotten it from. Bellatrix knew that she had always hated the Malfoys for a reason.
"Bella, please, don't," Narcissa pleaded. "Isn't it enough that I have to keep him and Lucius from killing each other? Don't you start as well."
"Maybe you should stop getting in their way, Cissy," Bellatrix responded. "I'm kind of curious about which one would win."
"Well, I'm not," Narcissa snapped. "My husband's life is not some game."
"You're too attached to him, Cissy," Bellatrix returned. "You should know better."
"Could you two take this little argument outside?" Abraxas spoke. "I have better things to do than to listen to such pettiness."
"I could show you some pettiness," Bellatrix smirked.
Narcissa grabbed her sister's arm and began to drag her away.
"Cissy," Bellatrix said in both shock and anger.
"You underestimate him, Bella," Narcissa spoke. "You shouldn't underestimate him. He's dangerous, a lot more dangerous than you give him credit for."
"I can take care of an old man," Bellatrix sneered, trying to yank her arm away from Narcissa. Her younger sister, however, had an iron grip. Since when had Narcissa been this strong?
"As close as you think you are to the Dark Lord," Narcissa said, "Abraxas is even closer. And perhaps the Dark Lord has taught you many things. I've heard you brag about that often enough. But I've heard from Lucius that Abraxas has taught the Dark Lord some things. You don't want to mess with Abraxas."
"I think Lucius doesn't know what he's talking about, Cissy," Bellatrix replied. She, however, didn't resist being led away. Not because she was afraid of Abraxas or anything. It just was that Narcissa had a really strong grip.
At least they didn't bump into Brenan on the way out. Abraxas or not, Bellatrix would have probably ended up hexing that house-elf.