Disclaimer: Harry Potter world belongs to JK. not me...

A/N: this is ment to be set after the events in DH 'Malfoy Mannor'.

Inside We're Broken
' I try to patch things up again '

She's slumped up against the wall with a deathly silence surrounding her and the other 3 people in the room. She let herself fall down the wall exhausted with the night's activities. In the silence she was drowned in the sorrow and regret of what had happened with the events that had been laid out in front of her. He shouted, she shouted back louder. That alone was full of regret. Every human emotion she should have held in their confrontation was returning to her as the person beside her broke down in tears.

She sighed as the person's whimpering became audible. She didn't need to turn round to know who was choking back the tears. Every note of hysterics that registered with her brought a surge of feeling that implied her to show some movement in the direction of her younger sister, to comfort her. But she didn't. Cissy had grown up and didn't need the reassuring hug from her older sister. Long gone were the days when that happened.

Bellatrix turned her head in the direction of her sibling, considering her as she poured tears from her eyes. She felt lost; the only recent emotion that had been exchanged between the sisters was anger. She looked on as she saw Lucius get up from his place beside Narcissa, failing to acknowledge his wife's distress. Bella reached her hand out to her sister's fair hair and stroked it for a few moments. Narcissa's hysterics calmed down at her touch. 'Bella?'

She met the eyes of her sister and was reminded of the past, their past. How the nervous blue would meet the deep corridors of thought. Bellatrix would usher her sister up the stairs, in the nearest room, anywhere out of harms way as their father would take their other sisters betrayal out on them. Bella would receive most of the abuse, every bruise, every blow, every heartbreaking comment that would leave their fathers mouth. Maybe that was another reason she hated Andromeda so much. All the things she unknowingly placed upon them. It was the least Bellatrix could do to shield an untainted Cissy, she was far too young. It was times like this Bellatrix felt maybe Cissy could have done with a few of the scars and learn to live with it.

Cissy would always approach Bella after the ordeal, and as a sappy junior ask, 'will everything be alright?'.

Bella told herself that their father took it out on her the most as she was the eldest and should have kept andromeda in line before and after the Gryffindor incident. She could sense that he hit her harder as in his blurred vision of rage she was, and became, the splitting image of the centre of his anger. Bella would hold onto her youngest sister and simply tell her 'yes'. Bellatrix told herself that Cissy wouldn't go the same way as Andromeda, and made it her duty to make sure exactly that would happen.

She needed Cissy. Cissy needed Bella. Bellatrix was needed.

'How can you say yes? Tonight of all nights Bella!' Narcissa replied as Bella's arms pulled her closer, comforting her slightly as Bellatrix's barriers had momentarily broken down.

'He's angry Cissy, we know he is…' A lump formed at the back of her throat. Bella didn't want to talk about him in the way Cissy needed her to say – she hated him for putting them in this situation, hated the fact she was at witness to another full blown argument. '…He deserves to be' she continued her voice full of thought.

'But it's not our fault! Why us?' Narcissa said trying to reason with her unbalanced sister.

'Because we're here' Bella replied back, 'Because it's my fault' she continued in her head. She glanced to the clock on the wall and read it, now uncomfortable to be discussing the night's events. 'You should get some rest, I could do with it too' she got up and made her way to the door.

'This is the dark lord were on about Bella, not dad'

Bellatrix continued to walk on, Bella taking in Narcissa's words. It proved her scars were deep and Cissy's deeper than she thought.

She still couldn't talk.

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