"Tonight," Professor Vela cooed, her voice resembling a mellow violin, "we will observe Lyra." There was a pause, and one or two of the fifth-years shifted in place, as if they knew that a related question would be popped any second. "Can anyone tell me what Lyra is, exactly?"
I slowly rose my hand, though not any higher than the top of my head. My movement might have come as a surprise to some. I never participated in these sort of things, but in Vela's class, I somehow felt a bit more at home. My mother had told me a lot of stories of constellations in the past, and some of them were even good as bedtime stories for when I was very little. From what I had heard before, she had told similar stories to Andromeda and Bellatrix, as well.
"Yes, Narcissa. Go ahead."
"It's the harp of Orpheus, right?" I clarified, lowering my hand to my side. My palm now felt a bit clammy.
"Yes, very good. See, Orpheus was a skilled musician with his instrument. He had a beautiful wife, and her name was Eurydice. Unfortunately, after wedded, she was bitten by a deadly snake. I'm sure we can all guess where that sends her."
"Hades," murmured a couple of the students out of a total of six.
"Correct. Naturally, Orpheus comes to the underworld to take her back, and by playing on his harp, softens the god of the underworld just enough for him to let her go." Vela pulled open the drapes to several massive windows of the tower. "However, there is always a catch. He tells Orpheus that he can take her, but he cannot look back until they have completely reached the surface. They're almost there when he turns to look back at his beloved Eurydice...and then, she is taken away from him forever."
"That's sad," murmured a female, a Hufflepuff that I had learned was named Emilie Simmons. She was a pure-blood, and so relatively tolerable, but I personally never talked to her. I never really talked to anyone in this room that wasn't Professor Vela, as a matter of fact.
"Indeed, Miss Simmons, it is. Unfortunately, that was the deal that was made, and Orpheus failed to see it through. So, Apollo sent the lyre into the sky." With the students' telescopes all set up - two at each window - she instructed the students to seek out three constellations. They would each rotate to find a constellation at each, and Lyra was hanging past the second window I had gazed through. It hadn't taken long. I knew how to find Draco with ease - and from there, Lyra was just a little to the left. The skies were crystal-clear. Not a single cloud in the sky. Even the pale glow of the moon flooded the space of the Astronomy Tower, leaving a surreal light to give it life.
"Narcissa, in this last window, can you locate Orion?"
That wasn't hard. Finding the three stars of Orion's belt was the easiest way to find him. "I found the belt," I said after a few moments of adjusting the telescope from left to right. "There he is."
"Very good. Now, do you know the what the brightest star in that constellation is?"
Now, I was clueless, pulling away from the stargazing equipment with an uncertain look. We hadn't been taught this, had we? I hated not being able to answer a question and looking stupid in front of the other students. "No, professor."
At this, she simply smiled. "Why, I believe your sister is named after it."
Oh!From there, I was able to narrow it down. It definitely wasn't Andromeda; she was named after a constellation. "Bellatrix?" I answered hopefully. In all honesty, I had never been enlightened as to where my oldest sister got her name from. In response, Vela eagerly nodded, and her bright, red hair bounced its curls by the sides of her face.
"That's it, Miss Black. Outstanding! Ten points to Slytherin for such great participation."
Right now, I felt like a queen, even if I might have been the only Slytherin in the tower to bask in the house's minor victory. Towards the end of the period, the teacher reminded us with a warning that the exams would be next Friday night, and we wouldn't see her until then. A lot of studying would have to be done, but she did inform us that we had reviewed all the questions in this year's lessons, and that none of it was new material. I felt confident about it, for the most part, but my concerns rested with all the other classes. Monday's exam was for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
You'll just have to review all your old assignments over the weekend,I told myself. Hopefully, everything I needed to know would be in all those previous quizzes and notes.
Upon returning to the common room, it was hard to see where I was going as I came in, that I nearly stumbled on a chair on the way in.
"There's a chair there," came Bellatrix's voice from the middle of the room, and it startled the hell out of me that I bumped into the chair a second time.
"Damnit, Bella, don'tdothat!" I strained my eyes to see where she was, and I could barely spot her laying on the couch, lazily stretched out as if she had been asleep, though her voice suggested she was wide awake. "You scared me."
"You're so jumpy, Cissy. Relax. Have a seat."
I carefully did so, placing myself in a nearby, green armchair. For a moment, it was quiet, and I felt the need to kill the silence with some small talk. "I know where your name comes from now."
"Oh, do you?" she answered, though the tone of her voice sounded a little less than intrigued.
"It's the brightest star in Orion." I set my Astronomy book down on my lap, brushing my fingers absently on the smooth binding. "We have an uncle named Orion. I wonder why I wasn't named after any stars or constellations."
Silence followed, as if she couldn't answer my pondering. The more I thought on it, the more I felt like the oddball of the three sisters. I was the youngest. I didn't have dark hair like they did (blonde hair was something I had achieved from my mother, as it certainly was not a Black trait). Unlike Bellatrix, who was already talking about how she wanted to help the Dark Lord create a new world order run by pure-bloods, I was never very fond of war and violence. Yes, I would have liked nothing more than to see pure-bloods in charge of all things in the Wizarding World, but I would never wish death on anyone less than them. Not even Headmaster Dumbledore...even if he did support muggle-borns and was, in fact, a half-blood, himself.
"The day after I graduate, I will be getting the Dark Mark," she said, having completely avoided my subject. This news hit me like a troll with a bludgeon. Of course, I already had known that Bellatrix wanted to join the Death Eaters. It had been a subtle subject between us and the families that would join due to her fast-coming marriage. Rodolphus had no doubt urged her to join, and while I knew it was what my sister wanted, I hated thinking about what kind of danger she might be in while she pursued her dreams. Not to mention, it was a rather wicked, scary situation. "Cissy, did you hear me?" Bellatrix's voice shot through the dark room like an arrow. I stirred a bit and eventually nodded.
"I heard you."
Soon, I heard her shuffle towards me, and she crouched down in front of me. I felt her cool hands take my own, and it felt like I was already saying goodbye to my sister forever. "When you leave here for good, Cissy, I want you to join me. Help me and the Dark Lord take this world by storm."
I didn't say anything. I never really considered being a Death Eater - it wasn't even something the Black family did typically did. Mother and father never joined the Death Eater ranks. I could support my sister's decision, but I couldn't see myself becoming a part of an army that would forcefully make the Wizarding World bend - and to what end would they see their supremacy?
I closed my eyes, and for a moment, felt the need to fight back tears. She kissed the top of my head before she released my hands and walked away. Even after she left the room, I remained sitting in the chair, trying to take in what Bellatrix had just told me. She had heard some horror stories about the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. While they had recently made their intentions clear, they were already notorious for mercilessly using Dark Arts in hopes to achieve power over all muggles and muggle-borns. It was also hinted at being made political, using the Ministry for their purposes, though I knew little about that.
All I did know was that Bellatrix was getting herself into some heavy stuff, and it terrified me that I might never see my beloved sister again.
The room was so dark. Open or closed, my eyes couldn't tell the difference. My thoughts had never been this loud and anxious, at least not since the first day I walked into Hogwarts. After a long while, the blackness lulled me to sleep. It wasn't until the first bustle of students trampling down the stairs that I was stirred back into consciousness. I looked down. My Astronomy book was still sitting on my thighs. The weekend was officially here, and I heard some gossip among my housemates that they would be taking a trip to Hogsmeade.
I didn't want to disappoint with my grades on the O.W.L.s, so I had no intention of leaving the school premises. Even Andromeda was among the group that planned on escaping for a day, and I saw the look she gave me as lagged behind her friends, slowing down by the chair I was slouched in.
"Are you going to come, Narcissa?" she asked me. I shook my head, though my thoughts weren't fully on studies, either. I was still trying to wrap my head around Bellatrix's words from before. I wondered if she had told Andy about her decision to join the Death Eaters, and just how soon her conversion would be.
"I'll be alright. You have fun."
Andromeda's expression seemed concerned, but she offered a hopeful smile. "I bet you'll do great on the exams. Take care!" She skipped off to reunite with the rest of the small group, all of them dressed in comfortable, spring clothes. The weather was supposed to be beautiful today. Realizing that made me realize I would ache about not joining them. Perhaps it was what I needed to escape the anxiety I was feeling right now.
Ultimately, it wasn't a very wise decision to ditch my studies. I knew this.
I ascended to the girls' dormitory to gather the rest of books. After I gave a few strokes on the head of Alice, my Ragdoll (she only purred in response, but made no other reaction), I then returned to the common room to get comfortable on the couch. In front of me, I sprawled out the books and all my notes from my various classes, setting them each in a pile per subject. I began getting engaged with Defense Against the Dark Arts first. I considered it to be the second-hardest, next to History of Magic, but that was only because our professor never stuck around for any more than a year. I never understood why, but the lack of consistency and the inability to get comfortable with the professor did make things difficult.
Hell, it was like the position wascursedor something.
A couple of hours passed, and the growling of my stomach drew my attention away from an old homework assignment on boggarts. At the very bottom of the page, each student was asked to explain why their boggarts appeared as it did that period, but it was optional, in case it may have been a sensitive subject to some. I saw I had left mine blank. I didn't exactly want to write down the reason as to why my boggart was what I imagined to be an ugly, elderly version of myself.
"Not going to Hogsmeade today?" stirred a voice behind me. I looked around the back of the couch to see Lucius had just come down the stairs from the dormitories chamber. He was dressed in a fine suit, his long hair tied back. This was really the first time I saw him wear his hair like that. It was actually a very nice look on him.
Then, I remembered he asked me a question.
"I have more important things to do," I said simply. Lucius came closer behind the sofa to see what I was doing.
"I see." He seemed to notice I was rubbing my head in frustration. There was an ache behind my eye threatening to throb. "Would you like to take a break and grab some lunch?"
I looked up in slight surprise at him. Lucius and I weren't exactly friends, but we were friendly acquaintences, at least. After all, he did come from an outstanding bloodline of witches and wizards. I guess I always felt a bit intimidated by him only because his family was so wealthy and powerful.
I accepted the offer, leaving my books displayed as they were for the time being. I followed Lucius out of the dungeons and into the Great Hall, which was a fair more scarce than was usual. A lot of people had taken off to the village - others were likely enjoying the fresh air outside of the castle with picnics and walks.
"They're not as awful as you might think," Lucius was saying as we took our seats at Slytherin's table. "You'll do fine. Slughorn has spoken fondly of you in Potions."
"What? Really?" I perked, though I couldn't help but wonder why Lucius and Slughorn would ever hold a discussion about her.
"He said he would like to ask you to join The Slug Club next year. I was asked not to tell you anything, but not many students obtain such a privilege. You could say... I'm pleased to see he's interested."
"What exactly does one do in Slug Club?" I murmured. Of course, I knew it consisted of the professor's most liked students, but what was the purpose of holding a club? It just seemed like a strange gathering to me.
"He mostly hosts dinner parties," he said. "At the end of the year, there is a dance. Each of us are to bring someone."
There was a pause, and for a moment, my heart skipped. I never had time to really gather a liking for Lucius Malfoy, but this was...really unexpected.
"I asked Ellouise Greengrass."
I don't know why I was disappointed. I turned to my plate, which I had yet to put food on. "Oh."
"...But she's going on a vacation, so she won't even be here."
I looked back at him. He was grinning now, as if he could see right through my emotions.
Once I found words to speak, I gave him a smug look. Usually, this didn't have to be feigned, but for some reason, this boy did make me a little nervous. "Are you trying to tell me something, Lucius?"
"No. Not at all." His smirk was still stuck to his face, and as he picked up his goblet of juice, his crystal eyes never left me.
"I think you are," I persisted. I was hoping.
"Fine, Narcissa Black, you've caught me." He set down the cup and leaned in to my ear. "So, will you?" I felt myself shiver with anticipation.
"Alright then," I approved. "If I must." Of course, I jested. He knew too well I felt far from burdened to be his date.
