Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks to NicoleKidmanFanxD for reviewing the last chapter.

When she opened her eyes once again, long after morning had dawned once more, and with a pounding in her ears that could only have been coming from her head, Narcissa could see that something was different. A glance around the room confirmed this for her.

Instead of the darkness she had become accustomed to over the past few months, the room was light and airy, with tones of amber dotting the walls. She knew the room in an instant. It was Andromeda's.

"How are you, sweetheart?" asked a warm, familiar voice, one which Narcissa could immediately place as her aforementioned sister, who came into sight just a moment after she spoke. "Are you in any pain? Do you want me to get you a potion for it?"

It took a few seconds for the younger to think of what the elder could have meant, as she was in a state of complete perplexity, but the throbbing pain in her head reminded her of the previous night, and of what had occurred in her father's study. She remembered the shouts, the taunts, the flickering flames, events that had changed Narcissa's life, though she did not yet know by how much margin that would be. It would not be a long time until she found out.

"I don't know how this happened." the young blonde admitted, a hint of fear in her voice at the lack of memory she had of the event which had left her in such a state.

As the numbness of her body began to fade, a vicious ache replaced it, throbbing with pain in the area of her waist. Wishing to know why that area of her body was causing such pain, Narcissa reached for the top of the quilt, seeking to pull it down a little, but Andromeda stopped her the moment she saw the action, laying a hand on top of her sister's, to stop her movements.

"Cissy, you really don't want to see that." the elder warned her, a sudden look of pity and guilt entering into her gaze, one that made the girl a little more uneasy than she had been before her attempt.

"Why?" she asked immediately, the younger sister challenging Andromeda's stare with her own. "What's wrong with it? What's happened to me?"

The moment she had asked, she regretted the decision. The brunette's eyes glossed over with tears, but she acquiesced, seeing how much Narcissa truly needed to know. It was her own life to lead, after all, and it would be quite badly affected once she found out. Better she found out sooner than later, then she would have time to adjust.

Slowly, Andromeda peeled back the layers of blankets, deliberately taking her time, despite the fact that she had convinced herself that speed would be for the best. However, her young sister did not want to wait, and forcefully took the sheets from the young woman's hands, pulling them down so that she could see for herself. Once again, she wished that she had not done it.

Her nightdress, the one she had been wearing when she had gone to see her father, was all but burnt away, and what little remained was blackened with ash. Beneath the scraps, which were stained with flecks of dried blood, the skin of her stomach was reddened and thickly scraped. Blood no longer emerged from the wound, but it was crusting thickly around the wounds. The girl could hardly bear to look at the injuries she had sustained for more than a moment or two, and after that time had passed, she dropped the blankets down as if they were burning her hands, tears glistening in her sapphire eyes at the pain it caused her to twist a little in the blankets.

"Oh Cissy, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." Andromeda sighed, gathering the girl to her chest, though doing so very gently, so as not to injure her any further.

Instinctively, Narcissa's first response would have been to push her sister away. While she was the youngest of the three of them by the time of her birth, she had never wished to be babied by the two elder girls. Of course, she had never had to rebuff such extravagancies from her father, and had never minded the extreme show of affection she had always received from her mother, but nevertheless, she did not wish to appear weak in front of a girl who had always been stronger than she had. However, that still not stop her from collapsing in the teenager's arms, no longer having the self-restraint to care about the image of frailty she was portraying.

"Why does he hate me, Andy?" she sobbed, clutching at the brunette's shirt, as if she were a buoy in the rapids of a river. "All I wanted to do was live with my mother. How could that make him want to hurt me like this?"

Andromeda said nothing in response, merely held on tighter to the younger, the protective instinct surfacing from deep inside her heart, where she had hidden it when Narcissa had left with their mother. They stayed in that way for a long time, until the young girl's tears had dried.

"Cissy?" the elder questioned, tipping her sister's chin upwards so that their eyes were level.

"Yes?" she replied, her voice still laden with the tears she had been crying for so long, even longer if the tears she had cried in her heart were counted.

"I'll be honest with you, Narcissa, I don't know if he hates you or not. He would be unfounded if he did do, mind, as you haven't done anything wrong, but I wouldn't put it past him. There is one good thing that has come out of this, though."

For a moment, the blonde could not see what her sister was speaking of, and was entirely oblivious to what the brunette meant. However, when she elaborated, all became clear for the both of them.

"He has just handed you right over to Mama."

A/N: I will get the trial up in the next chapter. Please review!