Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.
Terrifying
Narcissa threw the silky scarf around her neck and over her shoulder as she trotted, arms linked, with Andromeda. They were laughing, the slight chill of late October causing their breath to come out in twirling clouds. The earthy lanes of Hogsmeade were decked out in the festivities of the holiday, with pumpkins levitating around the doorways and enchanted shop windows. There was something comforting in spending Halloween browsing lazily through shops with her sister, even if it was just the two of them, Andy and Cissy. Not Bella, Andy, and Cissy. Not the complete ensemble of the Sisters Black.
The year was a lonely one. Of course, it was not quite as bad as the previous year; the first year Bellatrix had not been in school. But still, as a seventh year, Andromeda spent most of her time doing homework or minding her duties as a prefect. Narcissa was left to play the part of an aristocratic fifth year; carrying herself with an air of supremacy and sorting through marriage possibilities or rather, possibility. While this pleased her mother very much, Narcissa couldn't help but long for the days where she would stay up late in the Slytherin common room with just her sisters after Bella had ordered everyone out of their way.
As if reading her mind, Andromeda gave Narcissa's hand a little squeeze to say I miss it just as much as you do.But even at that, Narcissa wasn't sure exactly what it was that she missed. Certainly she missed Bella, but it wasn't as though she never saw her oldest sister. After all, they were sisters. Maybe she missed the powerful number of three. Narcissa missed the thrill she got when walking through castle side by side with her sisters. They had been feared, adored, and respected all at once, mingled into some potent triad of power and glory. They had been the Black Sisters. A title, whispered in reverence and awe throughout the shadows of the castle. And it was difficult to be anything without the fear inducing backbone of Bellatrix.
But, as Narcissa happened a glance over her shoulder, it really came down to just missing Bella.
There, black curls falling down her back, Bellatrix was strutting towards Andromeda and Narcissa. She was, as always, smirking down upon the younger students who had heard only rumors of her. Narcissa couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride and thankfulness, because Bella embodied every confidence that Narcissa needed most especially when her oldest sister wasn't around. Bellatrix looked as though she ruled the world. And, as the mass of the crowd parted in her gate, Bella did.
"Bella!" Narcissa couldn't help but squeak in joy, running up to her sister eagerly.
As she flung her arms around her sister's neck, Bellatrix seemed stiff and almost cold. But, that must have been just a veneer of disaffectedness because wrapping her arms around Narcissa's small waist, Bella spun her little sister around like they were children. Narcissa couldn't help but think that such a display of sisterly affection did not coincide with the idea of tough detachment from the world. But then again, Bellatrix had never had time for putting on faces.
"Cissy," she laughed, releasing Narcissa gently as though she might break her.
Before Narcissa managed to begin a stream of excited gibberish nonsense, Andromeda stared at Bellatrix as though looking into a foggy mirror. A strange sort of longing and confusion was painted on her face.
"Bella," Andromeda finally breathed in what could only be described as relief.
Narcissa was surprised at the vulnerability that was straining her sister's voice. She hadn't known that Andromeda had missed Bellatrix so much, probably because Andromeda was so good at concealing her emotions. But still, even Bellatrix seemed shocked at such an impassioned welcome.
"Merlin, Andy," Bella teased as she wrapped her arms around her sister. "I expect this type of behavior from Narcissa."
Andromeda hugged Bella with an abandon to her pride. She stood, embracing Bella like she needed reassurance, holding her sister as though trying to hold onto something that was slipping out of her hands. It frightened Narcissa.
"I'm sorry," Andromeda mumbled into her sister's shoulder, the dark hair falling over her face like a curtain, "It's just been so hard… putting up with Cissy all by myself…"
Narcissa swatted Andromeda with a huff and Bellatrix laughed appreciatively. And with that, everything was back to normal.
"Bloody hell it's cold," Bellatrix grumbled, rubbing her arms.
Andromeda raised an eyebrow, muttering to the side, "Well, with dress robes like that, I can hardly imagine that you'd suffer from overheating."
Bellatrix snorted, "That's what you think."
Narcissa smiled at the familiar banter of her two sisters, surprised at how nice it sounded in her ears after two months of just Andromeda's lovely voice never interrupted by Bellatrix's harsh snarky comments.
Their feet travelled in the same direction; without pausing to exchange thoughts, the sisters entered the Three Broomsticks. It was packed, full to burst with the sound of laughter and conversation. Narcissa scanned the crowd quickly, looking for an empty table.
She was about to sigh in frustration when she remembered that Bellatrix was with them. Indeed, the eldest Black began to weave her way through the crowd with little difficulty. (Of course, the warning that glinted maliciously in her eyes was encouragement enough for the students to move out of the way.) Andromeda and Narcissa followed without question; they always followed Bella, because Bella always knew what to do. When they had reached the back of the pub, they found a cozy booth where four young Hufflepuffs were sitting.
"Out," Bellatrix ordered, more with her presence than her words.
The third years looked anxiously at Bellatrix as they scooted out of the booth and scurried from her sight. With a wave of her wand, Bellatrix cleaned off the table and slid into the seat. Narcissa sat down next to her sister with a well inherited smirk of superiority. Andromeda shook her head as though conflicted, sitting down on the other side of the booth.
"Bella," she sighed, exasperation and amusement coloring her words, "when are you going to act your age?"
Bellatrix shrugged, "When Hogwarts stops letting filth like that into the school."
Andromeda looked as though she was about to reply, but luckily someone came to take their drink orders. Five minutes later Narcissa was sipping her butterbeer happily, licking her lips swiftly, savoring the taste. Andromeda had gotten hot cocoa just to annoy Bella, who thought the drink far too muggle. And in similar rebellion, Bellatrix was drinking firewhiskey with gusto.
As Narcissa heard the faint whispers of "The Black sisters", and "Yeah, over there with Andromeda and Narcissa", she couldn't help but beam at her sisters who were well practiced in the art of ignoring their surroundings. With a content feeling warming her heart, Narcissa watched Bellatrix happily over the rim of her own glass.
"What?" Bella asked suspiciously.
Narcissa's expression was smug. "I knew you couldn't stay away from us for so long."
Bellatrix laughed, "Don't kid yourself, Cissy. Do you really think I have nothing better to do than to follow my little sisters around?"
Andromeda scoffed, "And yet, here you are, spending your Halloween with two wee little Hogwarts students when you could be doing Salazar knows what instead."
Bella's eyes gleamed mischievously. "Nonsense, I was in the area for… business reasons and-"
"What business could you possibly have, Bella?" Andromeda mused with an air of disbelief.
Bellatrix folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, "Believe it or not, Andy, I don't spend my days stuck inside a tearoom gossiping over marriage proposals. I have found" once again Bellatrix hesitated "more important things to entertain my free time."
Narcissa frowned at the lack of detail, but she figured she'd get the full story eventually.
"Besides, I'll leave you when you must return to the castle and have plenty of time to do whatever I please with my Halloween night. In fact, since Narcissa is obviously dying to know, I have a date."
Narcissa ignored the comment as Andromeda shot, "With whom?"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "With my fiancé. Glad to see you consider me in such high regards. Rod and I thought we might try to improve our wizard to muggle relations, so we're going trick-or-treating."
Anyone else would have thought Bella was making a joke, but Narcissa saw the darkness in the cruel smile and had to push away the violent images of critically maimed (if not dead) muggles, still adorned in their costumes. Andromeda winced, obviously picturing the same scenes of torture.
"Your relationship skills are certainly worth considering," Andromeda noted with an unusual amount of coldness. She licked the final remnants of chocolate from her lips and stood, ready to leave.
Bellatrix, never to be out spoken, especially not by her sister, stood as well. With a moan of despair, Narcissa tried to sip the last of her butterbeer quickly.
"Then in the future, I hope you will consider them."
Bellatrix threw some money on the table and then made her way through the crowd once more, as always, with Andy and Cissy trailing behind.
The outside temperature was much crisper than the lethargic air of the Three Broomsticks. The three sisters walked with a jaunty spring in their step, an obvious result of being reunited in view of the jealous eye of the student public. Heavy grey clouds and a damp wind had beckoned most other students inside, however, so for now, they walked undisturbed.
When they reached the outskirts of the little village, their limited time of sisterly bonding ended.
"Bellatrix Black!" a pompous voice came behind, "Is that really you?"
Turning around, Narcissa found that it was a sixth, or maybe seventh, year boy who had dogged Bellatrix for an extended period of time in Bella's seventh year until Rodolphus had threatened unpleasant reductions in unpleasant areas.
"Glad to see you're still holding up your reputation. Dressing the part of a cheap whore, I mean."
Narcissa gaped in disbelief. Did the Gryffindor want to die?
Bellatrix, however, laughed dangerously as she turned around, twirling her wand. "First of all, I am not cheap," she sneered, "Second of all, Benjy, quite unlike yourself, I am no man's whore."
Benjy laughed as though they were merely bickering for the fun of it, but Narcissa saw Andromeda flash Bellatrix a stern warning glance, because Bellatrix was not joking.
"I just didn't think you'd still be hanging around with your baby sisters in the attempt to revitalize some schoolgirl gang. Aren't you married off to one of your cousins yet?"
Benjy was thrown to the ground before he had chance to defend himself, the nonverbal stunning spell taking him by surprise.
She walked over to him and smiled as she simpered darkly, "I'll appreciate, Benjy, if you don't talk about my family that way, especially not my sisters."
Bellatrix kicked him swiftly in the side so that his face was now pressed down into the dirt.
"Bitch," Benjy growled, clutching his side where Bella had kicked him.
The sound that followed was more of a cackle than a laugh. "Oh, forgive me, Benjy. Where are my manners? You deserve better than such muggle tactics."
Narcissa watched her sister raise her wand, a strange madness marring her features. Maybe it was just the firewhiskey swimming in Bellatrix's already bloodthirsty mind, but Narcissa was surprised that her sister would waste so much effort on an insolent Gryffindor.
"Crucio…" Bellatrix sang softly, almost lazily, her lips formed around the words like a kiss, deadly and formidable.
Narcissa gasped in shock as Benjy was suddenly thrashing against the earth, unable to scream for the pain. She glanced around nervously for any onlookers because Bella never had the sense to check her surroundings before doing something that could land her in a lot of trouble. Her eyes, however, found only Andromeda who was pale and stricken, not by fear or shock, but… disgust. Bellatrix was grinning wickedly, and Narcissa wondered where her sister had mastered such a skill.
Benjy suddenly found his voice with an ear splitting howl and his legs twisted awkwardly and Andromeda snapped out of her disillusionment.
"Bella, stop it," she ordered in a sternness that only she could possess.
But Bellatrix's eyes danced with the light of the torture curse and she neither heard nor paid attention to her sister's command.
With a braveness that Narcissa envied, Andromeda's fingers closed around Bellatrix's wrist as she said, with surprising simplicity, "Bellatrix."
Benjy's howls of pain became whimpered moans as the curse was lifted. Bellatrix frowned, as though not completely satisfied with her work, and turned to look fiercely at Andromeda.
"What's the matter with you, Andromeda?" she demanded, looking betrayed.
Andromeda lifted her head indignantly to stare back at her sister. "You can't do that, Bella. I don't care if he deserved it or not. I'm a prefect, and it is my duty-"
"Your duty?" Bellatrix mocked, "What, to protect a silly Gryffindor from your sister's justice?"
Andromeda sighed. "No. That's not what I meant. What happens when he tells? The Cruciatus Curse, Bellatrix? Merlin, it's an Unforgivable! I'm sorry, but I don't really want to see you being thrown into Azkaban at such an early stage in your life."
Narcissa's brow was furrowed with worry, but Bellatrix just laughed as she looked down at Benjy's grimy form.
"He won't tell, will you, Benjy?" Bellatrix murmured, "Obliviate."
And as if the matter was settled, Bellatrix turned and walked on down the lane. Narcissa hurried to catch up with her, but Andromeda lagged behind for a minute, still looking down at Benjy who was struggling to stand up, conflict drawing her mouth into a frown. Bellatrix stopped only when Andromeda arrived at her side, terribly silent.
Hands on her hips, Bellatrix smiled, daring Andromeda to pass judgment.
"I think you'd better hurry off to Rodolphus, Bella," Andromeda said quietly, "It'd be a shame if you wore yourself out before you got to those muggles."
Bellatrix gave Andromeda a strange stare.
"Keep an eye on her, won't you, Cissy?" Bella said slowly, a hint of taunting in her voice, "I think Meda's going soft."
Andromeda stared back unblinkingly, as always, the only one not afraid to talk back to Bellatrix Black.
"I can afford to go a little soft, seeing how hardened you've become."
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow and Narcissa felt the air around them buzz with electricity. But Andromeda's smirk transformed into a smile and the tension was relieved slightly.
"Happy Halloween," was all Bella had to say.
She turned away before Narcissa had a chance to hug her goodbye. But it was just as well, because something deep in the pit of her stomach was bothering her. Bellatrix had changed. Or maybe, more accurately, the darkness that Narcissa knew lurked within her sister was coming to surface without the limitations of Hogwarts and Andromeda. Whatever it was, it frightened Narcissa.
But it wasn't really Bella. No, Narcissa had never been afraid of Bellatrix. In fact, quite the opposite as she ran to her oldest sister when she needed protection; Bellatrix protected her from fear. Bellatrix walked into the darkening night, the distant rumbling of thunder growling in the clouds, her long hair billowing behind her, wand still in hand, itching to fight. Narcissa hated the feeling she got whenever Bella left. She felt vulnerable without her protector, without the element of fear in the triad of the Black Sisters. She was standing next to the resilience of Andromeda's honor, and Narcissa felt her own aristocracy quiver with the changing times she was just beginning to notice.
The fear that ached inside her the deepest, however, was seen in the odd presence of Andromeda. The second eldest was distant and conflicted. Andromeda and Bella never stayed blood mad at each other for long, but Narcissa felt a more disconcerting curtain being drawn between them. And Narcissa wanted to cry because she didn't understand why things would change just because Bellatrix was an adult and Andromeda was beyond the clutches of her older sister's wisdom. Nothing was supposed to tear down the tower that they had built. They were going to rule their world no matter the changing times because they were powerful, they were purebloods, they were Blacks.
Suddenly, though, it was as if the bonds of sisterhood could only take them so far.
Author's Note:I am so sorry that this update did not arrive on Halloween as I had planned! As it happened, I was mourning the fall of the Dark Lord, dressed and terrifying in my Bellatrix-Escape-From-Azkaban costume. It was a fun Halloween, and since it fell on a Saturday this year, I thought that maybe the students would visit Hogsmeade! For those very elite HP fans out there, yes that's a young Benjy Fenwick (the First Order Member who was found in a million little pieces). My friend and I have this theory about which Death Eater killed him, and thus, I am working on a rather sadistic one-shot about the final hours of poor Benjy. Let me know if you think it'd be a worthwhile read! As always, your reviews are appreciated! Happy Belated Halloween!