I'm back! Less than a week, I know, but I was willing to write this one. I really liked Spinner's End, in HBP, since it revealed me a whole new side of Narcissa. This chapter shows what happened before Narcissa decided to ask Snape for some help. I hope you all like it! Thanks for the reviews, follows and favs, as always!
Narcissa, Draco and Bellatrix were sat at a long table at the haunted and old house that the Dark Lord used as his quarters those days. The place had an abandoned atmosphere and the walls of what seemed to be a dining room were visibly peeling.
There was a huge amount of Death Eaters at the table, all of them waiting for their Master's arrival. Narcissa was looking down, not daring to raise her head. Her hands were clasped togheter under the table, and the woman pinched her own skin with her nails, in attempt to decrease the tension she felt. That was the day, and she knew it. Draco was going to be branded with the Dark Mark and receive his task, and the Malfoy's life would certainly turn worse than the hell they were already living in.
The Dark Lord walked into the room and, immediately, every single person stood up and bowed for him. The inhuman figure of their Master nodded and spoke: "You can seat." Everyone did as commanded, and was now looking at Him. Draco had an anxious expression and Bellatrix's eyes were of pure admiration and devotion. Meanwhile, Narcissa appeared only to be numb, her blue eyes fixed at the Dark Lord, but not exactly looking at him.
"My loyal servants, this night I called you here to attend the ceremony of initiation of one new Death Eater. Please welcome Draco Lucius Malfoy into our organization". Many men and women nodded at the blond boy, and he returned the gesture, feeling proud to become one of them.
The Drak Lord waited to proceed with his speech. "Draco will be joining us in replacement of his father, who you all know is now imprisoned in Azkaban, having no further use to our cause. We expect you to be smarter than your father was, Draco. We expect you to be the utmost commited and cautelous with our duties, and not to try, but to give us only the best of you. You'll learn this is no place for weak people." The Dark Lord, during his last line sideglanced to Narcissa, who had her gaze petrified on the opposite wall, not daring to look to any of that in order to avoid feeling more sick about that damned initiation.
"I understand, My Lord, and I promise to give you only my best, always." Draco said it from his seat, trying to reassure his new Master of his devotion to the cause he was joining.
"You shall come here to be branded with the Dark Mark, Draco." Bellatrix looked enthusiastic by seeing her only nephew taking his first step to the life she adored so much. She grabbed her sister's hands under the table to give them an encouraging squeeze, but touching the blond's hands she could feel them trembling and stone cold. Narcissa did not squeeze in return.
The sound and the smell of the Dark Lord burning his mark on the pale and young skin of her boy's forearm froze her inside and made her stomach feel sick.
She remembered the day Lucius took the mark. It was the year before they got married, and he arrived grinning at Black Manor, wanting to show her that he already belonged to the most exclusive and promising cause the Wizard World had ever seen.
Lucius was more than happy with his new status, and so was Narcissa. Despite fearing for his welfare and safety, Narcissa thought, those days, that fighting alongside the Death Eaters would be a temporary task, just until Voldemort managed to get control of the Ministry, regarding his followers with the highest positions and putting the purebloods on the eye of society, controlling not only the Wizarding World, but also the muggles.
But years passed by and their life did not get better. Lucius came from his missions injured to his bones, her sister was becoming a heartless and distant woman, and the Ministry of Magic was already suspecting of her husband's envolvment with Voldemort.
The night the Dark Lord was defeated by Potter felt like realef for Narcissa Malfoy. She had an infant son of her own and she finally could stop worrying that anyday the baby's father could be arrested, or worse, killed. They succeeded in lying to the Ministry Officials about Lucius being under an Imperius Curse. Merlin knows how much it costed them, and how many people they had to threaten, pay or obliviate to come clean, but the Malfoy couple managed to live unharmed with their son for many years, until their Master returned.
But now, seeing her husband being injured and humiliated by his Master frequently, now that Lucius was imprisoned in a hopeless place that was draining his life, she wasn't happy to see her son become a Death Eater. She didn't want her innocent boy to become a killer, a torturer, to shatter his soul serving a cause that inflicted so much pain in her family.
Narcissa still believed in blood supremacy, but she did not believe the Dark Lord anymore. She felt He lured many respectful wizards to his side by using the speech of a pureblood reign only to recruit enough people to get him power and to help him accomplish his own selfish desires.
Mrs Malfoy was taken off her reverie when almost everyone rose from their chairs, only Draco, Bellatrix and the Dark Lord remaining at the table.
"Draco, now that we are alone with your mother and your aunt, I feel like it's about time to enlighten you about your mission. It is not a simple one, but you are not a simple man either. I trust you to do it, and you will be regarded after you succeed. You and your family." The Dark Lord knew the words he had to speak to make Draco crave for the mission.
Draco, who was trying his best not to show the pain he felt at the spot in his arm that held the Dark Mark, started to feel a little unease, but proud, upon his Master's speach. He knew he would have to do something big, but still, hearing from the Dark Lord he had his trust was something thrilling.
"I want you to kill Albus Dumbledore."
Narcissa felt her heart beating harder in her chest. That couldn't be happening. It was vengeance to Lucius. It was PURE vengeance. Voldemort did not believe her son was able to do something like that. He wanted Draco killed while trying to accomplish the ridiculous mission. The woman felt the urge to scream, to cry, and to curse the man in front of her. The maniac, heartless and horrid man that took everyone she loved most from her.
Draco was astonished. He didn't know how and when he would take Dumbledore's life. He didn't know if he was even capable of doing so. But he was not escaping from his obligation. If the Dark Lord thought he could do it, then he could.
"I will kill him, Milord. I assure you."
"That is what I admire in a servant, Draco: willingness and courage, and I must advice you all not to mention this to anyone, as the plan is utmost secret. Bellatrix, and Narcissa, I need you to leave now. I have some subjects to treat only with Draco."
Both sisters rose and bowed to the Dark Lord. Narcissa stood still, not wanting to leave her son in the presence of that monster, but Bellatrix knew her sister couldn't do such thing and, immediately, took hold of her arm, dragging her out of the room. "Well be out there son, waiting for you." Narcissa told Draco before exiting the room.
When Bellatrix guided themselves to the unkempt gardens, loosening the grip on her young sister's arm, the blond fell on her knees letting out a scream of despair.
"Shut your mouth, Cissy." The elder Black hissed. "He will kill you both if you continue with this behavior. Don't you have any respect for him?"
"Respect? None. Why should I respect a man that wants my son being killed, a man that tasks my sixteen year old boy with a mission no one ever succeeded? I loath him and I can't handle it, anymore. I just can't." Narcissa cryied quietly, hiding her face in her palms.
Bellatrix knelted beside her sister and whispered in her ear. "Don't you ever repeat that aloud, Narcissa. You may have no respect for him, but, at least, have fear. He wouldn't hesitate punishing you if he found out a treason like that. And you may not believe it, but I don't want to lose my little sister because of her own stubbornness."
"I'll try to hide it better, Bella, but I am devasted, I am hopeless. What can I do? I can't allow Draco being forced into this mission."
"All you can do is trust your son… Now, come, Cissy, get to your feet, we don't want people seing you like this, nor rumors being spread."
Inside the house, the Dark Lord closed the distance between him and Draco, to look directly into the boy's grey eyes, focusing his red pupils on them. "I suppose you know you can not fail me, boy."
"I won't fail you, Milord."
"You better not. You see, Draco, your family has already blemished our cause deeply. Lucius was a big disappointment to his Lord. My second in hand being foolish enough to be enmeshed by school children, failing to get me the prophecy I longed for so many years, and, last, being arrested alongside many other faithful servants of mine. As for your mother, that one was always worthless: weak, coward, too soft, unusefull in every possible way. You are the only hope of the family, Draco. Fail me and I will personaly guarantee that no Malfoy will survive to tell the story: nor you, nor Lucius, nor Narcissa".
Draco gulped. The Dark Lord pulled himself away and with a calmer tone dismissed the boy. He left as quickly as he could without running, and stopped just beside the entrance of the house putting his hands on his knees and puking on the grass.
After several minutes, he left his spot, searching for his mother and aunt. He saw the pair outside the fences of the property, and, apparently, they didn't see him yet. By catching sight of his mum out there, so frail and hopeless, he felt a force growing inside: he had to do it. He had to kill Dumbledore in order to save his family. There was no way of changing his fate.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Narcissa was now in her study, in Malfoy Manor. In her fury, she broke many crystal objects. The floor had black ink splashed on it, since she shettered her inkstand in a hundred of pieces. Draco went to his room right after they returned from the meeting and she didn't blame the boy. It was too much for him. He had the right to be alone, and she understood if he didn't want to discuss any of it that night.
Seeing that even if she broke the whole house her tension and desperation wouldn't cease, the woman finally understood that she was as powerless as a rat when it came to dissuade the Dark Lords's desires. She could not discuss it with him, she could not beg, and anything she did was only going to make his vengeance stronger upon her child.
He had no respect or need for the Malfoy family anymore, and wouldn't hesitate to flick his wand and kill any of them who decided to face him. Even the other Death Eaters, that once feared and admired her husband, were now mocking at her and Draco, asking filthy questions about how was being a wife and a son of a prisoner, and how it felt to decrease so low in their Master's favours.
She wished she had Lucius by her side, as her husband always knew what to do and what to say when nothing made sense anymore. Lucius always sheltered Cissa and their son from any harm, and now that she was alone in the task of taking care of herself and of Draco's, she felt she didn't had the strength or the knowledge to do it. The absence of her love hurt deeper than ever, as Narcissa was laid on the floor of her study, holding a picture of her husband on both hands, shaking and crying alone. "Lucius, why did you have to leave me? I can't cope anymore; I'm going mad without you. I don't know what to do, oh love, please help me, please come back, dearest. Our baby…. I can't protect him alone. Lucius, I miss you so much, I want you so, my Lucius…"
Bellatrix heard the painful cryes and sobbes of her sister through the door. As long as she really loathed Lucius, she knew Narcissa was nothing without him, and she pitited her youngest sister for being so dependent on a weak and useless man like Malfoy. She knocked twice on the door, and, having no answear, she entered the study.
The place was a mess; there were crystal pieces everywhere, ink spilled on the floor, and, in the middle of the caos, laid her sister, crying uncontrollably and holding her life to a picture grabbed in her hands. It was a sad scene, even for someone as cold as Bella. Narcissa had clearly reached her breaking point, and it was painful to watch a woman usually so self secure in that state of despair.
"Cissy, let's get out of here, come with me, I'll make you drink a calming potion. Being like this won't help with anything and-and Lucius will come back – eventually – I know he will. I came back, didn't I?"
Narcissa didn't answear or move. She still cried and mumbled unconprehensive things about her husband. Bellatrix didn't know what to do, after all, she wasn't very accostumed to help people, but she felt she couldn't leave her sister alone that time. Narcissa never appeared to be so weak and out of her mind, not even at the day the Dark Lord tortured her, some weeks before.
"What can I do for you, Cissy? Do you want me to get Draco?"
"NO!" Narcissa screamed, the schrill voice echoing through the room. "He-he can't see his mother like this; he is suffering enough without it." She sobbed and her tone was now more like a whisper. She clasped Bella's arms and knelted in front of her sister.
"Bella, please help me. Try to convince the Dark Lord. I-I am offering myself instead of Draco. I can do whichever he wants me to. If-if he needs money to fund the cause, I'll donate everything we have. But, please, Bella, make him change his mind. It's your sister who is asking. Don't let me down again, Bella. You could kill Dumbledore, it would serve as well! The man would be dead after all. It doesn't have to be my son, my only son. Lucius and I lost so many children before, I tried to conceive counteless times, but I never managed to make it to term, until… Draco. Please don't let Him take my son from me. He will be killed in this mission. I know it is too much for him." Tears dropped from her eyes, sliding down her pale and thin face.
Bellatrix felt sorry for her sister. She didn't know Narcissa had so many problems in conceiving children, as the blond never mencioned the subject with her before. She recalled Lucius shoving her away when she asked why they didn't have more children right after she broke off from Azkaban, but she couldn't imagine it was that bad.
Still, there was nothing she could do. The Dark Lord wasn't a man that changed minds, and, even if he was, she was not risking her position and his admiration because of Narcissa's insecurities. Draco was being trained and he was able to perform the task, it would be difficult, but not impossible.
"I can't do it, Narcissa, you know that I can't. And neither can you. Draco has to do it. But I promise you I'll train him to the best of my-." She was interrupted by the blond.
"Bella, he can be trained as much as you want. I know my son. He is not a murderer. He won't kill this man, and-and, if the Order's members do not kill him while he is trying, if he fails, the Dark Lord won't be merciful. He will murder my only son, he doesn't care if Lucius and I will suffer, since it is exactly what he wants." Narcissa's agony was visible. The woman was scratching her own arms with her long nails, blood starting to fill the cuts she was causing herself.
Bella grabbed her sister by the arms and put her on her feet, directing the blond to the sofa near the fireplace and sitting beside her. "Narcissa, stop hurting yourself like this and believe your son. I won't try to change my Lord's mind. It is his will and it is our duty to fulfill it. Besides, he has every right to be angry with Lucius, and you know it as much as I do."
"My husband is not guilty of anything that happened. Don't blame Lucius." Her tone was deadly.
"He is, Cissy, he was head of the mission. And even if he wasn't, the Dark Lord is convicted of this, and there is nothing we can do. Please, control youself."
"I can't count on you. I already knew it. I don't know why I bothered to beg." Narcissa flicked her wand, summoning her black traveling cloak and dressing it quickly, preparing herself to exit her study.
"Where are you going, Cissy?"
"I'm going to someone who can actually help me."
"And who would be this person?" Bellatrix didn't think of anyone who could change a thing about Draco's fate.
"Severus Snape."
"You are supposed not to tell the plan to anyone, Narcissa. The Dark Lord forbidded you! Snape is a traitor, a filthy mudblood! He can't be trusted."
"He is a friend of my family and my last hope. I'll go after him, I'll beg him, I'll make him help me. Now, get out of my way, Bellatrix."
"Don't go, Narcissa, or you'll regret it." Bellatrix stood at the door, one hand in each door still, trying to block her sister's path. The blond pushed her elder sister away, almost making her fall.
"Bellatrix, I'll deal with the consequences of my own acts. The Dark Lord can torture me, he can even kill me, but if I manage to spare Draco in the process, I will be more than happy. There is nothing I wouldn't do to save my son from the claws of your Master." Saying it, Narcissa disappeared to the grounds of the Manor, with Bella just behind her, screaming for her to come back.