Narcissa was brimming with excitement as she ensured everyone arrived outside Grimmauld Place in one piece. She rarely joined in on Death Eater action, not because she couldn't fight, but because she chose not to. However, that didn't meant she was a witch to be taken lightly on the battlefield. She was no shy, retiring wallflower. She was more than capable of holding her own alongside Voldemort and his trusted band of close followers. Anyone who messed with Narcissa that evening was going to be in for a nasty surprise.
Once everyone had arrived, Bellatrix took her husband, brother-in-law, and the Carrows around to the back of the street. While the Lestranges and Carrows would enter from the back of the building, everyone else would enter from the front. As everyone got into position, they all ensured their black robes were firmly in place. No-one was wearing actual masks, but there was a charm on the robes so that the second anyone in the Order left Grimmauld Place they would forget the identity of who exactly they'd been fighting. The robes would ensure that if anyone did escape from Grimmauld Place, they couldn't identify the people involved in the attack, especially not Harry, Hermione and Draco.
Once Bellatrix had everyone in place round the back of the house, she sent her sister a message via her wand. When she felt her wand vibrating in her hand, Narcissa gave the gathered group one final nod. She then sent a similar message back to her sister, letting her know it was time to move. The second the spell had left Narcissa's wand, she raised it in the air and disappeared with a small pop.
When Narcissa re-appeared she was standing in the front foyer of Grimmauld Place. Her quiet entrance hadn't attracted any attention, and she was hoping neither had Bellatrix's. Her sister should have entered the house at the back door, so she could deal with the wards at the back of the house. Instead of getting started immediately, Narcissa took a couple of seconds to check her presence hadn't been noticed. Thankfully, it seemed as though she'd slipped under the radar.
Narcissa wasn't totally surprised by the ease in which she and Bellatrix had entered the house. Clearly Sirius had never thought about the fact blood relatives could enter the house, even with any new protective measures in place. And as for not being noticed upon her arrival, Narcissa was putting it down to Sirius's lack of familiarity with the house wards. Most witches and wizards were finely attuned to the wards around their house, but Sirius hadn't exactly spent a lot of time at the family home. He'd left the place at a teenager, and then his years in Azkaban had ensured that he'd only recently returned home. As such, it made it very easy for Narcissa and Bellatrix to gain access to his house with him even realising.
Knowing she was slightly more exposed than her sister, Narcissa got to work on releasing the wards that hid the house from view. As she worked, she kept checking around to make sure no-one either came down the stairs or emerged from either the kitchen or the living room. Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone as Narcissa worked her magic. As she worked, she felt her efforts being aided by Bellatrix, and she was grateful to have her sister's help. Even though she and Bellatrix weren't overly close and sometimes Narcissa despaired of his older sister's attitude, it was nice to work together to help the cause.
Less than five minutes after entering the house, Narcissa dropped the final ward. As she did so, she felt the house shimmer slightly and she knew even Sirius would now know they were in the house. With no time to spare, Narcissa threw open the front door as she heard shouting coming from the direction of the kitchen. At the same time the kitchen door burst open and Sirius appeared, with Remus and Tonks behind him, Voldemort and the others burst through the front door.
Almost at once spells started flying, and Narcissa didn't think twice about jumping into the fray. As she fought, she kept an eye on Draco, but her son seemed to be handling himself just fine. In fact all three of the teenagers seemed at ease with the battle that had suddenly exploded, so Narcissa focused on keeping herself out of harm's way.
Even though Sirius, Remus and Tonks had been the first three out of the kitchen, it wasn't long before more members of the Order joined the fight. Within the first five minutes of the battle erupting, Narcissa spotted, Moody, Kingsley and two red haired wizards she thought were the two eldest Weasley boys. There was also a few other people she didn't know, but then again she didn't know every single member of the Order, even with the information Severus, Harry and Hermione had passed to them. However, she was surprised that there was no sign of Molly or Arthur. Either that hadn't been at the gathering at Grimmauld Place, or else they'd been around earlier and had left.
Since she was so caught up in battling the Order, Narcissa didn't have time to worry about the wards around the house. She was assuming Voldemort had erected a ward to stop people sending for reinforcements, but she couldn't be sure. And it wasn't like she could check with him as he'd disappeared into the front room with Harry, where the pair were battling Sirius and Remus.
Narcissa spent the first part of the battle, duelling against a few of the people she didn't know. However, when she dispatched one of them with a brutal stunning curse, she found herself face to face with one of the Weasley boys. The wizard in question seemed quite shocked to see Narcissa, so she took advantage of his shock and blasted him off his feet.
"Charlie, go and get help," Tonks called to the red-haired wizard as she stepped in front of him and looked over at Narcissa. "Leave my aunt to me."
"I wouldn't if I were you, Nymphadora," Narcissa responded coolly. Even though her loyalties were firmly with Voldemort and the dark, she wasn't overly keen on fighting family, even family she was estranged from.
"You don't scare me, Narcissa," Tonks retorted as the two women began circling each other warily. "You're not a fighter. You're not like Bellatrix."
"You have no idea what I am," Narcissa replied. "Underestimate me at your peril."
"Let's see what you've got then," Tonks taunted as she raised his wand and sent a stream of fire at Narcissa.
Narcissa elegantly swept out of the way of the fire and responded with a few rapid fire curses of her own. Dodging the curses, Tonks sent more in her aunt's direction and within a minute the pair were exchanging fierce blows. Several times, Narcissa only just avoided getting hit by one of the curses Tonks was throwing her way, and she silently decided that her niece was a hell of a fighter. Although, she wasn't too bad herself and she was the first of the pair to get in a direct hit as she sent Tonks staggering back into the kitchen as she sliced through her arm with a nasty curse.
Actually enjoying the battle, Narcissa chased Tonks into the kitchen to continue their fight. As she squared back up against Tonks, Narcissa noted that theirs wasn't the only battle raging in the kitchen. Beth was going toe to toe with Moody, while Bellatrix was battling fiercely with the second Weasley boy. Turning her attention away from her sister and best friend and their respective fights, Narcissa focused on Tonks just in time to avoid a nasty curse hitting her square in the chest.
Dealing with Tonks took up all of Narcissa's energy and focus, and she lost track of the two other battles going on in the kitchen. Focusing on keeping herself safe, Narcissa summoned up a shield charm that didn't just protect her, but rebounded the curse on whoever struck the shield. The first time one of Tonks's spells hit the shield and rebounded, it knocked her off her feet and Narcissa couldn't help but smirk at the shock on her niece's face. After that, Tonks was careful what spells she threw at Narcissa, while Narcissa did her best to deal with Tonks while keeping her shield in place.
A few minutes later, Tonks once again went sprawling when Narcissa managed to deflect one of her spells back on her. As Tonks flew against one of the wall, Narcissa got her eye on Bellatrix. Her sister had her wand raised and a wicked smirk on her face. Narcissa figured she was about to get rid of the Weasley boy she'd been battling, but as she moved she realised her sister's focus was firmly on Beth, who was busy battling Moody. Narcissa took in the sight and realised what her sister was planning just as Bellatrix released a shot of green light from her wand.
"No!" Narcissa cried as without thinking she threw her shield charm in front of Beth, who disappeared into what looked like a cellar as she continued to fight with Moody.
Bellatrix's curse rebounded off the shield and Narcissa watched in horror as it flew back towards her sister and hit her squarely in the chest. Momentarily forgetting that she was in the middle of a fight herself, Narcissa took a step towards her fallen sister. However, the second her attention was diverted, Tonks struck and hit Narcissa with an excruciating curse that made it feel as though her skin was on fire. Narcissa cried out in pain as her wand dropped from her hand, while Tonks had jumped to her feet and she hit Narcissa with a second curse that rendered the older witch unconscious.
Just as Tonks struck Narcissa for the second time, Hermione entered the kitchen. Letting out an anguished cry as she saw Draco's mother fall, Hermione turned to Tonks and taking her by surprise she hit her with a series of painful curses.
"Bitch," Hermione spat. "Crucio!"
Hermione ground out the curse with so much power that when it hit Tonks it sent her flying off her feet and slamming into the wall. Hermione didn't even wince as Tonks's head slammed sickeningly against the kitchen wall. Nor did she pay any attention when Tonks's lifeless body slumped to the floor, leaving a trail of blood down the wall. Instead Hermione's focus was on Narcissa as she rushed over to the older witch and cast a protective spell around them so no-one could hurt Narcissa further.
"Please be alive, Narcissa," Hermione begged softly as she checked for a pulse.
Thankfully she found one and she breathed a sigh of relief that Narcissa wasn't dead. However, she was injured and Hermione knew Narcissa need medical help immediately. Looking around for help, she spotted Bellatrix's lifeless body across the room. However, before she could wonder what had happened to Bellatrix, her mother staggered through a door that Hermione knew led to the pantry. Hermione froze as she thought her mother was badly injured, but Beth shot her a quick smile and shook her head.
"I'm fine," Beth reassured her daughter as she rushed to her side. "What happened to Narcissa?"
"Tonks," Hermione spat, barely glancing at the witch she'd either killed or seriously hurt.
"We need to get Narcissa to hospital," Beth said. "Stay here with her, I'll go and check on the rest of the battle."
"It was all in hand last I saw," Hermione said. "Father had Sirius and he and Harry were working on making him talk. The rest of the Order are either hurt, dead or escaped. I don't think any help for them can get through."
"No, your father erected a ward as we entered the house," Beth answered. "Anyone who left can't get back in. Even if the rest of the Order were gathered outside the house, they can't gain entry. But let's not worry about this now. We need to get Narcissa seen to."
While Beth went off to see how things were going elsewhere and get some help, Hermione remained at Narcissa's side. Less than a minute after Beth left the kitchen, Hermione heard footsteps behind her and she turned round in time to see her boyfriend rushing towards her, his face a mask of pain.
"Mother," He whispered, collapsing next to Hermione and checking Narcissa over. "What happened?"
"Tonks," Hermione replied, gesturing to the broken witch beside the wall.
"You did that?" Draco checked, his grey eyes flicking over Tonks's body.
"I did, but I don't know if she's dead," Hermione answered. "Narcissa was my priority."
"One way to make sure," Draco said as he raised his wand and pointed it at Tonks. "Avada Kedavra!"
If Tonks wasn't dead before, she sure was now and Hermione felt no pity for the witch. She got what she deserved. Hermione's focus was on Narcissa, and praying that she pulled through.
"Narcissa," Lucius cried as he entered the room, with Severus and Beth trailing behind him.
"She needs to get to hospital," Draco told his father, his voice cracking with the fear he felt for his mother.
"We're going to take her, Father and Harry will finish up here," Severus said. "Hermione, do you want to come with us, or go back to school?"
"I'm coming," Hermione said as she took hold of Draco's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"I'm going back to school to sort a few things," Beth said. "As far as anyone's concerned, there's being an accident and Draco is with his parents. I can say Harry and Hermione are with him as family friends. I'll get to the hospital as soon as I can."
"We'll not be at St Mungo's, I'll be taking Narcissa to a private hospital," Lucius said as he picked Narcissa up from the floor and cradled her in his arms.
"I'll come back to Hogwarts to pick you up," Severus offered.
Beth thanked her step-son, as he left with the others to get Narcissa to safety. She then double checked her husband and grandson had everything under control, before she headed back up to Hogwarts to cover their tracks. Aside from Narcissa, it had been a successful night, and Beth just prayed that the day wouldn't end in tragedy. After everything that had happened, it would destroy her if she lost her best friend. Narcissa had to pull through, any other outcome just wasn't worth contemplating.