"I believe in you—
words that water flowers."
Michael Faudet
The final warmth in autumn filtered in light rays through the high arched windows as Narcissa walked down the corridor, absently chewing her thumbnail while she read a letter. Her hair was braided from the top of her head in two Dutch braids down her back, flowing over her heavy, book laden backpack. She flipped the next page of parchment over and stared in rapt wonder at the document in her hands. She could hardly contain her excitement; a blush of crimson rose in her cheeks and a small smile formed her lips.
"Another letter in the romantic saga featuring Malfoy?" Andromeda drawled, appearing at her side from her last class of the day before dinner.
"On the contrary," she replied, waving the parchment frantically at Andy, but snatching it away when her sister attempted to grasp it. "What I have here is a copy of the marriage contract between our parents."
Andromeda soured immediately and rolled her eyes, body poised in obvious disgruntlement. "Why would you be interested in something like that?"
"Because," Narcissa said, stopping abruptly, "I have a theory. Well, Lucius and I have a theory."
"Oh, do tell what seemingly pointless mystery of the past you two have drudged up," Andy remarked with a heavy sigh, but Narcissa knew she was keen to know the details.
Several students bumped past them in the hall and Andromeda interrupted her by hollering at them fiercely. The guilty Hufflepuffs hurried down the hall, anxious to separate themselves between the Slytherins.
The marriage contract looked completely normal at first glance. Lucius procured his parents' contract as well (written in both English and French) in a steadfast attempt to mollify his parents' curiosities that he was merely studying family history should they inquire. There were hardly any differences, of course, except for a small section in her mother's marriage contract that mentioned their union guaranteed her ownership of a small cottage in Guernsey. Not only was it extremely rare that women were granted property at all, but the contract did not specify whom the previous owner was—typically when estates were signed over to different family, the contracts made note that one family was transferring it to the other. She thought it strange that it was mentioned at all when the main focus should have been over the procurement of Black Manor, which in fact was not mentioned at all. She wondered then about the decades of debate between her aunt and uncle about the proper ownership of the main family estate, and what her father had done in order to live there.
Narcissa launched into her current running theory about her mother to Andromeda, who did her best to convey passivity and not burn with curiosity. "Professor Dumbledore mentioned that Hogwarts nearly hired her as a Healer here, which means our dear mother must have completed all seven years. Plus, the certification process as a Healer," she said.
"Cissy, that only means our mother was deeply privileged and purposefully sought to disparage her daughters," Andy said icily, "This knowledge actually makes me even more disgusted with her."
Narcissa folded the contract up and placed it into the pockets of her robes. The two of them walked down the wide staircase from the third floor onto the second as they headed to the library. Narcissa had a free period now and thought she might study Alchemy with Andromeda before her last class of the evening. After dinner, the first Dueling Club meeting was occurring in the Great Hall. Narcissa expected she would need to see Madam Pomfrey before the end of the night.
"That might have been my conclusion as well," Narcissa remarked, though in fact she knew it would not have been at all. She did not hold her mother in the same light as her sister. "Except I heard Abraxas Malfoy apologize for allowing her to marry our father, and then he admitted to me at Bellatrix's wedding that he was in love with her once. Mum nearly admitted it to me herself as well."
She didn't understand how the mystery did not intrigue her sister. The woman behind the façade of their society and motherhood was someone intrinsically wild, someone who might have been a bit rebellious and just as determined in her educational pursuits as they were. Clearly, she met a crossroads and made a decision. Of course, the word decision might have very well been a dangerous ultimatum.
Andromeda rolled her eyes. It was clear she did not share Narcissa's enthusiasm or perhaps even understand her preoccupation with their mother's history.
"You know, with you being the only blonde, and this nasty little rumor that our mother consorted with the Malfoy family, you and Lucius might consider that you're actually siblings," Andy retorted, "Everyone in the Black family is dark featured, after all. It's been written for generations."
Narcissa shook her head. "I asked Mum. She said her sister and mother were both blonde like I am."
"You asked her if she had an affair with Abraxas Malfoy and blatantly lied about your birthrights?" Andy asked, her jaw clenching.
"Yes," Narcissa replied.
"And you expected an honest answer?" she repeated and then laughed coldly. "No doubt your dear mother never had her precious Malfoy the way she wanted, and she could never openly announce your relation and thereby your inheritance with the Malfoy money without marrying off her bastard child to the only legitimate one, thus securing her own twisted idea of proper lineage. Why else would she have been so open to marrying you off before she even attempted marrying me off to some unfortunate looking bloke?"
Andromeda's jealousy had never struck Narcissa this much before. She saw it now very clearly: the tender ages of a girl lost in between the vibrancy of Bellatrix and the independent, spirited youngest sibling in Narcissa whom admittedly her mother might have doted on more than her middle child, who always seemed content to be alone. Andromeda created purposeful walls between herself and her family, and most importantly, her society. What was left for the middle child were halfhearted gestures and scraps of affection which for so long she might have clung to, but in the end, it was the bitterness and the anger that brought Andromeda satisfaction.
Narcissa dropped the subject entirely as they entered the library and found a table by a window near the Transfiguration section. She dropped her bag onto the table top and a small silver box fell from the side pocket onto the table. Andromeda snatched it before she could scoop it up again, and she opened it to reveal the rune Lucius had made her.
"What is this?" she asked, "You didn't take Ancient Runes, did you? How did you make this?"
"It was a gift from Lucius," she said, reaching for it, but her sister turned her body to block her advances as she ran her finger across the shiny, silver design on the front. "It's a rune that lets you see places that are important to you, to walk around in them and such."
The room around them shifted suddenly, and they were in Andromeda's bedroom at the Black Manor, but it looked drastically different—the four poster bed was missing and in its place was a much smaller children's bed with purple blankets. Floating picture books hovered above the bookshelves at the perfect height of a small child. Toys were scattered across the floor, from coloring pages and paints to child sized Quidditch brooms.
"Wow," Andromeda breathed, touching the floating books delicately, an expression of shock etched across her face as she realized she could touch them. "How does this work, Cissy?"
Narcissa bit her lip slightly and crossed her arms. "It takes you to places you remember really well. It's charmed so that the illusion can feel as real as possible."
"You do it," Andy said, thrusting the rune box into her hand. Narcissa pressed her finger to the sapphire stone and the charm shifted around them to the cave on the cliff overlooking their house, one she knew Andromeda would remember well.
Andromeda walked to the ledge and looked at the massive manor looming on the horizon. From their vantage point, they could even see Narcissa's annual garden bursting into life. No doubt there were already rows of wolfsbane, if they chose to wander over.
"I have others, too," Narcissa announced, "Not this strong, but if you'd like them…"
"You would let me use them?" she asked, narrowing her eyes critically.
"Yes," Narcissa said, laughing incredulously, "You're my sister."
Andy watched her for a long moment, as if trying to discern a possible angle that Narcissa might have for her generosity, but when she could find none she said, "You really aren't like anyone else, are you, Cissy?"
After a few hours of studying, both girls packed their things up and went to dinner, and then prepared for the first Dueling Club meeting. When they returned to the Great Hall after dropping their things off in the common room, they found that the five long tables had disappeared. She had anticipated Professor Flitwick being the primary teacher in charge of the club but was surprised to see Professor McGonagall standing at his side, looking prim and tall next to the small man.
"Gather around, gather around!" Professor Flitwick announced, "This marks the first Dueling Club meeting. Professor McGonagall has been kind enough to assist us facilitating our club. As you may well know, Dueling is not merely Charm work, but a myriad of subjects can be utilized effectively to gain the upper hand over an opponent—"
The first meeting consisted only of lecture, something that clearly disappointed the overcrowded group of students, but Narcissa understood why. It was to dissuade the reckless and impulsive students from attempting the club and to encourage the careful and academics. Andy and Narcissa listened to the lecture and took notes on their length of parchment in order to take the club more seriously.
A Zabini boy left the Great Hall after the meeting, loudly complaining, "It's Dueling Club, not Snoozing club! If I had known we weren't going to get to hex some Gryffindors tonight, I wouldn't have bothered. I have O.W.L.S. after all…"
"I'm certain by next week, the number of students showing up will be halved," Andromeda commented.
"Can't agree with you more," Narcissa muttered.
They walked into the Slytherin common room. Most of the chairs were occupied by other students working on their homework or studying. Only a few were playing chess or idly chatting. It seemed what Slytherins were left were more determined than ever to educate themselves. It was natural—their time here had an expiration date that could come at any moment.
"I think I'll turn in early," Narcissa told her sister, "That lecture nearly put me to sleep, and I've got Potions first thing in the morning with Slughorn, and he will probably try to indoctrinate me into his Slug Club again, so I have to sleep so I don't lose my temper and turn him into Cornish pixie—"
"Cissy, can I talk to you?" Andy interrupted sharply, "before you go to bed? Alone?"
"I-sure," she replied, confused, "My dorm's empty this year."
She guided Andromeda up the stairs to the dorms and opened the sixth year girl's dorm. When they were both inside, her sister locked and charmed the door so that no one could listen in. Narcissa stood in the center of the room, waiting for her to begin.
Andromeda sucked in a gulp of air and then exhaled. She turned around and started to open the door and leave, but then thought better of it and turned around again. This time, her face was extremely pale, and her expression was morose.
"What is it, Andy?" Narcissa asked her quietly, "Whatever it is…just say it."
"I've been…awful to you throughout this entire ordeal," she finally said, "I-I'm your big sister. I never thought of myself that way, you know, because Bellatrix is our big sister, but I realize that I wasn't very kind to you."
"Andy, you're a good sister," Narcissa replied, "We're just different people."
"That's the point!" Andy exclaimed, "I thought our differences made me better than you. You're the daft younger sister with mother's earnest attention, seducing Malfoy to secure our stupid family legacy. You—you got everything, even Bella thinks that way. You are marrying into the best family our stupid society can offer, and he's—Merlin, he's not even terrible, he's clever and wants to take care of you, and he wants to give you everything you've ever wanted. And we thought you were this…stupid little girl who would never stop playing in the woods. I was wrong to think of you like this. Instead of comparing myself to you and trying to push you away all the time, I should have been nicer. I should have shared my levitating pop up books and my toys with you, instead of locking my door and never letting anyone in at all."
The rune, Narcissa remembered, must have dredged something up in her. But in typical fashion of the Black family, issues resurfaced much later.
"Andy," she said softly.
"Cissy," Andromeda said carefully, "I don't even want the choices you are making to be my life. But if I did want it…I would want to do it exactly the way you did. You have everything figured out. I have a home here at Hogwarts until I graduate, and then I have no idea what to do."
Narcissa sighed and shook her head, "Andy, if you only knew how much I don't have figured out. I wish I could show you how much heartache I felt last year. This is the first year I have been able to breathe since I started here at Hogwarts, and even then, there's no guarantee of anything. Lucius blatantly disregards etiquette and rules, and he's reckless. Sometimes, I even think he could be dangerous. He's not a perfect man, and I think if you knew what I had to do just to get him to notice me, you would be ashamed of me. Half the time you already are."
"What did you do?" Andromeda asked breathlessly.
"I sat perfectly still on our staircase for hours posing for him because Mum demanded it," Narcissa said, snorting with laughter, "The article that Mara helped write to ruin my reputation? Unfortunately, it isn't that off mark. I gave Mum drawings I did to impress Ophelia Malfoy, I wrote letters to Mum, asking her what to say and do when I was around him—I even broke into his room and read his journals and letters to other suitors to know how to be the best option for him. I stood out in the freezing cold with this extremely risqué dress that Mum purchased for his Masquerade ball. I mean, I ditched chaperoned parties to be alone with a man I hardly knew all the time. I risked my purity and my reputation every time I went around him. I didn't even entertain the thought of another marriage; I put everything I had into him. It was such a stupid thing to do."
Andromeda said nothing, so Narcissa continued: "Most of what I did to impress Lucius was too raw and honest and I was floundering and guessing as I went along—And in the beginning, I was doing what Mum wanted, yes, I was her puppet. Then I just…fell for him. I would have done anything to make sure he was mine because I love him, and it's this overpowering feeling I get in my entire body when I'm around him, like I'm acutely aware of how alive I am. He has some direct pulse he taps into my body and my brain."
"So, that is what love looks like," Andromeda said at last, her eyebrows knitted together.
"I think so," Narcissa said, inhaling sharply, "Now that you know I'm super problematic, and maybe completely mad, and I'm just as uncertain as you…can we call a truce? No more ridiculous sibling rivalry, okay?"
Slowly, her sister nodded her head. "Deal, little sister. Do you forgive me?"
"I never thought less of you," she replied, "but if you have ever wronged me, I forgive you."
Spirits considerably brightened, Andromeda left her to go to her dorm room and study. Narcissa collected her pajamas and walked into the dormitory showers to wash her hair. She pulled her uniform off of her body and dropped it into the laundry basket, where it disappeared immediately from the bin. She stretched her arms above her head leisurely and turned on the faucet in one of the showers, then closed the glass door to let it steam. She turned around to the floor length mirror in front of the sinks and started suddenly, gaping in shock as she watched a trail of blood run down from in between her thighs to her calf, and then to her ankle and the floor.