A/N: This is one of my favorite chapters. I'm not sure why, since nothing incredibly significant happens in it. I think I just like the way I wrote it, idk xD Also, really sorry for the long wait. I was at a convention over the weekend and totally forgot to send this to my beta until, um, yesterday. lol

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Bellatrix didn't speak to Narcissa for the rest of the day.

Not that Narcissa could blame her. After it was all said and done and she had her orgasm, she started to feel guilty. On one hand, she tried to rationalize it: Bellatrix had constantly hurt her in the past, so why shouldn't it be Narcissa's turn to do the same? But the problem was, Bellatrix was doing nothing else but trying to keep Narcissa safe, loved, and happy – at least for the last couple days. Even if Narcissa realized she really was angry with her for having someone else, she knew it was a stupid thing to be angry for. She had Lucius, after all. Why shouldn't Bellatrix have a lover as well?

The sad part was that she was sure Bellatrix would drop whoever she was sleeping with instantly if Narcissa told her she wanted her back. But Narcissa didn't know if she wanted her back.

On one hand, she did. She missed her sister; she missed the way she used to touch her, missed the ways Bellatrix showed her that she loved her. But it was complicated. It always was. Even with Bellatrix taking that potion and being essentially 'better,' there wasn't any guarantee that things would be simpler. And now they were living under the same roof with Bellatrix's husband – it was far too risky.

But she felt guilty and knew she should apologize, so she climbed out of bed the next day, set on finding her sister. She was a little sore, but was feeling much better overall. Her bare feet crossed the floor to the door and when she opened it she stopped, staring at the other side of it.

There were four roses stuck to it; one for each day she was here… however, the last one was colored black. That was probably today's rose, a sign Bellatrix was still furious with her. Not that she blamed her. Narcissa carefully unstuck the roses from the door, bringing them inside to put them on her bedside table before she left the room, heading downstairs.

She found Bellatrix lying on the couch in the parlor, her wand pointed at the ceiling as she conjured small birds before exploding them. The sparks showered down on her, disappearing right before they hit her skin. Narcissa chewed on her bottom lip for a moment as she watched her, unsure of what to say.

"What do you want?" Bellatrix asked flatly, without even looking at her. Narcissa jumped a little from the sound of her voice; she didn't expect her to know she was there.

"I… I came to apologize."

"Well then, I suggest you take your little apology and shove it up your arse," Bellatrix told her, still not sparing her a glance. She continued to conjure her birds, subsequently destroying them moments after they appeared.

"Bella…" Narcissa tried, sighing softly. She crossed the room to sit on the chair opposite the couch so she could look at her. "I really am sorry. I shouldn't have been that horrible to you. I was just…"

"Horny?" Bellatrix finished for her sardonically.

"A little," Narcissa admitted, giving her a guilty look. "But I was also angry with you. You… I mean, you tell me you have this other person you're sleeping with, yet then expect me not to have any kind of sexual relations with my own fiancé?"

"You can let him shove his cock in your ear, for all I give a sod. I just don't want to hear it in my house," Bellatrix told her, finally turning to look at her. "This is my house, Cissy," she repeated. "Not yours. You need to remember that, or I swear to god next time I won't just walk away." The threat lingered behind her words, her eyes blackening as she stared at her, promising her, "Next time, I'll prove Lucius irrelevant right in front of him."

"You wouldn't do that," Narcissa told her, like the thought was ridiculous. "You know as well as I do that if you did that, it would destroy both of us. This house? It would no longer be yours. So don't threaten me with things like that. You may plan your revenge if you wish, but not like that. Never like that."

"I will," Bellatrix told her shortly, then clarified, "Plan my revenge." Her eyes met Narcissa's and while she tried to look intimidating, Narcissa had long since learned to see her feelings behind the mask. She was hurt. "And I hope it makes you cry," she told her venomously before turning away from her, continuing to conjure her little birds.

"Did you cry?" Narcissa asked her, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.

"I don't cry anymore, Cissy. The fluids in my body are best put to other uses," Bellatrix told her flatly.

"Such a pretty load of shit," Narcissa answered. When Bellatrix turned her head to look at her, Narcissa cocked an eyebrow in response. She knew better. Her sister may thrive on this foolish sense of pride, but she did cry. Such was a time that Narcissa was privy to those moments.

Bellatrix looked like she was about to retort, but Narcissa stopped her with, "I love Lucius, Bella." She watched her sister's right hand twitch at that statement, but she went on. "But I'll never love him like I love you. I'm not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry for how I acted towards you – it was childish and petty. You welcomed me into your home; I should have acted more grateful."

"Damn fucking right," Bellatrix responded, practically spitting the words out. "You have no idea what I did for you in the last couple days, Cissy. You have no fucking idea how much shit I'll be in if anyone was to know. You came to me for help and received it, yet you still act like a spoiled, ungrateful child!"

Narcissa recoiled a bit at her words. She knew they were true.

"Do you want me to go to Azkaban?" Bellatrix prodded, her dark eyes piercing Narcissa's intently.

"I—"

"Do you?!" Bellatrix hollered, and Narcissa tried to compose herself after she noticeably jumped from the shrieking in her tone.

"No!" Narcissa shouted, knowing she'd have to raise her voice to get her point across. Silence filled the room after that as they stared at each other.

"…She cried, you know," Bellatrix told her after a long stretch of silence, staring at her intently. She raised her eyebrows as Narcissa looked confused.

"What?"

"Mum," Bellatrix clarified.

"Bella—" Narcissa tried. She didn't want to hear this, but Bellatrix interrupted her.

"I wanted to see the look on her face when she realized all her children were abominations," Bellatrix told her, voice a disturbing level of monotone as she explained. "Andromeda gone, probably shacking up with a mudblood; her eldest daughter, corrupting her perfect little princess, fucking her until she screamed in ecstasy. Oh, how her baby girl enjoyed that – I made sure she knew just how much."

"Bella!" Narcissa exclaimed, horrified. "How could you—?"

"What? Tell her?" Bellatrix answered. "Easy. They're only words, Narcissa; words that fell on the ears of the walking dead. She was doomed to die the moment I stepped foot in that house. Father, I took care of him with the killing curse. I didn't even spare him a glance. But her… her I took my time with. I tortured her until she couldn't scream any longer; until all she could do was croak as tears slipped down her cheeks. I made sure she knew she made me this way, that she made all of us this way. It's her fault we ran away, that we fuck each other, that we kill. She made us, Cissy. I found it only fair that she realized the true profits of her labor. That was, at least until I set her on fire and watched her take the house with her."

Narcissa stared at her for a moment, sickness creeping up her throat. She never wanted to know anything about that. All she wanted to know was that they were gone; not how it came about. She didn't want to feel the guilt of her parent's death, but it was obvious Bellatrix didn't plan to share that burden alone. If Bellatrix even felt guilt at all.

"Did you enjoy it?" Narcissa asked, face set in stone as her voice quaked. She didn't know why she was asking; it just fell from her lips.

Bellatrix smiled and told her, "Every single moment. That Cissy, was true freedom. I wish you could have been there. You'd eat a feast afterwards, I swear to you."

"You think I don't eat because I don't feel free?" Narcissa asked, her hands gripping her shins as she held herself in a ball, staring at her sister.

"Yes," Bellatrix told her simply. "I know you, Narcissa. You haven't stopped eating for superficial beauty; you already are beautiful. You stopped because it was the only thing that you had control over."

"You think you know me, do you?" Narcissa asked defensively. Every word Bellatrix said was true, which unnerved her a bit and made her put up her walls.

"I've known you your whole life. I've known you more intimately than any other person in this world. I know your thoughts, your feelings, and your soul. So yes, I do know you. I know why you do the foolish little things that you do – power. You and I? It's all we seek, yet we do so in two very different ways," Bellatrix answered.

She cocked her head as she looked her over, as if examining her inner being. "But you seek the wrong power. You already have power over yourself, Cissy. You had it even before Mother and Father left the picture; you just didn't see it because they clouded your vision with their hate and their anger. But now that they're gone, I suggest you look for another outlet for what you require."

"Like what?" Narcissa asked, holding herself tighter. What other power could she have? She wasn't going to take to hurting others like Bellatrix, she could never stomach that.

Bellatrix smirked, as if Narcissa was being daft and she was amused by it. "You're marrying a man who comes from a very powerful family. I know you, Cissy; you love the charade of the socialites and their perceived elegance. You may be going through your little phase of rebellion, but your true values never change. You enjoy the pretty dresses, the cocktails and the properness of it all. When you were a child, you used to dream of your perfect husband, your perfect children, your perfect little world. So why not build it? What's stopping you from being the most powerful woman in pureblooded society?"

Narcissa didn't have an answer for that.

Bellatrix sat up, resting her elbows on her knees as she looked at her intently, advising her, "Don't just love Lucius, use him to build a world in which you are the Queen of. As spineless and annoying as he is, I'd be foolish if I didn't see him going places. Maybe not with the Death Eaters, try as he might. No, he'll never measure up in that aspect. But mark my words, Cissy, with his political ambition, he'll be working at the Ministry almost immediately after he graduates. And in some years after, I wouldn't be surprised if he had the Minister's ear; you know how he has that annoying little way with his arse-kissing words. A few more years after that… well, he may very well become Minister himself. He craves power just as you do, in the very same way that you do. He wants money, fame, fortune, and society's respect. So do yourself a favor and focus on what your life could become, instead of focusing on how to end it."

Narcissa didn't know what to say to that. She never thought her sister would think so far in the future in regards to Narcissa's well being. "Why aren't you?" she asked finally. "Why aren't you striving for just the same thing? Rodolphus is just as powerful, just as driven."

"Rodolphus and I don't want that," Bellatrix told her. "What we're meant to do, we're doing. We have no need for parties and political power. We are the rebellion, in every sense of the word. We care not for what the world thinks of us in the end, nor do we care for underhanded deviancies."

"Are you calling my fiancé underhanded?" Narcissa asked, offended.

"What else would you call it? He'll be the Dark Lord's puppet inside the Ministry when the time comes. That's not to say it'll go unrewarded; the Dark Lord has wanted someone inside the Ministry for quite some time, yet none of his followers have had the qualifications. Lucius has already expressed an interest in the assignment and with his OWLs he'll probably get there as long as he passes his NEWTs with the same ambition. Surely you knew he would prefer that to mass slaughter; he doesn't exactly have the spine for it. He's a worm, but one who may very well prove his worth no less. That is, if he ever does earn His mark."

"I wish you wouldn't speak about my fiancé in that way," Narcissa told her, looking a little peeved. Lucius was not a worm. "I don't speak ill of your husband."

"He is a worm; he's slimy and he's sneaky and he'll talk your pretty little head off with empty words that still sound so perfect to your ears. I bet you believe he's never been with another woman while he was dating you, don't you?"

"He hasn't!" Narcissa exclaimed, horrified that Bellatrix would even think he had.

"Wrong. He's a man, Cissy. If you don't put out, he'll find someone who will. And why shouldn't he? Why shouldn't you? Monogamy is for fools and poets; the only thing that should matter is that it's your bed he calls home and it's his Gringotts account that will come to you should he see an untimely death," Bellatrix told her, not softening the harsh reality of her words. "You need to grow up and see the larger picture, Narcissa. There are no fairytales. You will never have a white knight that will sweep you off your feet and carry you off into the sunset. All that matters are appearances and power. As long as those are kept up, what else he, or you do, should be rather irrelevant."

"So I should expect loyalty from no one, then?" Narcissa asked, her chest hurting from the upset Bellatrix's reality was causing her. It's like a beautiful mirror shattering in front of her eyes.

"Loyalty is another thing entirely and isn't even relevant to the conversation at hand," Bellatrix answered. "I may have fallen into whore's beds while we were together, but true loyalty is not based on monogamy; it's who, at the end of the day, would be willing to die in your place." She paused, her eyes boring into hers as she finished, "And you already know I would do that for you."

"And Lucius?" Narcissa asked, her voice a soft whisper.

"I can't tell you how he feels, you'd have to ask him. He may fuck other women, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't loyal to you." Bellatrix eyes flickered to the ring on Narcissa's left hand. "I believe that rock on your finger is proof that he holds enough loyalty to you, at least for now."

Narcissa swallowed as she absentmindedly twisted the ring on her finger, as if convincing herself that it's real and she didn't make it up in some foolish dream. Her throat felt like she consumed rocks. It was a harsh reality that Narcissa had not yet wanted to face. She wanted to be caught up in the fairytale of it all, at least for a little while. She wanted her knight to carry her away to the castle and live happily ever after.

She should've known things are never that simple.

"So what are you suggesting? That I find alternative means to sate my appetite?" Narcissa asked, feeling a little like a harlot for even entertaining the idea.

"Either that or you can compulsively masturbate – it's your choice," Bellatrix told her as she stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles on her black, tight-fitting dress. When she looked up at Narcissa she stood to full height, brushing her long, dark curls off her shoulder. She looked so magnificent for such a frightful being.

"But I…" Narcissa started, feeling a slight blush creep up her cheeks as she realized what she truly wanted.

"You…?" Bellatrix prodded, sounding a bit bored by her hesitation.

"How am I to find someone who can satisfy me while my husband's away?"

"Men flock to you, Cissy. You'd be blind if you told me you didn't see it," Bellatrix told her, like she was being thick.

"No… I don't…" Narcissa took a breath, her cheeks burning deeper as she admitted, "I don't want another…"

"Man?" Bellatrix finished, looking amused and completely self-satisfied. "Got to you, did I?"

"Don't be a pompous arse, Bella. You and I can't engage in those things anymore, you know that. It'd be foolish to do it while under this roof, if your husband were to ever find out… it'd be the end of us both. I just meant… it's not something I can exactly inquire about openly. I'd surely shame my own name if word of that ever got out."

"What's your point?" Bellatrix asked, shortly. "Are you honestly asking me advice on how to get a girl to be your plaything? Not to sound selfish, but if I can't have you, no other bitch will. I can assure you of that."

"Oh yes, you don't sound selfish at all," Narcissa answered sardonically. "How can you speak such utter bullshit like that at me when you yourself fuck another woman?"

"I only fuck that woman. I don't sleep with my own husband. I have my one person and you have yours – Lucius. Take it or leave it. I will not willingly advise you on how to get another."

"So what do you do, then?" Narcissa asked. "When she can't come around, when she's entertained by who I assume would be her own husband? What then? You spit on the concept of monogamy, yet you seem to practice it."

Bellatrix laughed. "I have prostitutes, Cissy; bitches that lick my cunt if I throw enough galleons in their face. I need no other satisfaction."

"Ugh," Narcissa groaned. "That's vile. You know that, right? How many other's came before you, do you know? I'm surprised you haven't caught something yet."

"Please, do you think I would hire a common street whore? I only pay for the best, I would not waste gold on anything but," Bellatrix answered. "These women are as upper class as you or I, only they make their money by fucking their way to the top. Trust me when I tell you that they make sure they're cleanly; they would have no business otherwise."

"So you're suggesting I buy myself a whore?" Narcissa asked, disgusted.

"Even if you wanted to, you couldn't. You're still a child, Narcissa. It'd be immoral, not to mention illegal for them to take payment to screw you."

Narcissa was not saddened by this fact at all. She had no desire to pay a stranger to pleasure her; it seemed incredibly impersonal. Not to mention morally demeaning.

"So what you're implying is that I'm shit out of luck until I'm seventeen; is that it?" Narcissa asked, attitude behind her words.

Bellatrix smirked and walked over to her. Narcissa put her legs down so she could stand – she didn't want to be towered over. But before she could get up Bellatrix was already over her, her hands on the armrests, successfully trapping her. Bellatrix leaned in, her lips pressed to Narcissa's ear as she whispered, "Unless you want to fuck me." Narcissa went to protest, but Bellatrix didn't give her a chance. She kissed her cheek roughly before she stood. As she looked down on her she finished, "But regardless of our nice little chat, I'm still pissed at you. So if there's to be any screwing, it won't be until I hurt you in the same way that you hurt me – purposely and without any hesitation."

Narcissa locked her jaw and narrowed her eyes at her, glaring. Bellatrix merely smiled, but it was of no comfort.

"Don't play games you can't handle taking a part in, Cissy. You're liable to get hurt," she warned before she turned on her heel, exiting the room in a wave of arrogance and anger. Narcissa just stared after her.

Part of her knew she wouldn't get away with what she did, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to the aftermath.

TBC…