Narcissa trotted down the small flight of stairs leading from the girls' dormitory to the common room, pulling a black robe around her shoulders as she did so. The Slytherin living quarters were always cool due to its location below sea level. The Prefects were given the task of patrolling but it was not uncommon for the Head Boy or Girl to participate every so often. As Head Girl, Narcissa was granted permission to walk about the castle after hours. Usually, she used this privilege to complete her responsibilities or help the Prefects with their own but sometimes, like tonight, she just needed to wander about and think, too restless for sleep.

It was for this reason that Narcissa froze upon seeing a form sitting on one of the black leather couches facing the fireplace in the common room. There was no need to worry about explaining herself, least of all to a student, but the guilt of abusing her powers made her heart thump heavily. She moved silently across the room. The figure was a male, perched on the edge of the seat, as still as a statue. He was leaning forward, gazing out at the dwindling flames. His cropped black hair appeared neglected, and he was still in the traditional school uniform, though everyone would have most certainly changed out of them and into more comfortable attire hours ago. Even hunched as he was on that couch, Narcissa could tell that he was tall and lanky, as most fourth-year boys were. The flames crackled and flickered, casting an eerie glow on his somber expression and dull eyes. Narcissa recognized him immediately and froze once more in surprise.

She must have gasped aloud because Regulus Black lifted his head and turned towards her.

"Oh," he said dully. "It's you." With that, he resumed his original position. Narcissa blinked. That was it? No sneers, no taunts, no mocking jobes? She favored him over his brother, whom she detested, but she still held a deep dislike towards the boy. His behaviour was so unnatural that instead of putting her at ease, it made her more wary.

"What are you doing down here?" She demanded.

"I couldn't sleep." He responded with a shrug. He was gazing up at her, and even in the dim light Narcissa could see that he had bags under his eyes, which were as hollow as a thestral's. Something was wrong; something was very wrong. But she was still too suspicious to let him off so easily.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be out of bed?" She taunted haughtily. "Aunt Walburga won't be happy if I wrote to her and told her that you broke the rules, now would she?"

"Please, Narcissa, don't send me away. Please."

If she had been shocked by his appearance, then she was flabbergasted beyond the point of speaking. She stood there opening and closing her mouth but no sound came out. Regulus Black had said 'please'. 'Please'! In a tone bordering pleading. This could be no joke. Of all the pranks Sirius and Regulus had pulled on her over the years, they never once succumbed to pleading. They had too much pride for that sort of thing – not surprising, as they were Blacks.

It was Regulus who broke the silence.

"Narcissa, how…" he hesitated but, taking a deep breath, finished, "how did you do it?"

The older girl tilted her head thoroughly confused.

"Do what?"

"Cope."

"With what, Regulus?"

Regulus was silent for a long time, his face contorted as if whatever he was asking about was causing him pain. When he finally spoke, it was with a soft voice, and he was no longer looking at his cousin but down at the last glowing embers.

"Andromeda leaving."

Regulus could not have gotten a more drastic reaction that if he had slapped her across the face. Two red, angry blotches rose in Narcissa's cheeks and her eyes sparkled dangerously. Her heart rate increased as dark emotions were stirred to the surface, muddying her collective countenance. The tension in the room increased triple-fold. The girl stood there, rigid and cold, struggling to control the storm within from showing through her guard. The boy was hunched over, shoulders sagging and head bowed low in clear defeat.

"Don't talk to me about her."

"Did it hurt you very much when she left?" Regulus appeared not to have heard her.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!"

"Assuming you mussed her, of course." This last bit was added almost pensively, like an afterthought.

"I said shut up!" Narcissa hissed. Regulus looked up to a stare so icy it could have frozen the last embers in the fireplace but he did not flinch. He seemed to be beyond feeling or caring. "Why so interested now, anyways?"

The colour drained from his face, leaving him looking a sickly grey. He licked his lips, nervously, and Narcissa noted that he was trembling.

"Sirius ran away four days ago. He's gone."

Whatever Narcissa had expected to hear, that wasn't it. There was a heartbeat of shocked silence. Then,

"What?"

Regulus nodded.

"He left during the break. Mum and him had another row – really nasty one. I think they were talking politics again. It didn't end well, especially since Father came in right in the middle of it. Most of his stuff is still in his room, just like he left it. He just upped and left that evening. Never came back. Didn't take much with him; left a lot of stuff behind…including a whole list of profanities." He added darkly.

She found it very hard to be angry with him; on the contrary, she pitied him. She knew what it felt like to be left behind by someone you loved. After she got over the initial shock, she found that she wasn't surprised, really; Sirius had been the irksome family relic since he was eight, and it had only been getting worse since starting school. Still, Sirius was Regulus's older brother. There was always that perception about the older sibling that made you think they were always going to be there, protecting you, guiding you. Older siblings were supposed to be there for you, through everything. Because all the fights and jealousy and hair-pulling wasn't supposed to matter at the end of the day; they were supposed to be family. But apparently that was all just an illusion cast by the naivety of younger siblings. Big brothers didn't see it like that… or big sisters for that matter.

Narcissa made her way over to him, sitting on the leather seat beside him. She let her hands rest in her lap, looking down at them awkwardly as she wondered what to do to comfort him. She shied away from draping an arm around his thin shoulders; too much had occurred between the m within the 14 years she had known him. An image of a bucket being slammed onto her head flashed through her mind, and she remembered how humiliation had burned her cheeks as a young boy's rude laughter rang in her ears…

It was hard to believe that this was that same boy.

"Mother burned him off the tapestry." Regulus informed her quietly. "The moment he stormed through the door. He's officially been disowned."

"That makes two, then."

"Three," he corrected. At Narcissa's confused frown, he explained, "Uncle Alphard is not a part of the family anymore, either."

Uncle Alphard…she remembered a young man picking her up off the floor when she was but a toddler, laughing and granting her one song after she had been caught watching on of her parents' parties from behind a wide column. He had bright eyes, a deep warm chuckle, and light hair that he would point to whenever her sisters or cousins mocked her about being dropped off by Delivery-by-Floo services.

"Mother wasn't going to let Sirius have any of his inheritance, of course. Uncle Cygnus, either. But Uncle Alphard has always been more forgiving and he didn't listen to Mother. He was mad that she had not been more understanding – so mad that he gave Sirius some of his money early. Mother was furious."

The cousins lapsed back into silence, side by side, watching the last of the glowing embers die out. The empty common room was left in darkness, save for the faint greenish glow of the moon and stars outside that reflected in through the lake. Somehow, it was easier to talk about these things in the dark. Narcissa did not bother with useless comments like "It'll be okay" or "He'll come back , you'll see". It was a lie, all of it, and they both knew it. So she just sat there next to him, her arm brushing with his, feeling, perhaps for the first time, like family.

"I didn't hate him." Regulus whispered, yet in the stillness of the room it sounded loud enough. "Not really. Not even when he got sorted into Gryffindor. I don't know what changed. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been sorted into Slytherin…maybe then he would have still liked me…"

"It wouldn't have made any difference, Regulus. Andromeda was in Slytherin, same as us, remember? She still left…never came back."

"I just wanted to impress him. I just wanted to be someone he could be proud of."

Narcissa swallowed hard.

"Me, too, Regge. Me, too."


**edited**