A/N: Sorry for being slow to update. I'm graduating with my Bachelor's this weekend, so hopefully things will slow down and allow me to write. Also, I know this is short, but the next chapter will be longer.


Chapter Fifty-Two

Lucius's heart jumped into his throat as he watched the jet of light slam into Andromeda. He squeezed Narcissa's hand in an attempt to keep her from intervening, but the gesture was in vain, just as he'd suspected it would be. Narcissa shook off his hand and took a step toward her sisters, her arms raised, and Lucius moved to her side as he produced his wand.

"Bella, stop—"

"Did you not hear her, Cissy?" Bellatrix demanded. Her eyes were wild and more full of fury than Lucius had ever seen them, and for the first time, he believed her capable of harming both of her sisters.

"She hasn't done anything wrong!" Narcissa cried. "Listen to reason, for once!"

"She killed our father!"

Bellatrix flicked her wrist, and Narcissa flew backward. Lucius dove to the floor and ignored the pain that surged up his arm from the contact, focusing his energy instead on catching his fiancée and keeping her from a hard landing. He grunted as her elbow slammed into his ribs, but he managed to stop her head from hitting the wood.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Andromeda from the other side of the room.

Lucius saw her shift in his periphery. Still, he kept his focus on Narcissa, who blinked and met his eyes.

"She's gone mad," she muttered.

"Wasn't she always?"

At the sound of a loud crash, Lucius looked up to see that a displaced spell had knocked over his father's favorite armchair.

Narcissa gave a noncommittal shrug and started to sit up, and Lucius tensed.

"Please don't get between them," he insisted. "You don't need to get hurt again, Cissy."

"I didn't go near our father!"

Andromeda's shout drew Narcissa's attention away from Lucius, and he followed her gaze back to her sisters. Each had her wand drawn and stared at the other with unconcealed hatred. Andromeda's shirt was singed from the impact of Bellatrix's spell, and Bellatrix's wand arm hung limp at her side, evidently impaired by a curse Lucius hadn't seen. She'd transferred her wand to her other hand, and Lucius wondered how effective she would be with it.

"All I said, all you heard," Andromeda continued, is that he had a lot of enemies and I'm surprised no one attacked him sooner."

"Who was it, then?" demanded Bellatrix. "Your filthy Mudblood husband?"

"Not another word about him!" Andromeda flicked her wrist, and Bellatrix flew backward and crashed into the wall just beside the open door.

Mother's going to hear, thought Lucius. She can't come in here. I won't let them hurt her. And I need to get Cissy out before she can get in the crossfire. He had no personal stake in this fight; he wasn't particularly fond of either of his fiancée's sisters. He had only to ensure Narcissa and his mother were safe.

"Both of you, enough!" Narcissa scrambled to her feet. "Neither of you is at fault—you didn't hurt Father. It was my—"

"Maybe we should have," said Andromeda coldly.

"Shut up!" Bellatrix screamed.

An explosion of magical force burst from her wand and slammed into Andromeda's stomach.

"No!" shouted Narcissa. She threw herself at Andromeda, struggling to catch her sister as she collapsed.

Lucius made a dash for his wand where he'd left it on the floor beside the desk. He then rounded on Bellatrix.

"Get out," he growled. "Now."

"Are you defending the blood traitor, Lucius? What Narcissa sees in you, I'll—"

"I'm defending your pregnant sister, whom you've just injured in an emotional fit. Get out."

Bellatrix watched him, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly with her breaths. Lucius didn't so much as flinch.

"Get out of my house," he ordered.

Bellatrix turned on her heel and strode out of the study.

"Luc. Luc, she's bleeding."

Lucius looked down at Narcissa and Andromeda. Narcissa was leaning over her sister, who had fully lost consciousness where she lay on the floor. Andromeda's legs were covered in blood.

"Oh, Merlin," Lucius mumbled. "Stay with her. I'll get Mother."

He turned on his heel and darted out into the corridor.