Narcissa lays on her bed that Saturday morning, feeling a strange sadness weighing on her. It had been haunting her since Walden kissed her and she wasn't sure how to make it go away. Usually she hated Hogsmeade days as the castle would empty out and she'd feel both lonely and consciously aware of how young she was in comparison to all of her friends. Lucius had promised to stay back with her today and go flying with her, but she had sent him off with his friends, claiming that she wasn't feeling well anyways and he might as well have fun. Really, she just needed the time to think.

Lucius was everything Narcissa had ever wanted. She had fought so hard to be with him. So why had she kissed Walden back? Why was she so moved to tears over his words? Maybe it was just lingering remnants from the love potion that hadn't worked their way out of her system yet. But saying that was like admitting that she loved Walden, and she didn't. Right? She loved Lucius. Narcissa groaned and turned over in her bed, grabbing a pillow and smothering herself with it. She hated boys. They were a terrible lot, always making such trouble for her. Trixy didn't have these problems. Maybe if Narcissa were as terribly frightening as Bellatrix, she wouldn't have any boy troubles anymore. She wouldn't have any troubles at all.

A gentle knock comes from the door and Narcissa is glad for it. She needed a break from her thoughts. She wasn't good at puzzling out her problems and maybe it'd help to not think about them for a second. She goes to open the door and frowns immediately upon seeing Andromeda. "Oh, it's you."

"May I come in?" Andromeda asks gently. "It's to apologize, I promise."

"Fine," Narcissa says, throwing open the door and flinging herself onto her bed. "But it best be a good apology because I'm having a rotten day."

"What's the matter?" Andromeda says, coming to sit besides her.

"Apology first," Narcissa demands and Andromeda smiles.

"Alright," she says. "An apology, then. I'm sorry, Cissy, for how our conversation went the other day. I didn't mean to belittle you or make you feel inferior in any sort of way. Sometimes I just don't quite know how to put my thoughts into words clearly."

"You didn't mean it, did you? That I've never been in love?"

"Oh, little Cissy, no. If anyone in this world was meant to fall deeply and passionately in love, it's you. You have such a heart for it. And maybe my theory on what love is isn't quite sound. There's probably thousands of different kinds of loves and I've only known one. I could learn a lot from someone like you."

Narcissa props herself up and flings herself into Andromeda's arms, completely willing to forgive her on the simplest of apologies. "Oh, Andi, I hate boys. They're confusing and strange and I don't know how to think clearly around them."

"Lucius didn't do something, did he?" Andromeda says, petting Narcissa's hair gently.

"Swear yourself to secrecy," Narcissa demands, looking up at her elder sister.

"I swear it," Andromeda answers with a crinkle of a smile.

"Well, the truth is… Before Walden went all crazy, I was having feelings for him. Just a small thing. Like, my heart would sorta flutter when he looked at me. But I told him that I was dating Lucius and that was that. But he didn't respect it and that's why he thought he had to give me that stupid potion so that we could be together and Lucius would back off. But after I took the antidote, Walden came up to me to apologize. And he kissed me. And I… I kissed him back. And I haven't told anyone, not even Lucius or Trixy. And I don't know if what I'm feeling right now is because of the potion or because I'm an idiot or because I might have feelings for Walden, too."

"Well," Andromeda says, processing her hiccupped rant. "You're not an idiot, so we can cross that one off."

"Please be serious with me," Narcissa begs. "This means a lot to me."

"I am," Andromeda promises, combing back Narcissa's hair and kissing her forehead just like she would when she was a baby. "You're not an idiot, Cissy, so it's not that. Can I tell you something, too?"

Narcissa nods.

"When I was dating Nick, I started having feelings for someone else, too. It was all terribly distracting because I didn't know what to do."

"What did you do?" Narcissa asks, as if listening to a bedtime story.

"Well, luckily, I didn't have to make any hard choices since Nick broke it off first, but I think that even if that hadn't happened, I still would have known who I'd pick. I think our hearts might be confusing sometimes, but deep down, we always know what we really want."

"But what if I get betrothed and it's not him?" Narcissa asks, nearly pleading.

"Then run away with him," Andromeda says with a small smile. "Narcissa Black, you deserve to be happy. So be happy, okay? Figure out who you love, and love them with everything you have. Things will work themselves out, okay. If you're not betrothed to someone you love, run away with Lucius, or Walden, or whoever it is that's stolen your heart. You love too fiercely to be shackled down by someone who's not up to your demands. Okay, little Cissy? You get to be happy."

Narcissa nods, intensely relieved by her sister's words. Andromeda leans down and kisses Narcissa's forehead once more. "Alright, sweetheart, I've got to go get ready for Hogsmeade. I just didn't want to let things fester between us anymore. I love you, Narcissa. With all of my heart."

"Stay back with me," Narcissa says. "Don't go to Hogsmeade. Stay and read me poetry."

Andromeda smiles and traces her face. "Next time, okay, love? I'll read you all the poetry you want."

Narcissa nods and gets up, letting Andromeda leave. Her older sister looks back at her for a moment at the door and Narcissa thinks she sees a few tears in her eyes. She shakes her head, laying back down on the bed. Andi didn't have a thing to cry about. She must have just not seen correctly.