Narcissa waits anxiously in the hallway outside of the Headmaster's office, her leg thumping with a steady nervousness. No one had told her what was going on yet, but her parents had arrived on campus and she could faintly hear them yelling from inside the room. Bellatrix had come to collect Narcissa only a few hours after leaving for Hogsmeade and she had had a burning cruel energy surrounding her, far more powerful and angry than anything shad ever seen from her sister and it had silenced her immediately. Truthfully, it scared Narcissa. Bellatrix looked like an old god, wrathful and powerful, and Narcissa did not know what it was that had caused her sister's anger.
She wondered, worriedly, why no one had sent for Andromeda yet. She wished Andi was there, stroking her hair and comforting her. She wished Andi would explain everything that was happening to her. Andi was the smartest person Narcissa knew and surely she'd know what had happened.
Her foot tapped faster as her fears grew, left wild with imagination and lack of knowledge. Finally, after what seemed to be weeks of waiting, her parents exited the room, followed by Bellatrix. Her mother's face was pale and strained in a way that Narcissa had never seen before and her father looked like he was about to burst from anger, a vein above his eyebrow throbbing.
"Mama…?" Narcissa whispers, feeling the tears welling up in her voice. "Mama…"
Druella holds her arms out for her daughter and Narcissa comes running to her, hugging her tightly. "Mama what's going on? Where's Andi?"
"We're going home now," Druella says, strained. "Andromeda… Your sister… She won't be coming with us."
Narcissa looks to her mother, confused and taken aback, but her father interrupts. "She is no longer our daughter. I will not hear her name spoken of again." His voice is sharp and harsh and Narcissa feels her whole body tighten, though the tears still escape, rolling down her face.
"Are you all packed, Narcissa?" Druella asks, her body trembling.
"Almost, I… I thought we had one more week."
"I'll take her," Bellatrix says, holding out a hand for Narcissa. Narcissa takes it, feeling her body tremble just like her mother's. "We'll be back quickly."
Druella nods and excuses the two of them.
Bellatrix leads Narcissa down to the dungeons, heading to the commons. "Trixy, what's going on?" Narcissa asks, scared.
"Not here," Bellatrix says and Narcissa falls silent for the rest of the walk up to their rooms.
Once they've arrived in Narcissa's room, Bellatrix shuts the door tightly and starts throwing Narcissa's things into her trunk, not worrying about neatness. "Andi's gone," she says. "She left us. Ran away with a mudblood. She… she's having his baby." Narcissa can the scowl on her face even though she's mostly turned away from her.
"What?" Narcissa asks in a panic, remembering her conversation with Andromeda from earlier that day.
"She's not coming back," Bellatrix says sharply and Narcissa shrinks. "She's never coming back." Bellatrix looks to Narcissa and sighs, seeing the tremble of her lip and the tears in her eyes. Her voice is soft when next she talks. "Come here, little monkey," she says, holding out her arms. Narcissa hesitates but then hurries to find comfort in her sister's arms. Bellatrix pets her hair gently as Narcissa buries her head against her shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, monkey, because I've got you. I've got you and I would never leave you. Never, ever, ever. I'm with you forever kid."
Narcissa wraps her arms around Bellatrix's neck tightly. "Don't leave me," she begs. "Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."
"I won't," Bellatrix promises, holding onto her tightly. "I won't, monkey. I'm going to take care of you forever. Andi's terrible for what she's done, and she's an idiot for leaving you. I would never make that mistake."
Narcissa nods, scared that if she let Bellatrix go, she'd disappear.
Bellatrix strokes her hair soothingly for a few minutes, whispering, "I'm here, monkey. I'm not going anywhere. I love you," repeatedly. Eventually, however, she breaks away slightly. "We have to finish packing, monkey. We're going to go home now, okay? And I'm going to look out for you all summer."
Narcissa nods, her bottom lip still trembling. She felt everything shutting down, everything going black. Here she had been, worried about boys all morning, not knowing that her life was about to fall apart.
Narcissa is silent the rest of the time packing and for the entire tense journey home, but when they arrive home, she goes straight with Bellatrix to her room. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" she whispers.
"Of course, monkey," she says, letting her into the room. "Let's get you ready for bed."
Bellatrix helps her undress, putting her Hogwarts uniform folded neatly on a chair. She slips one of her own nightgowns onto Narcissa. It looks large against Narcissa's waify form, and with the moonlight filtering into the room, Narcissa looks ghostly. Bellatrix leads her to bed and Narcissa wraps her arms tightly around her sister. "I'm here," Bellatrix whispers to her soothingly. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I'd never leave you. I'd never leave you…"
