Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.


Wearing a smile that was all cold manners, Narcissa escorted the 'visiting' Auror into her front parlor, one reserved only for guests she had no real wish to associate with. The décor was austere and imposing, meant to give the impression of grandeur and intimidate any who dared invade. Thick brocade fabric armchairs and dark wood lent to the thick atmosphere in the room, the entire sensation of firm and unwelcoming harshness rounded out by the head of a stag that hung over the intricately designed mantle, even the dead animal seeming to wear a hard expression, dead eyes glinting maliciously.

After requesting and receiving a bitter black tea from a house elf and assuring that it was served properly to her invader, some might say 'guest', Narcissa perched on her chair with the expectant expression of one who does not approve of their time being wasted. The Auror, Fergus Nitchley, a young man barely out of school by the look of him, was doing better than the woman had thought he might under the circumstances, concealing his fear of the looming darkness in the home. Yes, the war was over, but there was still a certain kind of shadow that lingered over the lands and their inhabitants. Those who were once involved with the Dark Lord were handled at arm's length, treatment that extended also to Narcissa as the wife of a notorious Death Eater.

Though Lucius had again claimed to coercion by way of the Imperius, it had not worked so very well as years earlier, leaving the man to serve a sentence in Azkaban of undecided length. The young man cluttering Narcissa's study was a messenger, sent by the wizards handling Lucius' case to inform the witch of their progress. Unfortunately for the messenger, the news was not pleasant, but fortunately to the young man, Narcissa was not one to lash out at a bearer of bad news. However, unaware of this fact amongst the rumours still flying about the Malfoy family as a whole, the man was nearly shaking in his seat.

"I'm afraid the hearing has been pushed back another two weeks", Nitchley said with an unpleasantly sick expression twisting his features. Were it not for the situation, Narcissa might have felt pity for the young man, still a boy really.

"What was the reason given this time?" Narcissa inquired coldly. Nitchley shifted uncomfortably where he sat and said, "They said the evidence they were looking for is harder to find than they expected." Maintaining her controlled visage, just barely, the witch responds, "Of course it is. Is this not the reasoning I have been presented with the last three times Lucius' hearing was postponed?"

A vague crash from outside the room drew the blonde's attention instantaneously, though the Auror was too busy working on not peeing in the presence of the intimidating woman to notice it as anything more than a possible drop of a dish by a house elf, or something of the sort. Thoughts of her estranged husband shoved aside by a far more pressing matter, Narcissa cast her gaze back to Nitchley with a detached air.

"A house elf will see you out. Do inform your superiors that I will be contacting them shortly." Brushing the man's rush to bid her farewell as she swooped from the room in a cloud of irritation, Narcissa strode easily to where she knew the crash must have originated.

When not in one of her moods, the type that left Narcissa bruised and otherwise injured without fail, Bellatrix was no better than a child. Caring for the returned woman was akin to caring for an unruly five year old, albeit a five year old with an impressive capacity for destruction and a wonder inspiring grasp of the magical arts. Narcissa would have sworn that she had removed the majority of the breakables from the wing in which she had left Bella when she went to meet with her 'guest', but she was hardly surprised to learn that the dark witch had found something to destroy.

Rounding the corner, Narcissa scowl only deepened as she surveyed the shattered pottery scattered down the hall. There had been a strong shatter-proof enchantment on the vases from the time Draco had been small and learning to knock things over, but the spell had not stood up under a wanded Bellatrix. Stepping over the destruction and following the path it left, Narcissa came upon her sister in a large hall that was used primarily for parties. Giggling and dancing about, Bellatrix had her eyes fixed heavenward, watching as each spell she cast reflected off of the multitudes of crystal hanging from a grand chandelier in the center of the ceiling.

Narcissa's approach was noticed, dark and shining eyes jumping down to fix on her gleefully. "Cissy! You're back!" Bellatrix was joyful as she skipped to her sister and pulled her into a mad spinning dance that lasted all of two seconds before the witch fell still. With the firm assuredness that only a mother could pull off, Narcissa glared at her sister. "You took too long," Bella complained under the silent accusation, joy fading swiftly. The pout on her face was all child.

"It is imperative that we are not found out by the Ministry! You know this, Bellatrix, and yet you insist on wreaking havoc with an Auror in our midst!" Narcissa exclaimed in a mixture of anger and worry that resulted in an exhausting exasperation that left her massaging in her temples, energy draining. Bella's brows drew low over her eyes, her response to scolding was never to be pleased, most certainly when said scolding was coming from her little sister. The tired fear in the blonde's expression drove into her the seriousness of the situation however, prompting her own frustrations to rise to the surface.

"I will not be hidden away, Narcissa! I have been trapped in this house for weeks, and I am thoroughly tired of it." Weeks yes, but Narcissa did not see how Bella could truly complain. At every opportunity she had tormented her little sister, to the point where a hard look at the wrong moment was enough to have Narcissa cringing involuntarily. It obviously was not doing very much at the present time, however, with Narcissa's stress levels having peaked with the newest postponement of Lucius' trial. On top of her freely given heavy handed treatment of her sister, Bellatrix had every comfort possible available to her. As if she could read her sister's thoughts, Bella hissed, "It's a luxurious prison, but a prison nonetheless, Cissy."

The proximity as she leaned to hiss in her sister's face was a source of great difficulty for the blonde. While she could moan and rage about Bellatrix's torment, there was that part of her, that part that was bound to her sister for eternity that stole her breath when the other woman drew near. The closer she drew, the more the air would vacate her body, leaving her lightheaded and unprepared to defend herself in any way. This too, was a fact that Bella savored, taking the chance to brush against her bare flesh whenever it presented itself.

"What do you propose then, Bella? Shall we march out into Diagon Alley and declare the fact that I performed forbidden magic to revive my sister the mass murderer?" Narcissa's voice was not nearly as strong as she had intended, coming instead as if she had just run a great distance.

Grinning maliciously and shaking her head with childish joy, Bellatrix cradled her sister's face hard in both hands. "No, my dearest Cissy, of course not, that would be foolish. I have a much better idea."

Narcissa couldn't bring herself to ask, but it was hardly necessary as Bella was only too happy to continue. "My dear, dear sister.. I think I have found a use for the rotten fruit that we once had to rid from the family tree."