Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.
Magic tore through the air as Bellatrix raged, destroying curtains, bed sheets, tearing chunks from the walls themselves and shattering fine china in what was, before her attack, a dark oak hutch with glass doors. Shrieking profanities with her own voice once more as she dragged her chaos through the home, there was no doubt in Narcissa's mind as her sister destroyed everything within reach that there was no possible ending in which violence was not a key factor.
With the transformation complete after ingesting the Polyjuice potion, Bellatrix had immediately taken hold of her sister and apparated the pair of them directly into Knockturn Alley. Narcissa, fearing the worst, felt her stomach drop to her toes. She was surprised by the quick turn however, as the disguised Bellatrix turned to the right and hoofed it down a small passageway that led to another, seedier alley. Hot on her heels, the blonde kept her sister in sight up until the witch barged through a door that seemed to have been part of wall up until it swung open under the dark woman's touch.
"Where is it?" Bellatrix, new voice or no, was menacing as she hissed to the shopkeeper, the three words the only ones Narcissa caught as she slid into what looked like a much smaller version of Borgin and Burkes. Behind the counter was a tall and very bulky man, Narcissa supposed him to be at the very least half giant. She might have assumed the smell permeating the room to have originated from him were he not so impeccably dressed. While his hair and beard, both a dull gray, were thick and wiry, they were perfectly groomed and almost shone with cleanliness against the pitch black of his dress robes.
Large though he was, he was cowering under the intense glare of the disguised witch, apparantly needing no explanation as to whom exactly he was dealing with as he addressed her, "Madame Lestrange, you must understand that with your death, the item in question was automatically relocated!" He nearly begged for understanding that he likely was aware would not come. Narcissa moved swiftly to her sister's side, recognizing her fury for what it was. Fear. And a scared Bellatrix Lestrange was something no one deserved to be subjected to.
"Bella", Narcissa murmured beside the witch, her knuckles white with the tight grip she had on her sister's elbow, "If what you need has been relocated, killing him will do no good in finding it." Nostrils flaring, body vibrating with uncontained anger, Bellatrix ripped from her sister's hold and swooped towards the man with a loud, "Crucio!"
Instantly the man was on the floor in agony. Narcissa gasped as the sensation of magic being ripped violently from her body overtook every other sense she possessed, whiteness capturing her vision and all sound vanishing. There was no sense of time in her frozen state, she could have been in that white place for an hour or a year for all she could tell.
By the time she regained consciousness, her sister's own face was all she could see, the scent of burning flesh assaulting her with the knowledge that the man was likely nothing more than a smoking corpse before she had even to glance to the side. Shuddering as Bellatrix's demanding hands dragged at her, Narcissa pulled up short.
Words cluttered her mind, clogging in her vocal cords before she could order them correctly. What was happening here? What had the witch done? Bellatrix was wearing her own face once more, meaning that the man, though likely far from innocent, had suffered a long and drawn out death that he had not deserved. Bellatrix was wearing a look of wild purpose, her quest for some item of which Narcissa had yet to learn the use appearing to be moving forward.
"Come now, Cissy, we have things to do." Bella once again took a girm hold of Narcissa's hand and twisted her into an unwilling sidealong apparition to Merlin only knew where.
Where they had arrived was familiar in the vaguest sense of the word, as Narcissa had only viewed the dwelling from a distance on several occassions and only once, when she had been very daring, had she approached. Black blood or no, there was a bit of cowardice that made a home deep in Narcissa's soul, and it chose to show itself when any instance should present itself where she might be required to face the shamed sister she had not been close to in so very many years.
It mightn't be described as shame precisely, that awful crushing that beared down on the blonde at even the thought of her sister, but the word certainly came close. Even now, the witch found it difficult to keep herself upright as she hovered in the modest sized living area, as if the very air itself were too thin to provide breath, much less strength.
"Where is she?!" Bellatrix demanded from the air, questioning no one and everyone, her eyes mad as she returned to where Narcissa awaited the completion of her dark sister's temper tantrum. There must have been something in her stance, or perhaps it was merely the witch's paranoia, but something drew Bellatrix's eye to Narcissa, a very suspicious eye. "You.."
The word lingered like a question and a discovery, all narrowed eyes and disbelief. Skirts swishing against the wooden floors, boots tapping a slow rhythm as she neared her sister and circled the woman, Bellatrix brandished her wand.
"You must have warned her..", said the witch, as if working it out in her head, eyes both distant and focused on Narcissa in turn. "You betrayed me!"
Remaining calm, still, tensed for the attack that she couldn't be certain would or would not come, Narcissa began to speak slowly, hoping that enough of her sister remained to listen. "Bella.. she could just be out..", Narcissa attempted to reason with whom she was becoming increasingly uncertain was truly all of her sister. "What reason would I have to betray you, when I have risked my soul just to have you back?"
True or not, the reasoning was sound, and Narcissa asked herself that very question. Was it her pathological desire for the perfect family she knew she would never be able to achieve?
Nearing her sister, invading her personal space, Bellatrix brushed her cheek along Narcissa's like a large cat, though the wand tracing the opposite side of the blonde's face took away from the comfort she might have taken from the gesture. "How am I supposed to believe you..?" Bellatrix's voice was musing, her wand dropping from trailing along Narcissa's jawline to tracing the curve of the side of her breast.
From the first days in which Bella had regained her strength and will, she had taken advantage of every single presented opportunity to bully her sister, using her magic to prove her dominance time and time again. The small teasing caresses that followed were enough to mollify the blonde, to press her back into the place she once held as the only one who could bring Bella down from her violent places with soft touches and a soothing voice. The pattern had followed as ever before, but with the new connection that existed, tying the women together with something deeper than blood, there was a fresh spark to every touch.
And yet, as of this moment, there had been no push to move beyond the teasing, to do any more than mock with the knowledge that the dark witch knew exactly what it was that she could do to the blonde. Even touches to bare flesh had not gone beyond that, leaving Narcissa floating in an abysmal void of sensation where want and uncertainty fought an eternal battle.
The strange sense of magic draining from her body drew the air from her lungs as Bellatrix wordlessly cast a spell, causing Narcissa to stiffen in place, unable to move petrified muscles. Bellatrix mumbled to herself as she paced before the frozen witch, arguing with a low angry voice with no one that the blonde could see. No words could be made out, but by the second the darker witch was growing more agitated, drawing Narcissa further into a place of fear that she doubted ever more she would escape from intact.
A violent shove sent Narcissa tumbling to the ground, hitting with a hard thump not unlike a large log, which she might as well have been in her immobilized state. Dull pain radiated outwards from the blonde's shoulder and the back of her head where she had taken most of the impact. That pain was nothing as her rapid heart beat drowned out all other senses as Bellatrix straddled her prone sister with a slow, purposeful motion. Firm knees held Narcissa's upper arms to her sides, preventing escape even if the witch could have struggled.
Unforgiving coldness coated Bellatrix's expression, holding it frozen, though Narcissa could swear there was regret flitting about just beneath the surface.
"I never wanted to involve you in this manner, you know. But it was the only place I knew no one would ever look." Bella spoke, her words almost hinting at apology as she set her wand aside and removed a dagger from Merlin only knew where to which Narcissa's eyes became immediately affixed. "But really.. how could I have known that I was going to die in the war? Me? His best Lieutenant?" The witch was working herself up into a frenzy, eyes turning wild before she directed her gaze back from the empty space above her head and back down to her helpless sister.
"I should feel sorry, shouldn't I?" Bella was lost, her dagger hovering over Narcissa's chest. "I should probably check her first.." there was a moment of pause, hesitation, before Bellatrix's expression crumbled, "Andromeda." Narcissa mightn't have believed her ears had Bellatrix not repeated the name several times more, voice breaking further with every repetition.
"Cissy.." The eyes that shone from Bella's face in that moment were unlike any that Narcissa had witnessed since her sister's miraculous return to life, and with the helpless gaze brought hope. "I'm sorry." Hope was dashed with the two simple words and the agonizing pain as Bella cut swiftly through the top layer of Narcissa's clothing, reaching skin within seconds and not stopping.
The spell keeping Narcissa from moving, from escaping, prevented her from screaming in agony as Bellatrix began slowly vivisecting her right there on the floor of Andromeda's destroyed home.
