Anyone who had known Narcissa Hardesty at school wouldn't have recognised the poised, elegant girl in the stooped figure stumbling down the drive. Narcissa cradled her broken arm protectively across her cracked ribs. She had a small bag hooked over her left shoulder, but even that seemed to cause her pain. The beautiful face was distorted by swellings and discoloured by bruises. Narcissa limped slowly down the drive, carefully getting past all the security features her husband had put into place to discourage unwelcome visitors. When she was finally outside the gates of Malfoy Manor, Narcissa had to sit on a tree stump and rest until her pain had ebbed enough to go on. Summoning the strength to start walking, to leave Malfoy Manor behind for good, was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. She knew that she could just turn around, go back in, and Lucius would never know how close she had come to leaving.
"No" she thought angrily at the treacherous part of her mind that whispered such things. "No. If I go back now, things won't get better, they'll probably get worse." Narcissa forced herself to her feet and moved as quickly as she could away from Malfoy Manor, towards the village.
To take her mind off her pain, Narcissa tried to think of what she should do now. Her parents were dead, as was her oldest brother. All three had died in a house fire just before Draco had been born. No one knew exactly what had happened, but the house was destroyed and the blackened skeletons of her parents and brother had been retrieved when the ruins had stopped smoking three days later. The funeral had been conducted the day after Draco's birth, so Narcissa had been unable to go. Her remaining brother and older sister had gone, and both had paid a quick visit to Narcissa in the hospital to see Draco and tell her how it had gone. Both of them felt she had made a mistake in marrying Lucius, but Narcissa at that time had had no doubts.
"You can always come to me" her older sister had promised, giving baby Draco a kiss before she left. Narcissa had thanked her, but had assured her that no such help would be required. They had all parted on good terms though, a fact Narcissa was grateful for as she had barely seen them since. Her brother worked as a cursebreaker for Gringotts in South America and had lived there full time since their parents had died. Her sister was a historical researcher, currently investigating the role of magic in the erection of menhir fields in France, and the historical purpose behind their creation. Even if Narcissa could get word to either of them, help would be another thing entirely. It would take two or three days for an owl to get to France, another day for her sister to make a decision and another three days for her reply. Even if her sister dropped everything and raced to her aid, Apparition was unreliable over long distances and it could take her several days to get to her sister. Narcissa needed somewhere to stay while she waited for her sister's response. She definitely couldn't catch the Knight bus, not in the state she was in, so her destination would have to be close by. Narcissa's knowledge of first aid, magical or otherwise was distinctly sketchy, so she needed medical attention as well. Narcissa sat down on a stile, exhausted with pain and fear. She fought back tears as she tried to think of what to do. All she could think was that she had to get as far away from Lucius as she could and then hide until her sister arrived. She was so tired, she just wanted to curl up and disappear.
"Come on" she said out loud to herself. "You can't stay here for ever. Get moving or he'll catch you." She struggled to her feet and began to stumble along the dark lane again towards the lights of the village. However, the habit of talking to herself, once started, proved a difficult one to break.
"I should stop talking to myself" said Narcissa, aware that to say that out loud was definitely odd, but not having the energy to force herself into silence. "People will think I'm crazy. I probably am, running out her in the night with nowhere to go. If I was sensible, I'd have waited, planned it properly. I shouldn't have told Lucius I'm pregnant. I should have laid my plans first, told him and then left." Narcissa rambled on through a haze of pain, the sound of her own voice and the pain blocking all of her senses preventing her from hearing the rustling in the bushes that would have told her she was no longer alone.
"I need to get to a hospital" muttered Narcissa. "I hope the baby's OK. If I go to a hospital, Lucius'll find me. I can't walk to France! I should have sent her an owl before I left. Then she'd know I was coming. I wonder if I'll ever see Draco again." rambled Narcissa. Her whole being was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.
"What's important in running away is the 'from'" she told herself firmly. "The 'to' takes care of itself. It'd be nice to know there was somewhere with a doctor though. I think broken ribs heal themselves, but I once read about a girl who broke her arm and didn't get it treated. She was deformed for life! What would I do with the baby if my arm was ruined? A one-armed mother's no good!"
Narcissa was interrupted at this point by a man stepping onto the path beside her.
"Narcissa Malfoy?" a voice inquired. There was something vaguely familiar about it, but Narcissa couldn't think where she had heard it before.
"'Til death do us part!" she agreed with a slightly hysterical giggle.
"Did Lucius send you to kill me?" she said curiously. "I didn't think he'd be back yet" she added.
"I don't work for Lucius" said the voice. Narcissa thought it sounded like it came from a long way away.
"Have you got an owl?" she inquired. "I need to write to my sister. I'm not mad you know, only tired. She lives in France, but I can't walk there." she told the stranger.
"Will you let me help you?" asked the stranger. He sounded concerned.
"I'm pregnant already" Narcissa said, stumbling slightly as a loose rock shifted under her foot.
"I don't want to take advantage of you" the stranger told her patiently. "I want to take you somewhere where you can get that arm seen to"
"He'll find me. I don't think he will kill me, but I don't know." said Narcissa worriedly. "He'll kill the baby, if he hasn't already. I need to hide until my sister comes, or until I can go to her. It's only a few weeks. Do you have a house?"
"I can take you somewhere where you will be safe, if you'll come with me" said the stranger.
"If I don't go with you, I'll be stuck here when the sun rises and Lucius will find me. If I go with you, unless you take me straight to him, things can't get worse." said Narcissa tiredly. "I'll come with you."
The stranger took her arm. "I have a hippogriff" he informed her. "Do you think you could bow to him?"
"If you'll stop me falling on my face!" joked Narcissa feebly.
"Buckbeak!" called the stranger. Narcissa heard a flapping sound and a huge hippogriff landed in front of her. Narcissa caught it's eye and tried not to blink, maintaining the eye contact as she leaned precariously forwards. When she pulled herself upright, the hippogriff bowed.
"Come on" said the stranger. "Climb on. I'll sit behind you and make sure you don't fall off." Narcissa allowed him to assist her onto the back of the hippogriff, where she balanced uncertainly as the hippogriff took off.
"Don't worry, I've got you" the stranger assured her. "You'll be OK now"
Narcissa allowed the blackness at the edges of her vision to claim her and fell into a nervous, pain-filled sleep.
Narcissa felt as though she was on the hippogriff for hours. The long trek down the dark lane became somewhat dreamlike. Narcissa was almost sure she was hallucinating. She was talking constantly to herself now, but most of what she was saying was neither audible or coherent. The stranger urged the hippogriff to go faster.
"Tell me Narcissa" said the stranger into her ear, hoping to bring back some lucidity. "Why were you walking down that lane at midnight?"
"I'm pregnant you know" she said. "Lucius says that now is not the time for a baby. He didn't want a child anyway, but especially not now. I want this child, and I told him so. Then he beat me. I hope the baby's OK" she said anxiously. "Where are you taking me?"
"To a place where you will be safe from Lucius Malfoy and any other supporters of Voldemort"
"Is there such a place? I often think Lucius can get anywhere"
"Don't worry, you'll be safe here. I must send an owl though, to tell them we're coming. Will you be OK with Buckbeak?" The stranger was already bringing the hippogriff to land near a clump of trees.
"Yes. Will you send an owl to my sister?"
"If you tell me what to say" said the stranger cheerfully, sliding off the hippogriffs back and getting out a quill and some parchment.
"Dear Persephone,
I have left Lucius and am in need of your help. I am afraid he will find me and force me to return to him, but I am having a baby he doesn't want, and if I return I know he will kill my baby, and possibly me as well. I would very much like to come and stay with you until I decide how best to proceed. Please write back as soon as you can.
You loving sister, Narcissa."
"Is that OK?" she asked. The stranger finished scribbling down what she had said.
"Sign it so she knows it's from you"
Narcissa signed the document clumsily with her left hand, than sat still to wait for the strangers return. The light sleep had refreshed her slightly, and she started to wonder where she had heard that voice before. It was a very long time ago, that was for certain. The voice in her head was that of a young teen, not long past childhood, yet this man was probably no more than five years younger than her, if that. Narcissa frowned to herself, glad to have something other than her pain to focus on. Who was it? She could remember the voice explaining something, sounding penitent
"But Professor, we didn't mean to ruin his robes. It's really not our fault that when the fireworks went off he poured a whole jug of gravy down them"
She almost had it then - could almost see the faces floating in front of her...
She gave up with a sigh, and fell asleep again.
When she awoke, they were once more in the air, heading north. She had remembered who the voice belonged to.
"Why haven't you killed me?" she inquired.
"Why would I do that?" said the stranger, sounding wary.
"You're Sirius Black, aren't you?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.
"Yes" he admitted.
"So why are you helping me?"
"Because I didn't kill Peter Pettigrew. I'm innocent of those crimes, but there's no proof. Dumbledore believes me, but his word is not enough to save me from the Dementors Kiss. So I work secretly for Dumbledore, doing jobs for him against Voldemort. I'm taking you to Hogwarts, where Lucius won't be able to reach you and where you can rest and recover."
"I am grateful" said Narcissa, "but I will be no worse off than before if you are lying to me"
"True" agreed Sirius, and they flew on in silence.
Narcissa must have dozed off again, because the next thing she knew, the hippogriff was landing near the mouth of a cave. It was nearly dawn, and Narcissa had never felt so awful in her life. Her ribs and arm felt as if they were on fire, and her whole body ached from a night of hippogriff riding.
"Where are we?" she asked tiredly.
"Hogsmeade. We'll have to wait here until Dumbledore tells us how to get into the castle without being seen. We don't want to attract too much attention"
Narcissa gratefully slid down from the hippogriff and slumped to the floor.
"Do you mind if I sleep?" she asked, unsure why she was asking.
"No problem. We shouldn't be here long, but I'll wake you when it's time" Narcissa allowed herself to lapse back into unconsciousness.
"Really Sirius!" she heard a voice say. "Fancy bringing her all this way by hippogriff in that condition!"
"I couldn't do anything else! She's in no state to catch the Knight Bus, or any other form of public transport for that matter. She says she's got nowhere to go, so I've brought her to you."
Narcissa realised the voices were real, and tried to open her eyes. They had swollen so much she could hardly see.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she asked, squinting through the slits of her swollen eyelids.
"That's right. I'm just conjuring up a stretcher for you and then we'll take you up to the school and into the medical wing."
"Don't tell Draco" begged Narcissa. "He can't see me like this! Please, Professor, promise me you won't tell him!"
"Shh, it's OK. I won't tell anyone anything, and nor will Sirius" promised Dumbledore kindly. "You just stay calm and try to rest. You'll be OK now"
Next part coming soon, and it'll be sooner if you REVIEW! Thanks very much to everyone who's reviewed the other parts!
"No" she thought angrily at the treacherous part of her mind that whispered such things. "No. If I go back now, things won't get better, they'll probably get worse." Narcissa forced herself to her feet and moved as quickly as she could away from Malfoy Manor, towards the village.
To take her mind off her pain, Narcissa tried to think of what she should do now. Her parents were dead, as was her oldest brother. All three had died in a house fire just before Draco had been born. No one knew exactly what had happened, but the house was destroyed and the blackened skeletons of her parents and brother had been retrieved when the ruins had stopped smoking three days later. The funeral had been conducted the day after Draco's birth, so Narcissa had been unable to go. Her remaining brother and older sister had gone, and both had paid a quick visit to Narcissa in the hospital to see Draco and tell her how it had gone. Both of them felt she had made a mistake in marrying Lucius, but Narcissa at that time had had no doubts.
"You can always come to me" her older sister had promised, giving baby Draco a kiss before she left. Narcissa had thanked her, but had assured her that no such help would be required. They had all parted on good terms though, a fact Narcissa was grateful for as she had barely seen them since. Her brother worked as a cursebreaker for Gringotts in South America and had lived there full time since their parents had died. Her sister was a historical researcher, currently investigating the role of magic in the erection of menhir fields in France, and the historical purpose behind their creation. Even if Narcissa could get word to either of them, help would be another thing entirely. It would take two or three days for an owl to get to France, another day for her sister to make a decision and another three days for her reply. Even if her sister dropped everything and raced to her aid, Apparition was unreliable over long distances and it could take her several days to get to her sister. Narcissa needed somewhere to stay while she waited for her sister's response. She definitely couldn't catch the Knight bus, not in the state she was in, so her destination would have to be close by. Narcissa's knowledge of first aid, magical or otherwise was distinctly sketchy, so she needed medical attention as well. Narcissa sat down on a stile, exhausted with pain and fear. She fought back tears as she tried to think of what to do. All she could think was that she had to get as far away from Lucius as she could and then hide until her sister arrived. She was so tired, she just wanted to curl up and disappear.
"Come on" she said out loud to herself. "You can't stay here for ever. Get moving or he'll catch you." She struggled to her feet and began to stumble along the dark lane again towards the lights of the village. However, the habit of talking to herself, once started, proved a difficult one to break.
"I should stop talking to myself" said Narcissa, aware that to say that out loud was definitely odd, but not having the energy to force herself into silence. "People will think I'm crazy. I probably am, running out her in the night with nowhere to go. If I was sensible, I'd have waited, planned it properly. I shouldn't have told Lucius I'm pregnant. I should have laid my plans first, told him and then left." Narcissa rambled on through a haze of pain, the sound of her own voice and the pain blocking all of her senses preventing her from hearing the rustling in the bushes that would have told her she was no longer alone.
"I need to get to a hospital" muttered Narcissa. "I hope the baby's OK. If I go to a hospital, Lucius'll find me. I can't walk to France! I should have sent her an owl before I left. Then she'd know I was coming. I wonder if I'll ever see Draco again." rambled Narcissa. Her whole being was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.
"What's important in running away is the 'from'" she told herself firmly. "The 'to' takes care of itself. It'd be nice to know there was somewhere with a doctor though. I think broken ribs heal themselves, but I once read about a girl who broke her arm and didn't get it treated. She was deformed for life! What would I do with the baby if my arm was ruined? A one-armed mother's no good!"
Narcissa was interrupted at this point by a man stepping onto the path beside her.
"Narcissa Malfoy?" a voice inquired. There was something vaguely familiar about it, but Narcissa couldn't think where she had heard it before.
"'Til death do us part!" she agreed with a slightly hysterical giggle.
"Did Lucius send you to kill me?" she said curiously. "I didn't think he'd be back yet" she added.
"I don't work for Lucius" said the voice. Narcissa thought it sounded like it came from a long way away.
"Have you got an owl?" she inquired. "I need to write to my sister. I'm not mad you know, only tired. She lives in France, but I can't walk there." she told the stranger.
"Will you let me help you?" asked the stranger. He sounded concerned.
"I'm pregnant already" Narcissa said, stumbling slightly as a loose rock shifted under her foot.
"I don't want to take advantage of you" the stranger told her patiently. "I want to take you somewhere where you can get that arm seen to"
"He'll find me. I don't think he will kill me, but I don't know." said Narcissa worriedly. "He'll kill the baby, if he hasn't already. I need to hide until my sister comes, or until I can go to her. It's only a few weeks. Do you have a house?"
"I can take you somewhere where you will be safe, if you'll come with me" said the stranger.
"If I don't go with you, I'll be stuck here when the sun rises and Lucius will find me. If I go with you, unless you take me straight to him, things can't get worse." said Narcissa tiredly. "I'll come with you."
The stranger took her arm. "I have a hippogriff" he informed her. "Do you think you could bow to him?"
"If you'll stop me falling on my face!" joked Narcissa feebly.
"Buckbeak!" called the stranger. Narcissa heard a flapping sound and a huge hippogriff landed in front of her. Narcissa caught it's eye and tried not to blink, maintaining the eye contact as she leaned precariously forwards. When she pulled herself upright, the hippogriff bowed.
"Come on" said the stranger. "Climb on. I'll sit behind you and make sure you don't fall off." Narcissa allowed him to assist her onto the back of the hippogriff, where she balanced uncertainly as the hippogriff took off.
"Don't worry, I've got you" the stranger assured her. "You'll be OK now"
Narcissa allowed the blackness at the edges of her vision to claim her and fell into a nervous, pain-filled sleep.
Narcissa felt as though she was on the hippogriff for hours. The long trek down the dark lane became somewhat dreamlike. Narcissa was almost sure she was hallucinating. She was talking constantly to herself now, but most of what she was saying was neither audible or coherent. The stranger urged the hippogriff to go faster.
"Tell me Narcissa" said the stranger into her ear, hoping to bring back some lucidity. "Why were you walking down that lane at midnight?"
"I'm pregnant you know" she said. "Lucius says that now is not the time for a baby. He didn't want a child anyway, but especially not now. I want this child, and I told him so. Then he beat me. I hope the baby's OK" she said anxiously. "Where are you taking me?"
"To a place where you will be safe from Lucius Malfoy and any other supporters of Voldemort"
"Is there such a place? I often think Lucius can get anywhere"
"Don't worry, you'll be safe here. I must send an owl though, to tell them we're coming. Will you be OK with Buckbeak?" The stranger was already bringing the hippogriff to land near a clump of trees.
"Yes. Will you send an owl to my sister?"
"If you tell me what to say" said the stranger cheerfully, sliding off the hippogriffs back and getting out a quill and some parchment.
"Dear Persephone,
I have left Lucius and am in need of your help. I am afraid he will find me and force me to return to him, but I am having a baby he doesn't want, and if I return I know he will kill my baby, and possibly me as well. I would very much like to come and stay with you until I decide how best to proceed. Please write back as soon as you can.
You loving sister, Narcissa."
"Is that OK?" she asked. The stranger finished scribbling down what she had said.
"Sign it so she knows it's from you"
Narcissa signed the document clumsily with her left hand, than sat still to wait for the strangers return. The light sleep had refreshed her slightly, and she started to wonder where she had heard that voice before. It was a very long time ago, that was for certain. The voice in her head was that of a young teen, not long past childhood, yet this man was probably no more than five years younger than her, if that. Narcissa frowned to herself, glad to have something other than her pain to focus on. Who was it? She could remember the voice explaining something, sounding penitent
"But Professor, we didn't mean to ruin his robes. It's really not our fault that when the fireworks went off he poured a whole jug of gravy down them"
She almost had it then - could almost see the faces floating in front of her...
She gave up with a sigh, and fell asleep again.
When she awoke, they were once more in the air, heading north. She had remembered who the voice belonged to.
"Why haven't you killed me?" she inquired.
"Why would I do that?" said the stranger, sounding wary.
"You're Sirius Black, aren't you?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.
"Yes" he admitted.
"So why are you helping me?"
"Because I didn't kill Peter Pettigrew. I'm innocent of those crimes, but there's no proof. Dumbledore believes me, but his word is not enough to save me from the Dementors Kiss. So I work secretly for Dumbledore, doing jobs for him against Voldemort. I'm taking you to Hogwarts, where Lucius won't be able to reach you and where you can rest and recover."
"I am grateful" said Narcissa, "but I will be no worse off than before if you are lying to me"
"True" agreed Sirius, and they flew on in silence.
Narcissa must have dozed off again, because the next thing she knew, the hippogriff was landing near the mouth of a cave. It was nearly dawn, and Narcissa had never felt so awful in her life. Her ribs and arm felt as if they were on fire, and her whole body ached from a night of hippogriff riding.
"Where are we?" she asked tiredly.
"Hogsmeade. We'll have to wait here until Dumbledore tells us how to get into the castle without being seen. We don't want to attract too much attention"
Narcissa gratefully slid down from the hippogriff and slumped to the floor.
"Do you mind if I sleep?" she asked, unsure why she was asking.
"No problem. We shouldn't be here long, but I'll wake you when it's time" Narcissa allowed herself to lapse back into unconsciousness.
"Really Sirius!" she heard a voice say. "Fancy bringing her all this way by hippogriff in that condition!"
"I couldn't do anything else! She's in no state to catch the Knight Bus, or any other form of public transport for that matter. She says she's got nowhere to go, so I've brought her to you."
Narcissa realised the voices were real, and tried to open her eyes. They had swollen so much she could hardly see.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she asked, squinting through the slits of her swollen eyelids.
"That's right. I'm just conjuring up a stretcher for you and then we'll take you up to the school and into the medical wing."
"Don't tell Draco" begged Narcissa. "He can't see me like this! Please, Professor, promise me you won't tell him!"
"Shh, it's OK. I won't tell anyone anything, and nor will Sirius" promised Dumbledore kindly. "You just stay calm and try to rest. You'll be OK now"
Next part coming soon, and it'll be sooner if you REVIEW! Thanks very much to everyone who's reviewed the other parts!