She was in cell three, leaning against the wall, her face a mask of utter despair. Someone had taken her cloak away from her. She was huddled up in a ball, her arms wrapped around her knees, her hair limp and dirty, her thin camisole stained and inadequate against the cold. She was shivering, rocking back and forth, her eyes almost blind from crying.

Remus ran to the door and thrust his hand through the bars, "Narcissa!"

Her eyes lit up for a moment. She crawled to the door and grabbed his hand.

"You came back for me," she said in disbelieving happiness.

"Did you think I would leave you here?" Remus asked, "Your hands are like ice. Where's your cloak?"

"They took it from me," Narcissa replied, shivering, "It doesn't matter. Is he alive?"

"He's alive."

Narcissa closed her eyes and began crying again, "Thank God."

"Narcissa – there's something else," Remus hesitated, "He's not going to be the same again. You have to understand this."

"He's going to be a werewolf. I know," she nodded, her jaw set, "That's why it was more important for you to stay with him. You can help him. Me, I'm no good for anything."

"Don't say that," Remus rubbed her fingers between his palms, trying to warm them, "You're his mother. If it wasn't for you, he would never have gotten this far. He owes his life to you."

Narcissa shook her head, "Now I know how Lucius must have felt, when he was in prison. I don't know if they're going to let me go, Remus."

"They have to," Remus replied forcefully, "I'm not going to let you rot in prison. I told Lucius I would protect you both. And I'm going to keep that promise."

Narcissa smiled faintly, "You've done more than your share. But I think this is the end of the line for me, Remus. I don't know if I have any fight left. If they want to turn me over to the Dementors, they're going to. And I don't know if I have the strength to try and stop them anymore."

"Draco needs you!"

"He's never needed me. If he needed me, then I would have been able to keep him from the Dark Lord. I could have raised him differently. I turned a blind eye; I let Lucius make all the decisions. And when Lucius told me that Draco wanted to be a Death Eater – I let him go. I didn't think I had a choice." Her expression was bitterly regretful, "But I had nothing but choices. Bellatrix was right. He is what he is because of me."

"Bellatrix was a cold-hearted bitch," Remus said angrily, "And the only reason that boy is alive today is because of you! You can't give up on him now, Narcissa. Not when he needs you so much."

"Don't you see? It isn't me he needs anymore. Lucius gave him to you, that day at Azkaban. He told you to look after him, to protect him. There's nothing I can do for him anymore. But you can save him. You can look after him; you can intercede for the judge. You can take care of him. Me, I'm useless. What can I do to help? You can do it, Remus. And you will. You promised Lucius you would."

"I don't care if you think Draco doesn't need you," Remus replied, his voice desperate, "I'm not going to let you give up. I need you, Narcissa. Don't you understand? I need you."

Narcissa's blue eyes widened.

Remus knew that he should stop, but he couldn't. The past twenty years that he'd kept bottled up inside came pouring out.

"I did a terrible thing to you, the worst I've ever done in my life. I've spent the past twenty years regretting it. I turned my back on you once when you asked me for help. I let you get into the worst situation that you could ever have gotten into. You say that you let Lucius Malfoy make all the decisions for you? Well, before Lucius Malfoy, I was the one who made the decisions. I handed you to him on a silver platter. I gave you to him, and he took over. Maybe he's responsible for getting you and Draco into this mess, but I tell you truthfully, Narcissa, that you never would have even been married to him – never would have had Draco – if it had been up to me."

"Remus – "

"No! Don't stop me. I've held this in for too long." Remus took a deep breath and barreled on.

"I've kept this all inside, for the past four months, because I kept telling myself that there were things you shouldn't remember, if you didn't have to. Things that would cause you pain if you remembered them. Because I remembered them, and they hurt me. So I kept you at arm's length, when all I wanted to do was draw you in, to ask your forgiveness, to explain to you that the reason you were in this position was because I was too pigheaded and stupid to admit that I was wrong before something terrible happened to you. The reason you married Lucius, the reason you were cursed, the reason you forgot everything was because I threw you away!"

Narcissa was crying again, "Please, Remus, stop!"

"No! I can't stop!" Remus grabbed her hands in his again, "Don't you understand? I loved you, Narcissa. I loved you and I gave you up. Because I was too stupid to believe that anyone could possibly love me for the way I was! But you loved me. You loved me and you kissed me like you meant it, and I knew that you meant it. And I knew in my heart that you loved me, but I couldn't bring myself to let go of my stupid selfish pigheadedness. I couldn't believe that you were different. I thought that you'd be just like everyone else, and in the end I would suffer for loving you. And I DID suffer, but you know what? You suffered so much more than I ever did! And you're suffering to this day, and that's my fault." His eyes filled with tears, "For so long, I've wanted to tell you that I loved you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. But I'm going to say it now. I – "

Someone clapped a hand on Remus' shoulder. It was Dawlish.

"Come on," he said, "Prisoner needs to be taken upstairs to be arraigned."

"Please," Remus asked him, "another minute?"

"You've had quite enough time," Dawlish replied, "Let's go."

Remus did not let go of her hand, "Narcissa, please believe me."

She was sobbing now, "Remus."

Remus turned to Dawlish, "Is it always customary to take away protective garments from prisoners not yet arraigned? Give her the cloak back before she freezes to death."

He squeezed Narcissa's hand one last time, "Listen to me. I'm coming back for you. Do you understand? I'm going to check on Draco, and then I'll be back for your arraignment. I promise you this – I am coming back. I did not follow you all this way to desert you now. Do you believe me?"

Through her tears, she nodded.

Remus turned to Dawlish, "I'll be back."

He strode out of the prison without another word.

"Arraignment 93845. Narcissa Black Malfoy, 37, of 1486 Huntington Circle, Cambridge. Charged with accessory to the murder of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, of miscarrying justice served, of hiding a person suspected of Death Eater activity, and of the murder of Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."

Griselda Marchbanks lowered the sheet of paper and glanced at Rufus Scrimgeour. The Minister rose and bellowed, "Does the defendant wish to enter a plea?"

All eyes in Courtroom Six turned to Narcissa. She was standing in the middle of the room, still dressed in her inadequate camisole, her own dirty cloak thrown hastily over her shoulders. Her hair hung limply around her face – they had not given her a chance to wash up.

Sitting in the first row, Remus felt his heart clench. Narcissa had not been provided with a lawyer for such an occasion. He did not know if she could hold up under the pressure of the courtroom.

"Sir," Narcissa said faintly, "May I be permitted to speak freely?"

Scrimgeour glanced at the Wizengamot, then nodded, "Be brief."

"Thank you."

She cleared her throat, "I do not pretend that my actions have been legal according to our system of justice. I do not ask for you to believe me; I know that you won't. But I do say, with total honesty, that I have no memory of the events surrounding the murder of Albus Dumbledore, nor of the murder of Lucius Malfoy. But as to the charges of miscarrying justice served, and of hiding my son – yes, I plead guilty to those charges."

Several people started talking at once.

"Order in this courtroom," Scrimgeour demanded.

He looked at Narcissa again.

"Have you anyone to speak in your defense?"

"Right here."

Everyone turned. A woman in the third row had risen and was now walking down to the floor. Remus' heart leaped into his throat.

"Your name!" Scrimgeour demanded.

"Nymphadora Hecate Tonks," she replied clearly, "Speaker on the behalf of Narcissa Black Malfoy."

"Well, what have you to say?" Scrimgeour blustered.

Tonks cleared her own throat and looked at the crowd around her, "Ladies and gentlemen, you all know that recently my parents, Andromeda and Theodore, were murdered, and Death Eaters have been implicated in the crime."

Her face reflected pain for an instant, then cleared. She reached into her pocket.

"I offer this as exhibit A in the defense of Narcissa Malfoy," she announced, placing it in Scrimgeour's hand, "A brooch found on the floor of my parents' home the morning of their murders."

The crowd began to talk again. Scrimgeour inspected the brooch, turning it over and over in his hand, "This doesn't mean anything," he said.

Tonks ignored him, turning to the assembled crowd, "You also know that this morning, the bodies of Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback, known Death Eaters wanted by the Ministry, were discovered in the home of Harry Potter, where Narcissa Malfoy has admitted to hiding with her son."

She produced a wand from her cloak, "I present this as Exhibit B: the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange."

"This is ridiculous!" Scrimgeour shouted, "How can you prove that that wand belongs to Bellatrix Lestrange? Or that it's the wand that killed your parents?"

Tonk's eyes blazed. She lifted the wand into the air and shouted, "PRIORI INCANTATUM!"

For a minute, nothing happened. Then, the long, silvery form of a ghost flowed like air out of the tip of the wand. Several people began screaming. It was the ghost of a woman.

She was fortyish, with hair piled haphazardly on top of her head, her face lined and creased with the stress of her years. She had a distinctive scar on her neck.

Remus felt chills skate up and down his spine.

Tonk's eyes were filled with tears.

The ghost of Andromeda Tonks drifted down beside her daughter, to stand beside her. She touched her briefly on the shoulder, her eyes filled with regret and loss, but something else, too – pride. She said something that only Tonks could hear. Tonks nodded and brushed the tears out of her eyes.

Then the ghost turned and began to glide towards Narcissa. Narcissa's blue eyes widened so the whites were visible all around them. It had been over twenty years since she had last seen her sister. Now, she remembered exactly what she had looked like.

Andromeda stopped a few feet away from her sister. She reached out with a ghostly hand and touched Narcissa's cheek, brushed her dirty hair away from her face. Narcissa closed her eyes, leaning in to her sister's touch. Andromeda smiled softly. Then she whispered something else. Narcissa swallowed, then nodded.

Andromeda glided backwards from Narcissa. She looked at Remus for one long moment.

Then, she disappeared.

The crowd was talking loudly now. Narcissa appeared shaken. Remus' eyes were full of Tonks. Tonks was shaking, biting the back of her fist to keep from crying. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and turned to Scrimgeour.

"This woman standing here," she announced, "this ghost you all saw standing before you – my mother's ghost – would never have protected her killer."

She looked at Narcissa's still form.

"Even if that killer was her sister."