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Sisterhood

Narcissa sat in the Three Broomsticks waiting for her sister. She hadn't seen Andromeda in over a year, and, although they had owled one another, it was never really the same. When Andromeda had decided to Visit, Narcissa had been thrilled. But underneath that was an anxiety; who was Andromeda now? Had she changed? Was she happy?

She was about to find out.

Andromeda burst through the doors, looking around the room until her eyes rested on Narcissa.

"I'm so happy to see you Cissa," she said, hugging Narcissa tightly. Narcissa leaned in closely. She had missed her big sister, missed having someone to hug. Bellatrix had never been one for personal contact. If you tried to hug her, you were more likely to be hexed.

"I missed you too Dromeda. How have you been?" Narcissa asked when they finally let one another go. A quick glance behind her sister told Narcissa she had come alone. A part of Narcissa had worried that Ted would appear as well.

"I've been great! Things are going really well with Ted, we've finally bought a house. Can you believe it?" Narcissa smiled at her sister's happiness.

"That's great. Where are you staying?"

"Just outside London…near Croydon? We wanted to be near Ted's parents."

"Oh…is there much of magical community there?" Narcissa certainly wasn't aware of any. But then she had always been quite limited in where her parents thought was acceptable to go.

"No, not really. But that doesn't really bother us."

"So…are you living like a muggle?" Already the conversation wasn't going the way Narcissa had hoped. She could see the annoyance of Andromeda's face. "I just…I don't know how I would cope."

"No, not really. We just need to be careful if we're using magic. But you get used to it. It was really strange at first though, when we moved in with Ted's parents."

"I'll bet. Moving in with the in-laws is bad enough, I can't imagine what it would like with muggles."

She enjoyed hearing about Andromeda's life. She had settled into domestic life far better than Narcissa would have expected. But that was possibly because Narcissa was more used to Bella's stories of marital life with Rudolphus Lestrange. Bellatrix's marriage seemed to involve far more arguments and thrown furniture.

Andromeda was telling her about her acceptance to study healing when Narcissa noticed James walking in with a group of Gryffindors, Lily Evans amongst them. James caught her eye and waved before settling at a large table at the back of the room.

"Who just walked in?" Andromeda asked as she turned around to view the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Really? You completely missed what I said and started staring at someone. Is it a boy?" Andromeda was smiling earnestly. It was odd to realise how out of the loop Andromeda had become. Once she would have been the first to know everything, now Narcissa realised she didn't even know about James.

"Yes,one of the boys, the dark haired one on the right. That's James, we're dating."

"Is he in Gryffindor?" Andromeda had clearly noticed the opposing colours to their Slytherin green.

"Yes, he's in Gryffindor," Narcissa rolled her eyes. "It's annoying because we're having to keep it quiet. God forbid there be an inter-house romance between Gryffindor and Slytherin." That sounded slightly more bitter than Narcissa had intended it.

"I know how it can be, Ted and I had to keep things quiet as well when we first got together. Hufflepuffs are even less acceptable to date than Gryffindors. It was a nightmare. But it seems like you really like him?"

Narcissa was hardly paying attention, she was too busy watching Lily Evans flirting with James. Honestly, for five years the girl had flat out ignored James and then when he finally moves on, she was all over him. "Narcissa?"

"Sorry, Dromeda! Yes, I really…I love him. How did you and Ted manage at first?"

"Well we were lucky, we were both prefects, so we could just act like it was 'prefect business' when we met up. Not that I'm sure anyone bought it. And there are parts of the library where barely anyone goes." She said with a knowing smile.

"James and I can barely keep our hands off each other when we're together. That's part of the problem."

"Just wait until you get married. It's even worse then." Narcissa tried to hide her reaction by taking a gulp of butterbeer, but Andromeda seemed to catch it. "Wait…the two of you, you're not sleeping together already are you?" She whispered, sounded oddly like their mother.

"Well, we have been dating for over a year. And…So what if we are?" God, for someone who had run off with a muggle-born, Andromeda was being remarkably proper. When Bella had figured out that Narcissa was having sex, she'd barely blinked. Just pointed her in the direction of effective contraceptives.

"You're both too young, you're both still in school for crying out loud! This is Bellatrix's influence."

"Well you did leave Andromeda! Who else was I supposed to go to for advice."

"This isn't about me! You should have waited, what happens...Oh my god, I sound like mum, don't I?"

Narcissa hadn't wanted to say it, she just nodded weakly.

"I'm sorry. I run away with Ted, and I've still managed to turn into my mother."

"It's okay, you've got a while left before that. I do love James, and I know he loves me. This was my choice."

"Just tell me you're being careful."

As if this conversation could get any worse. "Yes, can we please change the subject!"

"Fine. How is Bella anyway?"

Worse. Bella's mental health had never been stable, and Andromeda leaving had just pushed her off the ledge. But staring at her sister, Narcissa knew she couldn't tell her that. What would be the point, she wouldn't come back? "Fine, she's still Bella." That was an understatement. "She's married now, although her and Rudolphus seem to do nothing but fight and then make up."


"So, explain to me exactly why Sirius is in detention again?" Lily asked James, as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"It's not detention, he's just banned from going to Hogsmeade for a month. He was found with some banned items in his possession." Not that that would stop Sirius, James didn't doubt his friend would appear soon.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's got detention as well," Remus explained. "I heard McGonagall yelling at him this morning."

James felt a heavy feeling in his stomach. No doubt he would be getting the same lecture when he returned from Hogsmeade. He glanced across the room, and then spoke to Moony quietly. "I'm going to let Narcissa know. I think she was hoping Sirius would be able to catch up with Andromeda as well."

"James," said Lily putting her hand his arm. "Stay with your friends."

"That seems a bit hypocritical coming from someone who barely spoke to me until the beginning of the year."

He left before she could get anything else out. It was tiring trying to figure out why Lily was suddenly interested in him. He couldn't help but feel like it was less about him, and more about trying to one up Narcissa. Girls were crazy. As he walked over to her table, James had to look twice at the sister sitting across from Narcissa. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn it was Bellatrix Black sitting there. A familiarity that was only heightened when she frowned at James as he approached.

"James!" Narcissa greeted him warmly, "This is my sister Andromeda."

"James Potter," he introduced, holding his hand out to shake Andromeda's.

"Potter?" She raised an eyebrow, "So you're Sirius' friend, right?"

Guess she wasn't going to shake his hand then. "Yep, that would be me." He said, as he sat down next to Narcissa. He had really thought that out of all Narcissa's family, Andromeda would be the easiest one to get along with. "Which reminds me. I don't think Sirius will be appearing today. According to Remus, McGonagall was giving him a hard time just before we left for Hogsmeade."

"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous. Why is it that one of you always has detention?"

"We're trying to set a record."

"Shut up. Any record there is, you two have already broken it, I'm sure."

"Well, the two of you certainly seem loved up, " Andromeda interrupted. She had been watching them with the strangest look on her face. "One of the reasons I wanted to meet you, Narcissa, was to say that Ted and I have a spare room at ours now. I know how things are at home, that me leaving probably makes it worse. I didn't want you to feel like you were trapped there like I did, you can leave and come and stay with me." James wasn't sure that Andromeda really understood her little sister anymore.

"Andromeda…thank you, but I don't feel trapped at home."

"You might not yet. But what happens when they find out about James?"

"What-"

"They know about James. He's a pureblood, so why would they care?" Narcissa interrupted, before James could ask what exactly Andromeda meant. Disappointment flashed in Andromeda's eyes before she could cover it up.

"Of course, he's a pureblood." Andromeda replied softly.

"What does that mean?" Challenged Narcissa.

"Oh, come on, you know what I mean. Would you even be dating James if he wasn't a pureblood?"

"Yes," Narcissa replied, a certainty in her voice that James wasn't convinced of. He knew Narcissa loved him, but he wasn't sure their relationship would ever have progressed this far if he hadn't been a pure blood. As much as Narcissa did not want to be like her parents, they had still raised her and influenced her in ways she didn't want to acknowledge.

"Okay, well I'm glad you're happy with James. I just miss my family. I miss you, I wanted you to know you can come stay with me if you need to." James wondered if that offer would be open to Sirius too. If so, he would probably have moved in before Andromeda could blink.

"I miss you too Dromeda. And I'm sorry I've not tried to visit, I was just never sure if you wanted to see me. But now I know, I'll make more of an effort."

Of course, Andromeda could have made more of an effort as well. It annoyed James that Narcissa was apologising, he could still remember how broken she had been when Andromeda had first left home. "It's not all on you Cissa."

"James is right. It's not all on you, I'm sorry. It was just so difficult to leave in the first place that I thought if I saw you or spoke to you or Bella, that I would end up changing my mind and would end up back in that place."

"It's okay Andromeda."


"How are you feeling?" James finally asked Narcissa as they walked back to Hogwarts. Andromeda had been staying the night in the Three Broomsticks, and was heading home tomorrow.

"Okay, it was strange. I used to be really close to Andromeda, seeing her just reminded of how far apart we have drifted. And how little she knows me now."

"She's your sister, she still knows you. You just need to spend a bit more time together to remind each other of that." Although Narcissa's face said she wasn't convinced of that. "It was a difficult situation for both of you."

"I know, and it was good to see her. She looked good."

"And crazily like Bellatrix, right?"

"People have been saying for years. But honestly, I don't think they're that alike. In temperament they're totally different."

"If you say so. But I felt like Andromeda was glaring at me the entire time I was there."

"Yeah, she wasn't impressed when I mentioned that we were sleeping together."

"Why would you tell her that?"

"Because it's the sort of things girls talk to their sisters about. If you had brothers you would probably tell them about me, right?"

James wasn't sure. Sirius was like a brother to him, but he'd never told him about the details of his relationship with Narcissa. Of course, that was mainly because they were related. "Meh, Maybe."

"If it isn't Hogwarts version of Romeo and Juliet." Came the voice of Severus Snape. He was feeling brave today, surrounded by a group of Slytherin toadies, just outside the walls of the school. "Although, can we just skip to the end of the story now?"

What an asshole. "So, does that make you Tybalt then?" James asked. He didn't particularly want to get into a duel so close to the school. He was pretty sure he already had one detention awaiting him when he got in.

Narcissa didn't seem to have the same concern. The question was barely out of James' mouth when Narcissa cast an expulso curse straight at Snape. It was powerful enough to send him spiralling into the wall with a heavy thud, and he slid down to the floor.

"Does anyone else have something to say?" She demanded to the crowd of remaining Slytherins, who were starting to scatter, many mumbling under this breath. One went to pick up the barely conscious Severus Snape. Even in his confused state, he seemed to be sending looks of venom to Narcissa.

"Narcissa that was amazing!" He said once they were away from the scene of the crime. "I've never seen an expulso spell that strong."

"I just wasn't in the mood for Snape's bullshit."

"I got that. Although you do know he will try and get you back for humiliating him."

"Bring it."