"Black and Bruised"
My prompt:
It's Quiet Uptown: Write about someone asking for forgiveness
Lyric: Look at where we are, look at where we started.
Optional Prompts:
Restriction|| Only female characters
Relationship|| sisters
Location|| park
Her fingers clenched the emerald velvet of her skirt, the sweat-dampened fabric dropping limply from her hand. It was a habit she had fallen into during the early days of the war. If she wasn't clutching her robes or her wand, then it was her palms indented with deep, crescent-shaped scars from her fingernails digging into the skin. She needed to hold onto something—
Narcissa exhaled shakily, furtively glancing both ways in either direction to see if anyone was coming. But it was a Tuesday morning, and all the Muggles would be at work or school. The only people who would be out and about were truants, binmen, and stray cats.
She crossed the road hurriedly, seeing a car advance towards her in the distance. The polished chrome of the hubcaps caught the sunlight as it peeked out shyly from behind a thick copse of trees in the park. Narcissa stepped into the shade of a lush, green elm and surveyed the plot of land before her. Pursing her lips distastefully at the state of the playground, she wondered how any mother could possibly let their child run around on swing sets and seesaws covered in pigeon droppings.
Behind the climbing gym was a footpath that curved around the south end of the neighbourhood, where joggers and cyclists breezed by, foreheads dripping with sweat, nodding curtly at her as she passed. Narcissa returned the gesture and made her way to the duck pond, where all her resolve sank into a pit in her stomach at the sight of the woman on the bench.
It had been thirty-four years since she had last seen her older sister. Everything had changed, and nothing had changed.
Andromeda's Hogwarts trunk lay on its side, hollow and capsized like the boats used to lead the first year students. Quickly she moved around the side of the bed, turning a blind eye to the carnage; the broken spines of leather-bound textbooks, the snapped necks of peacock feather quills, and the hemorrhage of Azul Marino ink splattered on the marble floor. Securing her chestnut brown hair into a chignon with her wand, Andromeda transferred the contents of her armoire into the trunk.
Robes of georgette and charmeuse, chemise, and sundry cloaks flew from each drawer into a neatly-folded stack, until there was no room left inside the trunk.
She grabbed the remainder of her belongings, and with a click, the lock was shut and she turned to leave the bedroom. Andromeda stopped in her tracks as she finally noticed Narcissa at the door, still in her nightgown.
"It's not too late, you know," the latter said, in a voice much more confident than she had anticipated.
Andromeda sneered. "To what, crawl back to our pathetic excuse of a family? Accept a marriage proposal from Lucius Malfoy, our sodding cousin, so I can continue the Black tradition of breeding pureblood supremacists?"
"He's a good man from a wealthy family," she retorted, now standing akimbo in the doorway to prevent Andromeda from leaving. "He is kind and generous, and you should be grateful that Mother and Father arranged the engagement in the first place!"
"If he's so kind and generous, why don't you marry him? I'm sure Mother and Father will be pleased when they learn your child's first word is 'Mudblood.'" The grimace on her face as she spoke the obscenity told Narcissa everything.
"At least my child will be telling the truth. You lied to us all these years, and now you're leaving everything behind for a filthy, penniless fool of a human being who doesn't deserve an ounce of the magic he's got!"
"Have you listened to yourself? For Merlin's sake, Cissy, you sound like Bellatrix and that bastard Rodolphus! Can't you see that everything we've been taught is wrong?"
Time had weathered Andromeda's heart-shaped face; Narcissa could see it in the crow's feet by her hooded eyes, and the slight sag of her chin beneath high, hollowed-out cheekbones. There were sunspots at her temple and lines etched on her forehead as she sat with furrowed brows, deep in thought, on one of the benches. She had lost a few stone, the clothes hanging loosely off her body like a mannequin in the window of Twilfitt and Tattings.
Narcissa stepped forwards, and her shoe collided with a stone that fell into the pond with a subdued splash.
Andromeda's eyes immediately flew open and landed upon Narcissa's figure.
To any wandering Muggle eye, a glamour spell ensured her attire was a professional, work-appropriate sheath dress, the look finished off with a blazer, loafers, and a layered necklace. But to Andromeda, she was a foreign creature in velour, perhaps seen only in daydreams when she was left alone to dwell on the uncertainties of the past.
"Can't you see that you've been corrupted? He's leeching off of you so he can shag you, for Merlin's sake! You're so naive, Andy. You bat your eyes at one charity case and suddenly you're in love." Narcissa spat the word out as though it were diseased.
"So what if I love Ted? Will the world end? Will stars fall out of the sky? Will Voldemort and his Death Eater scum torture me until I forget my name?" She punctuated each question with a step towards Narcissa, eyes reduced to slits. Her irises blackened with indignation. "I heard Bella, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and darling Lucius talk about joining him. They're going to receive the Mark after Bella is married."
Narcissa, who had not been aware of this development, scowled at the allegation. "They are proud of their bloodline, which is more than you can say. They are proud to have the purest magic in all of Wizarding Britain, untainted by Muggles and their repulsive, brutish ways."
The sisters glared at each other, Narcissa flushed red with vexation.
Andromeda said nothing, then summoned a cobalt shard of glass from the floor. Still glaring at Narcissa, she sliced the skin of her palm and held it in the air. Blood welled from the cut and began to trickle down her wrist.
"I am proud to be a blood traitor," she said, "and I refuse to marry someone who cannot acknowledge that we were never pure. And joining Voldemort and his army will never make us pure."
Andromeda regarded her calmly, although Narcissa could see her hand twitch at her side, no doubt where her wand would be concealed. A breeze blew through her hair, and Narcissa could see streaks of grey interwoven in the plait.
"I would advise you not to come any closer," she said at last. "The Daily Prophet would have a panic attack if they saw Narcissa Malfoy sully herself in the presence of a blood traitor."
"Andy—"
"Don't call me that."
"I only want to talk."
"That's what we're doing." Each word uttered with more venom than the last, Andromeda's eyes glittered with malice, darkened in the shadows of the grove. Not for the first time, Narcissa was overcome with images of Bellatrix's sadistic leer, ever-present in the halls of the Manor and her memory, and she broke eye contact first.
"I haven't brought my wand with me," she confessed. "I am not here to fight you. Just to talk."
"Did you really think I would believe that?"
"It's the truth."
Andromeda's mouth twisted, and from within her coat she removed a plastic filled with breadcrumbs. She began to toss them, one by one, into the pond, ripples forming in concentric circles among the reeds. "I wish you had known the truth sooner. That is my only regret. That you could not look past pride and see the bigger picture." When the plastic was empty, she rolled it back into the pocket of her coat and made room on the bench. "Sit."
Narcissa pulled her cloak tightly against her and joined her sister on the bench. They did not face each other, which she preferred greatly over standing off, unmoving. She had never been fond of confrontation. The arguments and evidence she rehearsed in her head seemed to die on her tongue as soon as she opened her mouth. These days, it was much easier to have someone do the work for you, and not have to bother with the fallout it caused.
"So," Andromeda began, "what do you want?"
"You don't know what you're talking about." Narcissa's voice wavered, and reflexively her hand bunched up the cotton nightgown, wiping away the clamminess.
Andromeda snarled. "It should be illegal for you to speak, your idiocy could rival that of a troll's. Since I don't seem to be getting through your thick skull, why don't I make myself clear?" Incensed, she pushed past Narcissa and descended the spiral staircase to the second floor landing of the Black Estate.
On the eastern wall of the drawing room was a tapestry of juniper green, sprawling with golden embroidery around the names and faces of each member of the House of Black. At the very top was the family crest, and the words "Toujours Pur."
Andromeda, still bleeding, looked back at Narcissa with a twisted, victorious smile, and smeared her palm over the family motto, leaving behind a crimson stain.
"You are making a big mistake," Narcissa said slowly, so as to prevent herself from seething with unbridled anger. "If you do this, we will never accept you as our own. You will be as lowly as that Muggle rat, Ted Tonks, and despised. There will be no purebloods left in Great Britain!"
"Good," Andromeda said firmly. "Good bloody riddance." She stepped away from the wall, but not before she had yelled, "Bombarda!" and blasted her name off the tapestry.
Narcissa stared at the void between her name and Bellatrix's long after Andromeda left. A faint smoke curled from the sable mark, and she sank to the floor.
"Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"
She heard Andromeda sigh next to her. "It depends."
"On what?"
"Have you forgiven yourself first?"
"I—"
"Do you genuinely regret your decisions during the war? Supporting supremacist ideologies that encourage the incarceration, torture, and murder of Muggleborn witches and wizards? Do you actually believe that purebloods are the superior race? That we are the only ones who deserve our magic?"
Narcissa could feel Andromeda's stare, but did not face her. "I have good reason to believe what I do. Don't you remember History of Magic with Binns, and learning about Muggles persecuting and burning our kind at the stake?"
"Which was completely pointless, seeing as they would use a Flame-Freezing Charm."
She continued anyway. "It's the intent rather than the act itself. I daresay that more than justifies how I feel about the matter."
"So that means raising your son to think he's entitled to the bloody world, but Muggleborns aren't? Just because they were brought up differently? Magic is still magic, Narcissa!"
"They were never meant to have it," Narcissa said resolutely, jutting her chin out with her head held high. "Why do you suppose we created the Statute of Secrecy? Who knows what would happen to us if the Muggles discovered our existence? Even with no Dark Lord, we live in constant fear that our abilities are enough to get us killed!"
"And that shoddy logic still validates your support of the Death Eaters? You didn't learn your lesson after Lucius went to Azkaban, did you? You were perfectly fine with your son joining the Death Eaters with dear Bella, and letting them torture innocent witches and wizards in your home."
Narcissa clenched her jaw. "I didn't have a choice. Draco didn't have a choice."
"I told you about Lucius all those years ago, and you didn't listen to me."
"I married him because you rejected the proposal, and someone had to make up for your disappointment," she hissed. "And I love him."
"If that was true, you wouldn't have gone down the road you did." Narcissa finally glanced at Andromeda and found her fiddling with a silver wedding ring, inlaid with opals. She turned her hand over and traced a line down her palm, where she had cut herself all those years ago. "I lost Ted to the Snatchers. Bella killed my daughter and Dolohov killed my son-in-law, Remus. I was tortured in my own home and nearly died. The only person I have left in my life is Teddy. You could have listened to me. You should have."
Narcissa crossed her arms over her chest. "I think, sooner or later, it would not have mattered."
Andromeda scoffed. "You are truly something else, Narcissa Malfoy. I was so sure you had changed after all these years, but I stand corrected. You're still the same, selfish brat of a little sister."
"Andromeda—"
"You don't want my forgiveness." She stood up, brushing stray crumbs off her trousers. "And you don't deserve it either." She stalked off towards the playground.
"Wait!" Narcissa followed her through the grass, and Andromeda stopped. "If you cannot forgive me, then I understand."
"I don't think you do. Look at where we are. Look at where we started! This is the first time you've spoken to me in thirty years, and you show up, asking me to forgive you when you clearly show neither remorse for your actions nor any indication of acceptance towards Muggleborns, after everything you've gone through. So what could you possibly want now?"
Narcissa caught her breath and said, "My daughter-in-law, Astoria… she is expecting a son soon. If you will not forgive me, will you at least let your grandson and mine meet?"
Andromeda's hooded eyes narrowed.
"I am not likely to ever forgive myself for what I've done, Andy. Draco never met Nymphadora, but he has changed his ways, and married a woman who has more tolerant views of Muggles than myself or Lucius."
"Astoria…?"
"Greengrass. She is pureblood too, from one of the families of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But she is compassionate and loving and exactly like you. She will raise her son in the same way you have cared for your family."
"Does she sit around and look pretty for Draco? Does she revel in gossip and bribe people with her money, as you are so famously known for?"
Narcissa shook her head. "She is an Obliviator. Has been now, for about three years. She works with Muggles on a daily basis and has made… impressive strides in the field."
"And what have she and Draco decided to name the child?"
"Scorpius Hyperion, after the family tradition. But he will make a new name for himself, I am sure of it." Narcissa's heart was beating so loudly she could hear her pulse in her ears. She exhaled into the cold morning air, her fingers wrapped around the sleeve of her robes.
Andromeda looked down and away, towards the duck pond. A mallard and swan had landed in the water, and they swam its surface, nipping at the soggy breadcrumbs. "There is no hope for you and me. We could sit at this duck pond for hours and hours and never be rid of the past. But I do know that there is hope for our grandchildren. They will never have to suffer as we did, and they can rest easy, knowing there is no more war to fight."
Narcissa nodded, and her voice was hoarse. "Indeed."
"When is he due?"
"December 22nd."
Andromeda was silent for a moment as she contemplated the offer. "I will mark my calendar. Goodbye, Cissy." She headed into the grove and Disapparated with a final crunch of her boots on the falling leaves.
"Goodbye, Andy."
And that's a wrap on that! All reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated, folks!