Written for the Transfiguration class.
Task: For this task I would like you to write about a person atoning for, or correcting past mistake/s.
WC: 996
She watches as the woman in front of her places the bouquet of flowers on the gravestones at her feet.
There are three of them – her husband, her daughter and her son in law.
Her posture is stiff and if she didn't know better, she would've think that the woman belongs with the royalty.
But she knows better and that's why she's here.
She doesn't belong there. She belongs to the House of Black, despite what her Mother told her all those years ago.
.
She listens, with her head bowed, how her Mother is screaming with her sister. How she despises her choices, how she is condemning the Black family just like her uncle.
Raising her head just a little, trying to avoid any attention, she notices that her sister does not seem preoccupied with the fact that their Mother hates her.
On the contrary. Andromeda looks like she's in peace with her choice. Her face doesn't have the lines of worry that had become so common these days.
When she meets her eyes, her older sister blinks at her, as if saying that everything is going to be okay.
She believes her because unlike Bella, 'Dromeda is not a liar.
.
She's debating whether or not she should approach her.
It's been so long since they exchanged a word, or even a glance.
She doesn't know how to even start a conversation with her. So much has been said and done between them that she wonders, not for the first time since she decided to talk to her again, if it is even worth it.
.
"I could really use your help, you know."
It never cease to amaze her how Andromeda is so like Bella on the outside but so different on the inside. They both have black hair and their height is almost the same. Their smiles are very much alike, if you ignore the fact that Andromeda has a kind one while Bella's makes a chill run down your spine.
But now, as she watches how Andromeda is looking at her, without even a hint of a smile on her face, she admits that her sister has more of Bella in her than she lets on.
"I didn't do anything, 'Dromeda."
"Yes, you did. You know how our family works, Cissa."
Before leaving the room, she turns and, with her eyes as grey as the sky on a rainy day, she opens her mouth to say something. Deciding against it, she leaves.
.
After a particular nasty fight between them, she never talked with her again. They followed their paths: She got married with Lucius, while Andromeda ran away with the Muggle-born.
Not a day goes by that she doesn't miss her sister.
Both of them, as she stops to think about it.
She stays hidden as she follows the older one towards the grave that she knows very well.
Bella was crazy, that's for sure. She had her beliefs and she pitied the one who dared to cross paths with her. With her, it was to kill or be killed. At the end, she was killed by a mother, but she died happy, Narcissa thinks.
She was doing what she thought was right, defending the man that she once loved. The younger one can't think of a better way to die.
But even so, she was her sister. The one that supported her no matter what, even if it means going against her family, against her Lord. She taught her how to walk, how to talk and even how to cast a spell.
They used to be best friends. Both of them, and Andromeda.
Oh how she misses those days.
"I assume I'll have to be the one to start the conversation between us."
She raises her icy blue eyes and finds that Andromeda's back facing her.
"Well, it's not like I can just come up to you and ask how's your day."
"It's a start, don't you think?" Narcissa hears the amused tone on her sister's voice and wonders if not all is lost.
The blonde one nods her head because yes, it is.
They don't talk for another minute, both staring at the grave in front of them. It doesn't have a name because it's just a symbol. The Minister didn't allow Narcissa to bury her body. According to him, she didn't deserve that kind of honor.
But there it is.
Inside the Black Mausoleum, a grave with her name and her date of birth and death.
"Why "Black"?"
The blonde smiles tenderly, "Because let's face it: She was never a Lestrange."
The other woman laughed "Yeah, Bella was special like that."
"Do you miss her?" Narcissa asked, purely out of curiosity.
"Everyday. Can you believe it?" The black haired woman answered and her smile is bitter "Despite of what she did, of who she was… I miss her every day."
Narcissa nods because she knows the feeling.
"And I miss you too, Cissa."
Startled, Narcissa looks at her older sister. She's aged and there are lines around her eyes. She lost so, so much, but she's smiling and trying again.
"I don't know how to do this, Dromeda." Narcissa licks her lips and continues, "I miss you so, so much. But we've done so much with one another that I…"
Andromeda puts a hand on her sister's shoulder and with a soft smile she says, "How about we start with a cup of coffee?"
When Narcissa's icy blue eyes meet the soft grey ones, she doesn't hold back. She hugs her sister really tight.
They may be imagining things but both of them can feel their older sister hugging them too, even if it's for a brief second.
With a kiss on the top of her head, Andromeda releases Narcissa. The blonde one, with a carefree smile on her face, holds her sister's hand.
Looking one last time towards Bella's grave, they turn around and leave the graveyard hand in hand.