Narcissa immediately felt the cold chilly dampness that resided in Azkaban. Out side the stone brick walls Narcissa could hear the tempestuous Atlantic sea's crashing waves.
Narcissa stepped out of the fireplace and pulled her cloak tighter around her as she headed to the main desk. A small crooked old man sat writing on parchment, looking at his words through his small spectacles. He looked up at Narcissa as she walked towards him.
"Can I help you Madam?" the man spoke with a scratchy voice that sounded like he had a clump of dust caught in his throat
"I request a visit with Bellatrix Lestrange please" she whispered
"Lestrange?" asked the old man. He scratched his bald head. He stood up and turned around facing a shelf full of large dusty books. His gnarled finger traced over the spines of the books. He then reached up and attempted to straighten his bent back to take a book off the shelf. He placed it on his desk and opened it. "Lestrange" he repeated squinting through his glasses. He opened the book and turned a few pages, he then lowered his knotted finger down the page. "Lestrange, Bellatrix, arrested for Death Eater activity and numerable murders." He raised his wrinkled eyes to Narcissa to enquire if that was the one she wished to meet with
Narcissa nodded
"What is your name?" asked the old man coughing slightly as he dipped his quill into the pot of black ink.
"Narcissa Elizabeth Black Malfoy"
The man scribbled down her name
"Are you a relation?" he asked
"Her sister" Narcissa answered softly. The man scribbled this down. He then picked up a small rusty brass bell that was on his desk. The old man shook it making it ring in a muffled strange way.
A door opened next to the man's shelf. In stepped a short hunchbacked man holding a dim lantern. For although it was daytime the prison was dark and gloomy;
"Steeble take this woman to the cell of Bellatrix Lestrange" the old man made a hacking cough "Your visit can be no more than ten minutes Madam" the old man returned to his writing.
"This way Madam" said the man, Steeble, leading her through the door. She entered a long and narrow hall way, on either side of her were rows of cells full of unfortunates. Narcissa lowered the hood on her cloak to see better, a few prisoners came into view behind the iron bars. They looked with their sunken and beady eyes at the strange yet attractive blonde woman. Some held an expression of awe. One called out;
"Its an angel come to take us away from this place!" Steeble stopped in his tracks; he turned and looked at the guilty convict.
"Keep your mouth shut Strickers!"
Narcissa suddenly felt a wave of coldness sweep over her. Narcissa saw a dementor gliding by, she felt faint and wavered slightly on the spot, but as the dementor passed she caught control of herself and continued to walk behind Steeble. Narcissa felt more aware now of the gliding creatures of darkness who filled the fortress of Azkaban. They resided mostly at the ceiling off the prison but many hovered near doors and at cell bars. Steeble saw Narcissa looking up at the ones on the ceiling.
"Do you know why they stay up there mostly Madam?" he leered
"No…why?"
"Because that's where their equals live" he laughed "That's where the dark wizards and the Death Eater filth"
"You would kindly not speak of my sister like that" said Narcissa coldly
The smirk on Steeble's mouth fell
"My deepest apologies Madam " he said, "but truth be what truth be" he added mumbling under his breath.
Steeble led her up a long winding stair case which took her closer and closer to the ceiling, more than once, Narcissa felt she would lose consciousness and faint.
Steeble then took her along the darkest row of cells, which, as Steeble had said, were near the ceiling. Narcissa could see some of the unhappy faces in the cells, old familiar faces, from school, and at her house…many, many years ago. Suddenly something grabbed her arm. She was tugged backwards. Narcissa let out a shriek as she saw a filthy hand closed over her wrist.
Steeble turned around and yelled
"BLACK! GET BACK IN YOUR CELL YOU FILTHY TURNCOAT!"
"Black?" repeated Narcissa, the grip on her arm tightened as she struggled. Steeble hit the filthy arm that was protruding from the cell. "No stop it" she said hoarsely. Steeble stopped behind the arm and looked at Narcissa "This one is no good Madam, the traitor deserves no pity!"
"Narcissa!" came a strangely familiar voice from the cell.
"Sirius?" asked Narcissa. A face came into light in the darkness. A man with long jet-black straggly hair, a matted beard and sunken in grey eyes. A man who had so changed in Azkaban, but Narcissa could still see in his eyes the man who had once been her handsome cousin Sirius Black. "Leave us" Narcissa said to Steeble but without taking her eyes off her cousin.
"But Madam-"
"JUST GO!" she yelled. The hunchback man stepped out of the light
"Narcissa" said Sirius hoarsely "What are you doing here?"
"Exactly what I'd like to ask you"
"I didn't do it Narcissa, you know I didn't" his hand dropped from her arm. Narcissa was silent then said thoughtfully
"Sirius…you and I…we never got on, we were cousins but we went our different ways…but I always knew you were innocent"
"You should know, your husband would have-"
Narcissa raised a finger to her lips and shook her head
"You will not utter a word about my husband Sirius"
"It was Peter, Narcissa he was their Secret Keeper not me! But they refuse to give me veritaserum. I've been begging them to but they won't"
"Did you know I saw Lily and James the day they died?"
"No…where?"
"I was with my son in Diagon Alley…they saw me and spoke to me, they forgot about our hatred of each other in Hogwarts. They had their son Harry Potter with them, he's Draco's age"
"How were they that day?" Sirius voice sounded strangely shaky, as if on the verge of tears. It was unbelievable to think that Sirius Black the player of Hogwarts would be sitting in a cell in Azkaban, covered in filth and crying to his hated cousin.
"They were fine…they were totally fine…healthy and…fine"
A sudden feeling of coldness swept over Narcissa again, she looked up to see a dementor looming over her and Sirius, and next to it was Steeble.
"Your appointment was with Bellatrix Lestrange…you have no business talking to Sirius Black Madam"
Narcissa nodded.
"Goodbye Sirius!" she whispered. Sirius sunk back into the shadows of the cell. A tear came to her eye, strange, Narcissa disowned her cousin several years ago.
Steeble led her along the row to a cell.
"Lestrange!" yelled Steeble! "You've a visitor"
Narcissa gasped as a pale pallid face came into view. Curtained by long matted black hair, waxy skin and shadowy eyes.
"'Cissy?" came a shaky tearful voice "Cissy is that you?"
"Yes Bella its me"
Bellatrix broke down in tears. Her voice collapsed in emotion. "Where have you been all these years? You're my sister and you never visited me?"
"I wanted to really I did…but Lucius told me not to…Bella he beat me!"
"And how do you think it was for me?" she screeched, "When I came to prison I was beaten every day! With harsher blows than Lucius' fists so don't come moaning to me about pain!" She wailed a cat like cry "I've been by myself so long"
"Why? Where's Rudolphus?"
"They moved him to a different cell! We shared one and then they separated us! I begged them every day to bring us together but they didn't Cissy I haven't seen him for 3 years." Bellatrix was shaking with crying, "Why did you come suddenly today?"
"This may sound heartless but it was for Draco"
"Why whats wrong with him?"
"Nothing Bella…it's just that he found Cissy"
"Cissy? The doll Cissy?"
"Yes…and I told him about Bella…I promised him I would find it"
"So that's what you intend to do is it. Well I don't have her…she's still in the mansion…under a floor board"
"Why?"
"To protect her. I suspect vandals have been in the mansion already and she's too precious…will you rescue her?"
"Y-yes of course Bella…Bella don't cry" Narcissa put her hand through the bars and touched her sister's cold cheek with her thin pale fingers. At the touch Bellatrix collapsed onto her knees. Narcissa sighed and kneeled down as well. "Wherever you are Bella and wherever I am please remember…we are still sisters…and shall always be sisters"
"I am so scared," said Bellatrix "I'm scared I shall die in Azkaban…the best years of my life…trapped in a cell with only the rats for company"
"Time's up!" said Steeble
"Where is Bella?" asked Narcissa quickly
"Under a floorboard under my bed!" Bellatrix answered "Cissy! Come and visit me again soon"
"I'll try Bella…I'll try"
The hou
se looked as if it were on its last legs, the whole building gave the appearance that it was lopsided; the wooden panelling on the hose was chipped and broken. Some of the walls had been covered with a mixture of muggle and wizard graffiti. The glass in the windows was smashed and dusty. Birds had made nests on roof tiles.
Where there had once been a grand garden was an old uncared for wilderness of un cut grass and a few dying trees. All the flowers were dead.
A strange chill was in the air around the house, the same feeling as when a
Narcissa took her wand out a pointed it at the lock
"Alohamora" she whispered the lock clicked and the door opened. Narcissa entered the house…it had a dry stale smell, half the floor was missing from rot. The walls were dirty and the wallpaper was peeling. Narcissa looked for the staircase, it was across a large hole in the floor, which, spread for side to side, the only way across was a large plank of wood that was over it. Narcissa looked down the hole, it was quite deep and Narcissa could see where the cellar had once been; now there was just a mass of wooden planks that had once been the floorboards. Narcissa took a deep breath and going on all fours, she crawled over the plank, it shook unstably. She continued to crawl, every step she thought the plank would snap or topple upside down.
She made it to the other side but the floor was sinking slightly beneath her feet as she stepped onto the other side.
There in front of her were the stairs. Narcissa walked ahead up the staircase, it creaked underneath her feet but it seemed sturdy enough. She continued to walk up to the landing. She opened a door, there was a murky damp bathroom with a several leaky taps, the enamel on the bath was ridded with old lime scale, a black raven was sitting near the window eerily shadowed by the light around it. It squawked at Narcissa, frightening her a little. She closed the door and went to find the bedroom.
She found it, the large canopy bed was unmade, the duvet was dragged half off the bed, and the sheets were ripped and dragged at. It looked as if Bellatrix and her Rudolphus had been dragged away in their sleep almost. Bellatrix's dressing table mirror was smashed and a vase lay on the floor next to a pile of long dead roses. Narcissa saw a necklace splayed on the floor with all the jewels missing. Narcissa recognised the intricate design, it had been their Mother's when she was alive, and she had left it to Bellatrix in her will. A wave of anger swept over Narcissa.
"Under a floorboard under my bed!" Narcissa remembered her sister's words. Narcissa swept down to the floor and crawled under the bed. She touched the surface of the dust-ridden floor and groped around to find a loose floorboard, she found it. Using her hands she pulled her body further under the bed. Her finer slotted into a hole in the floorboard and hooked it up. Under it lay Bella.
"Draco?" Narcissa unlocked the door of her bedroom "Draco I have a su- Lucius!" Narcissa saw her husband standing over her as she opened the door.
"Where have you been?" he asked coldly
Narcissa was about to make up a white lie when she knew the case would be futile since she held Bella in her hand. Lucius would recognise it from their Hogwarts days.
"At the Lestrange Mansion" she said clearing her throat
"Why?"
"I wanted to get Bellatrix's doll" she pronounced confidently
Lucius looked at the black haired dusty, yet elegant doll.
"Why did you lock the door?" he said sceptically
"Because I don't like people coming into my room when I am not home"
"You went to the Lestranges house and where else?"
"Nowhere…just to get the doll…what are you doing home so early Lucius?"
"I received a letter from my Mother" said Lucius, holding a folded piece of parchment. Claudia walked into view behind Lucius "She told me that you were planning on leaving our son with her and the house elves…I was simply curious my dear of where you go to that you could not be accompanied by your son?"
"Well I have given my answer Lucius…please let me pass" Narcissa walked past Lucius, she turned to Claudia "I turned seventeen some years back Claudia…I am a grown woman"
Narcissa walked across the hall way to her son's nursery.