Chapter 15 - A Promise

"There you go Cissy, we've sorted something out" said Andromeda throwing down a small pile of papers on the kitchen table. Narcissa picked up a piece of paper

"Flight seats? What is this?" said Narcissa

Andromeda pulled out a chair for herself

"Cissy…you can't stay here. Its only a matter of time before Lucius finds you, and quite personally I don't think your ready to face him"

Narcissa looked curiously at her sister

"Annie if you rather I was not here in your house and-"

"Oh Cissy of course I want you here. I've missed you so much, but anyway that's besides the point. Lucius will find you here and its not safe. You need to go away for a while…abroad"

"What? Abroad? How can I go abroad. I can't apparate with Draco, I can't go by floo powder, Lucius will be watching the floo travelling network like a hawk…what am I supposed to do"

"Okay Cissy, I know your not going to like this…but please hear me out, it may be best, for the time being to-"

"Perhaps she should drink some tea or something to relax her before you tell her Annie" came a voice. Ted Tonks had just entered the room. Narcissa glared at him as she heard his sarcasm. She hated the man, the man who broke her sister and her apart.

"Perhaps you should start referring 'she' to 'her' name!" Narcissa retorted snappily.

Ted suppressed a smirk.

"What did you do to Nymphadora's hair…its looking a tad peaky!"

"Your daughter wanted to change her hair to blonde Tonks. I had no part in it"

"I wonder where she got the idea from…couldn't be a Malfoy could it? Did she do it in spite of the fact me and Annie have repeatedly told her not to go platinum blonde!"

"Then that is your daughter's fault Tonks not mine, perhaps your daughter doesn't want you to nag her about what colour her hair is!"

"What do you know about my daughter?" Tonks snapped

"And what the hell do you know about me!" Narcissa pulled out her wand 'You filthy little mudblood!"

"CISSY!" yelled Andromeda

"Listen Malfoy you never did shit for Annie and now you expect her to help you like this. You can't damn well appreciate her!"

"TED!"

Ted Tonks glared daggers at Narcissa who glared back. He made a movement to go forwards

"Don't touch me Mudblood"

"CISSY!"

"Huh is that the best you could come up with Malfoy…really original. Got anything else to say. Want to call my wife a blood traitor perhaps…or no blame my daughter! Blame the freaky little half blood!"

"TED!"

Narcissa fumed. Narcissa could hear her son calling her in the other room. She automatically turned and stalked out of the room

"Yeah that's right leave. Go tend to your little pampered prince. Andromeda's seen nothing but your back for the last fourteen years!"

"TED, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Andromeda's voice was half sobbing "If you two can't talk civilly…then the sooner I tell Cissy about the plan…the better.

Narcissa was sitting on the edge of the bathtub in Andromeda's bathroom. She had been crying. She was not sure why, she did not give a damn what Ted Tonks thought of her. Narcissa wiped her eyes with a piece of tissue paper. She got up and walked towards the mirror over the sink. She looked into the glass and sniffed at her red eyes. She threw the tissue into the waste paper bin and headed out of the bathroom. Andromeda was standing directly outside. She was looking at Narcissa with a mixture of anger and sadness. She too looked like she had been crying. The two sisters, the blonde and the red head stood momentarily in front of each other before the fair one threw herself forward into a close embrace with her sister.

"Annie I'm sorry"

"Shh. Its not entirely your fault…I've had a go at Ted!" Andromeda whispered comfortingly into her sister ear

"I never said any of those things to your daughter. Not once" said Narcissa

"Cissy, don't worry I know you didn't…if you had done Nymmy probably would have hexed you to kingdom come by now" The sisters parted and Narcissa managed a chuckle.

"So what is this greatly shocking thing you wanted to tell me?" said Narcissa wiping her eyes again. Andromeda smiled

"Come on, I'll show you"

"Live as a muggle!" repeated Narcissa

"Just for the mean time Cissy. Look, we've booked you into a small bed and breakfast hotel in Italy, its run by two muggle women, sisters"

"Why Italy?" asked Narcissa

"Because America is where Lucius would look first, he'll think you got it from a romance novel that you used to read or something, Paris…Lucius goes there too often…so why not Italy?"

"Okay fine…but why do I have to live like a muggle?"

"Oh Cissy don't have a blonde moment, it will be much easier for Lucius to find you in the wizarding world won't it? Look I've ordered your flight tickets and everything and I've changed some money into Italian muggle money as well"

Narcissa watched as Andromeda handed her different pieces of paper.

"Annie…you've given me your money?"

"Not all of it silly"

"Annie…I…I don't know what to say…I'll…I'll pay you back" Narcissa felt tears swell up in her eyes but she blinked them back.

Andromeda looked kindly at her sister and then back at the papers

"I'll take you to the airport, now there you'll get on a thing called a plane, its like a small building which can fly. That will take you to Rome. From there you get on this train" Andromeda gave a ticket with information on it "That will take you down to Sorrento from there you only need to travel to this road and you arrive at the house"

Andromeda had pulled out a map where she had marked areas and streets for her to follow.

"I don't know Annie…me in the muggle world. I've never been alone in the wizarding world let alone the muggle world. I've always had parents to rely on and then a husband. I can see this going wrong"

"Cissy…you're a smart girl. Okay your brain never got a chance to amount to anything but all our professors said that were you to complete your NEWTs you would have been able to become a healer!"

"Yes, but potions and charms will not amount to anything in the muggle world, in a country I cannot speak the language of by myself."

"No, but you're a logical enough person…Cissy I believe in you" Andromeda looked straight into Narcissa's blue eyes with her brown ones "So stop being a sissy…Cissy"

Narcissa tried to suppress a grin but failed. The two sisters embraced each other.

"Okay you line up there and show your ticket" said Andromeda. Ted, Andromeda, Narcissa and little Draco were marching up the busy airport. Muggles darted around pulling their suitcases. Robotic voices sounded through the echoing walls, pictures and writing appeared on strange boxes, where muggles were looking up at anxiously. Narcissa was terrified. Here she was about to enter the muggle world with nothing to guide her at all. She stopped in her tracks. Andromeda turned to look at her sister, who seemed to be swaying on the spot slightly.

"Annie…I don't feel well"

Andromeda smiled kindly at her sister

"Your just nervous Cissy…come on, if you're late it will be even harder"

"I can't do this Annie…I can't"

Andromeda placed her hands on Narcissa's shoulders

"Be strong! Cissy, you've been strong all you life just a bit more Cissy"

Narcissa felt tears piercing her eyes. But she refused to cry…not in front of Ted. She would not allow him to criticise her. She blinked back her tears and nodded.

She felt something tighten in her hand. Narcissa looked down. Draco was clutching her hand and looking up his mother face. Narcissa smiled reassuringly at her son and then back at her sister

"Let's go…we'll be late" she said bravely to Andromeda

Narcissa was steered from desk to desk giving in papers. Most of it went over her head a bit; she let Ted and Andromeda do the talking. After that Andromeda took her luggage and put it on to some kind of a conveyer belt, explaining to Narcissa that when she arrived to Italy she would get them back.

"Now Cissy, this is as far as we can go with you, go through there and show the person on the desk this" she handed Narcissa a plain white card

"What does this do?" Narcissa said dumbly

"Oh to you and me it looks like a piece of white card…but to muggles it will show your passport just a simple spell…we learnt it in our seventh year, remember?"

"Annie I didn't have a seventh year" Narcissa said coldly

"Sorry I forgot…okay they'll let both you and Draco through because he is on the same "passport" now when you're through put your hand luggage on the conveyer belt…it's a sort of secrecy sensor that muggles use. Okay when you go through there you will arrive in the terminal, there will be signs on tele- er box thingies saying when your flight is and just look at the information I gave you to check."

Narcissa bit her lip and nodded

"Anything else?"

"Yes…don't be frightened, loads of people have a first time on an aeroplane and I'm sure they all find it as hard as you…even the muggles, I've written down what you should do when you arrive in Italy"

"Thank you Annie," Narcissa said simply. She was still unable to grasp why Andromeda had been so willing to help her, when Narcissa had done nothing in return. Andromeda made a sad smile at her sister when she suddenly launched at her pulling her into a close hug. Narcissa was taken slightly by surprise, but she let Draco's hand slip from her own and dropped he hand luggage by her feet and returned the hug. Narcissa took in her sisters fresh lily perfumed scent unsure when she would see her sister again. Narcissa wanted to be with her sister always. She wished she could rewind time to when they were children, wishing they could relive their childhood, a childhood when they were certain to see each other every single day. A life that had been filled with certainty.

Narcissa and Andromeda reluctantly released each other. Andromeda kneeled down and gave a good bye hug to Draco, Narcissa watched her son and his Auntie fondly when she felt someone grab her arm and tug her from them slightly.

Narcissa looked around Ted Tonks stood in front of her with a serious expression. Narcissa swallowed and looked bravely at him

"I need to talk to you Narcissa"

Narcissa sighed

"go ahead then" she said hautily. Ted looked at her then down at his wife and her nephew. Andromeda was looking up at Ted and Narcissa with a nervous but intrigued expression

"This way" he tugged her by her arm almost painfully, he pulled her a few yards away from Andromeda and Draco. He looked at Narcissa almost sourly and nodded as if agreeing with a voice in his head.

"Yes" Narcissa said raising an eyebrow

Ted scowled

"Listen Narcissa, I don't know you very well and I hate to pass judgement but I wanted to make sure of something…first of all I want to let you know that I love Andromeda more than anyone who ever lived. Okay, your sister and the child we share is my reason for living."

Narcissa nodded

"I know" she said "and she loves you too, leaving the family was a hard decision for her"

Ted nodded again

"She sacrificed so much to be with me, that's why I don't ever want her to be hurt again. You arriving on our doorstep probably seemed to Andromeda like a blessing and a curse, she missed you I'm sure of it. She goes into deep depressions sometimes because she misses you and the rest of her family. You coming back reminded her of her past, when it would be better if she forgot it. However, I think she was happy to see you again, and glad to help you. That's because Andromeda's a loving person willing to help any stray who arrives on her doorstep"

Narcissa had an idea where this conversation was going

"Tonks," she said thoughtfully and cleared her throat "I'm not sure what I'm so supposed to say in answer to all this"

"Just promise that you won't abandon Andromeda again…I'm sure you will go back to living with your husband, whatever happens behind closed doors. I think you will probably make up with him"

"What do you know about me and my husband" she said angrily "How would you feel if you lived in fear every single day-"

"Narcissa I don't want to argue with you…all I'm saying is when this whole little adventure is over I don't want you to turn your back on my wife again, she needs you, and as a repayment of her kindness I think the least you could do is not forget her."

Narcissa shook her head

"I never have-"

"Just promise" he said firmly

Narcissa swallowed how could she promise that…she could never fulfil it, not with the life she led, how could she say

"I promise"

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