I understand some people found chapter 16 a little confusing. I hope this chapter helps...if not email me or leave it in a review...REVIEW!
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Chapter 18 - A Good Little Actress
Narcissa opened her eyes, she found her self in the silent yet sunlit room in Italy. Draco was still asleep next to her; he must have been so tired, as he had barely moved from where he had fallen asleep. Narcissa rose up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes, the room had the same lemon blossomed scent around.
Narcissa was so happy, she was not sure why but now was one of the moments in her life that she would never forget. Perhaps it was because she had got away, but the stress and fear of travelling muggle style to a different country, so now it was the idea of being free, free with only Draco and herself. It was all she could possibly want in life. Perhaps she could find a way to stay away from Lucius forever, or get a job in the Wizarding area and live in Italy permanently, with just her son and herself. These were all very ambitious thoughts which would mean a lot of hard work. Narcissa glanced down at her just stirring son and decided, for another day. Draco whined under his breath as his eyes opened and immediately squinted because of the light.
"Where am I?" he stated miserably burying his head in his pillow to block the light. Narcissa was overjoyed that he was awake; she now had someone to share her happiness with. She seized her son and pulled him into a tight hug. He grumbled something to do with 'hugging being for sissies.'
"You my son need a shower"
"Nooo!" he moaned
"Yes, don't worry showers are quicker than baths" The Malfoy Manor did not have any, Narcissa decided that if the shower was easier to wash Draco in than a bath, then it would be installed the moment she got back to the Manor…IF she went back.
"Don't want a smelly shower"
"Draco you will be smelly if you don't wash after that hot day yesterday, and if you're a good boy for Mummy…I'll take you to the sea"
"No, then you'll make me go in the shower again to wash of all the salt water, that's what you did in France!"
Narcissa laughed, her son was showing early signs of his cunning Slytherin wit.
"Alright then, if you face hands and teeth AND behind your neck and ears, Mummy will take you to the sea side and then you can have a shower after wards."
She looked seriously into his big grey eyes and smirked. He looked thoughtful
"Okay deal" he said nodding.
"Good, off you go then because breakfast will be ready in a minute"
--
"I'm sorry I was not here to see you yesterday but I was on an important phone call" said the elderly woman, Clara. Clara was the opposite of her sister, blonde where her sister's hair was red, tall and thin where her sister was smaller and rounder and materialistic where her sister was not. Narcissa smiled still unaware of what the 'telephone' was.
"Where is your husband Mrs Malfoy, why isa he not here?" asked Maria as she poured a cup of tea for Narcissa. Narcissa looked over at Draco who was nibbling on toast which was very thickly spread with marmalade.
"Uh…my husband is busy at work, he said he couldn't come"
"Oh what a shame I would have like to have met him" said Clara
No you would not have, thought Narcissa to herself.
"Does he look like your son?"
"Oh yes, very much so" said Narcissa sipping her tea
"Yes, it is often like that, my son looks like his father did, may he rest in peace"
"But Narcissa you seem so young to be married with a child" said Clara slightly sceptically
"Oh I married at seventeen years old, yes very young" she added to their shocked expressions
"You mast have been very much in love Narcissa" Maria stated. Narcissa almost chocked on swallowing her tea
"Yes…indeed" she said nervously
"Those were the days" Clara sighed.
"Well eef a woman wants to settle down with a family at a young age, I think she coulda do a lot worsa things"
--
Andromeda Black Tonks sat at the window. A grim look hung upon her usually round smiley face. Nymphadora, who's hair had changed to pink instead of silvery blonde, was out with her friend Charlie. Ted was on the sofa reading the 'Daily Prophet,' now and then he took sad glances at his beloved wide.
"Annie" he spoke at last. Andromeda flicked her head towards him
"What is it?"
"Annie you mustn't be upset"
"I'm not upset…I'm just thinking" she defended herself.
Ted motioned for his wife to come towards him. Andromeda made sighing smile and joined her husband on the sofa. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and she lay against his chest
"Annie…I know seeing your sis, brought back…brought back a lot of bad memories"
"No Ted…that's the difficult thing. She brought back a lot of good memories too. Things that will never be the same again"
"If only I had been pure blood" said Ted
"No darling, I wouldn't want you any different…I would never change anything about you…I love you entirely"
"Warts and all" he replied
The couple laughed
"And I love you too Andromeda" Annie kissed him on the cheek. There was a brief silence until Andromeda said
"I hope Cissy will be alright"
Ted kissed Andromeda reddish brown hair.
"Why are you such a good person? Annie most people wouldn't give a damn about what happened to a sister who treated them like that"
"I'm not most people Ted"
"No you're not…your better than most people"
"I love Narcissa and she loves me back. But she had no choice. After I left there was a HUGE obligation for her to marry well. Poor thing, dragged out of school at barely seventeen, forced into marriage with a man she barely knew. If they'd had their way, she would have been thrown into Lucius Malfoy's bed, at thirteen years old, quicker than they blasted my name of the Black family tree"
"Annie I doubt that very much"
"Oh do you? My mother never gave a damn about childhood innocence, as long as her innocence was taken away by her pureblood betrothed she could have lost it at twelve bloody years old!"
"So that's why you were willing to help her, because of the pain you inflicted on her?" asked Ted, Andromeda shrugged "What about the pain she inflicted on you?"
"What pain? Ted…I got you and Nymphadora, it's a lot more than Cissy has. All she's got is Draco who will probably end up like his father any way. So what if I can't talk to Bellatrix anymore. As far as I've heard neither can Cissy. Sirius is in Azkaban and I'm not sure I can trust him"
"Annie you told me you believed him innocent?"
"I know Ted…but all the evidence goes against him! I haven't made a decision. Any way my point is there's only a few family members I can't talk to…the rest are dead. Sirius is the last person to hold the name 'Black' apart from my Mother of course but she's an absolute alcoholic and is on her death bed…Good riddance if you ask me" Andromeda sniffed
"My Annie…that's a brave face you've just put on" said Ted. Andromeda laughed shakily as a few guilty tears ran over her nose.
Suddenly the door bell rang. Ted offered to get it.
Andromeda sat back on the sofa and she glanced at the daily prophet thoughtfully.
"You can't just come barging into my house whoever-you-are!" came Ted's voice. Andromeda looked up over the back of the sofa into the hall way.
"Ted? Who is it?" Andromeda yelled, thinking terrifyingly of Lucius.
A figure entered the hall way in a fast stride. A woman. Andromeda recognised her only slightly as she lowered the hood of her cloak.
"Francesca Vayéinne?"
"Hello Andromeda" came her haughty reply. She looked arrogantly around the living room as she entered "The décor of home is of typical mudblood style…as I expected"
"You'll watch your language in my house!" growled Ted pointing his finger at Francesca fiercely. He'd had just about enough of these stereotypical purebloods in the past few days to last him a life time. Francesca seemed unfazed d by Ted's threat. She raised one immaculate eyebrow at him and turned back to Andromeda
"By the way, I go by the name Francesca Zabini now! I found it unfair to keep changing my son's name as I swept through my unlucky marriages"
"Yes, unlucky for them any way. What do you want?"
Francesca removed her black cloak and threw it into Ted's arms. She sat down on a sofa. She looked at Andromeda and shook her head
"Merlin, you could have had everything" she said at last
"What's that supposed to mean?" growled Andromeda
"Well look at you, the daughter of a Black reduced to looking and living like a simple muggle. Why?"
"Because I followed my heart and refused to be thrown into a loveless marriage!"
"What is wrong with that? It suited your sister fine"
"Bellatrix and Rudolphus were lucky…they learned to love each other" said Andromeda softly. Francesca took out a cigarette from her emerald green case, she poked it into her cigarette holder and began to light it
"Can you not smoke in my house" said Ted. Francesca ignored him and inhaled deeply
"You're right Andromeda…but actually I was talking about Cissy!"
"Cissy? Oh yeah, she's in a bloody good marriage isn't she?"
"Well actually that's why I'm here, now we both know that Cissy ran away from home with Draco and came here…but I don't think we are on the same terms as…why?"
"'Why?' Francesca don't play dumb with me, you know as well as I know, how Lucius treats her!"
"How does he treat her?" said Francesca innocently "What did Cissy tell you about her relationship with Lucius?"
Andromeda sighed "He beats her! Abuses her! Do you realise that he used the cruciatus on her and almost on Draco, that's what she came here"
Francesca gave a high pitched shriek of a laugh.
"Beats her? Abuse her? Use the cruciatus curse? Are we talking about the same Lucius and Narcissa?"
"What?" asked Andromeda "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Andromeda darling, I would never call Lucius the doting husband but abuse Narcissa? Never! This just supports my idea that Narcissa ran away for a bit of attention!"
"Attention?"
"Yes, did you know that there are days that pass when this married couple do not even say two words to each other? Narcissa is lonely and bored. So she ran away. Simple as that, of course she needed a little help which explains why she came here"
"I don't understand, she told me how much he abused her, you didn't see her when she came to my doorstep"
"I can imagine…she's a good little actress isn't she?" said Francesca taking a drag
"You mean she's done this before"
"Once" said Francesca "She arrived on my door step in a fit of weepiness. Lucius collected her the next day with full apology. Narcissa was as right as rain after that"
"So she actually just wants Lucius to find her again? Like she did with you?" Andromeda said shaking her head
"Absolutely, she's just hoping for a bigger effect now"
"She used me" Andromeda moaned
"I'm sorry Andromeda that you thought your sister had changed. I'm afraid she's as cruel and heartless as the day she disowned you"
Andromeda broke down in tears. Ted quickly rushed to her aid
"You're upsetting my wife" he said scathingly "Go home…you've done enough"
"I'm sorry but I'm not finished" said the beautiful woman "Andromeda, you will make things a lot easier for Lucius if you tell me where Narcissa went"
Andromeda looked up from her hands
"Why? Why should I help him?"
"Narcissa wants to be found. It's Lucius' duty to find her. So we're all even"
"Why are you helping Lucius? Is it because of you and Cissy's argument?"
Francesca raised an eyebrow, what things had Narcissa been saying? She thought to herself
"Merely another of Narcissa's little lies" she answered
Andromeda buried her face in her hands
"Why did you trust her again Annie?" Ted asked holding her close
"I…I just w-wanted t-to have my s-sister back, that's all"
"Mrs Zabini, if we tell you where she went…will you leave?"
Francesca nodded
"Very well, she's gone to Italy, a little place in Sorrento. I don't have the address I'm afraid?"
"That's alright, that will make it easier for Lucius and I. Thank you for your help"
Francesca picked up a cloak and draped it over her shoulders pulling up the hood
"Good day to you" she said quietly, although it was barely heard over Andromeda's whimpers. "I'll see myself out" Francesca smirked.
She left the house and mused silently to herself. Now Lucius will find you Cissy, then it will go back to the way it was. We'll both be even. And I will win when you can take it no longer.
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