Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.

Visiting

The air around her was cold and biting. She was shaking, though not entirely because of the weather. Drawing her fur-lined jacket closer to her neck, Narcissa raised a hesitant hand to knock on the door. She cringed as she did so, knowing it was wrong, and knowing that her sister would most definitely not approve.

But Bella's not here, now, is she?

Narcissa considered disapparating quickly before the door was opened. But she couldn't; her feet were cemented to the doorstep. There was no where else to go.

The door handle twisted slowly and Narcissa felt her mouth go dry.

What if he opened the door.

But her last fear was put to rest as the door swung open. There was a period of time where neither of the two seemed able to comprehend the situation. All Narcissa could do was stare blankly at the other woman, taking in the features that had changed only slightly in a matter of almost ten years; wide-eyed, the woman gazed back.

"Andromeda," Narcissa said in as strong a voice as she could muster.

It was a mark on just how close they had once been that Andromeda did not slam the door immediately in her younger sister's face. Instead, her mouth twisted into an incredulous scowl, not devoid of contempt and conflict. Then, Andromeda slammed the door.

Though she had hardly expected a warm welcome, tears welled up in Narcissa's eyes. She felt incredibly pathetic, because she needed Andromeda. Fueled by the strange exhilaration of seeing her estranged sister, Narcissa rapped on the door fervently.

"Andromeda! Open the door… please!"

The silence that followed was worse than a stream of curses.

But Narcissa couldn't leave now.

"I must talk to you!" she reasoned, her throat constricting as the words she had hidden for so long were finally voiced. "Surely, you've heard the news by now."

She could practically see her sister, her back against the door with her arms crossed, lips pulled tightly into a frown.

"Let me in, Meda."

The door opened with a snap as Andromeda glared intensely.

"You dare call me that, after all these years?"

Narcissa swallowed hard.

She felt Andromeda scrutinizing every inch of her, but Narcissa could only manage to stare at the ground, fearing that even after such a period of time, Andy would still be able to read Cissy's mind like a book.

Sure enough, there was a sharp intake of breath.

"This is about Bellatrix, isn't it?"

It was an accusation. Narcissa had no idea what her sister knew, but didn't feel like being the one to fill in all the details.

"They've caught her, then, haven't they?"

Narcissa felt too sick to answer. The amount of loathing in Andromeda's voice was frightening.

"Andromeda!" Narcissa pleaded, "Bella was sentenced for life!"

Closing her eyes, Andromeda breathed in slowly, leaning against the door frame.

"Finally," she said in quiet relief.

Narcissa let out a tiny squeak of indignation. Andromeda had been her last hope for compassion yet she held none.

"In Azkaban."

"Narcissa! She deserves every year of it; among all the other terrible things she did, she tortured the Longbottoms into insanity!"

Narcissa's lip quivered with anger.

"Well, they chose their side," she sniffed.

Andromeda gaped at her. "The only reason you can't even see the monster Bellatrix has become, Narcissa, is because she dragged you down with her!"

Narcissa bit her lip; she knew this was a lie. Her sister was not a monster, she was just, well, Bellatrix. She thought about her words carefully before beginning again, "Andromeda, I did not come here to fight you… I am quite unlike Bella, in that respect, at least."

Narcissa smiled weakly as her sister sighed, and stepped to the side, gesturing Narcissa to come inside. Her eyes wandering over every detail of the rooms, Narcissa was led through the kitchen into a sitting room. The house was much like Narcissa would have expected; warm, small, and cozy, unlike Andromeda's childhood home in every possible way. Fidgeting with the silver serpent that was the clasp of her jacket, Narcissa waited anxiously for Andromeda to speak.

But Andromeda seemed to be having just as much difficulty grasping the fact that Narcissa was standing in the house of her traitorous sister. Her eyes swimming dangerously as she gazed at Narcissa.

"Tea?" Narcissa suggested, trying and failing to sound condescending.

Andromeda laughed oddly, "Or something stronger."

Narcissa was relieved, however, when Andromeda walked back into the kitchen. She walked around the room guiltily; she could practically hear Bella's indignation rattling through the cells of Azkaban. Do you know the filth that lives here, Cissy?But then she thought angrily that the whole situation was Bella's fault and that since she had left Narcissa, the youngest had every right to find… what was she looking for? Comfort? Pity?

Coming upon a mirror, Narcissa gazed into it wearily. She cringed at her appearance. Sleep had become a distant memory in the past month, and it showed. There were dark shadows around her eyes, and her skin's usual pale hue looked unhealthy rather than aristocratic. Tracing her finger along the faint, but nonetheless present, lines that were beginning to form across her forehead and at the corners of her mouth, she gave a slight start as Andromeda's face appeared in the mirror.

"You're pathetic," Andromeda snapped, though the conviction of these words was sprinkled with a hint of nostalgic amusement.

Narcissa spun around to find Andromeda holding a tray of tea with a raised eyebrow.

"You can sit down, you know," Andromeda said nodding towards an armchair, "unless you're worried you might dirty your clothes."

Drawing her chin up, Narcissa glared fiercely into her eyes. However, she sat down stiffly.

"Why did you come," Andromeda demanded, folding her arms after placing the tray on a table. Neither sister made a move to drink any.

"I just thought that, given the circumstances we might try-"

At this, Andromeda truly laughed. "Given the circumstances? What; you mean now that your leader has fallen, as you and your snake of a husband try to squirm out of your true loyalties, you think maybe you'll become chummy with some of the other side. Is that what this is? Am I part of your façade, Cissy."

The childhood nickname was a sharp blow.

"Don't you dare speak of Lucius that way!" Narcissa snapped, and because the image of her oldest sister was pounding in her head, added, "You, with your mudblood of a husband-"

"I thought you wanted to make amends, sister. Or did Bellatrix take away your manners too?" Andromeda said coldly.

Now on her feet, Narcissa seethed.

"You started it, Andy." She didn't care how childish she sounded.

"Funny, considering whom I learned from," Andromeda noted, teeth clenched.

Another painful stab of reality struck Narcissa at the subtle jibe at the eldest Black sister.

"You didn't really come to insult me, now, did you?" Andromeda mused, pacing back and forth, her eyes never leaving Narcissa's. "No… that's not yourline of work, is it. You have to put up a show; don't let the wizarding world see your true colors, that's Bella's job-"

"Don't talk- shut up about Bella," Narcissa snapped. Her feeble composure finally broke, "You have no idea what it's like to know that she'll be locked away in some godforsaken sea, never to return…"

"Oh, yeah. I have no idea what it's like to know I'll never see my sisters again."

Narcissa faltered for a moment, but then saw a new way of attack. "But then you should understand!" she whined, "I don't care what Bella did to everyone else… I need her. They have no right to take her away."

Andromeda rolled her eyes, "You're behaving like the whiny, spoilt brat that you are and always have been. If you came to me looking for sympathy, maybe you need to check your memory and see just how much I once needed Bella, how much I used to love her. Don't you realize how much she hurt me?"

"But, Meda…" she begged, feeling desperate.

"Narcissa, I can't be your Bellatrix," Andromeda sneered, knowingly.

Andromeda might as well have slapped her, because then Narcissa seemed to realize stupidly a part of why she had come. But even more foolishly, she smiled, because in her own snarky cruelty, Andromeda was doing just that. Narcissa just wouldn't acknowledge that Andromeda's harshness towards her youngest sister did not have the same affectionate quality that Bellatrix's secretly harbored.

Andromeda ran a hand through her hair, shaking with anger. Narcissa trembled because she had thought for sure that Andromeda couldn't hold up her pretend hatred for so long. (And she had to convince herself it was pretend hatred.) But, maybe Narcissa had also forgotten just how stubborn and determined Andromeda could be. If she didn't want Narcissa to see her true feelings, Narcissa wasn't going to see them in a matter of one visit.

"Andromeda," she said, looking into the palm of her hands, "I've… missed you. Maybe if we just-"

"Narcissa," Andromeda cut her off, her voice like a dagger, "I think it was made perfectly clear that when I left, it was by my own doing and I would suffer the consequences. So, here I am, as it were, suffering. And I have no intention of dirtying your precious pureblood skin with the stench of my filthy home any longer. I think it would be best if you held up the Black part of the deal and just left, now."

A small choking noise was the only thing Narcissa could manage, raising her hand in protest.

"Leave."

Narcissa had underestimated how much Andromeda's words could hurt. She had forgotten, perhaps, after years with only Bellatrix. Her memory had been dulled by the obvious aura of darkness that surrounded her eldest sister. Bella would spout things off in flashes of anger. But Andromeda's words were slow and deliberate. They hurt so much more.

With a shudder, because something had flashed in Andromeda's eyes that had surely been picked up from Bellatrix, Narcissa stood from the chair. She gazed at her sister who stared back coldly. If she looked hard enough, though, Narcissa thought that she might have seen just a flicker of the pleading of her own eyes mirrored in Andromeda's. Sudden repressed emotions fought to overcome her senses as she stared at her sister. Narcissa wanted to scream at her, she wanted to weep apologies and beg for an end to their estrangement, but mostly she wanted to throw herself into Andromeda's shoulder and feel the arms of an older sister wrap around her protectively.

But she knew this couldn't happen. Andromeda didn't want her in the house. Bella certainly wouldn't want her in the house. Narcissa had no clue why she was in the house. So, she did the only thing that she knew to do. With a contemptuous sniff, Narcissa sneered down at Andromeda. Turning sharply, she headed for the doorway.

The laugh that came from behind her was cold and humorless.

"Well done, Cissy," Andromeda said, "Bella would be so proud."

Shaking, Narcissa squeezed her eyes shut as hot tears burned down her cheeks. She didn't turn around to look back at Andromeda as she left her in the living room. Narcissa paused only once, in the kitchen, before she opened the door. To breath in the scent of her sister once more.

She closed the door behind her so quietly, it would be impossible to tell if she had left or not. A foolish, childish part of Narcissa hoped that, if she waited long enough, maybe Andromeda would run after her. And come back. Maybe, if she hoped enough, Bellatrix would come back.

But instead, Narcissa stood alone in the November air, howling feebly with the wind. She was lost, alone, and terrified beyond belief. For once, she didn't care about the little Black conscience throbbing inside of her. Merlin, she just wanted her sisters.

Author's Note:Oh, poor Narcissa. I really just wanted to write a great big sappy reunion that would have been completely un-canon. Thus, it didn't happen. It's funny, though, because while I was writing this, I was thinking of which of the three sisters was the luckiest. At first I thought Bellatrix, because she was so driven by obsession that she wouldn't notice the pain around her, but I don't think that's entirely true. In a lot of ways, I think she was consumed by a sort of pain and just externalized it to other people. Then, I thought Andromeda was lucky because she escaped the insanity of the Black family and found true love... but boy did she have to pay a hefty price. So, I decided that Narcissa was the luckiest, if any of them were remotely lucky. With her husband, she could always manage to slither out of situations. (pun intended) But, that rambling aside...

If you didn't catch it, this was supposed to take place a little bit after Bellatrix is captured and convicted of being a Death Eater and torturer of the Longbottoms. I know Narcissa visiting Andromeda is a bit far-fetched, but I really wanted to 'visit' an older Andromeda. Also, if it would happen, wouldn't it happen when Bellatrix is farthest away? I'm sorry that I played Andromeda so cold and unloving towards Cissy, but if I was Andy, I wouldn't be so quick on forgiveness; maybe it'll come... eventually. Oh, and, originally a cute little Tonksie appeared and was a delightful 9-10 year old. However, my inner-Bella scolded me for taking such an interest in the mudblood filth... actually, she just distracted from the plot. However, I'm sure Narcissa and Bellatrix's darling little niece will appear eventually. With that obnoxiously long note, thank you for reading and reviewing!