Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.
Engaging
"What is that horrid thing?" Bella asked, slender finger pointed at Narcissa's hand.
Two weeks without any correspondence from her sister and this was how Bellatrix addressed Narcissa. If she hadn't been so eager to tell Bellatrix her news, Narcissa might have been offended by the look on her sister's face.
"It's a ring, Bella."
"Let me see it; it looks hideous."
Bellatrix was laughing but Narcissa couldn't help but feel a spark of annoyance. Especially when she knew her fashion sense was superior to Bella's.
"No. Not if you're going to be insulting," Narcissa said, withdrawing her hand from Bella's immediate reach.
Bellatrix sighed as though Narcissa made her weary, and not the other way around. But before Narcissa had a chance to so much as blink an eye, Bella's hand darted to Narcissa's, pulling it under her dark scrutinizing gaze.
"Ugh. Did Mother pick this out for you? I know you're self-absorbed, Cissy, but this is ridiculous."
"Lucius gave it to me, thank you very much," Narcissa retorted. She attempted to pull her hand back, but Bellatrix's fingers closed tightly around her wrist.
"Lucius gave this to you?" Bella asked, bringing the ring closer to her eyes.
Narcissa nodded slowly, recognizing the suspicious displeasure in her sister's voice. "He proposed to me."
Narcissa relinquished her hand as Bella's grip slackened. Bellatrix stared at Narcissa with something not far from possessiveness glinting in her eyes.
"Lucius proposed to you?" she repeated. "When did this happen?"
"Last week." Narcissa knew her sister better than to think she was merely surprised. After all, her engagement and marriage to Lucius Malfoy was hardly a new concept. To say that the arrangement had been premeditated would have been an understatement. No, it was something else altogether that overtook Bella. Maybe a sense of muted betrayal? But as Narcissa looked closer, it was gone.
Bellatrix snorted. "Bloody coward would propose while I was gone."
"Oh stop flattering yourself, Bella."
"This from the girl with half her weight in goblin-made jewelry around one finger."
A smile tugged at Narcissa's mouth. Ostentatious or not, she appreciated Lucius's keen sense of fashion. Never mind what Bella said; Narcissa adored the ring. Her ring.
"If I remember correctly," Narcissa replied imperiously, "Rodolphus's ring was none too scant to look at either."
Bella rolled her eyes with a dismissive, "At least I didn't parade the silly thing. Merlin knows how many you've blinded flashing that ring around."
Narcissa ignored the somewhat accurate jibe. "Well, that's not a fair comparison because you didn't even love Rodolphus."
"Implying that you love Lucius," Bella said, something begrudging in her tone.
Narcissa felt the strange, unfamiliar sensation of blushing creep into her cheeks.
"Of course I love him," Narcissa said softly.
She didn't understand or appreciate why Bellatrix felt the need to make her feel guilty about such a thing. All too well she knew Bella's less than friendly opinions towards marriage. But Narcissa also knew that, for all her shenanigans and complete lack of social grace, Bella would respect the politics of pureblood society. Most of them, anyway. Narcissa caught herself staring at the horrible tattoo on Bellatrix's left arm.
That was what had convinced Bella to choose Rodolphus in the end. Narcissa had tired herself of the silly notion that Bella secretly loved the man she married. Besides, Bella herself had admitted enough to the effect that there were exterior motives to marrying Rodolphus. That reason, and a few other dirty details Narcissa could have done without.
"What?" Bella demanded, breaking Narcissa's train of thought, though she continued to stare at the Dark Mark. A skin blemish of sorts that was more of a wedding band than the ring of gold around her finger.
"Nothing," Narcissa lied. She made a silent promise to herself that she and Lucius were and would always remain a far cry from Bellatrix and Rodolphus.
"Don't look at me like that then."
"I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at… never mind," she mumbled, biting her lip.
"No one ever said we have to want the same things, Cissy," Bella said as though reading her sister's mind.
"Then why aren't you happy for me?" Narcissa asked, hearing the whine in her own words. She hadn't expected a party, not from Bellatrix anyway. Narcissa just wanted some sort of sisterly display of congratulation.
"I didn't say anything!" Bella said defensively.
Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "You hardly need to say something just to make your point."
Bella grinned. "Well, I guess I've been around Lucius too much to genuinely wish you happiness more than sympathy."
"If I depended upon your warm wishes, Bella, I'd live a dreary life indeed," Narcissa muttered. "Besides, I will be happy. Because not only do I love Lucius, but he loves me."
Bella did little to suppress a gagging sound. "Don't make me sick," she teased.
"Shall I go into details?" Narcissa smirked, longing to give Bellatrix a taste of her own medicine.
Bella stared intently at Narcissa, determining the implications of this challenge. Finally she said darkly, "He'd better."
"Better what?" Narcissa giggled in spite of herself.
Something drained from Bella's expression; it was weaker somehow. Not as hardened as Narcissa had frequently seen it lately.
"He'd better love you," Bella mumbled irritably, "if he's taking you."
Narcissa frowned, Bella's words worrying her. "Taking me away from what?"
Bella made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. "From Mother and Father, of course," she spat sarcastically.
"Oh."
Bellatrix suddenly became fascinated with something outside the window. A twinge of guilt nagged Narcissa. She tried to brush the sensation aside, told herself Bella was being selfish and silly, but the feeling remained. Narcissa knew firsthand just who and what Bellatrix associated happy willing marriages with.
"It's not like that, Bella," she said gently. "I'm not going anywhere."
I'm not leaving you.
"Course you aren't," Bella replied roughly. The smile she gave Narcissa was more like a grimace, though. "Just now it won't be long till you're fat as a troll with another child, caring more about a bunch of snotty smelly brats than your own sister."
Narcissa couldn't tell if Bella was trying to make a joke or a prophecy. "You know…" she began, seizing her opportunity, "If you settled down a little and had a child or two, our children could be friends."
"Settled down?" Bella demanded, her brief moment of vulnerability vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. She leaned threateningly toward Narcissa over the table.
"Yeah," Narcissa replied, leaning towards Bella to smirk properly in her face. "And I will never be fat."
"If you say so," Bella chuckled.
As Narcissa returned to her proper posture, Bellatrix cupped her chin in her hand, still leaning forward.
"What?" Narcissa asked as a mischievous smile spread across Bella's face.
"Oh, nothing… Mrs. Malfoy," she taunted.
"You're such a child, Bella."
"Am I, Mrs. Malfoy?" Then Bella shuddered. "Well, I hardly want to call you Narcissa Malfoy. That sounds dreadful. And Cissy Malfoy is completely out of the question. The right to call you that belongs to me and me alone."
"Of course it does, Bella. But Narcissa Malfoy sounds nice. Better sound than Narcissa Black, anyway."
"Maybe if you like the feeling of being owned."
"Oh no, Mrs. Lestrange; don't tell me your husband owns you," Narcissa teased cruelly.
"Never."
Narcissa laughed; Bella was so easy to irritate.
"Bellatrix Black only sounds good because it alliterates," Narcissa noted.
"And because it means something."
Narcissa restrained the urge to poke fun at her sister's unfailing sense of family pride.
"Yeah… but I think Lestrange is starting to mean something too."
Bellatrix shrugged, though Narcissa could tell she was bursting to give evidence. "So says the Daily Prophet, at least."
The real reason Bella had been so willing to talk, Narcissa supposed. To brag.
"Recently?" she asked, politely trying to feign interest.
"This morning; didn't you see it? It was on the front page." Bellatrix sounded a little disappointed.
Narcissa shook her head. She didn't tell Bella that she searched the paper specifically for signs of what her sister had been up to everyday. Bellatrix's ego wasn't that deprived.
As if to demonstrate this, Bella summoned the morning edition of the Prophet. With a flourish, she displayed it before Narcissa.
"There," Bellatrix declared. She might have been announcing she had won Witch Weekly's Best Dressed list. As it were, Bella's finger pointed at an article about the newly discovered body of a dead "muggle born".
"I read this article, though," Narcissa said, pushing aside some of her queasier feelings to look at Bellatrix. "You weren't mentioned in it at all."
"That's the clever thing, though," Bella explained eagerly. "The Ministry hasn't a clue who's behind this strand of "Disappearing Acts" as they're calling a few mudbloods who've gone missing for no apparent reason."
Narcissa pushed the paper away from her. She adjusted her engagement ring ever so slightly. Finally she met Bella's eyes.
"Don't tell me you're behind all of them," Narcissa said in a quite voice.
"No, not all of them."
Such a statement wasn't exactly reassuring, but Narcissa didn't want details.
She sighed and wished the conversation had never left the topic of her fiancé.
"Lucius does this too, Narcissa," Bella said with unfortunate timing.
Narcissa looked at her ring once more, at Bella's Dark Mark, then the ring.
"I don't mean it in a harsh way. You should be proud. It's going to be part of your life. It is a part of your life as a pureblood." Bella's eyes were different; she was older suddenly.
"It just bothers me when it's you."
That wasn't true. It bothered Narcissa to think of Lucius's arm burning too, to think of him fighting and killing in the middle of the night. But Bella didn't need to know that.
"Why?"
Narcissa stared at her sister, wondered if she was joking.
She decided Bellatrix really wanted an answer. "Because, Bella. Every time you're gone for extended periods of time I have to worry about you."
Bellatrix hesitated. "Well that's stupid."
It was Narcissa's turn. "Why?"
"Because I worry about you when I'm gone."
"Then why do you leave?" The words escaped Narcissa's mouth before she considered how they might offend Bella. But she wanted a reason just the same. She wanted Bella to end her service to the Dark Lord in favor of a safer, less time consuming life. She wanted Bella to love Rodolphus. She wanted Bella to be happy. After all, Narcissa was going to be happy; wasn't she?
"I leave," Bella said carefully, though there was a harshness to her words. "So that I have something worth coming back to."
More worn out sermons of Bella's that Narcissa didn't understand.
"It's the same thing as Lucius, really. We're both trying to protect what we are willing to die for."
Narcissa knew that asking what exactly that was would only result in endless snubs.
"But Lucius being a Death Eater is different from you being a Death Eater," Narcissa argued. Lucius does it because he has to; you do it because you want to.
"Yeah. I'm better at it than he is."
Narcissa rolled her eyes, until Bellatrix nudged her.
"You'll let me help pick out the bridesmaid's dress at least, won't you?"
Narcissa appreciated Bella's none to subtle change of subject. But then she winced as a thousand vivid images of Bellatrix's previous slinky excuses for dresses flashed before her eyes. "Considering you're looking to be the only bridesmaid, there's little point in voicing my preference as you'll surely ignore it."
Bella smiled triumphantly.
"Of course," Narcissa said, "that doesn't mean I won't try."
She grasped Bella's hands excitedly, more than willing to move away from the topic of the copious amount of Death Eaters she seemed to be connected to. "We can go shopping together like we used to; it will be fun!"
"More like reliving a nightmare," Bella muttered.
Narcissa scowled, manipulative as she said, "I could always ask a Rosier to be my bridesmaid."
Such threats were lost on Bella, however. She laughed. "Oh, Cissy… I've been your Maid of Honor since the day you first imagined your wedding."
"I can't think of a more unfortunate truth."
Bella's eyes gleamed, and Narcissa knew the taunt before she heard it.
"You're marrying Lucius Malfoy."
Author's Note: Who else is pumped for Deathly Hallows after seeing the pictures in Entertainment Weekly? Now I'm really itching to write some post-Azkaban Bellatrix so if you guys have any requests, let me know! On a different note, I just put up a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory parody of Sweeney Todd's "Epiphany" for my fellow Tim Burton fanatics called In Which Mr Bucket Experiences an Epiphany. Thanks so much for your continued reading and reviewing!