Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.
Entertaining
Second only to the loss of her former way of life, Narcissa lamented the loss of elegant parties that occurred almost weekly in the high society of her childhood. The grandeur, the elegance, the untested class and status that graced the dance floors and conversation, everything was but a veneer of celebration in the few parties she hosted for the ranks of her husband's crowd. And such crowd, excluding her husband, sister, and a few old names, did not satisfy Narcissa's longing for true pureblood extravagance.
Death Eaters, Narcissa decided, no matter how crucial their cause, were not the ideal guests- house, party, or otherwise. With the blood washed from their face, and their marks concealed by the frills of dress robes, they almost looked presentable. But appearances only held for so much. The conversations were weighted with blood ridden tales, rather than the idle gossip Narcissa had once reigned over. Dancing occurred rarely, and when it did, Narcissa thought it poorly orchestrated. The formalities of finery were forced; no longer were the parties Narcissa hosted breathing art.
Perhaps the only thing remained constant was the fact that, where there was a party, there was Bella, acting more of a party by herself than the entirety of the celebration. Narcissa gave a half smile as Bellatrix sauntered towards her, two glasses of elfin wine dangling from long fingers. Passing Alecto Carrow, Bellatrix snorted derisively. You could dress Bella up, but you couldn't take her… no, Narcissa sighed, you couldn't even dress Bellatrix up.
"What are you wearing?" Narcissa asked, without real desire for an explanation, as Bella reached Narcissa with a smirk.
"An evening dress," Bella replied, looking mildly offended.
"For your idea of an evening, perhaps," Narcissa noted dryly.
Bellatrix shrugged. "A far cry better than what that cow is wearing. By the looks of her stole, she asked Greyback for fashion advice."
Narcissa's nostrils flared in agreement, though Bella's words amused her.
"Really," Bellatrix, uninterrupted, drawled, "I thought dressing up in costume was a muggle tradition."
"Well, you've never thought much of her as a witch," Narcissa said, with a slight nod at the woman in question.
Bellatrix chuckled darkly, offering Narcissa one of the glasses.
"To the purest magic."
"To bewitching."
Her own, aged reflection in Bella's eyes caused Narcissa a flicker of pain as she remembered so many previous toasts, on so many more certain occasions.
"Happy Halloween, Cissy," Bellatrix said finally, when the reverie lasted too long.
"Of course, Bella."
They fell silent. Narcissa raised her glass to her nose, sniffing but never tasting. Bellatrix sipped the wine slowly, licking the dark red droplets from her lips with careful dexterity. Narcissa looked at her reflection from within the wine glass, then to Bella, then back to her reflection. Bellatrix peered over the rim of her glass with gleaming eyes as she scrutinized the woman from a conversation Narcissa thought exhausted.
"You didn't need to invite her."
"I didn't need to invite you," Narcissa teased, though not so gently as she might have.
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. She differed, "Yes, yes you did."
"I couldn't very well host a party exclusively for Death Eaters and deliberately not invite her," Narcissa reasoned. She felt herself growing defensive at Bella's relentless criticism.
"Growing soft in your old age?" Bella mused, too cruelly for Narcissa to laugh, "Come, come, Cissy. We used to be far more superior."
Narcissa drew her shoulders back so that she almost looked down upon her sister.
"I am quite certain that we still are. And I might add that I'm not so old as you, Bella."
Narcissa regretted the comment the moment she spoke it, for such jibes at Bella's age only drew attention to the lines of Azkaban's prison bars, and the grey that streaked through the once luminous mane of black curls.
"Besides," Narcissa added quickly, "Lucius composed the guest list, not I. If you have complaints, take them up with him."
"As always…" Bella muttered, a grin tugging at her lips as Lucius approached them.
He nodded in Bella's direction. Bella smirked, but made no attempt to return the gesture.
Taking Narcissa's hand, Lucius pressed her skin to his lips. Narcissa smiled, but it was a guarded expression. She tried not to notice how the twinkle of his eyes had been removed by the previous year in Azkaban. Bellatrix swallowed more wine in an obvious attempt to fill the silence.
"I brought you a drink," Lucius began quietly, giving Bellatrix a look out of the corner of his eye, "but it would seem that your sister has already done the same."
"A minute sooner, dear," Narcissa soothed, smoothing the front of Lucius's collar with her glass-free hand.
"You'll catch up one of these days, Lucius," Bella added. "In the meantime, I'll take that off your hands."
Lucius made no protest. Bellatrix handed her empty glass to a passing house-elf and took the proffered drink from her brother-in-law.
"To the Dark Lord," Lucius suggested rigidly.
"The Dark Lord," Bella agreed, her voice throaty and low.
Bella did not acknowledge Narcissa's lack of toast.
"Will he be joining us?" Narcissa asked, lips pursed.
Lucius cleared his throat. "If he is not otherwise engaged," he paused, lowered his voice, "I am told he travels tonight."
"Then what better cause for celebration than his return?" Bella suggested, something final about her rhetoric.
"What better cause indeed," Narcissa replied, yet another conversation worn thin.
Bellatrix ignored Narcissa's comment.
"And my husband? Any news of his whereabouts?" Bellatrix's tone was not that of a worried wife, but rather of a possessive slave-driver.
"I would hope that you would know better than I," Lucius noted, "but, as it is, I believe he told me he was spending the day with Dolohov, 'spreading holiday cheer', they said."
Narcissa shuddered.
Bellatrix looked put-off; perhaps envy marred her face.
"Cad," she muttered.
Lucius made a side comment about calling the cauldron black, eliciting a string of remarks from Bellatrix concerning family pride. Recognizing the beginning of yet another argument between brother and sister-in-law, Narcissa left the company of her husband and sister to float amongst the party.
"Madame Malfoy," a low voice purred.
Narcissa turned to her left, raising an eyebrow slightly at the amused expression upon Yaxley's face.
"The ever glum mistress of such an ever cold manor," he chuckled.
Narcissa breathed in sharply. The confusion between glum and haughty was a sad and telling remark on the times.
"If the temperature is not to your liking, Yaxley, I shall have a house elf start a fire," Narcissa replied curtly.
Again, Yaxley laughed. He took Narcissa's fingers to press her hand to his twisted lips. "But of course, the manor is only as cold as its mistress."
Narcissa removed her hand from his grasp. She maintained, however, a very forced smile. "And I am only as cold as my companions."
"You'll forgive me then," Yaxley said, "if I deny your expectations with a little warmth. A dance, perhaps?"
Narcissa opened her mouth to dash Yaxley's hopes with great pleasure when the bang of heavy front doors opening sounded from below.
Emerging in the room's entrance way, Rodolphus and Dolohov stood on either side of a young man, barely older than a boy, who wore a tattered costume and an emotionless expression.
The room went silent; all eyes focused upon the unidentified man.
Bellatrix was the first to break the silence. "I see you've brought another guest…"
"A spoil from our Halloween adventures," Rodolphus replied, a wolfish grin stretching his sunken face.
A general chuckle sounded from the ranks.
"A muggle?" Rookwood asked.
Rodolphus nodded.
"Yes, but he put up such a good fight compared to his friends, we thought it only fair to bring him along for a proper congratulation," Dolohov added. His fingers closed tightly around the man's shoulder.
Again, dark snickers filled the room.
"But of course, we must welcome such a valiant hero," Bella murmured, walking across the clearing that had formed upon the entrance to stand before the muggle. "How horrible it would be if his last night wasn't something to remember…"
Rodolphus grinned appreciatively. Dolohov pushed the muggle forward so that he fell to the floor beneath Bellatrix.
"You know, muggle, it wasn't very polite of you to interrupt our little party," Bella murmured. The muggle began to rise to his feet as Bellatrix took out her wand.
Narcissa turned swiftly from the scene. Finding her husband, she grabbed his arm and led him away from the din of barbaric Death Eaters.
"Dance with me," she demanded, looking at him fiercely as though he was to blame for the evening's turn of events.
Lucius opened his mouth to protest, to perhaps note that the mood was hardly adequate for dancing, but Narcissa planted his hand firmly on her waist.
"We have no music," Lucius said weakly.
"We have ourselves," Narcissa snapped, her voice that of one who was used to getting her way.
Lucius did not miss the warning in her voice.
They twirled across the secluded sector of the room, not smiling but not frowning. The steps they executed were out of practice and lacking grandeur, as though the dancing too could only whisper from the past. As Narcissa spun from and then into Lucius, she realized she was leading. She smiled apologetically, but Lucius seemed not to have noticed the switch. Narcissa enchanted a violin to play, and their dancing slowed until it was if they were merely holding onto each other. Narcissa pressed her head against Lucius's chest, muffling the noise of both violin and torture. The melancholy pull of bow across string juxtaposed the harsh screams of both predator and prey from the opposite end of the room. Narcissa winced. The notes of both despair and disharmony culminated into a twisted swan song, and Narcissa felt a tear roll down her cheek.
She brushed it away quickly. A strangled cry of pain and a responding shout of triumph froze Narcissa. Suddenly, the mournful melody of an enchanted violin ended and Narcissa could hear only the personification of insanity.
"Make her stop, Lucius," Narcissa growled, gritting her teeth against the combined racket of Bellatrix and her victim.
Lucius stared blankly at his wife.
"Lucius!"
Lucius swallowed before saying, "If she doesn't listen to me when she needs help, why do you think she'd listen to me when she's having fun."
"Fun?" Narcissa hissed, eyes darting in the direction of her sister. "You may not have your wand, Lucius. But I will not allow you to let Bella's childish antics reign over you in your own house!"
The sight of her husband's prison-wizened face churned Narcissa's stomach in violent agitations. She left his side, remembering many a childish tantrum as she stomped towards Bella, prepared to scream until she got her way.
"Bella. Bella, stop it," Narcissa demanded, raising her voice over the watching Death Eater's cruel cacophony.
Bellatrix whirled around to face her sister, flyaway hair framing her feverishly wild face. She raised a challenging eyebrow.
"Bellatrix," Narcissa warned, feeling suddenly less like her childhood self but more like a parent. "I think you've done enough."
"Why spoil our fun, Cissy? What's this hurting you?" Bellatrix taunted, her mouth forming a malicious grin.
Behind Bellatrix, the muggle struggled to rise on all fours. Bellatrix whipped around, slashing her wand down so that he collapsed to the marble floor with a crack.
"He's staining the tile," Narcissa noted rigidly, nodding as a pool of blood formed around the man's recently broken nose.
Noticing this for the first time, Bellatrix walked over the man and gave his side a swift kick so that he slumped onto his back.
"Cissy doesn't appreciate the mess you're making," Bella said.
She pressed the toe of her boot into the man's swollen nose. His cry of pain turned into a whimper as Bellatrix kneeled to hover over his bloodied face, her left knee pinning his chest to the floor.
"And I don't appreciate it either," Bellatrix hissed, her rotted smile inches away from his shattered nose. "Filth…"
Narcissa watched in mounting disgust as Bella ran a finger through the bloodshed she had caused. Raising the pointed finger, glistening crimson, Bellatrix stared as though transfixed. A few of the Death Eaters shifted awkwardly.
"So filthy…" she murmured.
With a movement that was elegantly violent, she slashed the reddened finger beneath her eyes so that her dark orbs burned with the reflection of blood. When she had completed this grotesque ritual upon herself, she did the same to her victim, taking the time to first clear his face of previous stains of the same blood.
Narcissa felt her stomach twist with revulsion, her disgust so great that she found her voice oddly detached from herself.
Bellatrix leaned next to the trembling man's ear. Her whisper carried through the room, "Do I scare you, muggle?"
Narcissa saw Rodolphus shake with quiet laughter.
The muggle did not reply. Bellatrix's nostril's flared dangerously. "Answer me," she growled, slamming her fists into his chest.
She gripped the man's jaw with her stained fingers, forcing his jaw to nod roughly.
"Yes," he sputtered.
"Good. Because you absolutely terrify me," Bella said, her words coming out in a wheezy cackle.
Narcissa remained stony as Bellatrix's broken laughter inspired the jeering of her fellow Death Eaters. Lucius pressed a hand to Narcissa's back as he joined his wife's side.
"Now," Bella instructed, her voice sickeningly high, "Stand up, and we shall fight like the ever brave heroes that we are."
She jumped to her feet like a savage cat, prancing with the thrill of the kill. The muggle, however, did not rise so quickly. His arms quivered as he pushed against the darkened marble.
Growing impatient, Bella snarled, "Help him up, Rodolphus."
As Rodolphus lifted the man from underneath his arms, Bellatrix walked in a circle around her prey. Rodolphus barely avoided the first jinx. The same could not be said for the defenseless muggle who staggered with pain.
"Dear, dear… this won't be very fun," Bellatrix noted, twirling her wand between her fingers.
Narcissa gripped her own wand in case her sister's spells became too sporadic.
A jet of red as the muggle ducked from the spell. Another spell fired lazily and without aim. Bellatrix sent a succession of sparks to the muggle's heels until he hobbled.
"Just kill him, Bella. This is utterly ridiculous," Narcissa muttered under her breath.
Bellatrix, apparently, had no such intentions.
"How about a little game in the dungeons?" Bella suggested with a smirk. "Hide and seek? You can run, and I'll find you anyway."
Panting unevenly, the muggle made a sudden roar. With his last bit of strength he lunged at Bellatrix. With a startled shout, Bella raised her wand but a stream of green light hit the muggle's chest before Bellatrix could complete her action.
As the muggle fell dead to the floor, Bellatrix spun around, prepared to fight whoever had stolen her ultimate joy. But upon facing the Dark Lord, Bella fell to her knees, bending her head as he walked towards the dissipating scene.
"Thank you, Bella," the Dark Lord hissed quietly, "for providing tonight's… entertainment."
A few of the onlookers chuckled. Bellatrix's eyes followed the Dark Lord with fervent attention as he circled the dead body.
"And what amusements you do entertain," the Dark Lord noted.
So subtlety spoken was the comment that Narcissa could not be sure it was meant as a compliment or reprimand.
"My lord disapproves?" Bella asked hesitantly.
The Dark Lord paused in his pacing. Wand in hand, he raised his arm so that the limb body rose, facing Bellatrix as it floated eerily in the air. The costumed form rotated as the Dark Lord examined the victim.
"I think, Bella, you would find your particular lust for torture better employed upon some of our own kind. I'm surprised, in fact, that you don't find trifling with muggles below you."
Bellatrix's cheeks reddened, but she refused to be fully admonished in front of her fellow Death Eaters.
"A Halloween amusement, that is all, my lord. I assure you, my efforts were all in the name of your cause," she breathed quickly.
"As ever, Bella, your loyalty shows no bounds," the Dark Lord drawled, his tone mocking and bored.
Bellatrix gaped wantonly at her master as he towered over her kneeling figure.
"Always…" she whispered.
Narcissa found herself transfixed with hatred as she stared at the Dark Lord. In turn, he was gazing upon the female servant so willingly before him. By the intensity of his gaze and the strange look upon Bella's face, Narcissa knew the private realms of Bella's mind had been penetrated.
Narcissa wondered what the Dark Lord found within that shattered mind. Narcissa wondered if she herself could travel through Bellatrix's thoughts she would be able to piece together the sister she had so loved before, her Bella.
She heard the Dark Lord's voice again but did not listen to his words. Now she struggled with her own thoughts, her own feelings for the Dark Lord, so different from her sister's. It took every ounce of concentration Narcissa could discipline not to project her thoughts upon the Dark Lord's ever knowing Legilimency.
And it was going to be such a beautiful party, she found herself thinking, somewhat madly.
When the Death Eaters had been dismissed and the Dark Lord vanished to an unknown sector of the house, Narcissa stood alone except for the dead body.
"Is there no chance for just one evening without the familiar scent of carnage lingering in my house?" Narcissa asked herself wearily, glaring at the bloodied muggle before her.
"We are at war, Narcissa," Bellatrix said, coming to stand behind her sister.
Narcissa shuddered at her sister's unexpected presence.
Narcissa breathed in slowly. "And what a wonderful war it is."
"We are so close to our triumph, and you entertain doubts?" Bella hissed.
"As you entertain your madness with continual games of sadism and horror, I shall have my doubts, Bella. Forgive me if I must remind you that this isn't the first Halloween you assured me victory was upon us."
Bellatrix scowled, her eyes flashing viciously.
"You'll regret your disloyal words when the world is at our feet once more."
"What hopeful victory awaits me, Bella, that can recover me so many losses?"
The two sisters exchanged glares until Bellatrix scoffed. Tossing her mangled curls over her shoulder, she left the room. Narcissa thought Bella might have had the decency at least to dispose of the body.
Author's Note: I watched Part One, what other explanation is needed? (I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did!) Next update will contain happiness and Andromeda, I promise! Reviews are appreciated beyond belief! :)