"One moment, darling," said Narcissa in the gentlest tone she could muster after witnessing that horrible meeting. She took two steps past Lucius when he gently grabbed her hand and twisted her around to face him.
"Sweetheart, where are you going?" he asked firmly. Lucius understood Narcissa extremely well and could tell that she was on the verge of attacking someone. Narcissa knew that Lucius cared deeply for her but she did not have enough time to give him the proper explanation he deserved about her decision to beg Severus for aide.
Narcissa grabbed Lucius's unoccupied hand with her own. Both her hands clasped in his, she looked into his broken eyes. She carefully said, "You need to trust me, Lucius. I promise that I will explain everything to you, but for the moment it is urgent that I speak with Severus." He nodded in understanding, squeezed her hands, and released them. Lucius beckoned Draco to follow him out of the room as he watched Narcissa cautiously approach Snape.
"Severus, may I have a word?" Narcissa politely asked. He gave her a curt nod and followed her out of the drawing room and into one the many adjacent sitting rooms. During their brief walk, Narcissa racked her brain trying to think of logical reasons for Snape to help her family. When she could not come up with any, she decided to resort to constant pleading. Here goes everything, Narcissa thought as Snape followed her into the room closing the door behind him.
Narcissa pointed her wand at the door and murmured "Muff-" but was cut of by Severus's drawling.
"Well…" He began, and crossed his arms over his chest. She stared stupidly for a moment, slightly aggravated at the fact that Snape just interrupted her resulting in cutting off her spell and train of thought.
As she attempted to re-gather her thoughts, she gestured towards the couch and said, "Please have a seat, Severus." He walked over and sat down stiffly, eyeing her as she sat down next to him while trying to fight her tears and to cease her hands from shaking.
Narcissa took a deep breath and looked into his hard, unemotional face and stuttered, "Severus, please, you're my last hope! I need your help…my family needs your help… The Dark Lord, what will he do to my Lucius… and Draco…will he… ever let them make up for past failures?"
"I believe you already know the answer to that question, Narcissa," said Severus as he rose from the couch.
"Severus no, please stay," pleaded Narcissa as she gripped his arm in a futile attempt to sit him back down. He glared back down at her and she immediately removed her hands and placed them limply in her lap. Narcissa looked back up at him and his face returned to its hauntingly blank state.
It was worth a shot, she thought as Severus turned away from her and towards the door. She expected that Severus would not aide her again, but the fact that her attempts failed so quickly gave her less hope of surviving Voldemort. She crumpled forward onto the floor as tears starting pouring down her cheeks, but she was too distraught to wipe them away.
"Narcissa," said Snape in a commanding voice. Narcissa looked up and saw that Snape had not left the room after all. She was in shock and tried to form the words "thank you," when she noticed Snape faced her and held his hand out. She forced her quivering hand to take his, and in one swift motion he pulled her up off the floor, towards him and started rapidly whispering in her ear.
"Listen carefully; there is no way that I could be of service to you. I helped Draco with his task last year, but this is different. The position of your family rests in the decision of the Dark Lord and I am not fool enough to attempt to convince him. It is impossible for you to get back into his good graces, at least not until that Potter brat is killed. And even then, Narcissa, nothing is guaranteed."
"But, Severus, I-" Narcissa started but was cut off once again by Severus's whispers
"I wish you the best of luck," he murmured, and Narcissa looked from her watery eyes into his. Snape actually had some sympathy for her. This was too overwhelming for her to comprehend, so she ducked her face in the hollow of his neck and wept. She felt his body tense up, but she was too vulnerable to pull away from him.
Although his advice on the Malfoys' predicament was not entirely helpful, she felt herself cling to him as he was the only lifeline she had. Lucius was distraught from his time in Azkaban, and Draco, poor Draco, was in constant fear of Voldemort. She knew that none of the Death Eaters would go against the Dark Lord to defend her, not even Bellatrix. Yet Snape was there, sort of, consoling her against his better judgment.
She knew that she could not cling to him forever and decided to back away from him. At that moment, the door to their sitting room burst open and an angry Bellatrix stormed into the room.
"What's going on here, Cissy?" shrieked Bellatrix as she grabbed Narcissa by the shoulders and through her on the couch. "Do you trust Snape more than your own sister?"
"Bella," Narcissa began, "Don't be absurd! Of course I trust you. It's just-"
Narcissa found herself cut off again. First Snape and now Bellatrix, as if she did not have enough to handle as it was she had to endure being screamed at now too?
As Bellatrix's pointless ranting continued she noticed Snape slip through the door, leaving the two sisters alone. Great, Narcissa thought bitterly, she'll have to deal with Bella's rage by herself.
"Are you even listening to me, Cissy? Everything is your fault anyway!" Bellatrix spat.
"My fault, Bella, how dare you! How is anything my fault?" Narcissa stood up and glared at her older sister.
"Cissy, it's you who's to blame for the Dark Lord's anger at me! I, the Dark Lord's most trustworthy, servant has now been tossed aside and all because of your family and their failures!"
"DON'T!" screeched Narcissa. She had finally reached her breaking point. "Don't you dare blame my family, when you yourself had also failed to obtain the prophecy for the Dark Lord!" Narcissa had never once brought up that incident since it occurred and certainly had never spoken to Bella like that in her entire life.
How Bellatrix had the nerve to blame her still came as a shock. It's not like it was Narcissa's fault that Andromeda married that Mudblood or that their disgusting niece married a werewolf! And not only that, but for Bella to mock her family! She couldn't believe that her sister would sink to that low of a level. Bringing them into this dispute was the absolute last straw.
Narcissa saw that Bella's look of hate matched the one etched onto her own face. She could have sworn that she saw Bellatrix reach inside her robes for her wand so she grabbed hers.
However, in the next instant Bella took her shaking hand and slapped Narcissa across the face. Neither sister moved, but they could hear the sound of their heavy breathing. Eventually, Narcissa slowly retreated back to the couch, wrapped her arms around her legs, and bowed her head into her knees. Bella took her gesture as a cue to leave, but made sure to huff and mumble her way to the door. Narcissa did not lift her head until she heard the door slam shut.
How could her life get any worse? As she had finally felt consoled by Severus, her hysterical sister had to destroy whatever comfort she had found. Having choosing her husband over Bellatrix had left Narcissa feeling lonelier than ever. Narcissa had no one left to turn to, not while Lucius was still distraught about his experience in Azkaban and while Draco had too much on his plate. She couldn't in good conscious have her son worry about her. She also did not want to put Severus in a vulnerable position on her behalf, after he already had.
Narcissa couldn't get herself to move off of the couch. She wasn't even able to conjure another tear.