For the first time in a week, dinner was lively and full of conversation, from everyone from me, that is. I was still attempting to digest the fact that Bella was even considering giving up her baby to the Dark Lord. While we were walking in the hallway on our way to dinner, she confided in me that the baby was a girl.
Bella asked me to help me come up with a name. She wants it to be a fearsome name, but not fearsome enough that you would confuse her for a male.
Bella's voice snapped me back to reality, "Cissy, Cissy? Are you even listening to me?" Bella was waving her hands in front of my face in a sad attempt to snatch my attention. I had been staring at the window, consumed in my thoughts for the thousandth time that night.
"Of course I was," I replied acidly, "and just so you know, you sound like mother. All the better, you'll need practice, won't you. Then again, you might not."
Bella just gaped at me, as did the rest of the table. It was clear that the only people who knew what I actually meant were Bella, Rodolphus, and me.
"Yes, well," she replied in a tone that matched mine, "family traits are unfortunate, but you don't seem to have to worry, do you?"
She was referring to the fairness in my complexion and hair, I know it, and it was plainly obvious. It was no secret that I had insecurities about my looks compared to Bella's. Although, this was the first time that she had dragged it up in public.
The table was deathly quiet. The somberness seemed to be choking surrounding students, and they were trying to scoot away from us with frightened looks on their faces.
"So," Rodolphus said, clearing his throat, "how about we get back to the Common Room and play a few rounds of Wizard Chess?"
"No," Bella and I said at the same time, same sharpness in our voices, same sneer on our faces.
"Okay, then," he said rather uncomfortably, "why don't we go down to the lake and- "
"No, Rodolphus," I said in a clear voice, more polite than the tone I had used with Bella, "I think I'm going to go see Andy for a while. I feel like it's been ages since we've seen each other.
The look on Bella's face could only be described as full blown fury, about to erupt into something possibly lethal. Her eyes turned dark, her curls a mess around her face, sneer set on her face, lightening from the terrible weather outside framing her face from behind the window. If anyone else would have seen this face, they would have turned and run, but I was pleased with how I could enrage Bella with a few sling of certain words.
"WHAT?" she shrieked. This time, the surrounding students made no move to be discreet as they scrambled from their seats and moved to the very opposite side of the table.
"You heard me," I said, grabbing my things, "it might do me some good to be around the sane one." Without another word, I stood and walked over to the neighbor table where Andy was sitting with her friends, laughing at something her friend had just said.
Some students watched me with wary eyes as I moved closer to Ravenclaw table. I merely ignored them and continued on my way. Andy saw me coming and her smile faltered a bit, but nonetheless, she scooted over to make room for me.
"Hi, Andy," I said in a carefree manner, " how have you been since the train ride?" Andy sat rigid with her mouth open slightly.
"Fine, just fine, Cissy," she replied hastily before adding, "but what are you doing over here? Do you want to be disowned," she finished the last part in a hoarse whisper.
"Mother and Father wouldn't disown me for just sitting by my rational sister, now would they?" I said with the flip of my hand, " besides, Bella is being a prude. She insulted my fairness, even though she knows how much I hate it."
Andy looked around at her friends and gave them a look that said she was just as confused as they were. Her friends were looking at me with odd looks on their faces, and it was steadily making me even more uncomfortable than I already was.
"Cissy," Andy started tentatively, "are you sure there isn't something you want to tell me?"
I bit my lip in uncertainty. I really did want to tell Andy what was wrong; besides, she was our sister, she deserves the right to know that she is soon going to be an aunt, but even though I was furious with Bella, I couldn't bring myself to tell her.
"No," I mumbled, diverting my eyes, "not really."
Andy looked at me uncertainly, but dropped the matters anyway. I could tell that she knew I was lying, but instead, she said, "Okay, well, I wanted to tell you something anways."
"Yes?" I asked, sincerely curious, "It's been a while since we've really talked about anything besides that Ted Tonks boy."
"Oh," Andy said with a sneer, "then you might be disappointed to hear that I'm marrying 'that Ted Tonks boy!"
I couldn't think of anything to say to that because I had no idea how I felt about it. On one hand, I wanted Andy to be happy, but on the other hand, I didn't want her to be disowned. Eventually, all I could think of to say was, "When is the wedding?"
Andy instantly cheered up at my query. She had a hopeful gleam in her eyes that I hadn't seen for a while, certainly not anywhere around our household and family.
"Are you saying that you'll come?" she asked in a aspirant voice that made me cringe. If mother and father found out that I was to attend a wedding binding a Black daughter to a muggleborn Hufflepuff, who knew what they would do! I could only imagine what Bella, who was now inquisitively staring at me from her spot at the Slytherin table across the room, would do if she even got a whim of a word of what I was about to do.
"I suppose so," I replied lightly, "how could I miss it?" Andy squealed and her friends looked at me, gobsmacked, as if I had just agreed to killing the minister.
"But Andy," I said, interrupting her moment of joy, "you can't breathe a word of this to anyone."
She looked at me with questioning eyes before speaking, her brunette hair held tight in the headband I had bought her as a Christmas present two years, "Why not?" she asked in a hurt voice.
"Well, you like to see me living, don't you?" I snapped back quickly.
"Of course," she mumbled as the other girls laughed. If they thought I was joking, then they were more daft at the how rigorous the world of Pureblood supremacy was than I originally thought.
"Okay, then. Well," I started dramatically, "I'll go back to the Slytherin table and pretend I am disgusted at how you can possibly stand this unworthy filth."
Andy just laughed and waved goodbye. Her friends looked slightly offended, but as soon as I got up to walk back to my house table, I could hear her assuring them that I was only kidding , mostly.
As soon as I sat down, I was pelted with glares only from Bella. Nobody else even dared to look in my direction except for my best friends, Lucius and Wilhelmina, of course.
"So," Bella said slowly, like a tiger cornering its prey, "what did the blood traitor have to say, hmm?"
"Well," I started, "our sister said that she does not intend to stop her relationship with the scum, so I left." If anything, Bella should have known that I was lying, every Black could, and convincingly at that.
Bella seemed to cheer up instantly. Seeing this, I continued, "Try not to stress yourself out too much, Bella. It's not healthy."
She picked up on what I was referring to and responded with a slight gesture of her hand, "You needn't worry about my well being. I can take care of myself. All of myself."
"You better," I said in a warning tone. She narrowed her eyes but said nothing more.
The rest of dinner, like always, went by cheerfully. There was no more talk of Andromeda or Bella's baby, and Bella, knowing that everyone sitting around us had left, formally announced that she was definitely having a baby girl. Before any other queries were made, we stood and walked out of the Great Hall.
The five of us were discussing names for Bella's baby, but the best name we could come up with was Evianna and Arabella, which she despised for lack of astrological origins. While walking, I had the vaguest feeling that we were being followed but soon squashed the theory and continued walking.
"Well, Bella, what do you propose we name her?" I asked once we were back in the Common Room. The only Slytherins left in sight were McNair with his minions and Violet Parkinson's gaggle of girl followers, only without their terrifying leader.
"I don't know! I don't particularly care as long as it's a good, strong name that will scare off all of the mudbloods," she said menacingly.
"Of course, only Bella could want her baby's mere name to make the mudbloods run in fright. Sometimes I wonder if you have a single maternal bone in your muggle-killing body," I said.
Rodolphus and Lucius chuckled as we assumed our spots in front of the green-tinted fire. I glanced over to see Violet watching us with narrowed eyes.
"Don't look now," Bella murmured from her comfortable spot on the couch, "but it looks like a hawk is about to swoop down and devour us."
I giggled and turned to see a Violet, a sinister smile creeping onto her face as she turned and whispered something into one her leech's ears that made her gasp and stare wide-eyed and point in our direction.
Everyone noticed this and were soon staring to see what the girl was pointing at. Just as she was about to open her mouth, I remembered my premonition-like feeling that someone was following us in the corridors walking back from dinner. Violet must have followed us down to the Common Room, which meant that she had heard all of the baby talk.
I could almost hear the accusatory words that were about to drop out of her mouth. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed my wand and shot the first spell that I could think of.
She stopped her almost-sentence when a row of black thread started stitching itself across her mouth, blocking out any of the noise that was about to be said. I had once seen Bella use this spell on Andy when I was much younger. I was almost shocked that I had remembered it all these years.
Muffled sounds were the only noise filling the Common Room before everyone snapped back to their senses. The reasonable Slytherins were laughing at the display before them, but the rest of Violet's followers and a few stray Slytherins just glared at me with their mouths agape.
Violet was the first to break the silence. "What have you done to her?" she sputtered incoherently. I hadn't the slightest idea of what I had actually done, only glad that I'd done it.
"Well," Bella said, a triumphant smirk splashed all across her dark features, "I do believe my little sister has just sewn her mouth shut and just in time, too. She may have said something she would've regretted."
At the last comment, the girl's eyes widened enormously and she started futilely attempting to pull on the thread out of her mouth.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Montague," Bella warned with amusement dripping in her voice, "you could do some fatal permanent damage. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"
The girl shook her head and continued to stare straight into Bella's dark brown pupils.
"Let's go to the Hospital Wing," Bella suggested demandingly, "We'll have lots to talk about on the way."
Bella stood and walked over to the girl she had called 'Montague' and gripped the girl by her shoulders, hoisting her out of the desk she had been sitting at.
They headed for the door when I called, "Don't hurt her, Bella."
Bella just shook her hand in a dismissive manner without turning around and said, "Of course not! We're just going to have a little talk."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and looked back over at Violet, who was now seething with anger and fury. Her eyes were still narrowed into a glare and here left hand was twitching a bit, which, of course, made me giggle.
"You shouldn't frown so much, Parkinson," Rodolphus said, unmoved by her expression, "you might get frown lines, and then who would want to marry you anymore?"
At this, she immediately returned her neutral expression, her eyes, which had turned considerably darker, the only sign that she was still infuriated.
For the next hour, no one said anything, just glared at each other from across the room: Violet at me, Violet's followers at Rodolphus, Lucius, and Wilhelmina. The remaining students decidedly picked a side and glared at the opposition.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Bella, who wore a triumphant/amused look, returned with the Montague girl, who was now a sickly pale color.
Montague scuttled over to where Violet was sitting and sat down beside her with odd wariness, as if she might hurt herself using regular effort. I finally decided that it must've been Bella's doing, or that girl was just a dimbo.
Weeks passed by quickly as the year was reaching its end. There was only a month and a half before school would end and summer would begin.
Everyone was busy studying for the end of the year finals and preparing for the end of Quidditch season. So far, Slytherin hadn't lost a game yet, but there were still two more games left, and Gryffindor was on the same winning streak.
All the while, the Dark Lord was becoming more known by the day with raids and murders. It seemed that not a day could pass by without another mysterious disappearance or brutal murder.
We were all sitting at dinner, discussing the usual quidditch strategies, Gryffindor-biased teachers, and the plans of the Dark Lord.
"Now what are we going to do?" Rodolphus asked once things quieted down and we started eating dessert.
"What do you mean what are we going to do?" Evan queried, setting his pumpkin juice back on the table.
"This is Bella's and my last year at Hogwarts and nothing considerably interesting has happened!" he said in frustration.
This really made us think, which quieted us for all of a minute. Finally, I said, "Well, what about your engagement? I wouldn't consider that forgettable in the least, Rod."
"Rodolphus is right, Cissy. We need to do something that will make this year memorable, if just for our sake," Bella said at last.
"What do you propose you do?" Lucius asked from beside me.
"That is the only problem. What are we going to do?" Rodolphus mused.
"We could always strike down a Gryffindor," Bella suggested with a smile consisting of malice and keenness.
"No, Bella," I said softly, "I'd rather you not be remembered for being the youngest students ever to be sentenced to Azkaban."
Bella laughed but soon stopped when someone walked over to our table. I turned and saw that Andy was standing behind me, looking rather elated.
"What do you want, Blood Traitor?" Bella hissed from across the table, her features squinched up in anger at the site of her.
"I need to talk with Cissy, Bellatrix," Andy replied coolly.
Bella looked like she was about to riposte, but I cut her off, "Okay, Andy. I'll be right there. Just give me a minute."
Andy nodded her understanding and walked back to Ravenclaw table and sat expectantly. I turned back to Bella, who looked absolutely livid. No one else would dare meet her eye, just in case she decided to pin her rage on anyone besides me.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing with our blood traitor sister, Cissy?" she nearly shrieked. We received a few glares from the other tables but ignored them.
"Stop calling her that, Bella! She's still our sister, regardless who she happens to cohort with," I replied as I stood.
I didn't hear Bella's response because I had already walked over to Ravenclaw table where Andy was still patiently waiting for my arrival.
I sat down beside her and listened intently to what she had to say. It had better be good considering how peeved Bella was steadily becoming with me.
"Cissy," she started, "we need to discuss the details of my wedding."
I sighed, but said, "Have you even chosen a wedding date, or a venue, invitations, guests, cake, flowers?"
She seemed to falter a bit, "No, but we're not going to need all of that."
"Andy," I said tentatively, "how are you going to have a wedding without invitations, guests, and whatnot?"
"Simple," she replied lightly, "we're going to elope this summer, right before school starts again, but I still need a few witnesses and the Maid of Honor."
This seemed to make more sense to me. I had always wondered how she was going to pull off marrying a muggleborn, but I never thought that she would be brash enough to elope.
"If you just needed a Maid of Honor, why didn't you just ask Bella?" I joked in good humor.
"I need a Maid of Honor, not a Maid of Horror," she laughed, "and I don't want to marry a corpse."
I laughed but stopped when I realized that it was true. Bella was graduating this year and would do as she pleased. If that involved killing Andy's muggleborn husband, she would do it.
"The wedding is going to be at Ted's parents' house," she said after my lapse of thinking.
The wedding was going to be at Ted's parents' house? Where was that and would anyone be able to see me there?
As if she were reading my thoughts, Andy said, "It's in Wales where no one can find us. After that, we're going to graduate and move to Ireland."
"Okay," I replied, "if that's all, I should probably go."
"Go ahead, but I probably won't be able to see you until the wedding," she said regretfully.
She gave me a quick hug before I left to go back to Slytherin table. I stopped half way before I reached my destination. Did I really want to go back to the table and be interrogated by Bella about what Andy and I discussed- again, did I?
Deciding to avoid numerous question propelled by anger and curiosity, I turned and walked out of the Great Hall, walking down to the Common Room.
Once I was there, I curled up in my chair, which was surprisingly warm even though it hadn't been occupied in hours. I looked out the window and saw that it was a coldly clear night, where only the moon and stars were visible. At the sight of this, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Hours later, I felt a hand on my arm, nudging me awake. I groaned and opened my eyes to slits and saw that Lucius was trying to rouse me out of my sleep.
"Wake up, Cissa," he whispered quietly.
I sat up into a sitting position and looked around the Common Room. It was deathly empty and the fire was starting to sizzle to an end. I looked at the clock and it read
12:03 AM
"You came back here and fell asleep," he said, almost amused.
"Obviously," I said as I stood and straightened my clothes, but then something seemed off about this situation, "What are you doing down here this late, anyway?"
"There is a meeting tonight," Lucius replied, "and we are about to leave. Rodolphus asked me to wake you, so we won't be late."
"Oh," I said, "thanks."
"Your welcome," he said, "now come on, before we're late."
He pulled me up the stairs and ushered me into the boys' seventh year dormitories, the place we've been using as a departing point.
We walked into the room and I saw Bella, Rodolphus, Evan, and a few other Slytherins I vaguely recognized already here, waiting for us.
"Finally, they're here!" Bella said, pulling out a mirror. This time when she spoke, it was into the mirror, "We're on our way My Lord."
There was a muffled response, and Bella pulled out another object, this time a necklace.
"What's that?" I asked in a whisper to Lucius, who was still standing at my side.
"That's our port key," he replied, walking us over to where the group was still waiting.
"Sleep well, Cissa?" Rodolphus asked jestingly. Bella just looked at me with a disapproving look on her face.
I smiled at him and replied, "Of course, it was free of mudbloods."
The sides of Bella's mouth upturned into an almost smile and she moved over to my side and prepped us on how to use the port key.
Once she was done, we all took a part of the necklace and waited. Almost immediately, our feet left the ground and we were spinning in the cold night's air. It was almost like apparating, only slightly less painful.
After a few moments of spinning, our feet touched the ground with a thud, and we were standing in front of Riddle Manor in all of its gloominess.
We walked into its foyer and waited to be directed into the main living room. I looked around while we were waiting. It was covered with pictures of legendary Purebloods. Under their picture was a biography-like plaque.
My eyes were scanning over pictures of the inventor of the first broom when a masked and robed man stalked into the room, beckoning us into the meeting room.
We took our designated seats that we'd had the night of our first meeting and stayed quiet until the Dark Lord came into the room. He still hadn't shown us his face but his voice was oddly familiar.
"Tonight, my dear death eaters, we are going to discuss plans for the downfall of the ministry- ," was all I heard from the Dark Lord before I zoned out. Lately, we had been planning and plotting. It was becoming aggravatingly repetitive.
I felt a jut in my side as Lucius elbowed me. Apparently, a question had been directed at me while I was still stuck in my reverie.
"Well?" Bella prompted gleefully.
"What?" I asked distractedly, "I'm sorry I didn't hear the question." Everyone's eyes were all staring at me, and it made me want to shift in my seat, but I was able to restrain myself.
Thankfully, Rodolphus was the once to answer instead of the Dark Lord, his voice did frighten me a bit. "The Dark Lord was wondering if you were interested in becoming a death eater once you graduated since Bella plans on doing so."
Oh Godric; not this again!
I gave a nervous cough and said, "No, not exactly."
The longer everyone stared at me, the more nervous I became, especially under the Dark Lord's penetrating stare.
"And why would that be, Miss Black?" the Dark Lord asked from his spot at the head of the table. I turned to look at him and then the death eaters that were still awaiting my explanation.
Finally, I put my words together to make an intelligent statement, "I feel that as a Pureblood, my future is more inclined to marrying a Pureblood man and raising untainted children."
The Dark Lord contemplated what I had said for a while before saying, "Is that all you think you are capable of doing, Narcissa?"
"No, my Lord, but that was what I was raised to believe," I replied meekly.
"Is that what you always intended to do?" he asked, stunned that the sister of Bellatrix was going to grow to be a regular house wife.
"Yes, but I did, however, plan to help the cause in whatever way I could, wether it be to retrieve information or actually fight, just not as an official death eater," I replied in the strongest voice I could muster.
"I see," he mulled in thought.
There was no more discussion involving myself for the rest of the night; although, Bella seemed to be absolutely pleased with my answer, and as a result, for the rest of the meeting, she was never without a smile, even on the subject of torture and murder.
As soon as the meeting was over, we all used the port key to return to the boys' dormitory. Seeing as most of all the seventh year boys were death eaters, we needn't be quiet until we left and went back to our dormitories.
Once I reached my dormitory, I opened the door and snuck back to my own bed. I fell back against the duvet in an unceremonious flop, seeing as no one was awake to criticize.
I was sleeping before I knew it and should've known that it wouldn't last long. At promptly six in the morning, only three hours after we returned, I was awake, once again, to prepare for another day of classes.
I dressed quickly, pulled a brush through my hair, and stumbled downstairs to see Bella and the rest of the Elite waiting downstairs already.
"Hey Cissy," Bella yawned and put her arm through mine, dragging me down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Everyone was already at breakfast and consumed in early morning conversation. Tons of owls were swooping down and delivering post.
We sat down and began devouring the food in front of us. I surveyed all my friends surrounding me: they were all tired, which was evident by the slightly purple circles under their eyes, yawning, and had a glazed look in their eyes.
Bella, however, was chipper, which, on Bella, looked sinister. She was humming and joyously sipping her pumpkin juice at the same time.
"Bella," Rodolphus started, "why so excited?"
"Not excited, Rod," she replied, "just, happy."
We were all dumbfounded. Bella is hardly ever happy, unless with the Dark Lord or torturing the inferior.
"Why?" Evan queried with a following yawn.
"Read the letter I just got," was all she said before shoving a piece of parchment in front of us.