Disclaimer: None of the works in this particular compilation are mine. All entries were merely submitted to me and posted in here as part of the contest.

Residing in Emptiness by sapphire smoke

Prompt: "I never knew you were a romantic." (Choice 2)

Word Count: 999

Ship: Narcissa Malfoy – Bellatrix Lestrange

Tears were something that came only when one was alone. To cry in front of another would surely show your weakness, diminish your pride, and lower your self-worth and the worth that others apply to you. It was a lesson learned young for Narcissa; instilled in her as a child from her overbearing mother who wanted nothing less than perfection from her girls.

So when Narcissa broke down, she did it alone. She was huddled in her bathroom; the bottom of her dress balled up in her tight fists as she chokes back another wave of sorrow, feeling like her heart was being ripped from her chest. She could barely see through her stream of tears, could hardly hear anything other than the sounds of her own distress, so when she saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye, she nearly jumped a mile. She looked up to see she wasn't alone.

Her sister Bellatrix stood in the threshold of the doorway, looking like she didn't know what to do with the scene before her. It had been decades since either had seen the other cry. Her hand twitched slightly at her left; like she wanted to reach out and touch her but didn't know how to go about it. It seemed like ages since they've had physical contact. Even when Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban, there were no tearful reunions; no hugs; nothing. It was reduced to a curt nod, a smile when no one else was looking. But that's what they had been reduced to by their mother's overbearing lessons that left more marks on each of their personalities than they're proud of.

But the rules were broken, the weakness in her had been shown, and all she wanted was her sister back. She looked up at her, eyes puffy and worn from distress, and reached out with a hesitant hand. Bellatrix's eyes flickered to the offering, then back up to note the pain on her sister's face. In one swift motion, she closed the door behind her and came to Narcissa wordlessly.

The younger woman wasted no time in pulling her sister to her. Bellatrix knelt in front of her as Narcissa buried her face in her neck, letting the tears flow freely as she slumped to the ground to be closer to her warmth. She grasped at the tatters of her sister's clothing, letting everything she had ever held inside of her release in cries of agony and fear.

The picture of them both, huddled together on the floor, was such a flashback to their childhood that in some sick way it made Narcissa feel safer.

"Cissy." Bellatrix's voice was barely audible over her sister's incessant crying. "You should be proud." Of course Bellatrix knew why she was crying. She knew her own sister well enough to know what would upset her to this length.

"He's my only son!" Narcissa cried, hysterical. "I don't understand—if he must punish Lucius he could have done it with me, why didn't he do it with me? I can't—he can't…"

"Do not pretend you can dictate what you think the Dark Lord should and should not do," Bellatrix interrupted, voice harsh. And it was that, that right there, that upset Narcissa more. More than Draco being chosen for some mission that's sure to get him killed, more than her whole life feeling like it's crumbling apart. She wrenched away from her then, fist pounding on her sister's shoulder.

"Stop!" she screamed. "Stop being a Death Eater. Be my sister. I need my sister, Bella! Can't you see that I… I…" she dissolved in tears again, feeling the effort to be futile. She didn't know if Bellatrix has it in her to be human any longer.

Bellatrix sat motionless for a moment, as if she was a child trying to decipher a complicated puzzle. She managed to draw to some kind of conclusion though, and in the most delicate motion Narcissa had ever seen her sister draw forth, she placed her hand beneath her chin and tipped it to look at her.

"He will not die, I… I promise you, Cissy. I'd further throw myself off a cliff than see you in anymore pain." Narcissa looked at her in shock as Bellatrix seemed to struggle with finding any human emotion inside of her. She looked uncomfortable, like a trapped animal needing to escape. But she stayed, and she tried, for her. She took a breath and continued, "You're my sister, my world. I would kill, I would destroy whole civilizations rather than see you suffer."

Then the eye contact was over and Bellatrix withdrew, looking like she felt the need to run and slaughter a muggle just to feel normal again.

But Narcissa wouldn't let her. She grasped Bellatrix's hand, making her look her in the eyes again. She gave her a small smile and joked, to try to make her feel at ease again, "I never knew you were a romantic."

Bellatrix scoffed, but looked amused none the less. "Rodolphus would beg to differ, I'm sure. Regardless, if I ever heard such filth come from his mouth I'd remove his tongue and watch as he choked on it."

Her sister, never one to deal with her problems the normal way.

"But you never really loved him… did you?" Narcissa asked softly, looking up at her. It was an arranged marriage and Bellatrix never showed much interest in him.

"No," Bellatrix told her. She gave her a small smirk and revealed, "But that is why I would never allow such sentiments like that to pass his lips, but with you I allow it."

Knowing that's the closest declaration of love she'd ever get from Bellatrix she smiled and responded, "I love you too, Bella." And she did, more than she probably should. But that emptiness inside of her only seemed to diminish when she was with Bellatrix, and all she's ever wanted was to feel whole.