"In the attic, a warhead no doubt burns. Everything is combustible. Faith burns. Trust burns. Everything burns to nothing and even nothing burns. [. . .] And when there is nothing, there is nothing worth dying for and when there is nothing worth dying for, there is only nothing."

Tim O'Brien, The Nuclear Age (p. 303), 1985

It was three days after the battle at Hogwarts that Narcissa opened the door to her house to find her sister, Andromeda, standing on the doorstep with an infant in her arms. To say Mrs. Malfoy was shocked would be an understatement. Not four days ago she'd found the body of her dead sister and now she was face to face with the one she'd accepted to be lost long ago. And the baby in her arms was Bellatrix's; there was no mistaking that blonde hair and cherub face.

How had this extreme turn of events managed to take place? Narcissa was just as clueless as the next person. In fact, she just about fainted from shock right then and there. Clearly someone up there had it in for her.

"Andy…" the familiar nickname slipped off her tongue before she could stop herself.

Andromeda offered a weak smile and shifted the baby in her arms slightly. "Cissy."

After a moment's deliberation, Narcissa stepped aside and gestured inside her home. "Please, do come in."

It didn't matter that they hadn't spoken in over twenty years; that, until only a few days, ago they'd been at opposite sides of one of the biggest wars known to wizards and the like. In fact, Narcissa was quite sure that none of anything mattered anymore.

Too many scars had been left by the war for her to care about much of anything anymore. The fact that her sister had just shown up with her other dead sister's baby did little to bring about any kind of emotion other than shock and even that was soon gone.

Narcissa Malfoy felt like a hollow, broken mockery of herself and she was quite certain that there wasn't a thing in the world that could change that.

She'd lost almost everything because of that damn war. Her sister and her sister's husband had died in battle. Her husband, Lucius, had just been carted off to Azkaban again for his involvement in the Deatheaters and she'd only just managed to save her son a life sentence. But after a hearing on Saturday, it was likely he'd be living out the next at least five years with his father. The house that she prided herself in so much would soon be seized by the ministry, along with most of its possessions, and what little money she'd have left after all this wouldn't be enough to by her a small flat.

There really was nothing left for Narcissa Malfoy.

Hesitantly Andromeda followed her inside, taking in the flawlessly clean exterior.

She led her sister over to the dining room table in the next room, taking a seat and waiting for Andromeda to take one opposite her.

Her lost sister eyed her for a few moments, taking in the dirty hair that Cissy had once prized herself on looking strait and shiny, the dark circles under her pale blue eyes and the chalkiness of her skin.

"You haven't been sleeping well?" she inquired, letting a tad of concern slip into her voice.

"I can't," Narcissa stated simply. "Nightmares."

Andromeda's face visibly softened and she nodded in understanding.

For a while neither talked, both of them contemplating the drastic changes in their lives.

Soon, Narcissa had to look away from Andromeda, who's appearance reminded her far too much of Bellatrix. She had to wonder how her sister had done it every day, looking in the mirror and automatically seeing the sister who she'd abandoned (for that was how it was in both Narcissa and Bellatrix's mind) the sister who had spent 15 years in Azkaban, one who had murdered her own daughter and was now dead at the hands of Molly Weasley, the sister who had still loved her.

She then began to understand why, after Andromeda's departure from their lives, Bellatrix had stopped looking at herself in the mirror as much as she used to (and that had already been a limited thing), why it was often that Narcissa had to cast a repero charm on the broken mirrors and windows In Bella's room that had mysteriously shattered.

Narcissa knew without a doubt that if she looked like either Bellatrix or Andromeda as much as they did then she wouldn't be able to cope. Life was hard enough without a constant reminder of her losses.

"So, you were Rodolphus's friend?" Her voice was a low drawl, carrying much disinterest; she could hardly bring herself to care about what had happened to her niece anymore.

Andromeda nodded. After a pause she took a deep breath and it was clear she was about to state why she was there in the first place. "I can't continue to look after Bella's daughter; it's too painful for me, Cissy. I was hoping you would like to take her from here."

The blonde eyed the baby in Andromeda's arms for a moment before shaking her head; no. "I'm afraid I can't help you, Andromeda. Even if I wanted to take care of Balla's daughter it wouldn't be fair to the child. My family's been shunned from the Wizarding world. Lucius has been dragged off to Azkaban and Draco is currently being held by the ministry to await his trial. Any baby I raise, too, would be shunned."

Andy gapped at her. "Narcissa, I can't take care of this child, not after all Bella' done."

"Give her to someone who will raise her then, a friend of yours. Even a muggle if you have to. I doubt Bella would have cared all that much, she just wanted her daughter to be safe. Of course, that's not to say she probably wouldn't throw a hissy fit."

Andy flushed in the beginnings of rage. "What makes you think I give a damn about what Bella would have wanted? After all she she's done, she killed my daughter, Narcissa!"

"That may be, but she's still your sister," Cissy stated calmly.

"Who killed my daughter. Do you honestly expect me to overlook that? Would you, if it was Draco?"

The blonde stared at her for a moment, contemplating her question. "Yes, yes I think I would. I love Draco with all my heart but . . . I think I may just have loved Bella more." She paused. "She wasn't right in the head, Andy, hadn't been for a long time. I can hardly hold her responsible for all her actions. No, I place the blame fully on the Dark Lord. Bella was vulnerable and he manipulated her to whatever means."

Andromeda looked away in disgust.

"But that's neither here nor now. When I ask you to give this child a better life, I expect you to do it, not for Bella but for her daughter. Do you really want this baby to pay for the crimes she didn't commit? An innocent child?"

Andromeda sighed and looked down, shaking her head. "You always knew how to convince people."

Narcissa, taking that as an end to the conversation, rose to her feet and paced towards the door. After a pause Andromeda followed suit.

They didn't say goodbyes, didn't offer affectionate hugs. Too much had happened for them to 'over look', as Andromeda had said, and they weren't about to. They didn't make promises of seeing each other again and both understood that it was unlikely they would.

As Narcissa's eyes followed Andromeda's form down the driveway she felt no regret for the once again loss of her sister, she felt no sorrow for the fact that this was possibly the last time she would see her niece, the baby who had returned so much life to her dead sister's eyes.

She felt nothing, for as Narcissa Malfoy closed the door on that part of her life she came to a conclusion. There was no longer a Narcissa left to feel such things, for she had already begun to disappear. The next time someone was to lay eyes on her there would be nothing left to see, just a woman that ceased to exist.

Mrs. Malfoy may still have been alive on the outside but on the inside she was already dead. In the years to come she would receive the news of her husband's death after four years in Azkaban and the claws of death would finally take her completely.

When Draco arrived home after a five year sentence in Azkaban there was no longer anyone there to come home to.

Because for people like them, there were no happy endings.