Chapter 4
"Cissy!" Bellatrix had hissed after me as she followed me down a murky muggle alley through the rain. "You can't do this! He can't be trusted!"
"The Dark Lord trusts him," I reasoned.
"The Dark Lord is mistaken!" she argued. I scoffed. I wasn't looking for her advice. I was looking for someone elses. Severus Snape. Not only the potion master at Hogwarts, and apparently Draco's favorite teacher, but he was also the man trusted most by not only Voldemort, but Dumbledore as well.
Wormtail, a miserable oaf who's name fit him well, met us at the door. He escorted us into a dark and dank den where Snape was waiting. He offered us a drink and we sat in silence until I was ready to speak.
"I know I ought not to be here," I said to him. "The Dark Lord himself forbade me to speak of this."
"If the Dark Lord has forbidden it, you ought not to speak." Snape replied. He took his eyes off me briefly to reprimand my sister. "As it so happens, I am aware of your situation, Narcissa." he said, turning back to me.
"You?" Bella scoffed. "The Dark Lord told you?"
"Your sister doubts me?" Snape responded. The two of them glared at each other. "Understandable," he forgave. "Over the years I've played my part well. So well, I've deceived one of the greatest wizards of all time." Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but Snape went on to defend the headmaster.
"I don't doubt you, Severus," I told him.
"You should be honored, Cissy," Bellatrix said as she wandered about the room. "As should Draco." I briefly glanced at my sister, then back to Snape. Bella worshiped the Dark Lord too severely to ever understand how wrong this all was.
"He's just a boy," I tried to make them both see.
"I can't change the Dark Lord's mind," Snape told me. "But it might be possible for me to help Draco." I stood to thank him, but then Bellatrix interrupted my gratitude with a dare.
"Make the unbreakable vow," she whispered. My eyes never left Snape's. "It's just empty words," my sister reasoned. She was right. If Snape could fool Dumbledore, he could probably fool me. Before Bella could continue to fill my head with paranoia, Snape cut her off. He bravely agreed. We all knew what would happen if he went back on his word.
He and I stood in the light by the window, hands locked to each other's wrists and our eyes locked on each other. Bella acted as the binder. Her wand exuded a golden rope of light, and it twisted around our joined hands. She made him promise to help my son to the best of his ability, as he'd already promised. But, she then added a new condition that I never would have considered.
"And, if Draco should fail," she said. "Will you yourself…carry out…the deed." For a moment the only sounds came from the magic in the air, and our breathing. My eyes watered at the enormity that my sister was suggesting. The rope was getting ready to fade. I waited in anticipation of his response.
"I will," he finally responded. His expression hardly flickered.