Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks to brilliant reviewers, NicoleKidmanFanXD, , Guest, dream-on-sunday and Riding-Lover-17. I couldn't have asked for a better reception.

Deep within the Ministry of Magic, Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa sat together in silent tears. They had been there ever since the Aurors had arrived at Black Manor, just a few minutes after the fire had broken out. No one knew who had called them, as they had remained anonymous, neither did they know how the person had witnessed the fire, but either way, the girls had been removed from the scene.

One thing worrying Andromeda, the only one who had been paying attention to what the various people had been saying, was the name they kept repeating, every few minutes that they spoke in passing, their voices low so as not to disturb the girl, but not low enough that she couldn't hear them. They talked about… Death Eaters.

She had never, to her knowledge, heard the name before, nor read it in any book or magazine that she could recall, but for some reason, it still felt strangely familiar. Ominous, even.

At long last, the door of the room opened, revealing a redheaded woman holding a clipboard and quill. She looked to have a kindly expression on her face, but in all honesty, the girls were past caring. Their parents were gone and they weren't coming back. Nothing else really mattered now. Life would never be the same again.

"Hello, girls. My name is Elizabeth, and I'm just here to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, bending down to the ground in front of them.

"Well, it's not as if we have a choice, is it?" Bellatrix quipped, lifting Narcissa from her lap to Andromeda's as she exited the room with the woman.

After twenty long minutes, Elizabeth returned to the room for the third time, where Narcissa sat alone on a cushioned chair, fiddling awkwardly with the hem of her nightgown, which she had still been wearing when they left the house. The house that was now nothing but ash and a ghost of a family's life.

"Your turn, sweetie." she told the girl, her comforting attitude almost visibly false even to a toddler. Narcissa did not really want to go with the woman, but she had little choice, as she was not old enough to walk away from her, so reluctantly allowed herself to be carried away.

They eventually ended up in a room even more remote than the one they had just left, the walls feeling as if they had begun to close in on the young girl, who was still pointlessly struggling to get away from the confines of the place. When she was finally released from the woman's arms, she was placed down on a hard, barely cushioned chair, while Elizabeth herself sat down on an identical one opposite, leaning forward on it to look her in the eye.

"Now, Narcissa, I know that this has been hard for you. You're only little, so to have your parents taken away from you is such a cruel thing to happen. But now, we need to decide where you are going to live."

"Mummy." Narcissa interrupted, whispering the name of the person that she wanted to live with most. In response, Elizabeth heaved a sigh, one half full of sorrow and half of impatience.

"I know that you want your mother back, Narcissa, but I'm afraid you can't have her back. In the meantime, I need to ask you a couple of questions. Is that alright?" The woman only waited for a nod from the child before continuing. "Right. First of all, would you want to live with family or friends of your parents, or with someone completely new?"

"Don't mind." she responded quietly, trying desperately to think of what Bellatrix and Andromeda would have answered. If they all gave a similar response, then they would certainly remain together.

"Alright." the redhead said with a nod, scribbling something down on the clipboard. "Would you like to stay in this country for certain, or would you not mind going abroad?"

"Here." the blonde answered. This was one thing she was utterly certain of. She had never been abroad before, and enjoyed living in Britain. It was all she knew, and she wanted to cling to what little things she had left of her old life.

"Good." Elizabeth said, once again making a note of the girl's responses. "Finally, would you like to live specifically with a Pureblood, or do not mind about Blood Status?"

This was the question that threw Narcissa. She truly didn't know. Thinking of what Bellatrix would say, she knew that the girl would not have paused before spitting back her answer of Purebloods. But would Andromeda? Probably not. Desperately trying to choose between her sisters, Narcissa gave the only answer she could think of giving.

"Doesn't matter."

With a final flick of her quill, Elizabeth stood and exited the room, leaving the toddler alone and afraid. She had no idea if the answers she had given were the correct ones and could only hope for the best. It wouldn't be too drastic if she had made a mistake and had given a different answer, would it?

It wasn't long until she found out, as a few minutes later, the door opened and Elizabeth returned, with Bellatrix and Andromeda in tow behind her. For some reason, they seemed to be a lot more upset than they had been before they'd left. Maybe they were just as scared as she was. Narcissa hoped that was the explanation and not something far worse.

"Now, girls." the Ministry woman began. "We have taken into account your responses to our questions and have come to an appropriate decision, one which we hope will benefit all of you. Bellatrix and Andromeda, I'm afraid that you will have to wait here while we contact your new guardian. Narcissa, you can come with me now."

Now extremely confused, the girl turned to her eldest sister, who was fighting to hold back her tears. Looking slightly past her, Narcissa could see that Andromeda was doing the same. Returning her gaze to Bellatrix, her eyes blurring a little, Narcissa breathed deeply and spoke.

"Bella, what's that mean?" she asked, her breath hitching in her throat with the girl's response.

"It means that you have to go, Cissy. Just you. They're splitting us up."

A/N: Thank you for reading, now please review! Make me happy, I'm ill!