Narcissa was desperate. Bella had never seen her as hopeless as she was now. It scared her to see her sister looking like this. They had argued almost non-stop since Narcissa had first told Bella of her plan. Her plan to save Draco, but which also defied the Dark Lord. She wanted to visit the one person she thought would be able to help her son. Severus Snape. Bella had tried to tell her about her misgivings about him, but Narcissa's desperation to save her son was all consuming, and blinded her to the arguments that Bella put to her. Tonight the Dark Lord had gone out, saying that he would be gone for a couple of days. Narcissa had her cloak on and was ready to go when Bella confronted her about her plan again. "You can't go, Cissy!"
"You might be my older sister, Bella, but you are not a mother. You have no idea what I am willing to do for my son." Those words stung Bella to the core. Narcissa knew that Bella could not have children. She knew about the miscarriages. Narcissa knew that Bella would never be a mother, even though she had always wanted to be. It had crushed her when Draco was born, because she saw how happy Narcissa and Lucius were, but knew she would never have that same feeling herself. That coupled with the grief and regret she was still feeling for Sirius enraged her.
"I might not be a mother, but I know the Dark Lord. If he ever finds out what you are planning to do tonight, he will do the very thing you are trying to prevent. He will kill you, Draco and Lucius without a second thought."
"If he finds out. But he will not. And if Draco fails, he will kill us all anyway. I am more willing to take the chance that he finds out than I am to risk my son's life on this suicide mission. If Snape helps him, Draco is likely to succeed, and the Dark Lord never needs to know about our involvement in the matter" Narcissa snapped. "I am going, whether you like it or not. Do not follow me if you are going to try and stop me." She apparated.
Bella summoned her cloak and apparated after her sister. "Wait!" she called once she had arrived. She looked around – she had arrived at the banks of an overgrown river. There was a large factory chimney in the distance, but Bella couldn't really see much else – the fog from the Dementors saw to that. Something leapt out of the undergrowth – Bella killed whatever it was, with a non-verbal spell and a jet of green light. She walked over to where it lay. "Just a fox. I thought perhaps an Auror – Cissy, wait!" Narcissa had only paused for a second after Bella had killed the fox, but she was now scrambling up the bank, towards the town. "Cissy – Narcissa – listen to me –" She was running after her sister now, and caught up at the top of the bank, where a railing separated the river bank from the start of the town. She seized Narcissa's arm, but she pulled away.
"Go back, Bella!"
"You must listen to me!"
"I've listened already. I've made my decision. Leave me alone!" Bella was not surprised by Narcissa's reaction to the Dark Lord's plan, but she was surprised by the lengths she was willing to go to, especially since it might get her killed. The sisters were looking out over the dishevelled and dilapidated houses that lined the narrow, cobbled street.
"He lives here? Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of out kind ever to set foot –" Bella's voice was full of contempt. Narcissa, however, was not listening to her – she had slipped through the railings and was hurrying across the road. "Cissy, wait!" Bella was following her sister across the street, her cloak streaming behind her. This was the first time that she had felt focused since that night. Her sister had given her something to live for. Something to concentrate on, a reason to carry on. She knew that she would not be able to carry on living if Narcissa died. She was the one person from her childhood that was still here. Andromeda had left and married a Mudblood. Regulus was dead. Sirius was … Narcissa was the only thing that was keeping a semblance of sanity in her at the moment. She followed her sister down an alley-way and into a near identical street. Muggle towns are weird. The street lights were broken, so they were running in and out of darkness and light. She caught up to Narcissa at the corner of this street, caught hold of her and spun her around to face her. "Cissy, you must not do this, you can't trust him –"
"The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?"
"The Dark Lord is … I believe … mistaken." Bella was panting from all the running she had done. "In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's –"
"Let go, Bella!" Narcissa snarled, pulling her wand from beneath her cloak, and holding in Bella's face.
"Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn't –"
"There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, slightly hysterical. She shot a spell, which burned like a knife. Bella let go.
"Narcissa!" Bella called as her sister turned and rushed forward. It seemed as though nothing would dissuade her. Bella followed her, but kept her distance. She did not want to push her sister to do something which she might later regret. Eventually, Narcissa turned up a street called Spinner's End. The factory chimney was extremely close now, towering over the rows of houses. Narcissa kept going until she reached the last house in the lane. All of the other houses were boarded up, so it was obvious that no one lived in them. Narcissa had knocked on the door before Bella had caught up. She was cursing under her breath because she knew what the Dark Lord would do to Narcissa if he found out what she was doing. They were both breathing heavily after their brisk walk through the town. After a few seconds, there was movement from inside the house, and the door opened a crack. Through the crack, Bella could make out the dark eyes, sallow face and long black hair of the man within. Narcissa pulled her hood off of her face and looked at the man. She was so pale that she seemed to glow in the darkness. Unlike Bella and Andromeda, Narcissa had blonde hair, which streamed down her back.
"Narcissa! What a pleasant surprise!" The man had opened the door a little wider, so the sisters were lit up by the light from inside the house.
"Severus, may I speak to you? It's urgent." Narcissa said in a strangled whisper.
"But of course." He opened the door wider to allow Narcissa in. Bella, still hooded, followed.
"Snape." She said brusquely as she passed him.
"Bellatrix." She did not look at him, but walked straight into a miniscule sitting room, which led immediately off of the front door. It was a dark and dingy room; it reminded Bella of the padded cell that she had lived in for fifteen years. She shuddered at the memory. She looked around quickly – Narcissa had her back to her and Snape was closing the front door. Neither of them had seen this moment of weakness. There were books lining all of the walls, a sofa, an armchair and a table arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, lit by the dim, candle filled lamp that hung from the ceiling. They were not pushed up against the walls, probably because they would have covered the books, and the lamp would not have reached them. It made the room feel a lot smaller, although when compared to the large and luxurious rooms of all of the houses that she had lived in, the room was absolutely tiny. Narcissa had sat down on the sofa, throwing her cloak onto one of the arms. Bella did not sit. She stood behind her sister, removing her hood from her head, but leaving the cloak on. She stared at Snape, without dropping her gaze, as he sat down on the armchair opposite them. "So, what can I do for you?" Snape asked Narcissa.
"We … we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked quietly.
"Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, but we're not counting vermin, are we?" He pointed his wand at one of the walls of books, and with a bang, a hidden door opened. Through the door, Bella could see a narrow staircase where she could see the small figure of Wormtail. "As you have clearly realised, Wormtail, we have guests."