And when I was shipwrecked
I thought of you
III. Clotho (Narcissa)
Narcissa Black has always prided herself on being observant.
She sees everything, even when her family doesn't think she does- she notices the way Bellatrix looks at Rita Skeeter when they're eating at the great hall, or the shared glances they'd shared on her wedding day. Rita had been Bellatrix's bridesmaid- but Narcissa knew better. Bellatrix probably thought she wold never realise it, but there was defintenity something going on.
She never brings it up, though- she may be observant, but that doesn't make her any more tactful. So she lets it go- she's always known Bellatrix and Rodolfus' marriage to be a sham, Bellatrix having more married to please her mother than out of love.
She also notices Andromeda falling for Ted Tonks. Andromeda is careful, but Narcissa is smart- she sees the way her older sister touches his arm when they make small talk, or how Andromeda is always gushing about him to Pandora Greengrass- Andromeda may be smart, but Narcissa has always been the more attentive sister.
She's confused- Andromeda is a member of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, and Ted is a Mudblood, as well as a Hufflepuff- she shouldn't even be giving the time of the day, let alone snogging him in a bathroom after curfew. But Narcissa still doesn't say anything- she feels her sisters distancing from each other, but not from her, and she doesn't know how to feel.
This isn't bound to end well, she thinks, as she hears Bellatrix venting about how Andromeda wants to marry for love- Bellatrix thinks it's stupid, downright idiotic, even. Narcissa doesn't dare tell her sister that she wants to marry for love too, for fear of making her mad. This isn't about her anyways.
She sees as Andromeda distances herself from her family, choosing to spend holidays at Hogwarts- presumably with Ted, not that she'd tell anyone. By the time Andromeda is at the end of her seventh year, she's completely closed off from Narcissa, and she feels herself losing her sister.
She watches as her family falls apart: Andromeda has run off with the Tonks sprog, Bellatrix is on her way to murdering her husband if the way she rolls her eyes whenever she opens her eyes is anything to go by, and she's about to get married to Lucius Malfoy in this mess of a time period.
She's scared, and she doesn't know how to bring it up- while she knows Bellatrix loves her, she knows her sister isn't exactly the nurturing time, so she does something she shouldn't, and sends a letter to Andromeda. She makes sure not to send it from the family house, so that her family doesn't know she's been keeping contact with her disgraced sister, and shockingly, Andromeda answers. Her tone is a little awkward, but she reassures her little sister, telling her that everythng's going to be alright. She feels oddly fond of her sister at that moment, and wishes she knew where she were, even if she is married to a Mudblood and is having his half-blood progeny.
She can't help but watch as her cousin Sirius runs away with his Gryffindor buddies, and aunt Walburga blasts him from the family tapestry just like she did with Andromeda. She sees Regulus retreat into himself, closing off after Sirius leaves the family. She sees Bellatrix retreating into herself as well, as she falls into madness. Her family is falling apart is she's building her own, and it's like a trainwreck she can't look away from.