Chapter Thirty Nine
Narcissa walked quickly down the hallway in Lestrange Manor, trying to keep a lid on her nerves and excitement bubbling in her chest, and hammered on her sister's door until it flew open.
Bellatrix could of ripped the door from its hinge with the force she pulled it open, "What on earth is the matter?"
"You need to see this." Narcissa snapped, holding up the latest copy of the Quibbler, "Right now!"
"Oh not that rag." Bellatrix sniffed, wrinkling up her nose and starting to close the door on Narcissa.
"Just let me in." Narcissa huffed, pushing her way into the room.
Bellatrix's bedroom was cold, with faded purple paint and only recently not dusty curtains. The bed was large and ornate but needed some repairs to its chipped carvings.
Narcissa strode over to the neat table and sat down in one of the two straight backed chairs.
"Well, what is so important that I see?" Bellatrix said, pouring herself a glass of wine and joining her sister at the table.
Narcissa handed over the Quibbler, open to the page which showed Hermione, Harry and Draco on one side and had the article suggesting Hermione was the long lost heiress to the Slytherin name on the other.
Narcissa knew the exact moment Bellatrix spotted the scram sax as the colour drained from her face.
"It is meant to be in your vault!" Narcissa hissed, "What did you do with it?"
"I sent it into the vault." Bellatrix said, her eyes darting repeatedly over the picture, "I… I did."
"Well clearly not!" Narcissa snapped, banging her hand on the table, making Bellatrix jump, "They have it Bella! Ignore all of the nonsense about that little mudblood being a Slytherin by blood, how do you think the Dark Lord is going to react if he sees that they have what should really be his?"
"Do not talk to me like I am a child!" Bellatrix yelled, knocking the Quibbler to the floor with an angry sweep of her hand, "I…I will sort this out."
"You are sure that it ended up in your vault?" Narcissa asked, forcing some calmness into her voice, she had to play this exactly right, "One hundred percent sure?"
Bellatrix pulled at her hair, "Yes… yes, of course I'm sure."
"Well then how has this happened?" Narcissa asked with a merciless laugh.
Bellatrix paced back and forth for a moment, "It has to be a fake."
"Or they got into your vault." Narcissa countered,. Thankfully Bellatrix was reacting exactly as Narcissa had expected her to.
Bellatrix froze, somehow yet more colour draining from her face, "I would have been told?" she asked more as a question than a statement.
"Would you?" Narcissa asked, smirking slightly, "You might have been too busy fawning over the Dark Lord to notice but the goblins aren't exactly happy with us right now. I wouldn't put it passed them to not bother telling you that someone had broken into your vault. Goodness knows what else they took."
Bellatrix had always had a very limited access to her husband's family vault, something she tried to keep quiet, and the idea of Harry, Draco and Hermione mooching over beautiful things she wasn't allowed flared up even more anger inside her chest.
"I'll have to go and check the vault, god what if they got…" Bellatrix mumbled under her breath, chewing at her nails.
"Got what?" Narcissa said, her ears pricking up.
Bellatrix laughed, "Nothing." it was a hollow, empty laugh and Narcissa knew her sister well enough to know that she was lying.
There was something she was more worried about losing than the scram sax which gave Narcissa hope.
She didn't know why Harry needed the Hufflepuff cup or something of Ravenclaw's, but she was almost sure they were right about it being in the Lestrange vault.
"I'll go with you." Narcissa said tenderly, reaching for her sister's hand.
Bellatrix let a stream of fat tears roll down her cheeks, as the fear of the Dark Lord's anger and disappointment overwhelmed her for a moment, "You will be blamed as well if you come with me. Why on earth would you risk it?"
Narcissa looked insulted, "I would never let you struggle alone. You're my sister, my only true sister."
Bellatrix laughed at the snide comment about Andromeda, "You are good to me. If you're sure you wish to come with me, I think we should go straight away."
"No!" Narcissa said quickly, shaking her head, "You are not thinking straight! What will everyone here say if we rush out of the house just before dinner? Besides, Gringotts will be just about to close and you are in no state to think clearly and quickly, let alone act like the lady that you are meant to be!"
Narcissa was getting whiplash from her changing moods but she knew it would be doing the same to Bellatrix, which was the important bit.
"God… yes you're right. Of course you are." Bellatrix stopped pacing and flopped herself back into the chair at the table and lay her forehead against the cool wood, "Thank you for helping me."
"I will always help you." Narcissa said softly, before hardening her face and snatching her hand from her sister, "Just make sure you don't get yourself into this sort of mess again, for goodness sake!" Narcissa patted her sisters hair, "How about we get you some warm milk?"
Bellatrix shook her head, "No. I should get ready for dinner. We will leave first thing tomorrow… if that is all right for you?" she added, seeing the looking of insult that Narcissa shot at her.
Narcissa gave her a small smile, "Yes, of course tomorrow morning will be perfect. We shall leave at nine, after breakfast and a ride."
"Thank you once again." Bellatrix sighed, she couldn't think how anyone would manage to get into her vault; it was right at the heart of Gringotts but the goblins were furious at the moment. Would they have let someone into her vault just to spite her? Did they even put the scram sax in there in the first place?
Bellatrix felt like her head was about to explode, there were too many thoughts, too many worries and options of what might or could of happened.
She pushed her rather neglected curls back from her very pale face and strode over to her wardrobe.
"Wear the dark blue chiffon." Narcissa advised, although it sounded far more like an order, "The Dark Lord likes you in that one."
Bellatrix didn't argue, but pulled the tight, low cut, chiffon dress from its hanger and started to pull off the black day dress she was wearing.
Narcissa left her to it, leaving her large bedroom and walking as quickly as she could without raising suspicion to her own, much smaller, room.
She leaned back against the heavy wooden door, breathing a sigh of relief. It was organised, the hardest bit, making Bellatrix do what they needed her to, was done and she had at least ten minutes until she had to start worrying again. The only thing keeping her sane was these few snatched calm minutes here and there.
Narcissa wandered over to her bed and smoothed her fingertips over the crochet blanket. The bed was cold, the bed was always cold even with the warmer tucked under the sheets at night. She kept waking up in the mornings and rolling over, her hands searching for Lucius before her brain remembered he wasn't there.
She missed him, she missed her home and the happy elves and the walks in the sunshine filled garden as the heavy smell of flowers hung in the air. She missed Draco and the laughter that just seemed to follow him and his friends around. She hoped they had some laughter even now.
Narcissa shook her head forcefully pushing the thoughts and memories back into the locked box that lived buried at the back of her mind.
She dressed smartly for dinner in a flattering, but not showy, black lace dress with matching boots. Bellatrix had bought her the shoes and they were wearing out already. She'd never had shoes that had worn so quickly, or had been so uncomfortable from the start. Her shoes had always been handmade by experts and lasted her a life time. She still had and often had worn the shoes she'd had made for her wedding.
Once again she shook her head; she couldn't let her mind wonder like this, especially not now. She just needed to get through dinner and then she could flop into bed.
Severus gave her a short nod as they walked into the dinning room, even going so far as to pull her chair out for her.
Bellatrix slid gracefully into her own chair next to the head of the table, looking less than impressed as her husband started pawing at her. Narcissa had never seen Voldemort be over excited at the sight of Bellatrix in her blue chiffon dress, Rodolphus however went a little nuts over her wearing it.
It was another, small thing that would help force Bellatrix into a mistake tomorrow. Bellatrix and her husband had never been close, they'd never even shared a bedroom and for all intents and purposes lived completely separate lives.
Narcissa did have her own bedroom at Malfoy Manor, like all proper couples, but she only ever slept in it when Lucius was away overnight on business, something that very rarely happened.
Narcissa sipped at the cool, white wine and allowed herself a small smile as Bellatrix dug her nails viciously into her husband's hand to try and make him leave her alone.
Voldemort swept in last, as he always did, Nagini curling around his neck as soon as he was settled in his chair.
Narcissa smiled and laughed lightly as he greeted her. He always greeted everyone at the table. He has referred to as his table from day one, much to Bellatrix's delight and Rodolphus's annoyance.
Narcissa was not important enough to be talked to much this evening. Bellatrix had forced on her mask of calm and laughed and gushed as elegantly as always but Narcissa could see the panic just under the surface.
Voldemort spent much of the meal muttering quietly to Severus under his breath, Severus nodding and frowning, smiling once or twice which only increased Bellatrix's feelings of paranoia. Even though they weren't talking about her or the article.
Narcissa excused herself from dinner as soon as she'd gulped down a few mouthfuls of coffee, claiming she had a headache. Voldemort didn't split the party like Lucius would do after a dinner, another example of although he pretended as best as he could he wasn't raised in an upper class house and didn't really know how they behaved.
It was exhausting keeping her thoughts hidden all the time. Voldemort was an expert Legilimens, which meant her concentration couldn't slip, for even a second. Narcissa could feel the force against her thoughts at least once, every time she was in the same room as him.
The Carrows had broken away from school for once and were delighting in telling everyone about their latest punishments, which meant Narcissa wasn't missed as she slipped from the room.
She undressed, leaving her clothes in a messy heap on the floor, something else she never would have done at home. The bed was as cold and empty as it always was but she was very glad to climb into it none the less and let uneasy waves of sleep wash over her.
"You're not awake?" Bellatrix shrieked, pulling the blanket from Narcissa.
Narcissa had been awake for over an hour, but fained waking up, yawning widely, "Why? What time is it?"
"It's coming up for half past seven!" Bellatrix snapped, her voice filled with worry, "And you wanted to go riding before we set off."
Narcissa rolled her eyes and climbed out of bed, pulling on her dressing gown, "You could of at least brought me a cup of tea if you were going to be so loud."
Bellatrix let out a frustrated screamed, "Do you not understand the seriousness of this?"
Narcissa rounded her cold eyes on her sister, "Of course I do. But I also know that I was not the one who lost one of our worlds most priceless artefacts because I trusted some filthy creatures who have less magic than a squib!"
Bellatrix shrank inside herself a little, "Of course, I'm sorry. Thank you, Cissy; your help means a lot. I can go and fetch you a cup of tea if you'd like?"
"No thank you." Narcissa said properly, "I'll have one with breakfast. Wait while I dress and we can head down together."
Narcissa took her time dressing neatly in a day suit that skimmed over her hips and fluttered gently as she walked. Bellatrix helped her twist up her long hair into a bun, letting out several loud huffs as Narcissa checked herself over in the old floor length mirror.
Breakfast was always served buffet style; a long wooden table covered with food was pressed against the wall with huge pots of tea and coffee. Having a sit down meal didn't work with the different times everyone got up or arrived.
Narcissa glared at Bellatrix for the tiny amount she had put on her plate, "They will notice how little you're eating! Do you want to get caught?" Narcissa hissed.
Bellatrix took a deep, ragged breath. She was sure she was about to start bleeding from her eyes from the pressure pulsing in her head. She doubled the amount of food on her plate and glared back at her sister.
Narcissa agreed to skip her horse ride but insisted on going down to the stable still, taking the time to brush her cob's long mane. The house elves would have done it of course but Narcissa loved spending time with the horses and today it had the added bonus of annoying her sister. She hoped if she ever got home she would be able to take her horse with her.
It wasn't long however before both of them were walking calmly out of the old iron gates that guarded Lestrange Manor.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Narcissa asked, looking down the blustery lane that the Manor sat off.
"You know I do. I have to know." Bellatrix said, pulling at her hair that was falling out of its bun in tufts, "Of gods, what if they got into my vault? It wont be long before the Dark Lord sees that stupid rag… Yaxley and Alecto have been scheming together I know it."
"They could just be flirting." Narcissa said, waving her hand dismissively, "Goodness knows that she could do with some fun. She's too old to be single, it's simply wrong in a well bred woman. Right, are we going then?"
"We're going." Bellatrix sighed.
The held hands and left with a loud pop.