TW: DEATH MENTION
the deception of her sister had come without expectation or inkling. although if you were to look back at her past decisions ( dating the mudblood, falling for him ) perhaps it wasn’t such a surprise. but bellatrix had been sure that when she’d told her sister to put a stop to the embarassing entanglement, she would have. they’d grown up with the very firm notion and belief that family came first above all. yet the mudblood hadn’t been the only thing she’d been hiding under her sheets it seemed. god, trix had been angry. she’d been at the ministry handing in a report when the news broke. she’d stayed and watched her sister be brought in before being sent to azkaban. please be a mistake, her heart screamed. and yet the faint tear tracks and angry expression was all that her sister saw.
destroyed. it was a strong notion, and yet bellatrix had felt it. she’d apparated home and destroyed the east wing of the lestrange manor. she’d screamed, she’d shouted. she’d cursed and she’d jinxed. and then the news of her death came. and despite all that rage and betrayal and disappointment, was a roaring wave of grief that gripped her like a hand around her throat. a hand that wouldn’t let go. with a haphazard silencing charm cast around the wreck of the room she’d been stood in ( another victim to her vexation ), she’d collapsed to the floor, her hands and knees holding her up from laying down, and she’d wailed. she’d cried. she’d lamented. she’d sobbed. andromeda was gone. the lying, betraying, bitch ( that she loved intrinsically, more than she could ever properly vocalise ) was dead.
house elves had been tasked with cleaning the mess and returning the wing to it’s glory as bellatrix left the house in a hurry. heading, for the first time in a while, to the black family manor. she knew she needed to see her parents but more than that, she needed to see narcissa. so when the blonde came into view, bellatrix had to resist the urge to pull her into her arms and hold her close. their parents would not approve.
the brunette nodded her head. she saw her sisters tears. “she is a traitor, narcissa,’ she uttered as a reminder, and yet her own eyes grew heavy with tears ( ones she wouldn’t let fall ). “she was…” she realised the words, quietly. bellatrix turned on her heel and disappeared into her father’s study. after a while, there was a noise and she came crashing out, her cheek red, her eyes wide. “do you want to take a walk?” she asked lowly, trying to level herself.
Narcissa felt her cheeks turn pink when Trix reminded her that she was a traitor. “I-I know,” she whispered, her voice cracking from holding in the tears. Was. Andromeda was a traitor. Just like she was dead and Narcissa would never be able to see her again. She needed to get her emotions in check, she knew that. She couldn’t cry over Andromeda, it wasn’t proper, and her family wouldn’t approve of her grief. Her parents had barely shown any emotion at the news before they had went their separate ways to their respective rooms. She had no idea of what was going on behind the closed door of her father’s study, or in her mother’s bedroom. But she was sure that whenever they emerged, Andromeda would never be spoken of again. It would be like they didn’t exist at all, and Narcissa had no idea how she was supposed to go on.
It didn’t help that she had been wracked with guilt ever since Andromeda had been sentenced to Azkaban. She had known that something was going on between Andromeda and Ted Tonks and she had let it happen. If she had spoken up would Andromeda still be here? Or would it have just ruined their relationship to a place that it couldn’t be fixed? She supposed that it didn’t matter, but she would have to carry the guilt and the what ifs for the rest of her life. Narcissa could never speak up about what she had seen that day in the hallway outside of Andromeda’s flat. She didn’t know how Bellatrix would handle the news if she ever said something. She just wished that she could go back and fix things, go back and stop Andromeda from making such a big mistake. Why had she thought that she could stop the dark lord? Why did she have to fall in love with Ted Tonks? He had been her undoing, she was sure of it.
When Bellatrix emerged from their father’s study, Narcissa hadn’t moved and she hadn’t read a single word on the page of her book. She didn’t think that she had even turned the page once, although she couldn’t really remember. The book was supposed to be a distraction, to get her out of her own head, but she had realized that trying not to cry was taking up all of her, that at any moment the façade was going to break and the tears would come. But she couldn’t do that. Not after Trix’s reminder that Andromeda was a traitor.
At her question, Narcissa nodded her head and closed the book before she stood up to face her sister. Trix was the only sister that she had left. The thought sent another fresh wave of grief through her that she struggled to bury. She was quiet as they walked out to the garden, but when they got outside, she glanced up at her sister. How did she do it? Remain so calm? Narcissa could see the red tinge to her eyes but Trix was always so put together and she had no idea how she did it. “Lucius and his parents came for dinner the other night,” she finally spoke up. “Mother... we’re going to pick out a wedding dress this week. Do you want to come?” She offered. It was strange. She was going to marry the man that should have been Andromeda’s husband. It felt wrong, but she knew what she had to do. “I would really like it if you came.”
