#mrs-nott

[thelastblack]

@mrs-nott

Narcissa walks in on a disaster scene. It's one she's seen before, in her own home, not even one week ago. The Aurors went through everything they could get their hands on, dragging off anything that looks even a little suspicious. She's fairly sure neither she nor Cordelia will ever get those things back. In the middle of it is Cordelia. She doesn't need to look around to see that Leontius is no longer here.

Narcissa goes to her, stepping over the remains of her home - her life. A house elf scrambles around the mess, squeaking desperately to itself. "Cordelia?" She keeps her face neutral, holding up all her walls - as taxing as this last week has been for her, she cannot afford to lose herself in this moment. "Cordelia, are you alright?"

[thelastblack]

@mrs-nott

Narcissa picks up her tea, thinks better of it, puts it down. She takes a breath, holds it, pushes it out. "I thought . . . we were so far along . . ." It had been, she realizes now, very stupid. She had let herself get excited, thinking about the names she and Lucius had talked about. She had ignored the possibility that it might go bad because she couldn't handle it. Now that she has to, it hits even harder than it would have.

She had never thought she would have trouble having children. For years, she'd stopped herself out of desperation. The idea that she couldn't had never occurred to her - until the past few years, when they'd finally started trying for a child. She doesn't look Cordelia in the eye, only looking at her forehead every few seconds as she feels social decorum demands it.

"I feel bereaved, but there's no funeral. Not even a body to bury."