Who: Narcissa and Andromeda Black When: January 8, 1977, late at night Where: Slytherin Common Room What: Andromeda needs to relay some advice to the sibling Rating: PG-13 for language
Narcissa had decided that going down to the common room was a good idea, since she had quite a bit to study that evening. Of course, she could have returned to her own dorm room, (since the boys' dorm really did smell like boys), but the common room seemed like a better place.
Upon entering the common room, she saw Andy there, and quickly hurried over to her sister.
"Hi, Andy! I was looking for you earlier. I wanted to have lunch with you!"
"Hello, Cissy," she replied with a little smile. "Yes...about that. I had to mediate some conflicts earlier, which resulted in my having to bring both students to Professor MgGonagall. You know how drawn out some conflicts can get. Still...I'm glad that you're here. I was hoping to talk to you tonight."
Andromeda motioned to the empty spot on the couch she was sitting on. "Sit beside me for a while, dear. I'm afraid I have a few things to ask you about. Or, to be more accurate, Mother wishes to know." She waited until her sister sat down beside her, in the meantime setting her Charms book down on a table nearby. "Cissy...how should I start this? Mother...she's a little concerned about your relationship with Regulus, and I'm inclined to say that I too share her same worries." She looked long and hard at Narcissa. "There isn't anything going on between the two of you, is there?"
Narcissa was taken aback by her sister's question. It felt much like a punch in the stomach. What had everyone been on about her and Regulus lately. From the way she was seeing it, the two were just as close as they ever were. In fact, it had not seemed like much of an issue until this Christmas.
"Andy, I...no. I mean, we're the same as ever. I don't know why everyone started getting so worried about it over Christmas. He and I are no different than we've ever been. He's my best friend. I like to be near him, and I have grown used to it."
She could not help but feel like she was in trouble for some reason, and suddenly wanted to cry. Perhaps, because she knew something was wrong in many regards, but it just did not seem it.
'We don't snog, or anything."
She inwardly sighed with relief at that, although she knew that their mother would not be satisfied with merely that answer, which also meant that Andromeda would have to carry out the unfortunate task of chastising her sister. Mother's orders, after all. "I'm glad...I mean, that's good, Cissy. That's very good. Um...however, I believe that it's time that you and Regulus should start to keep some distance. Both of you are no longer children anymore, and we must take that into account. Think of propriety, Cissy. It's no longer proper for you and Regulus to be this way."
Narcissa slumped back in a rather childish manner, seeming very upset at what Andromeda was suggesting.
"Oh, you don't even know what you are on about. I mean, you were hardly home at Christmas!" She was not angry at her sister, but merely speaking the truth.
"Regulus and I do nothing wrong. I do not see how this can be of any harm. And how dare you suggest that Regulus has any ill intent! Surely, he and I both have very good self control."
The poor girl blushed beet red at that, although her sister did speak the truth. Still, this was not about her. It was about her concerns (as well as those of her family) for the youngest of the Black sisters.
"The both of you might not think anything's off by all of this, Cissy, and I know that personally, I trust both of you enough to know what is right and what is wrong. Yet that is not the case for other people, dear. People do talk, and people will talk about what they see. What you're doing right now with Regulus...I know how close the two of you are, but at your age, such behaviour is no longer appropriate."
She turned her body slightly so that she was looking straight at her sister. "It won't be long before you reach the marrying age, Narcissa," said Andromeda gently. "You don't want to behave in such a way that the other family will see something indecent when all of it was actually innocent now, do you?"
Marriage was not something that Narcissa thought of. Yes, she knew she would get married soon after graduating from Hogwarts, but right now, she had just turned fifteen back in October! She knew it was inevitable.
"He's my cousin, not my brother," she replied simly, crossing her arms, "For all you know, we might actually already be arranged. You know how these things work in our family. Besides, no one sneaks out unless they are meeting a boy." She had meant this to simply humour her sister, and take the heat off of her.
"Tell me," she said with a grin, "Who is he?"
Oh bollocks. Poor Andromeda's face felt like an inferno when Narcissa brought up Ted. Still, she was not about to let her younger sister take the attention off of her so easily. "There is no 'he', contrary to your beliefs," she answered curtly. "Can't I go out and wander around London like other people without having others think I'm having some indecent tryst with some random boy?"
Oooh. She can use this to her advantage. "You see how people will talk, Cissy? Even you're doing it right now, even if in truth it was all innocent. Wouldn't you find that irritating?" Because I sure am right now, thought the girl, but said nothing further.
Andromeda was always so very clever with her thoughts! Narcissa was, too, but in a more subtle way. Still, she knew her sister had a valid point.
"Andy, I can't sleep right if I'm not in bed with him," that was all she said, deciding to pull the card of seeming genuinely upset. Innocence was the best mask for Narcissa Black. She could always resort back to being the injured child, when need be.
"Oh...but..." If there was a major flaw in Andromeda's personality, it would be her ability to think herself out of any situation, something she expected everyone else to be capable of. "...you manage to sleep when you're at home, don't you?" she managed after some time. "Cissy, dear...I don't want to hurt your feelings or see Mother forbid you from seeing Regulus, but you're not making this easy for yourself or for me."
By then, she looked at Narcissa with pleading eyes. "All I'm asking of you right now is to work with me, and come up with a reasonable compromise to all of this. I'm not saying that you can't see Regulus. All I'm asking you to do is to maintain some distance from him from now on. It's for the best, dear. You understand me, Cissy?"
"No."
It was not a strong 'no' of a young woman looking after her own heart. Instead, it was the 'no' of a child not getting her way. She was closer to a child than woman after all, and even looked more like a little girl than a young woman.
"I am not keeping distance. It's only stupid Mudbloods who would make-up those rumours. Or, Blood Traitors, and that's just because they're looking for anything to bring us down. They'll make stuff up anyway."
Her lips drew into a grim line. "Don't say Mudbloods or Blood-traitors, Narcissa," she answered in a soft, stern voice. "I don't care what Mother or Father says, but it's unbecoming and unseemly of a young lady of your upbringing. Narcissa, you should know better. From now on, I don't want to you say those words in my presence."
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on the knuckles of her hands. "The dynamics of the world is changing all around us these days, and you will hear people say many things. It's unsettling, but because of that, we all need to be careful in what we do. Life is a lot trickier than you'll ever know, Narcissa, and I would rather that you learn that fact now and grow up, than to have some rude awakening later on in life. This one thing with Regulus would be a nice starting point for you."
Narcissa was not happy at the moment. She tried her best to be a 'proper young lady', but such just seemed to start when she turned fifteen. In fact, it seemed like it was the discussion of the Black Christmas party.
"We all say 'Mudblood'. Well, aside from fucking Sirius." Swear words were new and extremely rare for Narcissa. She knew that most students at school used them, so she enjoyed throwing them into conversations where they weren't needed.
"And Sirius shouldn't even be part of our family," she crinkled-up her nose as if the very thought of him made her ill, "He hates us all, pretty much. And aside from that, Regulus and I are perfectly fine as we are. You act as if we're shagging on Slughorn's desk, or something. I'm not going to stay in the girls' dorm. Sorry. I don't like my roommates, and this stupid school isn't about to give me a private room, which I should have because I'm a Black anda Prefect."
"Language, dear," replied Andromeda wearily. "Really now, Cissy. You're being difficult now. We're all equals here in this school. Everyone is equal regardless of our name or whatever rank we might hold in this school, and I advise you to get into that line of thinking. Which brings me to another point about your cousin. Not Regulus, but Sirius. You can't hate him just because he has different thoughts. That's no grounds to hate anyone."
Narcissa stood-up, "You're really the one that we should be worrying about then," she said, her tone suddenly extremely serious.
"You realise that you are speaking like a Blood Traitor, don't you. That is a crime far more punishable than anything Regulus and I might be doing."
Andromeda glanced up to gape at her sister, a worried and surprised look on her face. Out of all the things she had expected her sister to say during this conversation, that was the last thing she had expected to hear.
"Are you even hearing the things you're saying, Cissy?" she asked, her brows knitted in concern. "Listen to yourself. Do you know who you sound like? Who taught you to be this way? Tell me, Narcissa!" Rising from the couch, she ran her hands down her face, a million thoughts going through her head at once.
"Until it says directly and officially in the law that governs us that such thoughts and opinions are a punishable offense, I will take a vow of silence," she said after some time, and her gaze was stern when she looked at Narcissa then. "Until then, however, I am just as free to say what I want, and believe in what I want. Just...like...you."
"You see speaking like that," she hissed, not unlike that evil little cat that she owned, "is the sort of thing that will get you into trouble. None of those people are even real Wicthes or Wizards, so they can simply wander about and make-up lies about me and Regulus, when he and I are not doing anything wrong!"
She did not seem about to back down, but instead, she headed back towards the stairs. Of course, the ones leading to the boys' dorm.
"I will stay where I want, when I want, Andromeda. I am not breaking any rules. Everyone knows that it is in their best interest to turn a blind eye to our affairs. Do you not hear what they say of us? We are Magic royalty!"
"Yet we would be undeserving of royalty if we do nothing that would earn the respect from others," countered Andromeda, following her sister toward the stairs. "Narcissa, I forbid this. You take our status in society for granted! What happens if one day you should no longer have all of this? Any of this? Will you be able to cope then?"
"You speak as if you're intending for our family to fall." She narrowed her eyes at her sister. There were times when Narcissa was downright frightening; and this was one of them. There was so much innocence to her, yet such madness that made her at times seem more like an angry ghost than a young girl.
"I will have none of this, Andromeda! The things you are saying could cause great concern within our family. Perhaps I shall write Bellatrix."
"Write to her if you will. Tell her what you want. I doubt it shall be anything she doesn't suspect already," she answered bitterly. "You and Bellatrix mean the world to me, and I hope you know that. Yet to be in a family so narrow-minded and stubborn enough to cut off ties with relations who dare to think outside of the box...well, I'd rather not be a part of it."
There, she had said it. The years of pent-up frustration were finally breaking through her seemingly indifferent exterior, although oddly enough, Andromeda found that she did not care much about the consequences now that she was finally expressing her stance on things all along.
"You and Sirius always think you're so self-rightous, but you aren't. You just like the idea of being the 'Rebel' with the 'Heart of Gold', who goes against their family."
Narcissa had yet to see anyone burned off the Family Tree. It seemed like a rather empty threat. Those days were gone along with the ones of beheading House Elves, right?
"If you hate our family so much, than just leave!"
"Perhaps I will," she replied, looking quite weary then, and the girl went back to sit on the couch, her elbows resting against her knees as she glanced down at the floor.
"I'm...not happy, Cissy," she said in a soft voice. "I haven't been for years. And if you care more about these...exclusionary principles and your social status than the well-being of one of your own family...then I don't know what to say. I just hope that one day, you'll come to see things in a different light, Cissy. I really hope you do."
Was she actually serious? Everyone was angry at some points. There was no way she was actually going to believe Andromeda regarding this one. It was as empty as those times when she would hit Regulus and tell him that she hated him.
She started back towards the stairs, "You're full of it. I'm going to bed."
"Then you're going to have to deal with Mother on this about your relationship with Regulus," Andromeda called after her, "because I shall have no more part in any of this!"
'Mother will get over it," Narcissa replied in a sing-song voice. "It's quite minor, you see. Besides, who know there isn't already in arrangement in the works for me and Regulus?"
"And what if there isn't?" she shot back, her voice harsher than she had intended, although by then, Andromeda was more than annoyed over how the whole situation had unfolded. "What then? I doubt trying to talk your way out of it would do any good."
Narcissa drew a deep breath. Andromeda had a point.
"Listen, I understand your concern. I'll stop staying in his bed, because I know that's the biggest problem. I assure you that he and I don't do anything that would raise eyebrows, but I'll attempt to tone it down."
She was lying.
"Attempt is the key word here, Cissy," she answered, shooting a glance over at her younger sister. "After all, old habits die hard."
Narcissa sat down on the stairs, now looking like a distressed little girl.
"It's not fair."
Andromeda glanced over at her sister again. On one hand, her heart went out to her. Yet on the other hand, she also realised that Narcissa had quite a bit to learn about society in general. "I can't see why you would find it unfair. Weren't you just saying how grand life is for you just a few minutes ago?"
Narcissa frowned, "I'm fifteen years old. The entire world is out to get me." Well, that at at least seemed like good enough reasoning.
'It's not about the family, I'm just in weird mood."
"Care to elaborate, Cissy?"
"I'll be fine," Narcissa said quietly. "Goodnight. Andy." Well, she was at least using her nickname, so she did not seem as angry anymore.