Wolf and Wings - Remus and Narcissa

Chapter 18

Cygnus Black used their private signal, a deep, slow pulse emanating from the locket his wife wore to call Druella to the study. It was the only place in the manor where no servants ever came. No one would overhear, no one could intrude, not even Bellatrix.

Bellatrix - the only one left. No one else was coming.

Across the desk, he passed Druella two rolls of parchment delivered by a nondescript brown owl just after dinner.

"It's from her," he said.

Druella held a parchment in each hand, her eyes flicking between them. They were written in two different kinds of handwriting. One was elegant, meticulously formed, but densely crowded, as if telling a story too long for the parchment. The second was written large but sloppy, as if printed by a child.

"Her? Her, is it?" Druella sneered. "No more of that, Cygnus. We can hardly refuse to speak their names in this house now that there are two of them and we need to tell them apart. Plus this one," she said, setting the crowded parchment down and running her fingers over the child's writing. "This was written by a her too, wasn't it. The little one we've never seen, never held..."

"Stop that," Cygnus said through gritted teeth. "I've already had anonymous correspondence from - from Andromeda earlier this year. When she wanted me to interfere between Narcissa and that - that..."

Druella drew in a sharp breath. "Even after all that's happened, our Andromeda wants what's best for this family."

Cygnus held his head in his hands. "No, she's changed her mind. Read the letter, Dru. It's all in there. All meant to convince us to forgive them, our girls and their husbands, if a werewolf can ever be considered something so civilized as a husband."

Nymphadora's hand-inked parchment fell from Druella's hand. "Husband?"

"Yes, this letter is Andromeda explaining how her sister is indeed a Veela, already bound by creature magic to a werewolf." He spat out the rest, sarcastic. "But not to worry, she's all set to marry him - "

"In Grandmère Rosier's dress," Druella finished. There was nothing to be gained from arguing the boy wasn't a werewolf, or that Narcissa wasn't bound to him. Carrow and Dolohov had seen him transform with their own eyes when they threatened Narcissa. There was no other explanation, and no way to hide it now. Everyone knew. Druella held up Dora's letter again. "And this is the invitation to the wedding, my granddaughter asking so sweetly for me to come meet her at last."

Cygnus raised a hand and summoned both parchments out of her grip. "Sheer manipulation on Andromeda's part. I never should have shown you. I should have known you'd be like this: sentimental, influenced by a creature heritage of your own - "

"I am not a Veela, Cygnus. And more pity you for it."

"I know that," he snapped. "But if it weren't for your Rosiers, Cissa would have fallen into line and - "

"And she would have succumbed to vicious madness, eating potioned sweets passed on to her in my name," Druella hissed at Cygnus over his desk. "My heritage saved her - saved us from having two daughters afflicted like Bella."

Cygnus was on his feet, stuffing Andromeda and Dora's letters into a drawer in his desk, making as if to storm out of the room.

"Don't you walk away from me, Cygnus Black," she said, rounding his desk and tugging him toward herself by the fronts of his robes. "Tom Riddle never meant to glorify this family. Not for one second. He has no honour. He ruined our Bella, and then instead of weeping for forgiveness at our feet he helped himself to our next, our finest, shining, angelic - "