With Love, || N.B.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⚠️TW brief mentions of blood in the first quarter⚠️

Narcissa, tears still in her eyes, sniffled, wiping her nose on the cuff of her sleeve. She shut the book quietly, tossing it on her bed for later. Completely dazed from what just happened, she looked around, nothing feeling familiar. Her hands shook as they moved to her hair, running through it and bringing it over her shoulder as she took a shaky step forward.

Bathroom. The bathroom. I have to clean up.

Narcissa slowly moved to the door across the room, each step more agonizing than the last. She stepped into the small bathroom attached to her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her and locking it.

She looked at herself in the mirror, her figure trembling as she moved closer. Her eyes were sunken, bloodshot from crying. There was a thin layer of sweat on her brow before she wiped it off with her sleeve. Her fingers moved to touch the gash on her cheek, quickly staining with the blood that sat at the opening.

She opened a cabinet, took a rag and turned on the warm tap. She sniffled, her breathing slowly going back to normal-normalcy, that would never be a word in her vocabulary again. Narcissa brought the warm rag to her face, jerking it back when she received pain in return-that was all she received these days. Reluctantly, she brought the rag back to the cut, wiping away the blood that remained.

Taking a deep breath, she wiped away the dried tears in the corners of her eyes. Everything would be okay. Right? Maybe. Nothing was guaranteed in this life-one thing was, though. The second she graduated Hogwarts she would be fitted for a wedding dress and married off to another pure-blood family. Her freedom was in the hands of a selfish man who only cared for himself. But Eleonora would be safe, and that's all that mattered.

Narcissa moved to the bathtub, turning on the hot water and plugging the drain. She stripped her clothes, balling them up and throwing them into the corner of the bathroom. After waiting for the water to fill the tub, she climbed in, sinking below the water's surface and wishing to never rise from it again.

__________

'The train ride back to school could've been worse,' Narcissa thought. After her friends had abandoned her, there was no one to ask her what happened. No one to say, "Are you alright, Narcissa? That looks like a nasty cut!"

A nasty cut indeed.

As the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, she slowly gathered her things. There was no sign of anyone by the time she stepped onto the platform, and she couldn't be more grateful.

Eleonora, however, was in search of people-Pepper and Finch to be exact. The pair had blatantly ignored her after she showed up with Narcissa at the Yule Ball, and had given no reason as to why.

She made her way to the Great Hall where dinner had just started, taking a seat across from the two. Eleonora made no conversation as she piled food onto her plate.

"Can we help you?" Pepper asked.

"Yes!" Eleonora snapped. "Yes, actually, you can help me! Help me figure out why my two best friends refuse to answer my calls, my owls, and more importantly, me when I try to talk to them."

Pepper and Finch both looked at her like she had gone mad.

"Elle," Pepper began quietly, "you...you're a muggleborn. Narcissa, since fourth year, has consistently harassed us and picked on us. We just thought you of all people would be the last one to go to the Yule Ball with Narcissa Black."

Eleonora set her plate down, looking up at them. "Well...I wouldn't have...really. I mean, we both did it of our free wills, but...well...it's hard to explain."