Act I: I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

Part 12

"How in Merlin's name does a house being on fire mean that two people are getting along well?" Narcissa had almost immediately asked for clarification about my prior laughter. I hold back more laughter, trying to catch my breath enough to respond. "If a person set my home on fire, I doubt I would be friends with them." Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Is she doing this on purpose? The genuine confusion on her face tells me that, no, she's quite serious. But we are also in public, and Narcissa has always been good at putting on a mask for the public.

"I think it's more about the two prospective friends being like the fire. They get along so well, so quickly - like a house on fire goes up quickly." I gesture with my free hand as I speak, still unwilling to remove my hand from the crook of Narcissa's elbow. From the touch that is keeping my head on my shoulders - at least while I'm still frazzled.

Before long, we find ourselves immersed entirely in muggle London - a place that Narcissa has clearly never been, as she constantly scans the scenery and crowds around us. A car honks, and she tenses her entire body to a halt, nearly pulling me to the ground with the suddenness. I suppress the instinct to laugh, thinking back to when I helped Ginny get acclimated to the muggle world. So soon after the war, car horns and roaring engines put us both on edge. The anxiety was only worsened by the unfamiliar environment, inciting several incidents of Ginny nearly breaking the Statute of Secrecy in her panic. Narcissa isn't likely to lose her cool like that in public, but there's no need to stress her out if I can avoid it. I want my magical friends to be able to spend time in the muggle world without feeling how I did for so long in their world: like an outsider.

Remembering how I helped Ginny adjust, I gently steer us in the direction of a small park. "This way, it'll be a little quieter." Narcissa nods, looking thankful, then allows me to guide us away from the bustle of the sidewalk and onto a footpath. It's cold out, so we're nearly alone in the small stretch of grass. I take the opportunity to cast a charm to help deaden the noise. "Sorry about that. I forget it can be overwhelming your first few times in the muggle world."

At length, Narcissa manages to compose herself and respond. "I am sure it must have been quite the same, your first time in Diagon Alley."

"But of course. Just the sheer number of animals in one place - outside of a zoo? The idea was baffling, but seeing it around was another thing entirely." We continue meandering at a slower pace, now separated a bit as we walk. "I think it inspired me to get Crookshanks. That, and he was so lonely - the clerk said nobody wanted him. Can you believe that?"

"He has been quite the companion to you, I'm sure. I do recall Draco mentioning him in several letters home."

"Did Draco write home often?" The idea is somehow alien to me - that the Draco Malfoy of my school years could have shown courtesy to anyone.

"You sound surprised. Draco and I have always been close. He wrote home at least monthly - sometimes more."

"I meant nothing by it. I think it's the same situation as... your sister. I only have one perspective of Draco from that time, so hearing a different one is odd." We walk along in comfortable silence for some time, pondering our own thoughts. In the near-silence of my spell, the park is serene. Even the few people we pass don't feel like they intrude on the bubble around us. Eventually, though, I find the courage to ask, "Would you tell me more about her? I think it will help, if I try to think of her as the sister you knew."

"Or hearing about her could make things worse."

I nod in acknowledgement. "That's a chance I'm willing to take. I want to see this project through, eventually. If this slows me down, I'll take a longer break and we'll continue at whatever pace we need to." More than likely, Bellatrix isn't getting further away from us as we wait. I have the uncomfortable feeling that, if she is still around, she's trying to claw her way back to the land of the living with as much ferocity as she can muster.