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

Part 22

I'm dragged out of sleep by something poking me in the face - it's vaguely pointed and hard, like a stick, or a... wand? I start to blink the sleep away from my eyes, pulling my arm out from around Cissa beside me and swatting away the wand in front of my face. "Hm?"

"It's morning," the voice starts me awake in an instant - it's Andromeda, "and I'm here for your checkup." She's grinning like the cat that got the cream, pointedly glancing at her sister next to me, still asleep. "Based on how sheepish you look, I take it you finally figured things out?"

"You knew?" I'm whispering at this point - Cissa and I stayed up to the early hours of the morning, just talking and being with one another, so I'd rather not wake her if I can help it. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Of course not! Where would the fun be in that?" Despite my whispering, Andromeda leans over and pokes Cissa in the side with her wand, making Cissa jump, but not wake. I see her lean in for another attempt, but the angle is too awkward for me to stop her. "Narcissa, get up and introduce me to your girlfriend."

This time, Cissa sits up rather sharply, looking surprisingly awake given that she was asleep moments ago. "Andie! Must you torment us so early in the morning?"

The smug grin that hasn't left Andromeda's face only deepens. "It's not that early, dear sister. Just what were you two up to, that even you are so tired this morning?"

Cissa's face colors, but she doesn't honor that with a response, instead summoning her wand and zipping a wordless spell towards Andromeda. It can't be too powerful, as it dissipates the instant Andromeda flicks it away. "Alright," I say - just in case it starts to escalate, "just do the diagnostic."

"Cissa, would you teach me French?" I say, looking at her from the far side of my living room. She's sitting on the couch, Crookshanks tucked against her side - his new favorite place, the traitorous cat - with one of Bellatrix's journals from the manor in her hand, slowly reading through it. Most of them have been completely incoherent, but sometimes we find things that might be useful.

"Of course, darling, though I simply cannot imagine that you need my help." I walk over to her, sit on the opposite side of her from Crookshanks, so as not to disturb him.

"Perhaps not, but I find the idea of learning from you... particularly intriguing." I slide my arm behind her, still careful not to disturb Crooks. "Besides, with how often I've been left out of the conversation when Andromeda's around, I think you owe me at least a few lessons," I say with a laugh.

"You may have a point there..." I lean in and kiss her, a pleasant, warm glow suffusing my heart.

"It's odd being back here so soon," I say, looking up at Black Manor. It wasn't so much a choice to come back, as a necessity. Now that I have my wand back, that room below the library is too intriguing to pass up, too potentially important. Not to mention we still have no answer to our question. Is Bellatrix Lestrange still alive?

Cissa takes my hand as she opens the front door with a wave of her wand. "I only hope this trip is calmer than the last."

The silence of the halls here never much bothered me before. Now, it is a strangely welcome comfort. With the silence, I can listen past our footsteps in case that thing is still alive, still angry. I know it must be dead - Fiendfyre can even destroy horcruxes, after all - but I still cannot stop the anxious attention I pay to the silence.

It isn't long before we come to the library, still in shambles. Now that I know what that thing looked like, I can see how it damaged the library - can picture the devastation. It's terrifying, really, how powerful it was.