B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 2: Her Mother's Eyes

Disclaimer: Did nearly everyone who knew Harry's parents attribute solely his eye color to Lily, seemingly in all other ways casting him as a clone of James? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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Jen sat silently in Narcissa's room, her attention drawn far more to the still-unconscious woman than to the third-year Charms textbook in her lap. Andi had said that the older witch would likely wake some time this morning, and she wanted a few answers.

Namely, who had been stupid enough to put her aunt in this state.

"She's still out of it?"

She nodded, not turning to face Sirius as he walked through the door and pulled up a chair next to hers. After several moments, he sighed and said, "You know that just sitting here isn't going to make her heal any faster, right?"

"It also won't make her healing take any longer, though, will it?" He shook his head. "So there is no reason why I shouldn't stay here."

A shrug of his shoulders told her that he had no response to that. She returned her mind to her book while he simply cradled his chin in his hands. Her fingers running over the text caused a flat voice to sound in her head.

"The Reducing Charm, the partner to the Engorgement Charm, would therefore return the enlarged book, toad, or whatever to its original size. You will be learning both charms together—"

"She needs to hurry and wake up. There are some bills for the Wizengamot I could really use her advice on— Ow!"

"A little decorum, if you please?" she growled lightly, leaving the Head of the Black family to rub his arm where her thin lightning bolt had zapped him. "She is far more than just a political advisor."

He stuck his nose in the air pompously. "I know that quite well, girlie, but just because she's lying there isn't any reason I can't crack a joke or twenty."

"By the Baron, you are so immature." Jen shook her head in disbelief. "And to think, you almost had me convinced yesterday that you were respectable."

"Respectable?" asked a weak voice. Both Blacks whipped their heads towards Cissy as she smiled faintly at them. "If you ever start acting like that, I'll be on the first Portkey out of Britain."

"Cissy!"

She slowly nodded at their twin cries. "How long have I been unconscious?"

Pulling his watch from his pocket, Sirius said, "A tad less than seventeen hours. What in Merlin's name happened?"

"The Dark Lord happened." Her audience became even more focused at those words, if such a thing was possible. "He was waiting for me when I went home on Monday. I barely had a chance to see him before he stunned me."

"Why? What did he want?"

Jen lowered her head as the answer appeared in her mind. "Me."

"Probably." Cissy tried to push herself to a sitting position, gratefully accepting Sirius's help when she was about to lose what little strength she had managed to gather. "What he said he wanted was for me to take his Mark, but yes, I expect he was going to order me to bring you to him the moment the magic had settled."