Secrets Well Kept

Chapter Nine || Narcissa

Narcissa wasn't entirely sure how to respond to what she had just seen- her sister, kissing a mudblood. It wasn't right if her family knew... No. What she had seen was against everything her parents had ever taught her.

"Narcissa! Wait!" she heard her sister calling after her, followed by hasty footsteps. She didn't heed this request, though, instead, she continued down the stairs, going dangerously fast. She had no intention of stopping until she felt Andromeda's hand close around her arm, forcing her to stop.

"Narcissa, please just listen to me," Andromeda pleaded, and Narcissa found herself surprised to hear that her sister, the strong and often stubborn sister, sounded close to tears.

Hesitantly, Narcissa turned to face Andromeda, who true to her tone, did appear to be close to crying.

"I don't know how much you saw, but you have to understand-" Andromeda began to say, but Narcissa interrupted her by pulling away.

"What I saw was you kissing a mudblood," Narcissa said, her own voice coming out surprisingly hard. She almost regretted her tone when she saw pain flash across Andromeda's face, however, the anger that followed this pain erased all regret.

"Narcissa, I can explain, if you'd just listen!" Andromeda insisted, but Narcissa simply shook her head.

"Explain what, Andromeda? Why you've decided to be a blood traitor? How you could possibly not see any fault with your-"

"Because I love him," Andromeda said, it now being her turn to interrupt.

"Wait, you what?" Narcissa said, her voice losing all of its heat almost instantly, even as she shook her head. "I don't understand..." she said, falling to a loss of words.

"I love him, Narcissa," Andromeda repeated, and despite how close she was to tears, she smiled. A brief twitch of her lips before her expression returned to a more severe look.

"I should, ah, write home, Mother needs to know about this," Narcissa said, practically mumbling now from the shock of everything before she could move to leave, though, Andromeda had stepped into her path.

"Narcissa, please," Andromeda pleaded. "You can't tell mother, or father, or Bellatrix for that matter," she said. "You know what Bella might do, what she's been doing with that crowd of hers," Andromeda said, her voice sounding so broken now, that Narcissa paused, searching her sister's expression.

She saw a desperation that she had rarely seen before. Andromeda was truly scared, and as far as Narcissa could remember, she'd never shown such fear towards Bellatrix, who had always been rather cruel. But now, Andromeda looked truly afraid, not for herself, no, for this muggle-born. Her resolve dissolved, and she shook her head slightly.

"You truly love this," Narcissa paused, deciding on what word to use. "This, muggle-born?" she asked.

"Yes, Cissy," Andromeda replied, a glimmer of hope entering her eyes. "I'll tell mother and father eventually, but if they find out now; if Bella finds out now..." Andromeda said, shaking her head slightly.

"There's no way to know what Bella might try to do," Narcissa finished, nodding slightly. She knew about Bellatrix's cruel tendencies.

"Alright, I won't," she promised, only to be surprised as Andromeda came forward, hugging Narcissa. She hesitated a moment, before hugging Andromeda back.

"Thank you," Andromeda breathed, sounding absolutely relieved. They hugged for a moment longer before Narcissa pulled away. Without another word, she turned and left Andromeda.