All Right, Evans?

Chapter 13

Wednesday 10:30 P.M.

Once again, only a few Slytherins were left in the common room, but this time Lestrange, Bellatrix, and Snape were accompanied by Narcissa, who didn't much feel like being there at all.

"No need to look so broody," Bellatrix snapped at her. She hadn't wanted to bring Narcissa into this, but she'd decided during her walk that evening that it would be better this way, lest she lose another sister to some flight of fancy. She didn't think that Narcissa would succumb to any such whims but, then again, she hadn't thought Andromeda was capable of it, either.

Narcissa scowled. "What are you going to do, keep me up all night until I agree to help you?"

"You don't have much to do, you know," Lestrange cut in. "Your connection to Malfoy is enough outside, but we need you here, too."

"For what, precisely?" Narcissa demanded, her pale eyes flashing with annoyance. "You know I'm not a threat to the cause, Rodolphus, but I'm not going to obsess myself with fishing out all the Mudbloods in this place -"

"You can't ignore it, either," Bellatrix growled. "Sit around and pretend like it's not happening, Cissy, and you'll end up just as bad as Sirius and Andromeda."

"That's rubbish and you know it -"

"Enough." Lestrange rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger, exhausted by the sisters' needless bickering. This was getting them nowhere. "Narcissa, you must be prepared to take Bella's place next year, and help the others to recruit. Regulus is too young, and Avery and Mulciber, well... they're not the most reliable."

Narcissa looked at Snape then. "What, you can't handle this yourself?"

"Not with Potter and his friends on our tail, no," Snape said, disgusted by the fact that he had to consider the Gryffindors a threat. But he'd be stupid to deny it, no matter his personal feelings for them. "Black's on his guard now that Regulus has joined us, and he won't let it go easily."

"So you want us to start a full-scale war here, then?" Narcissa demanded, looking around at the others as if waiting for one of them to tell her it was a joke. "You want to attract that kind of suspicion before you've even left school?"

Bellatrix snorted. "It's not so much suspicious as it is blatantly obvious, Cissy. And fear is a better recruiter than anything else."

Narcissa sighed and leaned back against her chair. She knew it was no use, that she'd have to agree if she wanted to get any sleep. Besides, enough of the family were turning into a bunch of stinking blood traitors without her making a fuss about this, too.

"We just want to be sure that you're ready to pull your wand out if you have to," Bellatrix said, leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at her sister. "You can't walk away from a fight."

"Fine," Narcissa said, knowing that her mind was pretty much made up for her. "Not like I have a choice, really, but I suppose I'd rather be a help than a hindrance."

She thought of Lucius then; he'd told her how much easier things would be if she'd only cooperate with the pureblood ideals. "Show some pride," he'd said to her in his last letter. She might not want to get her hands dirty, but maybe she'd have to; maybe she still had something to prove, despite her pureblood status.

After all, what was the use in being born to a pureblood family if it didn't put you in a superior position? The power balance was being disrupted, and by extension there had been an undue amount of chaos exploding outside the walls of Hogwarts.

Perhaps the inside walls of the castle needed a little shaking up as well, Narcissa thought, her gaze locking onto her sister's. Perhaps it was time to remind the Mudbloods and blood traitors that things weren't so tidy outside of Dumbledore's Muggle-loving haven.

Bellatrix's face split into a grin as she shared the look with her sister. Yes, she thought, pleased. It was time for the Mudbloods to learn where their place really was, because that lesson was long overdue.