Chapter Text
1981
Atropa Belladonna; the deadly nightshade. Though it holds a simplistic beauty, it also holds the worlds deadliest flower. A flower that will soon become the most-known flower in the Wizarding World.
It is a rather gloomy day at the Black Manor. After her stunt with the Longbottoms, Bellatrix Lestrange is nowhere to be found. The Daily Prophet has reported that Bellatrix has still not been found by Ministry Aurors. She just up and vanished as Aurors arrived at the Longbottoms residence.
Narcissa throws The Prophet down on the table next to her and takes Draco into her arms, going to the first place that comes to mind when she thinks of her sister. She thinks it futile to look for her fugitive sister at the Black family Manor but goes anyway.
Narcissa and Draco Apparate to the rusted iron gates. There is blood magic around the property so only members of the Black family can enter. She takes a quick look around and wonders why Bella never takes care of the greenery. The plants and ivy aren’t overgrowing everywhere, except around the Black family motto: Toujours Pur.
“Always Pure.” Narcissa whispers to herself. The blonde shudders at the motto. Not because of what it means; Narcissa has always believed in the family motto and shudders because of the lengths her parents always went to in order to fulfil it; constantly finding suitors for her and her sisters, the overwhelming dinner parties, balls and whatever other traditions that the Pureblood society upheld over the centuries. Distant memories of her, Bella and Andromeda start to form in her mind, but are soon gone as Draco starts fussing in her arms.
Narcissa looks around and sighs. Whether that sigh is happy or not, she doesn’t bother to decipher. All that matters is finding her sister; her only sister. She looks down at Draco only to find, well nothing except for the few bubbles that remain in his spot. For half a second, Narcissa hopes that Bellatrix has come and swept the child up in her arms. Telling her that she is okay and everything will go back to the way it was. Even Narcissa knows her sister is smarter than that.
“Draco, stay away from those things!” Narcissa Malfoy hastily runs toward the unknown plants to pick up her son, who cries as if his mother yelled at him out of anger. Of course, he doesn’t know any better; he is just a baby.
Narcissa almost, almost , mistook the bush for Lonicera Involucrata : The Twinberry Honeysuckle. The only major difference between the two plants is that the Twinberry Honeysuckle plant has little red leaves around the tops of the berries. Whereas the Deadly Nightshade plant doesn’t. Narcissa takes a look around the yard, only to find both of them mixed together around the yard. Merlin, Bella, why do you always have to shroud yourself in something dangerous.
Bellatrix has always had a knack for anything that can remotely kill her. She is lucky Narcissa is an avid healer, plus there is also Severus. He isn’t that bad at Potions; for a teacher, at least. Narcissa scoffs at the thought. She’s known better Potion Masters on her travels to France and in the Black family itself. Alas, Severus will have to do because he is the only good Potions Master in Britain.
For now, at least. Narcissa aims to be better than him. She isn’t going to be outdone by any Mudblood, Half-Blood or Pureblood, not in her lifetime. Ever since she was little, she has aimed to be the best. Whether it is because of her parents constant pestering about every little thing in her life or her own ambitions is unclear.
“Freeze! Madam Malfoy, you are coming with us to the Ministry for questioning about your sister, Bellatrix Lestrange.” A group of seven or eight Ministry Aurors come out of the foliage. The least deadly of it, for the most part.
Narcissa, unfazed, look around at the group of Aurors surrounding her and Draco, wondering how they got through the Wards. She silently curses herself for even coming here in the first place and holds Draco more protectively to her.
As she is looking around the group, she spots eyes in the forest behind the gardens. Dark yellow eyes bear into her soul. The eyes come into view with a wolfish snarl attached to it. Narcissa ignores the wolf; she knows that, if it attacks, she can easily protect her and her son.
An Auror grabs her shoulder and Apparates her to the Ministry for questioning. Just before her vision warps, she sees the wolf stalking back into the woods as if nothing happened.
*****
Those eyes, those goddamned eyes! Narcissa can’t get them out of her head. They haunt her dreams and, everywhere she looks, all she sees are those yellow, daring eyes. Eyes that could pierce through one’s soul, eyes that could kill with one look…
“Narcissa, dear, what has been going on with your head lately? I have tried multiple times within the past few days to get your attention, but nothing! Whatever it is, it probably isn’t that important. What is important is that the Ministry is now up our asses, no thanks to your good-for-nothing lunatic of a sister!” Lucius looks a bit irritated at his wife and walks away from her.
Ever since the Ministry interrogations, things between her and her husband have got a bit tense. To outsiders, it may even appear to be more than tense, but in any Pureblood marriage that’s just how it is. Pure rage starts to boil within Narcissa’s body. Nobody, especially her husband, should dare insult anyone from the most Noble and Ancient House of Black. She calms quickly though as this isn’t a fight that should be fought; it would just increase the tension already consuming their marriage.
Narcissa always wonders what Bellatrix would do; the sane Bellatrix. She calls for their House-Elf, Dobby, to watch over Draco while she goes out for the night. With everything taken care of on that front, the blonde witch takes the Floo Network to Black Manor. This is probably what Bella would do. Instead of looking through the Manor, Narcissa goes back to the place where the wolf was, or at least, near it. She walks through the gardens once more, hoping to at least find her sister without any distractions.
After looking through the gardens for about an hour, the witch gives. Why did I even come back to this place? She wasn’t here the first time and obviously, not now.
Narcissa sighs, wondering if she will ever see her sister again? Maybe she will, but that seems to be impossible.
“Merlin, Bella, I swear that, the next time I see you will either be in the papers having been put in Azkaban, or somewhere dead!” In the midst of her little rant, the wolf comes back and stares Narcissa dead in the eyes, but the witch has had enough. “You! Why did you insist on looking me in the eye that day?! What does a mangy, dirty mutt like you have to do with any of this! You’re not my sister, so go!” When the wolf won’t leave, Narcissa stands her ground and points her wand at the creature. “I. Said. Go.”
As if on cue, the wolf lunges at the blonde woman knocking her wand out of reach. When she hits the ground, a person is on top of her. Not just any person; her sister. “Well, that’s no way to say hello to your sister. Did Mother and Father get to you with their atrocious parenting after I left? From what I remember, only a House-Elf can be graced with those words. The dirty little rats.” A cackle leaves the witch’s mouth. Bellatrix looks at her younger sister with a confused look. “What is wrong, Cissy? I’m here and real, not in Azkaban!” Bellatrix gets off of her still-dazed sister. “Cat got your tongue, Cissa?” Bellatrix barks out another laugh and grabs her sister, Apparating away from Black Manor.
They arrive in the dining area of Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix making herself at home. “So, Cissy, have you gotten rid of that rat of a husband yet? If not, I know a few ways to make sure it goes unnoticed.” Bellatrix feels extremely happy at the moment. Getting rid of Lucius would be amazing. She stops to look at her sister again. Crying. Her sister is crying while Bellatrix is self-absorbed in whatever fucked-up emotions she has. Bellatrix wraps her arms around the younger woman.
“You bitch. You fucking self-centred, arrogant bitch.” Narcissa pulls away, looking her sister in the eye. The cold stare gives Bellatrix shivers, but she isn’t going to show it. The Blacks number one rule is that showing fear is weakness. The woman continue their stare down until Narcissa speaks again. “You didn’t even send me an owl to let me know you were at least alive! I was so worried about you, Bella!” Bellatrix looks at her younger sister. Nothing but rage, hurt and sadness swirls in her eyes. The older witch tries to keep her guard up, but fails. “Also, how long have you been an Animagus, hmm? I thought we told each other everything; especially after all we went through as children!”
Bellatrix still can’t answer. She knows that nothing will get through to Cissy when she’s in this state. Her surroundings change into that of a tent she pitched up, with magic, of course, in the Forbidden Forest. She screams blood-curdling, one that could break her heart if she heard it in the distance. Bellatrix mournfully starts shooting curses at random objects and nearby animals. Why? Why can’t I do anything right, without hurting the people I love?!
One of the curses is deflected back at her, stopping the witch’s tantrum. On guard, she moves to the direction her last curse went, only to find a man wrapping a purple turban around his head. The man looks up at her and smiles. “Ah, Bellatrix, my child, my most faithful and loyal servant.”
Bellatrix looks at the man wide-eyed and bows. “M-My Lord, you have returned! How have you-”
Her words being cut short by the unfamiliar face. “I have my ways. Now, come with me. We need to have a talk.”
“Of course, my Lord.” Bellatrix returns to her normal posture and leads the man into her tent.