1967
“Cissy! Quickly!” Bellatrix hissed in the dark.
“I am trying! I can hardly see anything,” Narcissa whined as her dressing gown caught on a stick.
She heard the silken fabric tear, and the sound made her face fall with regret. This was her finest nightgown, why hadn’t she changed before leaving the house? She knew better than to follow Bella into the dark thinking it wouldn’t get them in trouble or worse.
“Where are you taking us, Bella?” Andromeda asked, sleep still lacing her voice. It was a wonder how Bella had roused their middle sister. She slept like a hibernating bear. Snored like one too.
“Quiet! We are almost there.”
Bella continued to lead them through the wood. The summer breeze was warm and comforting and the moon shone down on the three girls, watchful, expecting.
Why Bellatrix did anything was anyone’s guess. She had a wildness about her that gave her a penchant for trouble. She did what she wanted, but Narcissa knew her sister would never lead them astray as she was fiercely protective of her two younger sisters.
She was proud to be Bella’s sister. She was formidable and powerful, yes, but she was loving and loyal to her family too. She wasn’t afraid to let others know that Narcissa and Andromeda were under her protection and not to mess with them or they’d have her to answer to, and she delivered.
Being loved like that, having that kind of passion on their side, it made Narcissa feel cared for in a way she knew she would never be cared for by anyone else. So, she trusted her sister as she led them through the night, and she didn’t say another word until they came upon a circle of stones.
“What’s this, then?” Andromeda asked, sounding more awake and newly curious. She was so different than Bella. She wasn’t quite like them, but Narcissa still loved her, it was just a different kind of love. A quiet one, a calmer one.
“I set this up earlier, it’s for our ritual,” Bella informed them as she went around the circle, adjusting the stones and looking up at the night sky.
“When did you have time to put this together?” Andromeda laughed.
Their parents, particularly their mother, kept them busy. It didn’t matter that Narcissa’s first year at Hogwarts had just come to a close. Being home meant practice, practice, practice. Practice her magic, practice her manners to attract a husband, practice her ladies’ duties. Idle hands and all that rot. Narcissa wanted a husband, yes, a good one, but she didn’t see the point of learning to mend things by hand or how that would entreat a man. They had magic and elves for that sort of thing, anyway.
“Father,” Bellatrix and Narcissa said together.
Cygnus Black loved Bella the most. ‘The truest of Black’s!’ he’d boast. What with her black hair, near-black eyes, and her aptitude for the Dark Arts. She was the favorite and it drove their mother mad with what their father allowed her to get away with. He didn’t care that Bella’s dresses were often torn and out of place, or that her curls were wild and unkempt. He didn’t mind if she came from outside dirty and bloodied doing Merlin knows what. She was his pride and joy. If only she were able to carry on the name of the Most Noble House of Black.
“Of course,” Andromeda rolled her eyes. “What are the two of you up to now?”
“Stand there, Andy, and you there, Cissy,” Bella instructed.
They took their places and looked at their oldest sister for further instruction. Bella withdrew from her belt a dagger. It was the Blood Ritual dagger their father used for Rites and other spell casts that required a bit more finesse than a wand could perform.
“Bella, why do you have that?” Narcissa’s eyes went wide.
Bellatrix smiled darkly.
“There is a new power in our midst, sisters. A powerful Lord who aims to save our world and our way of life. I am to join him when I come of age,” Bellatrix said the words with a croon that caressed the night air. It was strange and sensual in a way that made Narcissa feel uncomfortable.
“But” Bellatrix continued, “the two of you are my sisters first. I will make sure you are protected under this new Order.”
Narcissa watched, her heart hammering in her chest as her oldest most beloved sister raised the dagger with her left hand and slashed her right wrist. As blood coursed from the wound, the droplets were heavy as she sprinkled them within the stone circle.
“My blood, my sweet sisters, I vow to thee that I will always protect you. I shall know if you need aid, I shall know if your Mortal Strand is cut, for should such a tragedy befall the Realm we walk in, part of my soul, too, shall perish. I vow to you sisters mine, that should you call, I will come. If ever something dare come between us, may this blade turn on its mistress, and Mark the one who shall be my downfall.”
With that, Bellatrix passed the dagger to Andromeda.
She raised the dagger with her right hand and slashed her left wrist.
“My blood, my sisters, I vow to thee that I will always be there for you should you need a confidant, a hand, or comfort. I vow that should you find yourself on my doorstep, no matter what has come between us, I will welcome thee, and embrace thee as mine own, for my love for you, sisters, is a love that never tires.”
Andromeda let the steady flow of her blood fall upon the ground. When it made contact with Bella’s it smoked and sizzled. If Narcissa wasn’t mistaken, she would have sworn the moon shined a little brighter then.
The knife was passed to their youngest sister.
Narcissa couldn’t imagine a love purer than that of her sisters’. She couldn’t imagine a world in which she wouldn’t put them first. Why would she ever have to? She took the dagger and held it firmly within her palm. It was heavier than it looked, and she watched with fascination as the lingering blood of her sisters danced along the blade’s edge, awaiting hers, calling to the elixir within her veins that which her family so cherished above all else.
She raised the dagger high and brought it down sharply across her wrist.
“My blood, my sisters, I vow to thee that I will always put family first. I vow to hold you in my heart forevermore, and that should there come a time when you need it, I will provide the calm within the storm.”
It was a girls’ vow, one who knew nothing of the love for a husband or child, one who knew nothing of true darkness or betrayal. Just a girl, following the instruction of a sister she loved more than anything else at the time. A girl who thought that nothing would ever come between them or cause for them to need to act on the vow.
Narcissa watched as her blood joined her sisters’, the vows now complete and their fates sealed. She watched in wonder as the wound on her wrist knitted together in the shape of a rune she didn’t recognize. The moon above pulsated with power and their collected blood soaked into the ground. Together they placed the rocks in a pile to seal the circle.
Three witches, three sisters, three girls under the watchful eye of the moon, ignorant of the true powers at play. They joined hands, smiling at each other in turn, dancing in the moonlight. How could they know what tragedies would befall them? How could they know that Blood Rites were fickle things?
They were just girls at the time.
2000
Narcissa looked down at her wrist, recalling the night so vividly. Closing her eyes, she felt for the bond. It pulled tight in one direction, though there was a distinct emptiness in the other. Bella had been a force, once both lovely and formidable. Until all that was left was the madness, the unpredictability of her nature making her nothing short of deranged and deadly.
Narcissa heard voices coming from the entry hall. The whoosh of Floo fire.
“Madam Malfoy,” Mipsy, their House elf called, “Master Draco has arrived with the family,” announced the elf.
“Thank you Mipsy. Please begin the preparations for dinner,” Narcissa said absently.
The blade had marked a witch. A witch who held all the potential Bellatrix had missed out on. A witch who Narcissa was proud to call her daughter-in-law. A witch who brought the light back into her son’s eyes and bridged the chasm which had separated Narcissa from her middle sister for so many years.
No, Narcissa didn’t feel a bond leading to Bellatrix anymore, but she felt one leading to Hermione, the new Lady Malfoy.