Narcissa
Growing up, Narcissa Black always felt lonely. Andromeda and Bellatrix were inseparable. They spent every minute together, they did every activity together, they could speak to each other without ever opening their mouths. Andromeda was only a year older than Bellatrix. They looked and acted so alike that everyone assumed they were twins and they flourished under that title.
Andromeda was born because her parents were freshly married and were having fun. Bellatrix was born because her parents loved each other so much, they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Narcissa was born because the Black family had failed to produce an heir and still failed with her. Her mother almost died during Narcissa’s birth. They had to stop trying for heirs. She was three years younger than Bella, four years younger than Andy. She was blonde with straight hair when the everyone else in her family was brunette with curly hair. She was quiet and conserved when her sisters were loud and stubborn. She was horrible at defense against the dark arts and potions, two of her families greatest strengths. She was wonderful at history of magic and anything political. Nothing her parents cared for.
Her parents were alright. They weren't the best, but they weren't the worst the Black family had seen. She was expected to keep her grades up and to constantly behave no matter who was around. They wanted all three of them to succeed and to continue on another noble families bloodline, but they didn't care about them. They didn't care that Andromeda loved to write and was a very good dancer. They never knew that Bella was one of the brightest of her classes nor that her heart was so big. They didn't know that the only reason Narcissa ever learned to read, was not because of the expensive tutors they hired, but because Andy and Bella spent hours helping her in the middle of the night careful that no one would hear them.
Sirius was born four years after her. Regulus was born one year later. They were the new Andy and Bella. If Regulus had curly hair, they would be identical. Regulus followed Sirius around everywhere he went and Sirius looked at his little brother like the boy created joy all by himself. Andy and Bella adored their baby cousins. Bella would do anything for Sirius. She used to say that she gave the boy whatever so that when he became the lord of the house, he would give her whatever she wanted. It was a good excuse for the adults, but Narcissa could see that Bella truly cared for her younger cousin. Andromeda was the same with both the boys. She loved them and cared for them like sons and would do anything for them. Aunt Walburga never seemed to mind when Andy and Bella took over caring for her children.
Narcissa.. she tried to do the same, but she was only four when Sirius was born and five for Regulus. When she was eight and old enough to take over for her sisters, Sirius was four and clearly preferred the older two. Regulus only ever did what Sirius did, so he followed his brother’s preference.
Eventually, she was able to get close to Regulus during school. Unbeknownst to her aunt and uncle, their sons stayed close in secret during school. Not even Sirius's friends truly knew the extent of it. She gave Sirius the password to the Slytherin common room and she told Regulus that Sirius likes to go to the Astronomy Tower whenever he's stressed or angry. The two saw her as a calm in the storm that was their family. During feasts or galas they would gravitate towards her to stay out of their parents eyes. She remembers how Regulus sobbed on her for hours when Sirius left, she didn't have the heart to tell him that Sirius leaving was the best thing he ever had done.
But despite feeling lonely in her youth, she would do anything to go back.
The downfall started when Andromeda left. She fell in love with a muggleborn, and Andromeda was too stubborn to lose the love of her life. Aunt Walburga pressured Uncle Orion until he disowned her for only the head of the house could do such a thing. Andromeda was fine with her disownment. She left that night and never looked back. Every few years, Narcissa hires an investigator to check up on her. See how she’s doing. She has a daughter now. Her husband works in the ministry and they seem to be doing alright financially. She is not close to what she could have had as a Black, but Narcissa doubts her sister cares about that.
Andromeda’s departure did not affect Andromeda’s life that much. But it destroyed Bella. It was as if Bella did not know how to live without Andy by her side. Bella didn’t eat for weeks, she barely left her room. Narcissa sat at Bella’s bedside sobbing and begging her to keep living. She had to shove food down her sister’s mouth, because everyone else in her family was willing to let her go. The Black family did not tolerate weakness, nor did they tolerate love over power. Her parents never understood how Bellatrix could be so torn after loosing Andromeda because their parents never cared for any of them.
Bella got better, physically. But she was never the same. She started looking for anything to blow up, to set on fire, to curse or hex. Aunt Walburga started to shift the family into attacking muggleborns and halfbloods instead of ignoring them. Bella was the first to join. She was crazed. Sometimes she would come home and look like an animal back from a hunt. The war only made it worse. Only made her thirst for blood grow until the only description that fit her was madness. She went so far that she tortured two pureblooded wizards until their brains were permanently deteriorated. Draco goes to school with their son, he says awfully rude things about the boy, Narcissa can’t help but feel responsible.
Regulus’s death and Sirius’s disownment made it worse. Aunt Walburga was one spell away from killing her firstborn son and everyone in the family knew it. If Sirius hadn’t ran away that night, his mother would have killed him. That’s when Narcissa realized how little power the head of her house had. Walburga had it all. She used Bellatrix as a lapdog and manipulated Regulus until he had no mind of his own. No original thoughts to his name. She used her husband’s title to silence Narcissa’s father and mother. She spent years cutting out both her parents and Uncle Orion’s parents until no one could stop her. She single handedly killed the House of Black, and no one did anything.
Narcissa was the only one left.
She married a pureblood because that was her duty. She had an heir and then she stopped. She would rather have Draco grow up without siblings, than feel alone for even a second. Narcissa writes her son everyday, because he is all she has left. The boy adores his father, gives him credit for every good thing in this world, and Narcissa lets him. She writes each letter as if her and Lucius are writing them together. She was writes ‘we’ and signs Lucius’s name first so he looks like he cares more than he does.
Now don’t get her wrong, Lucius loves his son. He would move mountains to make Draco happy, but he does not care about the little details in the boy’s life. He does not care about Draco’s friends or day to day activities, but Narcissa will not let Draco discover that. She will do anything to protect her family. Anything.
So when Sirius came to her door, in the middle of the night looking an inch away from death, she had to help him. Sirius needed a lot of help. He was thin, too thin. Narcissa could count every one of his bones. She made the house elf keep bringing him food so she didn’t look too pushy but that he still ate. He cleaned himself like a man obsessed, but Narcissa couldn’t blame him. She ignored his daily showers just like she ignored the moments he wasn’t there. It would be mid conversation and he would just stop talking and look straight past her. Sometimes he would look like he wasn’t even breathing. But then he would continue on like nothing ever happened, and she let him. He spent a lot of time trying to act as though these past twelve years never happened. As if they were all still kids playing games at family parties.
Sirius is using his powers as head of the house for silly things that only matter to Sirius, but seeing as her family’s name was practically extinct before this, she found herself joining in on his useless endeavors. It made Sirius happy, he looked the exact same as when he was a kid. Narcissa tried to ignore the screams that came from his room in the middle of the night. She sent the elf to bring him calming draughts and dreamless sleep potions.
Narcissa is a strong woman, who is calculated and precise. She married into a very noble and pristine pureblood family and she raised a bright and caring son, even though he pretends he isn’t. But above all she was a Black, and she would do anything to protect her family.