Prologue
Narcissa Black showed her first sign of magic the first time she saw Alice Fortescue.
She'd been six years old, in a luxury robes shop next to Florens ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley. Summer had broke into tiny little pieces forming the ever-changing autumn leaves on the ground. Her mème had left her alone for not ten minutes when a little girl around five, Narcissa suspected, with long brown hair and striking green eyes walked through the door with a light chime. Narcissa peered up from the pink robe she'd been pretending to inspect just like her mother always did.
When the girl walked over to her she'd crossed her little arms over her chest and stared up at her.
"I want that one." Narcissa curled her tiny hands into balls, the childish possessive feeling of not wanting to share washed over her. Often, as she got older, she looked back on this and wished with everything in her that that fight never left.
"I got here first. It's not like you can afford it anyway." She said plainly, her voice in a still strong French accent. Narcissa spoke as if the robe in front of her was her birthright, because thats all she'd been taught. The girl in front of her had golden freckles like tiny constellations all over her face and curly hair Narcissa always wanted. The girl moved her hands to her hips.
"I can! I've got a million galleons! I'll bet that you can't afford it." The girl jabbed a finger at her as if it were a sword. Narcissa felt a familiar anger set into her bones. And because she hadn't learned to control it, because she hadn't learned to bury it deep where nobody could find it, it burst out of her. The glass cases over the ever expensive limited robes line shattered along with the windows and the glass door, the little tip jar near the register, and the glasses of the shopkeeper.
"I'm a Black." Is all she could muster. The girls mother swept into the shop then, looking horrified as she called the girls name and rushed her out of the building. Leaving Narcissa all alone to await the punishment her parents chose for her when they found out what she'd done.
I hate you, Alice Fortescue.
She remembers thinking as the shopkeeper reprimanded her. Oh, how little she knew then.
When her mème finally came back she stood still as Narcissa frantically explained what had happened. She told her mother all about the evil little girl who had insulted her name. Her mother bent down and ran a hand through her daughters crisp blonde hair.
"Congratulations petite toxine, you're finally one of us."
Petite Toxine.
Little poison.
Narcissa Black.