Games and shames
The next year continued much the same way. As second years, they were allowed to have their own brooms and join quidditch teams now but obviously Narcissa didn't, as mother says, it's simply not ladylike.
That didn't mean she couldn't watch.
“Narcissa must we go to the quidditch pitch again? I was hoping to write home” Azalea asked her.
“Oh no you don't have to Az, go write you letters, tell your mother I hope she's well. Me and Zahara will go on” she replied, and the girl peeled off to retreat to the castle.
“Who are we watching today?” Zahara inquired with a grin. She thought they went to watch quidditch practices to look for potential suitors, and Narcissa wasn't correcting her.
“It's the Gryffindor trials today, so we might get a bit of a laugh” Narcissa replied with a smile as they entered the stands.
Some of the candidates were truly awful. A brunette boy even fell off his broom after failing to catch a quaffle! Honestly, if you can't play, why even try out? At least Slytherin would be sure to win the cup this year with the kind of team Gryffindor looked like it was going to have.
Then she saw her.
Alice.
She was an absolute powerhouse on the pitch, a fierce competitor with a stunning smile, and her energy infectious. She flew up and down and round the pitch with incredible speed, her hair flying behind her as she dodged bludgers and scored goal after goal. Her beauty was undeniable, and her athleticism really set her apart.
Narcissa didn't know she was so good.
“My, that Fortescue girl's not bad, is she?” Zahara said, having caught where she was looking.
“No, for a women she's quite magnificent” She said, trying to keep the blush from her cheeks.
Zahara just smirked at her and turned back to the trials.
Narcissa had been walking to the common room for her free period when she realised she had left her book in Charms. Cursing herself, she turned and began the brisk walk half way up the castle.
She was almost there when she heard a boy's voice and a girl's laughter. She couldn't help but peek around the door frame into an empty classroom just to see.
She froze.
It was Andromeda. Andy.
And she was with a boy. Not the one she was supposed to be engaged to mind, no another one. Narcissa didn't recognise him so that could only mean he was a mudblood. Her sister, a black, giggling with a mudblood? It was preposterous. But then she thought about it, and she realised that no, it wasn't really. It made perfect sense actually. Andromeda distancing herself from Narcissa after she went to hogwarts, avoiding talking about blood purity and disappearing after the announcement of her betrothal. And she wasn't even technically a black anymore, after she was disowned for leaving. Leaving Narcissa behind.
She turned and walked away towards her charm classroom, with her absent sisters laughter echoing in her ears as she fought to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks.