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                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Narcissa realizes she knows fuck all about the people she supposedly cares for and attempts to rectify that with a lot of questions until one inevitably blows up in her face. Oh, and there’s more book canon plot stuff.

CHAPTER LXII

Narcissa had hoped that speaking to Bellatrix would hasten the conversation her sister needed to have with Cassandra, so that maybe they could all finally get past this and actually find happiness with each other again, but of course that did not happen. For once though, the blame did not lie with Bellatrix. She had tried— had finally mustered up the courage to ask Cassandra if she could talk to her for a second, and even though her words were mumbled and her gaze was firmly settled on the skin she kept picking at around her nail bed, Cassandra seemed thankful that the woman had actually come to her at all, and nodded her head in agreement. But then Rodolphus apparated into the room, his billow of smoke dark in his wake, and told his wife with his one good hand outstretched and a lingering smirk on his face, "Time to crash a wedding, love," and everything else got put on the backburner. And it was jarring, truthfully, as Bellatrix and Rodolphus hated the air the other breathed, and yet it seemed they were both so bloody fervent about their master's accomplishments and their own newfound freedom that they didn't care about their baseline animosity towards one another in that moment. Bellatrix actually smiled at him, and looked for a second as though she actually might take his hand, before she suddenly remembered that she had just promised Cassandra a conversation, and turned to apologize to her. She had been sincere with it though, which Cassandra clearly appreciated, and after Bellatrix kissed each woman in parting, she left with her husband to celebrate their victory over the Ministry with more mayhem and murder. Narcissa explained the situation to Cassandra as she was aware of it, but outside of the fact that Scrimgeour had been assassinated and someone the Dark Lord had placed inside the Ministry succeeded him, she knew very little. Cassandra understood immediately what that meant though, and it was a good thing she had, because she was the one that reminded Narcissa that with Dumbledore dead and the Ministry under the Dark Lord’s control, that Hogwarts would likely be next, and Draco could go back to school. School, which was away from the horrors of the war, away from the front lines, away from Voldemort, and Narcissa wept as she allowed that hope to wash over her, hoping beyond anything that things were about to finally change for the better. But then Bellatrix returned.

                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Porn. Angst. Angst. Actual Canon Plot Point. Angst. I think that about sums it up, lol.

CHAPTER LXI

It should have been magical, the three of them falling back into one another after such a long separation. Narcissa wanted it to be so desperately because she had missed them— both of them, because while Cassandra may have been the one who left, she and Bellatrix drifted apart in her wake, and now that the three of them were picking up the pieces of one another as they began to rebuild their relationship, Narcissa had assumed that once they took that next step it would be this beautiful, passionate, emotionally honest experience that would just completely overtake her, because Narcissa loved the two women who shared her bed with every part of her heart, and she could no longer bear being separated from them anymore. And to be fair, for a little while, it had been all of those things. It was intense and heartfelt and absolutely all-bloody-consuming, but in the end, it seemed it was the overtaking part that caused a problem for one of them, and not even the one Narcissa had been expecting. Cassandra’s eyes were closed, her face buried in Bellatrix's neck with her fingers tightly wrapped around Narcissa's as she just… took a moment to feel them. Although it still seemed like it might be a lot, even with the sip of potion she had taken, Cassandra could not bear to let go. She seemed to find some semblance of comfort in the intensity of the sisters’ collective emotions, as though they drowned out any lingering doubts or fears she had, and when Cassandra eventually lay a gentle kiss just beneath Bellatrix's ear, the older woman exhaled a shuddered breath, and Narcissa smiled. She made eye contact with Cassandra then from behind her sister, holding the other woman's gaze as she allowed her own lips to press a gentle kiss beneath her sister’s ear as well. The smile was returned before the contact was broken, and when Cassandra lay her lips upon the other side of Bellatrix's neck again, the kiss was no longer tentative and gentle, but firmer and purposeful as she took the sensitive part of the woman's neck entirely into her mouth, causing Bellatrix to exhale a needy groan as Cassandra began to leave her mark on her.

                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: The Dark Lord has finally fucked off for a couple months, and the three idiots finish their long overdue conversation.

CHAPTER LX

It was mid-morning when Narcissa padded down the grand staircase, her arms wrapped around her torso as she looked around her home, feeling as though something was off. And it was ridiculous, really, that she hadn't noticed straight off— her house had been a bloody circus for months, so the fact that it was now eerily quiet should have registered quicker than it had, but it didn't seem to click until Narcissa made her way into the kitchen and only saw her husband sitting at the breakfast bar. “...Where is everyone?” Narcissa asked him, as usually there were at least four people yelling over breakfast in the morning. “Pissed off, finally,” Lucius muttered before taking a bite of his bagel. He didn't look as run down as he had in weeks past, but he still carried himself as though a dark cloud followed overhead wherever he went. Narcissa still felt awful about how much her marriage had deteriorated, but they both knew she had made her choice, and pretending otherwise wasn't going to do Lucius any favors. Besides, she hadn't exactly been in the greatest head space lately either. “For good?” Narcissa exclaimed in shock, as that sounded too good to be true. And of course it probably was, because Lucius just shrugged. “At least until the Dark Lord comes back from his… travels.” Off of his wife's confused expression, Lucius' brow rose and he queried, “Bellatrix didn't tell you?” “She was gone before I woke up— I think she's with Cassandra.” At least she hoped she was with Cassandra, and that the woman hadn't chosen to be taught by another. That would shred Bellatrix. “Where on earth is he traveling to? I thought we were in the middle of a war.” Lucius glanced around for a moment, before motioning for his wife to come closer. Narcissa slid herself onto the chair beside him, a hot mug of coffee appearing before her courtesy of the house elf. As Narcissa took a sip, Lucius quietly revealed, “...There is something wrong with the Dark Lord's wand.”

There was little that Bellatrix hated more than being sick. Over days the witch had tried everything, but this virus was stubborn and unrelenting, letting her know it intended to run its full course before any recovery would take place. Thankfully, Bella did not become ill often. As it were, her head pounded and her chest rattled with every cough, pointed aristocratic nose cherry red. She felt pathetic and useless, disgusted by the fact such an affliction could render her such a whiny pup. An affliction that would make a couch potato of an every day muggle. And yet, there she was, wrapped in a blanket on the sofa shivering beneath its engulfing warmth.

It had only been a month and a half since Bellatrix had given birth. Because of this, the Dark Lord was still more-or-less excluding his greatest asset from combat, and just when it seemed she may finally get in on the action again, of course. The fucking illness. The whole situation leaving Madame Lestrange absolutely miserable.

Bellatrix turned towards her sister, scowling faintly whilst looking Narcissa dead in the eye and summoning the house elf to fill her up once more. As if to spite her, Bellatrix downed the round of firewhiskey, slamming her glass down.

"Oops. You were saying, Cissy?"

Bella lay down to sprawl her achy bones out over the sofa. "Alcohol is a disinfectant," she muttered, face down into the throw pillow, knowing well that wasn't exactly how it worked.

She twisted around like a cat to face her sister once more. Bella began to laugh, then dissolved into a coughing fit. "You cow. Don't act as if you suddenly care about whether or not I'm useful to the Dark Lord. You've never once supported this. Your involvement goes only as far as your husband's, which isn't far, in fact. He's useless." She hissed her last words as her blood boiled at the thought of Lucius Malfoy currently leading the missions. They'd be doomed.

"It's you isn't it? Hmm, Cissy? Making me ill. So you can keep me around for longer." Bella felt a small smirk tugging at her unusually pale lips while teasing Narcissa. Getting a rise out of her was so entertaining, and the ice blonde made it so easy.

"That's always been the root of your anguish. The Dark Lord taking away everything you love from you.. one by one. Your sister, your husband, and now, your little boy... I sincerely hope for your sake my sweet Cissy, that the poor baby doesn't take after his daddy."

As soon as Bella watched the color drain of Narcissa's face, indicating her emotional response to Bella's words, she moved herself back to create a tiny bit of extra room on the sofa she lay.

"Come, Cissy. Come now.. come lay with me." When narcissa hesitated, Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Cassandra finds out what type of clairvoyant she is, Bellatrix is actually getting emotionally healthier, and Narcissa is, well… Narcissa.

CHAPTER LIX

Cassandra, who was still a little drunk, let alone emotionally depleted following the night’s events and the altercation thereafter, had fallen asleep not long after Narcissa had insisted she get into bed. The blonde had tucked her in, but did not linger. It felt… invasive, to occupy the same bed as Cassandra when they were still not okay. Bellatrix seemed to be of the same mindset because she ended up settling in the armchair, while Narcissa just found the pillow that Cassandra had thrown at Bellatrix earlier on the floor and laid at her sister’s feet. The thin rug covering the hardwood was not very comfortable, but Bellatrix wordlessly used a cushioning charm to make it more bearable for her, and the corners of Narcissa's eyes crinkled as she shot an appreciative glance toward the woman above her. The expression was short-lasting however, her lips turning downward as she nodded towards the chair Bellatrix resided in. “You're going to wreck your back sleeping there,” she softly warned, as even with the charm, Bellatrix’s back would be forced into an odd angle while she slept, and she wasn’t exactly young anymore. “Doesn't matter,” the older woman murmured, and Narcissa did not push it, as she already knew why Bellatrix didn’t wish to lie on the floor with her: their relationships no longer felt separate, and neither sister wanted Cassandra to feel like it was one against two. They both knew she had enough insecurities in that area, especially after what they both had kept her on the outside of. So they separated— after the handful of days following Peter’s funeral that accomplished nothing other than pulling the other deeper into their shared misery, the only time Bellatrix and Narcissa had truly been together was a week and a half following that. Bellatrix had come home angry over another tactical failure and Narcissa couldn’t bear feeling alone and hollow anymore, and although falling into one another for all the wrong reasons had always been their favorite coping mechanism, that mess had ended almost as soon as it had begun, with Bellatrix suddenly stopping after she had roughly undressed her sister, her forehead resting defeatedly against Narcissa’s as the sounds of their labored breathing rang loudly throughout the otherwise quiet room. “…I know,” Narcissa had breathed in saddened acknowledgment, as she already knew what had halted Bellatrix’s actions, but Bellatrix had scoffed at that because she sometimes forgot that they were one in the same, and that her walls had become mirrors to the one who shared the other part of her soul. “You don't know shit.”

Rated T. Incest Pairing June 7th prompt: "Don't Marry Them" from @sapphicmicrofics.

The tailor was excellent, one of the old masters of her craft. Rodolphus could well afford the best for his bride-to-be. Every quibble she solved with a stitch; each iteration more perfect than the last. Cissa sent her away after the seventh adjustment. Even in flawless white elegance, I looked like mourning.

“Why are you doing this.”

I looked into her eyes, and I did not allow myself to look away.

“I have nothing Cissa. I have nothing in this world but you, and that means I have nothing to offer you. The sad joke is, I could lay this whole sorry earth at your feet and it still wouldn’t be worth your heart to me. So I’m going to make a better world for you, and I’m going to take it, piece by piece, and then it’ll all be mine and I can make it yours. Rodolphus is just the first step.”

“Did you come up with that crap just now, or have you been practicing? We had nothing together and we were happy! Do you remember that? How happy we were when there was none of this? When you chased me into the trees and you made those promises to me that you’re about to break? That was the best day of my life, and we didn’t need Rodolphus then.”

“We were playing pretend Cissa! We were children! It’s time to grow up and look around!”

Every word was vile as it tore from my mouth. She shrank from me. There was a silence, and it felt like a precious thing dying.

“I can’t grow up. I was eleven years old Bella. I was eleven years old and I said I want to marry you, I’ll love you forever and ever, and then you fucking turned me around like you couldn’t bear to look me in the face and you whispered the most painfully, achingly beautiful words I’ve ever heard in my life. You wrote those words on my soul, Bella. And I can’t let it go. I’m stuck there, stuck as that stupid little girl in love with her big sister. God I’m so tired of being that stupid little girl. I’ve begged you before and I’ll beg you now, please don’t marry him Bella. I’m right here. I’m right fucking here.”

---

I wore a white dress for my wedding, and I painted my nails jet black.

drabbles request. meme still open.

Is she gone for good? They whisper in bed to each other, curled tight beneath blankets. Mother is sobbing, father is furious. Stupid girl, they say. The Black family madness. That's what they call it. Yes, Bellatrix says, she's gone. Narcissa nods, she moves closer, her heart turns to steel.

Promise me you'll take care of her. Bellatrix has never been scared, never been reluctant. Narcissa nods and makes her vow. She takes the little girl from her and Bellatrix looks over the child one more time. She kisses her sister, she kisses her daughter. She doesn't look back.

Did you miss me? Her touch alone is enough to make Narcissa sigh, her question eliciting a noise of pleading from the throat of the younger witch. Of course she missed her. Bellatrix kisses the skin of her throat and fingers dip lower, lower until they meet heat. Narcissa moans, tangling her fingers into the hair she's spent hours detangling and cleaning out. She almost looks herself again, but Bella feels the same and Cissy still tastes like nectarines and honey.

Bellatrix is exhausted. Her Master who is stood at a height above all others moves with an eery fluidity like a wraith. He sweeps into Malfoy Manor with her in his arms. He is drenched from plucking her from the waters and she is unmoving. Tears spill without hesitation from Narcissa's eyes and she follows where no others do, heels clipping the floors. Voldemort spells open doors to his own wing wandlessly and nonverbally and Narcissa doesn't ask to enter. 

Is she. . ?

Fine. He utters only one word, gazing down onto the face of the only being alive he has ever cared for aside from himself, the only person he has ever adored. Nagini hisses at Narcissa but Voldemort silences her with a single sharp hiss in return and so the snake retreats. 

Narcissa is already fretting, listing mentally every potion she will need, every healing spell she can think of. Voldemort is already ahead of her. He has them both dried in an instant and she is encased in a magic so strong the colour is immediately coming to her face. 

He leaves them be, both sisters to each other's company. Narcissa remains by her sister's side until her eyes blink open, weary and tired. Bellatrix smiles and Narcissa dissolves to tears once more. 

Why are you crying? Bellatrix asks wearily, am I so hideous as that?

Not hideous, dear heart, never hideous. I have missed you. I have loved you, I have spelled magic to the heavens for your health.

Narcissa spends the night curled to her sister's side and Bellatrix relishes her warmth. Voldemort does not appear for the night and even if he did, Narcissa does not think she would have it in herself to give up her space beside the witch she loves most in this wretched world. 

By morning Bellatrix finally eats - though it is not much. She has grown used to starving. Narcissa detangles her long waves and they sit prettily once more, though they don't quite shine the way they used to as though stars and silk were weaved through them. Her skin is scrubbed clean, she has started to look like herself again. Her face is still beautiful, but her cheeks are hollow, her eyes don't glitter as they used to, brilliant tarnished silver doesn't shine yet. 

Narcissa spends the next few days catching Bellatrix up with everything that's happened. Bellatrix listens and nods and she doesn't say a word. Only when Narcissa tells her of Cygnus' death does she react. She is gone in a flash - for hours Narcissa is worried sick. Lord Voldemort has appeared that very day amidst the storm raging outside, Narcissa wringing her fingers as she paces. He calms her quietly, Narcissa tells him everything. By the time he returns it is morning and Bellatrix is in his clutches. 

Narcissa watches from a distance as Lord Voldemort speaks in hushed whispers to her older sister, as he leans just a little into her and how she says nothing. She watches as Lord Voldemort touches his knuckles beneath Bellatrix's jaw, how he tips his head a little as he speaks with her. 

They have always had such a unique bond, she thinks to herself, even when Bella was scarcely sixteen. They have always been so very good at forgetting the presence of others with their hushed voices and their shared glances that only the other seems to know the meaning of, and the steps they take in tandem with one another as they pass corridors lost in conversation to each other no one else seems to comprehend. Narcissa watches with a jolt to her stomach as her sister leans just a little more into him as she speaks and Voldemort answers her in a kiss. Her gaze instantly drops like a caught child, retreating to the dining spaces as jealousy burns through her — but before long, Bellatrix has returned to her side and so all is right. 

She says nothing as Narcissa takes her back upstairs, as the younger of them orders the elf to bring them lunch. Narcissa is weary, Bellatrix can tell, but she insists. So Narcissa’s recollection carries on. They spend the next few nights in a bed they share together. Narcissa bites her lip from asking the question she wants to ask, but Bellatrix can read it from her mind. 

Do you still love me? Bellatrix shifts closer. She merely nods and then finally, she kisses her. Narcissa melts against her, yearning fingers clutch desperately, they feel the smoothness of her skin and slenderness of her arms. 

 ◜    ۞    ◞   Narcissa wouldn’t let Bellatrix out of her sight for about a month after. She was so relieved to have her best friend and sister back. She was also terrified she’d be taken from her again. Bellatrix owes a lot of the restoration of her looks to her baby sister. 

 ◜    ۞    ◞   Narcissa did most of the outside healing whilst Voldemort did most of the internal. Narcissa would give her Unicorn blood baths (the elf procured), help her with recovery, put her skin and nails and hair to rights. Bellatrix had a fair few preservation charms on herself anyway but she was painfully thin. It took about six weeks and lots of magic and potions, but she started looking herself again fairly soon thanks to Narcissa.

 ◜    ۞    ◞   the dynamic changed a little. Narcissa was more demanding of her sister and Bellatrix became far too accommodating, letting her make demands, letting her get away with things she normally wouldn’t have. Narcissa has always been a Slytherin —— and though she may not look one, she is a true Black at heart. Much like Cygnus and Druella, Bellatrix and Narcissa mirror their parents. Though Cygnus was a force to behold and Druella may have seemed a pretty little flower on the outside, she still knew how to get what she wanted from her husband. Now Narcissa does the same to Bellatrix. Bellatrix has always been inclined to giving Cissy what she wants, but it certainly helps that Cissy knows exactly what to say to get what she wants from Bella. 

 ◜    ۞    ◞   A lot of recovery, a lot of secret whispers and a lot of kisses. 

𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑒, 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒. .

Narcissa shivered at the command, settling herself between Bellatrix’s legs without hesitation. Her hands gripped her thighs, caressing them before pressing a kiss to one knee. The anticipation was killing her; as she worked her mouth up the inside of Bellatrix’s thigh, Narcissa couldn’t help but glance up at her sister.

Bella was nothing less than a goddess atop her throne, and she would do anything to please her. She licked along her folds, delving between them with her tongue before circling the bundle of nerves just above them. Her own cunt ached as she ate Bellatrix out, praying Bella might give her permission to finger herself soon.

                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: The battle of the 7 Potters goes to shit, someone loses an arm, and Cassandra slips into her unhinged era.

CHAPTER LVI

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“…I’m pretty sure I’m having some sort of breakdown.”

Bellatrix stared at her sister, who was sitting rather unceremoniously on the ground, a flock of Lucius’ bloody peacocks free roaming in the grass around her. Narcissa’s voice had sounded far away to her own ears, as she no longer felt present in her own body. She was dirty and defeated, too caught up in her own bullshit to escape from the cage her mind had become, as it seemed one stupid mistake at this point was enough to send Narcissa tumbling right over the edge.

 “Right, I can bloody well see that,” Bellatrix responded flatly, before violently waving her hand at one of the peacocks who had tried to nip at Narcissa’s hair. “—Piss off, you feathered fuck! Cissy— Narcissa… what happened? What the hell even is this?”

Because Bellatrix could deal with, and had dealt with a lot over the years: crying, screaming, violence, self-harm, among a myriad of other warped coping mechanisms from her mentally unwell lover, but this… this was calm. This was strange. This was new.

Narcissa merely exhaled a long breath, staring aimlessly at the setting sun in the distance. Her eyes were glassy and out of focus, and Bellatrix’s patience had already reached it’s limit. “Alright, get up,” she demanded, grabbing at her sister’s arm to force her to her feet. Bellatrix snatched Narcissa’s chin once she had risen, forcing the younger woman to make eye contact with her. “Look at me— look at me. I am going to start with something simple: what the fuck happened with the peacocks?”

God. Narcissa just wanted to be left alone. “I’m tired, Bella.”

“Not what I asked.”

“Bellatrix & Narcissa were as different as the moon and the sun, but you’d find no two sisters who loved each other more.”

                           [Amphierotic Bloodlines & Kuebiko]

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Bellatrix and Narcissa attend the funeral of the man they murdered and it goes about as well as you would expect.

CHAPTER LVI

Not four paces from the two sisters stood a girl no older than eight, her mouth slightly slackened as her widened eyes stared up at Bellatrix. The woman curled her upper lip as she glanced down at the child, almost physically recoiling from her presence as she drawled, “Are you lost, tiny creature?”

“…You’re Bellatrix Lestrange.”

To the girl’s credit, she did not look frightened by Bellatrix’s presence— if anything, she seemed fascinated. Still, Narcissa wrinkled her nose at her sister being recognized; she had already been unhappy with Cassandra’s decision to not hold two separate funerals for her husband, and this interaction absolutely solidified why. Cassandra had assured her that Peter’s side of the family were supporters of Voldemort and his cause, but it was still dangerous. Yes, they may be but mere months, or perhaps even weeks away from having complete control over the Ministry, but that time was still not now, and the unnecessary exposure was making Narcissa paranoid.

Bellatrix popped an olive into her mouth and quirked an eyebrow at the child. “For your own sake you should hope I’m not— Bellatrix Lestrange is a dangerous criminal. Do you often go climbing into the lion’s mouth?”

“She wouldn’t be dangerous to me— my name is Mildred Goyle and I’m pureblood,” the girl responded proudly, straightening her spine as she looked up at Bellatrix, who’s lips twitched in approval despite herself. But then Mildred deflated as she peered back up at Bellatrix, her tiny eyes squinting as she assessed her. “Are you sure you’re not her? Because my sister, Gertrude, she’s a bit of a bore, really, but she’s obsessed with Bellatrix Lestrange— got her pictures up everywhere in her room ‘cause she thinks she’s a bloody hero, and you look a lot like her.”

“Let go, Bella!” snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other’s face. Bella merely laughed. 

“Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn’t —” 

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do anymore!” Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as she brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister’s arm as though burned. 

“Narcissa!”