Out of My Skin

Narcissa could tell it was going to be a bad day when she woke up. She wasn't sure why, but there was a feeling in the air. She begged Lucius not to go to his morning meeting, but he just told her she was being silly, and that he would be home by dinner.

She spent the whole morning, scared that she was going to get a call that said her husband was dead. She wouldn't be able to cope if Lucius died. They hadn't accomplished anything yet. They still had so much to do, so much of their lives to live. He just couldn't die yet.

So when the doorbell rang, she practically jumped out of her skin. She got up to answer the door, but found her feet just didn't want to move. It was like she was moving in slow motion.

When she finally reached the door, she decided that she didn't want to open it. Whatever was on the other side, she didn't want to know. The feeling of compulsion overtook however, and she opened the door.

Bellatrix was standing there, staring blankly out at the garden.

"Bella?" Narcissa said, her voice sounding strange even to herself.

Bella turned around, still looking blank.

"Dad died."

It was all she could get out, before she collapsed, sobbing into her little sister's arms.

Narcissa automatically went into management mode. She couldn't even properly process her thoughts. The only thought that she could comprehend was that Bella needed her right now, and she couldn't afford to be upset yet.

She got Bella into the family room, and sat her in the biggest armchair.

"Why Cissy? It's not fair," Bella said, tears streaming down her face. Her mascara was running everywhere, though she didn't seem to be aware of that. Narcissa didn't think it was a good idea to point out that fact.

"I don't know, Bell." Narcissa crawled into the armchair, beside Bella (it was a very big armchair), and wrapped her arms around her big sister. "You know he's been sick for a while."

"But he didn't have to die!"

Narcissa decided at that point that alcohol was definitely needed. The bottles of vintage red that had been sitting in the cellar for years needed to be used. Narcissa couldn't think of a better occasion to drink them than to their father's memory.

"Bell, do you want a drink?"

Bellatrix nodded mutely. Narcissa untangled herself from Bellatrix, and headed down to the cellar. Narcissa took one look at the vast quantity of wine down here, and went back upstairs.

"Come on Bell, we're going down to the cellar. There's too many bottles. I can't decide."

Bella nodded, took Narcissa's hand, and followed her down to the cellar. Narcissa settled Bella in the armchair that she'd conjured, before popping open a bottle. She took a swig of the bottle, before passing it to Bella.

Six bottles later, Bella was passed out in the armchair, and Narcissa was stumbling around the cellar, looking for another bottle. The thought of food hadn't even crossed her mind. She plucked another bottle from the shelves, and slowly climbed the stairs.

She'd only made it quarter of the way up the stairs, when she tripped over her own feet, and fell back down the stairs. She landed on the floor, and started laughing. It was obviously funny, though she wasn't sure why.

"Ciss?"

Lucius was home. Narcissa hoped he was going to look for her, because she definitely wasn't capable of climbing the stairs. She took a gulp of the red, possibly because she knew as soon as Lucius found her, that was the end of the drinking.

"Ciss?"

His voice was getting closer. She could hear his footsteps, and then she saw his figure in the doorway.

"Ciss? What on earth are you doing down there?"

He sounded quite bemused, as he came down the stairs. As he neared the bottom quarter, he noticed the shards of glass and the drops of wine on the stairs, and the suspicious looking red stains on his wife's face and arms.

He got to the bottom of the stairs to find his suspicions confirmed. Narcissa had cut up her face and arms during the fall, and the subsequent drinking. She obviously hadn't even noticed.

"Oh Ciss, what happened?"

He surveyed the room, and noticed Bella passed out in the armchair.

"Wha-?"

"Dad's dead," Narcissa said, forming the first coherent sentence she'd spoken in hours.

Lucius didn't say anything. He just scooped her up in his arms, and took her upstairs. Bella was fine downstairs for now. Right now, he needed to get his wife cleaned up.

Five minutes later, he had Narcissa in the bath, and was cleaning her cuts. It was just about then that she realised what was going on, and the tears began flowing fast and furious.

"I told you Lucius! I told you something aw...awf...bad would be today!"

"I'm sorry Ciss, I should have listened."

Narcissa nodded, apparently accepting his apology. It didn't occur to her that Lucius couldn't have done anything to prevent her father's death. It was just a bad year for the Black family. Not only was her father now dead, but her uncle and cousin had been killed earlier that year.

Narcissa just hoped the rest of the year would be better.