The morning dawned heavily on Narcissa who blearily opened her eyes and looked around the girls' dormitory. It had been a troublesome night for her, and she had barely been able to sleep. Every so often, the sight of that letter and the words it carried jolted her awake. Sighing, she looked over at her sister's bed and noted with a frown that she was already awake and reading something.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Reading," Bella replied promptly without taking her eyes off the leather-bound textbook she was reading. It didn't seem like any school text they had been prescribed.
"This early? What are you reading?" Narcissa slowly got up, pulling her covers up to her chest as she looked at her.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, you idiot," Bella replied curtly. Narcissa frowned.
"Bella you know I can't do anything about it…"
"I don't want to hear it," Bella retorted and slammed the book shut, shoving it inside her backpack and walking over to her. Narcissa cried out when her sister grabbed her hair harshly, a glare prominent on her face, before she hissed, "You are a coward, Cissy. And I don't want to talk to you right now."
Narcissa could only sit there in abject shock as her sister pushed her away and walked toward the bathroom without a backward glance.
"What just happened?" The blonde beauty whispered to herself, caressing her hair gently.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Bellatrix stared at the strand of blonde hair in her hand and smirked before putting it in a vial and corking it properly.
"Nice," she smirked.
-Break-
"Miss Black."
The very last voice Narcissa ever wanted to hear made her stop as she walked down the stairs and into the common room. She looked over and saw none other than Lucius Fucking Malfoy giving her that vile smirk of his. She had half a mind to curse that smug look off his face. He was accompanied by his band of thugs who had nothing better to do than to terrorize young muggleborns and half-bloods all day long. All the idiots were smirking at her, and she felt reduced to an object on display. She had never felt so disgusted in her life, and could not help but wonder if this was what awaited her in the future.
Not that I can do anything about it, she thought to herself.
A voice that sounded awfully similar to her twin shouted the word 'COWARD!' at her, and she promptly turned a deaf ear toward it.
"Heir Malfoy," she greeted courteously.
Lucius stared at the alluring beauty that was Narcissa Black clad in her usual Hogwarts uniform, his eyes lingering in a few spots more than usual. Narcissa's lips tightened.
"It is my belief that you received a certain letter from your father yesterday?" Lucius asked, his smug smirk still plastered on his face. Narcissa ignored it with some effort and gave a small nod.
"I did, yes."
"Splendid. And I hope you have no qualms about it?"
Despite how much Narcissa wanted to push everything to the side and run away, she shook her head in silent acceptance. Lucius' smirk widened.
"I'm glad to see that," he replied. "I look forward to getting to know you a little better, Miss Black. I am sure you will conduct yourself as befitting your station as the daughter of the esteemed House of Black."
Narcissa's skin crawled at his lecherous stare, and she could only give him a small smile and a nod.
"I hope you will be joining us at meals from now on, Miss Black?"
Knowing it for what it was, Narcissa nodded, and Lucius stood up. One by one, he and his band of thugs walked out of the common room, leaving Narcissa rooted to the spot, staring at the floor. Sighing, she turned around and saw her sister almost stumble into Lucius, who stepped back.
"Watch your steps, Lucy," Bella grinned as she usually did, patting the blonde's cheek condescendingly before running her fingers through his hair. "You still haven't told me what you use to keep these so well maintained."
Lucius gave the brunette a wary smile and walked away without saying anything. Narcissa looked on and didn't miss the lecherous stare the older Lestrange brother gave her sister, and she was sure her sister didn't either, as her eyes hardened into a glare. Rudolphus immediately averted his eyes and walked away without a backward glance. The rest of those idiots followed suit, keeping their eyes firmly away from Bella.
Never let it be said that her sister didn't have those idiots in a chokehold. Almost all of them were apprehensive of her.
She saw Bella turn to look at her and mouth 'COWARD!' before she walked away. Narcissa sighed.
Her sister was not happy at all.
-Break-
It was a somber mood at the Gryffindor table as Harry sat with the rest of the Marauders, Frank and the Prewett twins. The girls were sitting a fair bit away from them. After the events of the previous day, none of them had talked to each other. Marlene and Sirius had exchanged a few glances but nothing more than that, while James and Lily hadn't looked at each other even once.
Amidst all the drama, Harry could only sigh and hope that they got their heads in place soon and put this matter behind them.
Not for the first time, he looked over at the Slytherin table for a glimpse of the familiar blonde-haired beauty, only to sigh in disappointment when he failed to find her. Bellatrix was there, sitting alone and far away from the wrong Slytherin crowd, and he found her giving him speculative looks every now and then. He wondered what it was all about. It was different from the usual looks he had gotten used to from the dark-haired beauty.
"You're awfully impatient today," James commented from beside him. "She'll be here soon. Eat up already."
Harry chuckled. "There's too much morose atmosphere around here. Forgive me if I'm looking for something to cheer myself up."
Beside James, Sirius gagged.
"Not even hooked up with her yet and you're already acting like this," the Black heir muttered in faux disgust. Harry snorted. Leave it to the idiot to make everything crass.
It was barely a minute later when the girl of his desires entered the Great Hall. Harry kept looking at her as she walked toward the Slytherin table where her sister was sitting. However, he frowned when he saw her pass her sister who didn't even react and his eyes widened slightly when she took a seat right beside none other than Lucius Fucking Malfoy who smirked at her. The small smile she gave the Malfoy heir felt like a punch to his gut.
"What the fuck?" James whispered from beside him and Harry continued to stare at the blonde beauty with a deepening frown. She never even looked in his direction.
"Harry…" Sirius tried and shook him, and Harry saw he had been gripping his fork so tightly it had left an indent in his palm. Harry relaxed his hold, letting the fork drop on the plate with an audible clang.
"I'm fine," he managed with gritted teeth. "If you guys will excuse me…"
His appetite lost in its entirety, Harry stepped out of his seat and made his way out of the Great Hall with long, purposeful strides, leaving all his friends staring at him with visible frowns on their faces.
At the Slytherin table, Lucius and a few of his thugs smirked as they saw Peverell walk away, having obviously seen where Narcissa Black belonged while Narcissa frowned to herself as she slowly ate her breakfast. However, Bellatrix stared at Peverell with a meaningful gaze, her eyes drilling holes into his retreating back as he walked out of the Great Hall without a backward glance.
It was time for her to have a talk with the man she was attracted to, and who she knew her sister was falling for.
-Break-
Harry was aware that his emotions were running wild, and his Occlumency was failing him right now. That left him with no option other than to leave the Great Hall before he destroyed something. He had no time to trek all the way to the seventh floor to go to the Room of Requirement, which left him to make do with one of the abandoned classrooms on the first floor near the rightmost corridor which had fallen into obscurity in the past few decades or so.
The moment he got inside one of the classrooms, he immediately shut the door so hard its bang must have echoed far into the distance. He could not care less.
His wand was out in an instant, and the vilest curses known to wizardkind left it in a heartbeat. His heavy breathing filled the room as he glared straight ahead with murderous intent rolling off him in malicious waves. Curses that he knew must have been made purely for torture collided with the wall, leaving lacerations and gouges against the surface, sending pieces of concrete flying off. He remained short of the Unforgivables only, and once he was done, the wall in front of him was entirely unrecognizable.
So lost was he in his rage that he never noticed that the door had opened and a certain dark-haired beauty was standing at the threshold, staring at the display of violent spellcasting with half-lidded eyes and her teeth biting her lower lip sensually.
It was only when Harry finished with his spellcasting and was breathing heavily that his solitary audience made her presence known.
Harry abruptly turned around at the sound of applause and managed to see through his livid haze none other than Bellatrix Les-Black looking at him with nothing but admiration in her gaze as she clapped. His eyes watched her as she walked into the classroom, closing the door behind her, and applying what he quickly recognized as a locking and silencing charm.
The moment she came into the classroom proper, she found herself disarmed and bound with tight ropes, her back pushed against the wall as the magnificent man in front of her pressed his wand under her chin, his eyes boring deep into hers. Bellatrix was sure that he was using Legilimency, and with her nonexistent Occlumency shields, it would be child's play for him to discern her deepest, darkest secrets. However, nothing happened. She felt no shift in his eyes which she knew always happened when one used Legilimency, and for a second, she wondered if he even knew of the art. She immediately chided herself. There was no way someone as powerful and dangerous as Harry Peverell was not a master of the mind arts. The fact that he didn't try to do anything while she was at his mercy made her respect him even more and feel disappointed in equal measure.
The ropes he had conjured within a blink of an eye coiled around her body like a persistent serpent, and Bellatrix felt it caressing her skin over her Hogwarts uniform. She paid particular attention to how it rubbed against her round pert ass, her womanhood, and her large tits. Her nipples stood rock hard under its ministrations, and she looked at him with desire written in her eyes.
"Merlin, Peverell…" she whispered, looking him in the eyes with unbridled lust. "You have no idea what you do to me…"
Harry stared the witch down but instead of cowering away like he expected her to, she grew more daring as she pushed her ample chest further upward, stretching the ropes binding her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her in a dangerous whisper. "How much of it did you see?"
Bellatrix looked at him with a wicked smirk and giggled.
"Oh! Everything!" She admitted brazenly. "You do not need to fear anything, Peverell… not from me at least. All your secrets will always be safe with me, I promise."
Harry scoffed. This girl was mental, and he'd be mad if he ever entrusted her with any secret of his.
"I very much doubt that," he replied, earning a pout from her.
"Oh come on! You shower Cissy with so much attention and dare I say, affection too. Spare some for her dear twin as well!"
The name of Narcissa made him glare at her, and Bellatrix smirked. This man had it bad for her sister. Just seeing her once with someone else and he had lost control like this.
"I'm sorry about Cissy, but she's out of reach now, or is about to," she told him with a chuckle. "I have proof. See for yourself."
Harry pursed his lips, his gaze expectant. Bellatrix smirked up at him and leaned forward so that she could take in his masculine smell. This close, she whispered, "There's a letter inside my bra. Feel free to reach in and take it out."
Harry leaned back and stared at her, and Bellatrix looked up at him with the same lustful smirk. He whipped his wand and vanished her bindings, staring at her expectantly. Bellatrix pouted before smirking once again, and Harry watched as she unbuttoned her shirt in front of him. No matter how much he was infatuated with Narcissa already, there was no way he could have taken his eyes off the impressive chest of Bellatrix Black encased in only a black bra that barely covered her large bust. This minx deliberately wore a smaller size. He saw a piece of parchment folded inside one of the cups, peeking out like a pervert, and Bellatrix smirked up at him.
"Go on, take it out," she whispered sensuously. With a sigh, Harry grabbed it, making sure he never touched her skin and took it out as quickly as he could. Ignoring the smirking brunette, he folded the letter open and started to read.
Seething, he crumpled the letter in his palm when he was done, glaring at the wall right above Bellatrix's head. The brunette looked at him and chuckled.
"See, my lovely twin is for all intents and purposes out of your reach. Once grandfather comes back, they will sign the contract and it will be official. Now, I, on the other hand," she smirked, whispering with sinful promise coloring her tone, "I am as unattached as you are, and I am her twin. Her other half, that consists of everything she lacks. Just as I'm sure she consists of everything I lack. So different, and yet, so similar."
Harry watched as the witch caressed her alluring curves to demonstrate her point. His eyes dropped to her almost exposed chest before they traveled downward to her flat belly and onto her skirt that preserved her modesty. Slowly, he dragged his eyes back up her body and looked her in the eyes. Bellatrix gave him a saucy wink.
"You might not have her," she whispered enticingly. "But you can have me, Harry… I'll forever be yours, and you can count me for all your needs… what do you say?"
Harry stayed still as she leaned forward and pressed herself firmly against him, taking his hands and making his palms caress her naked sides. Her skin was indeed very soft to touch – a perfect contrast to the hideous witch that the Bellatrix from his previous timeline had been. That seemed like an entirely different life now. Her hands made him touch her all over her flat belly before she brought them up to rest under her tits, making his palm cup the underside of them. Her breathing was labored, but Harry remained still, letting her do as she pleased.
"You see how much I want you, Harry?" she whispered, making him touch her skin, her breath caressing his lips as her eyes closed. "Cissy might be out of reach, but her perfect substitute is right here. And let me tell you, I'll take it everywhere."
Harry's eyes were open and he saw Bellatrix pull away with the same smirk before she took his hand and slowly dragged it down until she had it under her skirt.
"Just say the word and you can touch me," she whispered, her other hand holding his right over her breast. "You can see how much I want you, Harry. You can feel it all. Just say the word."
Harry stayed silent, and Bellatrix smirked. Slowly, she dragged his hand out of her skirt and released her hold on both his hands. All the while, Harry simply stared at her.
"Good. I would've been very pissed if you'd accepted your defeat so easily," she said, and Harry was surprised to see how quickly her attitude did a complete 180. Where she had been nothing less than a seductive temptress a mere fifteen seconds ago, this was all businesslike. He watched as she buttoned up her shirt, hiding her bra-clad breasts from his view, and tapped her wand to her uniform, taking care of all the creases and leaving her looking as immaculate as a proper Slytherin princess.
"Listen up, Peverell," Bellatrix stated seriously. "I know you like Cissy, and you better believe she's head over heels for you as well. And I hate Lucy, as does Cissy. I don't want to see her trapped in a loveless marriage, or Merlin forbid, an abusive one. Both of us know what kind of marriage contract someone like Malfoy would draft, and Cissy would become nothing more than a notch on that ponce's bedpost with no rights to herself. She might not be physically abused but there would be no shortage of mental scars, and I'll die before I let it happen."
Harry continued to listen silently, flabbergasted at the sudden change in her demeanor. The Bellatrix from his previous timeline was nowhere as eloquent or expressive. This was… even nice.
"Now, you, Peverell, are someone I wholeheartedly approve of," Bellatrix continued with a smirk. "I've not known you for long, but I've already understood what kind of person you are. Someone who will keep Cissy happy. I don't care if you cast dark spells or you can kill someone or even if you use the Unforgivables. What I care about is how you feel about Cissy, and that is enough for me."
"Glad I have the sister's approval," he snorted, speaking for the first time since that… act of hers. He had to admit that he had truly fallen for it.
Bellatrix smirked.
"That you do, and it is my responsibility to do everything in my power to ensure it's you who pops Cissy's cherry and you who marries her. No one else."
"You are worse than Sirius," Harry muttered.
"That one takes after me," Bellatrix chuckled. "Lucky bastard managed to get himself away from the snake pit."
"You didn't want to be a Slytherin?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Nah. Both Cissy and I wanted to be 'Claws. No stupid politics or idiots around and total privacy. Alas, we are from the cadet branch and that hag Walburga would've thrown a hissy fit like she did with our idiot of a cousin if we'd been in any other house. Didn't seem worth the hassle," Bellatrix replied with a shrug.
Harry sighed. That Walburga again…
"Back to Cissy then," Bellatrix continued. "As you read in that letter, she has to act as a lady courting another pureblood, which means taking meals with the ponce, going on walks, holding hands, perhaps even an occasional kiss or two. But I'd die before letting that asshole even touch Cissy, let alone shove his tongue down her throat!"
Harry's eyes narrowed at the image.
"Yeah, keep accumulating that anger up and unleash it on bloody Lucy in one go," Bellatrix grinned, and despite himself, Harry chuckled.
"I assume you have a plan?" He asked, wondering what she had cooked up.
"There's a nifty little ritual we'll be conducting right now," Bellatrix informed him nonchalantly, and Harry stared at her, taken aback.
"A ritual? Here? Now?"
"You want to give Lucy the time to shove his tongue down Cissy's throat?"
Harry stared at her. He realized he was doing it a little too much.
"What do you want me to do?"
Bellatrix smirked and fished out two vials from her pockets.
"This one contains Cissy's hair. This one contains Lucy's hair," she said, holding up one after the other. "You are the only one that can do it."
Harry frowned and saw Bellatrix conjure a chalk. He watched as she drew the runic sequences on the floor before motioning for him to place the contents of the vials inside their respective circles. Harry followed her instructions and nodded once he was done.
"This is a Black family secret but I see no harm in telling you considering you'll eventually be marrying into the family anyway," Bellatrix remarked nonchalantly, making Harry chuckle. She pulled out a piece of parchment from the pocket of her skirt and handed it to him. Harry opened it curiously and he immediately recognized it from one of the tomes Arcturus had given him. He held back a snort as he remembered what it did.
It was created by an ancestor of the Blacks to prevent another man from trying to touch his wife. There was no significant harm to the man, but whenever he tried to touch his wife, he would suffer from a shock. Harry understood why it had to be him who had to perform this ritual. His genuine desire and adoration for Narcissa would fuel the ritual.
It worked only if the woman in question didn't want the other man to touch her as well, and the intensity of the shocks was directly proportional to how much the woman abhorred the man in question. Another perk of the ritual was that it didn't even let the man cry out in pain or react in any other way. He simply felt a shock and nothing else. Considering the scenario, it seemed perfect to Harry.
"As you've read already, Lucy will get a shock if he tries to touch Cissy. Much less than he deserves but it'll do for now," Bellatrix smirked.
Chuckling, Harry knelt on the floor and started channeling his magic into the runic sequence. He whispered the incantation and they smirked when the runes glowed before vanishing in a puff of smoke, burning the hairs.
"Now, as long as Cissy hates him, which is for life, Lucy will keep getting shocked into oblivion if he tries to touch her," Bellatrix smirked as Harry stood up and walked over to her.
"You are a wicked woman," Harry could not help but comment, and Bellatrix turned to smirk at him. He was surprised when she stepped forward and pressed herself against him once again, and this time, Harry could not stop himself from reacting to her curvaceous form pressed all over his front.
Bellatrix gently brushed her palms over his chest, pressing her breasts against his ribs as she stared deep into his eyes.
"I will never steal you away from Cissy," she whispered in an odd mixture of seriousness and sensuality, and Harry listened intently as he stared into her haunting eyes – a darker shade of ashes compared to Narcissa's. There was nothing maniacal about them. "But I will never leave you alone either."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, curious.
Bellatrix smirked. "You belong to Cissy, Harry. I have accepted it, and I will ensure it happens. But I belong to you. You and Cissy will have each other for good, but you'll have me too."
Surprised, Harry remained rooted on the spot as Bellatrix took his hand once again and made him palm her lace-clad ass under her skirt. The fabric felt oh so thin and soft under his skin and his eyes widened slightly when she pushed his finger under the lace. He could feel her heat.
She gave him a sensual grin and leaned upward, her breath ghosting his lips again.
"In your quest for your Cissy, don't forget your Bella," she whispered, and before Harry could react, she stepped away from him with a mischievous grin. "Just something to remember me by," she called out before looking down. A lecherous grin overtook her features.
"And get that fixed before you go to classes. I'd have helped you out but it's Cissy's turn first," she looked down meaningfully and turned around.
More than a little shocked, Harry could only stare at the woman who confused him more than any other as she walked out of the classroom with a purposeful sway of her hips.
"Fucking hell…"
-Break-
To say that his friends were surprised by his chipper attitude when he joined them for the classes was an understatement.
He had been livid when he had left them in the Great Hall and barely half an hour later he was sitting in his seat with a smile as he hummed a happy tune to himself. Frank was very much suspicious.
"Mate, you haven't snorted some of that Cheering powder, right?" He asked bluntly, making the Prewett twins widen their eyes in shock. Harry looked at him and patted his back in mirth.
"Everything's fine," he replied, grinning.
"He definitely snorted the Cheering powder," Fabian nodded and looked at his twin. "I told you to keep it in your trunk, you dolt!"
"But I finished snorting all of it last night after tryouts!" Gideon complained, earning a disbelieving look from both his twin and Frank. Harry simply chuckled.
Their little moment of idiocy ended soon as McGonagall entered the classroom.
"I am sure whatever you are talking about is really funny, but I would appreciate it if you four get it under control and refrain from interrupting the class," the Scotswoman said sternly.
"I must say you look in a perfectly instructive mood today, Professor, not to mention rather lovely," Harry greeted her with a smile. His friends and most of the students gave him disbelieving looks as McGonagall pursed her lips.
"It seems the company you keep has finally started to rub on you, Mr. Peverell. And here I thought you would meet the high expectations I had started forming of you," she replied.
"I'll ensure not to disappoint you, Professor," Harry replied, still smiling.
McGonagall snorted to herself as she started her lesson. As it went on, Harry could feel a certain blonde beauty giving him curious glances throughout. However, he expertly ignored those glances and continued to listen to the lecture with a smile plastered on his face. In reality though, he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and snog her senseless for all to see. He was sure at least one person would find it funny.
Bellatrix and he had their first proper interaction today, and he had been left flabbergasted at the end of it. Whatever he had expected of the young woman, that had not been it. She was a weirdo for sure, but he found her oddly endearing. Although she had tried to seduce him and even played her games on him to test his resolve, he found her a rather charming person. The only thing that confused him slightly was this… obsession she seemed to have with him.
Harry considered himself a pretty good judge of character, and Bellatrix had in no way been acting when she was trying to seduce him. Every quirk of her lips, every twitch of her eyes, every word that came out of her lips and every way her hand guided his all over her curvaceous frame was genuine. That sequence of events had solidified his belief that Bellatrix wanted him. She had even admitted to it explicitly in the end.
She loved her sister with all her heart. There was no doubt in his mind about that. And he knew she would do anything for her. But she was also fixated on him, and he firmly believed that she would stop at nothing in her quest to give herself to him.
And yet she had told him that she had no intention of stealing him from Narcissa. That small tidbit confused him. When he and Narcissa got together, how exactly did she plan on giving herself to him without taking him away from Narcissa? He didn't know, but he had to admit that he was surely looking forward to seeing her try.
Try as he might, he also could not help but look upon it with a favorable eye. Bellatrix had told him explicitly that she was his, that she belonged to him and no one else. That meant he already held a place in her heart that was above everyone else bar her sister, who she would never betray. That certainly gave him a significant degree of power over her. Power that he could perhaps use to prevent her from joining Voldemort's forces in the future. However, with that power came the responsibility to ensure that he didn't turn her away or make her feel as if he had abandoned her.
He knew perfectly how someone like Bellatrix could react if she felt that he didn't value her. The strength of her feelings for him could transform into an inferno of darkness that could destroy everything, and if it happened, Bellatrix could turn out to be one of his biggest foes. She was already delving into rituals, particularly those developed by the Blacks, and he knew some of the fucked-up rituals those assholes had come up with. He had read through the tomes, and he knew a few of those had the power to warp your mind completely, taking away every positive emotion you had and leaving you with nothing apart from malice. He truly believed now that Bellatrix had either undertaken or was subjected to one of those rituals in the past timeline which had taken away everything that made her such a charming, and dare he say, a tempting woman, and made her nothing more than a hideous maniac.
It was perhaps not ethical of him, and it was also perhaps an abuse of her trust, but if it enabled him to preserve her sanity, thereby saving her and preventing her from joining Voldemort, then he would do it without any hesitation whatsoever.
He wanted Narcissa to be his, just as he wanted to be hers. But if Bellatrix wanted to become his, he would wholeheartedly claim her as well, even though he felt nothing for her.
Only if Narcissa agreed though. He would never betray her.
-Break-
Narcissa was confused. She knew Harry would not like it when she had joined Malfoy for breakfast, and true to her prediction, he had been livid as he walked out of the Great Hall. She had never felt so much self-loathing as she had felt in that moment, and a part of her wanted nothing more than to just run into his arms and tell him how she felt about him.
Alas, her duty to her house demanded her to accept her father's command and she had to endure Malfoy and his group of thugs constantly badmouthing Harry, his friends, Aunt Dorea and her family, and the others. Her disgust had been apparent for all to see, but instead of behaving like decent humans and ceasing their poisonous drivel, those lowlives had instead taken it up a notch.
Narcissa had finally had enough when a few of them started to crudely say what they would do to muggleborns like Lily Evans if they got their hands on her. Her appetite died, and she had abruptly tried to stand up when Malfoy dared to put his hand on her.
However, she was surprised when he pulled his hand away abruptly before he could touch her as if he had been shocked. Confused, she stared at him only to find him glaring at her. His glare soon transformed into confusion when he saw her face, and Narcissa could not help but frown.
She didn't pay it any mind and promptly walked away without giving anyone a second glance.
She had not been looking forward to seeing Harry get upset, but she knew there was no way to avoid it. Thus, it had come as an immense surprise to her when Harry arrived at the Transfiguration class with no trace of ire or sadness in his demeanor. Instead, he was happier than she had ever seen him. He had even innocuously flirted with McGonagall, something that had left her in a disbelieving state. Throughout the class, she kept glancing at him, secretly hoping she could catch his eyes, but he didn't even look at her.
It hurt to see that he had already seemingly pushed her out of his mind as if she had never been there, and she was stuck in such a predicament that she couldn't even interact with him properly. She could indeed send him a letter or try to meet him in secret, but for what? They had not been lovers or anything remotely close. It wasn't as if Harry had ever said anything, and for that matter, neither had she.
There was a mutual attraction between them, and that had been it.
Yet, her twin's words from the previous night remained at the forefront of her mind.
'You're a coward, Cissy! With an attitude like that, you never deserved him!'
"Perhaps you were right, Bella," Narcissa whispered to herself. "Maybe I truly never deserved him. However, I hope you give him enough for both of us."
The sound of slow claps behind her made her abruptly turn around, and she came face to face with none other than her sister. Recoiling under that vehement glare, Narcissa stood rooted to the spot in silence.
TBC.
Check out patreon.com/TheBlackEarl for early access and more of my work. Chapter 33 of this fic is already posted over there.
Thanks for reading.