A/N: I'm working to finish HSS. Light in Oblivion has been removed, as I'm turning it into a novel. If you want to read my other novels, short story collections, etc., check out my Twitter (my username is MandiJourdan). I would love to connect with readers of my fics and introduce them to my original fiction, including a sci-fi novel I'm putting on as a play in a few months.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Narcissa sat at her sister's bedside. In her darkest nightmares, she'd never imagined what her life had now become. Her father was dead, her fiancé responsible for his murder. Abraxas was gone, as well, and Lucius seemed to be losing more of himself by the day. Andromeda lay pale and unconscious in a bed at St. Mungo's, and Bellatrix had been the catalyst.

Nothing can be simple. Nothing can be easy.

The Healers had only allowed in one person, and Narcissa knew Lucius and Seraphina awaited news down the hall. She would return to them eventually. Perhaps when Andromeda awoke, she would tell her to leave. In her sister's place, Narcissa had no idea what she would do. They had been so close to mending at least a portion of the brokenness between them. Andromeda had wanted to help, to lead the Ministry away from Lucius in their search for Cygnus's killer.

Narcissa let out a heavy sigh, trying to push some of the pain out of her body. She lowered her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Andi. I never wanted you to get hurt."

Several minutes that felt more like hours passed in silence, and then rapid footsteps drew her attention to the doorway. Ted paused on the threshold, his eyes wide and his hair tousled, as though he'd been running for a long while. He looked older than he should have. When his gaze landed on his wife, his eyes filled with tears.

"Ted, I can't begin to—"

"You can't, can you?"

His voice was hard, and at the sound of it, the rest of Narcissa's words died in her throat. Her eyes stung, and she fought back the tears that wanted to fall. She couldn't crumble now.

Ted moved forward and paused at Andromeda's side, laying his hand on her cheek and leaning close to press his lips to her forehead. They lingered there for several moments, and at last, Narcissa had to turn away from the sight in order to keep her tenuous grip on her emotions.

"Bellatrix?"

She nodded stiffly. "I'm sorry. Ted, I'm so sorry."

As the tears broke free at last, she looked up at him to find him watching her. The ire in his expression eased away, and he closed his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was softer.

"I don't think you understand all this, Narcissa. Not fully. If you did, you wouldn't be aligning yourself with the wrong side."

The words twisted her stomach, and she gripped the arms of the chair tightly.

"I don't have a choice," she breathed. "If it were her who—who served him, what would you do?"

They stared at one another in silence. Narcissa wondered whether he could truly answer her, could give her some escape route that she hadn't seen. Was there a way she could take Lucius and run, escape from the Dark Lord and everything he wanted her fiancé to become? Everything Bellatrix had already become?

Ted shook his head and settled into the vacant chair on Andromeda's other side.

"She wouldn't serve him," he said.

Narcissa stared at the white wall behind her brother-in-law. "No, I suppose she wouldn't."

The seconds ticked by until she could stand the quiet no longer. The question that had plagued her bubbled up within her at last, and she couldn't hold it inside.

"Is the baby all right?"

Ted inhaled and released the breath, his body rising and falling with the motion.

"Yes. By some miracle."

Narcissa choked on a sob and wiped the tears from her cheeks, allowing herself a small smile. She had feared the worst.

"It was close, Narcissa. Very close. That amount of blood…" Ted shook his head. "I saw the Healer on the way in. He says it's lucky 'the attacker' didn't know she was pregnant, or maybe the spell would've landed differently."

"She's out of control. I tried to talk her down. She wouldn't listen to a word."

"And she never will." Ted studied his wife's peaceful face and then returned his focus to Narcissa, and her heart missed a beat when she caught sight of the fire in his eyes. "I'm sorry. But I don't think it's within Andromeda's best interest or that of our daughter for any of you to remain in our lives any longer."

Narcissa opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come. She stared at Ted, willing him to understand that she had never wanted even a bit of this.

"Please," she managed at last, the word coming out barely formed through her tears.

He turned away from her, fixing his eyes on his wife.

"Leave us. Please."

Trembling, Narcissa pushed herself to her feet. She took a final look at her sister—damaged, yes, but alive, her child still alive—and turned for the door.

The moment she returned to the waiting room, she told Lucius and Seraphina that they needed to leave, and though they looked thoroughly confused, they didn't argue with her. Within minutes, they had returned the Manor, and Narcissa rushed for Lucius's room without pausing for so much as a backward glance.

She didn't register that he was following her until he caught her wrist just inside the bedroom doorway, and suddenly, the muffled shouts she'd half-processed made more sense.

"Cissy, look at me, please."

She turned to face him, and at the sight of the concern in his eyes—the love—she crumbled. She threw her arms around him as sobs wracked her body, and he held her so tightly she thought they both might break and shatter into pieces, and she thought that maybe that would be easier than this. Everything was falling away, leaving her. Everything but him.

She clung to his shirt until her knuckles went white. She wept against the white material, no care for the smudges of makeup she left behind. He kissed her hair, her cheeks, her lips. Mumbled reassurances and promises of love.

Narcissa cried until her face ached along with her lungs. She had no idea when she and Lucius had collapsed on the floor halfway into the room or how long they had been here.

"Ted said it's better if we're all out of her life," she muttered, still leaning against his chest. She felt him inhale.

"He's wrong," said Lucius quietly. "At least when it comes to you. I know how much you love her, Cissy."

"But that isn't enough, is it? I'm a danger to her simply by being here, being with you." She plowed onward quickly, not wanting him to misunderstand. "I'm never not going to be with you, Luc. Never."

She looked up, meeting the grey eyes she loved.

"I don't want you to be hurt," he said, and his voice cracked on the last word.

"I know. I know you don't."

She thought of the resentment that had been simmering within her ever since she'd lied to the Auror. The words had come to her so easily—the urge to protect Lucius over all else had consumed her, and a small part of her hated how reflexive it had been. She was willing to leave her life behind for him. She supposed it was more fear than resentment; what would she become, if she gave herself fully to this war and what she would have to do in order to survive it with her new family intact?

With a long, shaky breath, she forced her fears away and allowed herself to embrace the excitement lurking beneath them, no matter how hard it was to focus on while the pain of losing her sister still constricted her lungs. She wanted this life—she wanted life with Lucius, no matter the cost.

"As soon as I finish my last term," she began, "I want to marry you. I'm ready to be a Malfoy."

A smile crept onto his lips, and then they met hers. His fingertips skimmed her back, where his patronus lay beneath her dress.