HP • 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 ─ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐎𝐂

Bella

"Absurd!" She exploded in anger, throwing the newspaper into the fireplace.

Narcissa and Bellatrix, who were engrossed in a game of wizard's chess, jumped.

"What happened, little witch?" Bella asked.

"They... They're going after Muggle-borns!" Cassi muttered, agitated, pacing back and forth in the library.

Bellatrix frowned, not comprehending the gravity. "As it should be," she responded disdainfully, returning her attention to the chessboard.

"You're unbelievable!" Cassi huffed, exasperated. "They're wizards! They're just as much wizards as we are."

Bella abruptly stood up, approaching furiously. Narcissa also rose to intervene, but Bellatrix already had her hands around Cassi's neck, pressing her against the wall.

"Quiet! If he hears, you're dead! You and your mother, blood traitors," she growled with a threatening grip.

"Release her, Bella," Narcissa commanded firmly.

When Bellatrix let go of Cassi, she fell to the floor gasping, trying to catch her breath. Narcissa helped her up, concerned about the reddened mark on the young woman's neck.

"You can't show concern, you can't show weakness! If he... you can't get hurt!" Bella murmured, almost delirious, pacing around the room.

Cassi stared at her in astonishment and scoffed, "Hurt like you just did? Like they'll do to innocent children?"

Bellatrix turned, shocked, a hint of remorse crossing her eyes. But she didn't respond immediately.

Advancing a few steps, Bella stopped as Cassi retreated into Narcissa's arms. A flash of pain crossed Bellatrix's eyes, as if she had been struck.

"I apologize," she whispered softly before hastily leaving the library.

"What's wrong with her?" Cassiopeia huffed, exasperated. "Sometimes she's kind, then aggressive. Sometimes she seems like one of the smartest people I've ever talked to, and other times, completely insane! I just don't understand."

Narcissa sighed, pulling Cassi onto her lap in the armchair. "Bella... She's been through a lot," she began in a low voice, "Our childhood was far from easy, my love, and the constant torture she suffered from our father..."

Cassi held her breath. She remembered Sirius' words, when he shared details about Walburga and Cygnus' upbringing to explain why they were so cruel. How they grew up under dark shadows and learned to be as cruel as their parents, continuing the pattern with their own children. Childhood tears and Crucio screams echoed in her mind as Narcissa showed her, it felt like a nightmare.

"Bella used to shield us," Narcissa confessed in a melancholic tone, her eyes bringing forth painful memories. "She always tried to protect us from father's wrath. I was never the target of torture, I was his favorite daughter, he said I resembled my mother. The tortures usually came from her," she added wryly, holding a strand of silver-blonde hair.

As Narcissa spoke, Cassiopeia ran her fingers through the older woman's hair, always loving the mix of colors. But sometimes she pictured her in her completely blonde version like in the old photographs.

"Bella was our heroine, mine and Andromeda's. We wanted to be like her," Narcissa murmured, a sad smile curving her lips. "But then she saw something in him... the Dark Lord. She became obsessed. He treated her well, of course, all of them. He taught her dark magic and then... When we realized the truth, what he truly wanted... It was too late."

Cassi grasped the meaning. Her father seemed to have fallen into the same abyss. "But what now?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure," confessed Narcissa in a worried tone. "Bella has always been among the most loyal to him," she sighed. "But sometimes, I see the fear, the crack behind the madness. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of my sister, the one she used to be."