Chapter Text
Narcissa Black was fuming.
She felt her hair with a tender hand. Her lower lip trembled in fury. She looked at herself in the mirror, but the sight became foggy as tears threatened to escape. She sniffed and blinked furiously, keeping the tears at bay. It wouldn't do well to have a breakdown now. It would only ruin her further.
She took a strand of hair in between her fingers and gently rubbed them together.
It was all wrong! The texture, the length, the colour—everything!
Her face twisted in a grimace, one that was a mixture of rage and anguish. It was unbecoming of her and she hated that she couldn't stop herself. She should have been able to control her emotions better, but alas, she did not.
One last look in the mirror confirmed her worst fears. The wig was hideous.
With a swish of her wand, the mirror was cracked.
There... She would not have to look at the horrible image anymore, which had become as deformed and twisted as she felt on the inside. She sighed, resigned to her fate. It would take weeks to regrow her hair to perfection, even with the help of hair-regrowing potions and spells. Those were weeks that she didn't have! She would be the target of everyone's ridicule.
Damn her sister. Damn her to eternal damnation in Hell. Why did she always have to ruin everything?
Narcissa had been placed in the current pickle by her sister, Bellatrix Black.
She should have known better. She should have recognised the evil glint in her sister's eyes. She should never have told Bellatrix that she intended to attend Slughorn's party with Lucius Malfoy!
The humiliation she felt was incomparable.
Her piercing screech alerted her friends to her misery. Their worried voices drifted through to her, asking if she was fine. Narcissa had been too petrified to respond at first, simply locking them out of the bathroom. After calming herself, she asked them to fetch Andromeda for her.
"Cissy, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice laced with worry. The sound of her sister had a calming effect and she managed to stop sobbing.
Reluctantly, she unlocked her door.
Andromeda stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She approached Narcissa slowly, as one would an injured animal.
"Oh, Merlin's beard," she gasped. "What happened?"
The brunette carefully sat down beside her on the wet floor. Narcissa sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, with her head hanging low.
"I don't know," she sniffed.
The tears threatened to return in full force. Her eyes were probably red and she could not imagine she looked anything but a mess. She would never have let anyone else see her this vulnerable—other than her mother. To be anything less than perfection was an unforgivable sin in their family's eyes. She, for one, happened to agree. It was the least she could do, but now she had failed. Andromeda was a safe haven in their cruel world—she didn't expect Narcissa to meet such standards. Andromeda's only fault was that she was terrible at consoling people, but at least she tried. Narcissa would have preferred Druella, but she couldn't exactly ask her mother to come to her aid at Hogwarts, could she?
Andromeda gingerly pulled up a lock of hair from the floor, inspecting it. "How could this have happened?"
"That," Narcissa said venomously and pointed at her shampoo. She glowered at the perpetrator.
The older girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Hair removal?"
The memory made Narcissa shudder violently.
Eventually they had come to the conclusion that someone had tampered with her shampoo, with the intention of sabotaging her. Andromeda had been able to help out by transfiguring a wig for her—it had been horrible, but beggars can't be choosers—and shielded her from sight. The hooded robe had done most of the heavy-lifting on that, but she was grateful nonetheless. However, it was only a temporary solution.
Narcissa had written a letter for their mother immediately, explaining the situation. Druella had been able to send her a much better wig, but most importantly; instructions on how to use the hair-regrowth spell. It would expedite the process, but took far longer than Narcissa wished. It would not grow back by the time of Slughorn's party, that was for certain.
She considered going to members of the faculty for help, but it felt quite stupid to do so. She didn't want anyone to know. Besides, they had better things to do than worry about a bald student and her issues.
When she had confided her hardships and suffering to her eldest sister, that had been the moment she had realised the truth. From then, she had sworn she would get her vengeance, if it was the last thing she ever did.
Bellatrix' eyes landed on her and she immediately started cackling hysterically. It was a good thing that Narcissa had found a private room for just the three sisters; public squabbles were so déclassé.
Her nostrils flared in annoyance.
The older girl attempted to rip off the wig, but Narcissa expertly dodged her. After having lived fourteen years with her, she knew all of Bellatrix' tricks.
"Don't you dare!"
"Aw, is Cissy bald?"
Narcissa's cheeks flushed in anger—she knew it would be splotchy and unflattering. She had had a terrible day thus far, having to hide her hair away from everyone. She felt like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and her sister's mocking words were not helping. The frustrations bubbled up. No one could get under her skin quite like Bellatrix. She could be a professional annoyance.
"Was this you?" Narcissa hissed, ready to strike down her sister. Her fingers gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles were completely white.
Bellatrix shrugged carelessly, not even bothering to attempt a lie, in a 'what are you going to do about it?' manner. She was infuriating.
The growl that escaped Narcissa was inhuman—quite unlike herself. Bella simply arched an eyebrow and cocked her head. It only served to amuse her. Andromeda sighed, exasperated at their older sister's antics. Narcissa's entire body bristled in anger, and she could not contain it anymore.
She roared and tackled Bellatrix to the ground, who yelped at the unexpected action. They fell back and the thump as Bellatrix' skull hit the floor could not have been more satisfying.
They tussled on the floor for a few seconds, until Andromeda pulled them apart.
"Stop it!"
They all breathed heavily.
"Bella, apologise!"
The girl turned her nose up at them. She was the most stubborn of them by far. She would never yield—but neither would Narcissa.
"It's just some harmless fun, Andi. Cissy needs to get over herself."
"It was not harmless!" Narcissa snarled. "You did this to ruin my life!"
"Oh, stop being so dramatic," she sneered. "It will grow back."
Narcissa tried to slap Bellatrix, but was still being held at bay.
"You did this so that Lucius won't go to the ball with me! You're so jealous and spiteful. If he sees how hideous I've become, then he'll go with someone else, he won't fall in love with me, we won't get married, I won't become the future Mrs Malfoy, and we won't have beautiful, angelic babies!" she shrieked, gasping to regain her breath.
Her sisters stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head.
"Narcissa, you don't need Lucius," Bellatrix scoffed, scornfully. "You don't need anyone but yourself to be happy."
"For once, Bella is right," Andromeda added. "You do not have to marry Lucius. You can choose for yourself."
She was clearly under the impression that Narcissa felt pressure to court and marry Malfoy since that was what their mother wanted.
Trust her sisters to miss the point entirely.
"I know that I don't need anyone else. But I want him. Lucius Malfoy is the only one I want. And if I do not get my happy ending then life will not be worth living." She crossed her arms, petulantly, continuing to glare at her eldest sister.
"Stop being such a ninny, Cissy," Bellatrix rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "If Lucius doesn't want to go with you, I will make sure he regrets that decision."
True to her word, Lucius had graciously extended an invitation for Narcissa to go to the ball with him, without a fuss. Still, she was not one to forgive and forget. The anger had been simmering for days as she laid out her plan for how to get back at her oldest sister.
Above all, Bellatrix enjoyed her reputation as a hardened and fearless duelist; she would not handle mockery well. If Narcissa could put a chink in that, then it might be a worthy payback.
A potential idea had occurred to her rather quickly, but it was the logistics of it that were difficult. She had to pull some strings and exert all her influence, but in the end it worked out. She made sure to pick a moment in which only Bellatrix would be victim of her prank, yet ensuring they had an audience.
Narcissa took her seat in the corner of the common room—close by the dormitories. She pretended to read her Defence Against the Dark Arts book, but made sure to keep her ears perked up.
Any second now...
Being well-versed in her routines, Narcissa knew the older girl would want to shed her school uniform the second she finished her prefect duties. She also knew that Bellatrix had her own cupboard that only she could access—or so Bellatrix thought, at least.
As expected, Bellatrix and a few others sauntered in a couple minutes later, having just finished a prefects' meeting. Not expected was Professor Slughorn accompanying them. That threw a spanner in the works. Hopefully, he would not stay for long.
Narcissa bit her lips and dared to take a discreet peek at her sister as she passed, walking into her dormitory. It was a bit too late to go back now. The ball was already rolling.
She counted the seconds in her mind.
A shriek rang throughout the dungeon. Bellatrix burst out of her room, quickly followed by a gigantic spider—an Acromantula.
Everyone's heads turned in the direction of the sound. Expressions of awe and horror littered the crowd. Screams sounded. Professor Slughorn's eyes bulged. He looked about to say something, but no sound came out.
A clicking sound could be heard from the beast's pincers. It advanced on Bellatrix, who was slowly backing away from it, pointing her wand at it threateningly. Its eight eyes followed her movement, glistening in predatory malevolence. All around students fled in the opposite direction. Others were frozen in shock. They should not have bothered; the beast's singular focus was on the elder Black girl.
"Incendio!"
Fire erupted from the tip of her wand and encased the large, hairy beast. Bellatrix' spell was so bright and powerful that for a second it blinded them all in the dark dungeon. The heat could be felt even at a distance. People gave her hopeful glances. Then the Acromantula stormed forwards, shrugging off the jet of flames.
There was a hissing sound and Bellatrix flung herself to the side, expertly dodging the glob of poison being hurled at her.
By now, some of the Slytherins seemed to have gathered their wits and they hesitantly joined the battle. The beast paid them no mind. All their spells either ricocheted or seemingly did no damage. There was a reason Acromantulas were considered so dangerous—on the same level as a dragon—it was an immensely strong and tenacious beast, despite its smaller size.
However, despite doing no damage, the attacks did manage to slow it down. It gave Bellatrix a moment to breathe. Her own eyes were wide and panicked—and disbelieving.
How could it get into the castle?! And into her cupboard no less!
A thought occurred to her—
—But before she could continue that train of thought, she had to dodge a swipe from one of its long legs. She sprinted further away, trying to get out of its reach, and somersaulted over a table.
Behind her, she could hear the cracking sound of wood splintering.
The spider was right on her heels.
She abruptly spun around and found herself face-to-face with a sight that could give anyone nightmares for days. Her wand almost touched it.
"Riddikulus!" she yelled, a hint of desperation in her voice.
The beast stopped up, twitching strangely. The limbs became erratic, as if it could no longer control itself.
Bellatrix took a deep breath through her mouth.
Suddenly the hairy limbs became smooth, the colour paled, and it shrunk drastically.
In its stead now stood a small goblin; a child. It was dressed in filthy rags, similar to a house-elf.
Narcissa had fully put away her book, watching the spectacle. She pursed her lips.
Bellatrix stared at the creature for a long moment, transfixed. Everyone else gaped. Then her lips twitched uncontrollably. She let out a hearty laugh, holding her sides.
The creature trembled, trying to get away from her, but it was too late. It popped out of existence.
The common room was deathly quiet, only sounds audible were the laboured breaths of those who fought. Someone started crying further away.
Narcissa looked at her sister, disappointed. That had gone over much quicker than she hoped. Her sister had made the realisation much quicker than she should have; it was not truly a dangerous beast.
Of course, Narcissa would not sneak an actual Acromantula into the castle—she wasn't a lunatic—not that it would be remotely possible to do so either. The spiders were gigantic and hostile. However, Boggarts weren't particularly unusual and it had not been difficult to smuggle one in. Especially since they could fit into any container in their true form.
While she could not have known what Bellatrix' greatest fear was, it had not been an unreasonable assumption that it would be one of the deadliest hunters in their world.
Slowly, someone started clapping.
Soon, everyone else followed. Applause rang throughout the dungeon. Bellatrix gave a self-satisfied bow to her standing ovation.
"Miss Black, that was truly magnificent!" Professor Slughorn gleamed, amazement in his voice. "Such quick thinking and skillful handling of the situation... Fifty points to Slytherin!"
Bellatrix turned to look at her professor and gave him a smug smile.
"Thank you, Professor."
The man hummed in satisfaction, then seemed to notice the damage done to the common room as he glanced about. In the chaos that had occurred during the "attack", furniture had been overturned and damaged by spells.
"And someone clean up the common room," he harrumphed, before turning to walk elsewhere, no doubt on his way to report the incident to the headmaster.
As the dust settled, Bellatrix spotted Narcissa and walked over to her. She plopped down in the nearby chair and watched lazily as others began cleaning up the mess. A strand of hair fell into her face and she blew it out of the way.
"Are you alright?" she asked, inspecting her nails.
Narcissa simply glared straight forward into the middle distance, not bothering to answer her sister. Sensing the bad mood—and seeing the younger's frumpy expression—Bellatrix sighed.
"What's the matter?"
"...Nothing."
It was not very convincing.
Bellatrix frowned, not understanding the reaction. She side-eyed her little sister. As her gaze landed on the blonde hair—"blonde hair"—she was hit with an epiphany.
"Wait... you didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Her eyes narrowed.
A low, almost imperceptible, grumble could be heard.
Bellatrix' face slowly stretched into a grin, then into a smirk. "Well, thank you for your help. Fifty points to little old me, for recognising a Boggart."
The eldest girl cackled loudly as her little sister flipped her off.