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The first line appeared over Narcissa's heart while she was getting dressed for dinner in the spring after she'd turned five.
"Cissy, mother won't like that you've scratched yourself," Bella said. The nine year old continued to powder her nose, mimicking their eldest sister's movements in the mirror.
Narcissa looked down where the line started, peeking out of the opening in her blouse, rushing to move behind the paneling they all used to change, and pulling the fabric aside to look at it more closely. Her still slightly-chubby index finger traced the pink line for a few minutes until it disappeared, and she wondered how it had gotten there in the first place. From the light of the full moon outside of her window she could watch clearly as it faded away.
The second line appeared on her chest when she was nine, a long line starting from the base of her throat to wrap below her left arm, tracing over her ribs with a jagged trail. By the time the third came, Andromeda was the only one who saw it.
"Cissa," Andromeda said.
"Yes?"
Andromeda stayed silent, her fingers stilling while they laced up her younger sister's corset. Andromeda didn't let go of the laces and risk undoing ten minutes of work, but her eyes watched the progress of a line starting from Narcissa's scalp, moving down out of her hair and following the line of her spine, moving at the same pace as a bead of sweat, but much more sinister.
"I need to get mother." Her words and her actions didn't match up, and Andromeda continued to look at the pink line appearing from nowhere on her sister's skin, a few hours before she was to be properly presented to the man their parents had chosen for her.
The dark blue satin of her robes draped over a nearby chair was much easier to look at than the concern on her older sister's face. "It's fine, Andy."
"But, there's a scratch, it looks as though an invisible animal is tearing into you-"
Narcissa's head snapped up to peer over her shoulder using the mirror in front of her. Her spine stiffened, making the pink line that appeared moments before stand out white. "There's nothing there to worry about. Fix my hair so it covers the mark."
Andromeda swallowed at the mixture of pleading and stern expectation on her baby sister's face. She knew Ted was waiting for her on the other side of the Floo, the presenting ceremony the perfect time for her to slip away, and she didn't want to leave her last moments with Narcissa like this. Even as she warred with herself, the scar started to fade away, but she deftly twisted curls into the blonde waterfall before her to cover any lingering marks.
"Lucius isn't your soul mate, is he." She meant to phrase it as a question but it came out as a statement when the last syllable fell flat against her tongue.
"He's as good as," Narcissa replied. Her tone was much more gentle, and as soon as she could move without disturbing Andromeda's work on her undergarments and hair, she turned to embrace her. "Some feelings are meant to stay...subdued."
Andromeda didn't speak another word, just held on as tightly as she dared to her baby sister, reaffirming to herself exactly why she would be eloping away from this family tonight. There was no stopping Narcissa from performing her familial duty and pledging a future marriage to the Malfoy scion, but Andromeda wouldn't let her own hopes stay so caged.