Day 29 - Trust Exercise
Title: Trust Exercise
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: Harry Potter
Disclaimer: No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: If Narcissa and Andromeda are going to train Faith together, first they have to learn how to work as allies. (Step 1: Allies don't fight each other.)
Word Count: 1540
Author's Note: Another one in the Her Mother's Daughter 'verse. I don't know why I'm all out of order on this one. Just as well I'm not cross-posting to TtH until after Fic A Day is over!
After Shacklebolt had ushered them from his office with a polite request to keep him informed of their progress with their niece, Narcissa found Andromeda looking at her thoughtfully.
“I suppose we ought to talk,” she said.
“Parlor at the Cauldron?” Andromeda suggested.
“Too public,” Narcissa said. Seeing her sister start to bristle, she added, “I’m not a snob, just practical. Do you really want to have that awful Skeeter woman writing about you in tomorrow’s gossip columns?”
Andromeda’s moue of distaste said more eloquently than words could what she thought of Rita Skeeter, who had unfortunately returned to both the Daily Prophet and prominence in the wake of Voldemort’s downfall.
“The Manor?” Narcissa suggested hopefully. Andromeda had never been to her home, and Lucius wouldn’t dare be unpleasant to family. Not if he knew what was good for him. She was disappointed that Andi shook her head.
“I need to be someplace Harry can find me if there’s an emergency,” she explained. “He has the baby.”
The baby. Andromeda was a grandmother now, wasn’t that an odd thought? A baby who already was showing formidable natural talent, a Metamorphmagus.
Andromeda paused long enough for Narcissa to rack her brains over where they could meet. If they were still close like they had been before Andi had decided that a Muggle was more to her than her entire family put together, she would have suggested they go to Andi’s house. But they were not close and it was not her place to invite herself where she might not be welcome.
“I suppose you’d better come to mine,” Andromeda sighed. “Only remember when you do, there’s no house elves to do the cleaning and cooking. It’s just me.”
Narcissa nodded, wide-eyed at the idea of her older sister doing housework, and followed Andromeda to the Floo station.
They emerged from the Floo into a well-kept sitting room. House elves or not, no one could fault Andi’s housekeeping. The only thing that seemed off was the empty walls. Narcissa made herself not gawk like a callow teenager. She had no idea how Muggleborns managed their households, but it must be somewhat different than purebloods. So far, though, everything looked perfectly normal.
Andromeda, rather than remain in the sitting room, led the way through to a tidy kitchen.
“Tea seems rather unnecessary, but I recall you being quite fond of lemon bars,” she said, waving her wand in the direction of the pantry. A platter of the aforementioned treat came floating out to settle on the table as Andromeda got plates and napkins down from a cabinet.
“You still remember that?” Narcissa asked, surprised.
“How could I forget?” Andromeda replied wryly.
“You left, Andi,” Narcissa shot back. “You left us and I never heard from you again.”
“And if I’d written, you’d have answered?” Andromeda retorted, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Enough, Narcissa. I’m sure there will be time to re-fight the old battles later. Right now, we have a niece running around untrained in Bella’s house- hardly a recipe for continued health and sanity, I’d say.”
“The Ministry was supposed to be…” Narcissa fumbled for the appropriate word to describe what exactly she’d been informed the Aurors were doing.
“De-Bella-fying it?” Andromeda suggested.
Narcissa admitted to herself with a sigh that was probably the most tactful way to phrase it.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she sniffed. “It’s safe for human habitation now.”
“So they say,” Andromeda said, her tone suggesting she didn’t believe it.
“You doubt the Ministry’s competence?” Narcissa asked sweetly.
“There were three people sent to St. Mungo’s while the Aurors were there, Cissa,” Andromeda replied tartly. “I’ll reserve judgment until I hear they’ve gone at least a week without any further incidents before I’ll allow that they may have found everything.”
“Probably sensible,” Narcissa admitted. “Bella was… even worse after Azkaban.”
“Worse?” Andromeda asked in disbelief. “I don’t think that was possible.”
“You didn’t see her,” Narcissa said sadly.
“No, I saw her before,” Andromeda snapped. “And was damn lucky not to end up in the ward with the Longbottoms. So you’ll have to forgive me, Cissa, if I don’t think Azkaban did a damn thing to Bella except remove whatever it was that kept her from opening up on the rest of you.”
Narcissa sighed.
“I didn’t come her for a fight, Andi,” she sighed.
“No, but it’s probably better if we clear the air before we visit the Grange, don’t you think?” her sister replied grimly. “We’re supposed to work together. Fighting in front of the children is always a recipe for trouble.”
“Especially when these children have no reason to trust us,” Narcissa murmured absently. “Does she even know who we are?”
Andromeda shrugged, waving her wand at the kettle. Tea did soothe the nerves.
“We were at the reading of her parents will, so she must have realized we were family.”
“Yet she has not contacted us,” Narcissa pointed out.
“Would you contact us if you were in her place, Cissa?” Andromeda asked wryly.
Narcissa paused, considering it.
“No, I suppose not,” she admitted. “I would want to know much more about us before I did, and I’d want the contact to be on my terms.”
Andromeda paused to pour tea as both Black sisters considered how best to tackle the problem.
“It would be best to involve the children,” Narcissa suggested. “They are closer in age and would be able to demonstrate technique without being seen as condescending. And from the Minister's comments, they already have a rapport with Harry.”
“Wonderful,” Andromeda agreed. “Except for the slight detail that Harry and Draco get along like cats and dogs. You and I are going to have trouble enough keeping our cool with each other without needing to worry about trying to restrain a pair of barely overage wizards who have detested each other since the Hogwarts Express.”
“Times change,” Narcissa pointed out. “Draco will change with them.”
Andromeda blinked.
“Merlin’s beard, Cissa, change is one thing, but asking him to do a complete about face on a wizard he’s spent years trying to cause trouble for? Sirius couldn’t leave off goading Severus for five minutes, and they were both adults.”
Narcissa conceded the point with a frown.
“Very well. We won’t bring the boys today.”
“You intend to go today?” Andromeda spluttered, nearly spitting her tea out.
“Of course,” Narcissa replied, as if it should be perfectly obvious. “The Ministry still leaks like a sieve. If we delay too long, our niece will hear from others what we have been charged to do. If she does not like what has been decreed, she can easily make it more difficult.”
“How?” Andromeda demanded. “She’s not trained.”
“I seem to recall Rupert Giles accompanying her to the reading of the will,” Narcissa pointed out. “If he isn’t up to the task himself, I’m sure he can scare up a wizard or witch capable of altering some of the security measures on the house. Removing us from the exceptions in the Unplottable charm, for example.”
“I’m in the exceptions?” Andromeda asked, startled.
“Bella hadn’t lost hope you would come to your senses,” Narcissa explained. “And she was certain that until you did, you wouldn’t call.”
Andromeda snorted. Trust Narcissa to act as if she and Bellatrix hadn’t both been hexing to kill in their last face to face encounter.
“So your plan is to go there right now, unannounced.”
“Not unannounced!” Narcissa protested, sounding appalled.
“Oh, there she is,” Andromeda drawled in a deliberately overdone show of relief.
“Who?” Narcissa demanded grumpily.
“My proper society sister, who would never commit such a gross breach of manners,” Andromeda replied acidly.
“We will be calling on Faith today,” Narcissa announced loftily, “but that is no reason not to follow proper etiquette.”
“Darkwing!” Andromeda called.
“What on magical Earth-“ was as far as Narcissa got before the owl settled onto his perch by the sink.
“Darkwing?” Narcissa repeated, looking at the not at all dark colored owl.
“Nymphadora picked the name. It was some Muggle cartoon she had seen at a classmate’s house over summer hols one year,” Andromeda clarified, as she wrote the necessary note on a bit of parchment.
Folding it up, she scrawled the specific address on the outside and attached it to the owl.
“Darkwing, you are to take this to Faith Lestrange, who currently calls herself Faith Lehane, at the Grange. You will give it to Faith, and most particularly not to anyone underage.”
The owl hooted once, and then flew off.
“How long do we give Darkwing before we go?” Andromeda asked.
Narcissa shrugged.
“Until evening, I should think. That gives the owl time to arrive, and Fidelia time to decide how she wishes to react. It also gives us time to get you looking somewhat more presentable.”
Andromeda gave her little sister a look that would have once sent her scurrying for Mummy. This time, Narcissa only snorted.
“You’re well enough for people who don’t know you, but to anyone who has some idea what you ought to look like, you’re hell warmed over. You don’t want to go to the Manor, fine, but I’m summoning one of my elves. Tansy’s a genius at reworking robes to fit properly. And an hour or two of an elf fussing over you might just do you some good.”
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: Harry Potter
Disclaimer: No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: If Narcissa and Andromeda are going to train Faith together, first they have to learn how to work as allies. (Step 1: Allies don't fight each other.)
Word Count: 1540
Author's Note: Another one in the Her Mother's Daughter 'verse. I don't know why I'm all out of order on this one. Just as well I'm not cross-posting to TtH until after Fic A Day is over!
After Shacklebolt had ushered them from his office with a polite request to keep him informed of their progress with their niece, Narcissa found Andromeda looking at her thoughtfully.
“I suppose we ought to talk,” she said.
“Parlor at the Cauldron?” Andromeda suggested.
“Too public,” Narcissa said. Seeing her sister start to bristle, she added, “I’m not a snob, just practical. Do you really want to have that awful Skeeter woman writing about you in tomorrow’s gossip columns?”
Andromeda’s moue of distaste said more eloquently than words could what she thought of Rita Skeeter, who had unfortunately returned to both the Daily Prophet and prominence in the wake of Voldemort’s downfall.
“The Manor?” Narcissa suggested hopefully. Andromeda had never been to her home, and Lucius wouldn’t dare be unpleasant to family. Not if he knew what was good for him. She was disappointed that Andi shook her head.
“I need to be someplace Harry can find me if there’s an emergency,” she explained. “He has the baby.”
The baby. Andromeda was a grandmother now, wasn’t that an odd thought? A baby who already was showing formidable natural talent, a Metamorphmagus.
Andromeda paused long enough for Narcissa to rack her brains over where they could meet. If they were still close like they had been before Andi had decided that a Muggle was more to her than her entire family put together, she would have suggested they go to Andi’s house. But they were not close and it was not her place to invite herself where she might not be welcome.
“I suppose you’d better come to mine,” Andromeda sighed. “Only remember when you do, there’s no house elves to do the cleaning and cooking. It’s just me.”
Narcissa nodded, wide-eyed at the idea of her older sister doing housework, and followed Andromeda to the Floo station.
They emerged from the Floo into a well-kept sitting room. House elves or not, no one could fault Andi’s housekeeping. The only thing that seemed off was the empty walls. Narcissa made herself not gawk like a callow teenager. She had no idea how Muggleborns managed their households, but it must be somewhat different than purebloods. So far, though, everything looked perfectly normal.
Andromeda, rather than remain in the sitting room, led the way through to a tidy kitchen.
“Tea seems rather unnecessary, but I recall you being quite fond of lemon bars,” she said, waving her wand in the direction of the pantry. A platter of the aforementioned treat came floating out to settle on the table as Andromeda got plates and napkins down from a cabinet.
“You still remember that?” Narcissa asked, surprised.
“How could I forget?” Andromeda replied wryly.
“You left, Andi,” Narcissa shot back. “You left us and I never heard from you again.”
“And if I’d written, you’d have answered?” Andromeda retorted, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Enough, Narcissa. I’m sure there will be time to re-fight the old battles later. Right now, we have a niece running around untrained in Bella’s house- hardly a recipe for continued health and sanity, I’d say.”
“The Ministry was supposed to be…” Narcissa fumbled for the appropriate word to describe what exactly she’d been informed the Aurors were doing.
“De-Bella-fying it?” Andromeda suggested.
Narcissa admitted to herself with a sigh that was probably the most tactful way to phrase it.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she sniffed. “It’s safe for human habitation now.”
“So they say,” Andromeda said, her tone suggesting she didn’t believe it.
“You doubt the Ministry’s competence?” Narcissa asked sweetly.
“There were three people sent to St. Mungo’s while the Aurors were there, Cissa,” Andromeda replied tartly. “I’ll reserve judgment until I hear they’ve gone at least a week without any further incidents before I’ll allow that they may have found everything.”
“Probably sensible,” Narcissa admitted. “Bella was… even worse after Azkaban.”
“Worse?” Andromeda asked in disbelief. “I don’t think that was possible.”
“You didn’t see her,” Narcissa said sadly.
“No, I saw her before,” Andromeda snapped. “And was damn lucky not to end up in the ward with the Longbottoms. So you’ll have to forgive me, Cissa, if I don’t think Azkaban did a damn thing to Bella except remove whatever it was that kept her from opening up on the rest of you.”
Narcissa sighed.
“I didn’t come her for a fight, Andi,” she sighed.
“No, but it’s probably better if we clear the air before we visit the Grange, don’t you think?” her sister replied grimly. “We’re supposed to work together. Fighting in front of the children is always a recipe for trouble.”
“Especially when these children have no reason to trust us,” Narcissa murmured absently. “Does she even know who we are?”
Andromeda shrugged, waving her wand at the kettle. Tea did soothe the nerves.
“We were at the reading of her parents will, so she must have realized we were family.”
“Yet she has not contacted us,” Narcissa pointed out.
“Would you contact us if you were in her place, Cissa?” Andromeda asked wryly.
Narcissa paused, considering it.
“No, I suppose not,” she admitted. “I would want to know much more about us before I did, and I’d want the contact to be on my terms.”
Andromeda paused to pour tea as both Black sisters considered how best to tackle the problem.
“It would be best to involve the children,” Narcissa suggested. “They are closer in age and would be able to demonstrate technique without being seen as condescending. And from the Minister's comments, they already have a rapport with Harry.”
“Wonderful,” Andromeda agreed. “Except for the slight detail that Harry and Draco get along like cats and dogs. You and I are going to have trouble enough keeping our cool with each other without needing to worry about trying to restrain a pair of barely overage wizards who have detested each other since the Hogwarts Express.”
“Times change,” Narcissa pointed out. “Draco will change with them.”
Andromeda blinked.
“Merlin’s beard, Cissa, change is one thing, but asking him to do a complete about face on a wizard he’s spent years trying to cause trouble for? Sirius couldn’t leave off goading Severus for five minutes, and they were both adults.”
Narcissa conceded the point with a frown.
“Very well. We won’t bring the boys today.”
“You intend to go today?” Andromeda spluttered, nearly spitting her tea out.
“Of course,” Narcissa replied, as if it should be perfectly obvious. “The Ministry still leaks like a sieve. If we delay too long, our niece will hear from others what we have been charged to do. If she does not like what has been decreed, she can easily make it more difficult.”
“How?” Andromeda demanded. “She’s not trained.”
“I seem to recall Rupert Giles accompanying her to the reading of the will,” Narcissa pointed out. “If he isn’t up to the task himself, I’m sure he can scare up a wizard or witch capable of altering some of the security measures on the house. Removing us from the exceptions in the Unplottable charm, for example.”
“I’m in the exceptions?” Andromeda asked, startled.
“Bella hadn’t lost hope you would come to your senses,” Narcissa explained. “And she was certain that until you did, you wouldn’t call.”
Andromeda snorted. Trust Narcissa to act as if she and Bellatrix hadn’t both been hexing to kill in their last face to face encounter.
“So your plan is to go there right now, unannounced.”
“Not unannounced!” Narcissa protested, sounding appalled.
“Oh, there she is,” Andromeda drawled in a deliberately overdone show of relief.
“Who?” Narcissa demanded grumpily.
“My proper society sister, who would never commit such a gross breach of manners,” Andromeda replied acidly.
“We will be calling on Faith today,” Narcissa announced loftily, “but that is no reason not to follow proper etiquette.”
“Darkwing!” Andromeda called.
“What on magical Earth-“ was as far as Narcissa got before the owl settled onto his perch by the sink.
“Darkwing?” Narcissa repeated, looking at the not at all dark colored owl.
“Nymphadora picked the name. It was some Muggle cartoon she had seen at a classmate’s house over summer hols one year,” Andromeda clarified, as she wrote the necessary note on a bit of parchment.
Folding it up, she scrawled the specific address on the outside and attached it to the owl.
“Darkwing, you are to take this to Faith Lestrange, who currently calls herself Faith Lehane, at the Grange. You will give it to Faith, and most particularly not to anyone underage.”
The owl hooted once, and then flew off.
“How long do we give Darkwing before we go?” Andromeda asked.
Narcissa shrugged.
“Until evening, I should think. That gives the owl time to arrive, and Fidelia time to decide how she wishes to react. It also gives us time to get you looking somewhat more presentable.”
Andromeda gave her little sister a look that would have once sent her scurrying for Mummy. This time, Narcissa only snorted.
“You’re well enough for people who don’t know you, but to anyone who has some idea what you ought to look like, you’re hell warmed over. You don’t want to go to the Manor, fine, but I’m summoning one of my elves. Tansy’s a genius at reworking robes to fit properly. And an hour or two of an elf fussing over you might just do you some good.”