Narcissa Malfoy

Antonin, I'm sorry to have kept Hydra overnight. She was understandably distraught, so I gave her a sleeping potion, poor thing, and I hadn't the heart to ennervate her to come back to school in the wee hours.

You should both know, Bellatrix has utterly lost her mind. Barty, I'm quite afraid she means to harm Hydra. If you've any choice in the matter, I beg you to let her remain at school, where she has Tosha to look after her.

No, no, I know, not that she can't protect herself - but there's protecting oneself against a normal threat and protecting oneself against Bella. And currently Bella seems to be completely unbalanced. I'm not sure she's entirely in her right mind.

Please, do what you can to keep Hydra safe. I have already taken measures to protect myself and my mother but it's anyone's guess how long it will take before Bella's rage burns itself out.

My dearest girl,

Well, it seems it's been a trying week for you! You can imagine my surprise when I saw you announce the end of your attachment, after you fought so hard to obtain it.

I've been to see your parents - yes, both of them - and had their side of what happened. One can read between the lines, of course, but I rather suspect there is more to it, particularly as they were as surprised (though pleased) to see your news as I was.

I had hoped we might spend a few days together when you returned for the holidays but your mother apparently has different plans. Since I am not to be allowed to see you in private, and she cannot confiscate your journal while you are at school, I'm afraid we must communicate thus for the time being. (No, I am not certain she will do any such thing but you know your mother as well as I do and it is far from an impossibility.)

Hydra, I am certain that your heart must be breaking into splinters and I am so sorry to think of you in that sort of pain. It is the worst agony anyone can know, when love betrays us. It seems cruelly unfair that a hurt which has no physical basis can be so absolute but there is no power on earth so potent as love, and therefore no pain deeper than its ruin.

But I for one believe your decision is the most sensible you've taken since you began to fancy the young man so desperately. And while I am sure that it hurts now, perhaps more than any of the insults you have suffered before, I hope that in time, you will understand why you have made the best choice possible under the circumstances.

In all honesty, I was surprised most by your father's opinion on the matter. Oh, I heard that you violated his terms absolutely - yet I believed when he set them that even he knew they would never hold. I was sure your inseparable bond with him would win him over even in the face of your defiance - indeed, knowing your father, I would have thought him happy to see you showing a spark of belligerence, even if it was to him. But I'm afraid there we both misguessed him completely. Naturally he had his reasons .... Oh, and in a way, I suppose, he did indulge you one last time by not storming up and killing Mr Finch-Fletchley immediately.

Your mother, of course, sees the situation differently. She is far less worried about your reputation as a flirt than she is about your focus on your studies and your future. I am not sure she even noted your lover's name - except that your mother is, after all, your mother, and notes everything whether she lets on or not.

In either case, sweet child, you were very lucky to have escaped a worse calamity. Though surely you do not see it that way at present, and I wish, more than anything, that I could help you to heal. Alas, time and distance are the only things that can mend your ailment. (Though I trust a day together when you could pour your heart out in safety would not have gone amiss!)

You deserve every happiness, Hydra darling, and I pray that now you are past the first passion of youthful lust, you will eventually find a more lasting, deeper love, with one who is worthy of you. It was brave and quite mature of you to give him up, to accept what was inevitable and to look forward to a brighter future on the horizon, without someone like him to drag you down.

I know it seems impossible now, but you will be better and stronger in the long run for taking this step. I'm proud of you and in time, your parents will see that you've learned, perhaps not without heartache, but all the more deeply for that, what it is to grow up.

Your ever-caring,

Aunt Narcissa

Our holiday is shaping up to be quite the lovely intimate gathering!

Lucius has arranged for us all to take a sail this afternoon; in the meantime, we've been on some lovely long walks, the boys have gone flying, we've even managed to sun ourselves a bit while taking in some light reading.

(Though, speaking of reading, Mr Weasley, if you happen to be looking out for my husband's posts, he did mention that he must have left his date book on his blotter at the St James' house. It's been mislaid, at any rate. Now, I hardly think it worth your making the trip to confirm its whereabouts, but he was thinking about returning on Sunday night as he could not recall exactly where to start on Monday morning. If you remembered and could let him know, his wife would be most grateful for the extra time.)

There's a quaint little pub near the end of the quay in the village, where they serve a peculiar morning fry-up. I think Raz has been there every morning since our first; we intend to lunch there before our sail.

I'm so glad that we're joined this morning by my sister and her family, as well. It's astonishing how little we see of them, considering how easy it would be. I think Mother and Pascoal may join us for supper, though not overnight, since these family gatherings are increasingly reserved for Christmas and the like. I truly appreciate having the whole lot of us to enjoy each other's company.

And I suppose you've been lying to me, as well.

How long have you known? Is that your secret mission, then? Finding where he's hidden himself?

Well, we've done that for you, if you're still looking. Not that it will do you much good, now.

Oh, I could murder us all for not keeping a closer eye on Grimmauld Place! I'd given it up for lost - but any of you could have changed that with a word. A single word. If only we'd been ten minutes earlier.

Just so you know, Barty, next time you and Bella and Lucius have a very great secret, kindly do not try to protect me from it 'for my own good.' That sort of nonsense only gets us into the sort of fix we're in now.

And now it is lost, at least for the time being. Though I hope not for long.