Bellatrix Black glanced at the clock on her bedroom wall that marked the time as twenty five past eleven in the morning. She smiled, knowing that she had an hour remaining to get herself ready. After slipping the small red string of velvet attached to the spine of her current read between its pages, she rose from her bed and walked over to her dresser, putting on a fresh coat of lipstick.
She was thankful for the peace and quiet. Having the entire top floor of the house to herself had been the best gift her parents could have given her. It meant that they trusted her, allowing her such privacy. It meant that they were right where she wanted them to be.
The sounds of people talking and drumming footsteps, like people running, drew her attention from outside of her bedroom door. She frowned, immediately putting down her lipstick before heading downstairs to investigate the sudden commotion, as the only other people in the house were her mother and sisters, none of whom frequently ran around the house. In locating the source of the noise, she found her aunt Walburga chatting to her mother in one of the lounges.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, stopping in the centre of the room.
"Manners Bellatrix," her mother scolded, shooting her a cold warning glance from the couch where the two older women sat. Bellatrix fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Sorry mother," she said quietly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to detect the lack of sincerity, before meeting the eyes of her aunt. "Good morning aunt Walburga. Why are you here?"
"I'm taking your mother shopping," said Walburga, her voice strong and stern where most women of her status spoke in dainty tones laced with sugar. "She said that you and your sisters would look after the boys."
"Well this is short notice," said Bellatrix, her jaw tightening as anger and surprise burst through her chest.
"Don't worry darling, it won't affect our dinner plans," her mother said, smiling appeasingly. She could probably sense Bellatrix's annoyance, although it wasn't because she thought their unexpected guests would ruin their dinner plans.
"Bellatrix is having a friend over for dinner," her mother then said to her aunt, knowing tone twisting over the word friend in a way that made it obvious that friend was simply a coy way of saying potential husband. Irritation turned in her stomach.
"Ah," nodded Walburga, sharing a smile with her sister in law. "I see."
"What time will you be back?" asked Bellatrix, hoping the move the topic along. Her family's insistence of shaping her entire life regardless of what she wanted was something that she knew she must tolerate, but hearing them talk about her as if the only thing that mattered was who she legally attached herself to was something she would bare for no longer than necessary. She was her own person, with accomplishments of her own, but none of that mattered to her family, and she absolutely hated it.
"Shortly before five darling," her mother answered, rising from the couch and grabbing her small clutch bag, before heading over to the fireplace, her aunt close behind her.
"Okay," Bellatrix said, flashing them a false smile as she waited for them to leave. "Have fun."
"Thank you darling," her mother replied, grabbing a handful of floo powder from the jar on the mantelpiece.
"Let me know if the boys are any trouble," added Walburga as the two women stood in the fireplace.
"I will," said Bellatrix, watching her aunt nod in approval before the two of them disappeared to Diagon Alley, swallowed up by the green flames the burst from the lifeless fireplace. Once they were gone Bellatrix sighed.
"Great," she muttered sarcastically, wondering how she was going to recover her afternoon plans now that her baby cousins were here. She figured that she should probably warn Rodolphus in advance, since they were now likely to end up being roped into babysitting rather than spending the afternoon together before eating with her parents, where they were forced to be false, overly polished versions of themselves.
Bellatrix's relationships with other people were often shallow and superficial, at least on her end, but she'd managed to find a genuine friend in Rodolphus. Nobody else amongst her Slytherin classmates shared her level of wealth and status, or her sense of humour and appetite for mischief. The school year that had just ended had been rather pivotal for them, as their friendship became something more. It was a relationship based in practicality, rather than emotion, as they both knew the future they faced as purebloods and couldn't tolerate the thought of sharing themselves with anyone but each other.
Bellatrix walked over to the fireplace, sprinkling a handful of floo powder across the coals before leaning in and transporting her head to Rodolphus's bedroom.
"Psst," she hissed once the footboard of his bed on the opposite side of the room became visible to her. She initially couldn't see him, but he emerged on her left, peering down into the fireplace with a look of suspicion.
"Bellatrix?" he said slowly, raising his eyebrows.
"No, it's the Black family house elf," she said sarcastically. "I have to tell you something," She urged him closer, informing him that her cousins had been dropped off at the house and that they may be expected to babysit them over the course of the afternoon, but she was going to try and shirk the responsibility as best as possible. After they were done talking, she pulled her head out of the fireplace, brushing coal dust off her skirt as she rose.
"Who were you talking to?" she heard from behind her, a child's voice. She jumped, heat flooding to her cheeks as she turned around to see who it was.
"Merlin's beard Sirius!" she shouted, her heart still racing. "What are you doing in here, you nosey little brat?"
"I wanted to know who you were talking to," said Sirius in justification, his tone dropping from childlike excitement to an overly mature melancholy.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you what privacy is?" Bellatrix continued, rage fuelling her words. The scare her cousin had given her ignited her temper. She didn't like being startled, or eavesdropped on. "You don't just get to demand information from people. Now get out, before I throw you out by your ears."
"I just wanted to-"
"I don't care," she spat, cursing the fact that she wasn't old enough to use magic outside of school yet. "Leave."
"She was probably talking to her boyfriend," Andromeda, who had appeared silently in the doorway, said with a knowing smile. Sirius turned around.
"Bella has a boyfriend?" he asked, the childishness returning to his voice.
"He's not my boyfriend," said Bellatrix insistently, shooting Andromeda a glare that made her aware that if she encouraged this conversation any further, she would be waking up with gluing potion all over her hairbrush.
"He's absolutely your boyfriend," said Andromeda, almost laughing as her sister continued to scowl at her, probably for highlighting this information in front of her least favourite cousin.
"Ooh," teased Sirius. "Bella has a boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," she repeated, louder this time, intensifying the angry stare she was shooting at Andromeda. "He's just a friend."
"Snog all of your friends, do you?" teased Andromeda, refusing to falter under Bellatrix's intimidation tactics. The three years that they'd been at Hogwarts together had taught her what a bully she could be, how she intimidated and picked on others to establish dominance. As much as she loved her sister, Andromeda hated that side of her, it was so much like their father.
"Oh shut up," shouted Bellatrix, refusing to tolerate their childish teasing any longer. "The pair of you."
"I don't have boyfriends," she said, an air of superiority to her words. "I'm far too mature for something as silly as that." She knew they would never be able to understand her outlook on relationships and romance.
After listening to her immature dorm mates squeal and giggle over their crushes, Bellatrix learned early on that her views on romance and relationships were entirely different to those of her peers. She didn't believe love existed, not the kind they talked about. It certainly wasn't present in her parents marriage, otherwise her father wouldn't be so controlling and awful to her mother, which she just took. And if that was what relationships were like then Bellatrix wanted no part of them at all, nobody was ever going to control her the way her father controlled her mother.
She had a difficult time connecting with other people. Most of the people in her life bored her after extended contact, and were only in her life out of circumstance. She also didn't grow weak over attractive faces the way all of the other girls in her dorm did. She could acknowledge their aesthetic appeal, but felt nothing towards them. It had only been after four years of knowing each other that she'd started feeling differently about Rodolphus's attractiveness, a feeling so strange that she'd tried to shove it away initially. She'd never been interested in romance, or believed in it, so the term boyfriend felt so far removed from her relationship with Rodolphus that it was laughable.
"And my friend," Bellatrix continued, placing a stern emphasis on the word. "Is going to be here in an hour, so stay out of my way."
"Told you," said Andromeda, her voice light and smug as she glanced down at Sirius. "Boyfriend."
"Bother me and you'll both end up with noses the size of uncle Alphard's chair," said Bellatrix warningly, pointing at them both as she walked towards the door. Before she could leave, a disgruntled Narcissa appeared in the doorway, her eyes narrow and her face covered in heavy make up.
"Who is throwing stuff against my bedroom wall?" she shouted, the high pitch in her voice due to her youth unable to make her sound legitimately angry. "I messed up my wing."
"Your what?" said Andromeda, glancing down Narcissa.
"The wing of my eyeliner," she explained, pointing to her left eye, where a trail of black liner went halfway towards her ear. Andromeda silently gasped, not only at the failed wing tip, but the amount of makeup plastered on her twelve year old sister's face. She garishly resembled one of their childhood dolls.
"Cissy, why in the name of Salazar do you have that much slap on your face?"
"I was practicing," Narcissa answered, stuffy and defensive as she felt her sister's judgement. All the witches in Witch Weekly were wearing their make up this way, and so were the girls at school. She'd spent first year being one of the only girls not wearing make up, since Bellatrix wouldn't let her borrow hers and Andromeda never wore it. She didn't understand why they were so judgemental towards her when all she wanted to do was fit in.
"That better not be mine," said Bellatrix from just inside the doorway, the tone of her voice suggesting that she was already in a bad mood.
"Its mother's," Narcissa confessed, having crept into her parent's bedroom and stolen some as soon as her mother had finished getting dressed. "She said she didn't want it anymore."
"So if we ask her then she'll support this story," said Andromeda, with a smug tone of questioning that told Narcissa she knew their mother hadn't given her permission to use it. Narcissa pouted, frustrated that once again her older sisters had gotten the better of her.
"Please don't tell," she whined, widening her eyes with concern and forcing them at Andromeda.
"Ooh, Cissy's in trouble," Sirius's voice came from inside the doorway. Narcissa stomped into the room and smacked him.
"Oh shut up Sirius," she spat, shooting a look of disgust at her cousin as he grabbed his arm and winced. "When did he get here anyway?"
"About ten minutes ago," answered Bellatrix.
"So you were throwing stuff at my wall," said Narcissa, her expression incredulous and her tone accusatory. She shoved him. "You annoying little troll, this is all your fault."
"It wasn't," argued Sirius, his anger whiny from the high pitch of his voice. If the look in his eyes went completely unnoticed, which it did, no serious weight would have been detected in his irritation at all.
"Cissssyyyyy," squealed the youngest Black cousin, Regulus, as he ran into the room and attached himself to Narcissa's hip. A self bouncing ball trailed in after him, obviously the item that had been thrown at Narcissa's bedroom wall, and stopped just in front of his feet.
"Hey Reggie," said Narcissa as she ruffled her cousins dark curls, all traces of annoyance gone from her voice.
"How come you aren't mad at him?" asked Sirius, his voice once again laced with emotion that should be beyond his maturity.
"Because he isn't a complete turd," said Narcissa, heavy with contempt. It was no secret that Sirius was treated differently to the other Black children. Even at seven and a half, he knew that the rest of the family disliked him. His mother always told him that he was insolent, uncontrollable and needed some sense beat into him. The others followed her example, and clearly favoured his younger brother. His mother must have told them all about the fact he kept questioning what was so bad about the muggle world.
"As I was about to say," said Bellatrix loudly, pushing past Sirius, Narcissa, Regulus and Andromeda. "I'm going back to my room now. Try not to completely destroy the place."
"Are you really just going back upstairs and leaving us with the boys?" Andromeda called after Bellatrix as she headed towards the stairs.
"I'm busy," she answered, initially not turning around, before grinding to a halt with one foot on the first step. She looked at her sisters and cousins gathered in the hallway.
"And also Cissy, you might want to tone down the blush, you look like you just missed auditions for the wizarding circus." Without even looking at Narcissa's reaction, Bellatrix sauntered up the stairs.
"Selfish bitch," said Narcissa, scoffing incredulously at the space where her eldest sister had been. Sirius and Regulus stared open mouthed at Narcissa, surprised by the language she'd used, while Andromeda dropped a hand onto her sister's shoulder.
"Although she's right about the blush Cissy," she said, her words soft with genuineness. Narcissa let out a frustrated huff before stomping back to her bedroom at the far end of the hall, the only bedroom on the first floor.
"Looks like you're stuck with me," sighed Andromeda, glancing down at her cousins. She had things she needed to do, books to read and letters to write, so she set them up playing games in the first floor lounge, disappearing upstairs into her bedroom once they looked occupied.
They would be alright, she told herself as she reached the second floor and went into her bedroom. Narcissa was down there with them, even if she was shut in her bedroom. Once she was settled at her desk, Andromeda began to write. She always felt nervous writing to her Hogwarts friends while at home. She didn't have many, and none of them were other Slytherins, a fact which made her desperate to keep all knowledge of them away from her family.
She had both of her sisters fooled, they thought that she just didn't have any friends, preferring her own company, and theirs of course. Andromeda had learned many things in her three years at Hogwarts, and the primary lesson was that people were not what her family made them out to be, that blood purity was not important. Andromeda felt completely disconnected from her family in her attitudes, especially after seeing the arrogance that their pureblood status gave Bellatrix. Andromeda however, was quiet, which means her dissenting thoughts and actions were easily concealable, and went entirely unnoticed. A knock on her bedroom door pulled her attention away from the letter she was writing to the Hufflepuff boy that had been her potions partner through all of third year.
"Can I come in?" asked Sirius, his voice solemn as he stood in her doorway. She pulled a copy of Witch Weekly over the top of her parchment, motioning for Sirius to come in.
"Okay," she said, turning around in her chair to face the miserable looking boy. "Why aren't you out there with your brother?"
"Because Reggie's a baby, who wants to play baby games," said Sirius, folding his arms over his chest.
"You're not much older than he is," Andromeda reminded him.
"But I don't want to play games with him," said Sirius, more agitation in his voice. "I don't even want to be here."
"I understand," she said, her voice breaking slightly. The way her aunt and uncle, and everyone else in the family, blatantly mistreated him hurt her. She hated seeing what it did to him, knowing that she was powerless to stop it. "Sit. I'm just going to write this letter out and then we can and do something."
After changing her clothes and making a small effort to tidy her room, Bellatrix went downstairs and sat in the lounge. The upstairs lounge was the one they used the floo in, the ground floor lounge was only for guests. It was clear that the kids had been in here recently, but now neither of them were, so Bellatrix sat down with her book, assuming they were in Andromeda's room. Eventually the fireplace roared to life, and Bellatrix looked up as Rodolphus Lestrange stepped out of the flames.
"Hey," he said, flashing Bellatrix a charming smile. She set her book down and walked over him, quickly checking that there was nobody lingering in the doorway, before grabbing the front of his robes and kissing him.
This was the first time they'd seen each other in over a week, and they weren't willing to run the risk of kissing like this while her parents were in the house and could potentially catch them, inevitably scolding them for being improper. There were many things about their relationship that her parents would consider improper, as unlike her feelings about love and romance, her feelings on physical desire were in line with those of her peers.
"Hi," she said slowly as she pulled away, biting her bottom lip before stepping away from him and heading towards the door. "I've got Andy watching the brats so we won't be disturbed."
"How old are they again?"
"Six and seven," answered Bellatrix, which caused Rodolphus to grimace. "Exactly," said Bellatrix, before leading him into the hallway where Regulus ran straight into her legs.
"Reggie," exclaimed Bellatrix, looking down at the ball Regulus had been chasing, evidently not taking note of his surroundings. She lifted him up, watching the ball bounce away as his thin frame dangled in front of her. "What have I told you about barrelling down the hallways like a self flying broom?"
"Don't do it," answered Regulus, giggling when Bellatrix started to shake him.
"Exactly," she said, feeling his feet connect with her legs as his limbs flailed in her arms. "So why are you? And where's your brother?"
"He left me and I got bored," explained Regulus as Bellatrix scooped him towards her so he was wrapped around her hip.
"We'll have to go and find him then, wont we?"
"Who's this?" said Regulus, peering over Bellatrix's shoulder and pointing.
"This is my friend Rod," said Bellatrix, turning herself around so she could see Rodolphus properly. "This little terror." Regulus giggled as Bellatrix pretended to snarl at him. "Is my youngest cousin Regulus."
"Nice to meet you Regulus," said Rodolphus, and Regulus leaned over Bellatrix's shoulder to shake his hand, the way he'd been taught by his parents to greet new people.
Bellatrix put Regulus down, and the three of them headed upstairs towards Andromeda's bedroom. Her door was right at the top of the stairs, immediately on the left. Bellatrix pushed the door open, Regulus grabbing her other hand as they stepped inside.
"Is he in here?"
"I'm sorry," Andromeda said loudly, her voice incredulous. "Did you forget about this thing called knocking."
"Siri," Regulus squealed as his brother emerged from the other side of Andromeda's bed, running into the room to join him.
"Found him," said Bellatrix, turning to Rodolphus as they blocked Andromeda's doorway. "This is my other cousin, Sirius."
"So this is Bella's boyfriend," said Sirius, studying the unfamiliar boy stood beside her. He was tall, with brown hair and tanned skin that made Bellatrix's look even paler. He was the kind of person Sirius had expected her to date, clearly from a wealthy pureblood family like their own.
"Andy, can you at least try and keep them together," said Bellatrix in a chastising tone, not bothering to correct Sirius despite the argument they'd had earlier on the topic.
"Excuse me," replied Andromeda, her mouth open in disbelief. "You just cleared off upstairs, you don't get to lecture me about keeping an eye on them."
"I had things to do," argued Bellatrix, not appreciating her sister's fiery response. "And I still do, so you're going to have to keep a better eye on them now, unless you want to give them to Cissy."
"Fine," said Andromeda, her tone conveying that it was most certainly not fine, but she knew that arguing further was pointless. "But you owe me."
"Whatever," said Bellatrix dismissively. "I'll be upstairs if you need me, but try not to need me."
This made Andromeda's eyes widen. She turned back to her sister. "Can we have a word in private?"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes but agreed. She turned to Rodolphus. "You can watch the kids for a minute, cant you?"
"I guess," he said, shooting her a look of confusion. "But what do I do with them?"
"Just talk to them about Quidditch," she said, placing her hand on his arm. "You'll have Reggie in the palm of your hand, he loves Quidditch. The other one might be hard work though."
He nodded, trading places with Andromeda who led Bellatrix down the hallway to the foot of the stairs leading up to the top floor.
"What did you want?" said Bellatrix, her tone bored.
"Does mother know you're having boys in your room?" Andromeda said sternly, folding her arms over her chest. "I could tell her, for dumping the boys on me." Bellatrix laughed.
"Cute attempt at blackmailing me Andy but we both know that you don't have the balls," she replied, looking her sister directly in the eyes as she stepped closer. She didn't flinch.
"I've got much more than that on you," threatened Andromeda, refusing to be intimidated. "All the things you've been in trouble for at school that somehow never ended up getting back to mother and father."
"Try it, and I'll make your life a living hell," replied Bellatrix, flashing a smile laced with false sweetness. "And besides, I know that it was really you who broke that china set and not Cissy." She watched shock and guilt flash through Andromeda's eyes, a smug grin bloomed on her face. "Father sure was upset."
"I just think it's unfair," said Andromeda, the firmness leaving her voice. "You leaving the boys with us while you go and…"
"Have I ever asked you for anything?" interjected Bellatrix.
"No," said Andromeda, surprised by what almost seemed like vulnerability lingering in her sister's voice. She knew that her sister was fiercely independent and never asked anybody for anything, this was out of character.
"Well I'm asking you now," said Bellatrix quietly, holding her sister's gaze. "Watch the boys for me, and don't say anything to mother or father."
"Why should I?"
"Because you don't understand," Bellatrix answered, shaking her head slightly. Her sister still had a few more years left before their parents took her life over and planned her future. She wasn't going to have to force smiles through dinner and discuss expectations that she didn't want on her. "You will soon enough, but right now, you don't. So please just do this one thing for me."
"Fine," said Andromeda, knowing not to question Bellatrix's uncharacteristic bargaining, as much as she wanted to understand her motivations.
"Thanks," she said quietly, the first genuine thanks Andromeda had heard her say in a long while. With a quick smile, she walked back down the hall, leaning in the doorway of Andromeda's bedroom, where Rodolphus was telling an enraptured Regulus about Slytherin winning the season.
"You ready?" she asked, stepping aside to let Andromeda back into her room as Rodolphus got up and joined her. Just before they headed towards the stairs, Bellatrix turned to Andromeda.
"And whoever you were practicing being threatening for," she said, enjoying her sister's eyes widening in shock at her own transparency. "I hope it works."
No, you don't Andromeda thought to herself, thinking of all the anger and disgust that was building towards her own family as she grew older. It was strange, both loving someone and being repulsed by them, she was struggling to understand the conflicting forces that flowed through her whenever she thought of her family.
"What was that all about?" asked Sirius once Andromeda sat back down. He was clearly hoping that they could continue telling each other stories, as they had been before Bellatrix had barged in.
"It doesn't matter," said Andromeda, glancing at her desk to make sure her letter hadn't been uncovered, before turning her attention to Sirius. "Now, what can we do?"
Sirius and Andromeda returned to telling stories. Sirius was an energetic child, and liked the stimulation that came from Andromeda's tales of her time at Hogwarts. It allowed his imagination to thrive, allowed him to relax with someone who would actually listen to him. He understood tha the way his parents treated him wasn't normal, nor was the way they encouraged the other family members to do the same. He was already beginning to question everything they'd taught him. He couldn't understand why they thought being a Black made them akin to royalty, especially since he'd never been allowed to feel important, never felt that pride extended towards him.
He felt older than he was, with emotions more complex than they should be for a boy his age. He knew that he didn't like his family, with the exception of Andromeda, and sometimes Regulus, but he couldn't help but feel a huge amount of resentment towards his younger brother, as he was treated by everyone with the respect that Sirius knew he would never have. He'd wondered if his parents could read his mind, felt his dislike of them, and that was why they treated him the way they did.
Regulus eventually got bored and went to bother Narcissa, which Sirius was secretly smug about. first, because he disliked Narcissa especially for hitting him earlier, and second, because he wanted Regulus to feel excluded for once, which was petty, but he didn't care.
Regulus knocked on Narcissa's bedroom door, before reaching up and opening the door. She was initially rude, but allowed him in anyway. He sat down on her bed, watching her sat at her dresser rubbing a towel over her face.
"You look silly," said Regulus when he caught a look at her face in the mirror. The eyeliner from before was almost gone, but there were trails of black running down her cheeks, and all around her lips were a smudged pink, making her look like a clown.
"Thanks a lot Reggie," Narcissa huffed sarcastically, throwing the towel on the counter. "Why are you even in here anyway?"
"I wanted to spend time with you," said Regulus, pouting as he didn't quite understand why she was being so mean.
"Sorry," said Narcissa, moving away from the counter and flopping down on her bed next to Regulus. "I'm being such a broomhead."
Narcissa wasn't sure why she'd been getting so easily frustrated lately. It had been happening for the past couple of days, and she couldn't figure out why. She'd had a fantastic first year at Hogwarts, maybe she was missing it too much. She'd been teary too, almost bursting into tears after her sisters insulted her attempts at doing make up.
All she wanted was to fit in. She'd seen her sisters at Hogwarts, how people flocked around Bella, and how Andromeda seemed so together. They both did. She often felt like she was falling behind, trying to run alongside them but failing to catch up. She'd always been her parents darling, and used that attention to make up for how behind she felt when she was with her older sisters. She didn't feel that way with Sirius and Regulus, she liked the fact she was older and could tell them what to do, even if she didn't like Sirius all that much, made her feel less lost.
She ended up putting make up on Regulus. He'd insisted, after helping her remove the rest of it from her face. She found it so much easier when she was putting it on another person, painting bright colours on his eyelids and comically covering him in lipstick. The foundation looked out of place on his skin, but Regulus was unnaturally pale, even for a Black. In that respect, Narcissa was thankful that she'd wound up with a majority of Rosier genes, as her complexion wasn't ghostly white. Regulus made Narcissa feel hopeful, he was still so young, so untouched by the world, and he held such unfiltered joy that she found it contagious.
The entire afternoon sailed by, Sirius with Andromeda and Regulus with Narcissa. Regulus liked spending time with Narcissa, he liked spending time with everyone. He loved everyone around him, especially his brother, even though he was sad and mopey a lot of the time. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa seemed amazing to his, they were so much older, almost grown ups. They'd been to Hogwarts, lived life in a way he hadn't yet, and wouldn't for some time.
As it grew closer to four thirty, nearing the time that the boys would be handed back to their mother. Narcissa led Regulus out into the lounge so they could find his ball, and they bumped into Andromeda and Sirius playing chess.
"Hi," said Regulus, clutching his ball excitedly. Sirius and Andromeda turned, their eyes widening immediately.
"Cissy, what is that on his face?" asked Andromeda, bringing her hand up to her lips. Narcissa looked down to see the make up she'd forgotten about all over Regulus's face.
"Oh no," gasped Narcissa. "Aunt Walburga is going to kill me." Just as the words left her mouth, the fire roared to life, green flames shooting upwards. Narcissa quickly ushered Regulus out of the door, challenging him to a race back to her room.
Walburga and Druella Black stepped out of the fireplace, dumping their shopping bags at their feet. They looked around the room, noticing Sirius and Andromeda quietly playing.
"He hasn't been a nuisance, has he?" asked Walburga, staring down at Sirius with as much fondness as a pile of dirt.
"No he hasn't," said Andromeda, applying the same firm tone that she had taken with Bellatrix earlier. Walburga made a humming noise, her nose turned upwards.
"Where are your sisters?" asked her mother, noticing their lack of presence.
"Narcissa is playing with Regulus," answered Andromeda, feeling panic creep over her as she tried to think of an excuse for older sister. "And Bellatrix, she's…."
"Right here," a confident voice came from the hallway. Andromeda let out a sigh of relief as she turned to look at her sister. "How was your shopping mother?"
"Wonderful darling," their mother replied, completely oblivious to the fact that even Andromeda could tell Bellatrix couldn't care less. She'd learned her sister's false voice a long while ago. "You're ready for dinner I assume."
"Yes mother."
"And your guest?"
"Is downstairs in the lounge," said Bellatrix, causing Andromeda to let out another sigh of relief that she wasn't going to have to distract her parents while Bellatrix snuck Rodolphus downstairs. "I just came up to get something."
"And the boys were no trouble?" asked Walburga.
"They were little angels," said Bellatrix, forcing Andromeda to bite down laughter at the idea that Bellatrix paid them any attention whatsoever while they'd been here. Narcissa and Regulus finally emerged, both of their faces now free of make up. Andromeda looked down at the chess board, she was two moves away from winning, even if Sirius was going to be gone before she could claim her victory. Andromeda didn't mind though, she was ready for the peace and quiet, ready for when she could return to her room alone, away from the chaos of the people she called family.