The House Competition:
House: Slytherin
Category: Themed
Prompt: Bedtime Routine
Word count: 628
Not many people knew about this, but there was a thing the three Black sisters used to do together before sleeping, something that was almost a custom now. It all started one late December night in Narcissa's room…
Nine-year-old Bellatrix marched into her older sisters' room to see both Andromeda and Narcissa sitting on Narcissa's bed, books in their hands, eyes glued to the pages as they read. They shared a blanket, hugging it to themselves to stay warm in the cold winter night.
Bellatrix frowned. "Ahem! Let's do something! "
No one paid any attention to her.
She glared at her sisters. "I said let's-"
"I heard you the first time," Narcissa cut in, lifting her gaze off the book and eyeing her sister wearily. "What do you want to do, Bella? Go play with Sirius or something."
"I don't want to play with him! I want to do something with you guys!" Bellatrix crossed her arms with a pout.
"Sod off, I'm busy," Andromeda's eyes never left her book as she told her sister. Narcissa turned back to her own book, and the two continued reading without a look at pouty Bella.
Bellatrix let out an angry 'hmmpf!' and plopped herself down on the ground, choosing to glare at her older sisters instead of finding something else to do. As she looked at her sisters, both almost buried in their pile of blankets and pillows, an idea popped into her head.
She smirked. "Fine, you two keep reading," Bellatrix said, walking slowly up to the bed and eyeing the blankets evilly. "I'll just… take these!" she suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the corner of the blanket and throwing it across the room, leaving her sisters to the mercy of the winter night.
Narcissa and Andromeda were furious. "You - you little brat! Give that back!" Andromeda shrieked, finally showing the temper the Blacks were infamous for. Bellatrix only grinned.
"Make me," she told them amusedly.
Narcissa frowned at her. "Fine!" she said through gritted teeth. She slowly took a pillow from behind her and suddenly shoot it towards her youngest sister. "Ha!" she shouted, just as the pillow hit Bellatrix squarely on the face and made her stumble back.
Bellatrix sat on the ground, shocked for a moment, but the grin rose again. "Now we're talking!" she laughed, grabbing the pillow and launching it at Narcissa.
The girl let out a small squeal and rolled hastily to get out of the way, falling with a bump on the ground. The pillow flew over Narcissa's head and hit Andromeda, knocking her book out of her hand.
"Hey! You just-" her angry sentence was abruptly cut off by Narcissa, who grabbed another pillow and slammed it into her stomach.
"Ha ha!" she laughed. "Lighten up, 'Dromeda!"
Andromeda smirked, pulling her wand out. "I'll lighten up alright…. Think fast!" Before Narcissa had time to process what was going on, a few jinxed pillows began chasing the girl, causing her to let out another high-pitched shriek and take off around the room.
Narcissa, as she ran around the room, accidentally tripped over Andromeda, causing them both to fall in a heap on the ground.
Bellatrix cackled excitedly. Taking a step back, she jumped onto her sisters gleefully. "See? Now this is fun!" she grinned.
Andromeda quirked an eyebrow. "You know what else is fun?"
Bellatrix looked down confusedly at her. "What?"
"Tickling you till your last breath!" Bellatrix let out a squeak and a squeal as Andromeda flipped her over and began ruthlessly tickling her younger sister.
As the girls continued their pillow and tickle fight, they didn't notice their younger Black cousin walking in. Regulus had a shocked look on his face as he peeked into the room. His lips twitched in amusement, thinking that it was a good thing Sirius wasn't there - he'd create an even bigger mess! "Talk about bedtime routines."