"Lumos."
A dull but visible light emerged from the darkness and bobbed slowly down the narrow hall.
Priceless works of art flashed their hollowed glances back at the light and turned away, only returning to their poses once the glow had vanished from sight.
The light continued hovering through the empty corridor for several minutes before coming to a sudden halt in front of a darkened doorway.
The latch clicked open, and the door rolled backward into the wall.
The light disappeared from the hall just as quickly as it had come, sending the house into complete darkness.
"Nox."
On the other side of the door, a petite figure crept across the room, feeling her way to a small desk in the far corner.
After a moment of deafening silence, the desk lamp snapped on, illuminating the shadow's face.
At 17 years old, her straight blonde hair and creamy white skin were objects of desire for many young, headstrong wizards, hoping to get in a word with her as she passed them by along the busy London streets.
She rummaged through the desk's drawers, neatly shifting papers from pile to pile, hoping her father wouldn't notice anything out of place.
She had begun to give up until at last, she found it.
It was a small envelope, richly decorated in laces of different colours and sizes, bearing the name Cygnus Black, in flawless calligraphic penmanship.
Her eyes flew around the room, positive she was alone, then crammed the letter into her nightdress.
Without so much as a second glance, she had extinguished the light and began racing back to her bedchamber, clutching her breast.
Another shadow eagerly awaited her return and nearly fainted when she galloped into the room, panting like a mad dog.
"Well…," the shadow squealed in delight, "…let's have it."
The blonde hurriedly clawed at the inside of her dress, freeing the letter.
"Here." the shadow mumbled, handing her an edged knife.
The blonde carefully slid the blade underneath the adhesive, praying not to tear it.
Once the seal broke, she gripped the letter between her thumb and forefinger and inched it out of it's shell.
Her ice blue eyes zigzagged across the parchment, sucking up every word of the letter.
She vividly remembered the day the post had dropped in, sending this and other assorted letters flying onto the breakfast table.
Before she even had a chance to inspect the sender, her father had swooped it into his arms and hid it from view.
Both she and her sister attempted to retrieve the note, but had failed miserably in the process.
"Well.." her sister urged, snatching the parchment from her.
To Cygnus Black and family:
Mr. And Mrs. Abraxas Malfoy invite you to join in celebrating the coming out of their son,
Lucius Malfoy,
as he is presented to society on March 23 at Malfoy Mansion in beautiful Wiltshire.
Please respond via owl post as soon as possible.
Both gazed blankly at the letter, rereading it several times before placing it back into the envelope.
"Why would he keep this from us?" her sister whined, twisting the bed sheets as she talked.
The blonde remained silent, searching out the window.
"Narcissa!" the shadowed sister yelped, tugging at her hair.
She awoke from her daze and hurried to the desk at the far end of the room.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"Responding." Narcissa replied, hunting through the cluttered drawers.
Her sister shot out of bed like a rocket and snatched up Narcissa's hand.
"Do you know what would happen if we went to the party without father's consent?"
Narcissa shot her sister an evil grin and whispered softly in her ear, "Then it would be in good taste, Bella, if we didn't mention this little detail to him."
Bellatrix stared into her sister's wild eyes, aflame with delight.
"Now come on…help me find the sealing wax."