Author's Note: Written for Round 10 of the QLFC

Team: Pride of Portree

Position: Beater 1

Beater 1 Prompt: Music through the Decades: 1960's Theme from a Summer Place

Prompts Used:

4 (dialogue) "How could you possibly think that was a good idea?"

10 (word) luminous

Word Count (excluding Author's Note): 1684

Author's Note: Inspired by the song Theme from a Summer Place by Percy Faith. This is written based on the original, all-instrumental version from 1959.

Forever in a Summer Place

She drew her long, dark curly locks out of her face and wiggled her toes gingerly. Then again with more vigor. It tickled her feet and she found herself giggling. It was strangely out of character.

"What is this?" she wondered as she dug her feet further into the warm, dry sand. Her whole body was warm to the point of being uncomfortable.

It was only then that she realized how brightly the sun was shining down; it felt blissful on her skin. She turned her face up toward the sky and closed her eyes, wishing to drink it all in. She could not remember ever having felt such sensations of calm and peace.

Bellatrix Black soon found herself peeling away her customary layers of black velvet and lace until she was down to little more than her skivvies. Her pale skin almost glowed in the brightness of the sun's rays; it was just luminous. She balled up her clothing into a pillow for her head and reclined back into the sand, fully taking in the tranquility of this place she had found herself in.

As she drifted off, she realized she could not remember how she got there.

"How could you possibly think that was a good idea?!" Narcissa hissed through a clenched jaw as she met up with her sisters just outside the Piccadilly Circus tube station. She was very nearly angry enough to spit, but she knew that the last thing they needed was to draw attention from the passing Muggle commuters on the street.

"Ted suggested it," Andromeda answered back. "I tried to invite you, but you had some other 'social' obligation to attend. So Bella and I went on our own."

"That is not what I meant, and you know it."

"Sometimes I think you forget who is older, dearest Sissy." Andromeda Black didn't really have it in her to truly strike fear in anyone, least of all her sisters, but she could get downright intimidating on occasion. After all, she was a Black.

"I'm the one who is here to clean up the mess you made, so younger or not, you'd best deal with my attitude," Narcissa answered sharply. "Now tell me again. What happened?"

"I honestly don't know," Andromeda replied unhelpfully.

This only riled Narcissa more; her face turned bright pink with frustration.

"Oh! For the love of—" she exclaimed. Narcissa took two deep breaths. She tried again. "Start from the beginning. And don't leave anything out, not even the smallest detail."

"Right. Well, we planned to have an afternoon out in London. Tea, shopping, maybe even a picture. Ted—"

"Do NOT talk to me about that Muggle boy. You have no business associating with him at all, much less consorting with him in the course of a day's entertainment! Why couldn't Diagon Alley have been good enough for you, 'Dromeda?!"

"It's boring, Sissy. I've been going there since I was a child; I know every shop inside and out."

Had Andromeda's arms been free, she would, most assuredly, have crossed them over her chest and stomped a foot. Narcissa could see it on her sister's face. Instead, the older girl was working as hard as she could to try and keep a virtually catatonic Bellatrix upright. Narcissa inched in closer from her side of the bench to assist Andromeda in her efforts as they argued just outside the train entrance.

As Bellatrix started to slump forward, Andromeda grabbed her shoulder quickly, pulling her back, sort of wedging the limp body between the bench on her own body. She could not help but notice how clammy and cool her sister's skin was to the touch.

"We were fine. Everything was great, actually. I dare say we had more fun without you."

Andromeda turned her nose up as she looked away from her younger sister. Narcissa almost admired it, the look was so haughty. It might be the only thing those two had in common. That, and their parents.

"We went to the Prince's Arcade and strolled through the shops. We stopped to listen to the newest music coming out of the Midlands, and we enjoyed tea at The Wolseley. It was ever so exciting."

Narcissa rolled her eyes at her sister's babbling. She got herself worked up over all the wrong things.

"Even dour Bella was enjoying herself. I saw her eyeing a tall boy with long, dark hair in the record shop!" A little smile crossed the middle Black daughter's face as she thought back to it.

"Yes, well, that really does sound all too entertaining. However the problem remains, Bella is not herself. When, precisely did this happen?" Narcissa asked pointedly, as Bellatrix tipped back against her as limp as an overcooked noodle.

"This— well this happened when we got stuck in the lift."

"Stuck in a what? Dare I ask what an lift is and how one gets stuck in it?" Narcissa drawled.

Andromeda took a deep breath and prepared to explain.

Bellatrix wasn't sure how long she had been there. She raised an arm to her face to shade her eyes and blinked a few times before keeping them open. Looking first to the left and then to the right, she saw no one. She was completely alone.

It was only then that she heard it.

Bellatrix scrambled up to a sitting position and looked out to see the ocean.

How could I not have noticed that before?

The soothing sound of the sea was only enhanced by the soft rustle of the palm trees she noticed dotted here and there along the shoreline. As she got herself up and dusted off some of the sand that clung to her clothes and skin, she looked off into the distance, but saw only more beach. As she turned around to face the other way, it was the same. Surf and sand and sun; and little else.

Paradise, of a manner; but where is everyone?

She made her way to a cluster of palms. As she drew closer, the shade of the trees revealed a large, unoccupied hammock and Bellatrix awkwardly took up residence. She had never negotiated this sort of contraption before, so her first encounter was clumsy, but now that she was safely inside, it was lovely. She glided just inches over the sand in a gently lulling swinging motion, the dappled shade from the palm fronds dancing shadows across her face. As Bellatrix closed her eyes, she could hear the ocean methodically serenading her; and somewhere in the background, she sensed the hint of some other song seeping into her unconscious mind as she drifted off again.

"So, let me see if I understand," Narcissa interrupted her sister. "You got into a small box made of an amalgam of metals that moved between floors in a large building without the use of magic?"

"Yes." Andromeda nodded along.

"And it runs on something Muggles call 'electricity' which can sometimes not work? Like if one were to mispronounce a spell?"

"Sort of. Spell isn't exactly how I would describe it, but the not working part is correct."

"For how long?" Narcissa repeated. She just needed to hear it again.

"20 hours?" Andromeda squeaked out.

"You were in that box for 20 hours?"

"Something like that," she winced, biting her lip. Even though she was younger, Narcissa had an ability to intimidate with just a look. She got it from their father.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Andromeda felt the tension in her chest release. She sighed, closed her eyes and just listened to the hum of the busy morning rush on Coventry Street. It was soothing compared to that claustrophobic prison they had just escaped. And the music! After Bellatrix had collapsed, she hadn't had a chance to really appreciate being free from the entire horrible situation; the droning music most of all.

Narcissa broke her reverie.

"I still can't imagine it. Not really," she said. "Come on then, let's find a way to get Bella back home before her absence is noted."

She pulled the hood of Bellatrix' cloak up about her face so as to disguise her condition somewhat.

"You could not have been more fortunate to have Mother and Father out of town right now," Narcissa added without looking at her sister. "Now, get over here and help me get her on her feet."

As the Black sisters retreated up Ennismore Gardens Mews, Bellatrix started to murmur; just a snatch of a tune that she hummed softly into Narcissa's ear as they stumbled up the hill towards home.

"What is that?" she asked.

"What is what?" Andromeda replied, startled. The girls had basically not spoken since leaving Piccadilly.

"That song? Don't you hear it? Bella has made no other noise for hours besides fumbling her way through this tune."

Andromeda leaned in a bit closer to her sister.

"Oh, yes…"

"What is it?"

"It was playing in the lift while we were trapped."

"The whole time?"

"It was the only thing we heard, the entire time we were there. It doesn't even have lyrics. Just this sleepy little melody played by strings, I think." Andromeda shook her head.

She had worked so hard to get that song out of her mind and there it was. Again.

"I thought I'd heard it before, but now I've listened to it so much…" Andromeda stopped walking. "I think if I were to hear it again I would pull my hair out and scream!"

"That would be enough to drive anyone mad," Narcissa said looking around the unresponsive body between them toward her sister with genuine sympathy. Some things were almost unthinkable.

It was at that moment that Bellatrix, without warning, flung her head back and cackled, only to fall back into her unconscious state.

Andromeda and Narcissa Black stared at each other, startled and shaken by the suddenness of it; and then they turned their collective gaze towards their older sister.

"I couldn't agree more," Andromeda whispered. And they silently continued to climb the hill.