This is the untold stories of how the Black sisters grew apart. I will update regularly.
Andromeda walked through the barren streets of Hogsmeade, cradling her grandson Teddy. In the distance stood the Hogwarts castle. The destruction was incredible - parts of the walls were broken and crumbling as though blown apart, and everything was eerily silent. Andromeda shuffled slowly, knowing exactly what would await her there. Her sobs were all gone, her tears all dried out, but the grief would never fade from her hollowed heart. The Battle of Hogwarts was finished, Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters destroyed. Deep down she was happy he was gone. But all of her loved ones had died except for Teddy, attempting to make the world a better place. They had succeeded, however they lost their lives in the process. But although she missed the ones her were the most close to her, her daughter, son-in-law and husband, there was another she mourned also. Even though she had given the deathblow to Andromeda's own daughter, she missed her sister Bellatrix. Though she knew that Bella had been corrupt and evil, that she'd killed hundreds of muggles and wizards alike, and that she probably deserved to die, Andromeda just couldn't erase the image of the sister she knew when she was younger.
Were there ever better sisters than the Black sisters? Though they had their differences, the Black sisters were the best of friends in their younger years. Sure, Bellatrix could be a little crazy; she always had that extra gleam of mischief, or that longing for trouble that made her a bit frightening to the others. She had that sort of young boyish madness – Andromeda had a vague memory of Bella pulling the wings off of butterflies for the sheer joy of it. But Bella was their sister, and they loved her nonetheless.
And perhaps Andromeda's acceptance towards Muggles and Muggle-borns was a bit too strong for the liking of the Black family. Though her other sisters were the wonderful pureblood enthusiasts her parents had hoped for, Andromeda had always been kinder to Muggle-borns. However, her family would have none of it, and remained as 'Toujours Pur' as ever. But her sisters didn't really care so much about Andromeda's point of view, and simply dismissed it without caring.
And maybe Narcissa could be a bit too vain at times. Narcissa was very beautiful – gorgeous, you could say. And she knew it. Narcissa didn't have any other real skills besides her beauty. She always found school difficult - her mind tended to wander in class, and she just couldn't concentrate. Her charms and jinxes were feeble, her potions improperly brewed. She wasn't the best Quidditch player either, as her reflexes were slow and she hated to have her hair flow in the breeze – she had to fix it every second. But she was easily the prettiest girl in her year – perhaps in the school – and attracted boys like flies. At home she was quiet and reserved, and spent hours dawdling on her looks, using the talking mirror her Aunt Cassiopeia had given her and the jewel-encrusted brush from Rabastan Lestrange. But her sisters didn't mind, so long as she didn't string along too many boys at one time.
The Black sisters accepted each other for who they were, despite their flaws. Because back then, the flaws were minor. They only caused little spats, not real arguments or fights. They didn't cause the huge rifts that would tear the sisterhood apart. Those would come later.
Andromeda thought back to an earlier time, when things were simpler. It was Bellatrix's 11th birthday party, the night before she would go off to Hogwarts. It was a Black tradition to invite all of the respectable pureblood families of the area as a celebration of a new Black family student. It was more of party for Cygnus and Druella than it was for Bellatrix, and the three sisters bonded together to evade the torture.
"Ooh, do I get one?" squealed a seven-year-old Narcissa. She was looking at Bellatrix's new hair ribbons - one green, the other black, in honor of their surname. As usual, Narcissa had to have a gift too, or she'd shriek and cry about how no one loved her and no one appreciated her. And also as usual, she would have been completely wrong.
"Yes, of course you do, darling," replied their mother, Druella Rosier Black. "Here are yours." She handed Narcissa a black ribbon the same as Bellatrix's, and an ice-blue one, precisely the same color as her eyes. Narcissa squealed with delight, and attempted to tie her hair into mismatched pigtails.
Andromeda sat patiently, wondering if she'd get hair ribbons too. It was very possible she wouldn't, as she had recently been in trouble for befriending a neighbor Muggle girl named Stephanie. To the Blacks, this was unacceptable, and she'd been grounded for the past week. But her mother handed her two ribbons as well, one the same black, the other a vibrant shade of pink. Andromeda smiled with happiness, and quickly braided the ribbons into her bouncy brown curls.
Andromeda watched Narcissa fumble clumsily with her ribbons, and walked over to help her. "Here, Cissy," said Andromeda kindly, taking the blue ribbon from her. "I'll do it for you." She started to gather the right side of her hair, and braided the ribbon into it.
"Thanks, Dromeda!" Narcissa said brightly. "But what about the other side?"
Bellatrix hurried over. "Don't worry Cissy, I can do it for you," said Bella, with a hint of exasperation. She took the black ribbon, just like hers, and braided it into the other half of her hair.
Cissy beamed at her reflection in the mirror, her waist-length blonde hair braided into the two ribbons like Dromeda's. Bella struggled with her wild, untamed black curls, but used the green and black ribbons to make the hairstyle of her sisters.
"I look beautiful," cooed Cissy, but she blushed when she saw the amused looks of her sisters. "I mean, we look beautiful," she hastily corrected herself.
"I can't believe you're going off to Hogwarts, Bella," said Dromeda, with an air of sadness. "I'll miss you."
"You will tell us everything that happens, won't you?" said Narcissa, her ice-blue eyes wide like saucers.
"Of course I will," said Bella arrogantly. "It's going to be awesome at Hogwarts."
"And you'll write letters every day?" asked Cissy pleadingly.
"Well, not every day," said Bellatrix, and her sisters momentarily looked alarmed. "I'll be busy! But I will tell you everything."
"Even when you get into trouble?" said the hardworking and studious Andromeda.
"Especially when I get into trouble," Bella replied, with dare and mischief in her eyes.
The sisters pulled each other close into a group hug. "You won't forget us, will you?" questioned Cissy fearfully.
"Never," said Bella. "Sisters forever."
"Sisters forever," they'd replied.
Andromeda was torn back into reality, and found that her eyes were wet one again. How did everything go so wrong? How did Bellatrix go from being her best friend to her worst enemy? How did sweet Narcissa turn so cruel and cold?