Author's Note: This is actually not for any challenge, surprisingly enough! There will be three chapters, one for each day the Black cousins are together. I'll try to finish the story before Christmas! Reviews are love :)


December 23

A Black Christmas always seemed more desirable than a White Christmas praised in those silly Muggle songs, at least to Bellatrix, Andromeda, Narcissa, Sirius, and Regulus Black. After all, their Christmases were simply majestic. Every December 23, Cygnus and Druella would take their three little girls- spunky and fiery Bellatrix, sweet and kind Andromeda, dainty and demure Narcissa- to Cygnus' sister's house. Walburga and her husband (and second cousin) Orion, along with their two boys- mischievous and joking Sirius, nervous and timid Regulus- would welcome their family for the next three days. On December 26, Cygnus and Druella would take their daughters and parcels of presents back home, but the three days in between were always magical for the Black children.

This Christmas was the same, but a little different. Eleven year old Bellatrix was returning home from Hogwarts for Christmas vacation, and the rest of the cousins were regarding her with almost a reverential air- much to her delight.

When Cygnus and Druella appeared in the fireplace on the morning of December 23, Sirius and Regulus were anxiously waiting in the living room. "They're here!" screamed six year old Regulus, almost losing his head completely.

Walburga and Orion appeared and greeted the adults, leading them into the dining room for tea and conversation.

In the fireplace, Bellatrix was next to appear. She smiled coolly at the boys, who were practically jumping up and down upon seeing her, trying to appear worldly and sophisticated. She threw a "hello" over her shoulder as she made her way to the couch.

Andromeda suddenly appeared in the fireplace. At ten years old, she was trying to imitate her elder sister by putting on an air of disinterest, but as soon as she saw her cousins, she squealed and threw her arms around them.

Little Narcissa appeared next. She was only five years old, but she was already absurdly concerned with her looks, and as she stepped out of the fireplace, she was examining her hair for any flecks of ashes with a pained expression on her face.

Eight year old Sirius let out a roar of joy when he looked around the room. "We're all here!" he yelled.

Indeed, not since last Christmas had they been all together for more than an hour. Bellatrix sighed. "Well, what should we do, then?"

The cousins looked at each other. What did they do every Christmas? Not much. Card castles and chess games and pretend-dueling and trying to bother the house-elves into telling them where their presents were. But as they looked at the unmistakable boredom already etched onto Bellatrix's face, they felt that somehow, that would not be enough this particular Christmas.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes impatiently. "Let's go look at the tapestry."

Sirius moaned with boredom- "Really, Bella? Mum makes us look at that every other day!"- but they followed her as she marched up the stairs.

"I hate the tapestry," Sirius muttered sullenly as they entered the parlor room, where the said tapestry hung proudly from the wall. "I don't know why we have to look at it."

"Just because you have the cultural appreciation of a gnat," Bella snapped sharply, "doesn't mean we all do."

Sirius fell silent with indignation, as Andromeda and Regalus snickered. Bellatrix ignored them all as she stood before the great tapestry and sighed with reverence.

"The Most Noble Ancient House of Black," she breathed, and turned to look at the others' reactions. Andromeda and Narcissa were staring blankly at the tapestry, while Sirius was shoving Regulus.

"You guys!" Bellatrix snapped. "Focus, or you'll never make it in Hogwarts."

Sirius was promptly subdued, and the others looked at the tapestry with a little more interest. Narcissa raised her hand.

Bellatrix smiled kindly at her. "Yes, Cissy?"

"Well," Narcissa babbled. "When I look at the tapestry, I always wonder who will be my husband." She giggled, and Andromeda and Sirius rolled their eyes rudely.

Bellatrix snorted. "Don't be an idiot, Cissy, you'll marry some rich, pureblood wizard. That's not the point." She sighed in exasperation. "If you went to Hogwarts, you'd understand what I'm talking about."

That had the effect she wanted. "Bella, tell us!" Andromeda squealed.

"Come on, Bella, please?" Sirius begged. "I promise to listen!"

Regulus and Narcissa joined in, pleading for Bellatrix to tell them what the fuss was about.

Bellatrix finally cracked a smile. "Fine. Now, do you see how big this tapestry is?"

Everyone nodded, their faces a display of rapt attention.

"Well, it's that big, because we, the Blacks, are one of the biggest pure-blood families ever! We're the best of the best. Does anyone know what our motto is?" Bellatrix raised her eyebrows, enjoying her role as school-teacher.

Andromeda shrugged. "Show no mercy?"

"No, idiot," Sirius said, pushing Andromeda. "It's Toujours Pur. Mum makes us recite it daily."

Bellatrix gave an approving nod, ignoring Andromeda. "Yes, it is Toujours Pur, and who knows what that means?"

Regulus raised his hand. "Always Pure."

"Yes, Reggie, good job," Bellatrix said warmly. "To keep our tapestry big, we must be always pure. That means, in Hogwarts, we don't associate with icky Mudbloods and we look down on the pathetic half-bloods."

Andromeda frowned slightly and Bellatrix turned on her in a flash. "What? Does that bother you?" she snapped harshly.

"No!" Andromeda protested, glancing nervously around her. "That's the truth, right?"

"Of course it is," Bellatrix said sternly. "It's the truth, and it's our law, and it must be followed. Otherwise, you're dishonoring the entire Black family name."

Narcissa and Regulus gasped in horror. Even Sirius' eyes widened slightly. Bellatrix smiled approvingly at their reaction before turning to Andromeda, who had a hint of a smirk on her face. Andromeda quickly adjusted her features to something more akin to shock and fear when she saw Bella's ferocious scowl.

Bellatrix sighed heavily. "Well, I hope that was a productive lesson to you all. I would hate for someone to be…" She paused dramatically and lapsed into a meaningful silence.

"What?" Narcissa asked eagerly. "You would hate for someone to be what?"

"Well," Bellatrix said slowly. "You know what happens when you dishonor the Black family name, right?"

Everyone shook their head solemnly, shooting confused glances at each other. "Will you tell us?" Regalus asked meekly.

Bellatrix smirked. "I guess." She ran her fingers across the tapestry, pausing when she reached a black mark. "This happens."

"Oh," Sirius said suddenly. "You're talking about the-"

"As I was saying," Bellatrix interrupted loudly and pointedly. "If you dishonor the family name, your entire name is…" She shook her head. "I probably shouldn't tell you."

"I'll tell them," Sirius said quickly, cutting across the disappointed groans of his cousins and brother. "Your name is-"

"No, you'll get it wrong," Bellatrix snapped. "I guess I can tell you guys. Your name is burned off."

Narcissa gasped loudly. "No!"

"Yes," Bellatrix said solemnly. "One minute you're a proud member of the Black family, and the next…." She shook her head woefully. "It's like you never existed."

The room fell into an uneasy silence. Even Sirius looked concerned. Bellatrix smiled happily at the effect of her story. "Well, I hope you all plan to honor the Black family name for the rest of your lives."

They all nodded earnestly.

"Well," Sirius said loudly, breaking the tension that had gathered in the room. "Shall we do something fun now?

Bellatrix looked irritated, but the others squealed in agreement.

"Can we go for a walk?" Andromeda asked, looking out at the snowy woods wistfully.

Narcissa moaned loudly. "It's all wet, Andy!"

"And it's cold," whined Regulus.

Andromeda narrowed her eyes. "Bella got to choose what we did first, and I'm the next oldest, and I say we're taking a bloody walk!"

Sirius exchanged a glance with Bellatrix. "Fine," he said with a long-suffering tone. "If it means so much to you, we'll go on a walk."

Bellatrix smirked at Andromeda. "You're lucky I feel like some fresh air." She laughed at Andromeda's frown and almost skipped out of the room.

"Even if you didn't, we'd still be going!" yelled Andromeda after her.

Even Narcissa rolled her eyes at that. Andromeda flushed and trudged after her laughing cousins and sisters. She shivered as soon as she stepped outside, but smiled widely, taking in the beautiful, pristine blanket of snow covering the acres of land. Then a snowball hit her squarely in the face.

"Sirius!" Andromeda sputtered, wiping the icy snow from her eyes. "I hate you!"

Sirius laughed delightedly. "Snowball fight!" he roared, already forming another snowball.

Regulus and Bellatrix joined in with excitement, laughing manically. Narcissa, after an initial squeal of displeasure, began to hurl snowballs blindly towards her cousins and sisters. Andromeda ducked as an onslaught of snowballs came flying towards her.

"You guys!" she whined. "I said we were going on a walk!"

Sirius paused, rolling his eyes at the others, who were gleefully ignoring Andromeda. "We're outside, don't get greedy, Andy!" He paused as a snowball whizzed by his ear. "And I'm the oldest after you, and I say we're having a bloody snowball fight!" He smirked at his imitation of her, and reentered the fight.

Sighing, Andromeda formed a perfect snowball and hurled it angrily at Bellatrix. She heard a muffled "Ow!", and laughed. Her laugh suddenly turned into a gasp, however, as a stream of snowballs hit her. Andromeda ducked, but any snowballs she missed veered towards her and pelted her repeatedly.

"Bella!" shrieked Andromeda. "You've enchanted the snowballs!"

Bella cackled manically. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she sang, watching happily as another storm of snowballs flew towards Sirius and began pelting him.

"Underage magic!" roared Sirius angrily, covering his head in a vain attempt to shield himself from the snowballs. "Unfair!"

"It's perfectly fair, Siri," Bellatrix said, neatly dodging a handful of snow Andromeda had tried throwing at her. "And they won't be able to tell I was the one who did magic since we're living with of-age wizards and witches!" She laughed as the snowballs began to reform in midair and started chasing Narcissa. "And besides, I'm a Black. They wouldn't dare punish me!"

Andromeda let out a wail of indignation. "Bella, play fair!"

"But what's the fun in that?" Bella teased, laughing.

"At least teach me how to do it!" Sirius begged, watching with obvious delight as Regalus run in a circle, trying to escape a particularly determined snowball.

"No, Siri," Bellatrix smirked mockingly. "You're not eleven yet, are you?"

Before he could respond, the door flung open and Cygnus appeared. The snowballs quickly dropped to the ground. Cygnus' eyes narrowed dangerously. "What is going on here?" he hissed, staring at Bellatrix.

"Nothing, Daddy," she said sweetly, discreetly tucking her wand into her robes. "We're just having a little snowball fight."

"You're behaving like common Muggles!" Cygnus whispered furiously, his face a pulsing purple at the strain of keeping his voice down outside. "Get inside! You're going to bed."

Bella, Sirius, Andy, Cissy, and Regulus reluctantly began to file inside, Sirius sticking his tongue out at Bellatrix as he passed her. Andromeda rolled her eyes and mouthed I told you so at Sirius, who just laughed dismissively.

They stopped at the foot of the stairs, each ready to head to their separate rooms. "We could have stayed up for hours longer, if we had just taken a walk like I said," Andromeda grumbled.

Sirius grinned cheekily at her. "Well, there's always tomorrow!"

"I love Christmastime!" Narcissa cheered. The others scoffed at her as they each marched to their rooms, but in each of their minds was the thought: I can't wait until tomorrow.