Only in Sweet Memories

by Rain Sky

Forgo shelter of the moon and bask in the glory of the sun! A complicated story detailing the childhoods and ultimate fates of the Black children. A song of broken love and nostalgic memories of happiness. Butterfly Effec

NOVELIZATION WARNING: I had an idea for an OC after the 2nd book. I did not have a plot at all until right after the 5th book, which I spent most of my time developing. Obviously, now that the 7th book is out, several details are in direct conflict. One obvious detail is that Bellatrix is supposed to be one of the eldest Black children, born in 1951. However, this Bellatrix in my story will be one of the youngest, born in 1962. As my story generally spins Bellatrix in a neutral or positive light, this is not for ardent Bellatrix-haters. Mind you, I planned everything out BEFORE Rowling released a Black family tree, and am attached to the names I gave unnamed characters. Also, as my Andromeda is born in 1961, Tonks cannot be born in 1973, to a 12-year-old student.

Last modified: December 7, 2010 – My vision changed in the last three years, so I made a few edits.

---

Birthed from darkness, obsession, vengeance,

Hope, despair, and sadness

Had sought to create a group of assassins of seven

Sending countless opposition to hell and heaven

The first of the Blackness flowers

Delicately favoring ice and rain to her final hour

The fiery red rose of summer blooms

Over which the shadows of trials looms

The innocent spring bud best of them all

Tainted too soon, answers the darkness's call

Holy light gives hope to everything

Yet now only adversity does it bring

Carefree, talented prince of the skies

How much longer? For now, he flies

A pale flower thrives in dreams

From the eyes courage gleams

The powerful young lord of the regiment

For this youth is in store for naught but ill omens

Led by the commander of Death Sentence

Can this secret brigade of seven

Overcome alliances old and new

Or will they too soon themselves be sent to heaven?

---

June 1971

"T-t-this is ridiculous!" the middle-aged scowling woman declared in disbelief. "There is no way such a thing could happen."

Her husband, a regal and once extremely handsome man, looked at her irritably. "Why don't you read it yourself, Bellanca? It just did." He threw the parchment, weakened during delivery from the rare summer rain, to his wife.

Meanwhile, a little eight-year-old girl with almost wavy jet-black hair and a pale complexion was concealed in a hidden passage, listening to the conversation. Had she really been admitted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? She pressed herself against the unseen entrance and listened more intently.

"Bellatrix is not even nine!" her mother let out a wail. "She is bright, but hardly exceptionally so. How is this possible?" the woman ranted. She could be extremely disagreeable about the unexpected, though most noblewomen were like that. As with all other nobility, she was wealthy, influential, beautiful, and finicky – and she liked to be in control. "We were only expecting Narcissa and Sirius to enter this year! Surely Lucius cannot take care of Andromeda and Bellatrix also?"

"It is true that it is quite a responsibility for such a young boy," Black mused. "He is twelve, is he not? But he is a good reliable one. Lucius' parents have brought him up well. Our hope was that Lucius would help Narcissa and her cousin, and afterwards they would help Andromeda and Regulus. Then, Bellatrix would be taken care of by all of them. However, Hogwarts has decided to accept Andromeda and Bellatrix early, so we might as well accept that. The sooner they are out in the real world, the better. Although," he added, "this has more to do with the replenishing the Ministry's supply of skilled wizards then that our daughters are prodigious." He gave Bellanca a stern look that promptly dropped the subject, for it was true – war was about to break out, and both Hogwarts and the Ministry agreed that it would be for the best for magic-wielding children to stop being defenseless sooner.

---

"Trix?" the voice of Bellatrix's eldest sister softly came from the darkness. "Bel, we've all been looking everywhere for you! Come on, let's go find the others." But Bellatrix just gently tugged at her sister's sleeve.

"Cissa, am I… really stupid?" she asked.

The question startled Narcissa, and the darkness of the passage did not help her situation as she missed a step and barely stopped herself from falling down the stairs. Not only was the question pointless, but it was also random. "No, you are not. Your tutors have had nothing but praise for you. Why do you ask?"

The younger girl looked down sadly, not meeting the ocean blue eyes of her sister. "Mother is taking news of my early acceptance to Hogwarts badly."

"You have been accepted to Hogwarts early?" Narcissa mused incredulously.

"Yes, Cissa. Andie has also been accepted," Bellatrix quietly informed her.

The pale blonde took a few steps away to scrutinize her sister. Suddenly, Narcissa broke into a smile. "This is splendid! I thought I was going to be really lonely this year, but now that both of you are coming, I will be fine." She rushed to embrace her younger sister tightly. Bellatrix didn't see Narcissa wince slightly.

"Is that so?" the midnight-black-haired girl asked. She, too, was smiling. "Well then, let's go find the others!"

The pale blonde elder girl was taken aback. "Wha - ? Ah, wait! Bel!" she took off after her younger sister who had suddenly gained a tremendous amount of energy.

---

A good-looking boy of Narcissa's age with wavy ebon hair nearly spat out his pumpkin juice cocktail. "You what?"

"I've been accepted into Hogwarts early," Bellatrix repeated, annoyed. "Sirius, must I always repeat my words? By the way, that's disgusting." She eyed the spat pumpkin juice, staining the white silk tablecloth, with disdain.

"But that doesn't happen!" Sirius protested.

"Well, it just did," Bellatrix dryly repeated her father's words. She left out the last part about the Ministry hoping for more trained wizards faster.

"This is, well, a deathwish," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I was hoping for some alone time, but on the other hand, we can play tricks more effectively with all of us."

"Indeed," was all Andromeda said. While she was far from outspoken, she was never usually this quiet. She was in deep thought about this turn of events.

Narcissa's eyes lingered on her auburn-haired sister for a moment before returning to the conversation. "I wonder if Lucius knows. He'd go ballistic if he knew he suddenly had to take care of so many."

---

Bellatrix sat by her bay window, pondering the reasons for this unusual happening. Her father had mentioned a likely one, but she always liked to have many perspectives of one idea. It made her feel more secure about everything. At that inopportune moment, Bellatrix's turquoise-blue eyes fell upon her reflection in an heirloom mirror. Okay, I'm not stupid, but I'm no prodigy either. They couldn't have selected talented people to go enroll early, because Regulus was not selected, and he's as talented as they come. It definitely isn't because of looks, she thought depressively at her reflection.

Most people would have seen a very young but fairly pretty girl with blue eyes the colour of an eternally blue sky, fair skin such as a pearl from minimal sun exposure, and obsidian black waves of thin black hair. Bellatrix, on the other hand, found her eyes dull compared to the blue topaz gemstone she wore around her neck on a gold chain, that her skin was a wan and blotchy yellow, and that her hair never bounced to her content. Every kid had self-image issues, yet they never reached the "brink of depression", as Regulus liked to put it. Neither Narcissa nor Andromeda found themselves hideous they way Bellatrix did.

Bellatrix sighed. She knew they considered themselves "not ugly" and "possibly even above average". If they were only above average at best, what does that make me? She thought miserably. "I don't belong here," she whispered as she struggled to keep the tears from falling. I'm not a noblewoman.

"Bel? Bel!" Narcissa gasped as she gently pushed the door open. She completely forgot all sense of elegance as she rapidly asked, "Bel, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Andromeda appeared beside her. "Please tell us. If you do not wish to go to Hogwarts early, I am sure they will not push the matter."

"No, it has nothing to do with that," the youngest sister choked. "I just – don't feel as if I belong to this family." Bellatrix tearfully poured out her thoughts to her sisters. They had always known about her self-image issues, but they had already been through that talk. Bellatrix had tried her best to think of other things, but today, one thing led to another, and she was reminded of the face she viewed as repulsive.

Her sisters were heartbroken to see their youngest sister look so forlorn, but they too were young. The only thing eleven-year-old Cissa came up with was a distraction. "Oh, Bel, please don't dwell on this. What do you need as proof that you are pretty enough to be in the Black family?" Narcissa waited despairingly for an answer that did not come. Her eyes darted around the room trying to find inspiration. They landed on a letter Bellatrix had started to Sirius. "Bel, you know how Hogwarts sent a list of supplies needed for the school year?"

Bellatrix blinked, her eyes still puffy. "Yes, I know."

"We must go shopping for them, right?"

"Cissa, tell me this is not what I'm thinking it is," Andromeda groaned in a very unladylike manner.

"We can go to Diagon Alley! I can surely persuade Mother and Father to let us go off alone for awhile. After all, we have been trained with some basics of magic that do not require wands. We will have some sort of protection. Yes, that's it!" Narcissa jumped up to go speak with their parents.

"Cissa, you can't!" Andromeda wailed, whipping around. "Walking around with you all day is so exhausting!"

---

So for that reason (or rather, none whatsoever), the three Black sisters, their cousins Sirius and Regulus, and family friend Lucius Malfoy set off together without any parents to slow them down during school shopping. The three boys were a bit reluctant to shop with the girls, in particular, Cissa, who had a bad habit of taking a long time looking at merchandise and making her friends carry what she had purchased. However, they were all friends, and none wanted to abandon Bellatrix.

"Here's the plan," Sirius declared suddenly. All eyes went to the dark-haired boy. "We all go get our school stuff together. Then, we split up for time to ourselves, and meet back in front of Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour an hour after."

"That sounds good," Cissa agreed quickly, not wanting any conflicts today. The others must have had the same train of thought, because they all nodded in consent.

"Um, I'm not going into Hogwarts until next year," Regulus spoke up quietly.

"That's fine," Lucius threw back his chin-length blonde hair. "You should stay with us. I don't even want to know what your parents would do to me if you got lost." He gave an involuntary shudder. Sometimes, even the prim nobility could be extremely frightening. Little did he know then that in reality, the perfect icy façade of most nobles masked impulsive souls, and they could be downright base.

"All right, you guys," Andromeda said softly. "No one is getting lost. First stop, Madam Malkin's Robes. We need three black work robes, and apparently a winter cloak is also needed. I wonder if they sell the required pointed hats and work gloves there, too."

Bellatrix, on the other hand, had other concerns – concerns that usually only Narcissa would have. "We need three sets of black work robes?" she nearly screamed.

"Be quiet, Bel," Andromeda hushed her distractedly. "They sell work robes in higher quality materials too. We can purchase durable work robes, and new dress robes of the finest silk as a bonus. They have better Muggle-wear too, for when we have to be seen by Muggles. They are known to keep up with the latest fashions."

"But Andie," Narcissa whined pleadingly to her younger sister, "It says it has to be plain black work robes. How can we possibly wear something plain?"

Andie blinked. "We are born to the noble house of Black," Andie decided smugly, "and we will wear whatever we choose to wear. No one dictates how to dress us!"

The boys met each others' eyes, and all three shared a different notion. Sirius declared, "Actually, we are born to the noble house of Black, and what looks like miserable rags on others will look like finery on us!"

The group entered the shop, greeted by Madam Malkin as the "shining jewels of the wizardry world". She was rather surprised that Regulus was the only one who did not need robes emblazoned with the seal of Hogwarts, but didn't dare question them. Knowing perfectly well the immaculate tastes of these noble children, she hurried to find the best "work robes" available. Obviously the smallest size of the expensive robes was still too large for the children, and alterations had to be made. Their orders turned out to be extremely stylized silk robes – hardly what one would conduct every day business in. Once they finished purchasing their work robes, Madam Malkin allowed them to browse through the collection of dress robes while she tended to other customers.

Sirius rolled his eyes at his cousins. "Tell me again why we need dress robes."

Lucius gave him a poke in the ribs while Andie steered the blame off Bellatrix. "We are outgrowing our current ones. It would perhaps be less awkward to choose regular robes in different colours, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for."

Once again, Regulus nervously put out his voice. "Shouldn't you get your other stuff first? I mean, Hogwarts requires a lot of other things."

"We have lots of time to go do shopping," Cissa insisted from the other side of the room. She had been most enthusiastic to reach this point of their shopping spree.

Bellatrix carefully scrutinized every set of dress robes. Feeling the soft materials gave her much delight. She caressed a cerulean coloured dress robe lovingly, when a voice behind her spoke.

"I wouldn't get those if I were you."

Bellatrix nearly jumped a mile, and turned to see a smiling boy around Narcissa's age. Though his smile was kind and gentle, there was something of mischief gleaming in his hazel eyes. "Those white ones bring out your eyes better." He pointed to an area she had not yet searched.

"My eyes…" Bellatrix was taken aback. "How long have you been watching me?" she demanded. "You have been stalking me, and infringing upon my privacy, haven't you!"

The boy stopped and pretended to think before he said, mockingly, "I have been here about seven minutes. I'd say that makes me just another customer. Now, spill, little lady. What troubles my fair damsel so?"

Bellatrix was so surprised that the strange boy could have read her so clearly (her poker face likely a result of growing up with Sirius and Regulus) and that she allowed herself to be followed for so long, she found herself spilling all of her troubles to a complete stranger.

"Beauty? All that sadness in your eyes is due to self-image issues?" the black-haired boy asked incredulously. He shook his head in dismay. "What standards do your parents set for you? Beauty is the last thing you should worry about. When I first caught sight of you, I thought the Lord had sent an angel."

Bellatrix blinked once, and the boy was gone. She thought perhaps he had been an illusion – a figment of her imagination. After all, last night had been another sleepless night for her. But when she looked in the corner, she saw the beautifully cut robes of white satin. Indeed, those robes the boy showed her were more suitable for Bel's eyes.

"Bel!" Cissa ran over to her holding two dress robes – one ice blue and the other a pale rose. "Which is better?"

"Um…" Bellatrix eyed the dress robes vaguely, not really focused on her sister. "I think you should try them on."

Cissa slipped on the pink one first. "How do I look?"

"If I tell you that you look like a princess, will you please hurry up?" Sirius interrupted impatiently.

Cissa glared at Sirius and quickly slipped the blue one on instead. "What about this one?"

Lucius entered at this moment, which was quite unfortunate. Upon seeing Cissa, his nose began to bleed profusely for no known reason. Sirius' eyes opened wide. "Narcissa, this thing's cursed! It's making Lucius' nose bleed."

"Now, really, which looks better?" Narcissa demanded.

"Um, well, both of them look stunning on you," Bellatrix answered truthfully.

The end result was that Cissa purchased both robes, claiming that money wasn't a problem anyway (Sirius whined that she should have just done so from the beginning instead of taking twenty minutes to interrogate everyone). Due to the fact that it has been awhile since Bellatrix last visited Gringott's (and because the point of this trip was to cheer Bel up), Cissa paid for Bel's dress robes too. Andie and Regulus were both waiting outside for the rest of the group to show up. Apparently Andromeda had purchased a set of garnet dress robes which she had had in mind before they'd arrived, allowing Madam Malkin to find the perfect set within two minutes.

"We can get the winter cloak and dragon gloves in Hogsmeade," Andromeda said instantly. "Madam Malkin doesn't have any now, and besides, Hogsmeade does have a number of specialty stores not found in Diagon Alley."

"Well, whatever," Sirius drawled, returning to his casual, lazy manner. "What about the hat? Can that be purchased in Hogsmeade as well?"

Before Sirius could slip off, Lucius reminded them of all the Hogwarts equipment they had yet to purchase. "Let's see… we need to hit the apothecary for potions ingredients as well as get a cauldron for each of you. A set of phials can be saved for Hogsmeade if we are missing them at home. I know it says that you need glass or crystal phials, but my parents supplied diamond phials last year – they're more durable – and I believe your parents would prefer the same. The scales and telescope are probably covered too. All that's left are books and wands. Then, we're free to go where we like."

Off they went, smoothly purchasing their potions ingredients, cauldrons (Sirius had to be dragged away from the finest gold cauldron), and books. Narcissa nearly ripped through Sirius's robes with her perfectly manicured fingernails to get him to stop "browsing" through books in Flourish and Blotts. He had intended to stay there memorizing hexes, as he had mismanaged his allowance and spent most of his money on fireworks the previous week, which annoyed everyone else who was ready to go. Sirius left the bookstore with an armload of books regarding hexing. Then, they had to be gentler when Bellatrix would not keep her eyes off a racing broom.

The last task had been wands. Lucius had done this on purpose to keep them all anxious and excited. He explained that they just needed to "test wave" their wands to figure out which was ideal for them. Sirius wanted to get his wand first (apparently, in his opinion, he was the only male who needed one, and used that information to deduce that he had priority). Ollivander, the owner of the wand shop, constantly jumped up and down trying to find Sirius a wand that would accept him. In the midst of all this, Ollivander found the effort to explain a bit of the background of the wands he sold. As a result of his apparent lack of a need for breathing, his words were clear as day.

"I imagine perhaps you would like to know about our wands. Well we use all types of high quality wood, so long as it's sturdy. Unless it's been specially arranged, we only use dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix tail feathers. Some people choose to sell us these magical substances; we accept any of the above. Ah!" Ollivander jumped.

What must have been Sirius' thirtieth wand attempted to use, an 11-inch orange wood wand with unicorn hair, shot out a jet of dark blue light which shattered a window extremely close to where a certain dark-haired boy was hiding.

"Hey watch it, kid!" the same boy Bellatrix met earlier in Madam Malkin's leapt out from behind a stack of boxes containing wands in order to dodge the glass shards.

"Reparo," Ollivander muttered, causing the window to fix itself. He turned to the boy. "Back again, young Mr. Potter? No matter how much gold you give me, I will not arrange a golden handle to your wand! By the way, Mr. Black, that wand is 7 galleons. Next!"

"Whatever," the boy rolled his eyes. As he walked past Sirius, he added, "A curse on your entire family, nimrod."

Andromeda, who had begun trying out for her own wand, whipped around with the same lightning-quick reflexes the Potter boy had used to escape the glass. "You take that back," she growled, her voice low and cold, her demeanor suddenly haughty, "Who do you think you are, wishing ill of the Black family, one of the most blue-blooded magic-wielding families? Let me remind you that you are outnumbered five Black's and one Malfoy to one… what was it, Potter? You stand no chance against us!"

As Andie stopped to take a breath, the boy looked around, taking in her words. Spotting Bellatrix, he sauntered over to her smugly. "So we meet again, my angel. I take it you must be the Malfoy. Surely you cannot be related to those two."

Bellatrix felt warmth creeping into her cheeks. "Um, actually, my name is Bellatrix Black." She gestured towards Lucius. "If you are looking for Lucius Malfoy, he is over there."

He barely glanced at the nervous older boy who was praying that all hell would not be unleashed. "I'm James Potter. Sorry to say, angel, but I got other things planned for the day. I hope you rub off on your siblings."

"Hold it right there!" Narcissa commanded. James obliged without hesitation.

"Ah, yet another lovely girl?" James commented with a hint of both sarcasm and satisfaction. "Today must be my lucky day. Since Lady Bellatrix here is already Angel, you can be Faerie."

"My name is not 'Faerie'," Narcissa yelled losing her patience and beginning to turn scarlet in her fury. "I am Narcissa Black, eldest of the Black family flowers. I must repeat Andie's words: who do you think you are?" And because she had no wand, Cissa chose to give James a quick jab to the temple. Though James displayed speed just moments before, an attack from the gentle-looking girl had caught him off-guard. However, he was just as quick to return the blow.

Meanwhile, Andromeda began cheering, visibly excited at the prospect of a fight. "Cissa! Cissa! She's the… um… High Princess? Anyway… if she can't do it no one can!"

"No fair," James pouted, while trying to avoid at least half of Narcissa's attacks. "I want a hot cheerleader too! How come she gets one?" He looked hopefully towards the spot where Bellatrix had been, only to find her gone. Lucius, who had buried his face in one hand, now got out his own wand.

"Stupefy! Tranquilius!" a red spell shot James and he fell unconscious. A clear blue spell hit Narcissa, and she fell to the ground before recovering, a once again calm and collected person. Lucius looked towards Ollivander. "It is advised against to do magic over the summer, but I really thought it was out of necessity, and there are no Muggles around, so um…"

To all the (conscious) children's surprise, Ollivander smiled. "No, I should thank you, Mr. Malfoy. This boy has been quite bothersome. I should be rewarding you. Don't worry; I will tell the Ministry that I have simply mistaken you for a customer trying out a wand. You all have family owls, I suppose? I can get you each individually a beautiful owl in the nearby emporium free of charge. If you would like, I would give the rest of you free wands. That's three girls, no, wait… Where is the youngest?"

"I am right here!" Bellatrix squeaked. Everyone turned but could not find her.

"Where are you?" Andromeda asked, as confused as everyone else.

"I'm in this corner," Bellatrix stumbled out of nowhere. "I was right where James had been."

"I'm sure it's Potter's invisibility cloak," Ollivander said slowly.

"It probably slipped over me," Bellatrix's eyes opened wide. "I felt something soft and I was thinking of how it might best look on me…"

Though Narcissa had been worried about Bellatrix, she now had other concerns. "If he has an invisibility cloak, surely he is of a reasonably prominent family."

"As far as I am concerned, prominent family or not, he is still the most pathetic bastard ever to live," Andromeda seethed. "I will personally see to it that the last thing he sees is a jet of light flying from the tip of my wand!"

Sirius snorted. "First, you will have to get a wand, ditz!"

Andromeda flushed lightly but quickly regained her composure. "Of course I know that. Those words just flew out of my mouth."

The wand-shopping was quickly wrapped up. Andromeda didn't take nearly as long as Sirius did. She found a ten and a half inch maple wand (another unicorn tail hair core) on her 14th try. Narcissa was best; the moment she touched her fifth wand, one with a phoenix tail core, a pink thick mist waved out of the honey peach wood. This caused little Bellatrix to suddenly become even more nervous than she had been. Bellatrix grew worried that the ideal wand would be the very last wand in the shop. However, fate had strange things in store for her, one of the many she will come to face.

"You would not happen to be Bellatrix Seraphys Black, would you?" Ollivander peered down at the small girl.

Bellatrix jumped lightly at the sound of her middle name. "I am."

Ollivander turned and left the children alone without another word. They could hear him rummaging through boxes and cases in the back of the store.

Lucius stared at Bellatrix. "Your middle name is Seraph, is it?"

"That, and fifty others," she muttered darkly. Lucius looked politely confused.

This time, Sirius stepped forward to explain. "Every time someone is expecting a child in the Black family, they first write the given name, which is traditionally a cosmic name, leave a big gap on the parchment, and then write 'Black'. All suggested middle names are written into the big gap. In order to choose which name goes onto the birth certificate, they close their eyes and randomly point to one. Whichever name their wand lands on is the name that goes on the birth certificate. The paper with the vast number of middle names is left in the Black family records. We have looked through them out of curiosity, but otherwise they remain untouched."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes, "And just my luck, they missed the slightly more normal names. My middle name could have been Iris or Leila. It just had to be Seraphys."

"Hey, don't complain!" Andie shot across the room. "The Seraphim are the highest order of angel. Callida doesn't sound even half as cool as Seraph does. Mind you, Andromeda hardly rolls of the tongue!"

Narcissa gave both of her younger sisters dark looks. "Complain all you want, but be grateful you're not me. Honestly, they named me Caldara. Not only is it unusual phonetically, it means 'frozen rainmaker'."

Lucius couldn't help laughing at that. "I thought I had it bad."

This made Regulus quite curious. "Why? What is your middle name?"

Lucius regretted not controlling his emotions better. "Dundrake," he mumbled.

"Forgive me for the wait," Ollivander said as he returned, holding an exquisite black box. It was adorned with a number of rhinestones, twinkling like the stars in the sky. It easily captured the attention of all the children. He opened the box and handed the wand to Bellatrix. "Please, try it out."

As soon as she laid hands on the polished wand, Bellatrix loved it. It was a magnificent ten and three-quarters inch wand made entirely of Purple Heart. Bellatrix's confidence swelled to the point that it could almost be considered normal. She only flicked her wand slightly the first time, expecting some magic as fantastic as the wand itself. Nothing happened, so Bellatrix waved it more urgently. Again, there was no effect, so she resignedly handed the beautiful wand back to Ollivander.

"It didn't choose me," Bellatrix said grimly.

"This is interesting, but how did she know?" he asked absentmindedly.

"What is it?" Bellatrix pleaded. "Is there something special about my wand?"

"Yesterday, a young girl delivered this wand and box to me. She looked a bit like yourself, you know. I had never seen her in my entire life, though some of her features seemed both familiar and foreign at the same time. She has the same black hair as you do, and the same white skin, and the same blue eyes. Well, she was not regal-looking, but she had the same colouring." Ollivander added as an afterthought. "It was very unusual, as I obviously did not sell her any wand when she was younger. She stated that this wand had been custom-made for Bellatrix Seraphys Black. She also said that everything would be explained to you after you entered school. There was a simple and elegant sincerity to her voice. What the magical substance at the core was, she would not say. I put it away securely, not expecting a rightful Bellatrix to claim it so soon." Ollivander recalled this the same way he could recall every wand and its owner; his perfect memory was astounding.

"I cannot believe someone custom-made this wand for me," Bellatrix wondered.

"Still," Ollivander cut into her reverie, causing her to jump, "it did not react to your touch. It may have been bequeathed to you, but still I'll have to find you another wand to use until you can use that one."

Eventually, after about ten tries, Bellatrix wielded a long wand, twelve and three-quarters inches in length, made of walnut wood and with a dragon heartstring core. She waved it slightly and, to everyone's surprise, millions of flower petals began to rain down in the shop. Ollivander tried a Finite Incantatem to stop it, but gave up, hoping it would cease in time.

"Anyway, since the girl did not charge me money, and because young Mr. Malfoy helped me out here, it's all free of charge." Ollivander then left them alone to help another girl who had just walked in with her mother. She looked nervous, but seeing the Blacks (save for Regulus) all having got their wands successfully relaxed her a bit. The girl had red-gold hair and was fair-skinned like Andromeda, except her eyes were the colour of June's finest laurels instead of Andromeda's clear blue. Andromeda gave the girl an encouraging smile; she was the only one who noticed that the girl's red locks were similar to her own, though the stranger's were a more fiery red. The gesture was returned.

"Why does Bel get a custom wand?" Sirius complained as they left, all but forgetting Ollivander's promise of owls. "And why was I so unlucky in my wands?"

---

Monday, July 31, 1971 ~ Bellatrix turns 9

Friday, September 1, 1971 ~ Hogwarts term begins

The two Black brothers Artemus and Apollo stood with their respective spouses Bellanca Fairfax and Eulalia Ignatius. They had to send their children off at King's Cross, and all refused to be absent. The tradition of being named for significant cosmic entities did not, obviously, extend to the spouses. Bellanca's blood was as pure as Eulalia's. While Eulalia was chosen for Apollo over Lysha, a pure-blooded beauty, it was only because of her vast fortune. When it came Artemus' turn for marriage, Lysha was already betrothed to another, so Bellanca was chosen instead. Artemus taunted Apollo day and night about missing his chance with Lysha, who had wedded Witha Patil, and had two sons and a daughter. Apollo did not have much regrets in the end, though, as both Sirius and Regulus had his aristocratic features.

Bellanca was not like Eulalia, who had grown up always getting her way. Bellanca was pleased with her lovely face, but grew up middle-class. Her spoilt behavior was nurtured after only a few years of marriage. Against Artemus' wishes, she named her eldest child Narcissa, solely to taunt her sister Echo Fairfax. She backed her actions with the fact that Narcissus was a god, and thereby no less cosmic than Artemus or Apollo. She also argued that in several Eastern languages, the narcissus flower was known as the 'water fairy'. Artemus quickly claimed the naming of their next child, not caring at the moment that Andromeda was difficult to write. The third time, they were finally in agreement. In Artemus's opinion, his black-haired third child was the finest, and gave the last child the name of the blue star Bellatrix.

"Well, this is it," Lucius said awkwardly. "This is the Hogwarts Express. We just ride it until we reach Hogwarts. Er, any questions?"

Narcissa laughed a twinkling song. "You sound like a newly hired tour guide!"

Lucius flushed ever so slightly. "Yes, well, I'm supposed to help you."

They said their farewells to their parents and assured Regulus of daily letters, and boarded the train. Obviously, they had requested an executive compartment. Andromeda lingered behind to see if she could find the girl she saw at the wand shop the other day.

"I'll never understand her. She's running off to find someone she'll probably never see again!" Sirius shook his head before calling after her. "Andie, carry your own baggage!"

A visibly annoyed Andromeda ran back to collect her belongings before taking off once more, auburn waves flying.

The others passed the first of five executive compartments. Though the door guaranteed privacy in most cases, obviously the passengers in this one did not care. They were being so loud that if there was no door, it would be no surprise if one heard them from Hampshire. In fact, even strident Sirius could not take it. He rammed the sliding glass door open, causing the passengers as well as his cousins to look up in alarm.

"Shut the hell up!" he yelled. "My cousin in America could hear you lot!"

"You're the one making noise now," a black-haired boy said irritably. They instantly recognized him as James Potter. "Oh, it's you. Where are the three hotnesses I saw last time?"

"You – stay – away – from – Cissa – Andie – and – Bel! Do – I – make – myself – clear?" Sirius managed through gritted teeth, becoming angrier with each word.

"Crys – tal!" James mocked. "Do I have 'serial killer' stamped on my forehead or something?" There was clear annoyance in his voice.

One of James' friends, a darker-skinned foreigner, put his hand on James' shoulder and desperately said, "Come now, relax. You've got an entire school year to be pissed off." Despite his appearance, he had no accent. Turning to Sirius, he calmly stated, "I was under the impression this was an executive compartment. If we were far too loud, we will lower the volume. Please leave now."

Sirius obliged, thankfully. Lucius was finally given a moment in which he could breathe easily. Cissa followed suit, even though it was plain as day she wanted to hit James. The occupants, who consisted of James, the dark-skinned boy, a girl who could be his sister and a boy with light brown hair, each bowed their heads as they left.

"Wait a moment," Bellatrix stopped. She looked directly at the girl. "Miss…"

The girl looked up. "I'm Kalila Patil." Her eyes were very big, but not unnaturally so. She looked very pretty with her milky coffee-coloured skin and large violet eyes, striking a pang of envy in Bellatrix's heart.

"Would you like to come with us? I will be there with my two sisters, one of whom has gone off to fetch another girl. If you would like to join us, please…"

Kalila only looked at her brother. "May I go, Jamal?"

"It's okay, Kalila," he smiled. "We can invite some friends."

With that, Kalila followed Bellatrix to the compartment reserved for the Black's and Lucius. Shortly afterwards, Andromeda reappeared with the same red-haired girl from before. At second glance, Andromeda's hair no longer seemed so red next to this girl's. She ushered the hesitant girl in and moved to introduce her.

"Everyone," Andromeda addressed in a clear voice, "this is Lily."

"Hi," Lily said calmly, though there was excitement in her voice.

"Hi," the entire compartment chorused. Each went around and introduced him or herself. Lily noted that most of them were related and seemed right at home with each other; she also noted that they all looked different though aristocratic in their own right.

The seven of them – Lucius, Sirius, Bellatrix, Kalila, Andromeda, Narcissa, and Lily – got along well, sharing sweets that were delivered straight to their compartment. That ended, however, when Lily was far too amazed by some of the sweets. She was fine eating pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs, but upon seeing the moving photos in the trading card that came with each chocolate frog, Lily panicked and screamed while pointing her finger at the card which she had dropped onto the floor of the compartment.

"It's moving!" she shrieked. "The photo of that wizard is moving!"

At first, Narcissa pleasantly picked it up to see which wizard was on the card. She turned it over and gasped and delightedly said, "Wow, Lily, you got one of the rarest cards in the series!" She held it up for her friends to see; the name read "Ptolemy".

Lily continued to scream and they turned to her concerned. All of a sudden, Lily's shrieks became more intelligible, and they all realized in horror why Lily had panicked.

In a swift movement, Lucius was up with his hand clamped over Lily's mouth. "Don't move. Don't panic." It was evident that he had a cold sweat about him. "J-just get out of here. Don't come back." His arms gave just enough to pressure to nudge her out the compartment door. Lucius slammed it shut behind Lily.

Outside, Lily began to doubt what her friend Severus had told her: that her Muggle birth made no difference. It seemed that, at least to what would have been her first new friends, it made a big difference. It also seemed that moving photos were the norm in the magical world she was beginning to doubt she belonged to. Lily wondered how much her heritage would mean to others.

Meanwhile, the passengers inside that compartment sat in horrified silence, before mayhem broke out among them. Lucius slammed his fist into the compartment wall and ranted, "Your parents are going to kill me!" while Narcissa screamed at her sister, "Andie, how could you? You had better make sure that that filthy girl does not tell!"

Tears streamed down Bellatrix's face. She had never once made contact with a non-pureblood person before, and she was afraid of what her parents would say now. She envisioned a terrifying image of her parents storming into Hogwarts – wait, what was she saying? Her parents never stormed around like a commoner in their entire lives! – and pulling her from school, or worse, from her friends, in all their majestic glory. Bellatrix had rarely ever seen her parents angry at her, though they have clearly shown a disappearing tolerance for Sirius's ways. She considered how she could possibly look at her parents' disappointed faces, and shuddered.

Andromeda wailed at the chaotic compartment. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "In my defense, she seemed to be decently knowledgeable. She was neither nervous nor gaping like most Mudbloods are."

"Everyone," Kalila spoke up hesitantly for the first time since Lily was evicted. "I think we ought to just keep quiet about this incident. She has not really done anything to us, and it was really just a brief encounter. We can just pretend it never happened."

An hour later, the executive compartment with the Black's was calmer. All of the compartment's occupants were dressed in their school robes (Kalila blended right in with the Black's, as she had also refused to wear plain work robes), and there was a tense silence in which everyone just smiled tentatively at one another. As the Hogwarts Express pulled into the school's train station, they noted the heavy rainfall that signified the approaching autumn when they stepped out of the train, thankful that the school would be transporting their luggage; they each had no less than four suitcases, each with its interior enlarged.

As the first-year students would be taking boats to cross the lake to Hogwarts while other students would ride thestral-drawn carriages, Lucius took a temporary leave of his friends. Narcissa and Andromeda stayed close to Bellatrix, fiercely guarding their youngest sister. Sirius joined them in their boat, while Kalila went off to find her twin brother Jamal.

The journey across the lake was highly uncomfortable for the pampered Black royalty. Freezing rain plummeted from the skies, and the clouds had turned a sinister grey colour. The tiny boat rocked and made many of the first-year students sick. By the time everyone made it to the front gate of Hogwarts, they were ready to be intimidated by just about anything. It did not help matters that the middle-aged woman who led them from the gate inside Hogwarts looked ready to explode on the first-years at any moment in anger at something that happened to her earlier.

She has a good face, Bellatrix supposed. The woman, who had introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall, the one who had sent out the letters to the students, had a regal look about her. Her cheekbones, eye-shape, and eyebrows were exquisite, and her lashes long. She had deep blue eyes and black, but graying, hair. She was very good-looking ten years ago.

They were led right before the Great Hall, where they were instructed on the Sorting Ceremony. This, many of the pureblooded students assumed, was for the benefit of those who came from common Muggle families – the Mudblood students. As they entered the Hall, they were aware that close to three hundred others – students and teachers and ghosts – were already watching them as they walked in a line behind Professor McGonagall. The ceiling of the Great Hall certainly bewitched a fair number of students, showing the night sky instead of simply wood or brick; the aristocratic students, who had the very same mystical ceiling in at least one room in their own estates, were appreciative but unimpressed.

The Black's were quickly bored, as they realized they would have to wait their turns to try on a "Sorting Hat", which would place them into their own Houses. Of course, with a name like "Black", they did not have to wait very long, but to them, any wait was absolutely scandalous. With insolent and haughty looks on their faces, they stood as one boy and one girl went before them, into Slytherin and Hufflepuff respectively.

"Black, Andromeda!" Professor McGonagall called.

As Andromeda gracefully walked, with her chin raised, to the stool where she was to be sorted, she noticed another girl – probably in her sixth or seventh year – hovering near where Professor McGonagall stood. Professor McGonagall gave no impression that she noticed the other girl was nearby, watching her carefully as she read the names. Andromeda gave the girl another wary glance, though hidden within a look of disdain, before putting the old Sorting Hat on her head.

"With courage like yours, you could be in Gryffindor, you know?" the Sorting Hat said to Andromeda alone. "What say you to being a bold Gryffindor?"

My family will disown me, surely. Andromeda thought to the hat. Besides, Gryffindor favours Mudblood students the most of the founders. I surely cannot belong to his house, can I? Besides, I'm not some flashy glory-seeker.

"You'll take back those words, one day, you will," the hat reassured her unsettlingly. "Well, then, why don't you go to RAVENCLAW!" The hat bellowed the last word out to the entire Hall.

Andromeda bounced off to sit at the Ravenclaw table after pulling the hat off. She had her doubts about how happy her parents would be that she was not in Slytherin, but at least she avoided Hufflepuff.

"Black, Bellatrix!"

Bellatrix noticed the mysterious girl too, as she sat down. The girl had definitely noted Andromeda's sorting; Bellatrix saw her scribbling into a small piece of parchment. Out of the corner of her eye, Bellatrix's heart missed a beat when she saw that the girl had blue eyes of a very familiar shade. She has the same black hair as you do, and the same white skin, and the same blue eyes. Bellatrix remembered Ollivander's words clearly.

Her heart raced as she put the Sorting Hat on; what if she landed herself away from every one of her sisters and her cousin? Thus, Bellatrix begged to the Sorting Hat, Please put me with Sirius, Cissa, and Andie. Please don't split us up.

"What, don't you want to make a name for yourself?" the hat asked her. "Don't you want to carve your own way of life? Besides, what's a skinny twerp like you doing, telling the Sorting Hat what to do?"

I apologize, sir. Bellatrix thought back more politely. I do wish to stay with my family though. Please put me in Ravenclaw with Andie, and I will do my best to fit in.

"Don't fit in, you stupid girl!" the hat roared inside Bel's head, making her jump slightly. "Be yourself! Well, whatever you say – RAVENCLAW!"

Bellatrix saw the same mysterious girl scrawling something into the parchment again; was she the recorder of students at Hogwarts? She lightly danced off to join Andromeda at the Ravenclaw table while she waited to see what would become of Narcissa and Sirius.

"Black, Narcissa!"

Even more gracefully than her sisters did, Narcissa walked up to the stool like a supermodel. She was better than the other students; she knew it, and she wanted everyone else to know it too. Narcissa looked every bit the part of a queen when her left arm reached for the hat and crossed her body to drop the hat on her head; she let her fingers rest on the brim of the hat.

"Tricky one, aren't you?" the hat whispered to her. "You have a lot of loyalty to your family; that would go well with the Hufflepuff House."

Narcissa frowned visibly. Listen, you. If you dare put me in Hufflepuff, I shall have you burned in Fiendfyre.

"No need to be hasty! No need to be hasty!" the hat quickly replied. "You are still very loyal to your friends and family, few as they may be. Well, seeing as you're willing to do anything for the sake of those few people, you belong to SLYTHERIN!"

Bellatrix saw Lucius break into a smile when he heard Narcissa's fate, and she could not help smiling herself. Narcissa first made her way to the Ravenclaw table to hug her sisters before joining the Slytherin table. Lucius embraced Narcissa tightly in congratulations and she gave her sisters a bittersweet smile across the hall. The girl shadowing McGonagall was writing again.

"Black, Sirius!"

By now, there were whispers across the hall.

"Blimey, they're hot! Well, not the bloke for me, but the other three were…"

"How many of them are there? Do you think there are any more girls?"

Sirius dropped all grace and dignity; he had waited too long, and all of his cousins were sorted. He eagerly dropped it on his head.

"Another Black?" the hat wondered. "Why are there so many of you this year?"

Hey, that's not very nice! Sirius thought back. By the lottery system, they had Andie accepted a year early, and they had Bel accepted two years early. Now, sort me.

"Fine," the hat said. It made some painful noises which, Sirius was quite sure, were unnecessary. "Well, then, GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius sat there for a moment, in shock. It had been quite awhile since there were any non-disowned relatives sorted into Gryffindor. Bellatrix and Andromeda exchanged a wary glance; they were definitely pondering their aunt and uncle's response. The same uncertain looks were exchanged between Lucius and Narcissa at the Slytherin table. At long last, the strange girl who had been taking notes on their sorting waved her hand, and an invisible force steered Sirius off the stool and onto a seat at the Gryffindor table – he had quite forgotten he had to move. Laughter erupted around the hall.

Most of the Sorting Ceremony passed in a blur for the Black's and Lucius Malfoy. Sirius was most displeased when the next student to be sorted into Gryffindor was Lily Evans; more so because he had to sit next to her. Lily made a big show of ignoring Sirius and smiling at a sallow-looking boy who had not yet been sorted. He was a bit relieved when an exhausted-looking and pale boy named Remus Lupin who had been with James on the train was sorted into Gryffindor; he instantly moved to his other side to avoid Lily. Soon, after Jamal Patil was sorted into Slytherin and then Kalila Patil into Ravenclaw, Remus and Sirius were joined by another boy – a small, nervous-looking boy named Peter Pettigrew. Meanwhile, Kalila had joined Andromeda and Bellatrix; it seemed they would be fast friends. Over at the Slytherin table, Jamal had shaken hands with Lucius and Narcissa, but was anxiously watching the sorting.

"Potter, James!"

Andromeda instantly stiffened at the Ravenclaw table upon hearing the name of the impertinent boy from Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express. Bellatrix and Kalila both subconsciously placed hands on Andie's shoulders. Jamal watched James very carefully; it looked to Kalila as if her brother was holding his breath.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Jamal was very obviously disappointed and annoyed that his good friend would be in a rival house from him. Sirius, meanwhile, was also visibly in a bad mood. Even though they could not hear him, all three of his cousins had no doubts whatsoever that Sirius swore under his breath the whole time as James walked from the Sorting Hat's stool to the seat beside Pettigrew. James seemed happy enough about being sorted into Gryffindor, but aside from simply saying a quick "hello" to Lily, Remus, and Peter, he ignored Sirius and stared at the opposite end of the hall at Jamal.

Even though the sorting finished, the headmaster Dumbledore had spoken, and the golden plates on the tables had filled with food, a certain fraction of the first-years seemed upset and grim as opposed to excited. At the Ravenclaw table, Kalila urged Bellatrix to eat. "Come on, you have to have something." Kalila dropped a little bit of buttery mashed potato into Bellatrix's plate, and then heaped gravy onto it.

"I am not hungry," Bellatrix muttered, but she demurely ate the portion of potato. She had not yet been at Hogwarts an hour, and already things were looking chaotic. At least at dessert, Bellatrix's appetite was more stimulated. She devoured two bowls of ice cream and had a slice of black forest cake; Kalila's jaw dropped uncharacteristically.

Andromeda tapped Bellatrix on the shoulder and asked, "Did you check to make sure that everything was okay to eat?"

"Mother and Father already contacted Professor Dumbledore regarding my food allergies," Bellatrix responded, hastily swallowing the cake in her mouth and choking. "He guaranteed that nothing served would be of any inconvenience."

The red-haired sister nodded; she herself had not eaten more than peas and carrots, much to Kalila's annoyance. Kalila had threatened to tell the teachers the Black sisters were anorexic in order to prompt them to "stop being emo and eat".

"What do you think will happen now?" Bellatrix murmured to Andromeda. "Were we supposed to be separated?"

"Everything will be fine, Bel," Andie said, with confidence she did not feel. "Nothing has changed. We might see each other as often as we would like, but we are still family, are we not?"

---

Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Kalila were led by Ravenclaw prefects away from students of other Houses; all Ravenclaw students were filed into a line. They flew up countless flights of spiraling stairs; Bellatrix got the impression that the Ravenclaw dormitory was in a turret. At long last, the group of Ravenclaw students stopped before a great door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.

The female prefect turned around. "All first-years, listen closely, please."

Many of the older students looked bored as the male prefect explained, "While other Houses are guarded by a password, we of the Ravenclaw House have no such need. Simply knock on the door. The knocker will ask you a question which you will have to answer satisfactorily for entry. Passwords can be slipped to students of other Houses, but only a Ravenclaw will be able to answer these questions."

In demonstration, he used the knocker and rapped the door firmly. A melodious voice sang out in resonance, "What do dreams become?"

The female prefect spoke once more, "Dreams dissipate. When one awakes, the dreams flee from conscious thought. If a dream lingers too long, it will have a similar effect as an overdose of Felix Felicis: the person will become delusional."

"Well said," the eagle's musical voice ended the concert with a perfect coda. The door swung forward to allow all the returning Ravenclaw students into the common room.

Great: I am already lost in all these Ravenclaw expectations. Bellatrix cursed herself. She lightly prodded Andromeda in the arm and whispered softly, "Andie, did you get any of that?"

Andromeda leaned back to play with one of her sister's black tresses. "All you have to do is answer the question. It is very straightforward." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"All right," Bellatrix answered resignedly. "From now on, whenever I need to return here, you had better be with me. I can see what the Sorting Hat meant: I certainly do not belong here."

The last comment resulted in Andromeda grabbing Bellatrix callously by her shoulders and spinning her so that two pairs of identical blue eyes stared into each other. Andromeda felt the other Ravenclaw students staring, but she ignored them. In a low voice, she warned, "Do not let me hear you say anything like that ever again, Bel. You were sorted into Ravenclaw. That is proof enough that you have all the right in the world to be here."

Kalila sensed tension – the sort that was not caused by every day superficial arguments. She instinctively walked up to a group consisting of several second-year students, glared at them with her powerful violet eyes, and growled disdainfully, "What are you looking at?"

The second-years instantly split, the boys ran up to their dormitory and the girls to theirs. Kalila had to work hard not to laugh when one unfortunate boy tripped going up the stairs. Throwing one last glance at her new friends, Kalila hurried to get to bed to give them some privacy.

"But, Andie," Bellatrix sniffed, shaking slightly. "The Sorting Hat did not want to put me in Ravenclaw. It was pondering so long, that I just asked to stay with you." She looked down, scared and ashamed of her actions.

Andromeda gave her sister – barely nine years old – a long look. Where have we gone wrong, God? Bel has everything, does she not? Our family lacks nothing financially. If I say so myself, my sisters and I are very regal-looking. Why does Bel never feel proud to be herself? Even if she made the Sorting Hat put her into Ravenclaw, that still means that she has the determination to go further herself, right? Andromeda was only ten years old herself; how could she possibly act as a guiding role model for a sister?

At long last, she just solemnly said, "Come on, Bel. It is quite late, and we have had a long day. If there is anything that needs to be discussed, we can talk in the morning. You will be fine, Bel." Andromeda grasped Bellatrix's hand and pulled her upstairs. Bellatrix did not protest.

Once the two were in their proper first-year dormitory, they noticed that the dormitory was more crowded; their parents had said there was usually about ten students per House every year – five boys and five girls. Ever since the Dark Lord's influence began to rise a year ago, the Ministry had been desperate to increase the number of well-trained spell-casters. Now, the Hogwarts first-year female dormitory had about ten students. Nonetheless, neither Andromeda nor Bellatrix complained loudly about sharing a room with eight others. Ignoring everyone else, they noted that the house elves had already brought their many suitcases to their assigned beds and replaced the usual linens with fine satin per the request of the Black family.

Bellatrix knew the matter was over, whether for tonight or ever. It was clear Andie did not want to talk to her because all she saw were her sister's red-gold locks shining under torch light. On Bellatrix's other side, she saw Kalila's similarly radiant ebony-coloured tresses.

---

The next morning, it was clear that year's autumn was merely going to be a transition to winter; there was no trace of golden sunshine to fall upon red leaves from the thick grey clouds. Bellatrix sluggishly pulled herself out of bed at 5 AM sharp, having had a restlessly insomniac night. She was glad it was a Saturday; at least she would have some time to freshen up and get ahead on her studies. She could not imagine how behind she must be, having had two years fewer to tone her skills than many others in her year.

After stepping out of the bathroom clean and fragrant, Bellatrix casually flipped through her Charms textbook while brushing her damp, lustrous hair. Instantly bombarded with countless entries of various charms detailing a charm's history, incantation, and required wand movement, Bellatrix knew that success as a spell-caster was not to come easily. She had grabbed her walnut wand and was mimicking the movements depicted in the book. So focused was she that when Kalila turned in her slumber, Bellatrix jumped at the sound of her comforter hitting the edge of her bed.

Try as she might, Bellatrix's shield charms were not going very well. She managed a few flickers of what might have been a protective barrier, but it was hardly enough to be considered a shield. Finally, Bellatrix got a dome-shaped wispy shield that at least surrounded her entirely, though it was no less ephemeral than before.

It could only be expected, then, that when a floating coloratura voice finally whispered, "Good job," Bellatrix let out a small coloratura scream of her own. She would have woken the nine other students in the room if the same unknown voice had no muttered, "Muffliato." Strong hands held Bellatrix by her shoulders, not ungentle. After a pause, Bellatrix was slowly swung around to face the stranger.

Bellatrix gasped slightly, instantly recognizing the girl who had stood with Professor McGonagall at the Sorting Ceremony the night before. Unable to restrain her curiosity, she blurted, "Did you forge my wand?"

The girl looked back at Bellatrix with amusement. "Well, I did not make that wand," she gestured to the walnut wand made by Ollivander, "but to answer your question, yes, I did."

"Why did you give me that wand?" Bellatrix inquired.

"I thought you might like it," she shrugged. Suddenly, she furrowed her brow, "but you are not using it, are you?" Her cool blue eyes lingered on the walnut wand, as if trying to figure it out.

"I do," Bellatrix insisted indignantly. "I waved it twice in the wand shop, but nothing happened. It is simply gorgeous, but it will not perform magic for me." She dug among her possessions for the box containing the exquisite wand. Bellatrix held it out for the girl to see: the fine handling of the wand, the regularly polished box.

After a brief silence, the girl murmured, "I see. You surely need a bit of training, then. You should be able to use it when you are a little stronger."

She said nothing more, and appeared to be in deep thought. Bellatrix hesitatingly asked, "I apologize if this offends you, but I do not really know who you are." It was question masked simply as a statement.

"My name is Dianthe," she waved the question away, although with a look of surprise on her face. Apparently, Dianthe was rarely contradicted; whatever she was, she was certainly powerful. "I should be the one apologizing, Miss Black. I am sorry I did not introduce myself earlier. Please forgive my lack of etiquette." Glancing down at Bellatrix's Charms textbook, she seemed to pull another topic of conversation from nothing, "Ah, you were practicing Shield Charms."

"Yes," Bellatrix affirmed humbly. "I am sorry, but this is my first time wielding a wand outside of Mr. Ollivander's shop."

"It is quite all right," Dianthe assured Bellatrix, patting her head. "You did very well for a first-timer. In fact, I will help you. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," Bellatrix repeated, feeling that accepting a bit of help could do no harm. "Will you help my sisters also?" Even though she had no reason to, Bellatrix suspected she would feel guilty for getting extra help.

"As of this moment, I am unsure," Dianthe confessed, dropping a bombshell on little Bellatrix's hope. "I will choose a small group of students to bring up soon. I really cannot guarantee anything until I see who has potential. With your good upbringing, though, I find it hard to believe your sisters would have tough competition for an elusive slot as my 'child'. But where is your cousin Regulus?" Dianthe was suddenly serious and grave about Regulus's absence.

"Regulus is not due to attend until next year, is he not?" Bellatrix answered, nearly believing that Regulus should have been there with them; a look of surprise was written across her pretty face. "Andromeda was not, either. I myself have come two years early, and Regulus is a year my senior."

"Well, that certainly backfired," Dianthe remarked, now seeming more interested in talking to herself, her temper flared momentarily. Seeing the curious and then frightened expression in Bellatrix's eyes, Dianthe's own expression softened. "The school wanted to start training witches and wizards earlier starting this school term so that the Ministry of Magic would have a larger crop of candidates to help fight the rising Dark Lord sooner," Dianthe explained nonchalantly, as if there was nothing immoral about the way that decision was worded. "I mean, of course they also want people to start their training sooner. He has gained a lot of influence last year, so the Ministry is growing increasingly worried. Of course, this means the Dark Lord will also have a larger selection of battle-ready followers, but the Ministry is hoping it goes their way. To all extents and purposes, Bel, I hope that you and your friends can stay neutral."

Bellatrix felt a bit taken aback at suddenly being addressed so casually as "Bel" when only minutes before she had been addressed as "Miss Black". From what she could deduce, Bellatrix figured out that Dianthe probably had some hand in rigging the lottery with hopes of seeing all the Black children of her generation.

"Why did you want to have my cousins, my sisters, and me at Hogwarts so soon?" Bellatrix suddenly felt the need to interrogate the older student, especially since this concerned her family. Students usually do not have such power and influence, do they? Bellatrix subconsciously worried. "We are the same as any other pureblood student."

Well, I certainly can not just say that I was just curious about them. Dianthe thought wryly. A nine-year-old is never going to think she has anything in common with an old lady like me. She hesitated for a moment before admitting part of the truth, "Your name is beautiful. It caught my eye."

"Bellatrix," she murmured in wonder.

"Did you know that Bellatrix is the name of a shining blue star?" Dianthe began what sounded like a long tirade to prove her point. "Blue stars may diminish the fastest, but they shine the brightest as well."

Predictions of an early demise were usually not told to children, but Bellatrix found a coarse, unrefined calm in such truth – diamond dust in the rough. "Many of my family have been name for cosmic entities."

Dianthe was not to be obstructed from having the last say. "Bellatrix can also be broken up. 'Bella' is a variation of 'Belle', which is French for 'beautiful'. 'Trix' is short for 'Beatrix', which means 'bringer of joy'. In Latin, 'Bellatrix' refers to a 'female warrior', which is probably why your star was also known as the 'Amazons' Star'."

Bellatrix froze. At last, she quietly said, "I did not. It seems my parents put more thought into naming me than I gave them credit for." Then, so as to not lose the upper hand and play directly into Dianthe's hands, Bellatrix added, "I saw what happened when Sirius forgot to get off the stool and go to the Gryffindor table. You pushed him there, and all you needed to do was wave your hand. You did not use a wand, and I saw you speak no incantation." She meant it to be accusatory.

"The ability to use magic without a wand is not common," Dianthe lightly explained, though she was both tense and delighted at the same time. "That will be something I will explain to you someday if you become one of my apostles. On the other hand, many skilled wizards can non-verbally cast magic, which gives them the element of surprise. It is very handy, and anyone can learn that skill with enough determination."

"So…" Bellatrix mentally kicked herself for speaking like a peasant as she tried to maintain conversation. "In a few weeks' time, we will have to – what is the correct word for this? – audition to be your disciple, is that correct?"

"I will make notes of your performance myself," Dianthe hesitated to explain, believing the selection will be unjust if one knows when to flaunt his or her best traits. "If there is anything else you wish to show me, then that will be your audition. However, in order to be part of this elite group, you do have to be dedicated to becoming powerful. As you might still be training a few years after you graduate from Hogwarts depending on how fast you learn, you need a stable financial status, which you of all people will never have to worry about," Dianthe added, indicating the vast Black fortune.

Bellatrix nodded to show she had made note of the strings attached to the offer. "This commitment is a big investment of time. I take that every one who is chosen will have to work with the others. It is natural, is it not? If you have the advantage of teaching multiple students at once, then you will teach us how to work together and cover up each other's weaknesses."

"You seem to have it all figured out," Dianthe remarked, pretending to be a tad annoyed at Bellatrix's analytical thought. Thanks to that, however, Bellatrix knew that Dianthe was truly pleased that she would not be dealing with a fool. "Now, let us get moving on those Shield charms. They are a necessity until you are taught how to move agilely enough to avoid spells; even then, they are highly useful."

---

As Dianthe requested, Bellatrix did not tell either of her sisters about meeting the enigmatic witch. After mastering the Shield charm on Saturday morning, the other girls were stirring from their slumber, so Dianthe had fled, and Bellatrix pretended to have just woken up. Dianthe did not reappear the entire day, nor on Sunday, so Bellatrix took matters into her own hands, and practiced magic herself.

Andromeda had seemed reasonably impressed that Bellatrix was already eager to study; she had heard the course load could become extremely heavy without the additional burdens of self-study. "You just wait," Andromeda had said with a smile to her sister, "in a few weeks time, you will be too busy to get ahead."

Bellatrix, of course, had her own worries. She was highly dependent on sticking close to Andromeda, as she could not answer the questions to enter the Ravenclaw dormitory. Because of this, Bellatrix's time outside the Ravenclaw Tower was highly limited. Her first weekend involved grabbing Andromeda's arm and chasing Narcissa and Sirius all over the castle, refusing to let go until she had finished her conversation.

Down at breakfast on Monday morning, Bellatrix could barely force down her breakfast of yogurt and blueberries. She was too excited for her first class at Hogwarts ever. Bellatrix was not alone, either; her fellow first-years were just as fidgety. She had a feeling that Charms, taught by her House master Professor Flitwick, would be okay, as would Astronomy. However, trickier subjects lurked right around the corner; a glance at her schedule made her vision blur. Bellatrix was sure she would struggle for passing marks in Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and History of Magic.

It turns out Bellatrix was not wrong about many of the subjects. Her Ravenclaw class had Transfiguration with Gryffindor students, which meant she would see Sirius – and, unfortunately, James Potter and Lily Evans. Right before class began, Sirius had introduced Bellatrix and Andromeda to a boy they remembered as Remus Lupin. Up close and face-to-face, both girls decided that Remus was much more decent than his friends in the train compartment and could have been passably good-looking if not for his coarse robes. Their meeting, however, was cut short when a middle-aged witch entered the classroom – their Transfiguration teacher would be the deputy headmistress and Gryffindor House mistress Professor McGonagall. In a smaller classroom setting, she seemed much more commanding. It was clear that she had been brought up in a very affluent household as well. Professor McGonagall was accustomed to getting her way, and would tolerate failure as well as she would misbehaviour.

At the end of the class, Bellatrix was at least reassured that she was no worse than the majority of students. Sirius, on the other hand, had successfully transfigured his match into a perfect needle – albeit one without a proper eye, seeing as the pampered children of the Black nobility never needed to see a needle before. To their displeasure, though, James Potter had gotten nearly as far as Sirius had.

Potions presented less of a challenge than Bellatrix had thought. A lot of it was memorization of ingredients and alchemy. According to her schedule, her class would alternate between having Potions class with Gryffindor students and Slytherin students. Fortunately, Ravenclaw students were with Slytherin students on Mondays, and Bellatrix was glad to be in a class with Narcissa. The Potions master, Professor Slughorn, was always making himself seem more important than he really was – a fact that annoyed Bellatrix and her sisters very much. Nonetheless, it was a relief to have a less rigid class after all the pressures of McGonagall's class, though many students stared at the two Ravenclaw girls who were socializing with the Slytherin girl until Cissa snapped at them to mind their own business. This time, it was Lily Evans's friend, Severus Snape, who held the teacher's attention as the star student, though Professor Slughorn seemed to approve of Jamal Patil's work as well.

Professor Flitwick, of course, was utterly delighted at Bellatrix's performance in his Charms class, remarking that Bellatrix had even more of the skill he had seen in her cousin Sirius just the class before. She had Charms with Slytherin students; Narcissa was suitably awed by Bellatrix's quick work, though Jamal was a runner-up once more.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was an "interesting" class (it was a joint class for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor). The post for teaching this course seemed to have been jinxed; for over twenty years, no professor for this class has stayed for over a year. This year, it was taught by a middle-aged wizard who seemed to only be vaguely interested in teaching. Almost nothing was accomplished in this class except for lecture – even the lecture was not very informative. Bellatrix hoped the class would be graded on a curve; clearly no one was paying attention.

Throughout the week, Bellatrix discovered many things about the school, memorizing the movements of magical staircases and such. Trick steps were no problem for her either. It was not unlike her parents' manor in any sense. The classes were trickier, but Herbology was not difficult as long as effort was made, and Astronomy flew by without a hitch. History of Magic was dull and sleep-inducing, but no student was any better – or worse – than anyone in that class. Bellatrix became more accustomed to mixing up potions, but her Thursday classes were with Gryffindor students, and she hated the way Lily Evans usually came out on top. Almost every morning, the arrogant boy from the wand shop James Potter would receive sweets from home. Not to be outdone, Sirius had written home to request packages of sweets of grandeur no normal family could match. Now, on a daily basis, three owls came every morning bearing giant packages of the finest pies in the country, enough Chocolate Frogs for anyone to complete the card collection, and enough sugar quills to last a student a month. Sirius, of course, shared with his cousins and Lucius – and sometimes with Remus Lupin – as he could not very well down so much candy if he wanted to become "the best Quidditch player on this continent". This act took effect very rapidly; James and Sirius glared at each other at breakfast from behind their piles of candy, and all the Gryffindor students at the table learned quickly enough to just grab some candy and stay out of the way.

On top of all that, what Andromeda had said was true – the course load was piling up more heavily now. Bellatrix was not improving nearly as much as Jamal was in Charms, much to Professor Flitwick's disappointment, and Dianthe had not reappeared to offer her any more help.

By the end of the month, however, Bellatrix returned to Ravenclaw Tower only to find a pleasant surprise waiting for her. Set upon her pillow was a small but elegant card – an invitation – to the beginning of Dianthe's special training course: for those who were interested in becoming stronger. Dianthe had used a silver ink on a metallic midnight blue card to detail the location, time, and date of the first "meeting".

On either side of Bellatrix, Andromeda and Kalila were staring at their identical cards in confusion. Andromeda glanced over at Bellatrix, and their twin sets of eternal blue eyes met. She held up her invitation and asked, "Bel, do you have any idea – "

"Everything is fine," Bellatrix said simply, remembering her promise not to tell anyone she had met Dianthe earlier. She reassured her sister with the partial truth, "I have a good feeling about this."

Kalila frowned and quickly slipped her invitation into her satin pillowcase; some of the other girls were bound to notice soon enough. In a low voice, Kalila murmured to Bellatrix and Andromeda, "Why would we get some invitation to private lessons, while clearly none of the others who actually need it received one? This cannot be good; it must be a trap for our families' gold!" Kalila declared, feeling that of the people in the room, only the three of them were worth kidnapping.

Bellatrix hurried to repeatedly reassure Kalila that the invitation was genuine. "Really, Kalila, this is not a trap!" She moved to hiss into Kalila's ear. "This is the chance for us to really get ahead and show those filthy Mudbloods where they stand next to the ability of the purebloods!"

The dark-haired Kalila stood silent for a few moments before agreeing with a sigh. "All right, then. I shall give this a chance. If it turns out well, I will stick with it."

---

A crowd of students had gathered on the seventh floor, near the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. They hailed from all Houses, came from various socio-economic backgrounds, and were of different social cliques. However, to any teacher, it would have been quite clear that something surely against school rules was going on; any teacher would have recognized that every student could claim to be in the top of his or her class. One certain teacher would definitely have been able to see exactly who was behind this from Dianthe's distinctively minuscule and flowing handwriting on the invitations each student had.

Dianthe materialized before the students at two o' clock sharp; she had chosen this Saturday afternoon because the teachers could not tell students off for being in the corridors at this time, and she hoped the students would have finished their homework in the morning. If not, well, she could definitely help them after a handwriting analysis; she spent much of her time devising ways to bend school rules.

"Good afternoon," Dianthe addressed the group placidly, with a warm smile.

It seemed a bit off to Bellatrix, who had gotten the impression that Dianthe kept to herself too much to greet or smile or indulge in pleasantries. Nonetheless, Bellatrix's feelings of unease about the size of the crowd that had gathered were put to rest. She had been intimidated by the number of older students with more magical experience, though she could see Dianthe had not bothered to invite anyone above a third-year.

"You have all been invited to a special training session of sorts," Dianthe began, with no hint of hesitation, though Bellatrix suspected Dianthe had been planning the words for a long time, "for your talents. I have kept close tabs on your performance in school and out. All of you are eligible for something of a year-long course with me. However, I only intend to invite a few of you to continue with me after this year."

Kalila stepped forward at this point before Dianthe could go on. "You are saying that you want us to give up our time for you to run your tests on us, but that only the best of us will go on, are you not?"

An amused smile flitted playfully across Dianthe's face. "You have a rough, general idea, Miss Patil. Yes, only the seven who show the most promise will go on, but it is hardly sink-or-swim, like in real society. You will not be wasting your time with me. What you learn from me will more than just aid you in classes. Teachers will let you off homework, though what I will be covering with you this year will mostly bolster your aptitude in Charms and Transfiguration."

"So…" Severus Snape spoke up from his group of Slytherin friends. "You are suggesting that we have nothing to lose by taking you up on your offer, while you have everything to gain from the seven finalists."

"How so?" Dianthe asked lightly.

"You are doing just as the Ministry wants," Snape's voice rose slightly. "The Ministry is having students enrolled multiple years early." His cold black eyes fell on Bellatrix. Sirius held her hand even more tightly in response. "You are going to get the brightest students in your debt, so you can mobilize them against the Dark Lord."

Dianthe's ivory face paled, if that was even possible what with her natural pallor. "How could you say such a thing?" she demanded. "I, of all people, should have nothing against the Dark Order. Nothing!"

"Well, then," James added, not to be outdone by Snape, "maybe you were hoping to recruit students to overthrow Dumbledore." For some reason these days, James was picking as many fights with Snape as he was Sirius. "I noticed you haven't included any Muggle-born students in your little party here while certain scumbags have been."

"Are you goddamn out of your minds?" Dianthe shrieked, easily losing her composure. It was the first time Bellatrix heard Dianthe speak so vulgarly, and she thought it did not suit Dianthe well at all. "I want to raise seven apprentices with the hope that they remain neutral. I want my seven apprentices to stay neutral and use their talents to survive the upcoming political Armageddon, though if they take sides, so be it: I will not stop them."

A silence fell among the students, which was only broken by sounds of distant movement on a different level. Finally, Dianthe just stiffly said, "What do you want me to say? Come to the 'light' or 'dark' side; I have cookies! I just think it is a waste if you all die due to political affairs."

The dubious dissent among the students seemed, for the most part, settled. Most were tempted by the idea of advancing in magic, which they certainly would have to do if Dianthe wanted them to survive.

Taking an unnecessarily deep breath, Dianthe then asked, "Those of you who intend to try this out, stay. There are no strings attached; I just want to try my hand at teaching promising students. Any of you who distrust me, you are free to leave. I honestly do not have the time to persuade anyone to stay."

Bellatrix thought that it could not be so easy for the others to leave, but realized at once that the allure was in the mystery of what she could offer.

Sirius whispered into her ear, "I bet she is testing us; anyone who automatically steps toward her will get kicked out for sycophancy or trusting too easily."

Well, of course it was obvious now that Sirius had just said that, but didn't he think Bellatrix would have figured that out on her own? Apparently not. Bellatrix stood her ground, but her eyes widened in realization.

No one moved.

"Damn!" Sirius hissed in undertone. "Snape hasn't moved either. Well, Potter is too prideful, that commoner. I reckon he'll step forth any day now." Bellatrix's eyes instinctively floated over to James. Both James and Sirius were glaring at each other; it was as if James had heard what Sirius had said, though it was not physically possible.

"Mr. Black, please try not to whisper to others too much," Dianthe's voice sailed right over to the two. "If it is unimportant, keep it in your head. You never know who might be listening in."

James Potter smirked from where he stood, for fate was on his side today. Murmurs went across the crowd in a wave. Remus tried very hard to watch Dianthe and pretend he had not heard anything. The group of Slytherin students stood together and reveled inwardly at a Gryffindor being told off, though they stood slightly away from Snape, who had been seen in the company of the Gryffindor Muggle-born girl Lily.

A parchment appeared into Dianthe's outstretched hands with a small blue flash. Without further ado, one of Dianthe's hands shot out and an amber streak of light was sent down the corridor. To answer the questioning glances, Dianthe just said, "If any of you want to take care of Peeves for an hour, that spell is a worthy choice."

It was Narcissa who spoke this time, after checking her invitation once more. "Miss Dianthe, if we wish to participate, at least as a trial, what should we do?"

"Sign your name and year of graduation on this parchment so I do not forget you." Dianthe waved the parchment towards the elegant first-year.

Narcissa swept her ice blue eyes over everyone else, her gaze softening only for Sirius, Lucius, and her sisters. I am unafraid. Whether this is a trap or she just wants an army or she is sincere, I have never been afraid. In a grand gesture, Narcissa plucked a rainbow lorikeet quill signed in ink to match the dress robes she purchased only months earlier, Narcissa Black.

When lightning did not strike in the moments that followed, others seemed to gain some confidence. Sirius was first after Narcissa, eager to prove his boldness.

---

The private lessons with Dianthe were both like and unlike regular classes. For one, they were held in the Room of Requirement: a room which existed only when the user needed it to. Dianthe permitted jinxing each other, though she was careful to keep enemies from "practising" on each other. Also, as Dianthe had picked only the finest students from each class, the lessons moved much more quickly. She had assured all students that in any situation, Transfiguration would be highly useful, whether to get another weapon in the time of need or to soothe a wound. Practical lessons tended to be much more fun, and ironically enough, much more practical. With practise duels often, the students actually got the chance to learn how to move with their bodies instead of just cramming a hundred spells into their heads.

The effects of the lessons were great, too. Bellatrix watched her fellow Ravenclaw classmates slip behind while she, Andromeda, and Kalila pulled ahead. Of course, their achievements were slightly dimmed by the fact that in all their classes, there were at least three of Dianthe's other students who were at par with them. The professors accelerated their classes – a bit of overkill when considering many of the recent students were attending school earlier than they should be – in order to keep those students interested.

Potions remained a subject where they had to focus, as Dianthe did not care to teach it to students who would not be chosen to continue with her. However, Dianthe had forced all of them to memorize the signs of various common – and few uncommon but important – potions. It was with great satisfaction that Bellatrix correctly identified Felix Felicis, Wolfsbane Potion, Veritaserum, and a number of other draughts in record time right in front of Lily Evans. She did not look happy at all, as she had been leading in the class. With classes swelling up in size – and teachers more exhausted than ever – the school had decided to combine all first years together – Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. With twenty students per House, the classrooms were enlarged, and the professors always had to use the Sonorus charm to magnify their voices. Across the lecture hall, Bellatrix had caught Severus Snape whispering to Lily. Her green eyes narrowed. As Snape was one of the students Dianthe was training, he probably told her everything. It was strange, actually. Snape and Evans had a friendship that defied the logics of being in the Houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor (obviously Sirius and Narcissa were an exception as they were cousins).

Defense Against the Dark Arts was chaotic. With eighty students, most of whom were inexperienced, the soft-spoken professor could never control the class, not that she bothered herself to try very hard to. She droned on in her lecture; those who were bored would try out those spells and wind up knocking over half the desks. Nothing she said ever made a difference, as she usually only read anecdotes that detailed the same strategies against Dark monsters. Bellatrix, like the rest of Dianthe's students, found this the ideal time to use Muffliato on their surroundings and start on advanced reading.

As Bellatrix was on her way to another of Dianthe's sessions, Jamil Patil, a third-year Hufflepuff who was the elder brother of Jamal and Kalila, interrupted Bellatrix to give her an invitation.

Dianthe is no longer using invitations; that was only the first time. Who is this from? Bellatrix frowned as she unrolled the small scroll. It was an invitation from the Potions professor, Slughorn, to a small dinner party. Apparently, a number of her "friends" would be attending. The fact that a different celebrity had been present at each of Slughorn's previous parties was a little tempting, but Bellatrix wanted to work on a Patronus with Dianthe; the images of dementors haunted her.

It appeared that Bellatrix was not the only one to have received an invitation. A number of Dianthe's students held the same rolls of parchment; some were grim-faced, others were bemused. Dianthe raised a pale hand, and silence fell in the Room of Requirement. Everyone looked at her, many waiting for an explanation.

"I see that many of you have received an invitation to a dinner held by Professor Slughorn," Dianthe commented, looking quite bored. "Do not worry about it. It only means that he has taken notice of your newfound talent. He invites all the best-connected and most promising students, and introduces them to his graduated students. He stays in their good books, and they in his." She paused and scoffed, "It is his way of becoming more important than he really is." It was clear Dianthe did not care much for Slughorn or his parties. "It can be mildly interesting to meet some of his old students, but I daresay most of you will have better things to do than attend all of his parties. If you have time, go ahead and accept the invitation, if you wish. Also, Professor Slughorn will be quite persistent in making sure that you do accept, so if you want to dodge out of it, be prepared to come up with a good excuse."

Narcissa whispered to Bellatrix, "If he asks, we have plenty of unfinished homework: three incomplete essays should do."

"My father was in Slughorn's Slug Club," Dianthe said. "It is great if you are good at sycophancy and you are looking at a Ministry job after graduation." Her tone made it obvious that that was as good a use as Slughorn would ever have. No one dared to oppose her; the students were mostly bright enough to know not to single-handedly antagonize someone like Dianthe, and the others just waited to see if anyone would go first if at all. "Now, let us continue with our training."

Casting Patronuses was quite fun. Dianthe promised to use a shape-shifting Boggart as a practice target once everyone had a corporeal Patronus. Narcissa was best; she conjured a corporeal silver unicorn within the hour. Dianthe was highly pleased with the results; everyone managed at least a strong silver mist by the end. She had thought to herself, that is what it means to be the best.

---

A/N: All right, so the first year (1971-1972) has not even reached the Christmas holidays, but I need to cut it off here – this document is sitting at 26 pages! I have this need to make prologues really long; for Shadow Tempest, I wrote a 28-page first chapter, I believe. I do not feel as if I have actually reached anything exciting yet, but I could not cut anything out. I just could not.

I do not aim to mind-control all of you into loving Bellatrix. I just thought, several years ago when book 5 came out, that I would give the underused Black family more voices, more perspective. I wanted to give them a chance. Now, I am here hoping that, while I have long deviated from the canon, you can see at least a little bit of where my views are coming from. Of course I have to be somewhat dramatic – I am making a point. Little, unrelated, and seemingly inconsequential coincidences will affect my protagonists negatively. It might sound like something only in the movies, but it has happened to me and to others – just not to such a degree.

This is all for now, although my second chapter (and pretty much the rest of the story, including ONE epilogue) are already in sight. I have had a vision of the entire story for a long time, so all it is now is the execution of my vision.

A/N: December 7, 2010, I have revisited this to make some edits since I have edited part of my vision in the last three years.