JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I do not.
Written for Quidditch League Round 13, Chaser 3. Pairing Andromeda/Bellatrix. Prompts: (word) aptitude, (word) gruesome, (quote)"Life is life, fight for it." ― Mother Teresa.
Snapshots of Life : a Sisters Story
Romance definition 3. Love which is pure or beautiful. Romance is the expressive and pleasurable feeling from an emotional attraction towards another person associated with love.
Snapshot 1
The first time Bellatrix saw Andromeda she was utterly and totally in love. Bellatrix was two years old and her mother had just put the tiny bundle on her lap. Andi was just over 6 pounds of sleeping beauty with soft brown fuzz on the top of her head. She was tightly wrapped in a pink afghan and had a matching sweater and one bootie peaked from beneath the corner of the cover. Her white dress was trimmed with lace and pink ribbon roses. She was the most beautiful thing Bella had ever seen and Mother said that she was her baby sister. Suddenly the tiny bundle wiggled and stretched one little hand up and touched the small nose of the sister who was holding her and Bella giggled.
Snapshot 2
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and tiny Andromeda was first holding her head up, then sitting alone and rolling over. Before you knew it Andromeda was crawling behind Bellatrix as Bella toddled across the playroom under the watchful eye of the house elf, Nanny. Bella's black curls bounced as she ran and the crawling Andi would giggle and babble to Bella's delight. She said that Andi was telling her stories. Bella was the apple of Andi's eye. Andi tried so hard to pull up and walk because she wanted to be just like Bella.
Snapshot 3
On Bella's fourth birthday two year-old Andi was disappointed to be left behind in the nursery while Bella had a big-girl party with friends from other families. She cried with a broken heart because her Bella had moved on. Bellatrix secretly had a piece of the beautiful cake with a whole yellow flower on it set aside and when the guests had left she brought it to Andromeda in the nursery. She told her sister all about the party and the guests and the "ligly" boys that just wanted to play with her broomstick that Father had gotten her. Andi laughed and stuffed another handful of chocolate cake into her mouth with her hand. Bella laughed too at the frosting on Andi's nose. Later Mother and Father came to the nursery and said that they would be having another baby in the house soon. Father said that he hoped it would be a boy this time.
Snapshot 4
When Narcissa was born, she looked like a little white flower with pale blue eyes. She didn't have any hair and she fussed all the time. Bella said that she was stupid because she couldn't do anything. Andromeda on the other hand thought she was beautiful. Father was always angry and when he yelled Bella and Andi would hide in the cupboard and Cissy would cry louder. Mother said he was disappointed.
Snapshot 5
Months later Andromeda and Bellatrix were playing in the yard. They were taking turns on Bella's practice broom. Bella laughed as Andi tried to catch her. They fell into a heap of limbs, heads over heels, arms intermingled as the joy of the event played in the air. Suddenly there was an interruption of loud words followed by screaming and then crying. They crept to the hedge where they could spy on their parents. Mother was saying that if father were a better man there would be another baby. Father said that if she weren't such a frozen witch there would be another baby and it would be a boy. As silently as they had crept to the hedge, they crept away. The normally talkative Bella was silent and moody in the evening and Andi could not move her out of the funk.
Snapshot 6
At six and a half Bella decided to become the son the Blacks needed. There were no heirs on the horizon and Bella would be that heir. Andi still loved her sister but was perplexed by the changes in her attitude. Not only did Bella shirk off the trappings of the feminine child, but she constantly watched the men when they visited. She listened to their conversations and planning. She became a shadow in the library or smoking rooms whether at home or when visiting other families. The men delighted in watching the small black haired girl determinedly
copy their wand strokes with her hands and repeating the incantations. Bella had a real aptitude for the dark arts and a skill beyond her years. Andi remained with the children or women.
Snapshot 7
Andi's magic came early too, but she was not one to flaunt it. She shied away from the attention. She remained loyal to Bella, but sensed that they were growing apart. By the time Narcissa was mobile she had wormed her way into Bella's heart. Andi sat back and adored her sisters from afar. Andi was more bookish and quiet. She envied Bella's spunk, but was put off by her new friends, the Lestrange brothers. Everyone that came over said that Bella would become a powerful witch. When Bella was eleven and they went to Diagon Alley to purchase her Hogwarts School Supplies, the power was evident in the wand that selected her at Olivander's. Her first wand was walnut wood, 12 3/4" long, unyielding with a dragon heartstring core which would not take well to a new owner even if earned in battle. This was a strong unbending wand for a determined little girl who was becoming angrier every day. The anger was feeding on the fodder of the prejudiced ideas she had been hearing for the past four and some years at the hands of the men of their circle.
Snapshot 8
The chasm between Andi and Bella grew daily and it was reflected in their estrangement. By the time Andromeda was ready to go to Hogwarts, Bellatrix was firmly ensconced in the cunning intrigue of Slytherin House. Though Sirius Black had been born to her aunt and uncle when Bella was off to Hogwarts. When Sirius was followed by a brother, Regulus, 18 months later Bella was determined to remain the oldest heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black. No snot-nosed brat would usurp her position, made even more tenuous because her father was the second son. Bella was determined to show them she was the most powerful of her generation. Andromeda on the other hand tried to hide and stay out of Bella's sphere of influence, a hard task for anyone in the Slytherin dormitories. She spent more and more time in the library and had discovered the little-used section of muggle books. She was greatly influenced by a biography of a Roman Catholic nun who had been born in Skopje an ethnic Albanian in 1910. She had said, "Life is life, fight for it."*
Snapshot 9
Andromeda mourned the loss of the sister she loved, but doted on Narcissa when at home. It wasn't the same because Cissy worshiped Bella. By the time the three girls were all attending Hogwarts and all had been sorted into Slytherin (though the hat had thought Andromeda would do well in Gryffindor, but thought better of it considering her family ties) there was unrest in the land and there was a new dark lord rising. Bella believed everything that was said about Lord Voldemort. Andromeda believed he was an evil tyrant, but she could only remain silent in her fear. Narcissa believed that if she just went along with everything the end would be okay. Since Bella was most vocal in her beliefs and was a leader among Slytherins, Narcissa sat on the fringes of her circle.
Snapshot 10
Time passed and Bellatrix became a devout follower of Lord Voldemort. She married Rodolphus Lestrange, but her true love was the Dark Lord. Andromeda had been contracted to marry Lucius Malfoy, but had instead eloped with Ted Tonks, a muggle news reporter. Immediately she had been blasted from the family tapestry, disowned and was no longer mentioned. Cygnus Black and Abraxas Malfoy agreed to a new marriage contract between Lucius and Narcissa aided by a doubling of the dowry going to the Malfoy fortunes. Though it wasn't mentioned there was a feeling of grief at the loss of a sister by the oldest and youngest Black girls.
Snapshot 11
Bellatrix was dead. Bella had been involved in nearly every gruesome crime committed by the Death Eaters in the last two decades including plotting behind the bars of Azkaban for the continuing murders and mayhem. Molly Weasley had beaten her in a duel in the final Battle of Hogwarts when Bella had the gall to try to kill Molly's daughter. Narcissa was relieved as she had seen the cruelty and craziness that her sister had become. She felt ashamed of how she had allowed her inaction to provide tacit approval to the darkest of crimes, but at least when push came to shove she had lied about Harry Potter being dead to Lord Voldemort. Now she wanted reconciliation with her other sister. Life was too short. Andromeda was sad at the loss of Bellatrix. She mourned the love she had lost and the friendship that had not endured. Now the two Black sisters were sitting in a room with Narcissa's son and Andromeda's grandson. It was a quiet memorial service for all four remaining members of the Black family. The sisters cried on each other's shoulders holding on for dear life and for fear the other would vanish again. Draco stoically held Teddy who was cooing unaware of what was going on around him. Nothing was said, but a love lost was mourned.
*Mother Teresa.