The Black sisters sat together in the living room which was practically the only room they were allowed to frequent on their own. It was decided by their mother at a young age that they must have a haven of sorts where they were not subject to the rules of adults. Her sister-in-law claimed that it was far past time that they leave their childish cocoon behind, but Druella was finding it difficult to wrest the comfort from her children. Nevertheless, the girls burned their candles low and spoke in hushed tones for it was far past their bedtime.
Bellatrix, being the eldest and therefore bound to be leader, was seated on one of the wing-backed armchairs with her two younger sisters at her feet. Andromeda had just fetched three glasses of milk from the kitchen; her sister much would have preferred tea as she felt it had a more serious air about it, but they were not allowed to start a fire in the hearth. Narcissa, the youngest among them, was fighting off sleep and completely useless as usual in the opinion of the eldest girl. However, they often fell asleep sprawled out together in one bed and it was impossible to disentangle themselves without waking up the younger girl who inevitably wanted to be involved.
"Well?"
Andromeda shrugged, "They usually start planning in January. I would think that if they were going to find a solution it would have come before now."
"A solution to what?" Narcissa asked, rousing from half-sleep.
"Didn't you pay attention at all to what was being discussed at dinner?" Bellatrix demanded
"Yes. Mummy said that there would be some changes around here. So? Things are always changing. If I just do as I'm told, I don't have to keep track of all of them. It's simpler."
"That's because you're simple," Bella groused, though Andromeda was already speaking over her, more patiently, "Didn't you notice that we didn't have a party tonight to celebrate Bella and I coming home from Hogwarts? And that we had to walk home from King's Cross instead of using the apparition pass that Mother and Father usually buy?"
"I figured they were busy. Besides, it's not my party, why should I care? We don't always have to do so many special things just because the two of you come home."
"We don't have any money, brat!" The eldest spat.
Narcissa stared blankly at her with her light eyebrows raised in expectation. Not having money didn't necessarily mean to the youngest what it meant to other people. Her parents spoke frequently of families who 'didn't have money' and they still wore pretty clothes and went to lovely parties. Money seemed to simply be something you could say you had as a way of being better than other people. And, of course, the Blacks were much better than other families and had a lot more money.
Andromeda elaborated, "None at all, Cissy. I don't think we'll even be getting anything for our birthdays if Mother and Father don't figure this out."
The little girl's eyes widened considerably and she asked, "Did Daddy gamble it away?"
The child frequently spent time quietly at her mother's feet while she was entertaining her lady friends and had heard of such things happening. She had perfected pretending not to listen over the years and her mother only remembered to send her from the room for the most scandalous stories now. Of course, the older girls had tried the same tricks when they were children, but their mother never believed they were not listening to the most trivial things.
Bellatrix stood up and grabbed her sister's wrist, pulling her up so they were nose-to-nose and hissed, "Don't ever say anything like that about our family again! You know very well that Father is a very well-respected and responsible man."
Narcissa squealed and tried to pull her arm away, "Well, how did it happen then?"
"We don't know, do we?" Bellatrix snapped, shaking the girl.
"Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea." Andromeda said, watching the violent scene unfold. Bellatrix stared at her with surprise and then anger that she hadn't brought it up earlier. It was so insulting to be told at the same time as her baby sister! Narcissa took advantage of Bellatrix's distraction to yank away from her and retreat behind her more peaceful sibling.
"Well, then?"
"Did you read Grandfather's obituary?"
"Poor Grandfather," Narcissa said of the man that none of them had known very well due to his quarrels with their father. Both older girls ignored her.
"No. Why would I? I already know that he was a great man. He must have been; he was the head of the family. The obituary is supposed to tell other people that."
"Obituaries usually list the heir," explained Andromeda, "who then becomes head of the family. And the head of the family gives each household their monthly allowance. The only thing that could have happened was that allowance stopped coming or has been greatly reduced."
"But of course the heir would be Father?"
Andromeda hesitated; she liked to avoid being the bearer of bad news with her sister, "No. Cousin Sirius was made heir." At the look on her sister's face, she continued hastily, "You must remember that Grandfather never cared for Father very much; they've been rowing for years."
"But no one likes Sirius!"
"Oh, Bella," Andromeda sighed, "you know that Aunt Walburga was Grandfather's favorite child. He often expressed disappointment that she couldn't have been heir. Sirius is still a baby in terms of inheritance. His mother will hold the purse strings and make the rules for years yet."
"Well, Aunt Walburga is a sensible woman. Surely she won't just leave us out here to starve or become desolate."
"That's just what I came up with, Bella," Andromeda said, "Something happened to the allowance. It's our source of income. Aunt Walburga has expressed more than once that she wishes Father would have married closer to the Black line. She's always saying how he acts less like a Black every day. She could very well declare our house too far away in blood to warrant an allowance. It's completely to her discretion."
Bellatrix, who rather admired her aunt, shook her head, "She would never do that. There must be another explanation."
"Maybe Grandfather gambled it away. Or was keeping a woman." Narcissa interjected, apparently having been thinking very hard about this all along.
Bellatrix reached down and smacked her clear across the face, "I told you not to say things like that!"
This elicited a howl from the child who took off running for the main stairs. Andromeda frowned at her sister and said, "You shouldn't have done that. She'll have Mother up in minutes."
The two girls snuffed out all of the candles and ran lightly for the back stairs that led from the kitchen to the second floor. They burst through the doors to Bellatrix's room and quickly arranged themselves in the bed, both of them breathing heavily. It was only a few seconds later that the door opened to the two children apparently sleeping peacefully. Bellatrix listened to her younger sister being scolded for being out of bed and lying, resisting the urge to giggle at her expense. Meanwhile, Andromeda lay so still beside her that she had to fight the urge to pinch her to see if she had might have actually fallen asleep.
As their mother led their younger sister down the hall toward her own bedroom, Andromeda propped herself up on her elbow and said, "I think I know what we need to do, too. We can't get jobs, of course, which would be the most obvious option. That would just advertise to the entire world that we're having money issues. Besides, it's just not proper." Bellatrix nodded her understanding, "So, if we can't get jobs, we'll have to get husbands."