I own no one but my own people. Andromeda's POV
A/N I know you're all waiting for the next update to "The Heir," but until my lovely Beta (and I mean that with 110 percent sincerity) gets back to me, theres nothing I can do about it. But be assured that the next chapter is done, and I am actually halfway through the chapter after that as well. So heres just something to hold you over until I update.
"May she finally be able to rest in peace in the kingdom of heaven," I held back a scoff. There was no way that Bellatrix would be able to rest in the afterlife, not after all that she did. Not after my daughter, not after Ted.
I stayed silent as I looked at the small collection of people who came to mourn my sister. Some woman I didn't know was in the front, looking sad, I supposed it was some one who had supported the cause. Cissy, Draco, and Lucius stood a few feet away from her. Cissy was crying quietly with her head rested on Lucius's shoulder, and he looked bored and like he wished he was as far away from here as possible, her son standing next to them, looking as respectful as he could, his hands clasped in front of his black robes. I couldn't blame him for not showing any real sorrow, he had barley known Bella, and she had taken his childhood away from him too early, forcing him to torture and watch people be murdered. And then my eyes landed on someone I hated and loathed with a a passion, with Ministry guards standing on either side of him, wands pointed directly at him. Rodolphus Lestrange, looking at the large mound of dirt with a mixture of pity of confusion, as if he didn't know what was going on, not a tear in sight.
I glared at him, how dare he? How dare he show up to her funeral?, not even willing to shed a tear for her. Yes they were 'married', if you could even call it that. Bella never wanted an arranged marriage, that was the one thing she had fought tooth and nail with our parents about. Growing up, what my father and mother said was gospel to her. Never get involved with muggle borns, always act dignified, never disgrace the name of Black, no matter what your married name was remember who you were. She followed those rules like they were the holy word, even at school, except the whole 'act dignified' thing.
When they told her she was getting married to Rodolphus, she flat out told them no. She said she wanted to decide who to marry, and that she wanted to marry for love, not for money or opportunity. I over heard that argument, and I could not have been more surprised. Cissy was always the romantic, drawing little hearts on her scrolls with her and Lucius's name in them, dreaming of her knight in shining armor (a pure blooded knight, of course), and even at thirteen, dreaming of her picture perfect wedding, but not Bella. Not the woman who had screamed at me for admitting my engagement to my husband because he was a muggle born, then running off to tell our wretched aunt who blasted me off the family tree.
But my father had told her she was going to marry Rodolphus, or she also would become an outcast and a disgrace. For once in her life, I don't think she cared about family pride or pure blooded heritage. She still refused, and then ran up the stairs, slammed her bedroom door shut, and didn't come out the rest of the day. Later that night, I heard her screams of pain, my mother sobbing, telling dad to stop, that she was their daughter, and him yelling, saying she needs to learn her place. The next day, she came down stairs, avoiding my fathers angry looks, and she announced that within the next few months, she would become Bellatrix Electra Black-Lestrange. I had more sympathy for her right then I ever had in my entire life. I think that was the day that she had started her path to destruction. Sure she had always been a racist bitch before, but after that night, she was never completely right again.
Over the next few months, she got to meet her husband, who I could tell she hated and loathed on principle. Like our family, he had been brought up to believe that woman were there simply to make heirs, be at there husbands beck and call, and to be bossed around, and he believed that almost as strongly as Bella believed that muggles and muggle borns were complete and absolute filth. I knew he liked her, what blue blooded male wouldn't? She had inherited the classic Black look. Sensual, pale, thin, perfect curves, with dark hair, and eyes so black and alluring, one couldn't be sure they were real.. Don't get me wrong, me and Cissy were also beautiful, as were most of our family, but she had the look that set aside the Blacks from other families. The look that said, 'I'm better then you and I sure as hell know it.'
He had acted respectful and somewhat prudish when our parents and me and Cissy was around, but Bella and I knew better. One day, while we were all over at my aunt Walburga's for her birthday, I had floo powdered back to get the gift my mother had bought her, and I heard sounds coming from Bella's bedroom. She had been allowed to stay home, due to the fact that she had several plans to make before the wedding, which was only three weeks away.
I went up there and opened the door slightly. Rodolphus was on top of her, her dress torn, and she had tears streaming down her face, attempting to fight him with every ounce of strength she had in her, but he easily over powered her. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She told me later he casted silenco on her. Wand forgotten, I grabbed the nearest heavy object off of her shelf and heaved it with all my might. It hit him square on the head. He yelped in pain then turned towards me, a murderous glint in his eyes. He got off Bella and ran at me, wand aimed directly at my heart
Now, when a wizard, especially one who you knew has a high education in the dark arts, wand aimed at you, comes running at you, you would think that your first instinct would be to run as fast and as hard away from him as possible. But not mine. I stood there, shocked and legs unwilling to run. The next second, I was flying back fast. I slammed against the wall and slid down, a blinding pain in my head. I groaned then looked up, seeing him advance on me, his wand raised. He lifted it above his head.
BAM! A dark red light came shooting from her room and hit him in the back, making him fall to the ground. I looked up and saw Bella, panting, tears streaming down her face, her wand aimed at him. He got up and aimed his wand at her, but she was too quick. A blue light collided with him and he too was sent flying back against the wall, landing next to me. She ran over to me and helped me up, and pushed me behind her, her wand still aimed on him.
He groaned and then got up and pointed his wand at her. She pushed me even further behind her, completely blocking me from view.
She aimed her wand at herself and then turned it back on him.
"Get out!" she screamed at him. He ignored her,
"If any of you," he said, mostly to Bella, "tell anyone about this, I'll kill the both of you, and that little blond haired bratty sister of yours."
"You lay one finger on either of my sisters and you'll be begging for death!," she yelled, getting a look in her face that said that she meant what she said. He glared at her then walked up to her slowly. I tried to get from behind her, but she pushed me back, once again completely blocking me from view. He looked down at her for a moment before he grabbed her face and kissed her hard on the lips. She let out a muffled protest and aimed her wand at him, but he snatched it away.
"Let go of her!" I yelled, still behind Bella. He finally released it and looked at her with a small smirk while tears ran down her face.
"See ya later, Bella," he said with a small wink as he used her nickname. She stayed silent as he threw her wand down at her feet. He turned around as if to leave but then turned around.
"Oh yeah, one last thing," and before either of us knew what happened, he struck her hard in the face. With a cry of pain she fell to the ground, holding her what I knew would be soon bruised, face. I bent down next to her and looked up at him with fear.
'"Thats for the curse," and then he walked away.
I stared after him with the same look on my face. How could someone do this to her? Bellatrix Black was not one to be controlled by anyone. How could my mother allow this to happen? Her eldest daughter be forced to marry this, this, bastard? I heard a sniff and then looked down at her.
"Don't, I'm fine," she said as I tried to help her up.
"Bella," I began but she waved me away.
"I said I'm fine, he didn't go all the way."
I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not, but I didn't press the matter. God I hated him, I hated my parents for making her marry him. He had tried to rape her! he had tried to control her. I guess this was one of the reasons she joined the death eaters. It gave her a sense of power in a way. Don't get me wrong, she had wanted to follow him even before he became all powerful, back when he was just someone at the dinner parties who talked about a new life. But the fact that he regarded her as his second in command, the fact that he came to her for help and planning made her feel as powerful as she ever had felt.
I can still remember the night she had gotten her mark. It was two weeks before her wedding. She had found out the night of the meeting from Rodolphus, and had spent that entire day making her hair and make up perfect, she had picked out her best robes, and had practiced every dark spell she knew on a cat she had stolen from a local muggle girl. She looked beautiful.
.When she had appirated home, though, she was a wreck. Her hair was in absolute disarray, her make up was destroyed, but the one thing that really concerned me was the fact that her robes were totally disheveled, and the entire back side of her robes were dirty and ripped, almost as if she had been forced to lie on her back for hours on end. almost as if she had been forced to lie on her back for hours on end. She ran up the stairs and didn't say a word to anybody for the next few days. I asked her what was wrong several times, but she refused to talk about it.
When Lucius, a fellow death eater, had come over to pick up Narcissa for a date, we had both been in the living room at the time. As soon as he walked in, Bella blushed horribly and he smirked and winked at her. She ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
"What happened that night?" I asked him, determined to find out why she was acting like that. He laughed and sat down next to me.
"When someone gets the mark, the Dark Lord must be sure they can handle pain, pain beyond anything they have ever or will ever feel in their lives," he explained. "It is also a test for the old death eaters to see how much pain there willing to inflict on others, even there own kind, even if they are supporters."
"So what? did everyone give her the cruciotus curse or something?"
He shook his head. "Bellatrix is the first woman who ever wanted to join him. She was a special case, he needed to make sure she was ready. He along with all the other members, "he smirked. "We put her though something that, in all honesty wasn't much of a test for the rest of us."
"What did you do to her?" I asked him, anger growing in me.
"You know as well as I do that your sister is a beautiful woman. So, the dark lord forced her to lie on her back and he made us all, you know."
"You gang raped her?"
He nodded.
"Only his closest members, there was about twelve of us, well thirteen if you count Severus, but he refused to do it. She got through the first four okay, after that she started fighting back, saying that she wanted out, that she didn't want to do it any more."
"Did you stop?" I yelled at him. He shook his head.
"The dark lord wouldn't let us, said that he knew deep down that she wanted to join him more then anything. Which is weird because usually when somene says there though, the dark lord just says okay, and kills them, but he wouldn't let us with her. So he made us all go, and by the end, it was actually really sad. She was sobbing, screaming, begging us to stop. I could barley get it up."
Anger flared inside me. How could they do that to her?
"So then," he continued as if talking about the weather, "the dark lord went, and I think Crabbe may have thrown up, I'm not sure. It was bad though. I mean, the rest of us weren't really gentle, but he was down and out horrible to her. I don''t think I ever heard someone scream that much before.
After he was done, he got off her, told her to take a few moments to compose herself, crucioed her, then burnt the mark into her arm. He told her that he knew she would be a valuable asset to him, that he knew in the end she was glad that he didn't let us stop. Then he dismissed us and we went home."
I opened my mouth to speak, to yell, to scream every curse I knew at him. But instead all I did was stare in total disbelief at him. He had raped my sister, he and eleven other disgusting, filthy pigs just because some monster told them too. The night, she had told me, that was supposed to be her happiest, turned out to be her nightmare.
"Lucius," Narcissa called bounding down the steps, looking as innocent and care free as ever in her baby blue robes, her blues eyes sparkling at the sight of the horrid man in our living room.
He smiled at her and stood up and as she reached him he took her hand and brought it to his lips.
You look beautiful, Narcissa."
She blushed and giggled and his eyes met mine and he smirked.
"Cissy, mother wants us to go to the church and help Bella with the decorating," I told her quickly.
It was a lie, but I didn't care. I didn't want my little sister, my under age sister, any wear near that man looking the way she did.
"But, Andy-"
"I'm not dealing with her on my own."
She groaned and for a moment I thought she was gonna stomp her foot, but I knew with Lucius there, she didn't want to look childish.
"I'll be glad to take her to the church afterwards," Lucius said with a shrug.
"There, you see," Cissy said with a triumphant glint in her eyes, "I'll be there later."
"Cissy, please-"
"Good bye, Andy," and with a pop, they were both gone.
God how I hated the lot of them, the entire bunch with there pure blood mania and there twisted views on what made a proper wizard. If it wasn't for the fact that Cissy would have been heart broken if I left, I would have done like Sirius and left when I was still underage. But I cared for my sisters, both of them, too much to do that to them.
When I had left to live with Ted, Bella and the rest of my family cut me off completely. I sent my mother, Cissy, and Bella pictures of Nymphadora when she was first born, and a week later, I got them back, with a note from my mother saying that she didn't want pictures of some filthy half blood and a blood traitor in her home. Bella sent them back as well, but with scotch marks on Ted, me, and my baby saying the same thing pretty much, only she added that if I contacted her, she would curse me until death would seem like a blessing. Narcissa, however, wrote back saying she was a beautiful child and that Ted seemed like a good father.
Me and Narcissa tried to keep in touch with one another over the years. I sent her pictures of Nymphadora, she sent me pictures of Draco once he was born, and I envied her beyond words.
She sent me pictures of not just her and Lucius holding Draco, but our mother as well, holding him with pride and love, and Bella rocking him softly in her arms, looking down at him with a softness in her eyes I haven't seen in a long time. We wrote back and forth for a bit, she sent me a beautiful set of dress robes for Christmas once, and I sent her a lovely muggle perfume for her birthday that I hoped Lucius wouldn't make her throw out. But after a while the letters stopped, the pictures were coming less, until finally both of us just stopped trying altogether and she too fell out of my life like the rest of my family.
It was only now, standing in the summer heat looking at the high polished stone baring my sisters name, did I realize how much I missed them.
"And that concludes today service, you are all free to leave."
The voice from the plump little wizard shut the book and walked away. The guards let Rodolphus go to the grave and put down some flowers he had conjured up before appirating away with him. The witch whose name I didn't know turned and talked to Narcissa and Lucius for a bit before turning and walking away.
The blond family didn't notice me, and began to walk away without the slightest notice.
Before I could stop myself I ran towards her
"Narcissa!" I cried out
She turned towards me and her eyes widened. Not that I could blame her, we haven't seen each other in over twenty years, and I'm pretty sure she wondered what I was doing here, seeing as how the funeral was for a woman who destroyed everything I once held dear.
"Cissy, who is that?" Lucius asked her, looking at me like I was a ghost. I couldn't blame him, I looked exactley like the woman who was buried underneath the ground, except my hair was half a shade lighter and my eyes were brown instead of black. Yes me and him saw each other on occasions, but I never gotten to know the bastard, not so much that he would recognize me over twenty years.
"This is...," she paused and opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words to describe me. "This is Andromeda. My sister."
"Nice seeing you again. But we really must be going now. Come, Narcissa."
My eyes narrowed at him. She had just seen her sister she hasn't seen in over twenty years, and she was ordering him home?
"Actually, would you mind taking Draco home? I need to speak to her for a moment."
He sighed loudly, as if annoyed by her request before he turned to Draco and motioned with him to come with him.
"Nice meeting you," I say to Draco with a smile.
"Nice meeting you to," he said with a slight head nod and a tiny smile before he turned tail and followed his father.
"He looks just like you," I say softly.
"Thank you," she replied, looking after him with a sort of proud smile. I felt my heart wrench. It wasn't fair. I wanted my daughter here, I wanted people to tell her she looks just like me.
She turned back to me and must have noticed the discontent on my face.
"So how's Teddy?"
"Teddy's fine. I swear he is the spitting image of-" but I couldn't bring myself to say her name.
"I'm sorry," she said in what I assumed was supposed to be a sincere tone. "No mother should have to go through burying there own child."
"Yeah well," I felt tears well up in my eyes, "it's not her fault that she had a psycho for an aunt."
I saw her open her mouth as if to protest, but she decided against it.
"She never hated you," Narcissa said, sounding as if she had a sudden head cold. "She missed you. She talked about you all the time when mother or father wasn't around."
"Then why not visit? Why not write? Cissy, I have been cut off from ever member of my family for over twenty years!"
I couldn't help but shout at her. I was angry. I wanted her to feel bad. My sister, my daughter, my husband, everyone was gone from my life, but she had everything. A husband she adored, a son she loved, a family who she saw whenever she wanted. It wasn't fair.
"It's not like you made much of an effort to see us!" she shot back. "Anyone one of us would have been happy to see you and talk to you, but you never contacted any of us!"
"You hated me, my daughter, and my husband! What the hell was I supposed to do? Just walk up to our house, dodge the curses that mother and Bella set on me and sit down for some tea?"
"I never hated you or your family! I always loved you! It wasn't my fault that mother or Bella didn't after you left us! I always missed you, Andy. You just assumed otherwise."
We both stared at one another for a moment before I saw tears in her eyes, and I realized with a start that I also had them.
"I gotta get back to the manor," she said her voice losing the angry edge it held, and her voice shaking with the tears that her blue eyes held.
I didn't say a word as she took out her wand and turned away from me to appirate.
"Cissy!" I cry out before she raised her wand. She turned back to me and I smile as best I can. "I love you."
Her face breaks out into a smile and her eyes fill with tears again. "I love you too, Andy. And I'm sorry about what she did."
It wasn't your fault, you're not the one who committed murder."
We smiled at one another once more before I turn away. This time it was her who called my name.
"Hey, Andy," I turn back to her and she looks rather nervous. "Uh, i- if you want to come over for dinner later this week, and bring Teddy, too because I'm sure he's a wonderful baby, um, just drop me an Owl and come on by." I smile and nod my head.
"I'd like that. Thank you."
This time we both turn away from one another and as I get my wand out to appirate home to my grandson, I couldn't help but smile.
It had cost my husband and daughter's lives, but I had finaly gotten my sister back.
Ugh, not my best work, but mehh. Please Review!