PART 2
1962
The year Bellatrix went off to Hogwarts, Andromeda and Narcissa felt excitement and trepidation in equal measures as the holiday break approached and Bellatrix' return was imminent. Though they received letters from their older sister at irregular intervals during the fall term, they were brief and vague, as if she had little time to think of her sisters trapped back at home while she was free to do as she pleased and adventure about the magical castle with Rodolphus in tow.
"Do you suppose she won't have time for us now that she's been off to school without us?" Narcissa's voice didn't waver as it once used to and Andromeda had to acknowledge that her little sister had fortified herself with surprising alacrity at the age of seven.
"I don't suppose anything, and neither should you, Cissy. She's our blood, our sister. She won't dismiss us simply because she spent a few months away from home waving a wand around like she knows what she's doing." Andromeda believed herself to have wise words and the relief that flooded into her sister's expression was enough for her. There was no use in voicing her own fear.
When the family returned home from Platform 9 ¾ with Bellatrix in tow, the sisters had to wait while the eldest was interrogated on her marks and budding relationships with her Slytherin housemates. Bellatrix volleyed answers back to their questions while maintaining a bored expression Andromeda was convinced she had perfected while away. Narcissa held her hand tightly as they stood by in silence until they were all three dismissed for the evening.
The bored expression was cast over the two younger siblings and the pit of anxiety threatened to swallow Andromeda whole. Yet, the moment their parents vanished from the room and their footsteps down to their private lounge faded off entirely, Bellatrix leapt from her seat, a maniacal grin spreading over her features as she snatched Andromeda's hand in her own and pulled them along. She didn't stop yanking Andromeda's arm from its socket until they were barreling into their room, newly refreshed with the items the younger girls had bundled up during their regular trips out with the governess.
Bellatrix noted the additions but it wasn't done for her to compliment them and neither of the other girls expected it. What mattered was that their sister, the leader, hadn't forgotten their tradition and seemed to be embracing it as if she'd never left to begin with.
Andromeda and Narcissa sunk into a pleasant sense of security as their sister dramatically recounted her first months of freedom with the detail that had been remiss from her letters. Giving the girls advice she didn't realise she was imparting for when they inevitably joined her in the castle and undoubtedly sorted into the same Hogwarts house their family had occupied since Salazar Slytherin molded the place himself.