Platform nine and three quarters was packed with students eagerly awaiting the coming semester. Noise and chaos reigned supreme, the hustling crowds and excitement easily masking the three sisters that stood off to the side, their parents talking to a tall, dark haired man with a handlebar mustache and flashing blue eyes. They paid no attention as their three daughters gravitated slowly away from them to stand by themselves. Bellatrix leaned against a decorative pillar, her new robes a perfect fit to her slim body, her face pale against all the black, her eyes burning and fervered with anticipation. Andromeda clutched her elder sisters arm, as though it was she herself who was leaving, and not her black-haired counterpart. Narcissa, the golden fairy-child, eight years old and perfect as a white rose, brushed a white blond curl from her porcelain face, a sure sign that she was nervous.
"Bella...I can't believe its finally time."
"Neither can I."
"Are you….scared?"
"I'm never scared. Maybe. I don't know. Its…different."
"Different how?"
"Its forever, what happens at Hogwarts."
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I. But if I go wrong here…..I'll never make it."
"Make it where?"
"Never mind. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Yes you did!"
"Perhaps."
"She meant that you can't undo what will happen in this next seven years. And that what does happen will shape you and your life, change you forever, and you can't never ever go back. Right, Bella?" Said the ocean-eyed youngest sister, speaking for the first time. Bellatrix looked at her with half masked surprise.
" Yes. Cissy has it." She said, smiling briefly at Narcissa.
"Oh. But I don't want you to change."
"We'll all change, Meda. Don't be silly."
"I'm not! I wish we could stay the same forever."
"No, you don't. You just think you do."
"I don't want us to change away from each other."
"Meda! That's never going to happen. Will it, Bella?" Cissy added, as a apprehensive afterthought, appealing to the wisdom of her oldest sister.
"If we're not careful." Andromeda said darkly.
" She was asking me, Meda. It might. It happens to lots of people. I don't think it matters much." Bellatrix said, shrugging a dainty shoulder.
"Of course it does! It all matters. Lets make a promise."
"A promise? Of what?" Cissy said, her eyes lighting up.
"To always stick together no matter what. To be loyal to each other forever and ever. To not change so much that we aren't sisters anymore. To be good, and do whats most important in our lives. That type of promise."
"I don't know, Andromeda."
"Why not?"
" We might not keep it." Bellatrix said, with a rare foreboding twist in her heart.
"Oh, I will. Won't you, Cissy?"
"Whats most important in our lives? I haven't got any idea what that would be."
"Oh, you know. To be loyal to each other and our families, and do what we think is right. To stop others who aren't. To rise to the top, like mother says. Always be the best, even if you have to kill yourself to do it. Uphold the honor of the family."
"Like blood purity?"
"Exactly."
"I don't know…"
"Meda! There's nothing wrong with upholding the Black family honor. Stop being such a nitwit about it. You'll see, it's the muggles who are wrong, and filthy, and deserve to die."
"Bella's right. Its only you who think that way, Andy. So promise. Please?"
"Alright. I promise."
"Then so do I."
"I promise."
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"Bellatrix? Where are you, you stupid girl? The train's leaving in five minuets. How to you expect to get a compartment with the right sort of people if you leave it until the last moment?"
"Yes, mother."
"Where have you…..ah, there you are. Stop skulking around behind pillars like muggle scum and get yourself on the train. If you miss it we'll all have hell to pay." Druella snapped, roughly shepherding the three girls out into the midst of the crowd, towards the steaming red train.
"I've got five minutes. I can take care of myself, mother." Bellatrix said, jerking herself away from her mothers tight, vice-like grip.
" Speaking of muggle scum….You know what to look out for?"
"Of course, mother."
"Good. No daughter of mine will ever be caught associating with some muggle-born filth. That goes for all of you."
"Yes mother. Let go of me!" she snapped, pulling herself finally away from Druella. "God."
"Bellatrix. Please don't make me-"
"Druella, over there – it's the minister. We should go over. Oh, Andromeda-"
"Bellatrix."
"Yes, Bellatrix. Whoever you are. Now, you better be in Slytherin, young lady - not that I'm doubting the intentions of a daughter of mine. But remember, you have an honor to uphold. If you even talk to a Gryffindor, I will personally call the headmaster and see to it that he punishes you beyond what even I can - " His threatening tirade, directed with snarling venom towards his eldest daughter was cut short by a breathy gasp from his wife.
"Cygnus, he's waving."
"Right. We must be going. Get on that train before it leaves. Andromeda, Narcissa, wave goodbye to your sister then join us over there. I must introduce you to the minister, though god knows what he'll think of Narcissa…." He trailed off, and taking his wife's arm, hurried towards the man in the purple dress robes.
Narcissa made no indication that she had heard her fathers degrading comment, but followed her sisters, shoving past a perky blonde ( "She can't be a pureblood, look at, those glasses. And the twiggy arms. What a filthy half blood." Said Bella, smirking as she elbowed the girl in the side, hard, so that she almost fell.) towards the train that would, in turn, bring each of them to their destinies.
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"Goodbye! Goodbye!" Bellatrix called to her sisters, half hanging out the window as she waved.
"Goodbye Bella!"
"Write me, please!"
"I will!" She replied, grinning wickedly at Andromeda. "I'll tell you everything – Meda, whats wrong?"
"I'll miss you." Whispered Andromeda, in a voice so low bellatrix had to lean almost all the way out the window to hear it. She laughed.
"Of course you will! I'll miss you to. But I'll see you at Christmas."
"I know."
"Oh, don't be such a crybaby, Andromeda. Black don't cry. Father will half kill you if he sees."
"Sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Its alright. You can cry when you get home, though I'll wonder why. Its just school."
"In two years you'll be going, Meda!"
"Oh yeah."
"Then me!"
"Right! It'll be the three of us then."
"Nobody will stop us then!"
"Nobody'll dare to."
"Remember your promise."
"I will! I shan't ever forget."
"I'll see you at Christmas, Bella!"
"See you then, Cissy. I'll bring you one of those beauty potions from Hogsmead."
"First-years can't go to Hogsmead! Right?"
"Like that'll stop me!" She laughed, and her black curls whipped around her face as the train began to slowly pick up speed.
"Goodbye! Goodbye!" Called Andromeda and Narcissa, as the train pulled ou of the station. "Remember your promise!"
"Its going to be different with her gone." Said Andromeda sadly as they threaded their way through the rapidly dispersing crowd towards their parents.
"Yeah. Different all right." Answered her sister, spotting the angry look on her fathers face, a face that she barely ever saw, but that she knew terrified Bellatrix much more often then it did her and Andromeda.
"I hope she remembers the promise."
"Don't worry. She will."
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Hmm. Cunning, yeas, I see that. Very cunning. Powerful to, more then a witch your age should be. Amazing control, a sharp mind. Powerful beyond most I have sorted yet. Very powerful indeed.
Yes, I know all that. Slytherin?
Well, you'd be great in Slytherin, yes you would. Such great things, so powerful you'd be. Up in the top, where you dream to be. You will go far, achieve such great things. You have great potential, Bellatrix Black.
Yes, yes, I know. Of course I'll go far. Why shouldn't I? I'm a Black, aren't I?
Yes, but that does not mean anything.
Don't be daft, of course it does. All Blacks must succeed. What are you talking about? I promised, didn't I?
Ah yes. Loyal, very loyal. You'd do anything for those which you love. Courage to. You have much courage, you are brave beyond imagining.
Well, so what? That doesn't mean anything. I'm a Slytherin at heart, I've been born a Slytherin.
Yes, you'll do best in Slytherin, no doubt about that. I'm not saying you won't, its clear Slytherin is where you belong.
Well, get on with it then.
But are you sure its what you want?
Of course it is, hat! Get on with it already, you stupid peace of cloth.
Alright. Consider yourself warned.
Whatever.
If your sure. You'd do best in Slytherin, but it doesn't have to be.
Yes, it does.
A desire to prove yourself, a thirst to come out on top. I detect a passion, full of fire and desperation. Secrets you run from…these won't be the last, Ms. Black. You will swim with the lies and darkness before long. Ah, I see, a yearning to….well, you'll go far in Slytherin.
Yes, yes, alright already.
Be patient. I have warned you. If you enter Slytherin you will never be the same. It will change you, it will destroy you forever. It is your destiny. But consider yourself warned. You can always go back….No? If you're sure…..better be…SLYTHERIN!