[For anyone who hasn't seen the profile update, I'm going to try to keep to a schedule with this story. New chapters will be posted on Fridays.]
Chapter 4:
Sisters
"Are you mad?"
Andromeda lowered her book. "Your pardon, Cissy?"
Over the crest of her knees Narcissa's pale face appeared, freshly scrubbed with whatever concoction she favored this month. She'd been interested in potions only insomuch as the subject gave her new opportunities for cosmetic improvement. Her blue eyes gleamed hotly in the lamplight.
"A hundred galleons!" Narcissa spat. "Are you absolutely insane?"
She sat up on the bed, closing the book and laying it aside. A calm movement—measured, exact. She forced herself not to flinch. "Would you care to be more articulate?"
Narcissa strode forward like a hungry animal. No clicking heels accompanied her; she had come barefoot, as disheveled as she could ever be. "You know damn well what I'm talking about."
"No, Cissy, I don't. And I'd appreciate if you'd simply tell me instead of barging into my room and yelling like a harpy."
"Stop it! Stop playing with me! You made a bet with-…with that boy!"
Calm. Measured. "Ah. The Gryffindor boy. Theodore Tank or something. He was collecting wagers on the Quidditch."
Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I know. Everyone knows after what you did!"
"What exactly are you angry about, Cissy? That I made a wager in support of our house or that I spoke to a Mudblood? If the latter, I'm sure you've exchanged a word or two with one of them while you've been here."
"That…is far from the point, Andromeda!" Narcissa shuddered in anger. Bellatrix would have hexed her at least once by now just for impudence, but such aggressive tactics had never been their youngest sister's style. She preferred not to get her hands dirty.
"Then what exactly is your point?"
Narcissa scoffed and stamped a foot. "My point is that you embarrassed yourself in front of the whole school! And what's more, you've embarrassed your house and, I daresay, our family!"
"Merlin's beard," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Firstly, you give that boy too much credit if you think the entire school saw us. Secondly, Slytherin has no rules, written or social, about making wagers that support our house. And finally, Cissy, if you think that something as simple as a wager on Slytherin's quidditch season is somehow an insult to our family, you clearly didn't pay much attention to some of things Bella did when she was here. You're not even paying attention to Lucius, for that matter. How much gold has he taken off first-years?"
"Leave Lucius out of this," Narcissa snapped. "And if Bella were here, she'd ruin your face for a week just for risking embarrassment."
She jumped off the bed. She wasn't quite as tall as Bella, but she still had a few inches on her little sister. "Listen!" She leaned into Narcissa's face. "Whether you like it or not, Bella isn't here anymore. Next year, you and Lucius Malfoy can have the run of the place, but until then, I'm the representative of the Black family at Hogwarts, and you will respect me as such. Do you understand?"
Narcissa gave a curt, stung nod.
"Good girl. Now run along and comb your hair."
Her sister left, dejected but not defeated. No doubt she would go to her own room where she could sulk without worrying about her appearance. Once Lucius, flanking Horace Slughorn, was done speaking to the new first-years she would probably seek comfort in him. It wasn't as if they would get caught—even if they did, no one was likely to turn a Black and a Malfoy in for snogging under a staircase. Ignorant students had suffered permanent mutilations for far lesser offenses than tattling.
She lay back down on the bed. The leather cover of her book, a 19th century text on encounters with sentient, man-eating plants, looked inviting, but she'd lost her taste for reading. Her roommates, two sour-faced girls of only middle-class pureblood families for whom a hundred galleons would be a ridiculous amount to put on a bet, would be there any minute now. She wanted to be asleep before they came.
Andromeda kicked the book onto the floor and turned out the light.
In the morning, all seemed forgotten, forgiven.
In the morning, she walked with a gaggle of her housemates to the Great Hall for breakfast. Narcissa, refreshed and pretending she hadn't been chastened the night before, walked behind her, alongside Prefect Malfoy as he led his new charges to their meal.
In the morning, none of the others so much as mentioned the wager she'd made. She wondered if word had circulated that she was not to be bothered about it.
In the morning, she spotted Ted Tonks immediately as the Slytherins filed into the Hall. Her annoyance with him made him seem taller and broader than he'd been yesterday. She watched disdainfully as he jotted down another note in his book and pushed into a seat between two Gryffindors; bowls of food were passed his way immediately. He looks like he eats enough, she thought, feeling her lip curl into a sneer. At least it shuts him up.
In the morning, she had just begun to nibble on a scone when the owl arrived.
It dove through the flurry of birds that came to bear students warm wishes from their families on their first day, finding its target as easily as if she were the only person in the room. The Sooty Owl's black eyes narrowed as it descended; its white face shone like a frozen lake in the sunlight. It dropped a letter onto Andromeda's plate and settled in front of her for a moment to preen. She recognized it immediately; it had lived in the family's owlery for years. Though Bellatrix had never been fond of animals, she'd seemed to enjoy her owl.
Her hands shook as she picked up the envelope. She fought to steady them. If Bellatrix had somehow heard about the wager, if she had sent a screamer—
The letter opened silently. Her sister's handwriting, narrow but elegant, made sleek black lines across the expensive parchment. Despite Bella's impulsiveness, there were no stray marks. She must have taken her time with this one.
Dearest sister,
Congratulations on reaching your final year of school. Given that Hogwarts is a veritable bastion of foolishness and distraction, making it through to one's seventh year is an accomplishment.
As a seventh-year, you must represent our family with pride and grace. I know you hate to be assertive, but I think you can manage that much without too many moral dilemmas…although you really should work on developing more of a spine. Mother has always said you're too polite, and I'm inclined to agree with her.
Please make sure our little sister doesn't become too distracted with Malfoy. She's too young for a formal engagement, and it won't look proper if she throws herself all over the boy.
I'll see you when you come home for the holidays.
B.
She folded the letter as the stiffness began to go out of her shoulders. Her sister had written not a single word about her upcoming marriage to Rodolphus, though it was scheduled for the winter holidays she had mentioned. Perhaps she'd forgotten. Though Bella was as proud of her match as the rest of the family was, there seemed little affection between her and her fiancé.
Andromeda picked up a bit of bacon from a passing dish and offered it to the owl. "Go back home, Cappella."
Bellatrix's owl snapped at the meat greedily and took to the air. Staring after it and clutching Bella's letter, Andromeda realized she'd lost her appetite.
[Chapter notes: Sooty Owls are native to Australia, but I think they have a suitable look for a young Bellatrix's use, and besides, in a world of time turners, dragons, and invisibility cloaks, I figure it wouldn't really be a big deal to have an Australian owl in England. But don't tell DEFRA I said that. Like everything else in the Black family, Bella's owl is named for a star.
The real "meat" of the story begins in the next chapter; thanks for sticking with me thus far.]