I don't own Harry Potter. Obviously. Or the song The Call, which is the song the part titles come from. It's a good song. You should go listen to it. Anyway…
Part I- It Started Out as a Feeling
December 1968
"Annie!" came a squeal as a little boy with black hair came racing across the room. Andromeda opened her arms and scooped him up. His legs came around her waist as she spun him in a circle before setting him back down on the ground.
"Hi Regulus," she laughed looking at him as she set him down. He smiled.
"I'm too big for you to spin, Annie," Sirius said proudly. "I'm a whole four and a half feet now. I'm almost as tall as you are," he boasted.
"Oh really?" Andromeda asked, looking down at him.
"Well maybe not quite yet. But I am tall!" he protested. Andromeda opened her mouth to assure him that for a boy of eight, four and a half feet was very tall when she heard Narcissa's name being called from the den. With a brief apologetic grin, she left her two younger cousins in the hall to go answer the summons. Bellatrix followed behind her and she saw Narcissa peeking around the stairs when she reached the doorway. All three sisters entered to find themselves in front of Aunt Walburga and their mother, both of whom were sitting on a loveseat in the middle of a room, the back leaned against a tall, thin-legged table.
"Come, sit down Narcissa," their aunt instructed motioning to the seat between the pair of adults. Bellatrix leaned against the wall and Andromeda walked near it, lightly touching one stocking-ed foot to the wall as she balanced on one leg. Narcissa walked to the loveseat and flattened the back of her robes as she sat down.
"What is it Aunt Walburga?" she asked politely. Gently the woman smiled.
"We have found you a match," she said proudly.
"But I'm barely fourteen," Narcissa replied, her eyes wide. "And I'm hardly seen as very strong."
"You are a very pretty girl of fourteen, Narcissa," her mother said, smiling at her youngest daughter. "This is actually your second offer but we thought it was best to expand our horizons. Rabastan Lestrange was the first."
"May I ask, Mother, who this one is?" Narcissa questioned. Andromeda heard Bellatrix snort very quietly at Narcissa's tone.
"Lucius Malfoy," her aunt answered. "Not perhaps quite as worthy in blood as a Lestrange-"
"But more wealthy, better able to take care of her," her mother interrupted. "He is nearly as pure and-"
"I should not care if there was no money at all in the matter if he could trace his descendents to the Peverells!"
"I do care however, as it is my daughter who will be living in his manner. It's not as if he has muggles in his direct line. He could very well be just as pure as the Lestranges; they just haven't traced as far back." Suddenly the two adults seemed to realize that the three sisters were still present. "You may go now Narcissa. This matter may be discussed further with your father at a later time." The blonde girl nodded and got to her feet; Andromeda and Bellatrix followed.
"Are you happy Cissy?" Bellatrix asked her as soon as they were out of the room.
"I was when I first found out. I did not know it caused Aunt Walburga discomfort," Narcissa answered.
"Does it make you unhappy then?" Andromeda asked.
"No. I rather like him. He can be presumptuous but I believe he's looking out for the best interests."
"Whose best interests?" Andromeda asked. Both her sisters shook their heads at her.
"Ours," Bellatrix answered. "Our place in the world, not only the wizarding world but among everyone. We've been hiding in the shadows because the mud-blood filled ministry has told us to for far too long." Her eyes fixed on Andromeda's. "That's what he's told me. And he's willing to do something about it."
"You've spoken to him? Well I suppose so," Narcissa said, looking up at her older sister. "He tried to talk to me in the Astronomy tower when we both were fairly sure of the engagement but that Weasley boy ruined it," she continued.
"Of course I have. He's an annoying fourth year but as you are engaged to him I'll try and curb my temper," Bellatrix replied to Narcissa with a smile. Andromeda broke her gaze with Bellatrix. It did not seem to her that her sister had been talking about Lucius Malfoy.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked as he came around the corner. Regulus was following after him.
"Narcissa's going to be married," Andromeda told him.
"Oh," Sirius answered. Regulus walked forward and grabbed a hold of Andromeda's hand.
"I wanna show you something," he told her quietly, pulling her toward the stairs.
"Yeah, me too," Sirius said, scurrying ahead of his brother and his cousin. Bellatrix laughed.
"I'll see you later Annie. You look somewhat tied up." Andromeda rolled her eyes as her two sisters headed toward the dining room. Her attention then turned to her younger cousins. She followed them up the stairs.
"He's in my room I think," Sirius informed her. He walked up to a door that had his name on a small plate in front of it. Regulus let go of her hand and pushed the door open. She walked in as Sirius bent down on the ground besides a small brown puppy that was dashing all around. Andromeda sank down on Sirius's wide bed as the two boys sat down on the rug, playing with the small dog.
"We got him early for Christmas," Sirius said proudly. "He belongs to both of us."
"What's his name?" Andromeda asked as the puppy launched itself at the bed next to her, its brown eyes excited by the attention he was getting. Regulus followed the puppy's example and jumped on to Sirius's bed, giggling as the puppy jumped into Andromeda's lap and began licking her face as if she had left hamburger residue all over it.
"Spot," Sirius said with a small laugh. Andromeda looked at the dog as best she could while it was licking her face. The dog looked completely brown, not a spot on it. Both Regulus and Sirius were grinning. Apparently they found Spot a very amusing name for this dog. Losing interest in Andromeda, the puppy jumped off her lap and pounced on Regulus, who giggled as the dog began cleaning his face the same as he had done Andromeda's.
"How'd you come up with Spot?" Andromeda asked Sirius.
He shrugged. "We just liked it," he told her. The dog jumped down by Sirius who began to play with the dog, tumbling it over on its belly and scratching at its ears. "When's Cissy getting married?" Sirius asked.
"I'd assume after she graduates," Andromeda answered as she pulled Regulus into her lap and lightly tickled his stomach. He giggled and tried to squirm away.
"When's that?"
"A bit over four years."
"Are you gonna get married Annie?"
"Yes."
"Why do you want to do that?" Regulus asked, looking up at her. He stopped squirming. Andromeda bit her lip. She didn't really know how to explain to her younger cousin that she only wanted to marry him because her family needed her to. Fortunately she was spared from answering as the doorbell rang through the house.
"Maybe it's Uncle Alphard!" Sirius yelped as he stood up. The puppy barked happily at the excitement as Regulus slid from Andromeda's lap and scurried after his brother. Andromeda followed after them, careful to close the door so the puppy wouldn't get out. Sirius and Regulus were scrabbling down the stairs and she hurried after them. Uncle Alphard was a favorite of all of them. He had never been married but he loved kids. "Most girls are just too much trouble Annie," he had laughingly told her one time when she was about Sirius's age. Back then she had found him astounding. He always remembered to carry chocolate frogs in his pockets for Bellatrix, sugar quills for Narcissa, and licorice wands for her. Now, at the foot of the stairs she saw Sirius stiffen until Regulus ran into him.
"Sorry," she heard Regulus mutter as Andromeda walked down the rest of the stairs and sat down on the one three from the bottom. Regulus sat down beside her while Sirius peered around as he stood a step below.
"It's our grandparents," he whispered back to Andromeda and his brother. "They haven't noticed us-"
"Sirius, Regulus!" Sirius's mother called. The little boy flinched and motioned to his little brother before heading down the last of the stairs and into the hall.
"Andromeda!" she heard her father call. Sighing she got to her feet. Regulus slipped his small hand into hers as they walked into the den again. Inside a pair of witches in their fifties sat on the couch. A man of around the same age was sitting in a chair near them. Narcissa was sitting on the couch beside their grandmother, her hands in her lap and her back straight. Bellatrix was standing by the wall near Aunt Walburga. The sisters' parents were sitting by the fire along with Sirius's father.
"There they are mother," Andromeda heard her father say. His eyes focused on hers as if questioning why she was late. She looked away, trying not to answer. She felt the scrutinizing gaze of her grandmother over her body as she let go of Regulus's hand and he slid over to his mother's side. Sirius stayed in front of Andromeda and she slipped her hands onto his shoulders. Andromeda looked back at the couch where her grandmother and great-aunt were.
"Hello," she greeted quietly.
"Happy Christmas," Sirius added. Andromeda squeezed his right shoulder with her hand.
"What were you three up to?" she asked her granddaughter.
"We were upstairs-" Sirius began brightly but Andromeda interrupted.
"Sirius and Regulus were upstairs. They were showing me their early Christmas gift. They thought I might find it of interest, Grandmother," she said calmly.
"Is that so?" she asked rhetorically, her eyes shifting over to Regulus. Andromeda felt Sirius twitch now that his examination was apparently over for the time being. She gave his shoulder another squeeze as Regulus was questioned about his schoolwork. Their grandmother then fell into conversation with her sister who sat beside her. At a nod from her father and aunt, Andromeda left the room with her younger cousins. Bellatrix followed. She began giggling in the hall.
"It's really quite disturbing when you do that," Andromeda told her. "You shouldn't giggle."
"Grandmother makes me. She's so old-fashioned."
"Please don't tell me you're going to criticize the fashion of her robes. We already have Narcissa."
"Not that. Before you came in she was talking of Grindelwald and his 'For the Greater Good.'"
"What about it?" Andromeda asked. They were following Sirius and Regulus into the kitchen. Regulus slipped around a counter as they entered the room and began talking with the house elf. She got the feeling it was more the small boys' stomachs that had led them in here. "She's talked about Grindelwald before. After all she was in her thirties when he was taking power over in-"
"But she was talking about him having the right idea. She seemed to think he had everything right that he was-"
"The bees-knees?" Andromeda said. Sirius gave her a funny look over his sandwich.
Bellatrix laughed. "The bees-knees, Annie?"
"I heard it somewhere," Andromeda answered, trying to figure out where she'd heard the phrase. She'd remembered thinking it was a funny little quote and that her cousins might like it. Especially since Sirius had a fascination with bees.
"Do bees have knees?" Regulus asked as he tried to pull back a heavy chair one handed as he balanced a plate with a sandwich on it. Sirius reached over and helped him.
"I think so," Andromeda answered. "Do they, Bella?"
"I haven't the faintest idea. But he wasn't 'the bees-knees', Annie. Grindelwald was better, surely than most people now but he imprisoned the problem when he could have terminated it."
"He killed people too Bella," Andromeda said quietly, hoping Sirius and Regulus wouldn't hear. Unfortunately the two young boys were listening very intently.
"But Nurmengard hardly lay empty," she insisted. "He would make sure Nurmengard was used for people who had information not those who were not participating," she stated.
"Who?" Sirius asked curiously. Andromeda looked down at the table, knowing Bellatrix would not answer, not directly.
"Don't talk with food in your mouth, please, Sirius. You'll scare all the girls who aren't Bella and me," she told him."
"I don't care about all the girls. I care about the sandwich," he insisted, but swallowed before saying it anyway. "You want some?"
"No thank you Siri."
"You want some of mine?" Regulus asked. "I don't have tomatoes."
"Tomatoes are good," Sirius told him.
"No way!" Regulus replied with a wrinkled nose.
"Yeah-huh."
"Na-uh
"Yeah-huh."
"Na-uh."
"Yeah-"
"Stop," Andromeda told them. She took a seat next to Sirius as the boy shrugged and returned to eating. She could hear voices still coming from the den mixed in with the sound of Regulus swinging his legs against the rungs of his chair. Bellatrix was running her hand absently along the counter while walking along before stopping and leaning against it her head propped on her elbows. A moment later, Narcissa came sweeping into the room and gracefully jumped up onto the table, crossing her legs at the ankles as her legs dangled over the edge.
"You managed to escape?" Bellatrix asked her. "You should have left when we did."
"It's harder when you're sitting down next to them," Narcissa said simply.
"Annie, I want to go play with Spot again," Regulus declared suddenly, bored with sitting still. He hopped down from his chair.
"Wait up a second," Sirius said, shoving a final bite of his sandwich in his mouth before getting up himself. He needn't have bothered so much. Regulus was determinedly yanking on Andromeda's hand to get her up.
"You're just going to let them climb all over you like that?" Narcissa asked in disgust.
"Of course not," Andromeda said with a smile as she got to her feet. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow as she stood up straight again. Andromeda leaned forward and whispered in Regulus's ear. He shook his head, wide eyed so Andromeda sighed and whispered the same thing to Sirius. Sirius took off across the room and soared onto the table, next to Narcissa, causing her to lose her balance and nearly fall off the table, her legs and arms splaying in an unladylike manner. She squealed before the two little boys scurried off, Sirius giggling. Andromeda took long strides away from the room, a smirk on her face as Bellatrix snorted and more slowly followed.
"You set them up for that," Narcissa growled, as she stood up and began straightening her robes and hair again. Andromeda paused to let Bellatrix catch up and the two snorted together. Regulus and Sirius were waiting impatiently on the stairs for them. As soon as Andromeda's foot touched the first stair the two boys rocketed up, eager to escape completely from the adult world with their cousins in tow.
I seem to like the month of December… I don't know. Dismiss me as odd if you will. Anyway, hope that you think I did an eight-year-old Sirius alright.
Does anyone else have a problem when they upload a document that there's a sentence that just appears at the top? In the beginning author's note for one story, I typed out something about how 'I should be working on another story but I wanted to write another one out' and now every time I post a new document, that sentence just kind of appears...
Reviews always appreciated!
