Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… But in this case, mostly just the Black family. Yay for NOT having Harry in a Harry Potter fic! –celebrates-
Alright people… we didn't get many reviews last time… But… we're gonna update anyways since it was such a long wait last time. Come on… we really like the reviews! Please?
x-slytherincess-x: Wow! What timing! I'm so happy that you enjoyed it again, we were worried that we'd lost like… all of our readers! And Thanks for adding us to favorites! Here, I'll give you Oreos since you did! (They're like… half my diet. –grin-) Anyways! Hope this is soon enough! Hehe
SharkiesGirl: I'm glad that you still continue to enjoy it, even after all this time! Sorry for the long wait… We won't take as long in between anymore with summer!
Special thanks to Aspieturtles for adding us to the story alert list! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
AND ONTO THE STORY!
Chapter 9
"BEEEEEEEEELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
"What is it mother?"
"GET ALL OF YOUR THINGS OUT OF THE PARLOR NOW!" Bellatrix sighed and dragged herself off the couch in the living room as her mother continued to scream up the stairs. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SPREAD YOUR THINGS EVERYWHERE? YOU SHOUDLDN'T EVEN BE IN THE PARLOR AT ALL!"
"Calm down mother, I'm coming to pick it up right now!" Bellatrix yelled as she slowly made her way down the stairs.
Andromeda smirked as she bounced up the stairs with a book and a glass of water in her hands. 'I love it when mom yells at Bella,' she thought happily. 'It makes my day.' Her grin broadened as she saw the scowl on Bellatrix's face.
Bellatrix walked into the parlor to find her mother telling the house elf to clean more carefully and that every speck of dust left behind would be a day with out food. Bellatrix stifled a laugh at the look of terror on the elf's face.
She then began to look around for whatever it was that belonged to her. She spotted a book on dark magic that she had been looking for, along with a stack of old school papers she had dumped on the table immediately upon her arriving home from Hogwarts.
"BELLATRIX! FINALLY! GET ALL OF THIS OUT OF HERE NOW!" screamed her mother as soon as she had finished blasting a hole in the house elf's pillowcase tunic for not getting the golden candlesticks to shine perfectly.
"Mother, it's a book and some papers, calm down," sighed Bellatrix as she gathered up the stack of papers.
"WELL IF YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN THE MESS TO LORD VOLDEMORT WHEN HE GETS HERE, THEN BE MY GUEST!" Mrs. Black's eyes had taken on a demonic gleam that usually would have prompted Bellatrix to take her stuff and run before any more holes were blasted. But the name "Lord Voldemort" had erased Bellatrix's sense of self-preservation completely.
"Lord Voldemort? He's coming! WHEN?!" she exclaimed. Mrs. Black looked ready to explode at her adolescent daughter, but decided to answer the question. She knew Bellatrix would become very annoying if she didn't find out right away, and would probably be much more open to cleaning if she knew it was for Lord Voldemort.
"Three days, and this house had better be in perfect order by then!" Bellatrix hadn't heard anything past "days," as she was already half way up the stairs to Andromeda's room on the third floor. (A/N: For reference, the parlor is on the first floor, speedy girl that Bella.)
Andromeda was lying on her bed reading the assigned Transfiguration chapters while also formulating arguments to present to the teachers on why summer homework was such a bad idea. She knew that she would never ever in a million years work up the courage to tell McGonagall that giving summer homework was stupid; the punishments were only too easy to imagine. Shuddering, she decided that that was enough transfiguration of one day and shut the book. Getting up from the bed, she grabbed the empty glass from beside her bed and headed for the door.
Just as Andromeda reached for the door knob, the door flew open, and a large, dark mass came flying at her. She screamed as she and the lump went flying through the air onto her bed.
"ANDI! HE'S COMING IN ONLY THREE DAYS!" Andromeda gasped for breath as her attacker rolled off her and became identifiable as Bellatrix. An extremely happy Bellatrix, meaning only misery for Andromeda.
"Say that again Bella, and this time don't scream it in my ear. Keep the frequency down too, you get so high pitched when you're excited," Andromeda said as she rubbed her ringing ear. Bellatrix's face flashed to a frown for a second, but her happiness couldn't be deflated that easily.
"Lord Voldemort will be here for another visit in only three days!" exclaimed Bellatrix, grinning triumphantly at her younger sister. Andromeda felt as though Bellatrix had punched her in the stomach. The color drained from her face as she stared into her sister's unusually bright eyes.
'Why does she get so much pleasure at the thought of that horrible man? Is she really that evil?'
Andromeda felt like crying; sure she fought with Bellatrix and would tell anyone who asked that she hated her, but deep down at blood level she did love Bellatrix, and really, really didn't want to believe that her sister got such joy from evil.
Andromeda's musings on family love and sisterly evil were interrupted though by Narcissa.
"Bella, mom says that you are not to run around the house like a mad woman when Lord Voldemort is here," recited the young girl. Then, having done her duty, she walked over to the bed and plopped down between her older sisters. Bellatrix rolled her eyes at the message and grinned at Andromeda, who looked away quickly. Narcissa noticed the tension and patted Andromeda's arm.
"Don't worry Andi, he'll only be here a few days, he won't even notice you probably," she said cheerfully. Andromeda's expression of concern changed to confusion and Narcissa felt compelled to explain. "He'll be paying attention to Bella because she'll force him to notice her, and he'll pay attention to me because I'm so cute. But you won't stand out because you're not cute like me and you won't show off like Bella."
Bellatrix laughed at Narcissa's explanation while Andromeda just sighed and shook her head.
"You're right Cissy. It's only a few days. I shouldn't be so worried." Bellatrix stared at Andromeda as she turned to pick up the glass Andromeda had dropped when she had tackled her. 'Good thing Mom and Dad bought the ones with the Unbreakable Charm on them,' she thought absentmindedly. Then she looked at Andromeda's face. She grabbed Narcissa's hand and dragged her out of the room before Andromeda started to cry.
"Come on Cissy! Let's go find something to do!"
"What? I want stay and talk some more!" Bellatrix glared at her littlest sister and pulled the door shut behind them. She then pressed her ear against the door; sure enough, Andromeda was already in tears. Bellatrix turned back to Narcissa about to explain in vague terms why they had to leave, Only to find that Narcissa was already walking down the hall.
"Cissy! Wait! Come back here! Where are you going?"
"Andi's crying, so we shouldn't stand around outside her door listening. I'm going to go brush my hair." Narcissa skipped down the stairs to the floor below and went to her room. Bellatrix hurried after.
"How do you know Andi's crying?" she asked. Narcissa threw her a look that said, 'You're so stupid sometimes,' and explained,
"I could tell before you even grabbed my hand, her nose was turning red." Bellatrix was slightly confused.
"Why did you try and stay though?"
"Because I didn't want her to know that we know she is crying! If both of us ran out of the room it would be obvious," Narcissa explained to her eldest sister as if she were a simpleton. Bellatrix was a bit shocked, but also rather pleased. Her little sister was shaping up good, very devious and clever - a true Black.
Three days later, the three Black sisters were dressed in their best dress robes and were standing in a row at the foot of the stairs. Their mother was fussing with Bellatrix's mane of hair, trying to get it to look somewhat presentable. Narcissa was watching this with smug satisfaction, thinking about how wonderful her beautiful blond looked today. Andromeda was staring off into space clutching at her dark red robes. Their father was pacing in front of the door rubbing his beard.
"Cygnus, please stop all that pacing! You'll put a hole in the floor," Mrs. Black chided her husband as she conjured up a hairbrush and proceeded to tug at the tangles in Bellatrix's hair.
"OW! MOTHER!" screeched Bellatrix as her mother yanked through a particularly nasty snarl.
"I'm sorry darling, but this really needs brushing. Why didn't you do it earlier?!"
"I DID! It just gets all tangled right away no matter what I do!"
"Perhaps you should find a charm that will make it so it doesn't do that. But I suppose your head is all filled up with curses and hexes that you don't have room for practical spells," commented Andromeda offhandedly, who had come out of her trance at the sound of her elder sister's pain. Bellatrix glared at her.
"Curses and hexes are very practical, what use would a hair de-tangling charm be in a fight?" Andromeda shrugged at this biting response.
"Well, if you want to look like a wild person when Lord Voldemort gets here, be my guest. I'm sure you'll be exactly what he is looking for," she said lightly as she went back to staring at the door. Mr. and Mrs. Black shot meaningful glances at each other as Bellatrix's eyes grew wide for a moment and then narrowed dangerously.
"And I suppose you know a charm like that, Andi?" she challenged.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Mother, may I please have the brush?" Andromeda asked as she held out her hand. Mrs. Black looked once again at her husband, who nodded, and handed the brush over to her second child. Andromeda then pulled out her wand, and glanced at her father, asking for permission to perform a spell. She knew she would get it, The Ministry of Magic wouldn't be able to tell that it was her who was casting the spell, and her parents really didn't care. Mr. Black indicated her to go ahead, so she tapped the brush and muttered the incantation. Bellatrix looked apprehensive as her sister started to brush her hair out.
"Wow...that really works, you don't have to yank at all! Will this stop it from getting tangled again after?" she asked.
"Yeah, it'll last for the rest of the day, or until you get it wet," replied Andromeda. Bellatrix started to turn her head to look at her hair over her shoulder as Andromeda began to braid it. She was rewarded with a sharp crack over the head with the brush.
"What the heck was that for?" she yelped at her sister.
"Don't move your head!" responded Andromeda sharply as she finished up and tied a black ribbon around her sister's long dark braid. Narcissa watched all of this. Both of her sisters were in a good mood today, which was a good sign. Narcissa went back to playing with the end of a lock of her hair, thinking about how nice today would be.
Sighing in relief at her daughters' seemingly cooperative behavior, Mrs. Black turned to her husband with hopeful eyes. Her sigh was quickly transformed into a gasp as the doorknob turned on its own, revealing their long-awaited guest.
