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Chapter 10-Cousins

Sirius grinned as the little girl climbed up onto James' lap.

"Watch!" She demanded, and her hair changed from dirty blonde curls into an unruly black mop. "Now I look like you!" She pulled James' glasses off his face and put them on herself.

Sirius laughed, "Why would you want to look like him Dora?" He said.

"Hey!" James replied, but grinned anyways.

"Nymphadora, give James his glasses back!" Andromeda scolded, coming back into the living room.

Scowling at her mother, the little girl gave the glasses back to James. Andromeda sat down next to Sirius. She'd cut off her dark hair so that it hung just below her chin, but her eyes were still the same warm brown that Sirius remembered.

"It's good to see you, Meda." He told her.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it." Andromeda mused, "You've grown up Sirius." She smiled at him.

"He's grown, but not grown up." James put in, grinning.

Andromeda smiled, "So what are you boys going to do, now that you're done school?"

"Well we were talking to Dumbledore..." Sirius said, and Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "We want to join the Order."

"You're too young!" Andromeda exclaimed.

"We're of age." James responded.

Andromeda frowned, "It's not safe." She said, shaking her head, "The Order's outnumbered, they're being killed off."

"More people will die if Voldemort's not stopped." Sirius replied firmly.

Andromeda looked at him, he was too young. But if she knew anything about Sirius, it was that he was nearly as stubborn as Bellatrix. She wouldn't be able to talk him out of joining the Order of the Phoenix if it was what he really wanted. She sighed, "Just be careful."

"I'm always am." Sirius replied, grinning.

Andromeda watched her daughter demonstrate her different hairstyles for James. "How's Regulus?" She asked after a moment.

Sirius scowled, "He's like the rest of them. He hates me for being different. He wouldn't even look at me all year."

Andromeda smiled sadly, "I'm sorry Sirius."

"For what?"

"For our family, for the way they are." Andromeda replied. Sirius ran a hand through his curly black hair.

"Why are you apologizing? You're not like them." Sirius said, frowning.

Andromeda looked at her younger cousin for a moment, he was no longer the little boy that he had been the last time she had seen him. "I'm glad you're not like them either." She said quietly.

"Hey Padfoot," James interrupted, Nymphadora was still sitting in his lap, her hair a bright violet now. "I think we might have another transfiguration prodigy here." He grinned and Nymphadora looked very pleased with herself.

Number 12 Grimauld Place was quiet without Sirius. No longer were there daily shouting matches between Regulus' brother and his parents. Regulus almost missed the loud muggle music that his brother would play just to annoy his mother. The house was quiet now, quiet, but not peaceful.

Walburga had blasted her eldest son's name off the tapestry when he ran away the summer before. She had only one son now, and she was determined that Regulus make the most of himself, that he live up to the name of Black.

Not that she blamed herself at all for her older son's lack of family pride. There were bad eggs in every family. She had herself convinced that if Druella's girl Andromeda hadn't run off with that muggle, Sirius would never have gotten the idea of abandoning his family either. She and Orion had done everything for the boy, he was just an ungrateful brat. He was no son of hers.

But she would do everything possible to make sure that Regulus didn't go the same way, that his brother's behaviour wouldn't give him any ideas. So when Bellatrix wrote to her at the start of summer, Walburga jumped at the opportunity to have her son involved in, "The right sort of thing." As Orion put it.

Her niece never failed to remind Walburga of her brother Cygnus. Bellatrix had not only inherited her father's looks, but also his commanding presence and strong pure-blood beliefs. Bellatrix was exactly the kind of influence that Regulus needed.

She came to Grimauld place several days after Regulus returned home for the summer holidays.

"My dear Bella!" Walburga simpered upon seeing her niece, "You cannot know how delighted we are that..."

"Thank you Aunt." Bellatrix interrupted, "Is Regulus upstairs?"

"Well, yes, but I'll send the elf to bring him down."

"No, that's alright, I'll go up."

Bellatrix didn't want to spend any more time with her aunt than was necessary. Walburga was not her favourite person, despite being her father's sister.

"Of course." Walburga smiled, "I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on..."

Bellatrix had spent time at Grimauld place as a child. It was a small house compared to her own childhood home, but she had always been rather fond of the place. She had always liked looking at the large black family tree that adorned the wall of one of the upstairs rooms. She liked seeing her name there on the wall, a part of the Black history. As a little girl she would sit in the room and trace her finger over the names of distant relatives, wondering about their lives. She had not looked at the tapestry in years, and knew that her sister's name would not be there anymore, and neither would Sirius'.

But at the top of the stairs she did not go into the room with the tapestry, instead she found Regulus' room and knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

Regulus jumped at the sound of his cousin's voice, and turned to see her standing in his doorway, a slight smile on her pretty face. He hadn't seen Bella for several years, she looked the same. Now that he was older he noticed the similarities their faces shared, the same heavily lidded eyes and high cheekbones.

"Well look at you Reg." Bellatrix teased, "All grown up." She looked around the room at the Slytherin colours and smiled.

"Why are you here?" Regulus demanded.

She noticed the newspaper clippings that decorated her younger cousin's wall. "Following the war...?" She asked, her eyes scanning over the headlines and pictures cut from the daily profit. She turned back to him, "I wrote you a letter, if you remember."

"It wasn't really a letter, it was more like a couple vague sentences." Regulus muttered.

Bellatrix smiled, stepping closer to him and examining his face. He had the dark hair and pale skin that was so common in their family, he looked the part of a Black. "I know what you want, Regulus." She said, coming closer still, and looking down into his dark brown eyes.

Regulus stared back, determined not to let his fear show on his face.

"You want to be the son your parents wanted Sirius to be." She watched as he struggled to keep his face blank. "I can help you do that Regulus."

She paused and turned away from him again, giving him time to collect his thoughts.

"Well...?" She asked after a moment, "Do you want to be a good son?"