Snippets of Childhood
Andromeda didn't like tea parties as much as Narcissa did. No one liked tea parties as much as her younger sister did. Cissy was perfectly happy to have a tea party every day of the week. There really was no way to say no to the little blonde, especially if Bellatrix had already agreed to it. If Bella was sitting down to some tea party, they were all sitting down to the tea party. Bella liked tea parties the least, although maybe that was because the tea parties that the three girls held were not as impressive as the tea parties mother now allowed Bellatrix attend. Andy wondered what those tea parties were like, Bella being the only one allowed out of the three of them.
"You'll find out next year Andy," was what her older sister would tell her. "It's not exciting. It's just a tea party."
But it was something she wasn't allowed to do. Her and Narcissa weren't allowed even to creep down the stairs to a place where they could get a glimpse of the goings on through the railing. It was very frustrating to be forbid to do something. Bella seemed to understand, because after each of those tea parties she made sure that the three of them had a tea party and she would always proclaim it grander than the party she had attended.
Bella had been dragged off to one of those parties yesterday so Andy knew that today when Cissy had asked for a tea party there would be no getting out of it. When Druella had appeared yesterday with a pink and white frilly dress, Narcissa had immediately wanted it. Bella had been less enthused, a scowl darkening her features when Druella handed it to her and was told to get dressed. Bella didn't like baby colors like pink and she didn't like frills. Ruffles and bows were not her thing. Her displeasure had been evident when she was forced into the dress, a large matching pink bow secured in her hair. Andy had not liked the atmosphere in the nursery yesterday. Bella had looked as if she was about to kill someone and Cissy sat on the rocking horse looking supremely jealous. It had been a relief when Druella and Bella had left and Narcissa had forgotten about the matter and gone on with her play.
Cissy had talked to Bellatrix earlier and had come away from the conversation supremely happy so a tea party was on the menu. Andy didn't really feel like having a tea party today. Her book was very interesting and she wanted to find out what happened, if the girl would find the prince or not, if the girl would ever see her father and sisters again, or if she'd ever give in to the beast's question of marriage.
"Bella?" Cissy asked, "Are you done yet?"
"Why don't you put your dress on and find something for me and Andy to wear and by that time I will be."
The blonde girl took off towards the closet, a happy skip in her step. Andy sank further into her chair. She might as well put the book down now, it would be better to stop now than to be forced out in a little bit while she was in the middle of a paragraph. Or worse, the middle of a sentence.
Choosing to carefully place a seafoam green ribbon to mark her page, Andromeda set the book with the soft black leather cover on the small wooden table that sat beside her bed. That task completed, she went off to find out what Cissy was up too. The younger girl was standing in the middle of their expansive shared closet, holding out one of her dresses and clearly agonizing over something.
"What's wrong Cissy?"
"I don't know what one to wear!" her sister bemoaned. "Nothing is as beautiful as the dress Bella got." A crease had formed on the girl's forehead and the corners of her mouth were dangerously down turned. Andy knew that in a few minutes her sister was bound to start crying if a solution wasn't found.
"You have lots of pretty dresses."
"I need a special dress. This is a special fancy tea party!"
"What's the matter?" Bella had heard the commotion and had appeared in the doorway.
"None of my dresses are pretty enough!" Narcissa wailed. "I want a dress like your dress!"
Andy thought she saw Bella roll her eyes, but she might have been mistaken.
"You could wear it. It would be long because I'm taller, but if you want to, I don't care."
Narcissa's happy smile lit the entire room.
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The entire Black family was gathered for Bella's ninth birthday, along with many of the other pureblood families. Birthdays were simply another excuse to throw large parties and show off one's wealth. Her closest girlfriends, Isolde and Bernadette were there, and the other girls her age, some of which Bella did not like very much. All the young boys were here too, her favorite playmates-Lucius, Evan and Rodolphus looking very formal in the dress robes they had been required to wear. Everyone was dressed formally in either dress robes or fancy dresses. Most of the dresses the young girls were wearing were in nice feminine pastel colors, with lace and ruffles. Bellatrix's dress had only one ruffled flounce, along the bottom, and only a little bit a lace on the collar. After a fight with her mother, she had also gotten the dress color she wanted. None of that silly pastel stuff, her dress was a lovely emerald green-her favorite color. Druella had given in once the girl had complained that she should stand out because it was her birthday. Bella felt very pleased with herself as she greeted her guests alongside her mother and father
The boys were a little surprised to see her in such a fancy dress, as it was much nicer than her play clothes and they were more used to those, interacted with her more in those clothes than in her party outfits. Her dresses designed for play were made of cotton since even the cleanest of little girls could not be trusted with play clothes of finer materials. Bella could not be described as the cleanest of little girls either, happily throwing herself into whatever games the boys were playing, no matter how messy. Her party dress was green satin and shiny. It almost rivaled the shine from her black patent leather Mary Janes on her feet. No play pinafore was worn over the dress, which had a sash that tied in a bow on her back, and little puffed sleeves. A black velvet ribbon tied her hair out of her face a little, her mother had wanted a bow, Bella had refused time and time again, the ribbon refusing to tie itself into the loops necessary, so instead the black ribbon hung loose, blending into her dark hair. Little white lace topped socks stood out over the top of her shoes.
"You look like a girl," Evan Rosier said as he stood in front of her in the receiving line.
Bella responded in a matter of fact manner. "I am a girl, stupid."
"But you look like one today."
Bella rolled her eyes as he headed towards the room designated for the children. Once she had greeted all her guests she was going to teach him a lesson. Evan Rosier could be so stupid!
"He's right you know." Lucius Malfoy had interrupted her thoughts.
Bella scowled at him, receiving a stern look from her mother.
"Not so prissy as the other girls. I can still tell it's you." His smug words earned him another scowl (although she was secretly pleased that she did not look like other girls), facing away from her mother so as not to receive the 'Bellatrix, Behave!' look. Lucius only shrugged and went to join Evan.
Dumb boys! This was her birthday! They should all keep their big mouths shut!
Luckily the next couple of people in line were Isolde and Bernadette. Seeing them cheered her up, especially because they agreed with her about the stupidity of boys. Girls were clearly superior. All one had to do was look at the three of them to know. The three of them were clearly worth more than stupid prats like Evan Rosier or Lucius Malfoy. The encounter was over much too fast, as mothers grabbed hold of their daughter's arms to move them down the hall and into the designated room, but Bella knew that later the three of them would conspire so she wasn't too disappointed. Plus there were more people to greet and everyone was saying such nice things to her.
"I can see your panties."
That certainly got her attention.
"They're ruffled." Rodolphus Lestrange smirked at her. "You can see them in your shoes."
Quickly, she glanced down at her shoes. "I don't see anything. You're a liar!"
"I'm still right. Ruffled aren't they?"
Bellatrix turned her nose up, putting on her very best 'I think you are quite beneath me' look, a withering stare she had been practicing on her sisters and the house elves. "I am not going to dignify that with an answer."
He chuckled at her response, and then leaned in as if to give her a hug. Bella raised her foot to stomp on one of his since hugs were not on the menu for receiving lines so it couldn't be what he actually wanted. "I'll flip your skirt up later and we'll know for sure if I'm a liar."
Rodolphus earned himself a foot stomping, one of the shiny shoes he claimed he could see her undergarments reflected on coming down hard on his instep. And after a quick look to make sure her parents weren't paying attention, Bella stuck her tongue out at him for good measure.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sirius hated dress robes. They were itchy and uncomfortable and they hindered his running around. That was probably the point, he thought. His mother would want him to sit on the couch next to Regulus like a good little boy and not bother anyone. There weren't many children his age at this party that he could see; mostly there were people of his oldest cousin's age. There were a few younger siblings but even they were closer to Andy and Cissy's ages than his own.
Reggie was a good boy. Reggie was sitting on their mother's lap on the couch. Sirius had quickly tired of sitting on the couch, but he was almost three and Reggie had only just turned a year old a few months ago. He wanted to be in the room with all the other children. Something was bound to be going on there if they got a whole room to themselves. Something more exciting than what was going on in here. There weren't any other children in here, except for Reggie and he was so boring he didn't count. He'd probably fall asleep in a moment.
Sirius slid off the couch and busied himself by poking under the couch to see what interesting things were under there. So far he hadn't found much of anything. Not too surprising considering house elves cleaned every nook and cranny of Black Manor from top to bottom. There was not much in the way of things for a toddler to occupy himself. Wriggling so that he was completely underneath the sofa, Sirius realized he might be able to escape to another room; the door on the wall behind the sofa had been left open. Excellent. He only needed to be sneaky. Provided his mother assumed he was playing under the couch he would make a clean getaway. A careful eye on her shoes as he squirmed his way out the back left him with the knowledge that she hadn't caught on to his plans. Escape was imminent.
He had barely gotten outside the door when a woman he didn't recognize grasped his arm, "Where are you going Sirius? I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you wandering about." Freedom had been cut short, the woman leading him back to the room he had left, and handing him back over to his mother who picked him up and set him on the sofa next to Reggie.
Sirius was not surprised to see his brother had fallen asleep against the embroidered pillows. To make matters worse his robes were itching again. Annoyed with the fabric, Sirius lifted the robes off his legs, giving the women on the couch across from his mother a wonderful view of his underpants.
"Sirius Black!" scolded his mother, "Lower your robes this instant."
She was treated to a mischievous smile before he lifted the robes up over his head.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Narcissa loved when her namesake flowers bloomed in the early months of the year. They sometimes started blooming around Andromeda's birthday could go well into her own birthday month. Of course, it wasn't the same type of Narcissus that bloomed for half the year, and the paper whites that she was named after, according to Bella, were usually gone by the time her birthday rolled around. It had been a rarity that they had stuck around so long the year she was born.
"Must have been extra cold that year," Bella would tease. "Maybe you are made of ice. We should try melting you."
Andy would roll her eyes when Bella said things like this and they'd all laugh. It was clear Bella was teasing.
The beginning of the season, when she first saw the little blossoms appearing in the garden meant that winter was here. Ice skating on the nearby lake, playing in the snow, Christmas and all the happy things that came with that holiday. Recently, ice skating on the stream and little connecting ponds that was new to the ownership. One of the families that owned some of the adjacent land had needed to sell it and the three girls had been thrilled to find that there were these little ponds, not very deep so they froze over fast, and that they were all connected by little streams. It was their personal mystical frozen world.
The paper whites had started blooming a month ago; Cissy had seen the first blossom on Andy's birthday. Their mystical frozen world was ready, Bella had tested it the other day, having the house elves jump on it to make sure the three girls wouldn't fall through the ice. It was solid. There had been no skating that day, instructions had to be given to the house elves. The three girls had busied themselves in the nursery planning how their skating rink would look this year. Last year it had been decorated for them, a surprise from their mother when she realized what the addition to their property included. But this year they got to decide. Lanterns were a must because none of them wanted to have to stop the fun when it started to get dark. Besides winter days were often gloomy and this would make the space twinkle. Bella wanted silver paper chains; the house elves could make it so they would last the whole skating season. Andromeda wanted popcorn and cranberry garlands. It was planned out on paper with Andromeda drawing in the picture everything they wanted.
It hadn't taken long before a plan had been concocted and it appeared finished, at least Bella and Andy seemed to think so. They had multiple types of garlands to be strung from the trees. Lanterns and balls that shimmered would hang from the trees. On the ground there would be candles and pinecones and evergreen boughs. Even scrawled out in miniature in black and white on parchment it looked magical. They own perfect winter playground.
"It's missing something," Cissy whined to her older sisters.
"What?" they asked. It appeared amazing and ideal already.
"I don't know…" she trailed off as she looked around the room trying to figure out what it was. That's when she spotted it- the vase of paper whites sitting on one of the tables. "Paper whites!" she exclaimed. "It needs paper whites."
Bella thought for a second, looking at the flowers and back down at their drawing. After a moment deep in thought she instructed to Andromeda to add them in a few places, both on the ground and attached to some of the trees in vase like triangle holders.
Today they got to see their handiwork. The design had been turned over to the house elves the minute it was declared absolutely final and the elves had worked for two days sweeping and making decorations and laying them out to the girl's specifications.
It looked like something out of a fairytale storybook. Candles and lanterns lit the ice pathways while the garlands twined above their heads, giving the entire place a fantastical feel, as if they were on some ice ballroom floor. The shimmering balls caught the light and reflected it onto the ice, little pinpricks of rainbows and glimmer all over their magical kingdom. The candles and greenery on the ground broke up the monotony of snow white that was everywhere. But the crowning touch was indeed the paper whites. Not only were they charming popping out of the snow or seeming to grow out of the trees themselves, cleverly tended by the house elves, but they perfumed the air of the entire clearing, the faint sweet scent lingering in their nostrils as they explored all the nooks and crannies, investigating how everything fit together this year.
When the exploring had been exhausted, the three of them collapsed in one of the snow banks. They weren't particularly tired; not yet, they had plans for today, games to play. They were merely taking a moment to admire their work and enjoy a warm beverage and snack provided by an elf.
"It's perfect," Cissy declared, sipping her mug. "No one has anything better. Everyone is going to want to see."
"Come on," said Bella, handing her unfinished drink to the elf. "I'll race you both to the other side."
Three drinks were forgotten as skates were tightened, and hats secured, and then the three girls were off, hair flying behind them as they skated furiously for the end of their paradise, determined to get there first.