Small Umbrella In The Rain
"Bellatrix! Andromeda! Narcissa!" Cygnus's voice boomed from downstairs. Despite being at least two stories below them, neither floors nor walls muffled his displeasure. The three girls looked at each other for a split second, the exchanged looks said they had a good idea of what he was yelling about. Narcissa was worried, as her father's favorite he'd never really been mad at her, but her name was included. Andromeda wasn't sure what to do either. She tried to avoid their father as much as she possibly could since he wasn't going to like her like he liked Cissy. The option was the relationship he had with Bella, and he always seemed mad at her older sister. Far better to be ignored.
Bellatrix took action, figuring her father would be up here in no time and if he was mad enough to be bellowing, he was mad enough to hit. That was usually the case. Therefore, she had to get her sisters out of the way. There wasn't much in the way of hiding in the nursery, the closet or behind beds, but it would have to do.
"Cissy," Bellatrix ordered calmly, "Go into the closet and sit in a corner. Don't say anything. Don't come out. You aren't here. Do you understand?"
"Is this a game?" Narcissa asked.
"Yes, Cissy. Don't come out of the closet unless I say so, or you'll lose."
Despite, her father was still yelling her name as he pounded up the stairs, Narcissa obeyed without more questioning. Bellatrix was the leader of the trio, and if Bella said that was what she should do, she would. Bellatrix hoped that her sister would stay no matter what happened.
"You too Andy."
Andromeda shook her head in defiance of Bella's order.
"I'm not asking you. Go hide."
"No, we were together." She could tell her father was mad and it didn't make sense to her to let her older sister deal with him all by herself when they had all been together. Cissy wouldn't be much help, still viewed as the baby, but she was a year older than Narcissa, she could be helpful. "I'm staying."
"Andromeda," Bella hissed, eyes narrowing angrily at her sister. She was ordering her to hide for her own protection. Bellatrix was sure she could distract their father and he'd forget all about her sisters. That would be a more difficult task if Andy stuck around. Her sister didn't know to what extent Cygnus got mad, could theoretically mess up anything Bella tried to prevent punishment for the lot of them. However, she didn't have a chance to try to convince Andromeda because Cygnus stormed through the door.
Their father surveyed the room, "Where's Narcissa?" he demanded.
"Outside," replied Bellatrix confidently.
"It's raining," Cygnus stated, refuting Bella's proclamation.
"I told her there was a rainbow. She went out with the house elf to see it."
Andromeda was surprised at how coolly Bella lied to their father. Her older sister did not blink, or look away, stood there calmly and told a direct lie. What's more, Cygnus seemed to accept her statement. He considered it for a moment and then accepted her words at face value! It made Andromeda uncomfortable. Father could be scary sometimes and he would not like it if Bellatrix were lying to him. It would not be good if she were caught.
"You girls were in the south parlor this afternoon?"
It sounded like a question to Andromeda but Bellatrix didn't answer. She stood there, drawn up to her full height, head high, mouth tight in a strange line as she watched their father intently, but she wasn't talking. So Andromeda responded for the both of them, "Yes. We were playing there earlier."
Cygnus turned towards the door and Andromeda thought he was going to leave. Was that all he wanted to know? That wasn't so bad. She looked over to Bellatrix to give her sister a reassuring smile only to be met with a death glare. A look that clearly stated, keep your mouth shut Andromeda. Andy didn't understand. It had only been a question, she had only answered a question!
"What happened to the room?"
Again, Bellatrix didn't answer and Andy wasn't sure if she should. Her sister had definitely told her to keep her mouth shut, words or no words. It felt as if father and Bella were playing some sort of game but she had not been told the rules.
Cygnus picked up on the younger girls uncertainty as she looked between her sister and him and directed the question at her, "Andromeda, what happened to the room?"
She looked at him wide eyed for a second, his face a mask of anger. They had only been playing! she thought. It had been an accident!
Cygnus narrowed down the question. "Andromeda, did you knock over the bookcase? Or did one of your sisters? Who did it?"
"…I…" stammered Andy, unsure of what to say.
"I did it," Bellatrix stepped in front of her sister, roughly pushing Andromeda behind her, hard. "Narcissa has been out looking for rainbows for hours and Andromeda was reading in the corner. I did it."
That wasn't what happened.
"Is that true?" Cygnus asked Bellatrix, who nodded, matching his stare. "Is that what happened, Andromeda?"
They had been flying in the house. They weren't supposed to, but it was wet and raining and they had gotten bored. No one was around downstairs, mother out socializing and Andy didn't know where father had been. They had been playing in the parlor when Bellatrix had suggested flying, and it hadn't taken much convincing to get her sister's to agree. They were all tired of being cooped up, antsy. The parlor hadn't been the only place where they had been flying; they flew over much of downstairs. The biggest ballroom had probably been the most fun because it had the most room but the parlor was good for practicing turns because it was just big enough, plus there were no nosy relatives in paintings to scold them. They had been flying around the room and handing things off to one another as they passed when the accident had occurred. Narcissa had missed the pass to Bellatrix and had made the turn too wide. In order to avoid hitting her younger sister Andromeda had swerved wildly and flown straight into the bookcase. Narcissa had run into the opposite wall, sending a still life painting crashing to the floor. Bella had landed and gone to check on Narcissa when she had yelled to Andromeda to move. Andy had already heard the creaking of wood above her and rolled to the side just as the bookcase came crashing down, contents flying, before landing with a resounding crack on one of the wing backed settees in the room. The three girls had stared at each other for a moment before Bella had told them all to pick up their brooms and they had left the mess for a house elf to deal with. None of them could fix the broken knick-knacks or the splintered shelves, or even hang the painting back up-as if they'd ever even consider such a thing. A house elf was sent to work on it, but apparently father had found out. But it wasn't Bella's fault. If anything it had been Andy's fault, she was the one who had run into the bookcase.
"…I…" Andy started again but Bellatrix interrupted her.
"She couldn't even see what I did. She was reading. I did it. My fault."
"Did you knock the picture down too?"
"Yes."
"You destroyed an entire room by yourself?"
"Yes."
Andy couldn't figure out why Bellatrix was lying. If Cygnus had figured out they were lies he didn't seem to indicate it, maybe father did indeed believe her sister's words. But Bella was playing with fire. Such blatant lies, at least to her ears. And so peculiar. If Bella didn't do something, Bella didn't want credit for it. When Narcissa had borrowed one of Andy's dolls and accidentally ruined it by leaving it outside, Bellatrix had thrown a fit when Andy thought it had been her. Yet, Bella was currently lying about something much bigger than a ruined doll. Father was sure to punish her and she couldn't let her big sister take the fall for something that was her fault.
"It wasn't just Bella," she murmured, quietly, almost too soft to be heard. She knew that Bellatrix had told her to be quiet, but it hurt thinking Bella was going to take the blame when she was standing right there.
"What?" Cygnus demanded. "Speak up."
"Bella wasn't…" Andy started, trying to explain her part in it, but Bellatrix interrupted, taking a step towards their father.
"It. Was. Me." Bella emphasized each word loudly and clearly, overruling anything Andy wanted to say. Vetoing Andromeda's voice and any thoughts about contradicting her. Bellatrix was determined to take the blame; it wasn't worth arguing with her. People who argued with Bella lost.
Cygnus had picked up on the girl's disagreement. Where there had been no reason for him to not believe Bellatrix before, in fact he'd rather believe it had been her, it was rather delicious to catch her in a lie. Something extra to punish her for, if she was so determined to claim responsibility she could, but she'd get extra punishment for trying to lie.
"Are you lying to me Bellatrix? It seems your sister wants to disagree. Or is she lying?"
Bella was stuck. She didn't want to be caught in a lie but if she said she was telling the truth, then it meant Andy was lying and that could get her sister punished. Why hadn't Andromeda followed her directions earlier? This was why she had wanted Andy safe and out of the way. Bella chose to say nothing.
"Silent? Admission of your lies?"
It seemed safest to continue to stay silent. Why he hadn't started hitting her she didn't know, but it was bound to start soon. If Andy wasn't there she might have tried arguing with him, because she didn't want to be disciplined, although it never seemed as if she could get out of punishment. It would still be better for their father to think she was lying if it would keep Andromeda safe. He might get so involved with punishing her, he'd forget all about her younger sister. It felt like a good bet and her sister's safety came first.
Andromeda finally followed Bella's lead, holding her tongue. She didn't quite understand what was going on, the interrogation hadn't lead to anything, and she felt as if she had not been helpful. That was why she hadn't followed Narcissa into the closet, it had felt wrong to leave Bella out by herself to talk to their father. But now she wasn't so sure, Cygnus looked furious, his brows knitted together as he stared at his oldest daughter.
"You thought you could lie to me." Cynus took a step towards his oldest daughter. "Thought you could get away with it."
Bellatrix stood like a little steel rod stuck to the ground. Her shoulders squared in anticipation for what she knew was soon to come. While her head was held high, her eyes were fixed on the floor near Cygnus' booted feet, watching his progression towards her, until he was mere inches away.
"I will not tolerate lying." That was when it came, the backhand across her face, and as her head was whipped to the left she lost her balance, forced to take a step back. A small gasp came from somewhere behind her, apparently Andromeda hadn't been expecting that.
"Bellatrix, will you ever learn respect? Your place in the world?"
They were rhetorical questions, ones she wasn't going to bother answering, even if he had given her a chance. His hand had closed tight on her upper arm and he yanked hard. Bellatrix pitched forward, not able to catch herself with both hands. The sound of her knees hitting the wooden floor had Andromeda backing up away from their father. Andy had never seen this side of him. She'd seen him angry and yelling but this was something else entirely. This man hitting her sister was more frightening then she had thought and she wished she had gone into the closet with Narcissa. She didn't want to watch. The bed was nearby, she could slip behind it, hide pressed up against the wall.
Cygnus got a strange pleasure about teaching his daughter a lesson. The feeling of power and control was always a thrilling one. He didn't like Bellatrix much, there were far too many masculine qualities about her, reminders of the son she should have been. Had she been a son, these traits would have been admirable- the strength, the way she talked back and spoke her mind. Not quiet or soft; she demanded attention. He had wanted a boy and instead he had gotten the ultimate insult, this girl who acted like a boy. It soothed his shame when he could whip her around by the arm, letting go in order to watch her slam into the wall. He didn't like to mark her face, too many social events for that, her injuries would then have to be immediately healed and there would be no learning from her.
There were plenty of other options such as dragging by the hair, things that caused her to squint up her eyes, clearly suffering. It was annoying how silent she was, as if she was trying to be stoic. He felt it was a personal accomplishment when he could get her to cry out in pain, it made him feel as if he was succeeding. It never seemed to be the same thing, a different action each time that caused her to break. Usually at that point he'd be done, consider her "educated" for that day.
Today it seemed harder.
Bellatrix kept biting at her bottom lip in order to prevent the noise. She was trying to be strong for her sisters, Cissy needed to stay in the closet and while she couldn't see Andromeda, she was still in the room. It was her job as the oldest to keep attention on herself to prevent them from harm.
Cygnus didn't know this and her silence only served to annoy him more. He had flung her into a wall, dragged her across the room by her hair, all the while yelling at her and nothing. No sound. He'd smacked her, punched her, kicked her and still nothing. Did she think she was strong? Girls weren't strong, they were weak- a Cygnus was intent on teaching. If it took him all day, he would. If a few of her bones got broken, that was not important. He was teaching his daughter her place in the world.
He pulled out his wand, staring down at the girl on the floor. Bruises were starting to form on her knees from her fall, her arms wrapped over her head, gingerly rubbing tender scalp injured when he had dragged her earlier. He liked to see that, she looked more like his idea of feminine, curled on the floor. But that sound, the fact that she had not cried out irked him, did not give him the victorious feeling he was looking for. His work wasn't done yet.
A few waves of the thin piece of wood caused red welts to stand out on the back of Bellatrix's legs, as if she had been beaten with a switch. It was new and unexpected to the girl and Cygnus got noise, a strangled cry escaping her before she bit down on her hand, thinking of Cissy.
It was a sound Andromeda had never heard Bellatrix make. Bella never made sounds that sounded like she was in pain. It sounded like a choked cat, the half gasp, half cry and Andy clapped her hands over her ears, afraid of more. Cygnus was placated; his prize achieved. Another casting of the spell for good measure, on her arms this time, left him in good spirits and he abandoned the room, stowing his wand in his jacket pocket, slamming the door behind him. The resounding vibration made Bellatrix shudder.
Bellatrix was practically gnawing on her fingers, her arms and legs stinging as if she had rolled in nettles, various body parts aching with the dull pain of forming bruises.
Scared, Andromeda peeked out from around the bed. Her older sister lay in a little pile on the floor but her father was gone. "Bella?" she called, unsure of what she should do now.
The older girl repeated the name of her sisters in her head. Andy. Cissy. Cissy. Andy. Her father was done for now, but if it was found out how much she lied, his temper would flare again. She was having trouble concentrating, her head throbbing from where he had practically pulled her hair out of her head. Repeating her sister's names gave her focus, something to direct her attention instead of letting her mind wander to concentrate on the hurt.
Pushing herself up to her knees Bella directed Andy to call a house elf. One of the creatures could take Narcissa outside from this room without worrying about anyone seeing. Cissy could stay out long enough to get suitably wet and then she could return inside. That was the goal now, preventing her father from discovering the lies in order to protect Cissy. Her vision swam for a moment as she stood up but Bella squared her shoulders and shook her head before heading off to the closet.
"Cissy? It's time to come out. You played very well."
The blonde girl crawled out from underneath a coat, blue eye big. "Father was very mad. I didn't mean to knock the painting down."
"I know. It wasn't your fault. It was my fault," Bellatrix reassured the girl. "But there's still a little more to our game. The house elf is going to take you outside and you are going to see if you can spot any rainbows."
Cissy nodded so Bella turned her attention to the house elf in order to instruct it, wincing a bit as the movement caused pain to flare up in her side where her father had kicked her. "Take Narcissa outside. Do not speak to anyone about it. If you tell anyone I made you take her outside, you will iron your ears every day for a year. When her hair is completely wet you both can come back. If anyone asks, you've been outside for hours searching for rainbows."
The house elf nodded solemnly, took a hold of the blonde's arm and the two disappeared.
With Narcissa taken care of, all Bellatrix wanted to do was curl up somewhere. Her side hurt, her head hurt, her arms and legs stung, didn't want to focus on the pain. Vaguely, she heard her sister call her name again. Bella didn't say anything, the bed seemed too far away so curling up on the rug at her feet seemed liked a good idea. Whatever Andy wanted could wait.
Her older sister's actions made Andy feel all panicky inside. Bella didn't act like this, there was a weird look in her older sister's eyes and she wasn't answering. When Bellatrix lay down on the floor, Andy decided she had to do something.
Druella had only just arrived back from the tea she had been attending when a frantic Andromeda ran into the room. "Bella's hurt! She won't answer!" Not waiting for a response, she grabbed onto her mother's arm and tugged with all the weight she could manage. Druella obliged her daughter and followed quickly. It didn't surprise her in the least to find Bellatrix covered in evidence of Cygnus' temper. She had felt many of the same things herself in the early years of their marriage and for the short time she had taken Bellatrix's punishment in place of the girl.
"She'll be alright," Druella reassured her daughter, snapping for house elves. "You go find your other sister and play with her. I'll put Bellatrix to bed and she'll be feeling fine by dinner."
Andy looked unconvinced but she nodded and headed out of the room, glancing back at her sister who had been picked up by a few house elves in order to move her to her own room. She trusted her mother, if Druella said that Bella would be okay by dinner, she'd be okay by dinner. That was the nice thing about magic; it could fix most everything.
