A/N
This is set the night after Andromeda runs away. Damn It another Black story. Prompts are clock, "I feel like perhaps I am not being taken seriously" and roanoke.
Birth years for reference
Bellatrix - 1953 - 17
Andromeda - 1954- 16
Narcissa - 1959 - 12
Sirius - 1959 - 11
Regulus - 1962 - 8
August 27th 1970
Regulus could hear the arguing going on downstairs. His eldest cousin Bellatrix sat on a couch, staring out the window. Narcissa held his hand tight in her own, though it seemed more for her own comfort than his.
Regulus flinched at a screech, every child in the room reacting in a similar way.
Sirius's jaw clenched, his eyes hardening. Bellatrix squared her shoulders as a tear tracked down Narcissa's cheek.
"YOU, CYGNUS BLACK, ARE THE REASON FOR HER BETRAYAL, YOUR SOFT WEAK WILLED -"
"Silencio."
Bellatrix flicked her wand at the door, quieting the raging argument going on below them. The sudden absence of noise was jarring, almost as if they had fallen into an alternate universe. Usually this was where Andromeda would butt in with a joke to try and break the tension somehow but she was gone. The clock on the wall ticked, the sound reverberating around the room.
Sirius curled himself up in a ball, burrowing himself next to Bellatrix. On a regular day she would have shoved him away into Andromeda's arms, not being the touchy feely type by any definition, but on this day she allowed it.
Regulus broke the silence, his voice breaking a little.
"Bella, why can't we see Andy again. I want Andy to come back."
Bellatrix turned her emotionless gaze to look at him. The young boy shrank back, her black eyes piercing his. Her eyes were stony, but behind them he could see her pain - he could feel her fear behind the facade of unfeeling she presented to the world.
"She is a blood traitor. Mingling with mudbloods is forbidden, let alone marrying one. Andy refused to listen to Mother and Father so now she may not even come back here ever again."
Regulus didn't know if she truly believed what she was saying. Her words sounded hollow, empty of the passion that was a characteristic of his cousin. Cold.
The clock ticked on. He wanted to smash it, throw it, do something to stop time from moving forward. How could time go on when a big part of his life had just been torn away?
Silence fell on the room again, only disturbed by the ticking of the clock.
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
A rhythm.
"Roanoke, Roanoke, you broke your mothers heart"
Cissy crooned. Her voice trembled a little, unused to performing. A lullabye, one he knew by heart. Written by Andromeda for them to sing. He snuggled into Narcissa's leg, trying to find comfort from the emptiness that threatened to swallow him whole.
"Gone upstream to find a place"
Regulus's foot began to tap, almost unbidden as he joined the song, his alto picking up harmonies.
"To settle and live in
Never ever seen again
No, never seen again"
Bellatrix joined them, her tenor voice adding the backing to Cissy's soprano and an undertone to Regulus's alto.
"Lost to living memory
Only known by song"
Sirius hummed a series of notes to match Cissy's soprano but two octaves down.
"Now your Mother cries, her heart broken"
Regulus's voice cracked when he tried to sing the last line.
"By a child gone with the Roanokes"
The only voice missing, the one they needed most, was Andromeda.
The melody of the song. Without her, the song would fall apart. It was dead silent again after the song finished.
Unknown date, 1968
Regulus hated storms.
They were full of anger, thunder booming and lighting flashing. Storms reminded him of his Mother. Sirius slept straight through them but every time Regulus would wake up, usually staying in his bed but this time he didn't. He slipped out of his bed, his footsteps barely making a sound in a bid not to wake Sirius, and ran out the door.
He ran as fast as he could through the dark halls of his house, every shadow becoming a monster or some other twisted being in his head. Finally he reached his destination.
The door to his cousin's room creaked open. He went in, looking around before running to the big bed in the middle of the room.
"I'm scared. Can I sleep in here tonight?"
A muffled sound of ascent sounded from somewhere in the mound of pillows and blankets. He clambered over Bellatrix and accidentally put a foot in Narcissa's gut before snuggling comfortably in the middle of them. Bellatrix groaned.
"Whyyyyy Andy. Let him be scared. Good for building a backbone…"
She drifted off mid sentence. Andromeda rolled her eyes. She pulled him closer and whispered to him.
"Do you want to sing a song?"
The door opened again, startling Regulus. Thankfully it was only Sirius, coming in to join them.
He made a flying leap and landed directly on a sleeping Bella. She woke up immediately and pushed him off the bed.
"Get off me, you shuck face!"
Sirius climbed back in more gingerly. "Sorry Bella."
Andromeda shoved him gently before beginning her song.
Roanoke, Roanoke, you broke your mothers heart
August 27th 1970
A sharp knock to the door startled them all.
The oaken door swung open to reveal Regulus's mother. She glared at each of them in turn before barking out orders.
"Down to the kitchen, and by Merlin I swear if I ever hear that god forsaken song come from your lips again you shall receive a Crucio. Remain silent if you know what's good for you."
The children followed her wordlessly, down the staircase and into the kitchen.
Another clock was ticking in this room. Regulus focused on the sound, trying to remain grounded.
Uncle Cygnus stood at the head of the table, glaring at them all as they filed into their seats.
"As you children probably know, Andromeda has deemed it in her best interests to run away with a mudblood. As head of this household, I have decided that she shall be blasted from the tapestry and banished from this household."
"If any of you choose to follow in her footsteps, continue to communicate with her or try to help her, you shall too be banished from this household. There will be no discussion."
When there was no reply, Cygnus paced to the front of the room. "I feel like perhaps I am not being taken seriously. What I mean to say is that you will never speak to her again. If you do I will find out and I warn you I will not be lenient. You will face the same consequences as her."
This time there were murmurs of ascent. Regulus knew what was coming. What had happened when his Uncle Alfred had been banished from their household.
The blasting.
The family was led to the room where the history of house Black was listed on the walls. He saw his brother, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and so many more people written onto the tapestry. Regulus's eyes fixed on Andromeda's painted face.
Uncle Cygnus cleared his throat.
"Incendio."
The tiny Andromeda went up in flames, her mouth moving into a silent scream. Regulus felt as if a part of him was being torn away.
Finally, when the process was over, there was but a charred spot where her portrait had sat. Gone.
And without the melody, the rest of the song is lesser. Without the melody, everything falls into disarray.
Regulus couldn't help feeling that that was a metaphor.
Without the melody, there would be no song.
A/N
So hey y'all, this was written at 12:00AM and I don't even know anymore. If anyone seems OOC put it down to them being young and me being tired. Luna out