19th December 1970

It was the first day of the Christmas holidays, and Sirius was very excited. Andromeda and Narcissa were home from their fifth and seventh years at Hogwarts respectively, and today Bellatrix was visiting with her new husband Rodolphus, who she had married in the summer.

Sirius was just glad to have her cousins back, as Regulus tended to be quite boring. Her brother's idea of fun involved things like reading and drawing and playing chess; the idea of acting out and potentially getting in trouble horrified him. He always did what their mother wanted, whereas Sirius usually ended up doing the exact opposite, no matter if she was trying to or not.

When Bellatrix arrived, however, her face was pale and ashen, and there were dark circles under her eyes and cheeks. Although she did still glare viciously at anyone who looked twice at her.

Perhaps she was just ill, although Sirius saw Andromeda and Narcissa share a glare as their sister accepted Rodolphus' hand to sit down without protest; even though they were now married, she usually made no effort to be ladylike or sweet or even polite around him, and serious and dull as the man was, he didn't seem to mind. Something strange was going on.

It all became clear, however, at lunch, when Rodolphus began to speak.

"Bellatrix and I have some good news," He spoke in his usual blank voice, wearing his usual stony expression. Merlin, he was so dull, how did someone as vibrant as Bella put up with him?

Perhaps she didn't, for at his words Bellatrix's eyes bulged in a way that would've been comical if it wasn't for the deadly glare she fixed him with.

"No we don't," She snapped. "There is no news,"

But the damage was done.

"What news is this, dear?" Her mother, Sirius' Aunt Druella, asked. There was a knowing smile on her face, as she shared a look with Sirius' mother and Great Aunt Elladora.

"Nothing!" Bellatrix said more loudly, grabbing her husband's arm in an iron grip and hissing harshly in his ear.

Rodolphus just shook his head and gave her a stern look, which made Sirius raise an eyebrow; did the man have a death wish, treating his proud, dangerous cousin like a common muggle housewife?

"Bellatrix - " He began.

"Don't you dare," Bella said dangerously, the old fire back in her eyes even though it was clear she was struggling to keep it up from tiredness.

However, Rodolphus, Sirius decided, really did want to end up six feet under as he opened his mouth to continue.

"Stop it," Andromeda said coldly. All eyes turned to her. "She doesn't want you to tell everyone,"

Rodolphus raised an eyebrow, then made a point of looking away, opening his mouth to continue as though no one had spoken.

"Didn't you hear?" Sirius said loudly and bluntly, like only a recently turned eleven year old could, before the man could make a sound. "Bella doesn't want you to say anything. So don't,"

Her mother shot her a warning look.

"Do go on, Rodolphus," She said in an oily voice. "We want to hear what you've got to say,"

The man didn't smile - he never did - but looked satisfied, as though someone putting the young women in their place made everything right with the world again.

"As I was going to say," He continued, as Bellatrix sat up and - though no one saw but Sirius - reached for her wand. But she was too slow; her husband spoke before it was drawn. "Bellatrix is pregnant with our first child,"

There was silence after his words. Andromeda looked as stricken as Sirius felt. The rest of the family, however, acted as though Christmas had come early, congratulating the two like there was no tomorrow.

Not one of them seemed to notice the darkening of Bellatrix's face, and her wand that was gripped so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were bone white. She looked angrier than Sirius had ever seen her. She was scary enough anyway, but now she looked positively insane.

There were several shrieks of surprise then hushed silence as every glass on the table exploded into a thousand tiny pieces, along with the elaborate chandelier above them. Sirius winced as small shards of glass rained down, the silence so thick that you could hear them tinkle on the floor. Bellatrix hadn't done any accidental magic since she was twelve.

Her cousin stood abruptly, blasting her chair out of the way and storming out of the dining room in a swirl of dark robes and hair, slamming the door behind her. There was a silence, then Rodolphus spoke.

"She's been like this for weeks," He remarked on his wife's state rather coldly, like he was talking about the weather. Vaguely interesting, but he didn't really care. As he spoke, Aunt Druella quietly began repairing all the glass with her wand before Sirius' mother stopped her and called for Kreacher. "I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm sure you know Bellatrix does tend towards the overdramatic,"

Abruptly, Andromeda got to her feet, pushing her chair back with a scrape. She shot Lestrange a poisonous glare, before leaving the room without a word, going after her sister.

Sirius quickly scrambled after her, ignoring her mother's hissing ('do not move an inch, Sirius, or I swear to Merlin you'll regret it'). Andromeda was waiting outside for her, and, still not saying anything, put a hand on her back, guiding her up the stairs.

Bellatrix was in her old bedroom, from when she had lived in Grimmauld Place with the rest of them. She looked absolutely furious, practically glaring a hole in the wall, though she wasn't crying. Bella never cried. A pile of charred objects lay around the room, from where she'd blasted them with her wand.

"Get out," She scowled as Sirius and Andromeda entered the room but incinerating an old pillow as she did so. "I didn't want to tell anyone so soon, that's all, and he objected, then it became a matter of principle. I'm fine,"

"I know," Andromeda sat down next to her. "You always are," Bellatrix snorted.

There was a silence.

"Rodolphus is a tosser," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "You should've hexed him. I found a book you can borrow that's got some good ones in it. Not that you need any more,"

Bella smirked faintly at this and Andromeda sighed.

"Nothing like a child to put things in perspective,"

"For once, the little brat's right. I should have cursed him for that," Bella muttered, lips curling. "I nearly did,"

"Do," Andromeda smirked. "That's what the old Bella would've done,"

Sirius thought he was missing out on something here - the two sisters had clearly spoken about this subject before - but Bellatrix laughed this time.

"I think I will," She said, sitting up straight and gesturing at her still flat stomach. "Poor thing, having Rodolphus Lestrange as a father. The only thing he's got going for him is his looks, name and duelling ability. Although if this baby turns out to have his dour expression and blank voice, I think I'll lose my mind. I hope it's a girl, then she can always ditch the surname," There was a strange look in her eyes as she looked at the soon-to-be bump.

"If it's a girl, you should name it after me, Bella," Sirius wasn't serious with her suggestion, but it was worth it to see the look of disgust on her cousin's face.

"I'd rather sleep with a mudblood," Bellatrix said flatly.

She couldn't help but notice that though Andromeda smiled in amusement at that, it looked rather strained.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Her cousin changed the subject rather quickly. "Remember when we were little and came up with names we'd call our children?"

"That was you and Cissy," Bellatrix sneered slightly. "I'm not like you two. I've hardly planned out every outfit my little darling's going to wear or knitted a baby blanket,"

"Perhaps, but you did come up with the name for my future daughter," Andromeda chuckled. "Nymphadora, remember?"

"I was joking,"

"Nymphadora?" Sirius pulled a face. "That's not even a name, is it? Why would you force that monstrosity on an innocent child?"

"I don't mind it," Andromeda mused.

Even Bellatrix cracked a smile. Well, more a triumphant smirk.

"You can hardly talk. What kind of girl is called Sirius?"

"There's having a boy's name, and then there's Nymphadora,"

"Sirius does suit you best," Andromeda considered. "Especially out of all the names your parents were considering,"

"Lyra, Aquila, Carina, Hydra..." Bellatrix listed off. They both laughed at the look on her face.

"At one point they were even going to make Auriga your first name," Andromeda said. "After Grandmother, given that she died the day after you were born, but they went with the name she suggested instead - Sirius. I'm not sure she realised you weren't a boy, to be honest, she wasn't very with it at the time..."

"Well I don't care if she mistook me for a boy, Sirius is better than all those others,"

"Your mother almost insisted on Cassiopeia," Bellatrix smirked.

Sirius shuddered.

"Of course she did. She's always had it out for me,"