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Twelve Grimmauld Place. Most people hardly realised it was there. And they had no idea how huge the house actually was, crushed in-between two other buildings.
This was the destination of a particularly lovely sixth year at a certain, very private, school of learning. She took a final drag from her cigarette before snubbing it out on the doorframe of the house and let herself in. The girl was Gretchen Lestrange, the baby sister of the notorious death eaters Rodolphus Lestrange and his wife Bellatrix.
Despite her colourful family history, Gretchen was not a death eater, nor was she likely to become one. She said it was because she thought the mark of belonging to the club was terribly ugly, but one current occupant of Grimmauld Place knew it was because Gretchen didn't believe Voldermort could ever beat Albus Dumbledore. He frequently taunted Gretchen that she was the most deservingly placed Slytherin of their year, because everything she did was in her own self interest, including her "playing both sides" of the wizarding war.
Gretchen let her long heavy fur coat drop to the ground the second she shut the door behind her. A moment later, the stylish black leather jacket she wore underneath it dropped down to join it. She ignored the house elf who picked it up for her and went straight back to the kitchen instead of stopping to kick "the vile little monster" as she'd dubbed him.
A bowl of apples sat in the middle of the table. She picked the nicest apple out of the bowl and sunk her teeth into it. "SNOTFACE!" she yelled through her full mouth. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I'VE BEEN HERE AN ENTIRE SODDING MINUTE AND I HAVE YET TO SEE YOU!"
Regulus slid into the kitchen in the exact way Gretchen despised. "Why, hello Kitten!" he said, almost purring. "I didn't expect you to show up so quickly after school let out for holiday. But it's quite a pleasant surprise, all the samne. You are looking lovely today."
She glared at him. "Shut your gob, Reg," she snapped. "I don't need you drooling all over my leg. I'm not here to see you- I'm never here to see you. It's my bad luck that I have to see you at all." She turned slightly back to the door of the kitchen. "WHERE IN THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU, YOU SODDING GIT?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Why do you insist on fraternizing with my disappointment of a brother? You do realise you're better than him?" Gretchen rolled her eyes and refused to respond. "I know you don't really enjoy being around his pathetic mudblood friends, but people do talk, all the same."
She glared at him. "Who talks?" she challenged in that dangerous way only a Lestrange could pull off. Her mastery of this tone and look were what kept her high in the food chain within her circle of peers at Hogwarts. The malice dripping off of her tongue obviously frightened Regulus, who had once before found himself on the receiving end of the Lestrange temper. "If you're starting these rumours, Regulus, I will hurt you in a very tremendous way."
"OI!" someone shouted from upstairs.
"WHAT?" she yelled back.
"GET UP HERE!"
She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen. "WHERE IS HERE?" she demanded, quite irritated.
"JUST GET UP HERE AND LEAVE REG DOWN THERE!"
She made it to the second story landing when Sirius appeared from almost nowhere and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her into his room and pushed her over to the bed. She stumbled and tripped over her plat-formed feet, falling gracelessly onto the bed.
"Sirius Black!" she snapped.
"Gretchen Lestrange!" he mocked. "Just wait there," he commanded as he disappeared briefly down the hall. When he returned, he quickly locked the door and practically pounced on Gretchen. "Hello, pet," he murmured several minutes later when their hello kiss finally ended.
She smiled at him, taking a bite out of the apple that was still in her hand. "Hello yourself," she said easily. "Now, if my other cousins greeted me like that, I'd go to every death eater meeting without hesitation."
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "We're very distant cousins... for pure-bloods. I don't know why you keep mentioning it."
She rolled her eyes in return. "I don't 'keep mentioning it.' And I don't know why it bothers you so much when I do!" she said, getting up and walking across the room. "It's practically written in the Slytherin bi-laws that you have to date within your own family if you want to keep from being ridiculed and shamed. I mean Narcissa and Lucius are much more closely related than we are and they don't seem to mind."
"Are you jealous of her?" Sirius demanded.
Gretchen looked offended at the meer suggestion. "Of course not! I'm just saying is all. Cissa doesn't mind, and all purebloods are related anyway."
"Well, I'm not Lucius Malfoy," he countered. "Nor am I a Slytherin."
She pouted. "I know! And it's dreadfully boring for me... sitting in my common room... listening to prattle about that damn Potter and his bloody mudblood friends... it's all I can do to keep from laughing at some of the stunts you pull!" She looked slightly depressed at that. "And that would be terribly awful... Narcissa would tattle and Bellatrix would come down on me again. You know, for a sister-in-law, she sure is a bitch."
Sirius laughed and pulled her back over to sit on the bed. "You could always avoid her all Christmas by staying here," he pointed out.
"And spend my time dodging Reg?" she demanded incredulously. "I think not, my boy! I'd rather put a growing serum in Bellie's tea... or scotch. Or maybe just poison. Faster that way."
Sirius laughed at her. "Why do you always call her 'Bellie?' It sounds so rediculous!"
Gretchen smirked. "It's cos it makes her think I'm calling her fat. Which I'm not really, but she hates it so much I just can't help myself. It's like calling you Snotface, I just have to do it."
He pulled her closer and kissed her lightly. "Stay here," he whispered onto her lips. "We never get to see each other at school."
"We do see each other," she said in quiet protest.
"Not like this. The second we get back to school, you turn into a bitch and hang around with your stupid Slytherin friends. And I hate all of your friends, then you hit me for being mean to them even when they deserve it." He ran his fingers lightly over her cheen and then back into her hair. "Come on! Stay here."
She moaned in protest slightly. "I can't," she said, obviously not meaning it.
He kissed her again. "Just until New Years," he ammended.
"But we're going back to Hogwarts at New Years," she said, only slightly registering what she was saying.
He smiled wickedly. "Oh, are we?"
She shrugged. "I don't remember," she admitted. He kissed her again and she nodded when he broke away. "Alright," she finally agreed. "I'll stay." She stopped him before he could kiss her again. "But only if you promise not to act like a jerk when we get back to school."
He laughed. "When am I a jerk?"
"With Severus." He glared at the mention of the name. "I know you don't like him, but he's my friend!" she protested. "Promise not to be a jerk when we go back to school or I leave."
He looked away from her and muttered. "I promise."
"Do you promise?"
"I said I promise!" he exclaimed, very annoyed.
"Three times you promise," she reminded him.
He nodded slowly. "I promise."
She smiled happily and kissed the end of his nose. "Good. I'll stay."
Twelve Grimmauld Place. Most people hardly realised it was there. And they had no idea how huge the house actually was, crushed in-between two other buildings.
This was the destination of a particularly lovely sixth year at a certain, very private, school of learning. She took a final drag from her cigarette before snubbing it out on the doorframe of the house and let herself in. The girl was Gretchen Lestrange, the baby sister of the notorious death eaters Rodolphus Lestrange and his wife Bellatrix.
Despite her colourful family history, Gretchen was not a death eater, nor was she likely to become one. She said it was because she thought the mark of belonging to the club was terribly ugly, but one current occupant of Grimmauld Place knew it was because Gretchen didn't believe Voldermort could ever beat Albus Dumbledore. He frequently taunted Gretchen that she was the most deservingly placed Slytherin of their year, because everything she did was in her own self interest, including her "playing both sides" of the wizarding war.
Gretchen let her long heavy fur coat drop to the ground the second she shut the door behind her. A moment later, the stylish black leather jacket she wore underneath it dropped down to join it. She ignored the house elf who picked it up for her and went straight back to the kitchen instead of stopping to kick "the vile little monster" as she'd dubbed him.
A bowl of apples sat in the middle of the table. She picked the nicest apple out of the bowl and sunk her teeth into it. "SNOTFACE!" she yelled through her full mouth. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I'VE BEEN HERE AN ENTIRE SODDING MINUTE AND I HAVE YET TO SEE YOU!"
Regulus slid into the kitchen in the exact way Gretchen despised. "Why, hello Kitten!" he said, almost purring. "I didn't expect you to show up so quickly after school let out for holiday. But it's quite a pleasant surprise, all the samne. You are looking lovely today."
She glared at him. "Shut your gob, Reg," she snapped. "I don't need you drooling all over my leg. I'm not here to see you- I'm never here to see you. It's my bad luck that I have to see you at all." She turned slightly back to the door of the kitchen. "WHERE IN THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU, YOU SODDING GIT?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Why do you insist on fraternizing with my disappointment of a brother? You do realise you're better than him?" Gretchen rolled her eyes and refused to respond. "I know you don't really enjoy being around his pathetic mudblood friends, but people do talk, all the same."
She glared at him. "Who talks?" she challenged in that dangerous way only a Lestrange could pull off. Her mastery of this tone and look were what kept her high in the food chain within her circle of peers at Hogwarts. The malice dripping off of her tongue obviously frightened Regulus, who had once before found himself on the receiving end of the Lestrange temper. "If you're starting these rumours, Regulus, I will hurt you in a very tremendous way."
"OI!" someone shouted from upstairs.
"WHAT?" she yelled back.
"GET UP HERE!"
She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen. "WHERE IS HERE?" she demanded, quite irritated.
"JUST GET UP HERE AND LEAVE REG DOWN THERE!"
She made it to the second story landing when Sirius appeared from almost nowhere and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her into his room and pushed her over to the bed. She stumbled and tripped over her plat-formed feet, falling gracelessly onto the bed.
"Sirius Black!" she snapped.
"Gretchen Lestrange!" he mocked. "Just wait there," he commanded as he disappeared briefly down the hall. When he returned, he quickly locked the door and practically pounced on Gretchen. "Hello, pet," he murmured several minutes later when their hello kiss finally ended.
She smiled at him, taking a bite out of the apple that was still in her hand. "Hello yourself," she said easily. "Now, if my other cousins greeted me like that, I'd go to every death eater meeting without hesitation."
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "We're very distant cousins... for pure-bloods. I don't know why you keep mentioning it."
She rolled her eyes in return. "I don't 'keep mentioning it.' And I don't know why it bothers you so much when I do!" she said, getting up and walking across the room. "It's practically written in the Slytherin bi-laws that you have to date within your own family if you want to keep from being ridiculed and shamed. I mean Narcissa and Lucius are much more closely related than we are and they don't seem to mind."
"Are you jealous of her?" Sirius demanded.
Gretchen looked offended at the meer suggestion. "Of course not! I'm just saying is all. Cissa doesn't mind, and all purebloods are related anyway."
"Well, I'm not Lucius Malfoy," he countered. "Nor am I a Slytherin."
She pouted. "I know! And it's dreadfully boring for me... sitting in my common room... listening to prattle about that damn Potter and his bloody mudblood friends... it's all I can do to keep from laughing at some of the stunts you pull!" She looked slightly depressed at that. "And that would be terribly awful... Narcissa would tattle and Bellatrix would come down on me again. You know, for a sister-in-law, she sure is a bitch."
Sirius laughed and pulled her back over to sit on the bed. "You could always avoid her all Christmas by staying here," he pointed out.
"And spend my time dodging Reg?" she demanded incredulously. "I think not, my boy! I'd rather put a growing serum in Bellie's tea... or scotch. Or maybe just poison. Faster that way."
Sirius laughed at her. "Why do you always call her 'Bellie?' It sounds so rediculous!"
Gretchen smirked. "It's cos it makes her think I'm calling her fat. Which I'm not really, but she hates it so much I just can't help myself. It's like calling you Snotface, I just have to do it."
He pulled her closer and kissed her lightly. "Stay here," he whispered onto her lips. "We never get to see each other at school."
"We do see each other," she said in quiet protest.
"Not like this. The second we get back to school, you turn into a bitch and hang around with your stupid Slytherin friends. And I hate all of your friends, then you hit me for being mean to them even when they deserve it." He ran his fingers lightly over her cheen and then back into her hair. "Come on! Stay here."
She moaned in protest slightly. "I can't," she said, obviously not meaning it.
He kissed her again. "Just until New Years," he ammended.
"But we're going back to Hogwarts at New Years," she said, only slightly registering what she was saying.
He smiled wickedly. "Oh, are we?"
She shrugged. "I don't remember," she admitted. He kissed her again and she nodded when he broke away. "Alright," she finally agreed. "I'll stay." She stopped him before he could kiss her again. "But only if you promise not to act like a jerk when we get back to school."
He laughed. "When am I a jerk?"
"With Severus." He glared at the mention of the name. "I know you don't like him, but he's my friend!" she protested. "Promise not to be a jerk when we go back to school or I leave."
He looked away from her and muttered. "I promise."
"Do you promise?"
"I said I promise!" he exclaimed, very annoyed.
"Three times you promise," she reminded him.
He nodded slowly. "I promise."
She smiled happily and kissed the end of his nose. "Good. I'll stay."