"Hey, Sirius," Remus said, a little loudly. Sirius and James stopped poking Peter and looked at him.
"What?" Sirius asked casually, brushing his long fringe out of his face.
"You know your cousin?"
"Which one, mate?" Sirius asked with a bark of laughter. "I've got so many."
"Bellatrix?" Remus asked.
Sirius froze. He had never liked talking about her. Narcissa was easier to talk about, he'd just snort and say, "That little mouse? What about her?" and Andie was even easier, she was in their house. Ah, he'd miss her next year, when she was gone.
But he and Bella had been friends, even closer than him and Andie, seeing as they were the same age. Then he had become a "disgrace" and she had hated him. He missed her, his favorite.
"What about Bellatrix?" he said, his voice a little hoarse.
"She talked to me yesterday," Remus mentioned.
"So?" Sirius asked haughtily. They were the most aristocratic in their family, Sirius and her, and the Blacks were the best aristocrats in the wizarding world, so that was saying something.
"Does she like Severus or something?"
"You're referring to Snivellous by his first name?" asked James in mock solemnity. "Moony, we must get you to St. Mungo's."
They all laughed, but Remus pressed it. "Really, is she dating him or something?"
"I don't know," Sirius said curtly. He had never liked talking about his family. "Why? Do you fancy Bellatrix?"
Remus coloured. "No," he said. Sirius thought he sounded uncertain about his answer. "But she cornered me yesterday when I was coming up from the library, asking about why I didn't stop you two from, well, you know. She got a bit nasty, actually."
"She is nasty," Sirius said crossly, inspecting his nails sullenly. Why did Moony have to bring that wench up? "You sound like you might like her a bit more than you say."
Remus looked fairly uncomfortable. James tried to make a joke, "Well, I'd support the match," he said. "Then you two'd be related. And I could marry Narcissa, and Peter could marry Andie, and we'd be one big happy family."
Sirius didn't smile.
James poked him in the side. "Then we could kill them all. Besides Andie. And Moony and I'd be the happiest widowers on the planet!"
Sirius folded his arms sourly, to signify that he didn't want to keep talking about it.
James sighed and ruffled his hair up. "Padfoot, come on, it's not that bad, Remus was just wondering about Bellatrix and Snape. it would probably be funny if they dated. They'd have the ugliest kids!"
Sirius kicked a chair leg. "She's not ugly."
James rolled his eyes. "Don't be daft, Padfoot!" He exclaimed. "Imagine Snivellous' nose with her eyes. What a cute baby, eh?"
Sirius felt a smile tug at his mouth.
James' smile widened. "They'd name it Snivelly Jr."
Sirius started to laugh, and Peter did, too. James and Remus joined in. Every time one of them would stop, one of them would repeat the name, until eventually they had no idea why it was still funny, but they kept laughing, anyway.