A/N: Bellatrix is 8 years old and on a family vacation at the beach. I hope you enjoy Chapter 8: Family Vacation!
"How can you love sand and hate it? I just love it. I think you're confused."
"I love playing in sand, but I hate traveling home with it all in between my toes- don't your shoes get gross?"
"Cousin Sirius is a boy though, and boys don't appreciate shoes like us girls do."
"I resent that comment, Narsy! I am just as capable of appreciating shoes as you are."
"Uh oh. You've done it now. Watch him as he goes on a Sirius tirade."
"Funny, Trixie. I bet you couldn't be laughing if someone said you couldn't duel because you were a girl!"
"Nope. I'd grasp them by the throat and-"
"Lunch!" Cut in an assertive voice from a few yards away.
All three children stumbled over to the umbrellas because playing in the sand and being argumentative prats tended to make them hungry.
Bellatrix, Narcissa and their cousin Sirius all plopped down on the large blanket and surveyed the picnic baskets. Bellatrix was wearing a black bathing suit with a matching black skirt that her mother had insisted she wear. Her hair was pulled back, but a lot of it had come out to dangle around her face. Her sister was wearing a green bathing suit and her light hair was in a neat bun. Their cousin Sirius was wearing outrageous teal swimming trunks and his hair was in need of a cut and was therefore wet and long and all over the place. His younger brother, Regulus was still lying down in the sun, listening to his mother read.
"Please try to eat less than five sandwiches this time, Sirius," said Andromeda, with less irritation than was due.
"I'm a growing young man. I have to eat a lot, my dear cousin Andy!"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes in a much more aristocratic manner than her eight year old self should be entitled to. "Where do you get these nicknames?"
"Andromeda is too long. Would you prefer 'Meda'?"
"No. She wouldn't." cut in Narcissa. Andromeda just smirked.
"Fine. I won't eat all the sandwiches. Now can I call her Andy?" Sirius replied exasperatedly. The talk quieted down as everyone started eating. Family vacations were always like this. Although it appeared the cousins didn't get along, they simply liked teasing each other too much. Being children together let them escape, just momentarily, from the Pure Blood lifestyle they had been born into. Bellatrix didn't tend to mind. She loved all the objects in her household, and was fascinated by tales of powerful wizards and witches. The magical world was the only one she had ever known, and it was the only home she would ever have. Although she knew of the muggles and their pathetic antics, she had no desire to see them or their strange contraptions.
After Sirius had consumed as many sandwiches his Aunt Cassiopia would allow (plus a few he snuck into his mouth unnoticed), he hopped back up and made for the beach. Bella followed suit, and Narcissa joined them much more gracefully. After a few minutes of soaking each other to the bone in a few slap hazard splash fights, they needed a change of pace.
"Let's make a sand castle!" cried Bella as she swam towards the sand and out of the water. Sirius did a maniacal dog paddle behind her the whole way, where as Narcissa swam slowly, impeded by laughing so hard at Sirius.
The Black family was a noble, and some would say, pretentious one. Naturally, a Black family sand castle, no matter how young the architects, would go far beyond a few mounds of sand and a couple sticks for decoration.
"But we made Durmstrang last time, Nars."
"So? My South Tower was perfect."
"W could make Hogwarts. It has towers as well." Sirius was in between the age of the two sisters, and thus always became unofficial mediator. This drastically changed when his younger brother popped in, however.
"But we don't know anything about Hogwarts. We've visited Durmstrang with the Zabinis, though."
"Why don't we ask Andy? She goes to Hogwarts."
"Hey Andromeda! Your wonderful sisters and cousins need your expertise!"
Andromeda was a fourth-year Slytherin at Hogwarts, so she would undoubtedly be able to tell them how many towers, drawbridges and halls it has.
Two hours later the five Black youngsters had created a knee high version of Hogwarts. Some artistic license had to be taken, of course, so it wasn't an exact replica. Its six main towers were still incredibly impressive. Bellatrix swelled with pride gazing upon her wonderful front entrance. It was missing something though….
"It needs a flag crest," she said, disappointedly.
"Here I have a flag," said a man walking towards them. Clearly, their masterpiece hadn't gone unnoticed by other families on the beach. Bella graciously placed the flag in a small tower on the left of her front drawbridge.
"That's a very elaborate castle you have there. I'm glad to be a part of it."
"Good sir, we present to you, the Black cousins' version of Hogwarts!" exclaimed Sirius in his way of over-dramatics and exuberant hand gestures.
"Bravo," said the man, accompanied by a few claps of his hands. "Come see the strange castle of Hogworths these kids have made, Ted."
Bellatrix looked at the man shrewdly. The fact that the flag was that of Great Britain should have served as a hint. His mispronunciation of Hogwarts certainly wasn't a hint to be missed, however. Before Bella had a chance to figure out a way to get rid of the man and his son, someone decided to take up a conversation.
"That's a really neat castle!" said the boy, Ted, who looked about Andromeda's age.
Andromeda looked slightly flushed when she said, "Oh thanks. We do a lot of them."
"I would like to go through a castle actually like this, though."
"There is a real castle like this-" Sirius' remark was cut off by a sharp elbow to his stomach. "Merlin, Bella, why'd you hit me? I'll leave a doxy in your pillow if you don't-"
"Shut it, Sirius!" Bella's patience with her cousin was running thin. Didn't he notice the man's face when he said 'Merlin' and 'doxy'?
"We made a damn good model of Hogwarts and I don't see why we can't show it off! You even used his flag-"
"Sweet Salazar! You've got a picture of one of those muggle tellyfishes on your shirt!" exclaimed Narcissa, pointing to Ted.
"Muggle? That's not an insult I've heard for… er, televisions before."
That little remark swiped the excitement right off Narcissa's face. Sirius just looked around uncomfortably and immediately silent.
"it's kind of like 'mad' and 'slug' combined, you see," covered Andromeda, as she was the only one who the two strangers would look at.
Bellatrix took the flag and handed it back to the man, somewhat awkwardly. "Sorry, but I shouldn't accept this. We should be going…."
Ted had the distinct impression it wasn't the flag that failed to gain acceptance from the group. Sirius was the first to scramble up, followed quickly by everyone else. Regulus was looking rather smug, and Bellatrix had a sinking feeling about it. They were only a few yards away from their parents when Bellatrix looked behind her. Andromeda was still talking to them! What did she thing she was doing! Those weren't their kind of people.
"Andromeda!" she screamed, in a panic. Oh if her mother knew who she was talking to…
Bellatrix had stopped walking, but her sister and cousins had continued on. Apparently, Regulus had been his normal, talkative self because then,
"Andromeda Nashira Black!" came the horrifying shriek from their mother. Unfortunately for Bellatrix, she was close enough to see the smoldering glare fixed upon her older sister. Both girls were spurred to running towards the blankets. As for the muggles- they looked down right ready to run as well, except in the other direction.
When she caught up to Bellatrix's half-hearted jog, Andromeda whispered, "I'm sorry, Bella. We'll probably all get in trouble for this. I should have just shoo-ed them off."
"I noticed too, but I didn't know what to do. It's mostly Sirius' fault…"
"Don't blame him. He was just excited. But when you're really sore later on, try to remember I'm your sister and I love you, and I'm truly sorry."
Bellatrix would have asker her sister to explain, but by that time they had arrived in front of Cassiopia Black, who looked downright scary when she was disgruntled and disappointed.
"What in Salazar's name did you think you were doing? I can't believe you were talking to a couple of muggles. You said things you shouldn't have and you could have been seriously tainted by them!" She shrieked. Bellatrix knew she had a lot of steam to blow off, and was content to just stand there. Andromeda, however, surprised everyone when she spoke up.
"They weren't doing any harm! I don't see why we can't talk to them!"
Their mother's nostrils flared as if she were inhaling pure anger. With a swift arm movement, both sisters had been pushed to the ground.
"How dare you attempt to abandon the heritage so gratefully thrust upon you, Andromeda! I am utterly ashamed to call such a mudblood-lover my daughter! As for you, Bellatrix, I hope for your sake that your older sister hasn't had a very vast effect on your own actions. To ensure this, both of you will receive equal punishments." With that, their own mother cast a binding charm on them and levitated them to the carriage. The other children followed with the beach things they had been picking up while pretending to not hear Mrs. Black's admonishments.
Five hours later, Bellatrix was lying on her bed, limbs awry as if she had been dropped on it with no care for comfort. Her back burned and itched in the places where her shirt ha gotten caught in the lash wounds. Utterly exhausted, Bellatrix hated herself for not being able to fall asleep and wake to find this all a horrible dream. Normally any wounds she got were mended quickly by the house elves. Not a single one had entered her quarters since she had been there that evening, probably on her mother's orders. The punishment for questioning the Pure Blood code of honour had been long, grueling and painful. Bellatrix then knew why her sister had wanted to apologize beforehand. It had somehow helped Bellatrix get through it. For some reason, lashings didn't have the same effect on her as they did on her sister Narcissa. When they were younger and would get into small scrapes, Bellatrix was always able to endure the physical punishments better than either sister. She accepted them as the cost for having such a wonderful life. She had been born into one of the most powerful Pure Blood Wizarding families in existence and a few lashings were definitely worth it. What her sisters considered punishment, Bellatrix knew to be conditioning. They were being conditioned to be feral in their social lives. They were given the opportunity to build up strength of mind and the ability to mask their fears and pains. It was a hard-learned lesson, but one that Bellatrix was grateful for all the same. Taking her mind off the pain her entire body was feeling, she envisioned the sand castle she had helped build on the beach. Bellatrix wanted to build something in her future. She wanted to be the architect designing something new and important, and in its own right, beautiful. With thoughts and plans swimming through her head, Bellatrix finally sunk into the dark and cool chambers of sleep.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I've been a little busier. There will probably be updates more like every few days rather than every day from now on. I have to keep you people on your toes, right? I might update www (dot) livejournal (dot) com (slash) users (slash) bellaslytherin more often than the fic, since I can post short silly things on there too, so if you get entirely bored, you can sift through the older entries on there as well. Until next time you are graced with the presence of Bellatrix Black!