A/N: sorry, forgot about andromeda, so we'll just stick her out of the way, hehehe...
Chapter 3: Cookies
Narcissa and I only saw our parents on Sunday nights, not counting peeking through the banisters. Even those "family sit downs" were rare. They were usually at a party, or hosting one. We used to pretend we were one of those lovely ladies, my sister and I. We would dress up all fancy and dance around our room. But those days were over, she had escaped, at last, away from this dreary and dreadful house. Gone.
Andromeda was several years older than both of us. She was in her fifth year now, I hardly saw her, and she had grown distant, further and further away from Narcissa and I. She didn't seem to remember hiding in blanket tents late into the night, or plotting against the governess, Ms. Marchpolan.
But what did that matter? The greatest joy in life was when we visited our cousins. Auntie didn't care if we screamed and shouted as we ran around the halls. We would go each Saturday, by floo powder, that odd spinning sensation, and then I would fall out of the fire place. Out of the fire place and into the arms of my cousins Sirius and Regulus Black.
It was very different today. I stood alone in the parlour as Ms. Marchpolan instructed me one last time to be on my very best behaviour and not to bother Auntie. I didn't even bother to listen, I had heard this speech hundreds of times before. In fact, I'm sure that if I bothered I could have recited along with her.
I took a pinch of floo powder from the ornate box on the mantle an threw it into the empty grate. I large green fire roared up, warming my face and blowing back my hair. I used to love that feel, it had meant that for a few hours I would be away from this terrible house. But now, without Narcissa by my side it felt empty. I stepped into the fireplace and trying not to choke shouted out my destination.
"Number twelve Grimmauld Place!"
The world spun crazily, I tucked in my elbows and squeezed my eyes shut. But in an instant it was past and I came shooting out of the fireplace in the kitchen of my cousins house. I fell into the arms of Regulus, who caught me deftly and spun me around.
I laughed, the first time I had felt happy in days, and hugged him. We both knew how lonely the other felt. Sirius had started his first year at Hogwarts along with Narcissa. Each of us were positive that the other's position couldn't be as bad as our own, though.
We tried to play hide-and-seek, but it was no fun without Sirius and Narcissa. Sirius was the best at it, he seemed able to sniff us out. I might be hiding in a closet, and he would come into the room, make a show of looking under the bed, and then turn and say "Why don't you come out of that closet Bella?". I never wasted my best spots on him.
We gave up trying to play after a few minutes and instead went down to the kitchen to make cookies. Kreacher, their kind house elf, helped us, he scurried around, pulling faces just to make us laugh, and brought over the flour and sugar. When we cut them out we were sure to make our whole family. There were two older kids, a boy and a girl, and the two younger, also a boy and a girl. We had Auntie and Uncle, and even a small elf one for Kreacher. This was my real family, these little pieces of dough before me.
In the afternoon we wandered around the house looking at the old artefacts. We weren't allowed to touch them, unless we asked Auntie and she said we could, but it was ever so much fun to make up stories about them. Regulus was best at this, he had an imagination.
"Look, see this Bella," he pointed to a vial containing human blood, "I bet it once belonged to a king, and he killed a wizard, so as payback the Wizengamot drained his blood and put a curse on it."
"How do you know? I can't see a curse." I like to see the facts.
"I just know," he smiled, "I can tell because of my special powers."
"What type of special powers?"
"Dunno, I won't find out until I grow up. But this curse," he gestured towards the bottle, "has killed many people since."
"What type of curse?"
"Well, for one thing, anyone who drinks it, will be drained of any magical power. And," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "their blood will slowly seep through the soles of their feet, till their just dry and empty."
I shuddered involuntarily. This was so creepy.
"That can't be so bad." I tried to smile as if it didn't matter to me.
"Well, of course it isn't as bad as what this ring over hear does."
"What?" I was positively jumping up and down with excitement.
"Anyone who wears it will forget all loyalty."
"What's so bad about that?"
"It's the worst thing a wizard can do, betray his fellow wizards, allow mudbloods to wander free, protect muggles."
He was right, all those things were terrible. Auntie had always taught me, that mudbloods and muggles were bad, and she was right, they were inferior to purebloods, real witches and wizards.
Chapter 3: Cookies
Narcissa and I only saw our parents on Sunday nights, not counting peeking through the banisters. Even those "family sit downs" were rare. They were usually at a party, or hosting one. We used to pretend we were one of those lovely ladies, my sister and I. We would dress up all fancy and dance around our room. But those days were over, she had escaped, at last, away from this dreary and dreadful house. Gone.
Andromeda was several years older than both of us. She was in her fifth year now, I hardly saw her, and she had grown distant, further and further away from Narcissa and I. She didn't seem to remember hiding in blanket tents late into the night, or plotting against the governess, Ms. Marchpolan.
But what did that matter? The greatest joy in life was when we visited our cousins. Auntie didn't care if we screamed and shouted as we ran around the halls. We would go each Saturday, by floo powder, that odd spinning sensation, and then I would fall out of the fire place. Out of the fire place and into the arms of my cousins Sirius and Regulus Black.
It was very different today. I stood alone in the parlour as Ms. Marchpolan instructed me one last time to be on my very best behaviour and not to bother Auntie. I didn't even bother to listen, I had heard this speech hundreds of times before. In fact, I'm sure that if I bothered I could have recited along with her.
I took a pinch of floo powder from the ornate box on the mantle an threw it into the empty grate. I large green fire roared up, warming my face and blowing back my hair. I used to love that feel, it had meant that for a few hours I would be away from this terrible house. But now, without Narcissa by my side it felt empty. I stepped into the fireplace and trying not to choke shouted out my destination.
"Number twelve Grimmauld Place!"
The world spun crazily, I tucked in my elbows and squeezed my eyes shut. But in an instant it was past and I came shooting out of the fireplace in the kitchen of my cousins house. I fell into the arms of Regulus, who caught me deftly and spun me around.
I laughed, the first time I had felt happy in days, and hugged him. We both knew how lonely the other felt. Sirius had started his first year at Hogwarts along with Narcissa. Each of us were positive that the other's position couldn't be as bad as our own, though.
We tried to play hide-and-seek, but it was no fun without Sirius and Narcissa. Sirius was the best at it, he seemed able to sniff us out. I might be hiding in a closet, and he would come into the room, make a show of looking under the bed, and then turn and say "Why don't you come out of that closet Bella?". I never wasted my best spots on him.
We gave up trying to play after a few minutes and instead went down to the kitchen to make cookies. Kreacher, their kind house elf, helped us, he scurried around, pulling faces just to make us laugh, and brought over the flour and sugar. When we cut them out we were sure to make our whole family. There were two older kids, a boy and a girl, and the two younger, also a boy and a girl. We had Auntie and Uncle, and even a small elf one for Kreacher. This was my real family, these little pieces of dough before me.
In the afternoon we wandered around the house looking at the old artefacts. We weren't allowed to touch them, unless we asked Auntie and she said we could, but it was ever so much fun to make up stories about them. Regulus was best at this, he had an imagination.
"Look, see this Bella," he pointed to a vial containing human blood, "I bet it once belonged to a king, and he killed a wizard, so as payback the Wizengamot drained his blood and put a curse on it."
"How do you know? I can't see a curse." I like to see the facts.
"I just know," he smiled, "I can tell because of my special powers."
"What type of special powers?"
"Dunno, I won't find out until I grow up. But this curse," he gestured towards the bottle, "has killed many people since."
"What type of curse?"
"Well, for one thing, anyone who drinks it, will be drained of any magical power. And," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "their blood will slowly seep through the soles of their feet, till their just dry and empty."
I shuddered involuntarily. This was so creepy.
"That can't be so bad." I tried to smile as if it didn't matter to me.
"Well, of course it isn't as bad as what this ring over hear does."
"What?" I was positively jumping up and down with excitement.
"Anyone who wears it will forget all loyalty."
"What's so bad about that?"
"It's the worst thing a wizard can do, betray his fellow wizards, allow mudbloods to wander free, protect muggles."
He was right, all those things were terrible. Auntie had always taught me, that mudbloods and muggles were bad, and she was right, they were inferior to purebloods, real witches and wizards.