August, c. 1970
12 Grimmauld Place, London

"You cheated, Andromeda!" A boy of barely eleven shouted, shoving the entire Diagon-opoly game to the ground, in a clear exhibition of the fits of temper spoiled children are often prone to.

"No, I most certainly did not! You're just too young to understand the complexities and intricacies of the game."

"I'm not too young!"

"Dear cousin, you're not even old enough to go to Diagon Alley by yourself. Which is why it is no wonder that you are so dreadful at the game! I, however, am an adult, able to do many things you cannot." Andromeda replied with a smirk, flipping her beautiful, long blond hair over her shoulder.

"Barely. You're hardly adult yet! I reckon it takes more than age to be grown up. And I'm only a few years younger than you are!"

"Six years, Siri, six."

Sirius Black, of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, responded in a manner most characteristic for a descendent of such a rich and respected family: he crossed his arms over his chest, squared his jaw, jutted out his lip, and pouted. "NO! Five and ten and a half months, if a day!"

"OK, sure, Siri, you got me." Andromeda's dark grey eyes glittered with barely concealed mirth. "You're a trip little cousin, you know that?"

"I'm not little! I am eleven years old!"

"And I am seventeen."

"Only for like two weeks, right? So you're not a real adult."

"Well, yes, but—"

"Ha! I win this argument. Score one for Sirius." Sirius stuck his tongue out at her. "And anyway, you cheated Andromeda! You blatantly cheated! You're just trying to distract me from exposing you for the cheater you are!"

"Sure, whatever, Sirius. I told you that I did not cheat; you are just awful at the game. This "cheating" nonsense is just you not wanting to face the fact that maybe you're not good at everything. Maybe you're old enough to learn to take responsibility for your own shortcomings. And where did you learn the word 'blatantly'?"

"From a book." Sirius responded haughtily, lifting his chin, daring her to contradict him.

"Oh really?" Andromeda asked challengingly, raising an eyebrow. "What book?"

Damn! I knew she wouldn't give up that easily. "I don't know. Some book. They blur together after awhile."

Andromeda snorted. "Sure coz, sure, I believe you."

Sirius glared at her, but thought it wise to switch subjects. "If I'm so young, why are you hanging out with me? Why not got chat it up with my mum or your sisters?"

Andromeda paused and lowered her voice slightly before answering. "Because you're one of the only sane members of this godforsaken family. I don't usually mind spending time with you. I have to be around my sisters at home, why would I be around them now, when I don't have to? Plus, Siri, to be quite honest, your mum is, well, she's a special sort of person."

Sirius snorted. "Tell me about it. I can't wait 'til I'm at Hogwarts."

Andromeda smiled. "You'll like it. It's nice to get away from the Black Family craziness."

"Not that I'll get that far." Sirius drawled. "You're already there—"

"Wow, thanks for making me feel so special. Sorry you can't get away from me."

"No, you don't understand…I just meant that you're my family too—"

"And I'll be encroaching on your Hogwarts fun."

Sirius glared at her. "You know that's not what I meant! I was just trying to make a point."

Andromeda laughed. "Calm down, Siri, I was just teasing."

Sirius pouted slightly. "Well, I don't like it!"

"Fine, whatever, get on with your point."

"Oh, I will. As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted by someone trying to pull a guilt trip, someone who shall remain nameless…"

"Sirius Black!"

Sirius waved his hands in mock surrender. "Anyway, you're going to be there for your last year, Narcissa's starting this year, and my dear brother Regulus will be going next year." Sirius replied, a bitter edge entering his voice, as his eyes darkened. "The only thing I have to be thankful for is that Bellatrix isn't there anymore."

"Eh, I'm sure you won't be forced to spend every waking moment with your little brother—or Narcissa or me, for that matter, so relax." A brief grin flittered across her face. "Neither will I, though soon enough."

"Why not?"

Andromeda flushed. "OK, I'll tell you, but only if you promise not to tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?" Sirius asked innocently, eyes lighting up at the thought of a juicy bit of gossip.

Andromeda lowered her voice to barely more than a whisper, and leaned in close so that s her mouth was almost touching his ear. "I'm getting married, right after this last school year ends."

"How is that a scandalous secret? The whole family will be all happy and fawning over you—"

"No, there's more…much more."

"Well then spit it out already!" Sirius prompted eagerly.

"OK, well I'm getting married to a…" She lowered her voice even more. "To a muggle-born."

Sirius jerked his head up with a gasp. "Ohhh…your mum is gonna kill you!"

"Sirius, shh! Don't broadcast it!"

"She's gonna kill you dead!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sirius!"

"She—"

Andromeda shoved her hand over Sirius' mouth. "Shut up. You promised not to tell! I haven't told anyone in the family!"

"Haven't told anyone in the family what?" A high-pitched voice asked.

"Bella, go away!" Andromeda snapped.

"Why?" Bellatrix challenged, staring down at her younger sister through heavily-lidded, suspicion-filled eyes. "You two are up to something. I can tell." The nineteen-year-old crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at her younger sister expectantly.

"No, we're not. That's a side effect of being a paranoid harpy; you tend to find insignificant events to get all hot and bothered about." Sirius retorted.

"One day you'll grow up and learn to talk respectfully to your superiors, Cousin. One can only hope."

"Nah, that does not quite fit my style, Bella. I'm only respectful to people who deserve to be respected. That currently doesn't include crazy sadists like you."

"Oh, I'm a sadist, huh, little boy?" Bellatrix asked, smiling at him. "I suppose you could be right about that. There really is nothing better than making impudent, smart-mouthed little brats cower in pain. Remember your sixth birthday? And your seventh? And…well practically all subsequent birthdays and family celebrations?"

"Go to hell."

"Ooo, does the little baby have some bite to him after all?"

"Yeah, and I'd be more than happy to show you—"

"You're threatening me?"

"Catch on quick, huh?"

"I can just tell your mum, you know!"

"Go ahead!"

"Maybe I will. It's so sad, that your own parents like me better than you, their firstborn son. How's that feel?"

Sirius had already jumped to his feet, hands balled into fists, towering over her. "It feels fine."

"Just go away, Bellatrix!" Andromeda snarled, slowing standing up to her full height, and stepping between the two of them and drawing her wand, causing Bellatrix to draw back a step at her younger sister's more impressive height and intimidation tactics.

"I would not be so rash, so quick to shout insults were I you, Andromeda. Mother would not take kindly to your attempts to disrespect and bully me, her firstborn child, nor would she like your secretiveness. Shall I tell her that you and cousin Sirius are in here, whispering conspiratorially to one another about your new plots to embarrass the family?"

"You have no idea what we were talking about!"

"Don't I?" Bellatrix asked challengingly, a haughty smile on her face that made Sirius want to smack her.

Andromeda glanced over at Sirius as if to draw some composure from him; Sirius saw the flicker of fear in her eyes. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Bellatrix grinned evilly. "I'd suggest you be nicer to me. Otherwise…well, let us just say that the outcome would not be very desirable. For either of you."

"I told you twice to get out of my sight, and I'm giving you one last chance." Andromeda said, her voice low, her eyes cold. She raised her wand and pointed it straight between Bellatrix's eyes. "I'm of age; I can cast hexes at my will, and you damn well know that I'm better at off-the-cuff hexing than you. So I'm going to be extra kind and give you to the count of five. One…two…"

"I hate you both!" Bellatrix snarled, but the quaver to her voice and panic in her eyes made her overall less able to be taken seriously. "You'll pay for this one day!"

"The feeling's mutual!" Sirius retorted.

"Three…"

Bellatrix began to back up slowly.

"Four…this is your last warning, Bellatrix."

Bellatrix cast one look at Andromeda's wand, and one over her shoulder at the door, before turning and storming out of the room.

"And don't you dare tell any of this to mum, or I will come after you when you're sleeping!"

"That was fantastic, Meda! However, I hate that brat!" Sirius vented to Andromeda, after making sure Bellatrix was out of hearing range.

"I know, but we still have to put up a pretense of liking her. Or at least tolerating her. Or she'll be a bad enemy to have. Believe me, I've lived with her for years. She's nosy, she's infuriating, and she's vicious. Plus, our parents love her dearly. It's a pretty bad combination; she basically gets away with everything. But look, Siri, you promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Of course I wont, Meda. Why would I alienate my favorite cousin?"

Andromeda smiled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. Flattery always helps."

"Yeah, I've noticed girls really dig that 'being nice to them and giving compliments' thing."

Andromeda laughed. "This is very true. I—"

"SIRIUS!" Sirius' mother's screeching voice cut through the air, interrupting Andromeda.

"WHAT?" Sirius replied. To Andromeda, he lowered his voice and muttered, "Bellatrix probably tattled on me. Like always."

His mother stormed into the room, hands on her hips, scowling at him. "There you are, boy! Hurry up if you actually want school supplies. Otherwise you can just go with an empty trunk."

"Oh, that's right! OK, OK, I'm coming!"

"Good." His mother replied, dryly, before offering the little twitch of her lips—what constituted the closest thing Cassiopeia Black had to a smile—to Andromeda. "Hello dear. Your mother was looking for you. Seems our minx Bella was given quite a shock."

Andromeda winked at Sirius as she followed Cassiopeia out of the room. "I'm sure. You know Bella...always up to something."

A/N: I recently re-wrote some of this chapter to reflect the new canon of HBP, wherein it states that Bellatrix is the oldest of the sisters. I therefore changed the ages of both Bellatrix and Andromeda, and changed Bellatrix's dialogue accordingly, to reflect her older age. I will do this sort of tinkering to other early chapters as I find the time.