Shhhh! Don't mention the quick update or you might scare it away! Actually, it's a short chapter, and not only my boss, but most co-workers are out of town.

No Ted in this chapter and that makes me sad, but there was no way to squeeze him in. We get a little insight on what Will really thinks, and then I go rabid fangirl on Bella for the rest of the chapter. In the words of my friend, "You have a girlcrush on a fictional character. Wow, that's sad."

The inspiration and description of Bella's dress was taken almost whole cloth from Maeve Morgan, who said in a review that it would be an ideal look for her. And I agree.

Chapter 17- In Vino Veritas

It was a bit appalling to me, the level of cliché I was reaching. Will and I were strolling, hand in hand of course, along a perfectly groomed garden path. It was a pretty picture indeed, and I was drawn in by the appeal of a warm summer evening, the bloom of flowers, and the good-looking young man with me, and yet I was uncomfortable with all the eyes that had watched us leave the party. The appraising gazes that said "Black and Avery….yes…good match for the second daughter." I was afraid of being forced into marriage with someone I had fallen for at the age of twelve. Couldn't I at least be an adult before I chose my destiny? I loved Will in the way that you can only feel about your first love. I loved him in a way, but I couldn't imagine the rest of my life with him.

And yet it was the Avery's summer house party, and only a day off from the ball to celebrate Bella turning sixteen, and the official start of my parents attempt to marry her off and turn over responsibility of their most volatile child to whatever proper pureblood man would pay the highest price. The preparations had taken most of the summer, no expense spared. It was a tradition, although it was unlikely any engagement would be announced before she left school, it was a holdover from the days when any woman not married by seventeen was in serious danger of being a spinster. As Bella was a great beauty, it would not be difficult to find suitors, but no one doubted that through whatever means necessary, she would be married to Rodolphus Lestrange. Anything else was just for show.

And yet, it would be a spectacular show.

Will was rambling on about the Ministry's latest attempt to appease the old families by repealing a series of muggle-born protection laws that were ineffective and had been mostly for show all along. The general consensus was that this was too little, too late. Will Agreed with this, apparently, as he explained to me (since, as a woman, I couldn't possibly grasp the subtleties of politics), that the Ministry was getting scared.

I was only half-listening, I'd heard it all at home anyway, and I knew that no matter what sort of gesture the Ministry made, there would be no going back. He didn't need any encouragement from me to go on- I had been hearing more and more of these speeches over the last few months.

"Are you all right, Andy?" he said suddenly, apparently finally noticing my lack of attention.

"Oh yes," I tried to smile and look as though my mind hadn't been wandering. "Just so much talk of the war."

I know I sounded weary and disinterested, and so he wasn't entirely to blame for the slightly chiding tone he took.

"It's important, Andromeda. This war will ensure your future...our future."

I'm not sure if it was his tone or his alarming use of the collective pronoun that set me off, but I withdrew my hand and whirled to face him.

"Don't take that sort of patronizing tone with me. I know exactly what is at stake."

Always calm, he seemed to consider the merits of letting it go or possibly confronting the legendary Black temper, and decided he wanted to have this issue out.

"Really? Because you don't act like it, and sometimes I wonder if you care at all about what we're fighting for."

"What are you fighting for Will? Not what your Father is fighting for or Lord Voldemort is fighting for, but you. Do you even know?"

What I didn't know at the time was how deeply his family was involved with Lord Voldemort. While the Blacks had been brought in as Lord Voldemort courted the support of the wealthy, old pureblood families, Will's uncle had been a friend of Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Lord Voldemort, in school. He had been raised for this cause and believed it more deeply than I had ever realized. Simply because we'd had the superficial relationship of young teens, I hardly knew what he really believed, and it was only as the future started to come into play that I realized how he really felt about it.

"Of course I do," he snapped. "I know what I believe and I understand the concept of committing myself to something, which is something you seem to be unclear on. You really don't seem to a give a damn about the outcome of this war as long as it doesn't make your life uncomfortable."

"That's not true and you know it. I don't want the people I love to die without even knowing what they're dying for."

He grabbed my elbow, more from the urgency of what he was trying to make me understand than anything, but it scared me. "They know what it's for Andromeda. Have you ever really listened to what he says? It makes sense, especially for you, for us, that the power should belong to the purebloods, it's-"

"Don't handle me," I bit out from behind clenched teeth. I knew I would be bruised where he grabbed me. He immediately dropped his hand.

"You have some decisions to make Andy."

"Then maybe you shouldn't presume to make them for me. I don't need to be told what to believe."

I turned and walked away, and behind me I heard him shatter a small stone birdbath with a single curse. I supposed I was lucky it was directed at the fountain and not me.

"I'll kill him," said Bella simply, when she saw the bruise on my arm. I wasn't entirely sure that was an empty threat, she looked angry enough to try it. For Mother to leave a mark on me was one thing, but to be handled roughly by someone outside the family was entirely another.

"Don't be ridiculous, it was an accident," I said, as carelessly as I could. Narcissa frowned and said nothing, but dabbed orange paste on the mark. It was sticky and smelled funny, but it was by far the best bruise remover we'd found. Going through childhood with Bella required an effective bruise remover.

Bella and I had been getting along so well I wasn't stupid enough to tell her what Will and I had fought about, and in the absence of details they were naturally taking my side. I was upset about the whole fight, and yet not nearly as upset as I felt like I should have been. I wasn't sure what it meant really- had we broken up? I felt as though I should have been more worried about it. Didn't I love him? Bella and Cissy were more outraged by it than I was.

We were taking a long, languid afternoon to get ready for the ball that was unofficially in Bella's honor. Mother left us to our own devices as she was still put out over being overruled in the epic battle of what Bella would wear. Mother wanted white, with her hair up neatly, which she thought made the appropriate impression for a girl of sixteen who was not yet married. Bella was adamant that this was her ball, and her life, and she would wear what she chose. Arguments escalated to shouting, which escalated to Mother hexing Bella. I have no doubt she was ready to throw a few curses of her own, but Father slammed into the room, bellowing "for the love of Salazar, Druella, let the girl wear what wants and shut the bloody hell up!"

What Bella wanted was red. Not the bright, cheerful Gryffindor scarlet, but deep, rich, blood red with wide sleeves and a plunging neckline. Her hair fell loose down her back, as she preferred it. It was entirely inappropriate for a girl of sixteen, and yet entirely perfect for Bella, and left Cissy and I gaping in open-mouthed admiration- she was spectacular.

"This ball is really just a formality though," Narcissa said as she allowed Bella to button the back of her ice-blue gown. She had been saying the same thing in a variety of different ways for the past few weeks, and I felt like I understood what she was trying to ask, without actually admitting she cared. That this ball didn't mean Bella was grown-up. It didn't mean we were losing her.

"Of course," she said easily, finishing with the buttons and patting Cissy on the back. "I've got more fun to have before I get married."

Narcissa was apparently reassured by that, but I wasn't so sure. Bella studied me in the mirror for a moment from behind, and then used her wand to twist my hair into a complicated and trendy style she's seen in a magazine. It pulled slightly, and I made a face at her in the mirror, but she finished it and then draped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"That's pretty, you should wear it like that, and borrow Mother's amethyst hair clips." She kissed my cheek. "Really Andy, just a formality."

Formality or not, it was her night, and Narcissa and I were not the only ones admiring her. Father beamed, and Mother acted as though the red gown had been entirely her idea. Yes, it was outrageously inappropriate, but when had Bellatrix Black ever played by the rules?

Rodolphus saw her as soon as she entered the room, leaving a man in mid-conversation, striding across the room with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, as though if he didn't claim her immediately someone else might. The air between them seemed to crackle with tension, but then someone stepped out of the shadows between them- probably the only man in the world who could do so and get away with it.

Lord Voldemort raised Bella's hand and kissed it, and I saw a shiver run through her.

"All grown up tonight, aren't you?" he inquired with a slight arch of an eyebrow. He leaned slightly closer to her. "I expect great things from you, My Bella."

I cannot have been the only one who saw the flare of jealousy in Rodolphus's eyes, or the flash of fear in Mother's. I think that is the first time either of them realized how deeply drawn to him she was already. Even I, who had watched them from the first meeting, felt sick with some indefinable terror. On her own, Bella had a brilliant mind and unlimited potential. At his side, that could be turned to something truly terrible.

The moment passed, and Lord Voldemort withdrew, for although such social occasions were necessary to be accepted among the pureblood elite, he never lingered long among crowds. When he left, a gloom seemed to lift, at least to me, and I enjoyed the rest of the night. Despite all my fears for Bella, I felt like she was magical that night, and ought to be admired.

She danced with everyone there- not only with family and Rodolphus- but with Father's friends and shy little boys from Hogwarts and diffident young pureblood men who had never hoped for the interest of Bella Black.

Narcissa and I were by no means ignored. We danced with boys from school, and Sirius and Father and I even danced with Lucius, although I felt like his eyes were on Narcissa the entire time. I never got on with Lucius as we got older, and I think we would have realized that sooner if we had ever spoken. Yet as much as Bella and I disliked him, we never doubted he cared for Cissy. I wonder sometimes, with the clarity of hindsight, if we would have felt the same if we knew what he would lead her into. We wanted nothing more than to protect her. I know that Bella, for all the darkness she embraced for herself, wanted nothing but the bliss of ignorance for Cissy. The instinct to protect a younger sister is strong. We thought that's what Lucius would give her.

As I drew away from Lucius, rather thankfully for the forced small talk had been nearly painful, I glimpsed Will across the ballroom, looking at me intently. Of course he would be there. With some satisfaction, I turned to Rabastan, who had just asked me to dance. He winked at me and I knew he had seen the look I had just exchanged, and if he pulled me a little closer than was proper, it was because he was on my side, helping me make Will jealous. There was never any romance between us, no matter how my parents, not to say Bella and Rodolphus, would have appreciated it. Many years later I would stand in the shadows in the back of a courtroom, and wonder how I had escaped, and he stood trial with my sister. That night, he gave me a wicked smile, and said, "there's more of Bella in you than anyone thinks."

"So, you're a prefect?"

Since my Father was holding the badge and a letter to that effect, I assumed this was a rhetorical question, and experience with my Father told me it was best to say nothing at all unless asked an obvious question, so I remained silent. He paced, looking at the letter and then at me as though he couldn't quite make the connection.

"Well, it would seem as though you are conducting yourself properly at school," he finally said. I deemed it wise to stay silent. "Although I don't particularly care for Horace Slughorn...he's far too friendly with mudbloods- do you know who the other prefect for Slytherin is?"

"Rabastan Lestrange, Sir."

"Good, good," he said nodding. "Good family. What about the other houses?"

"I don't know, Sir," I answered honestly, though I could probably make some fairly accurate guesses. "I don't really speak to anyone in other houses," I added. That was a lie, but I figured one that he wanted to hear, and indeed he eyed me over his glasses for a long moment, and then gave another satisfied nod.

"Very well then. Well done Andromeda." He handed me the badge and the letter. "You may go."

As I wandered back upstairs, I considered who else might be a prefect. Bella knew for certain Rabastan was the other for Slytherin, and I was agreeable to that, since he and I got on well enough. I guessed for Gryffindor would be Lily Evans, who was making quite a name for herself at Hogwarts- the darling of all the teachers and popular among students- especially the boys, suckers for a pouty redhead with decent Quidditch skills. And while Sirius and James Potter were perhaps the most gifted students in Gryffindor, I wouldn't trust them for a second in a position of authority and I doubted McGonagall would either. More likely was their other friend Remus- bright as well, but a good deal quieter and more thoughtful. I didn't know any Hufflepuffs very well, in fact I could probably count on my fingers the number of conversations I'd had with Hufflepuffs in my time at Hogwarts, but that didn't mean I didn't pay attention to who was competing with me for grades. There was a Hufflepuff boy named Christopher Hughes who had an absolutely uncanny understanding of Arithmancy (to my supreme annoyance), and a girl named Emily Chambers who was thought to be particularly talented. As for Ravenclaw, it might possibly be Marlene, but her roommate Lucy Davies probably had better grades, so it was really a toss-up. As for the other Ravenclaw prefect…there was very little doubt in my mind as to who that would be. I wasn't sure if I was pleased or terrified by that.

We should have spent the evening getting ready to return to school, but with house elves to pack for us there was little left to do. The boys had been staying with us for a few weeks, but Reggie had gone to spend the last few days of the summer holiday with Tommy Burke, and Sirius had disappeared mysteriously, which I assumed meant he was with one of his Gryffindor buddies and felt life was easier if he didn't advertise the fact. The result was that the last night before we went back to school I spent a pleasant evening with my sisters, girly magazines, nail polish, and red wine.

Bella had spent the day with Elizabeth in Diagon Alley, and so she was full of gossip.

"You know what I heard about Cecilia MacNair?"

"I heard she was going to stay with family in Ireland, way up North somewhere, because she was sick," Narcissa said innocently.

Bella smirked. "She's not sick, she's in trouble."

It took Narcissa a moment to process what kind of "trouble" a nice pureblood girl could get in that would have her sent away to distant family for roughly nine months or so.

"Oh…oh! Well, I heard she was secretly dating some muggle-born who works for the liaison office at the Ministry. It only figures something like that would happen," she said prissily.

"That can happen with purebloods too, Darling. Mind you remember that," Bella said severely. She was not usually one to give sound "older sister" advice, and Narcissa yelped, smearing nail polish across her hand.

"Bella! Why are you telling me that? Tell Andy!"

"Me?" I sputtered. "I'm just sitting here painting my toenails. How did I get in this conversation?"

Bella grinned wickedly. "You and Will have been going out for two years Andy. You can't expect us to believe you're merely holding hands. And it's always the quiet ones…" she added knowingly to Cissy.

I cursed fair skin that made it incredibly obvious when I blushed. "I'm not even sure if we're going out anymore. And I'm certainly not…going to get in trouble." I raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Are you?"

Narcissa looked curious at her answer as well, and I had to admit I had wondered. She had always acted older than she was, and Rodolphus was much older yet than her. He didn't seem like the sort of man who would be bothered about what was proper behind closed doors, and given the way he looked at her…well, I'd like to think she'd tell me, but I wasn't sure. She bit her lip, looking between us, all the giggling and teasing suddenly vanished.

"No," she finally admitted, and Narcissa and I both let out a sigh. "Not from lack of interest," she went on candidly. "But I have plans, and I don't want anything to interfere with them. Not even for Rodolphus."

"What plans?" asked Narcissa innocently. Bella looked at her, studying her carefully in the firelight. As though stalling, she reached for the wine and found the bottle empty.

"Well that simply won't do," she stood up, swaying slightly, and left the room.

We sat in companionable silence until Narcissa sighed.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing, I just worry about her sometimes."

I was tempted to ask what she meant, for Narcissa sometimes had surprising insights, but Bella came back then with another bottle of wine, and we were all feeling languid and hazy. I wanted to ask what she had meant, what plans she had that didn't involve Rodolphus, but I was afraid, if she spoke honestly and freely, of what I might hear. I already knew what while she probably did love him, she saw him as an equal and as an ally, her soul would belong to someone else.

It was nearly an hour later and we had gotten very giggly when Sirius slammed the door open, looking furious.

"What is wrong with girls anyway?" he demanded, glaring at each of us in turn, apparently for the crime of being female.

"Aww, what's the matter Romeo? Trouble in paradise?" Bella asked sweetly.

He and Marlene had spent the better part of the last term fighting and attempting to hex each other, and so no one had been surprised when they started going out just as the term was ending. I had, of course, mocked her mercilessly, but secretly I wished them well. Her "no bullshit, no nonsense" attitude was exactly what he needed, and what I secretly thought he might want as well. Throughout the summer they seemed to fight about once a week, and yet Sirius was far more engaged than he had been with any of his other girlfriends. He actually seemed to enjoy it between his rants about how women were insane.

She was a pureblood, though more along the lines of James's family than our own, either his parents thought it just another fling (not unlikely with Sirius) or had learned to pick their battles, but nothing had been said and there had been no move to stop him seeing her. We found his distress rather amusing from the boy who thought he was the hottest thing to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts.

"Have you guys been drinking?" he asked, when we only snickered in response to his question.

I started giggling anew; Narcissa gave him a serene smile.

"Have a drink, Gryffindor?" Bella offered.

"Yeah, sure," he muttered, dropping down on the couch next to me. She passed him a glass, and he raised it in a little half-toast to all of us. "To love."

I snorted, and he gave me a curious look. "Cynical, Andy? You, of all people?"

"She and Will are fighting," Narcissa informed him. I didn't even bother to snap at her. Very little was private among us. He fixed me with an interested look.

"Really? Did you break up?"

"I don't know," I admitted, irritated. I wished Will would give me something. Were we going out again if I decided I was on his side? Merlin knew I could recite the speeches, but did I want to? And how much was I willing to play the part for what was known and comfortable?

"Because if you're single…man…" he gave a low whistle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I was sure he was insulting me somehow.

"I'm just saying if you're single again people are going to be interested. Everyone's a bit scared of Avery…because he's scary…but there will be some people happy to hear if the two of you are over."

"Like who?" I demanded.

He just grinned enigmatically.

"Well, I imagine he'll come to his senses," Bella said firmly. "He can't do any better than a Black girl."

"That's the thing though," I said suddenly, speaking more freely than I normally would. "Sometimes I feel like he just likes dating a Black girl. He has no idea who I am, and doesn't really care, it's just my name and bloodline."

Sirius looked sympathetic and it occurred to me he probably understood that better than anyone. The oldest male heir of the Blacks was no small thing and any girl in the wizarding world would know it meant not only a name, but wealth and power.

"You deserve someone who likes you, Andy. Not the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," he said decisively.

Much later, as we were stumbling off to bed (I was still blissfully unaware of my first hangover, which would make itself painfully clear a few hours) Sirius grabbed my arm, drawing me back from Bella and Cissy.

"I meant that, Darling. You deserve better, and you know it's out there. Andy, you're more than a bloodline, and I say this in the purely platonic sense of a brother…you're quite the catch…just recognize who realizes that," Sirius said, with a wink, and then pushed me after Bella.

Much later that night, I slid into a hazy sleep, Bella gave me her version of that.

"It doesn't matter really, with Will or anyone else. You're mine, you know."

I actually need some advice for planning purposes...Sirius said he ran away when he was 16, right? "Running away" implies that he wasn't at school at the time, so it has to have been either the summer before his 6th year, or during the Christmas holidays...thoughts on which? Much appreciated.