Prologue:

There was laughter here once.

Long before the walls turned grey and the house fell silent save for the mad shriekings of the lone portrait left hanging by the grand staircase.

Once these now dingy hallways were filled with music. The piano and the violin.

All that's left now are the echos of the ghosts of the children who played them.

Children lived here, beautiful children with high cheekbones and the soft jawlines of childhood. The boys had dark hair, the darkest one could imagine. The sort of darkness only experienced when your eyes are closed. The girls presented a sliding scale; the eldest shared the dark hair of her male cousins, the second boasted a golden brown that could be compared to the perfectly baked loaf of bread and the last had hair light as fresh linen.

This was before.

After the house fell the girls changed. One descended into madness, another isolated herself from the world and the final girl put her entire soul into being a Mother.

Orion Black was 17 when he married his cousin Walburga at the behest of his Father and as a wedding gift they were presented with 12 Grimmauld Place. Immediately it was expected that they begin the practice of creating an heir. Much to the dismay and deep disappointment of the Black family years passed and no such heir was born. After 5 unsuccessful years an even deeper blow was struck when the couple were told that Walburga's brother Cygnus and his new wife Druella would be moving into their home as Druella was pregnant. It was standard practice for the Black's to raise cousins in the same household. Walburga and Orion had been no exception so the news was hardly a surprise. It was however an insult that the lesser line of the Black family, Cygnus was after the all the second child of a second child, were able to bear children before the line that was destined to produce the heir.

Orion was relieved when Druella gave birth and the baby was female for a true Black would always have a son before a daughter.

Druella gave birth three times in total before Walburga became pregnant and three times she bore only girls.

Walburga and Orion distanced themselves greatly from the family sharing their home, not wishing to raise someone else's children when they were so desperate for one of their own. Orion stayed away completely, designating and entire floor to the younger couple and their children and himself remaining in either his office or on the lower floor. Mixing only when necessary for balls or grandiose family dinners.

Walburga mostly followed her husbands example but could not help but involve herself in the girls' education. They would carry the Black name after all and Druella was not a Black and the Rosier way of raising children was much to soft for Walburga.

Finally Walburga fell pregnant herself. It was spring 1959 when the symptoms began and the whole family rejoiced in the knowledge that an heir would soon be born. Walburga gave birth that November and to her pleasure the child was male, a male heir what could be more perfect? Walburga found out not much more than a year later for she bore another son, a spare in case anything went wrong with the first. After years of dissapointing the family she had finally proven her worth, all that was left to do was educate the boys properly and see to it that they continued the Black traditions appropriately.

The children were named for the stars, just as hundreds of generations before them.

Bellatrix; which when translated from Latin means female warrior.

Andromeda; a constellation named from Ancient Greek mythology in which a girl is sacrificed for the vanity of her mother and saved only by the love of a God.

Narcissa; the only exception to the rule of the stars but named from the same mythology of her sister. Her name was that of the ill fated twin sister of Narcissus. The latter drowning in his own reflection after her death as he looked desperately trying to recall her features it being said that she was his exact counterpart.

Sirius; the Dog Star and the brightest in the sky.

Regulus Arcturus; named for not just one but two stars. The heart of the lion, the brightest star in the constellation Leo and the guardian of the bear, releasing more heat than the earths own sun.

Perhaps these names and their ancient meanings are important to the story and perhaps they are not but it is certainly fascinating to compare the fates of the children with the fates of the stars.