Author: Ladyfun

Title: Let It Go

Pairing: Bellatrix and Andromeda. Bella -n- Andy. Awwww.

Rating: Generally K+

Disclaimers: All of this (Ladyfun gesturing big wide circles over the computer with her hand) belongs to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, and this is all for non-profit fun. And I sure as heck don't own Quiddich.

SUMMARY: For the Quiddich League Fanfiction competition/Round 13: Romance. Pairing: Bella and Andy. Two young patrician beauties. Two girls in love, as told to the Golden Trio. Love, misunderstandings, more temptation; you've probably heard this story before...just set to music. The Black sisters.

A/N #1: Written for Round 13 /Season 2 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Position is Beater 2 for the Wigtown Wanderers

A/N #2: OPTIONAL PROMPTS: 1. (quote): life is life, fight for it; 2. (word) gruesome; 3. (word) happily

Random technicality: I can't post new fanfics, it would appear, so I am posting it in another spot in one of the old stories. Sorry if there's confusion.

Title: Let It Go: The legend of Adelle Dazeem, as Ladyfun

Round 13/Romance
Position: Beater 2- Prompt: Bellatrix/Andromeda
Team: Wigtown Wanderers

The Black Family Vacation Estate: Circa 1966

"Bella! Hurry! Ugh, why must you walk so slowly!"

The dark haired beauty was clenching her fists, trying hard not to self-combust as she practically sprinted in the snow.

"I guess because I have seen every side of this damn mountain since I was two years old, Andy!" Smiled the older sister, bemused. "And I know what's waiting for me up ahead. Snow!"

"Not like this, Bella!" She said, excitedly. She reached down and grabbed the hand of her bemused sister, and happily tugged her along. "Hurry, we're going to miss it!"

Bella Black allowed herself to be yanked up ahead by her younger sister, Andromeda Black. They reached a clearing that frankly was a little dangerous to traverse; on top of the embankment, Andy flopped down, in the snow.

"What are you doing?" Bella said, incredulous.

Andy patted the ground next to her. "Come, Sissy! Wait! I promise, you won't be disappointed." The auburn haired beauty looked off to the horizon, her eyes excited and full of life. "Wait."

Bella complied, and laid down next to her sister. What she was waiting for, she had no idea; but the few minutes she laid there, she was painfully aware of the heat from her sister laying next to her. Bella's eyes drifted over to her sister, with a certain subterfuge; her breath caught, as her eyes raked over her sisters clearly maturing form.

When did my sister become so beautiful? Her form so mature? Her essence, so ... desirable? Bellatrix wondered, in anguish.

It was wrong, so wrong, to think this way; and her innocent and happy little sister was waiting to share something, probably some crappy bunny snow rabbit or some other bollocks of that ilk, with her! Because she's so innocent, damn her!

Bella frowned. I ruin everything, Bella thought, to herself. I turn everything dark; but I won't destroy Andy's innocence, I promise this...

"Bella," Andy hummed, with a gentle smile, "Stop angsesting over there! I can feel it running off you, you know!"

"Really?" Bella said, cooly. "What else can you feel, little sister?"

Andy just hummed. "You'd be surprised."

Beofre she could elaborate, however, Andy's head turned with a snap as the first crack of sunlight peered over the horizon. "There, Bella! Look!" She squealed, excited.

Bella's eyes followed where Andy was gesticulating towards, only to gasp when she saw it: he most beautiful fire rainbow of the early morning sky!

"A fire rainbow..." She gasped, in awe.

"Actually," Andy whispered in a low and reverent tone, "it's neither a fire nor a rainbow, Bella! Its something called a circumhorizonatal arc, as the sun rises and hits the frozen fractals of the morning sky! It caused a prism of light that-"

"Hold it, hold it, right there, McGonnigall! That's enough, I'm all set with "fire rainbow," thanks!" Bella grinned, teasing her enthusiastic sister. "Leave me to my ignorant grasp of science, and let me just admire the beauty, okay?"

Andy pretended to pout. "Fine, then!"

"Look, not all of us are destined to be brilliant healers, Andy! Some of us will just have to toil along, and do the family business, so to speak."

They watched the fleeting rainbow disappear as the sun continued to rise, and Andy just lay there, completely content, dark eyes settling on the one's so similar to her own, mirroring her gaze, as they lay side by side on the ground. She let out a sigh.

"You're so much more than that, Bella." Her voice was wistful.

Bella shrugged. "Maybe yes, maybe no...I mean, I know you make me feel like I could make something of myself...but other times, I scare myself, you know?" She mused. "Regardless, I think its decided for me. Father says my training begins next week, in earnest."

The beautiful younger woman looked troubled. "Promise me you won't lose yourself, Bella; not like Mother. Mother has become...gruesome, I dare say." She said, in hushed tones.

"Please? Do you think Father scares me?"

"No, I think no one scares you, actually; that's your problem." Andy said, chuckling. "No checks and balances."

Bella gave her a playful shove, and the two looked out to the horizon, each lost in their own thoughts. It was finally the younger that broke the silence.

"I discovered this vantage point last week. I had to bring you...have you ever seen anything so beautiful before, Bella?"

Bella's eyes were no longer on the morning sky, but rather, fixed on her younger sister, with an unspoken yearning. "Actually, yes, I have."

She looked down, convincing herself of all the reasons this was a horribly bad idea.

But Bellatrix Black would never be known for avoiding horribly bad ideas, ever. Her eyes shot up, and fixed on her sister's, almost feral, in intent. Her voice was deeper, unexpectedly, when she continued to speak.

"I have seen something that beautiful before, Andy; I've seen you."

Andy's eyes went wide, with her older sister's confession; and she let out a small breath.

"Oh-ohhh?" She squeaked. "Me?"

Bellatrix nodded, assured. "Yep." She smiled a wicked grin. "You."

"I'm...I'm...I'm not beautiful, Bella! Not by a long shot-"

"Hush, sister."

Andy heedlessly rambled on, nervously, regardless. "Because, Merlin's Beard, if I'm beautiful...which I'm not...then you must be beautifuller!"

She blushed at her creative oratory skills, quickly becoming silent under the intense gaze of her older sister. She closed her eyes, as she felt a soothing hand on her cheek. She felt her rambling finally come to a stop, as the warm, full, and amazing lips of her sister alighted on her own.

Bella was kissing her! On the lips. Open lips!

Full lips.

Full...amazing, delicious lips...

Completely consumed by the burning desire that instantly coursed through her with that simple touch of Bella's stolen kiss, suddenly she had nothing further to say on the topic of meteorologic anomalies of the morning sky.

Instead, she just...let it go.

The Hunt for Horcruxes, Circa Winter 1997

"What's this?" Hermione said, with a decided scowl.

The Golden Trio had been on the hunt for horcruxes for months now, and all three couldn't remember when they last ate a hot meal comprised of all four food groups. Hermione was fairly certain that she was destined for scurvy, and to make it worse, winter was upon them.

Scurvy and frostbite. Two additional reasons to hate Voldemort! Or, perhaps, Albus Dumbledore, who set them on this mission in the first place. Or both.

They had been trudging in the snowbanks for what felt like years when a strange rotund man in suspenders came upon them.

"Ah, you're here at last. Come into my cottage…"

The three held out their wands at the ready, prepared to take down the strange little man.

"…Oh! I almost forgot. Minerva owled, saying you were coming, and told me to tell you something…." He paused. "Something important."

He stopped walking, at a loss.

"Oh yes! Blast ended screwts! What an odd thing to go on about!"

The three sighed, relieved, the secret password of the Order indicating this odd man was safe.

"She also said to feed you a good meal, and to make extra for the red-headed one, who eats like a boar! Or a pig! Or something porcine, I think…."

Hermione and Harry laughed, excited to have a real meal, at last.

XOXOXOXO

It was perhaps their post-meal euphoria that overcame them, but their host, Olaf Von Reklinghaus, was a veritable wealth of information, and an excellent story teller. He retailed them with fantastic tales, and despite his rambling, and they found themselves staying up far later than they should have. Truthfully, they enjoyed being regaled in all sorts of stories and history of the families that had made their vacation homes in the mountain resort.

Hermione was enthralled with the tales of the residents of the house of Windsor, as well as the family Von Trapp; and Ron enjoyed hearing about the obscenely wealthy pureblood family lines and their obscenely dirty laundry. It was Harry, who had remained quiet in the corner, who put it together; the reasons their travels had taken them out of Great Britain into this Nordic winter wonderland.

"Olaf..." Harry interrupted, thoughtfully. "Did you ever...hmm. Well, forgive me if I'm being nosy, or impertinent, but.." Harry swallowed. "Did you ever have any experience with anyone from… the House of Black?"

Olaf's eyes went wide, and he made a barely perceptible motion of shaking.

Shaking…in terror.

Harry held up his hands, as if to cry "no foul," hoping to calm the strange man down. "Sorry, mate, it was probably a stupid question." He said, sincerely.

They could hear the fire crackle and the winter winds blow outside.

Hermione's eyes had narrowed, looking back and forth between the small man and her best friend, and her eyes widened in the eureka moment when she realized what Harry was about.

"Brilliant!" She muttered, under her breath.

Mouth stuffed to all dimensions, Ron looked at the Golden Girl. "mrugh, huh?" He grunted in her direction.

In a loud voice, she said, "Beignets! I said, are there any benignets?" She covered.

Olaf was quickly shutting the doors and locking the shutters, as if the mere mention of the name would cause a royal guard to appear, and whisk him off to Askaban.

He looked furtively at his young trio of guests. "I'll tell you the real story of the House of Black," He said, in a conspiratorial tone. "But only after we ward off the cabin, okay?"

"Right-o," Harry said, as he and Hermione leapt up to assist. Ron remained at the table, eating. As they finished off the last hex, Hermione looked at the suddenly serious man, and asked a leading question.

"Olaf? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a bit of a fright, actually! The Blacks are that awful, are they?" She said, playing ignorant.

"The House of Black. Ugh! They had the entire west mountain, they did! Money for days, in that family…and cursed. That family is cursed!"

"I see." Hermione said, seriously. "But…it didn't seem like there was much left there, on the west mountain, now. Nothing to be scared of, right?"

He snorted.

"Why, the Blacks aren't still there, are they?" Hermione reasoned.

Olaf sighed. "Oh, the Blacks are always there, on the West Arendelle mountain, young traveler! Its a little known fact that they are the monarchs of the mountain, to anyone outside our small province! It's in the constitution, actually, and why the Black keep that palatial mansion up on the hill as their vacation residence."

"A mountain has a constitution?" Asked Ron, confused.

"Oh, yes! The oldest continuous monarchy in existence, actually. Although, I fear, it will pass out of the hands of the House of Black, as I doubt HRH Bellatrix would willing abjugate or pass the reigns to her younger sisters or their children. The monarchs of Arendelle, they are cursed. Their bodies may leave, but their souls do not, I suspect."

This was sounding a little too much like Divinations for Hermione's liking, nor did she need to hear that the patrician Blacks were more entitled than they already acted; so she cut to the chase.

"Are they still there, or not? Is their stuff there?" She asked, annoyed, while trying to remain vague.

"Such as..?"

"Oh, I don't know…." She began, nonchalantly. "You know...servants, personal belongings, robes, wands; evidence that a family is in residence? Maybe even memorabilia like books, runes, or… weapons, even?"

"Yeah, like that! You know, something ike a sword?" Harry interjected.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at his lack of subtitles, while Ron chewed on, blissfully unaware.

"Come!" He gestured them into the living room. "I'll tell you the tale, and answer your questions." He looked at Harry pointedly. "Including the location of the Sword of Gryffindor, young Potter." He said, with a sheepish grin.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other, shocked. So much for them being subtle.

Things just got interesting for the Golden Trio.

XOXOXOXOX

"When the two Black girls were little, they were here all the time, without fail! The eldest, Bella, was a real daredevil, that one!"

"What a surprise." Ron said, sarcastically, mouth still full having brought the leftovers with him.

Olaf ignored the interruption. Looking at Hermione and Harry, he continued. "Her younger sister, Andy, was more cautious; she absolutely adored her big sister!" His eyes looked wistful. "You could hear their laughter, a mile away, in the village, as they got into mischief together! One time, Bella had fashioned herself as a reindeer, and she pulled Andy in a box all throughout the downtown! Andy couldn't have been older than…three? "

The trio remained silent.

"The hijinks of those two …well, they were adorable, really."

"But…there were three sisters, Olaf…" Hermione said, curious.

The little man's face darkened. "Ahhh, yes. The littlest sister…." He said, darkly. "That girl represented the end of the House of Black."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"Well…if you know them, you'll remember that youngest had a mop of silver blonde hair, yah?"

"Yes." Hermione confirmed.

"His Majesty, Cyrus Black the third, had a head full of coal black hair, as did his wife, Drucella."

"Yes…"

"That blonde hair was the color of the hair of folks around here, if you haven't noticed. Narcissa's hair was awfully similar to the color of … oh, I don't know…say a young gentleman named Kristoff who would make deliveries to their palace, I'm guessing. Her hair was that color, for illustrations shake…" Olfaf trailed off.

"Mnnmh." Harry said, understanding. "Drucella had a roving eye."

"More than an eye, I would imagine, mate!" Ron snorted. "There was a conception!"

The storyteller ignored the hormonal young men, and continued, talking primarily to Hermione. "Well, he went into a rage, when the baby was born. And it was then that things began to turn dark, for the Royal House of Black..."

"Like….what kind of things?"

"Things. Terrible things! We could hear the screams of the wife being punished...it was awful. People should live on warm hugs, not ...that. Not that vile behavior! The servants looked like death when they came into the village for supplies."

"How awful!" Hermione said, sympathetically.

"I know, right? And yet," he sighed, "they kept coming back, here. To the scene of the crime, as it were. It was as though he was trying to punish her, to rub it in her face…"

He shook his head.

"Worse, was the day the screaming stopped." He looked tired. "Drucella was completely different. She was a robot. She wouldn't speak to anyone other than purebloods, and was positively awful to servants or any service people."

"He re-trained her." Hermione stated.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Once his wife was fully under control, he was left without a conscience. He was left to do as he saw fit. It was then, in the summer before Bellatrix was a second year, I believe, that he unleashed the monster."

Ron looked up from his plate. "The monster? What monster?"

Olaf looked at him.

"The heir to the throne…the heir apparent. Bellatrix Black, of course! The Black Knight. The most evil force of nature to ever be born."

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other meaningfully.

"I know what you're thinking, children! You're thinking, 'well, she certainly does suck arse, but she's like just another dark witch…right?' Well, you're wrong! No one has seen the destruction this woman is capable of, where you live! She is probably more dangerous than that Moldyvolt you English keep going on, about!"

"Voldemort," Hermione corrected, gently. "His name, self-appointed, is Lord Voldemort."

"Whatever!" He said, flustered. "I remember that snot nosed kid, poking around here; he fooled no one. He was a hanger-on-er. The one who grew up on the outside looking in, wishing he had what the aristocratic Blacks had. He was the one who broke up Lady Andromeda and Queen Bella's relationship, after all."

"What?" All three screeched, in unison. Ron dribbled a little pumpkin juice.

"Oh, yes." Olaf said solemnly. "They loved each other. Whole-heartidly. It was unusual, there's no question; but the truth was, there was never a deeper love than that which blossomed between the two sisters Black." He shook his head. "Some people are just worth melting over, you know?" He sighed. "But that kind of love, a pure love, cannot grow in infertile and poisoned soil. It was that Riddle kid, who planted the seed! It was he who outed the two to Cyrus; and that was all she wrote."

Olaf's coal black eyes regarded the crackling fire, and a silence settled in the room, while the trio digested this new information. Harry almost jumped when he started talking again. "But it might have been doomed, anyway. The monarch of Arendelle, Cygnus the third, had plans to unlock her subliminal darker talents…her deeply embedded dark magic, that only she possessed. It is said to skip a generation, but it hasn't been seen in these parts for over a century."

"She is a ... skilled witch," Hermione said cautiously. "And an excellent duelist, no doubt. All three of us have scars to testify to that fact. However, if her magic is so all-encompassing, why isn't she in charge of the Death Eaters?"

"What makes you think she's not?" Olaf said, mysteriously.

Harry shook his head. "Bloody hell, Olaf, you've given us some things to think about." He took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. "Do you think you could take us through it? Start from the beginning, if you don't mind."

"And if there might be a part in the story where you mention good hiding places for Swords, then wake me up!" Grinned Ron.

Olaf nodded, and began to weave the tapestry for them of the lives of two similarly appearing young girls; one with the weight of expectations of generations of purebloods resting on her shoulders, coupled with a magic she didn't yet understand within herself; the other, a free-spirited young girl who adored her big sister and didn't understand why one couldn't love for love's sake, alone. It would be late in the evening by the time they heard it all, so enraptured were the three young students from Hogwarts with a similar burden of expectation on them, as well.

At an Undisclosed Location Somewhere in Great Britian, Circa 1970

"Tell me it's a joke. A horrible, awful joke!"

The two women faced off, looking equally determined. The intensity of the glare that passed between them with their formidable jawlines and regal bearing would give anyone pause, should they happen to witness it. However, there were deliberately no witnesses to this encounter.

"It's not a joke, Bellatrix."

The formal use of her full name stung more than she cared to admit. But, she realized she deserved it. She had turned her back on the one good thing in her life, and abandoned her; what could she expect, really? But instead of acknowledging that fact, she masked it with a sneer, and a callous remark.

"A mudblood? Really, Andromeda? You're going to marry a mudblood?"

The woman who had suffered the slings and arrows of disapproval of the few who knew about her and Ted had suffered little in terms of her physical appearance. Time had been good to Andy; she was beautiful, elegant, and held herself like a true Black, despite her impending disownment. It was not as easy to make that claim in her older sister; the years of practicing the dark arts had robbed something of her very soul, it seemed.

"Love is love, Bella." She responded, coldly. She glared at her older sister. "You know I've always believed that, and unlike some, I stand by that motto."

Her words stung Bella, deeply. If only she knew how much I am dying inside, without her! The dark witch thought, with gritted teeth.

"Well, yay for Andy!" Bella said, sarcastically. "You do know when the shit really hits the fan, I won't be able to protect you, right?"

"I have no illusions about you, big sister. No expectations."

"I wanted to make it clear, should there be any...confusion." Sighed the older witch.

She watched as her sister picked up her cloak and prepared to apparate back to her apartment that she shared with Ted Tonks. Bella gritted her teeth, pacing, as she watched her sister. Finally, with a deep seeded anguish, she asked her sister a simple question.

"Why, Andy? Why him?"

She shrugged. "Why not him? True, he may be the understudy, but the star of the show turned into somewhat of a ... diva. There's a lot to b said for a good understudy, dear sister."

"Really?" She said, cyclically.

"Yes, actually! Chiefly among them, is the simple fact that they show up. They show up, Bella."

Bella snorted.

"It's showtime, your majesty, and frankly, you gave up on me. You don't get a vote, anymore. That's fine; I mean, that's life. People move on." She turned away, her eyes stinging. "I can't wait for you to figure out just how amazing I actually am, Bella. I can't wait for you to realize I loved you for you, and not for the monster you're turning into ... this killing machine!"

"Andy..." Chocked out the feared witch. She crossed the room to scoop her into an embrace, but she was soundly rejected.

"No!" Andy wailed. "You don't get to do that...not anymore. That's life. And life is life, as Mother Teresa once said, so fight for it. Well, I'm fighting for mine."

She gave her sister one last soulful look, before Bella winced, hearing the popping sound of someone apparanting away.

The Battle of Hogwarts, Circa 1998

"NO!" Screamed the Dark Lord's most trusted lieutenant, as she threw her body in front of the green flash of light.

The Avada Kedevra.

The green unforgivable curse was aimed for her younger sister, albeit fighting on the opposing side. Bella was able to deflect the trajectory so it missed its mark.

"What the hell, Lestrange?" Dolov said, screaming at her.

She leveled her wand at him, eyes narrowed. "Don't question me again, peasant!" She hissed.

It had its effect. He shut up quickly

The dark witch mouthed to her younger sister the word "Run!" and she proceeded t do just that. Meanwhile, Bella turned to the confused Death Eater.

"She's going to lead us straight to Potter, fool! But she can't do that if she's dead, now, can she?"

After Action Review, the Battle of Hogwarts, Circ 1998

Andy was there...sort of.

Her mind was wandering to the last few moments she spent, holding Bella's hand, prior to he death at the hands of the Weasley matriarch. It was bittersweet.

"Why do you hate me so much, Bella?"

"Enough, Andy!"

"No! Why? Why do you do it? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out?"

Bella felt more tired than she had in her whole ilife.

"What are you so afraid of?" She finished.

"I said...enough!"

Andy chose to remain silent, and simply nodded. As she watched her sister's eyes drift off, she held the hand, firmly. They exchanged one last look.

"Wait for me, where you're going, okay?" She asked her older sister, softly.

Bella had a winsome look, one of genuine happiness. It was probably the first she had had in years. She gave a weak smile, and said, "Of course, Andy...of course."

THE END.