the sisters black

I:

riddles

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. - Toni Morrison

It is raining on the grounds of the Manor on the Hill.

Summer days are not so normally bleak, but this one was. The gray skies shadowed the expanse of land that belonged to the Blacks. They were an ancient Wizarding family, quite well recognized and respected, but that was soon to change. Now they did not know of their apparent infamy, or of the dark skies outside, but only of the party that would soon be held on in the great, mahogany dining room. There was one, however, that did know of the rain, and had long since forgotten the party that would start in just over an hour.

That one happens to be walking up the path and to the manor on the hill, long auburn hair falling out behind her as she tried to slip through the raindrops. Of course, that is pointless, but she'd do anything to please her mother. Andromeda Black's dripping hair is yet another reason she is the odd one out. Andromeda slips inside the door to a bleakly decorated hall, although swathed in grandeur. The Black family is true to their name, and the desolate colors used to decorate express their personality. Although bleak, the deep grays of the foyer are one of the most welcoming colors in the entire Manor. Except, Andromeda thinks, her own room, which is white, and Cissa's, a light red. The high-ceilinged entrance is dark and unwelcoming, and one might wonder if the Blacks are attempting to outdo their usually drab attire for their guests.

Another figure whirls down a spiraling banister, and hops off gracefully in front of Andromeda.

"My dear Andromeda!" her elder sister exclaimed with false cheer.

Andromeda looked curiously upon Bellatrix. She was never this cheerful unless it was causing someone else pain...

"Mother wants you upstairs quickly. You need to get ready for the party, and she has a nice green dress laid out for you, and you get to pick a brooch, whichever one you would like. And you look a mess. You were outside again, weren't you?"

Andromeda nodded, following her sister's quick speech. Leave it to Bellatrix to be completely and brutally honest. She stuck her tongue out at Bellatrix and skipped up the stairs, skidding into her mother's chambers. (A deep blood-red color.) A house-elf was standing in the center of the room, and Andromeda attempted furiously to shake out her wet clothes while she still had time. Without her wand, which was still in her room, she had to remain damp. The house-elf, Bibi, looked on with casual interest as her young mistress swung her head and whipped her hair around. The mother, Mrs. Black, looked on with an amused expression as her daughter flailed about, trying to dry her thick hair.

"It's hopeless, really, my dear," Mrs. Black informed her.

She was a sight to behold, this Mrs. Black, regal and powerful, with deep brown (almost black) hair and keen black eyes. She was the mistress of the Manor, and a very strict one at that. No house-elf was without a job, and if one was, she would soon assign it one. Tall and rigid, Mrs. Black did not look the part of a mother, but when her duty called, she was promptly there. And this time, her duty did call, and this particular duty was to make her sodden daughter look fresh. And dry.

She started with a simple Drying Charm, on every part of Andromeda until her hair poofed out and skin was red. Followed by several other beautification charms, all of which helped her end up looking every bit like a princess. Then Mrs. Black clucked her tongue and said she looked "far to grown up for a thirteen-year-old." Andromeda just smiled then, and hugged her mother tightly. It was a nice moment, until Bibi reminded them that the party would begin in one half-hour, and Mistress Narcissa still had to be made up. So her mother showed her the dress, and Bellatrix had been very correct. It was stunning, and Andromeda feared that if she exclaimed too much over it, her mother would exchange it for a more modest one.

When Andromeda was completely ready, she stood before the claw-foot mirror and inspected herself, while her mother's eagle eye watched from behind. A lovely dress, a vivid green color, with a corset bodice and high, stiff collar like Bellatrix's. It made her back rigid and her head stay up straight, so that she looked proper. The lush emerald skirt was deep and full, and it swished around her skinny ankles when she spun. Andromeda smiled serenely, pale face glowing. Bibi applauded for her, and she curtsied clumsily, as if to a large crowd.

"All right, that's enough." A reprimand from Mrs. Black.

Andromeda scurried out of the room and spun down the corridor, leaping like a ballerina, and slid down the banister like Bellatrix had. She landed with a thump and a crash, although that didn't stop her from leaping up and skidding over to where Narcissa sat on the sofa. Prim and pristine, Cissa was always looking lovely. Now, however, laughing at one of Bella's jokes and guffawing like a drunken man, the open-mouthed expression and shaking body wasn't doing her any good. Andromeda smiled and cast an eye over to Bellatrix, who was laughing at Narcissa's expense.

Narcissa received a hard poke from Andromeda, and she made her way up the staircase and into her mother's chambers. Both Bellatrix and Andromeda smiled and hopped into the parlor at their father's beckoning, lead by Ollie, another house-elf.

"Bellatrix, Andromeda," Cygnus Black said curtly, as a way of greeting.

"Hello, Father," the girls chorused.

Mr. Black cracked a smile and told them to wait for the guests in here, then left. For the remainder of the time being, the sisters challenged each other in many contests, including throwing various truffles from a platter and the portrait of their great-uncle and watching him dart away, moustache twitching violently. Cissa came down, looking as lovely as ever, and all three of the sisters dared each other to do the silliest things—dance with Bibi, draw on a portrait of a long-lost relation, and steal more and more truffles.

When their fingers were sticky with chocolate and dresses askew from dancing, the guests began to arrive. Their cousins, Sirius and Regulus, looked as if they had been whipped around like garden gnomes, from the rain and the obvious fuss. Most likely, their Aunt Walburga had dragged them with her, and the children, a bit younger than Narcissa, had put up and awful fight. They hadn't yet started at Hogwarts, and, in Andromeda's opinion, were little demons. Her opinion, although fueled by her mother's distaste for Walburga, did not matter in the slightest. They greeted them kindly and gave their coats to Ollie, all the while discreetly kicking and punching their younger cousins.

The party was well underway by the time her father had taken out a case of Firewhiskey for the men to enjoy. Uncle Orion began to shoot dazzling fireworks from the tip of his wand, which both delighted and scared the sisters. Bellatrix had been quickly pushed off into the crowd to meet possible suitors for years to come, leaving Andromeda and Narcissa all alone. This began the flicking of carrots at any of Bella's companions, which Andromeda and Narcissa thought to be great fun. They danced with each other, imitating Bellatrix and her dancing partner, overly dramatic acting jobs making Bellatrix snort. Every time Bellatrix attempted to face them or scowl, another would whisk her away, or Mrs. Black would take her off to speak to any of their relations.

As the party boiled down and the time reached nearly midnight, Bellatrix finally rejoined her sisters. She smiled wickedly and sent a mischievous charm at Andromeda, causing her skin to turn blue. She shrieked and chased Bellatrix up the stairs with Narcissa in tow, and came to her room, where she grabbed her wand and gave Bellatrix a tail. Smirking, both of the sisters turned on their younger sister, wands held aloft.

It was then, sadly, that a Mr. Cygnus Black walked in; found one of his daughters blue and the other with a pig's tail sticking out from under her dress. He found it remarkable how similar they still looked, pale skin and delicate features. All shamefaced, besides the lovely Narcissa, who was trying her hardest not to laugh and look positively angelic at the same time. Cygnus Black's sharp featured were being stressed under attempts not to smile at his young daughters. Finally, he composed himself, and told his daughters sternly that they were needed in the parlor, quickly fixing any of the strange charms while he was at it.

Tripping over their own feet, the beet red girls followed their father down the staircase and into the green parlor, where they were told to 'sit down, nicely.' Surprisingly, the three girls did, and as their father disappeared into the corridor, he saw three still heads; black, auburn and blonde hair completely in place. And Cygnus Black smiled, knowing that the picturesque moment would soon be gone.

He returned momentarily, with a noble stride and stiff face, with Mrs. Black walking obediently behind him. She too held her head high, and the pair of them looked nearly mechanical. These Blacks, although stiff with formalties and bound with proper skills, were very much the loving family no one knew they were. The sisters, having no one else to grow up with in their nursery besides another house-elf, Minnie, were the closest any sisters could be. Through thick and thin, good and bad, these sisters were a wall that stood tall and proud. "'Til death," they joked, but it was true, at the time. Those that were really meant to be together until death, Cygnus and Druella, were the same. From an arranged marriage grew love, and from love grew their three daughters. They were connected, all together, and the family was interupted by one that did not belong.

After their father came a man, into the room, and he sat down with Cygnus Black, back facing the girls, before they could get a good look at him. Andromeda decided, as she watched her father speak with him, that she did not like him. He was shady, the way he walked, the way he...slithered...into the room. He had too much pride, she discerned. She decided she did not like him, nor would ever like, ever once he spoke. The man was certainly regal, powerful, with dark hair and a thin body, almost lordly. He held himself highly, even though his head was bowed as if he wasn't truly looking at Cygnus Black as he spoke to him. He had a dark mop of hair, combed nicely, but it looked to Andromeda like he was hiding something. Narcissa was uneasy with him as well, seeing both of her sister's reactions to the man. While Andromeda attempted to puzzle the shadowy man out, Bellatrix was nearly drooling. Coming into her middle-teenage years, she fell for every man she met, and when he turned around, they found he was certainly handsome. Bellatrix would soon outgrow this trait, and be much more selective, but this was one decision that never wavered throughout the years.

When he turns around, Bellatrix composes herself, and Andromeda tries to look as if she had not been rudely staring and trying to figure out who he was. His face was pale, thin, much like the sisters'. There were small bags under his eyes, so that he looked tired, but his twisted smile betrayed any sense of exhaustion. He was nearly smirking, and Andromeda figured that if he had been truly smiling, his angular face would look even more handsome. His eyes are dark, and shadowy, just like the rest of his being. The man's eyes were not friendly, but menacing. They were like Bellatrix's eyes when she came into full power and was ruling over her younger sisters. Sinister eyes. He was a riddle to everyone in the room besides himself, including Mr. and Mrs. Black.

Cygnus Black appeared uneasy, and he introduced the man for the first time.

"Girls, this is Mr. Tom Riddle."

Mr. Tom Riddle nodded his approval, but there was something different in his eyes, something that showed disapproval, as if the sister's father had said something wrong.

"Mr. Riddle - this is my wife, Druella."

Mrs. Black puffed with pride as she was introduced, and Mr. Tom Riddle smiled slightly.

"And, Mr. Riddle, these are my daughters." Mr. Black announced his girls with pride. "Bellatrix, with the dark hair, Andromeda, with the auburn hair, and Narcissa, with the light hair."

The girls curtsied oddly, but Mr. Riddle did not smile at them. He merely looked over each one, and from a spectator, like the master and mistress of the house, it was a simple gesture to attempt to put a name and face together. But his eyes bore into each of the girls' eyes, and into their minds. Bellatrix tensed, Narcissa did not know what was going on, but Andromeda stood boldly as he tried to dig. She did not want him knowing what she had thought about him. She wanted to look good in his eyes, and in her father's eyes for it. So she stood, looking back at him, and saw his eyes flash in irritation.

Finally, he nodded curtly, and eyes the girls once more. Without much grace, Andromeda stared back, and again tried to figure out things about this man. Her father's words interupted her thoughts, and she looked back up at him.

"...Mr. Riddle will come about the house more than once for now, for business. He is a very powerful wizard, and you should respect him." He eyed Andromeda when he said this. "Now, get to bed."

With reluctance, each of the girls for their own reason, they made their way out of the room. As soon as they were out of their mother's earshot, they instantly erupted into giggles.

"He was so handsome!" Bellatrix said. She did not squeal, or sqeak in excitement, but stated it as a fact, because she was perfectly serious.

Her younger sisters nodded in agreement.

Narcissa piped, "Anna couldn't stop staring at him!"

Andromeda nodded, smiling. He was rather handsome, even if his eyes had flashed red for a moment when she looked at him. Her sisters were right: she had nothing to fear. She buried her dislike for Mr. Tom Riddle deep in her heart, but, unlike memories hidden in the depths of one's brain, those buried in the heart can be discovered again. They wriggle when they are poked.

To the Dear Reader:

This is the true first chapter, "Riddles". The beginning is a prologue, and summarizes events that you already know of. I enjoy feedback, as this is a relatively new idea, so please review. It helps quite a bit.

From the Author:

Twiggie