December 24

A punch in the arm jarred Sirius from his dream of soaring on a broomstick, scoring goal after goal in Quidditch. He refused to open his eyes. "Go away, Regs," he moaned, rolling over.

He received a harder punch. "It's not Regulus, idiot. And I'm freezing, give me a cover."

Sirius reluctantly opened one eye. "Andy, why are you in my bed?"

"Merlin, you're greedy with the covers. Move over. I can't sleep."

"Well, I'm not having a problem sleeping, so maybe you should go find someone who can relate?" Sirius said, yawning loudly.

Andromeda nestled into the covers. "No. I wanted to talk to you."

"'Bout what?"

Andromeda hesitated. "Remember talking about the tapestry yesterday? Do you really believe that?"

Sirius frowned, giving up on sleep. "Believe what? Trust me, they do burn your name off if you do something bad. But don't worry, it won't happen to you."

"Or you," Andromeda added instantly. "But not that…just…about the 'something bad' part. Do you agree with that?"

Sirius looked at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"

Andromeda sighed. "The whole pureblood supremacy thing? The whole idea that consorting with Mudbloods is enough to disown you from the Black family?"

Sirius snorted. "That's it? Yeah, it's rubbish."

Andromeda exhaled. "I was nervous about telling you, I didn't know how you'd react. I can't tell this to Bella, she'd murder me, and Cissy wouldn't understand and would tell Bella. But Siri, I don't think Mudbloods are that bad. And I don't think I'm the best because of my blood or last name. Does that make me odd?"

"The oddest," Sirius teased. "But I guess I'm odd too then. Don't worry, Andy. Our parents are just old-fashioned and they tried to pass on all that rubbish to us. I guess we're the only ones smart enough to not believe it."

Andromeda smiled. "I guess so. This is just between us though, right?"

"Of course," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Like I'm about to go tell Bellatrix that we don't believe in the pureblood beliefs."

"Right, what a horrible idea that would be!" Andromeda laughed.

"Are you both in here?" Bella whispered from the doorway, before leaping on the bed with Andromeda and Sirius. "And what's a horrible idea?"

"Waking our parents up tomorrow morning to open presents. Like the Muggles do," Sirius said smoothly.

Bellatrix snorted. "That is a horrible idea. But who could expect anything less from the Muggles?"

Sirius winked at Andromeda over Bella's head. "I dunno. But I can't wait for tomorrow."

"I wonder what Mum and Father got me," Andromeda mused thoughtfully. "I'm sure you got a broom, Bella."

Bella's face lit up. "I better have gotten one. Won't you be jealous, when I'm flying around on my brand new broomstick, while you're stuck on the ground?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "I won't be jealous when you crash and break a few bones because of your ineptitude."

Bellatrix snorted while Sirius laughed. "Don't be jealous because I'm a first-year, and you sadly are not."

Andromeda glared, but before she could respond, Narcissa and Regulus had jumped in the bed, laughing.

"It's Christmas Eve," squealed Narcissa.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and muttered something about that being obvious, and Andromeda shoved her. "Want to go downstairs for breakfast?" she asked the group at large.

Several protesting moans came from underneath the covers of Sirius' large bed. Andromeda giggled and snuggled in with her cousins and sisters. For a moment, the silence was blissful and comforting, and then the door slammed open.

"What in Slytherin's name are you lot doing in bed together?" Walburga snapped. "That's disgusting and improper and I am ashamed! You should all know better! Get out of bed this instant," she snarled, turning on her heel after a final dirty look.

Sirius sighed. "Happy Christmas Eve."

Bellatrix patted his head. "Stop being disgusting, Siri, and maybe your mum wouldn't be such a hag." She smirked and jumped out of the bed.

The rest reluctantly climbed out, and they trooped downstairs for breakfast. It had been picked over, and Walburga had clearly forbidden the house-elves to replenish the food, as they were skulking in the corners, eying the half-empty platters miserably. The children sighed, but set to filling their plates.

There was only one more apple turnover, however, and Sirius and Bellatrix both grabbed for it at the same time.

"Give it to me, Bella," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes.

Bellatrix smirked. "No, Siri, I'm the eldest, aren't I?" She grabbed for it again, but Sirius batted her hand away and grinned.

"Duel you for it," he said cockily, dropping into the standard dueling position.

Bellatrix's eyes lit up, but she shook her head. "With what wand? You don't have one, idiot."

Andromeda bit her lip- previous Christmases had been abundant with duels, but never with wands- but Sirius thought for a second, and ran out of the room, ignoring Regulus' groan. He returned in a moment, clutching a wand that seemed much too large for him.

"Your father's wand?" Bellatrix asked in a hushed tone.

Sirius grinned. "He had a bit too much to drink last night. He won't even notice. Unless, of course, you're scared." He smirked at her tauntingly.

Bella shook her head, a small smile playing on the corner of her lips. "No," she said, falling into the dueling position. "But you should be."

She shouted a spell, and Andromeda gasped and dragged Narcissa and Regulus to a safe watching distance. Sirius dodged the spell expertly, and yelled out another one. The room was filled with flashes of red light and Bellatrix was laughing and dancing around Sirius' spells. It was a dance, perfectly synchronized, as they both dodged the spells and fired off new ones, and they seemed perfectly matched, two dark heads held high, two sets of dark eyes glittering.

Then Sirius tried a more advanced spell, which he had pinched from Bellatrix's spell book. The wand backfired on him, and he landed on the floor with a yell. Bellatrix smirked and pocketed her wand, leaning over to give Sirius a hand. He accepted it, reluctantly, and silently handed Bellatrix the apple turnover.

She bit into it, smiling toothily. "Delicious," she proclaimed.

Sirius rolled his eyes at her and muttered something about how some people had an unfair advantage and it really wasn't a victory if you weren't on even footing.

They fell into pointless bickering, as usual, and Andromeda rolled her eyes fondly about how alike they really were. Not that she would ever tell them that, as she had no desire to be simultaneously hexed and yelled at.

The day dragged on, a blur of snowball fights and whispered excitement for the next morning and pranks. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve, Andromeda thought sleepily, as it neared to a close and all that was left was a roaring fire and a couple of half-empty cups of hot cocoa, but it was unmistakably different than last year. Bellatrix was a little wilder, a little more dangerous, a little less gentle, and she seemed to constantly be at odds with Sirius. There were less hugs and genuine smiles, and more mean-spirited jokes and violent pranks. But, as Andromeda decided firmly, they were Blacks, and they were all growing up, and this was to be expected. Besides, she thought stubbornly as she drifted off to sleep, cuddled with Narcissa, tomorrow was Christmas morning, and there was no darkness allowed on Christmas morning. Even Bella knew that.