long chapter. christmas in all its boring glory with the slytherins. after a few reviews from the last chapter, i figured that i should show the more immature side of the characters, since it's been back dropped for a while. while they are pureblood slytherins and thus will sometimes act older than they are, they will always revert back to being childish when adults aren't around. they're very two-face.

this chapter introduces even more of the blacks and goes into some describing of all four families involved in this saga, so to speak. the next few chapters will come faster and cover more time in each one. these first few chapters were just put out to lay the foundation for the rest of the fic on. read&&review!!!


The Malfoy party was held on Christmas Eve. According to Mere, it was something the Malfoys had always done, a sort of family tradition, but lately they had slacked off a bit on holding them—for five years. The afternoon of the party, I found myself at the Black Manor, shoved in a bathtub and being scrubbed thoroughly by my mother in places she need not touch. Druella, Mere, and Walburga (who, by the way, had dumped her sons off on her brother and not so much as thanked him) had decided it would be easier, so to speak, for all seven of us to get ready together. The location had been deemed the Black Manor, simply because it had the most bathrooms and had more space, no doubt to keep us all separated. Mere was with the four of us, having dumped me into a tub while Rabastan stood wrapped in a robe not too far away, having already been cleaned up. Walburga was perched on the counter top of the bathroom, wine glass in hand, and was apparently drinking already. Sirius was in the shower on the other side of the bathroom, and judging by the large amounts of splashing, Regulus was in said shower with his brother. As the splashing grew louder, Walburga did nothing but take another sip of wine. She was a staunchly thin woman, angular in every way possible, with ten years at least on Druella and Mere. She scared me slightly, I would have to admit.

"Mere…Mere….MOTHER!" She had been humming and had taken up to scrubbing my back. "I'm fine. I think I'm clean." She stopped and looked at me, then shrugged.

"If you insist."

"I'm pruning." I held up my hands.

"Right, out of the tub you go then." She brought up a towel and held it out for me. I grabbed it and wrapped it around my waist. I stepped from the tub and she unplugged the drain then went around to cleaning up the water that was all over the floor with her wand.

The four of us brushed our teeth and left the bathroom, all wrapped in robes and towels and headed down to the guest room where the boys always stayed when they were here. We got rounded a corner to the hall and Mere announced that her and Walburga were going off to 'check on the girls.' As soon as they disappeared from sight, Regulus squealed. "Watch this…"

"You might want to cover your eyes." Sirius warned, but we all knew what was coming anyway. Regulus let out a small giggle, stripped off his towel and ran arse naked the rest of the way to the guest room, giggling like mad all the while.

Rabastan took off running after him, too shy to rip off his own towel.

I turned to Sirius. "We're not going to let them have all the fun, are we?"

"Hell no." He said, placing his hands on his hips.

With that, we both took off running after our younger brothers. Wrenching the door open, we made sure to shut it behind us. Regulus was done with his shenanigans; it seemed and was currently staring at what he was supposed to be wearing tonight. Rabastan, on the other hand had just entered the room.

Sirius and I exchanged glances, then nodded, seeming to read each others minds, or so we hoped. "RABASTAN!" I yelled. He turned around, and that was when Sirius went into action. Sneaking up behind him with stealth that only compared to a wolf, he ripped off his towel, wrapped it up and let it go, smacking him clearly in the bum with it.

Regulus' head jerked in the direction of the noise and Rabastan's scream. I watched as he grabbed his own towel, arming himself.

Rabastan grabbed Sirius' towel from him and began snapping it in defense as the Black weaved around and caught him lick after lick. Grinning, I took off my own towel and came up behind Sirius. Before he could even register the smirk on my brother's face, I'd smacked him clear across the ass with my towel. He yelped and jumped before turning on me with the recently captured towel of my brother's in his hand. He snapped his at my front, and I backed up just in time to keep it from coming in contact with my stomach.

Regulus had now joined the fray and was snapping his own towel at Rabastan, who had been trying to get Sirius while the latter had his back turned.

The next few minutes went by rather quickly. Each of us ran around the room, upsetting the furniture and snapping towels. We were acting like complete fools, but that was okay. The adults weren't around. Only in front of them did we have to behave and usually we were in front of them, locked and keyed, expected to behave like gentlemen, when we were really ruffians at heart.

I snapped Regulus in the arse with my towel just as the door to the room open. We all fell silent. All laughter ceased. I remained poised with towel in my hand. Rabastan got his around his waist rather quickly. Sirius dropped his to the floor. And, somehow, Regulus' had ended up wrapped around his head. We watched the baited breath as the door opened and as a pointed blue shoe stepped through the gap.

"Andromeda." Sirius breathed and collapsed on the floor. It was indeed the brunette, dressed and ready to go, unlike us.

She stepped through the door, nose held in the air. "Mother said for you to all hurry—WHAT IN THE….AHH!" She took each of us in. All naked, save Rabastan, all grinning stupidly, and ran from the room, scratching at her eyes.

The four of us busted into laughter. I walked over, and shut the door, letting the lock click behind me. "Let's get dressed. We can't go to this….thing…naked."

"Oh but we can." Said Regulus.

And we all laughed again.

-------------------------

We arrived at the party, four very happy, well dressed gentlemen, but very uncomfortable. Cummerbunds, ties, and waistcoats were not things we were used to. Bellatrix seemed to be sharing our pain. Decked out in a red dress which looked to be constricting her every movement and high heels, which I had never seen her in, she was graceful, but still uncomfortable looking. Andromeda and Narcissa on the other hand seemed to be holding up like the mothers. Perfect little clones, exactly what a lady should be, turning their nose up whenever they heard their sister swear about her clothing.

The rather large party, now containing all fathers, siblings, and mothers of the Blacks and Lestranges approached the door. It was Cygnus who wrapped on the knocker.

Standing between Rabastan and Bellatrix, I looked around at the grounds. The Malfoys had surely gone all out for this thing. There were lights everywhere, lighted paths, lamps, and sparkly Christmas ones. The snow was magically refilling itself each time someone stepped in it, erasing all tracks faster than the blink of an eye. Inside I could hear laughter, orchestra music, and talking.

"It's nothing special. Rather boring actually."

"What?" I looked around to see Bellatrix looking at me.

"The party, the grounds, the Malfoys—whatever you're ogling at. It's nothing special." She explained rather coldly.

"Seriously?" I asked, a smile teasing the corners of my mouth.

"Seriously."

Shortly after the word had left her mouth, the door opened. Peering down, I saw a small house elf, who bade us entrance. Once inside the cavernous foyer, I took off my cloak and handed it to one of the many elves running franticly around the manor. If the outside was extravagant, then the inside was over the top. Lights were strung along everything. Everything was lit up. Everything was just…wow. There were no words to describe it. The detailed paintings I had once seen on the wall had been taken down and replaced with carved ice statues of all sorts, some of which were spouting water from the mouths.

Through the foyer our party moved. We were guided from this room and into the one beyond by a house self. Sirius's father pushed aside the two double doors to reveal a large ball room, with an even higher ceiling than the foyer before it. The room was bathed in yellow light and in the very centre of the floor was a tree threes times as big as the largest one at Hogwarts. Baubles of all shades and variety melted into the leaves. Lights of every color imaginable were strung from the bows. It was extravagant, over the top, and oh so Malfoy.

The house elf left our company and the Malfoys came rushing over to our party. Abraxas was first. "Cygnus, Orion, Chevalier." He greeted each father, nodding his head with hands behind his back. Latona was not far behind her husband. She came rushing forward, dressed just as all three mothers were in flashy gowns of various Christmas shades and themes. They had dressed us all the same way. Each boy was sporting some variation of a red or green tie and cummerbund. Bellatrix had donned the red dress, Andromeda the green, and Narcissa the gold. They were a perfect three-set Christmas tree, despite the fact that Andie's shoes were blue.

Soon the parents disappeared, leaving the seven of us alone at the entrance to the ballroom. They seemed to have forgotten that they had children at all. With the oldest of us being twelve, it was expected that none of us knew how to act at such a gathering. Just as we were all beginning to shuffle around rather nervously, Lucius approached. He came up to Bellatrix. "Upstairs sitting room?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded and he turned and left the room with her walking beside him. I noticed that the other Blacks followed the pair and with a look at Rabastan, the two of us did as well. Malfoy led us down a hallway and up a set of stairs. As these stairs ended he veered right and went down another long hallway and then another before taking a left and opening a door.

I found myself in a sitting room with lush chairs and couches and a fire that sprang to life the minute the door opened. Lucius took a seat in a chair, Bellatrix on a couch, Sirius naturally sat in the high backed chair beside her. Regulus took up the floor. Andromeda and Narcissa grabbed a love seat, and Rabastan an armchair. I, being the last one in the room, closed the door and sat down beside Bellatrix. The room was dark save for the fireplace, but not one of us seemed to have the energy or the gumption to turn the lights on.

"It's like this every year." Andromeda explained to my brother and me. "We just go off to a room."

"While they get hammered and screwed out of their minds." Bellatrix continued.

"BELLA!" Narcissa squealed with her hand placed over her o-shaped mouth in shock.

"It's true." Bellatrix stated, rolling her eyes as if she'd just said the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"But I thought that these parties hadn't been held for five years?" I asked.

"They haven't. We were seven last time." Lucius said. "Well, I was." He added, eying Bellatrix whose birthday was in a few days.

"Anyway," She said rather loudly. "Just because we were nearly half the age we are now doesn't mean we don't remember what happens at these things." She said things like she was disgusted, grimacing a bit as she did so.

"What? The fact that you have to wear a dress and act like a girl for one night a year?" It was Sirius who spoke and it was for the first time since we left the house.

Bellatrix scowled at him. "Oh shut up."

"Am I not right, Lucius?" He said, turning to the one person in the room who he knew without a shadow of a doubt would agree with him if for no other reason than to spite Bella.

"Quite." He muttered, looking over me to her. "And what a lovely little matching threesome you all make." He now eyed Andromeda and Narcissa.

Bellatrix was forcibly grinding her teeth and when she spoke she dropped her arm from underneath her chin to the couch arm. "Oh shut the hell up. My fucking mother dressed me."

"BELLA!" Andromeda was the scolding sister this time. "Language." She said, sounding much like a mother.

"Oh piss off." The angry Black hissed.

Narcissa gasped and Andromeda sighed. She really was a lost cause to the both of them. She would never be proper like they were. She would never enjoy wearing dresses like Narcissa. She would never be a proper lady like Andromeda. She wasn't a pretty little thing for her parents to show off. She was a feisty little thing, with catching looks—and Holy Hell, what am I thinking? Catching looks? Bellatrix?

I turned my attention back to the group again. Regulus was yawning. Sirius had stretched out in his chair, head on one arm and legs on the other. Rabastan was slouched down as well. "Tired?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Just bored."
Regulus nodded in agreement and added "Very."

"Get used to it." Lucius said. "You'll be like this all night."

We ended up discussing what would be the most horrible thing to happen to Bellatrix on her birthday. I had no idea how we got on that subject, but we stayed on it for the rest of the night. In the end, we ended up all taking Regulus' idea. We had all agreed that if she found out she had to be handcuffed to Lucius for the rest of her life, she might kill herself.

-------------------------

Our parents found us sometime after midnight. All of us were asleep, tumbled over the couches and one another like a pack of wolves huddling for a nap. They each woke us up, untangling us from one another, led us downstairs and handed us our coats. Every one of them smelled of alcohol and was having trouble with keeping their balance. As my family made its way down the stairs and into the foyer, Bellatrix came bounding down the stairs herself and nudged me in the side. "Told you." She commented, nodding to my rather unbalanced parents in front of us. I stifled a yawn and nodded.

"Glad to know that you're parents are roped into the Malfoy circuit too." She muttered, then stepped back up the stairs to join her clan-sized family.

After some more talking between the adults about things none of us particularly understood or cared to, we all went our separate ways. Sirius, Regulus, and their parents back to their home in London: Bellatrix, her sisters, and parents back to their seaside manor; Lucius, up the stairs to his bedroom; and me and my foursome went home to our own seaside manor.

Rabastan and I were tucked away into bed. I fell asleep immediately, but even as I drifted off, I could still hear Rabastan stumbling about his room in the dark, no doubt excited as all get out about tomorrow. What ten year old wouldn't be?

-------------------------

"RODOLPHUS! RODOLPHUS!" I awoke to find Rabastan sitting on top of me, shaking me by my shoulders. "IT'S CHRISTMAS RODOLPHUS!" He squealed in my ear.

I didn't move from my bed, just stared at him, then rolled over somehow with him staying attached to me. "CHRISTMAS!" He repeated again as if I had not understood it the first time.

"It's morning. Rabastan! Morning!" I said drowsily. Picking up my pillow, I placed it over my head, trying to block out his screams of excitement. Merlin! I loved the boy and wanted him to be happy, but for the love of all that was stupid, he could have let me sleep on. The thought occurred to me that he had been up for quite some time now, waiting until he thought I had had enough sleep before jumping on me and squealing like a captured pig. With a groan, I rolled over and watched him. He looked like a cat, head tilted to the side, eyes, again, twice their usual size as they always were when he was excited.

"Fine." I muttered with a smile. "I'm up. I'm up."

He squealed again and jumped from me onto the floor and began nearly sprinting over to the door. I rolled slowly out of bed, far less enthusiastic than he was, and stumbled to the door. It was cold in the hallway, so I found myself waking back into my room for a sweater to put on my naked torso. It clashed horribly with my red plaid pajama pants, but life went on and I was far too sleepy to worry with finding something that wasn't a horrid orange color.

Stepping into the hallway, I saw Rabastan standing at the top of the stairs literally jumping up and down. "C'mon! HURRY!" He said, running up to me and tugging me along with his down the stairs.

"Rabastan, clam down. The presents aren't going to sprout legs and walk away." I said stifling a yawn.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked up at me. Without saying a word, he bolted the rest of the way down the stairs, leaving me to trod along after him. Obviously, he thought they would grow legs and my statement had only made his suspicions worse.

When I entered the living room, I found Mere and Pere sitting by the tree on one of the couches, sleepy smiles plastered on their faces. It looked as if Rabastan had awoken them before he had awoken me. Mere was clutching a cup of strong tea in her hand, steam billowing up from the confines of the cup.

"Happy Christmas, Roddie." She said sleepily.

"Happy Christmas, Mere." I replied back.

Looking to the window, I saw that the sun wasn't even up yet. It was still slightly dark outside, the sky painted a sleepy grey with just a spec of light hitting here and there.

I heard a substantial amount of ripping and scrambling around and turned sharply back to the tree. Rabastan already had his first three presents open. He was tangled in the paper, parts of cut up angels and snowy cottages stuck to his clothes and several bows stuck in his hair. I chuckled at him before sitting down in front of the tree and beginning to sniff around for my own presents.

I got the usual load—sweaters, books, chocolate, a new broom servicing kit. Rabastan got about the same, though his sweaters were smaller, amount of books less, and amount of chocolate nearly doubled. Opening yet another sweater, this one black, I remembered something I had until then forgotten. Tomorrow was Bellatrix's birthday. I had already been shopping, with Sirius, him helping me pick out the perfect present. While Bellatrix was my best friend, I didn't know that much about her. I knew what she liked, but I couldn't possibly wrap up those things in a box and put a bow on it. She wasn't very materialistic either. Plus, she was a girl, and a weird one at that, so shopping for her was harder than it was for anyone else in the world. I had picked out what I believed to be the perfect present though. It was sensible and there was no way in hell she wouldn't like it.

I got up from the floor and pushed my presents aside. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Make that hours." Rabastan said, or what I thought to be Rabastan since all I could see was a mound of ripped paper and bows.

I rolled my eyes and walked from the room, heading to my own to get dressed.

This was the first year I was actually ever going to give Bellatrix a present for Christmas and it made me slightly nervous. What if she hated it and disowned me as a friend because my ability to purchase the perfect gifts wasn't quite up to par? In the last few months we had become closer, closer than Lucius and I were anyway, and it only seemed fitting to me to give my closest friend a present on the holiest of all holidays.

-------------------------

I knocked on the door and Cygnus answered. "Rodolphus." He said, eying the package in my hands. "Come in." I entered and took of my jacket, handing it to Freem who had immediately run up to my side. He scurried away with it to the cloak room and Mr. Black eyed me warily again before saying "They're all in the den."

I nodded and thanked him before trudging through the large house to where he had pointed. I could hear giggles and talking coming from inside the den even when I was a few halls away from it. Coming into the room, I looked around. All three girls and their mother were still in their pajamas. Narcissa had several pink and gold bows from various presents stuck in her hair and was prancing around, modeling for her sisters. Andromeda was laughing at her hysterically for the little seven year old was being followed around by her older sister who was mimicking her every move with precise detail and some exaggeration. One hand on her hip and the other poised out in the air, Bellatrix was flouncing around behind Narcissa, twisting her non-existent hips this way and that and every time the blonde would look around to see what Andromeda was laughing at, the other sister would pause in mid action and pretend to just be standing there behind her.

It was quite the spectacle to watch and highly entertaining. It was Druella, with a smile who actually announced my arrival. "Rodolphus." She said, in a slightly amused ton. The three heads, blonde, black, and brunette all turned in my direction, three sets of eyes zooming in on me and the box I was carrying along with those of their mother's.

"I…could I see Bellatrix?" I asked with a somewhat forced smile.

"Sure." Druella replied, but before the word had even left her mouth, her oldest daughter was darting to me and dragging me through the doorway and back into the hallway.

"Happy Christmas." I said, holding the wrapped package out to her.

Her face fell for a moment but then her lips curved into a smile. I sighed with relief as she took the package and tore, not frantically but not neatly either, at the paper. Throwing the paper aside, she opened the box and looked in at the gift.

"A sweater." She remarked, staring down at it.

I nodded. She seemed a bit put off. Was she? I watched as she took it from the box and threw it aside as well. It was a black turtle neck, sensible and useful, but maybe not the right gift. I shuffled around nervously as she held it up to her then twisted it and held it out from her. That was when she noticed it—sewn into the bottom part of the collar in silver letters were the initials B.B. I watched her eyes grow slightly wider then curve upwards as a smile spread across her face again.

"I like it." She said. She didn't thank me. That wasn't like her and we both knew that, but at least she liked it. She pulled the sleeves onto her arms then shoved her head, with some difficulty through the narrow hole at the top of the sweater. I caught her as she stumbled and righted her. Folding down the collar, she looked at me and I watched her face fall momentarily. "But I didn't get anything for you."

I smiled and shrugged. "Don't worry about it, just meet me tomorrow at my house. You're not wriggling out of playing quidditch just because you didn't get me a present." Every year on her birthday the two of us played quidditch at my house. Every year without fail, we met, just the two of us, and battered the brains out of each other and laughed ourselves silly.

She smirked. "I won't."

"You'd better not." I warned.

"I owe you one though." She stated, playing with the sleeves of her sweater.

"No you don't."

She suddenly stepped on my toe rather forcefully. "I do."

"Okay, you do." I pulled my foot back slightly, the pain throbbing through my big toe.

She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek, pulling back she said "That's what I thought."

I shoved my hands in my pocket and grinned slightly. "Right, so see you tomorrow?"

"Yes. I thought we'd already established this."

"We have, but I'm just making sure."

"You need to make sure you look in a mirror more often." She stated.

I felt my eyebrows knit together as I stared at her confused.

She reached up to my head and retrieved something. I felt my hair pull slightly. Holding out a red bow to me she said "This was on top of your head."

I smiled, taking the bow from her. "It's Christmas, Bellatrix. You've got to get into the festive mood." I teased. "And besides, if you didn't like the sweater, I was going to be your present."

I took the bow and placed it on top of her head then turned and headed down the hall with my hands in my pockets. "Happy Christmas." I called out after her.