A/N: One note, I mentioned someone called Saphiyonca in the last chapter, I didn't mean to do it so I'm sorry for the mistake. As a consolation, the character will be introduced but much later so I'm not erasing the name from the last chapter.

Thanks to Freewolf17 and Kaiser, the name discussion we had earlier was very useful and I AM going to use the name we chose and in addition to that, I picked out another name from there for a tiny, minor part as this chap will show. Thanks again!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

Last chapter,

'SIRIUS ORION BLACK!'

Chapter 16.

To say that Walburga was beside herself would be the understatement of the century. Her normally rigid face was taut with anger, her pale, pasty complexion had taken on the colour of a tomato, the nerves stood out clearly on her tightly clenched fists and she looked fit to murder someone, that someone being a troublemaking, mischievous and now slightly nervous-looking, Sirius Black.

On the other side, the Zabinis aided by Orion, were trying desperately to get the dirt off the sludge-coated Marissa but were failing, badly. Marissa for her part was wailing loudly, which was not helping the Zabinis at all and occasionally shooting angry glares at Sirius. Narcissa still had a bewildered expression on her face as she first looked at the wailing Marissa and then at Sirius who was wondering tepidly on what was going to happen to him. Andromeda was standing in the corner, unable to keep a smirk off her face as she grinned wickedly at Marissa. Bellatrix was seated comfortably on the couch on the other side of the room, looking totally and absolutely bored.

'Sirius.' said Walburga in a deadly voice, 'if you don't get this sludge off Marissa this second, I'm going to…..'

'What makes you think I did it?' interrupted Sirius, with a bold voice, all the nervousness he felt was absent on his face.

'What do you mean, how do I know that you did it? I've known you ever since you were born Sirius.' hissed Walburga. 'You, and only you, can do something so utterly disrespectful and…….'

'You are wrong, Walburga.' Cassiopeia walked to the front of the room. 'This sludge has been charmed to be un-removable till one week. And Sirius,' Cassiopeia fixed him under her sharp gaze, 'is not magically accomplished enough to enchant the sludge so well. Sirius,' Cassiopeia's eyes wandered to Andromeda who gulped inaudibly, 'has been helped by someone. Isn't that right, Andromeda? '

Andromeda didn't say anything and instead stared at the floor. A moment silence reigned over the room, even Marissa had quieted down. No one spoke a word. The silence was suddenly broken by a voice from the other side of the room coming from the couch.

'What makes you think that Andromeda is the only one magically accomplished enough to enchant the sludge?'

Cassiopeia turned towards the source of the voice to see Bellatrix relaxing on the couch with a languid air, looking as if she was talking about the weather. Cassiopeia met Bellatrix's eyes which stared back, holding veiled determination.

'Mother, what I mean to say is, there is no definite proof that Andromeda was the one to enchant the sludge.' continued Bellatrix. 'At any rate, I don't think that Andromeda is the only one in the room with enough magical skill to do this. Others cannot be underestimated, just because they've just joined school.'

'Are you saying that you were the one to do it, Bellatrix?' asked Cassiopeia in a sharp tone.

'Of course not, Mother.' Bellatrix quickly clarified. 'I was up in my room when the incident occurred. Narcissa was talking to Marissa when it happened but according to your reasoning, she's just a first year and doesn't know how to do it. Similarly, even Regulus can't be accused as he hasn't even joined Hogwarts yet. Left is Marissa and she isn't likely to do something like that to herself. Andromeda does seem like the most logical option but we can't blame her without evidence. As they say, 'innocent until proven guilty.' Isn't that right, Mother?'

Cassiopeia said nothing. The silence was broken by Orion who said quietly, 'Very well-reasoned Bellatrix. Most unlike an eleven-yr old.' at that Bellatrix felt her palms getting sweaty, 'But you are right. No one can be accused without evidence. Sirius will be punished, as his face is evidence enough. But Andromeda can go.' With that, Orion exited the room followed by all the adults, including Walburga who gave Sirius a venomous look before sweeping out.

'I know you did it.' This came from Marissa who was giving a death glare to Sirius and Andromeda. 'And I want you take this stuff off of me, RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!'

'Aw, what makes you think we're gonna listen to you, Asphodel?' asked Sirius in a mock baby voice.

'DON'T CALL ME THAT!!' yelled Marissa. Sirius grinned involuntarily at her reaction.

'Why Asphodel? Don't you like your oh-so-beautiful name? Your parents gave it themselves, you know.' said Sirius, grinning even further.

Marissa clenched her fists in a state of barely controlled anger. Marissa Asphodel Black. Her middle name was the bane of her life and Sirius made sure that she remembered it every second of every minute. Without sparing a single glance, she walked out of the room in a huff.

'Why did you do it?' Bellatrix turned to see Andromeda staring at her. 'Why did you stand up to Mother on my behalf?'

'Why, can't I just be in a particularly good and helpful mood today?' asked Bellatrix with an innocent expression.

Sirius gave her a skeptical look. 'You are Bellatrix Black. You don't just help people without an ulterior motive just because you're in a 'good' mood. And especially not us.'

'If you're forgetting, my dear cousin,' said Bellatrix sarcastically, 'I was supporting Andromeda, not you. Anyway,' she gave a mock sigh. 'It's a sad day in the world indeed when even helping your own sister is accused of having an ulterior motive.' And with that, Bellatrix ascended the stairs and disappeared into the shadows.

Sirius observed Andromeda scratching her chin furiously, evidently hard in thought. A look of disbelief crossed his features.

'Don't tell me that you're considering what Bellatrix said even for a second.' said a shocked Sirius. Andromeda looked at him and sighed.

'Look Sirius, I know that Bellatrix isn't the sweetest of younger sisters,' Sirius snorted at that, 'but what she said had a grain of truth in it. Though she is not the kind of person to help someone, let alone her own sister, what kind of ulterior motive could she have for standing up for me against Mother? I just don't get it.'

'I do.' said Sirius. 'Maybe she wants to gain our trust and then betray us behind our back?' he said hopefully, with the air of one trying to grasp at straws.

Andromeda looked at him with an are-you-serious kind of look. 'Frankly Sirius, that sounds stupid and even you know it. How on earth is she supposed to betray us? By leaking all our secrets? We're just in school Sirius, it's not like our secrets are highly classified Ministry information. And honestly, I think we expect too much of Bellatrix, she's just an eleven-yr old for heaven's sake and so are you. What's the most that she can do?' Andromeda said clearly. However, Andromeda remembered Bellatrix's words and her expression as she spoke to Cassiopeia, defending Andromeda, while she didn't bear the least resemblance to an eleven-yr old in the way she spoke and logically proved that there was no proof against Andromeda. No matter what she was saying to Sirius at the present, she believed Bellatrix to be far from a normal eleven-year olds mind and intellect. And she believed her sister to be quite capable of doing lots of things, eleven-yr old or no.

'I don't care.' said Sirius with a stubborn look. 'I don't like or trust Bellatrix and that is final.' He left the room immediately afterwards.

Andromeda walked slowly to her room, chewing her lip in thought. Everything was so very confusing, Bellatrix defending her against Mother knowing what the consequences could be, Bellatrix acting so nice and caring while she had said such horrible things against Ted just before entering Hogwarts, the stark differences between Bellatrix of then and now……..

Andromeda fell back onto her bed, pondering on the glaring differences between the Bellatrix of before Hogwarts and after. Before Hogwarts, Bellatrix had been a loud-mouthed, sarcastic child, treating any figure of authority with disdain and contempt except her mother, spouting bigoted pure-blood ideals out of her mouth like they were sacred truths always to be upholded and not giving a damn on what anyone thought of her.

But after Hogwarts, Andromeda felt as if Bellatrix had suddenly aged many years in a day. Earlier when she argued with Bellatrix, she felt annoyance at the fact that her little sister was so stupid as to accept her mother's words about the importance of blood purity without question. Bellatrix said loads of hurtful things about this subject before she attended Hogwarts, but Andromeda always felt that Bellatrix was a child who didn't understand the magnitude of the words she was saying and due to this reason, Andromeda always forgave her sister in her heart when she said anything offensive about Muggleborns. But on the first day of Hogwarts, when Bellatrix called the Evans girl a Mudblood in the Gryffindor table, Andromeda could tell by the pure unadulterated hatred in her eyes and the disgust in her voice that she fully meant the word and understood its meaning even deeper than Andromeda did. And Andromeda was shocked to the core.

Bellatrix had suddenly transformed, she had become harder, colder and no eleven-year old like innocence could be glimpsed in her eyes, even for a fraction of a second. Also, she had all of a sudden become more sensible, smarter, even logical as the earlier argument with Mother had proved. Unlike before, she talked sweetly to figures of authority like the Hogwarts teachers, even manipulating them in some way. Andromeda had always known that her sister was powerful, but to actually use the Cutting Hex, a fourth-year spell, that too with so much power that it created a deep gash in Sirius's thigh was no ordinary feat of magic for someone her age. She accomplished her spells in class with incredible ease, as if she had learnt them years ago and her curses and jinxes were incredibly strong. Bellatrix was talked about in Hogwarts as the most powerful and skilled first-year in Hogwarts, even third years were wary of her.

But the most confusing thing was, she had actually started showing some degree of care towards Andromeda or even classmates for that matter. Andromeda knew that Bellatrix had a semblance of a friendship with Remus Lupin. The Lupins were neither that rich, nor influential but Bellatrix had befriended Lupin inspite of all this. Andromeda could not see any kind of profit in this, but Bellatrix had still allied herself with Lupin, evidently without any ulterior motive which was unlike her. Why? Could this be the noble, Gryffindor side of her that could be coming out? Andromeda certainly hoped so though it seemed quite far-fetched.

Nowadays, whenever she talked to Bellatrix, she heard a conscending tone in her voice that was never there before, almost like Bellatrix was looking down on her, a behavior most unusual for a younger sister, even one like Bellatrix. She unconsciously showed some degree of respect to this new Bellatrix who acted so authoritative and spoke so much like a forceful adult. She almost felt as if….as if…….Bellatrix was the elder one and not her.

Andromeda shook her head and laughed at her ridiculous thoughts. The thought of immature, garbage-spouting Bellatrix actually being older than her! She must really have gone out of her mind. Trying to ignore her disturbed mind, she turned over and went to sleep.

Bellatrix climbed up the stairs after having a talk with Andromeda and Sirius to see her mother's unreadable face looking at her.

'Come with me.' said Cassiopeia quietly and turned, Bellatrix following close behind her. To say that Bellatrix was wary was an understatement. She knew that her mother's impassive face and emotionless voice did not bode well for her at all.

'Come in.' said Cassiopeia pushing open the door of a room on the second landing and Bellatrix found herself in her own room. Cassiopeia closed the door behind her and faced her daughter in silence. Seconds passed and Bellatrix found her mother surveying her with unmistakable cold anger. Though nothing compared to the Dark Lord's gaze yet Bellatrix couldn't meet Cassiopeia's gaze.

'I expected you to act more sensibly.' said Cassiopeia in a barely audible voice. ' I thought you should have known what the outcome would be. You knew that Andromeda was guilty and so did I. All your arguments were in vain because I knew that it was no one except Andromeda. The only reason I let her go is because I was stunned by your behavior. That you would support Andromeda inspite of her outrageous and absolutely shameful actions is unbelievable. Why did you do it?'

There was a minute of silence before Bellatrix replied, 'Because I thought it was right.'

Wow. I spoke like such a stupid, noble 'Gryffindork' just now. Oh wait a second, though the noble and stupid comment doesn't really apply to me, I am a so-called courageous 'Gryffindork.' Completely slipped my mind.

Apparently, Cassiopeia noticed that too. Her eyes narrowed as far as they could go. 'Because it was right? Has your sense of right and wrong gone completely twisted ever since you stepped inside Hogwarts and got sorted into Gryffindor? Because it certainly seems so to me.'

Bellatrix took a deep breath. 'Perhaps. I don't know. But I certainly know that I felt it right to defend my sister when you were about to punish her for something that is mostly Sirius's fault.'

Cassiopeia wasn't looking happy in the least. 'Mostly Sirius's fault? I am sure that Andromeda was the one who got the idea of enchanting the sludge to be irremovable in the first place and you are aware of that, Bellatrix. The Zabinis are old family allies and I cannot, will not tolerate it if our important discussions were interrupted or our connections damaged in any way by a pair of dunderheads. And if you feel that it is right to defend the said ones, than I am disappointed by your decision. I do not want you to step outside your room or contact anyone by owl or any other medium until the Christmas vacation is over and you are not to talk to anyone in the house. And I will continue this discussion tomorrow morning.' Cassiopeia left, closing the door behind her.

Bellatrix let out a breath heavily. She knew that her mother wasn't angry about Sirius and Andromeda's stupid prank and nor did she care. What really ticked her off was Bellatrix's defense of her sister and more importantly, the words which she spoke just now. She was not turning out as her mother was expecting her to, the perfect, pure-blood supporting daughter, and she recognized that her mother could do anything to make sure that she never turned out the contrary. She understood that comparatively, Cassiopeia was actually being nice and the extent she could go to as Bellatrix grew up (again). Definitely not good.

'Merlin. Can't I get an easy mission for once?'

A/N: To all those who're yelling at me for the extremely late update, I hardly had any time and more importantly, went out of station for some time where a computer was not available to me. So please don't get angry.