~Wizard Sweets~
(Distraught)
Orion sits staring at his wife's headstone long after the funeral has ended.
"Noonertone," a small voice says suddenly beside him, giving him little warning before something fluffy is pressed against the side of his face. He brushes the stuffed animal away, being careful not to hurt the child who is holding it. The little girl is one of Cygnus' daughters, although Orion isn't sure which one.
"Go away."
"Pet da noonertone," the child insists, pushing the toy against his cheek once more.
"Stop it, Bella. Leave me alone," he says.
He feels a tug on his sleeve and glances down to see another dark-haired little girl - presumably Cygnus' other daughter - standing beside him, her face scrunched into a peeved expression.
"I'm Bella. That's Andi."
Andromeda is still shoving her toy unicorn into Orion's face, trying to make him pet it. Bellatrix snatches the stuffed animal from her sister and throws it as hard as she can. It goes soaring in a long arc across several rows of graves before landing in a patch of grass. Andromeda begins to cry. Orion scoops the weeping toddler into his lap and retrieves her toy with a summoning charm.
"No crying! Crying is for babies," Bella admonishes her little sister, who is still sobbing even though she has her unicorn back. Then the child notices the tears on Orion's face and her scowl deepens. "You don't cry, either! You're grown up!"
Orion reaches out and pulls her into his lap beside her sister.
"I just buried my wife and child. I'm allowed to cry."
"Are you sad?" Bella asks, sounding intrigued rather than sympathetic. "Do you want some candy?"
Orion sighs. Oh, how he wishes he could go back in time to when any sorrow he felt could be solved with the liberal application of sweets...
When Cygnus finally notices that his daughters are missing and sends his sister off to retrieve them, Walburga finds the girls tormenting poor Orion. Andromeda is still attempting to get him to pet her stuffed unicorn and Bellatrix is trying to feed him a Caramel Cricket.
~5/9~