Feeling someone shake my shoulder gently I slowly open my eyes and meet the worried green eyes of my fiance as she brushes my hair out of my face. Offering her a small smile I push myself up from the mattress and scrub a hand over my face with a sigh that turns into a small chuckle when I'm pulled back into her chest. Relaxing back against her I rest my head on her shoulder as I tangle our fingers together. "How did you sleep sweetheart?" Minerva asks as she places a light kiss on my neck as she pulls me back onto the bed so that I'm laying between her legs with my back resting against her chest.
"Surprisingly well Min, however I have a feeling you woke me up for a reason." I say as I turn my head to look at her and she nods as she kisses me softly before we're interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door. "And that'll be the reason right there." I mutter as we sit up and she nods with a groan. "I hate being the eldest sometimes." I tell her as I take down the wards and she hums in return before Bellatix comes into the room looking sheepish.
"Sorry to interrupt but uh... can we talk about something Ama?" She asks as she stands in the door nervously and I smile at her as I pat the bed for her to come join us but she shakes her head while fidgeting with her hands. Getting up from the bed I walk over to her and go to cup her cheek softly but she steps back from me making me frown. "You're going to be angry at me but I promise I didn't want to do it! Dad made me and-"
"Wow! Trixxie stop sweetheart. I promise that I won't be angry at you but I am worried, what has your dad made you do that's got you like this?" I ask her and she silently hands me a piece of parchment that I hadn't even noticed seh was holding. Reading over it I sigh as I pull her into a hug that she clings onto like her life depends on it and I guess to her it does. "I know that it was him that did it Trix, it's okay. I could never be angry at you for something he forced you to do." I tell her softly and she falls into me completely, crying into my chest and I don't quite have enough time to brace against the added weight making us topple back to the floor but I don't care right now. All I care about is making sure my little cousin is okay.
"He made me do it Ama, I didn't want to. I didn't want to hurt them, you have to believe me! Please, I promise I didn't want to hurt them." She cries into my neck and I blink back my own tears as I stroke her back and hair soothingly.
"I know Trix, it's okay. I know that you didn't want to hurt them, it wasn't your fault. I was never your fault." I tell her firmly as her crying slows until she's just whimpering and her grip loosens slightly. Looking up at the door when I hear someone clear their throat I wince slightly when I see my brothers, Narcissa and Andromeda standing in the doorway with looks of confusion and worry on their faces. "Go to the living room and wait for us there. I think we need to have a family meeting." I say softly and they nod before reluctantly leaving. Casting a wandless spell on Bella I slowly stand up with her still wrapped around me with the help of Minerva who looks at me with a soft smile while squeezing my hand. Carrying the tired and upset girl to the living room I look at dad's portrait and see him holding a crying mum which makes me pause slightly, my mum doesn't cry. Well, of course she cries but she doesn't cry in front of us and seeing her doing so while clinging to dad... that's terrifying and it only makes Bella start crying harder again while hiding her face in my neck.
"Mipsy!" Minerva calls out softly and I watch the house elf pop into the room with a tense smile. "Could you possibly get us some calming draughts? I think more than just Bella will need them by the end of this." She says and Mipsy nods before popping away while Minerva guides me to sit down with her beside me.
"Ama? What on earth is going on? Your dad won't tell us and as soon as Walburga started crying Bellatrix ran out of the room." Grandad says and I feel Bella shy away from the voice making me kiss the top of her head softly.
"Uh... I don't know how to say this. I don't want to say it because if I say it, then it's true and if it's true... he killed them and I can't..." I stutter out and Minerva kisses the side of my head making me close my eyes briefly as I attempt to put a lid on my emotions for now. "The letter that I got from Gringotts that made me leave so quickly, it was about someone stealing from the head of family account. Apparently dad had... he was suspicious of something and asked Griphook to keep an eye on the account for him and only a matter of days before the... attack there was a withdrawl of 100,000 galleons." I explain and I watch grandad's eyes harden as he looks at Bellatrix and quickly shake my head at him making him sigh.
"He forced me to do it. I didn't want to Ama, I really didn't. He threatened to kill me and hurt Cissa and Andi if I didn't, I swear I didn't want to." Bella sobs out and my eyes widen at that while my breathing speeds up slightlyas my magic fights to stay calm which makes the lights flicker slightly.
"Ama, you need to calm down sweetheart." Minerva says softly beside me but I shake my head as my anger doubles and I carefully slide Bella over to Minerva before storming out of the house. Apparating to my uncles house I walk straight through the wards like they didn't even exist and into the house making him and my aunt gasp when they see me.
"How could you? Both of you! First I find out you told Andromeda that I had disowned her and scorched her off the family tree which I can assure you I most certainly haven't aunt Dorrea but now I've learnt that you, uncle Cygnus, are the reason my parents are dead! How could you threated to kill Bella and then hurt Cissa and Andi so that you could mainpulate a child into doing your bidding?" I scream at them as tears stream down my face and they look at me with wide eyes as I completely break and my magic fills the room. "You know something uncle Cygnus? You may have got Bella to do your dirty work for you but I knew it was you for the simple fact that she's not of age and anything she takes from the bank, outside of her own vault that is, comes under your name! You killed your own sister and cousin by paying a so called Dark Lord to do so. They are dead at your hands! Yours and that monsters! You have destroyed this family and devasted me, Sirius and Regulus for what reason? In hopes the you would become the head of the house? Well guess what, you failed at that just like you've failed at everything else in life."
"It wasn't-" Uncle Cygnus starts to say but I raise my hand angrily making his voice cut off as my magic grows darker and aunt Dorrea just stands there quietly for once. Normally that would cause some form of joy but her eyes just look hollow which actually worries me and I make a mental note to look into something when I return home.
"Don't you dare try and tell me that it wasn't like that! It was exactly like that and you know it! You are the reason my mum is dead! You're the reason I'm having to finish raising my brothers so don't you dare stand there and tell me it wasn't like that!" I scream at him as I clench my fists and his hands come up to his throat, clawing at the skin as he struggles to breathe and for a moment I watch him suffer and tear up his throat with a sickening feeling of joy and satisfaction. Releasing my hand from its fist I watch as he drops to the floor breathing heavily and he looks up at me with fear in his eyes making me chuckle bitterly at him. "The jokes on you bastards, as of this morning neither of you are part of the Black family and you no longer have any children under your care. I have transferred everything to do with them, their education and their futures into my hands. Meaning that you are not to step foot near them, you cannot try to threaten them into doing your bidding, you cannot force them to do jobs that would suit you and they will not be marrying anyone that you so wish them to. You are nothing to any of us and I'll tell you now, if either of you try to hurt a single hair on their heads or my brothers for that matter I will end you myself. There will be no need to pay someone to do it for me because I can and I damn well will kill you with my own hands, not at my wand but at my hands. You have done enough damage to my family and I will not allow you to do anymore. Am I understood?" I ask and get weak nods in return before leaving the house angrily, apparating back home before I collapse in tears. Feeling someone wrap their arms around me I just cry as they hug me tight to them.
"Where did you go?" Sirius asks and I turn my head into his shoulder as I cry.
"I almost killed him Sirius, I was so angry and I almost killed him." I whisper and he just holds me tight as he strokes my hair. "He threatened to kill Bella and then hurt Andi and Cissa and I snapped. I stormed through the wards like they didn't exist and almost killed him with how dark my magic went. His life was in my hands and as much as I wanted him to pay for what he did to mum and dad I couldn't do it."
"Of course you couldn't because for as angry and hurt as you are you're not a murderer nor do you have a bad bone in your body." He whispers into my hair and I can hear the shake in his voice making me pull back to look at him. "They're dead because of our own family Amanthea, I was only just coping with the fact they're dead but to find out that it's because of our own family? Family that threatened an innocent girl into doing their dirty work so that she can take the fall if anything went wrong? How do you do that? How do you threaten your own daughter with not only her own death but the thought of the sisters she loves beyond anything being hurt?" He asks as tears stream down his cheeks as well and I shake my head because I physically don't have an answer for him.
"I don't know Siri, I really don't but they will pay. I'll make sure of it." I tell him as I cup his cheek and he nods in agreement as he gathers himself. "Merlin Siri, I thought that the worst was over. I thought that we would finally be able to start moving on with things yet here we are sat crying in the garden all over again." I say with a sigh.
"I thought I'd find you two out here, are you coming back to join the others?" Andromeda asks from behind us and I turn to look at her, sighing when I see her red rimmed eyes. Pushing myself up from the ground with Sirius' help I move over to her and pull her into a hug that she returns happily before dragging me back into the living room where everyone's still gathered and I smile slightly when I see that Bella's asleep curled into Minerva. "Where did you disappear off to anyway? I thought you had gone somewhere in the manor to calm down but Mipsy said that you weren't on the grounds when I asked her."
"I went to deal with something." I say quietly as I sit down and run my hand through my hair, not giving a damn about how messed up it looks right now. "No dad I didn't, I wanted to and I was so close to it but I couldn't." I tell dad before he can even ask the question that I know is coming and get met with a sigh as I try to keep a control on my emotions and magic.
"You bloody well should have! He deserved it!" Mum shouts and I nod in agreement but don't look at anything but the ground as I pull my hair slightly. "God, how did I ever call that loathesome, ignorant man my family? How could he-"
"Mum! Please, I'm close enough to completely losing it as it is I don't need you adding to it! I almost killed him! I snapped and lost control of my magic and almost strangled him to death as I was ranting! I was so close but I couldn't... no that's not true. I wouldn't give him such an easy way out!" I snap as I glare over at her portrait and she looks at me with wide eyes. "My magic was so dark that I scared myself! I was terrified because I knew that I wouldn't regret it for a second if I had killed him and I was so close to doing it so please. I know that you're hurting, I know how angry you are but I can't listen to you ranting while my magic is like this because I'm scared mum. I'm so fucking scared." I tell her and she looks at me with wide, worried eyes while everyone else looks at me shocked. Falling back in the sofa I close my eyes with a sigh as I hide my face in my hands and jump slightly when someone curls into my side.
"Thank you for protecting us and making sure dad can't hurt us." Narcissa whispers as she rests her head on my shoulder and I look down at her shocked but hug her back happily as I feel my magic lighten while my body relaxes slightly. "What did mum say when you were there?" She asks and I sigh at that.
"That's something that's bothering me, she didn't say anything. She just... she stood there and looked at me with so much emotion in her eyes but she didn't say anything. My magic also didn't seem to have any affect on her. It was only uncle Cygnus that was affected by it." I say as I rest my head on the back of the sofa and she sits up to look at me like she wants to say something before she shakes her head with a furrowed brow. "What's on your mind Cissa?"
"Am I right in thinking that there are certain Black family curses that bond someone to you against their will?" She asks and I nod with a furrowed brow before looking at her with wide eyes. "I'm not saying that she is nor am I making excuses for her but what if mum's been subjected to one of those?"
"I hate to say it but Narcissa's right when you think about it. In the entire history of the Rosier family have you ever known of them being bigotted towards muggleborns and halfbloods? None of the rest of the family had a problem with me and Ted being together it's only mum and it's only been in the last few years since dad got worse." Andromeda says quietly and I look over at her to find Ted hugging her tightly to his body. "Is there anything we can do to find out?"
"I uh, I don't know. I've not really been able to bring myself to do a lot other than wallow for the last year." I admit as I look over at her with a sigh and she nods in understanding. Sitting silently for a moment I try to think of anything that could work but come up empty until I get a flash of something in my mind and look over at grandma's portrait with a raised eyebrow. "Really? You think the answers in there? I haven't looked at that since-"
"I know that but it could have the answers that you need Amanthea." Grandma says and I nod while biting my lip as my eyes dart to mum who's pacing and muttering darkly in her portrait. "It's still in your room, I know that you never got rid of it like you were told to." She tells me with a chuckle and in the blink of an eye the Black family tome is sitting on the table in front of us.
"It's still weird how you guys can do magic from inside your portraits." I say as I carefully sit up from Narcissa's side but she follows me without letting go of me making me chuckle as I kiss her head. Reaching out to touch the book I yelp when it shocks me making everyone look at me with wide eyes and I go touch it again but the exact same thing happens. "What the hell? It never did that before!" I almost shout as I try to shake off the pain and the others look at me confused while mum chuckles slightly. "This is the Black tome, I got it out of the vaults while I was in Hogwarts and I shouldn't have. It has every Black curse in it that you can imagine but now I apparently can't touch the damn thing."
"That's because you want to know what was once not worth knowing. You were an innocent child filled with a curiousity that no one expected." Mum says with a sad smile and I have to bite my tongue to stop my emotions from getting the best of me. It's scary seeing mum look so vulnerable and the only time I remember seeing her like that was when Reggie had dragonpox when he was two, Merlin it was only a matter of months after grandad had died and she was so scared that she held me and Sirius close to her whenever she got the chance. Admittedly I loved it, there were very few times that I remember mum randomly holding us close to her and those that I do have all consist around the boys being sick which happened a lot when they were young.
"Amanthea, darling? Where did you disappear to there?" Minerva asks softly as she cups my cheek and I reach up for her hand making her smile slightly but I can see the worry in her eyes.
"Nowhere, I just... I got lost in thought about something from our past. From when I was a kid and everything seemed so easy." I say with a slight chuckle as I shake my head and look over at mum again. "So let me get this right mum, you knew? The entire time I had the damn book you knew?"
"Oh my sweet little raindrop of course I knew, I also know where your mind went there and I'm sorry. It's taken this last year for me to really realise how harsh I was on you three sometimes and maybe I rushed you into your duties too early. You need to know though darling, those weeks and times that the boys were sick were times that I treasured. Not because they were sick but because I had an excuse to hold you close and ignore every pureblood protocol I had ever been taught." Mum says and I nod silently making her sigh. "Why don't you all look into this more tomorrow after everything has settled down a bit."
"I think that might be a good idea mum, Ama there's not much that we can do today so I say that we enjoy a little bit of time as a family before we have to go back to school tomorrow." Sirius says and I nod as I relax against Minerva with a small smile making her stroke my arm soothingly making me rest my hand on her leg softly. "Will you come watch us flying? I promise that we won't make you join us if you don't want to."
"Come on Ama please?" Bella asks while Narcissa and Regulus get up to follow them with books in their hands making me nod as I get up as well. Following them out to the back of the manor with Minerva keeping a tight grip on my hand I watch as they kick off from the ground and lean back into Minerva as we make ourselves comfortable on the grass to watch them.