"Cissy, sit still. I can't get a grip on your hair if you're moving," the middle sister huffed as she held onto the youngest's white-blonde hair. The young girl—only thirteen in age—was sitting on a chair that was a tad too long, swinging her legs back and forth happily.

"I can't help it! I'm so excited!" she exclaimed, moving her whole body as if it were a firework much to her older sister's dismay. She had one of those lovestruck gazes on her face. It only made her older sisters roll their eyes. They could remember their first loves very well, though Andromeda's first love was the sight of the Black Lake with a radiant sunrise mirrored on the still water's surface. Bellatrix's was power. She'd gotten her very first taste when she'd accidentally stumbled in on a meeting with her father's very important friends—especially the handsome, dark-haired man with the cold look in his eyes. Eyes that mirrored a snake's. But Narcissa's first love was something much more tangible, something much more worrisome for her older sisters. A boy by the name of Lucius Malfoy.

It wasn't that he wasn't a respectable boy—he probably was in their parent's mind. Pureblooded, well-mannered, rich, and respectful toward Narcissa. He was probably their idea of a perfect match—one of the few marriages that would actually be better than their noble family. But Andromeda had also seen firsthand how immature the boy was. She imagined her baby sister with someone kind and loving and... well, not Lucius Malfoy, the boy who sneered at anyone who wasn't in Slytherin and who often could be seen tossing Gryffindors out of his way. But Narcissa loved him, as misguided as that love may be. Perhaps there was something Andromeda wasn't seeing. Something good in him.

That was why, despite her best judgment, Andromeda was helping her sister get ready for her first Black Midsummer Ball even though Andromeda knew that she was helping her sister impress a boy Dromeda didn't particularly like. She'd curled Narcissa's long, white-blonde hair—hair that was so unique compared to the rest of their family's, almost as if she'd been destined to become a Malfoy at birth—and was now working on putting half of it into an intricate braid that would be tied with a long, black bow. Cissy was already wearing a black dress that made her look way too old, at least in Dromeda's mind. The top of the dress hugged her sister's blossoming body while the skirt flared out and stopped a little too short. But if her mother approved of the dress that only went to Cissy's mid-thigh, then who was Andromeda to say anything?

The only one who's actually like a mother to any of you, a disgruntled voice in her head said. Andromeda ignored it. So what if her mother was constantly entertaining and worrying about elevating her station? So what if her mother failed to notice that Cissy's favorite color was green or that Bella had stolen many of their father's knives or that Dromeda hadn't eaten red meat in years? So what if their mother cared more about their marriages and their beauty than anything else? So what? It certainly wasn't her place to care.

That's a lie. You care about these girls more than anyone else. Yes, she supposed that was true. She was the middle sister and yet her responsible, caring nature made her more like their mother than the one who'd actually given birth to them. Dromeda was only fifteen and yet she felt as if she knew more of taking care of children than anyone else that resided in the Black family home. But lately... lately she'd wondered who cared for her. After years of taking care of other people, who would take care of her? Cissy was too young and Bella was too self-absorbed. Perhaps Dromeda's destiny resided outside of the Black family...

Stop it. You can't leave Cissy on her own. Her inner voice was right. Bella would corrupt their kindhearted sister in a moment if Dromeda let her. So far, she refused to let Bella's darkness taint their lightest sister. She was only thirteen—too young to learn of the world's horrors.

"Excited?" their older sister scoffed from where she was leaning against Narcissa's bedpost. Her black curls swarmed around her in a halo of darkness while her lips were a deep red from the candy she was sucking on disinterestedly. It looked as if they were stained in blood. After the things Dromeda had seen her older sister take an interest in, she wouldn't be surprised if it was. Her older sister frightened her sometimes. Dromeda knew there was a monster lurking beneath the surface. The only thing that contained that monster was her love for her younger sisters. Dromeda and Cissy would always be safe. Anyone who tried to mess with them, though?

Andromeda pitied them.

Bella's dark eyes rolled as she stared at her youngest sister. At seventeen years old, Bellatrix was far "too cool" for her younger sisters, though that didn't stop her from hanging out with them at every turn or threatening anyone who looked at them wrong. Andromeda just figured that Bella was in a weird, angsty phase. She went through them a lot.

"Yeah!" Narcissa exclaimed, oblivious to the dark energy at the edge of the room. "Luc said he's going to be there and that he can't wait to see me."

Andromeda couldn't picture the snotty boy saying anything like that but Narcissa wasn't a liar. The girl turned bright red every time she tried not to say the truth so either Cissy had suddenly become good at it, Lucius was lying to her, or the boy actually had changed. The second seemed far more likely in her opinion. Andromeda didn't trust any boy with a girl as beautiful as Narcissa.

Her sister's beauty seemed to be all the pureblood world cared about, including their own family. Even as a baby, Narcissa was gorgeous. Hair that looked like fallen snow, rosy cheeks alive with vigor, bright blue eyes that looked as if they'd seen the world. Even the Dark Lord—the man Bellatrix crushed on and the man many purebloods were slowly starting to bend the knee to—had commented on it, tucking a piece of light hair beyond the girl's ear with a smile that made Andromeda feel like spiders were crawling up her back as she watched from next to them. Their mother had promptly pulled Narcissa to the side and started discussing marriage possibilities for Narcissa and the man—wondering if he'd be willing to take Narcissa as a young bride.

The man was almost forty. Her sister was seven.

So Andromeda supposed she was glad that Cissy was taking an interest in a Malfoy. It was the one thing saving the little girl from being groomed by a man much older than them all. With that thought, Dromeda frowned and worked harder on her sister's hair, hoping that this would be enough to save Cissy from that dreadful fate. Save her. If nothing else, please save her, Dromeda prayed to the gods. Because, sometimes, she wondered how long she would be around to try and do it for her. How long until Dromeda was also pawned off to a man much older than the rest of them?

"Does Luc plan on courting you, Cissy?" Andromeda asked softly, ignoring Bella's scoff in the background.

"Oh yes. He's planning on asking Daddy for permission tonight," Narcissa said cheerfully, swinging her legs back and forth underneath her.

"Aren't you a little young to be courting someone, Cissa?" Bella asked. Dromeda shot her a grateful look, glad that she wasn't the only one who wanted to burst their little sister's bubble. You should be a kid, she wanted to say. You shouldn't have to think about such grown-up things so soon.

Narcissa made a face, the one she made when she was thinking about something a little too hard. Her nose would scrunch and her eyebrows would furrow deeply. Dromeda wondered what thoughts were going through the little girl's head. So many emotions in one small, changing body. "I thought so but Mummy said I should have already been be-scrothed to someone by now. She said if Luc shows enough interest in me, she'll let us court until I'm at least sixteen."

Andromeda felt the air leave her body. Her mother wanted Narcissa to be betrothed now? This was the kind of thing that made Andromeda want to burn the pureblood society brick by brick. Until they and their stupid marriage mart were nothing but ash. Child brides like Narcissa should never be even considered. There was absolutely no reason why a young girl should be sold off simply because she was beautiful. Narcissa's beauty would give her riches and power, yes, but it would also make her grow up so much quicker than she should have. Propriety be damned. Andromeda wanted them all to suffer for even thinking that it should happen.

"Mother wanted you to be betrothed already?" Bella asked in a low voice that suggested the monster was closer to the surface. She grabbed her favorite black-handled dagger and fingered it gently. Andromeda wondered if Bella was thinking the same thing as her: that she wanted to stab anyone who even tried to take their little Cissy.

"Oh yes," Narcissa said simply. Dromeda felt her eyes sting with tears. Cissa was too young to understand what their mother meant—that her innocence would be sold off to the highest bidder. She was simply regurgigating the same words their mother told them with a smile on her face, not even considering that something so horrible could be pulling the strings.

Andromeda wanted to protect her at all costs.

"There's a man that's supposed to be here tonight that wants to be be-scrothed to me. He's one of Daddy's work partners but Mummy says if Luc chooses me, I don't have to do it."

Bella glowered at the door as if she wanted to slit the throats of everyone outside of it. "Why so young?"

Narcissa shrugged. "Daddy says the man wants children and doesn't want to wait. Mummy says that the more time that passes, the less innocent I'll be and that's a bad thing because a husband wants his wife to be innocent." She nodded as if she were pleased that she'd remembered all of their mother's "advice." "But Lucius told me he wants to wait and get be-scrothed until later because he doesn't want children for a very long time."

"Betrothed," Andromeda whispered gently. Merlin, Narcissa was too young to even get the word right and yet they were seriously thinking about forcing her to be a mother. Before she even finished Hogwarts.

"Fuck," Bella said, voicing Dromeda's thoughts. "Fuck. Them. I'm going to kill them."

"I'll join you," Dromeda murmured. She was surprised by how much she meant it.

Narcissa scrunched her face again. "Why do you want to kill them? Mummy says it's a great honor that someone wants me."

"It isn't," Dromeda breathed because her chest felt tight and her heart was aching. She looked at Narcissa with a forced smile, cupping her sisters cheeks with both of her hands. "But there's no use worrying about it. Bella and I are going to make you so beautiful that Lucius won't be able to imagine a life without courting you."

Narcissa grinned, the dimples in her soft cheeks popping out. As the girl neared puberty, she started to lose the little baby fat from her cheeks. Her curves were blossoming and her voice was deepening. Stay a child. Please. Stay where you can be safe.

"Dromeda! Don't mess up my makeup!" Cissy squealed with a giggle before reaching up with her hands and tugging off her older sister's fingers.

Dromeda's eyes narrowed at what should have been her little sister's pale fingers but instead held Dromeda's favorite black lace gloves. "Cissy? Did you really think I wouldn't notice that you took these tonight?"

Her sister's cheeks flushed a very bright pink. "I was hoping you wouldn't want to wear them tonight?"

Andromeda shook her head and held out her hands with a bemused smile. "Give them."

"You're a little thief, Narcissa," Bella sneered with a good-natured eye-roll. "Just the other day, she picked the lock on my bedroom door and took my knife."

"Narcissa! What do you think you were doing with Bella's knife?"

The young girl smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to be like you guys."

And just like that, their anger was gone, replaced by a wild love and a fierce protectiveness for their baby sister—the girl who wanted so badly to be like her sisters, she took pretty meaningless things. "Maybe when you're older, you can borrow my gloves," Andromeda said with a tight smile as she stared at her doe-eyed sibling.

Dromeda watched as Narcissa stood up and admired her reflection, looking more and more like the adult that their mother wanted her to be. But Cissa's eyes held the truth: she was just a little girl. And this was a world that would swallow little girls whole.

"Be young, Cissy," Andromeda whispered to herself. "While you still can."

Welcome to the first chapter of my newest story. This is a little different than the others. More mystery, more darkness, more death. There will still be a little romance but the main love you'll find is between sisters, which is a fun challenge for me.

That being said: this book will not be updated as often as my others. It's harder for me to write stuff that isn't a romance so I have to take more time doing it. But I wanted to get this up because I'm excited about this story and hope you are too!