vratsababe

It was afternoon, yet still quite early. The breeze from the ocean blew across the grounds of the Black Family Chateau, rustling the boughs of the trees and flickering the shade they cast along the driveway. The windows of the house were opened and welcoming to the sea air and looked also as if they were welcoming of company.

Lucius knocked on the wide oak door to the house and waited. There was rustling on the other side of the door, almost like two people were fighting. He could distinctly hear female voices arguing; yet he didn’t clearly recognize them personally.

“Bella, let go!” One voice said hastily. “Owch! Andie! That was my arm!” The other voice cried out.

“Just let me open it.”

“Not after you scratched me! Maybe I would have let you before, but now I’m not so sure I should let you…”


“MOM! BELLA WON’T LET ME…”

The door was hosted open by Bella as Andie screamed to her mother. “Hello Malfoy,” She said with a high and sweet voice. He recognized her from school, but she had graduated almost three years ago and he had never really talked to her. She wore robes of a deep cornflower blue and her ebony hair lay silky over her shoulders. Her dark gray eyes bore the same shape as her youngest sister and they looked similar, but her features were much more angled.

“Bellatrix, I presume?” He offered a hand to her, which she looked at before taking.

“You presume correctly,” She responded in the same false tone, smiling in the same saccharine fashion. “Please, come in.”

She ushered Lucius into the sitting room in the very front of the house. The walls were the same light blue as the sky outside and the chandelier’s many crystals cast a plethora of prisms across the room. Andromeda, Narcissa’s second oldest sister had thrown herself onto one of the couches and was sitting with her arms crossed. When Bellatrix entered with Lucius into the room, she stood up immediately and crossed to Lucius.

“Hi Lucius, so you’re dating my sister now?” She punched him in the arm playfully and Bella rolled her eyes. “We’ve never met; I’m Andromeda.”

“Hi…” Lucius said as Andromeda hugged him. “Yeah, you were in Slytherin. I’ve seen you.”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “I caught you looking at my sister a few times, I was going to pop you in the mouth or hex you, but I decided you were pretty okay.”

Lucius wasn’t sure how to respond to this, but let out a slightly forced chuckle. Andromeda was pleasant, at least, unlike Bellatrix. She had her hair tied back in a lazy ponytail and had the sleeves of her magenta robes rolled up casually. Her hair was light brown and reflected copper as the sun hit it. She looked quite a bit like Narcissa, he thought.

“Before you take Cissy out, Daddy wants to meet you,” Bella voiced, still keeping on her veneer. “It’s nothing, I’m sure, but we have to make sure you’re not some slimy skeeze that’s just trying to take advantage of our precious baby.”

Lucius looked highly offended and looked as though he was going to retort when Narcissa walked into the room, “Bella! Stop it!”

She was remarkably beautiful in billowing lilac robes. The sleeves cut off mid-bicep and the neckline was low, but still modest enough that her father would allow her to leave the house. Her golden hair was pulled into a halfback and she wore an expression of frustration at her sister, but looked lovely nonetheless. She stood with arms akimbo, casting a glare at Bella, who shrugged and left the room.

“Sorry, Lucius,” Narcissa sighed and Andie giggled. “She’s been in a terrible mood lately.”

“It’s fine, really,” He dismissed the situation with a casual wave of his hand. “She seemed pretty… nice, actually.”

Andromeda let out a high-pitched peal of laughter and grabbed at her side, “I’ll go get Daddy.”

A second passed while Narcissa pulled on a bonnet and tied it, “Well, now you’ve met my crazy sisters: Bella the Terrible and Andromeda the Easily Amused.”

Lucius smirked playfully, “So I see. Any other family kennings I should know about?”

“Oh yes,” Narcissa said as her father entered the room with a solemn expression as if someone had just passed away. “Cygnus the Overprotective.”