The Other Black Girl

The Moon shines bright: in such a night as this,

When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees

And they did make no noise, in such a night

Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls,

And sigh'd his soul towards the Grecian tents,

Where Cressid lay that night

In such a night

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand

Upon the wild sea-banks, and waft her love,

To come again to Carthage

William Shakesphere, The Merchant of Venice Act 3

Poseidon's curse:

'Look, there she is!'

Narcissa waved at us and then returned to talking shyly to Lucius Malfoy, who cast a furtive look around before pouring her a forbidden glass of mulled wine. She was wearing a shimmering white dress with a satin bow at the back, which with her blond hair charmed into glistening ringlets down her back made her look like a delicate china doll. She appeared very small with the adults brushing past her in their traditional black and red dress robes and I felt my heart twinge.

The other four of us were leaning over the spiralling staircase, which led down to the ornate ballroom. It was the eve before the Winter Solstice and below us my parents' annual ice ball was in full swing, the ballroom decked out in holly and mistletoe with hundreds of candles flickering.

Families like mine barely celebrated Christmas; a festival so brash and new was reserved for the excited whispers of the children of the lesser families--those who had allowed muggle traditions to pollute them. Instead, we celebrated Yule, the ancient Celtic tradition that had been marked by the Blacks for generations. The next day we would hurry downstairs to light the magnificent Yule log and be allowed a few precious sips of dark bitter mulled wine laced with veela blood for good luck while the men of the family, Father, Uncle Orion and Uncle Alphard, would drink shots of Absinthe over the magical fire. Then we would receive presents, rich bitter dark chocolate coins, sharp gleaming satsumas, sprigs of enchanted holly to hang over our beds to ward off evil spirits and new red velvet cloaks to wear in the snow. However, it was Uncle Alphard's presents that were always the best.

Uncle Alphard was my father's younger un-married brother whom we watched with fascination on his brief visits, turning up late and unexpected with his battered case, stories that would make Mother exclaim and send us out of the room, and a sack full of strange oddments from his travels. Shrivelled skulls, which Bella would hold up to the light with interest, ornate turquoise necklaces for Narcissa's swan-like neck and ancient maps for me to decipher, the faded writing speaking of a million exotic places which would come alive as I whispered them on my tongue-Bohemia, Transylvania, Persia.

'You're a dreamer like me, little Narcissa,' he would whisper in my ear as he saw me pouring over them, making Bella purse her lips with annoyance at the fact that I was, for once, getting all the attention.

'Her name is Andromeda,' she said in an uncharacteristically haughty voice. 'And Mother says that she dreams too much.'

'Since when did you listen to what Aunt Cassandra says?' chipped in Sirius who had spent the last few days following Uncle Alphard around like an excited puppy, much to her annoyance. Bella opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by Uncle Alphard, who smiled at both of them benevolently and turned to me.

'Ah, but dreams are the oldest kind of magic and the witch who holds them will become more powerful than she can imagine.'

Bella and Sirius both snorted with laughter, as if this was the most amusing thing they had ever heard. I blushed and Uncle Alphard turned to me. 'One day,' he told me matter of factly, 'you'll break those chains and surprise us all.'

***********************************

It had been a wet, disappointing winter but outside in the Manor grounds the snowflakes were still falling from the inky night sky. Everyone knew the charm was highly illegal, but the few ministry officials who were powerful and pureblood enough to be invited were chattering like excited children. After all, it would be very bad form to mention something as mundane as laws at one of the Blacks' legendry parties.

We were supposed to be asleep, of course, but the enchanting music playing from downstairs interrupted with false high laughter was like a Sirens' song. I had seen my parents' parties before but the mysterious glittering world of adults was still fascinating to me and I leant over the banisters wide-eyed.

Beside me Regulus yawned and his eyelids drooped. He had the same Black colouring as his elder brother but there the similarity ended. Sirius's grey eyes were alive and sparkling, framed by his dark messy hair. Regulus' were a deeper grey like flint under long girlish lashes, his skin was the colour of almonds and I felt its six-year-old warmth as I lifted his sleepy body onto my lap.

Bella on the other hand looked more awake than I had ever seen her. She had turned to Sirius and dropped into a curtsy so low she ended up with her knickers showing under her white muslin nightdress.

'Will you dance with this sweet lady, fair knight?'

Sirius grinned. 'Sweet?' he said wickedly, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise, but Bella was obviously in the mood for make believe and as always he was only too eager to follow her lead.

They had grown closer while Narcissa and I had been at Hogwarts and seemed to have found their usual enterprising ways to pass the time. Narcissa and I were made to follow them to the woods to watch their new pastime of course-duelling. Bellatrix had long given up using me as an opponent. 'It's not an Arithmancy puzzle, Andromeda!' she would snap as she saw me frowning in concentration. I was good at duelling but my spells were flat and studied, coming out in perfunctory bursts. Bella made them dance for her in a way they did for no one else, blue sparkling stars, green swirls, silver cascades, all flying through the sky as she waved her wand as though she was conducting a concerto.

Sirius was the only one who could keep up with her. He would dart around, dodging her spells until it made me dizzy to watch. Sirius and Bella were never happier than when they were duelling each other. They both loved the thrill of the chase, their identical grey eyes becoming increasingly alive. Often they would never manage to hit each other, their spells getting more and more venomous and tinged with frustration and the terrifying flashes of the infamous Black temper. However just as the duel was getting to its most poisonous and I was giddy with fear, they would catch each other's eyes and start laughing.

'Is that the best you can do?' Sirius would laugh as he collapsed to his knees.

'One day, Sirius Draco Black, I will hit you!' she would shriek at him, her eyes alive with merriment.

'Is that a promise?' he would ask gleefully, despite the fact that it was a well-rehearsed exchange.

'I swear on my honour as a Black!' she would reply so solemnly that he would laugh even more.

***************************************

Bella and Sirius grew tired of dancing and we all tiptoed back upstairs, me carrying Regulus' half-asleep form. The moonlight reflected on the faces of Narcissa's dolls so that they looked eerily alive as Bella flung open the bay windows of the nursery, not caring that she let the icy air in. We sat in a protective circle, each of us lighting a candle from the one Bella had taken from downstairs.

'Look, there's me!' she said, pointing to the sky, 'and there's you, Sirius!'

'The dog star!' he said, pretending to growl.

'And there's you, Andromeda,' said Bella, huddling up to me and tracing the stars in the black sky. I gazed up at my twinkling namesake, wondering as always why Mother had chosen to name her middle daughter after a whole constellation.

This was the cue for Regulus to open one eye. 'Tell the story!' he said, looking imploringly at me.

'Tell it, Andromeda!' Bella and Sirius chimed, settling on the floor with a blood red velvet throw over their bodies.

'All right. Just to please you, Reggie,' I said, smiling and knowing I couldn't resist. It was my youngest cousin's favourite story and although it didn't quite satisfy Bella's sense of the macabre, she and Sirius still listened with rapt attention every time.

'Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a King and Queen called Cepheus and Cassiopeia. It was rumoured that they were descended from the Gods themselves and all day long they sat in their jewelled palace ruling over their subjects. But it was on the 16^th Birthday of their daughter Andromeda that the trouble started. She was a beautiful princess and people travelled from miles around to pay homage to her, laying down gifts at her feet. Dwarfs brought handfuls of glittering diamonds from the mountains, tree-nymphs carried sumptuous fruits from the highest canopies, giants came with the skins of wild animals. But the most amazing display of all was the dancing Neprids, daughters of the sea who rose from the deep lagoons to dance for the royal family. After the dance they-'

'Meda, you missed out the bit about the pearls!' Regulus said, tugging at my hair.

'Regulus, don't interrupt her, she's getting to it!' Bella snapped impatiently, Regulus bit his lip. He had always been in awe of Bella, struggling to keep up with her and Sirius in their games until they would get annoyed and shake him off.

'After the dance, they opened their hands and out shone a thousand sparkling pearls, gifts from Poseidon, god of the deep. As they sparkled, the crowd was astonished by the beauty they reflected in the Neprids' faces and cried that they had never seen a more dazzling sight. But Cassiopeia was a proud, jealous woman and this angered her. She crushed the pearls with her feet and declared that her daughter was far more beautiful than any of the Neprids. The crowd gasped, for the Neprids were the beloved daughters of Poseidon and the turbulent God of the sea had a jealous nature. Suddenly the voice of Poseidon filled the room.

Cassiopeia and Cepheus, you are proud of your lineage and your royal blood, proud that you are above the other mortals. But you are still mortal and one day your proud house will fall, for you have insulted the Gods with your conceit and they will have their revenge.

And with a crash of his almighty hands, the great monster Cetus descended on the land, leaving terror in his wake. He burnt crops and drowned villages, wielding the wrath of the Gods to punish the people of the land. The Ki-'

'Wait! Tell us more about Cetus--that's the best bit!' Bella interrupted accusingly.

I shook my head. Although Bella usually got her way, this story was mine, the story I had pored over in Father's dusty books, my eyes growing wide as I saw my own name magnified in the realms of the Gods.

'The King and Queen were in despair and cried to the Gods for guidance as to how to rid their land of the terrible beast. Finally after twelve days, Hermes, messenger of the Gods, came back with the answer. To placate the monster they must offer up their daughter to the wrath of the sea. And so the King ordered for Andromeda to be taken to the waters' edge. There she was stripped of her clothes, chained to a large rock and left as an offering to the Gods, whom she had so offended.'

'Poor Andromeda,' Regulus said, biting his lip anxiously.

'Aw! Reggie you're such a girl,' his elder brother answered with disgust. 'You know Cetus doesn't actually get her.'

'However, hope was not lost for the princess,' I continued, putting my finger to my lips to quieten him. 'As the waves rose around her and the roar of the terrible monster drew nearer, the brave Perseus, the illegitimate son of the great God Zeus and a mortal woman, was at that moment flying, on the wings Icarus had lent him, back from slaying the fearsome Gorgon, Medusa. When he saw Andromeda chained to the rocks, at first he thought she was just a statue, cold and dignified despite her bonds, but then he saw a single tear splash down her face and fell instantly in love with her. So, seeing Cetus approaching, he whipped the Gorgon's head to face the monster and Cetus was turned to stone from one glance of the snakelike eyes. Then, he cut the chains which bound her and carried her back home over the swelling sea, and I think you've dropped off, little one,'

I ended softly looking down at Regulus' sleeping body; next to me. Sirius was lying beside Bella with his head on her shoulder and his arm round her small waist. He was almost asleep, his thumb having crept into his mouth, but she was wide-awake her eyes alive as she opened them to face me.

Bella slept badly and when I would finally feel her drop off at my side, it was in short fitful bursts. It had been getting worse lately. Ever since I had got back for the holidays she had slept next to me, tossing and turning until she would wake, shaking and feverishly clutching my arm. 'I have dreams,' she would whisper in a closed voice and I would hold her until the shaking stopped. In the cold light of day she would become Bella again, my wild enchanting other half, but when she woke from her nightmares I could catch fleeting glimpses of vulnerability, which would make me want to hold her forever, knowing that when Narcissa and I returned to Hogwarts she would be battling the demons alone.

Now she turned to me. 'That thing Uncle Alphard said about you breaking the chains, was that like the story?' she asked, the candle lighting her curious elf like face.

I shrugged and she sat up, taking an ivory backed hairbrush and beginning to brush the hundred strokes Mother required before we went to bed through my long chestnut hair.

'I don't know what he meant,' I said.

'He's peculiar, Mother says he has no family pride,' she said, viciously tugging at a knot so I winced. 'Besides, we're Blacks, we can do anything we want, what chains would we have to break?'

'You sound like Aunt Eugenia,' I told her and she made a horrified face and opened her mouth to protest. However the hurried patter of Narcissa's feet up the nursery stairs stopped her.

'Meda, Bella?' Narcissa whispered softly, using the childhood nicknames she had long abandoned. She stood in the candlelight for a moment, shivering in her satin dress and looking almost ghostly, her eyes wide and terrified.

'What's wrong?' I asked, jumping up.

Bella nearly knocked over the candle in shock 'You're dying!' she exclaimed to Narcissa.

I looked and saw with horror that there was a trail of crimson blood on Narcissa's pure white satin dress.

'I'm bleeding,' she whispered. 'I don't know why.'

'What does it feel like? Does it hurt?' asked Bella, her eyes wide and fascinated.

Narcissa nodded, biting her lip. 'Do you really think I'm dying?' she asked, trembling slightly.

Bella nodded. 'You must be! It looks like dark magic, maybe there's a spell or ritual we could do,' she said excitedly, her face a picture of morbid fascination. 'Or,' but she stopped because Mother had appeared in the doorway.

'What is going on?' she asked sharply. She was wearing a black corseted dress with a full silk skirt and ornate lace sleeves. Her blond hair was pinned up with gleaming ruby pins.

I looked at Narcissa and saw that she was doing her best to fight back tears, knowing that Mother would never tolerate crying. Once, when I was four, I had tripped up in the woods and made the mistake of running to her weeping. She had looked at me sternly and gestured to the ancient family tree hanging on the wall behind her, the tree which Aunt Eugenia had made me stand in front of until I knew it off by heart, one morning when she had caught me listening to Uncle Alphard describe the year he had spent with muggles pretending to be a faith healer. 'Blacks don't cry Andromeda,' Mother had told me sternly, 'because crying is a sign of weakness. Never let me catch you doing it again.'

'Bella says I'm going to die!' Narcissa said softly. Mother looked her up and down and a flicker of comprehension dawned on her aristocratic features.

'Is this true?' she asked Bellatrix curtly. Bella looked back at her defiantly and Narcissa looked even more worried. There was little affection between Mother and her youngest daughter. Bella had the family passion and strength but none of the grace that Narcissa and I possessed. Whenever she knocked things over by running through the corridors of the house or jumped out and ambushed the house-elves, Mother would look at her with distasteful amazement that she could have produced such a child.

Mother sighed as though she didn't want to neglect her duties as a hostess. 'Bellatrix and Andromeda, go to bed. I'll deal with you in the morning. Come with me, Narcissa,' she said, gesturing Narcissa to follow her.

Bella and I lay together that night, our bodies pressed close as though their shared warmth could make up for the cold faraway feel of Narcissa as she finally slid between the sheets hours later refusing to tell us what Mother had said. But as we slept with the family crest looming above us, I felt for the first time the perfect bond between the three of us widen and the safety of my childhood slip away.

'Look, there she is!'

Narcissa waved at us and then returned to talking shyly to Lucius Malfoy, who cast a furtive look around before pouring her a forbidden glass of mulled wine. She was wearing a shimmering white dress with a satin bow at the back, which with her blond hair charmed into glistening ringlets down her back made her look like a delicate china doll. She appeared very small with the adults brushing past her in their traditional black and red dress robes and I felt my heart twinge.

The other four of us were leaning over the spiralling staircase, which led down to the ornate ballroom. It was the eve before the Winter Solstice and below us my parents' annual ice ball was in full swing, the ballroom decked out in holly and mistletoe with hundreds of candles flickering.

Families like mine barely celebrated Christmas; a festival so brash and new was reserved for the excited whispers of the children of the lesser families--those who had allowed muggle traditions to pollute them. Instead, we celebrated Yule, the ancient Celtic tradition that had been marked by the Blacks for generations. The next day we would hurry downstairs to light the magnificent Yule log and be allowed a few precious sips of dark bitter mulled wine laced with veela blood for good luck while the men of the family, Father, Uncle Orion and Uncle Alphard, would drink shots of Absinthe over the magical fire. Then we would receive presents, rich bitter dark chocolate coins, sharp gleaming satsumas, sprigs of enchanted holly to hang over our beds to ward off evil spirits and new red velvet cloaks to wear in the snow. However, it was Uncle Alphard's presents that were always the best.

Uncle Alphard was my father's younger un-married brother whom we watched with fascination on his brief visits, turning up late and unexpected with his battered case, stories that would make Mother exclaim and send us out of the room, and a sack full of strange oddments from his travels. Shrivelled skulls, which Bella would hold up to the light with interest, ornate turquoise necklaces for Narcissa's swan-like neck and ancient maps for me to decipher, the faded writing speaking of a million exotic places which would come alive as I whispered them on my tongue-Bohemia, Transylvania, Persia.

'You're a dreamer like me, little Narcissa,' he would whisper in my ear as he saw me pouring over them, making Bella purse her lips with annoyance at the fact that I was, for once, getting all the attention.

'Her name is Andromeda,' she said in an uncharacteristically haughty voice. 'And Mother says that she dreams too much.'

'Since when did you listen to what Aunt Cassandra says?' chipped in Sirius who had spent the last few days following Uncle Alphard around like an excited puppy, much to her annoyance. Bella opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by Uncle Alphard, who smiled at both of them benevolently and turned to me.

'Ah, but dreams are the oldest kind of magic and the witch who holds them will become more powerful than she can imagine.'

Bella and Sirius both snorted with laughter, as if this was the most amusing thing they had ever heard. I blushed and Uncle Alphard turned to me. 'One day,' he told me matter of factly, 'you'll break those chains and surprise us all.'

***********************************

It had been a wet, disappointing winter but outside in the Manor grounds the snowflakes were still falling from the inky night sky. Everyone knew the charm was highly illegal, but the few ministry officials who were powerful and pureblood enough to be invited were chattering like excited children. After all, it would be very bad form to mention something as mundane as laws at one of the Blacks' legendry parties.

We were supposed to be asleep, of course, but the enchanting music playing from downstairs interrupted with false high laughter was like a Sirens' song. I had seen my parents' parties before but the mysterious glittering world of adults was still fascinating to me and I leant over the banisters wide-eyed.

Beside me Regulus yawned and his eyelids drooped. He had the same Black colouring as his elder brother but there the similarity ended. Sirius's grey eyes were alive and sparkling, framed by his dark messy hair. Regulus' were a deeper grey like flint under long girlish lashes, his skin was the colour of almonds and I felt its six-year-old warmth as I lifted his sleepy body onto my lap.

Bella on the other hand looked more awake than I had ever seen her. She had turned to Sirius and dropped into a curtsy so low she ended up with her knickers showing under her white muslin nightdress.

'Will you dance with this sweet lady, fair knight?'

Sirius grinned. 'Sweet?' he said wickedly, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise, but Bella was obviously in the mood for make believe and as always he was only too eager to follow her lead.

They had grown closer while Narcissa and I had been at Hogwarts and seemed to have found their usual enterprising ways to pass the time. Narcissa and I were made to follow them to the woods to watch their new pastime of course-duelling. Bellatrix had long given up using me as an opponent. 'It's not an Arithmancy puzzle, Andromeda!' she would snap as she saw me frowning in concentration. I was good at duelling but my spells were flat and studied, coming out in perfunctory bursts. Bella made them dance for her in a way they did for no one else, blue sparkling stars, green swirls, silver cascades, all flying through the sky as she waved her wand as though she was conducting a concerto.

Sirius was the only one who could keep up with her. He would dart around, dodging her spells until it made me dizzy to watch. Sirius and Bella were never happier than when they were duelling each other. They both loved the thrill of the chase, their identical grey eyes becoming increasingly alive. Often they would never manage to hit each other, their spells getting more and more venomous and tinged with frustration and the terrifying flashes of the infamous Black temper. However just as the duel was getting to its most poisonous and I was giddy with fear, they would catch each other's eyes and start laughing.

'Is that the best you can do?' Sirius would laugh as he collapsed to his knees.

'One day, Sirius Draco Black, I will hit you!' she would shriek at him, her eyes alive with merriment.

'Is that a promise?' he would ask gleefully, despite the fact that it was a well-rehearsed exchange.

'I swear on my honour as a Black!' she would reply so solemnly that he would laugh even more.

***************************************

Bella and Sirius grew tired of dancing and we all tiptoed back upstairs, me carrying Regulus' half-asleep form. The moonlight reflected on the faces of Narcissa's dolls so that they looked eerily alive as Bella flung open the bay windows of the nursery, not caring that she let the icy air in. We sat in a protective circle, each of us lighting a candle from the one Bella had taken from downstairs.

'Look, there's me!' she said, pointing to the sky, 'and there's you, Sirius!'

'The dog star!' he said, pretending to growl.

'And there's you, Andromeda,' said Bella, huddling up to me and tracing the stars in the black sky. I gazed up at my twinkling namesake, wondering as always why Mother had chosen to name her middle daughter after a whole constellation.

This was the cue for Regulus to open one eye. 'Tell the story!' he said, looking imploringly at me.

'Tell it, Andromeda!' Bella and Sirius chimed, settling on the floor with a blood red velvet throw over their bodies.

'All right. Just to please you, Reggie,' I said, smiling and knowing I couldn't resist. It was my youngest cousin's favourite story and although it didn't quite satisfy Bella's sense of the macabre, she and Sirius still listened with rapt attention every time.

'Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a King and Queen called Cepheus and Cassiopeia. It was rumoured that they were descended from the Gods themselves and all day long they sat in their jewelled palace ruling over their subjects. But it was on the 16^th Birthday of their daughter Andromeda that the trouble started. She was a beautiful princess and people travelled from miles around to pay homage to her, laying down gifts at her feet. Dwarfs brought handfuls of glittering diamonds from the mountains, tree-nymphs carried sumptuous fruits from the highest canopies, giants came with the skins of wild animals. But the most amazing display of all was the dancing Neprids, daughters of the sea who rose from the deep lagoons to dance for the royal family. After the dance they-'

'Meda, you missed out the bit about the pearls!' Regulus said, tugging at my hair.

'Regulus, don't interrupt her, she's getting to it!' Bella snapped impatiently, Regulus bit his lip. He had always been in awe of Bella, struggling to keep up with her and Sirius in their games until they would get annoyed and shake him off.

'After the dance, they opened their hands and out shone a thousand sparkling pearls, gifts from Poseidon, god of the deep. As they sparkled, the crowd was astonished by the beauty they reflected in the Neprids' faces and cried that they had never seen a more dazzling sight. But Cassiopeia was a proud, jealous woman and this angered her. She crushed the pearls with her feet and declared that her daughter was far more beautiful than any of the Neprids. The crowd gasped, for the Neprids were the beloved daughters of Poseidon and the turbulent God of the sea had a jealous nature. Suddenly the voice of Poseidon filled the room.

Cassiopeia and Cepheus, you are proud of your lineage and your royal blood, proud that you are above the other mortals. But you are still mortal and one day your proud house will fall, for you have insulted the Gods with your conceit and they will have their revenge.

And with a crash of his almighty hands, the great monster Cetus descended on the land, leaving terror in his wake. He burnt crops and drowned villages, wielding the wrath of the Gods to punish the people of the land. The Ki-'

'Wait! Tell us more about Cetus--that's the best bit!' Bella interrupted accusingly.

I shook my head. Although Bella usually got her way, this story was mine, the story I had pored over in Father's dusty books, my eyes growing wide as I saw my own name magnified in the realms of the Gods.

'The King and Queen were in despair and cried to the Gods for guidance as to how to rid their land of the terrible beast. Finally after twelve days, Hermes, messenger of the Gods, came back with the answer. To placate the monster they must offer up their daughter to the wrath of the sea. And so the King ordered for Andromeda to be taken to the waters' edge. There she was stripped of her clothes, chained to a large rock and left as an offering to the Gods, whom she had so offended.'

'Poor Andromeda,' Regulus said, biting his lip anxiously.

'Aw! Reggie you're such a girl,' his elder brother answered with disgust. 'You know Cetus doesn't actually get her.'

'However, hope was not lost for the princess,' I continued, putting my finger to my lips to quieten him. 'As the waves rose around her and the roar of the terrible monster drew nearer, the brave Perseus, the illegitimate son of the great God Zeus and a mortal woman, was at that moment flying, on the wings Icarus had lent him, back from slaying the fearsome Gorgon, Medusa. When he saw Andromeda chained to the rocks, at first he thought she was just a statue, cold and dignified despite her bonds, but then he saw a single tear splash down her face and fell instantly in love with her. So, seeing Cetus approaching, he whipped the Gorgon's head to face the monster and Cetus was turned to stone from one glance of the snakelike eyes. Then, he cut the chains which bound her and carried her back home over the swelling sea, and I think you've dropped off, little one,'

I ended softly looking down at Regulus' sleeping body; next to me. Sirius was lying beside Bella with his head on her shoulder and his arm round her small waist. He was almost asleep, his thumb having crept into his mouth, but she was wide-awake her eyes alive as she opened them to face me.

Bella slept badly and when I would finally feel her drop off at my side, it was in short fitful bursts. It had been getting worse lately. Ever since I had got back for the holidays she had slept next to me, tossing and turning until she would wake, shaking and feverishly clutching my arm. 'I have dreams,' she would whisper in a closed voice and I would hold her until the shaking stopped. In the cold light of day she would become Bella again, my wild enchanting other half, but when she woke from her nightmares I could catch fleeting glimpses of vulnerability, which would make me want to hold her forever, knowing that when Narcissa and I returned to Hogwarts she would be battling the demons alone.

Now she turned to me. 'That thing Uncle Alphard said about you breaking the chains, was that like the story?' she asked, the candle lighting her curious elf like face.

I shrugged and she sat up, taking an ivory backed hairbrush and beginning to brush the hundred strokes Mother required before we went to bed through my long chestnut hair.

'I don't know what he meant,' I said.

'He's peculiar, Mother says he has no family pride,' she said, viciously tugging at a knot so I winced. 'Besides, we're Blacks, we can do anything we want, what chains would we have to break?'

'You sound like Aunt Eugenia,' I told her and she made a horrified face and opened her mouth to protest. However the hurried patter of Narcissa's feet up the nursery stairs stopped her.

'Meda, Bella?' Narcissa whispered softly, using the childhood nicknames she had long abandoned. She stood in the candlelight for a moment, shivering in her satin dress and looking almost ghostly, her eyes wide and terrified.

'What's wrong?' I asked, jumping up.

Bella nearly knocked over the candle in shock 'You're dying!' she exclaimed to Narcissa.

I looked and saw with horror that there was a trail of crimson blood on Narcissa's pure white satin dress.

'I'm bleeding,' she whispered. 'I don't know why.'

'What does it feel like? Does it hurt?' asked Bella, her eyes wide and fascinated.

Narcissa nodded, biting her lip. 'Do you really think I'm dying?' she asked, trembling slightly.

Bella nodded. 'You must be! It looks like dark magic, maybe there's a spell or ritual we could do,' she said excitedly, her face a picture of morbid fascination. 'Or,' but she stopped because Mother had appeared in the doorway.

'What is going on?' she asked sharply. She was wearing a black corseted dress with a full silk skirt and ornate lace sleeves. Her blond hair was pinned up with gleaming ruby pins.

I looked at Narcissa and saw that she was doing her best to fight back tears, knowing that Mother would never tolerate crying. Once, when I was four, I had tripped up in the woods and made the mistake of running to her weeping. She had looked at me sternly and gestured to the ancient family tree hanging on the wall behind her, the tree which Aunt Eugenia had made me stand in front of until I knew it off by heart, one morning when she had caught me listening to Uncle Alphard describe the year he had spent with muggles pretending to be a faith healer. 'Blacks don't cry Andromeda,' Mother had told me sternly, 'because crying is a sign of weakness. Never let me catch you doing it again.'

'Bella says I'm going to die!' Narcissa said softly. Mother looked her up and down and a flicker of comprehension dawned on her aristocratic features.

'Is this true?' she asked Bellatrix curtly. Bella looked back at her defiantly and Narcissa looked even more worried. There was little affection between Mother and her youngest daughter. Bella had the family passion and strength but none of the grace that Narcissa and I possessed. Whenever she knocked things over by running through the corridors of the house or jumped out and ambushed the house-elves, Mother would look at her with distasteful amazement that she could have produced such a child.

Mother sighed as though she didn't want to neglect her duties as a hostess. 'Bellatrix and Andromeda, go to bed. I'll deal with you in the morning. Come with me, Narcissa,' she said, gesturing Narcissa to follow her.

Bella and I lay together that night, our bodies pressed close as though their shared warmth could make up for the cold faraway feel of Narcissa as she finally slid between the sheets hours later refusing to tell us what Mother had said. But as we slept with the family crest looming above us, I felt for the first time the perfect bond between the three of us widen and the safety of my childhood slip away.

Look at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,

And all the things that you do.

Coldplay- Yellow