Breaking all the Rules

Breaking all the Rules

Prologue

The following tale is about many things.

It is about family. The ties we have with our families; the ties we wish we could sever, but can't. The relationships we have with family, both good and bad. The fights, the arguments, the reconciliations, the respect or lack thereof, the love and the hate. The importance of bloodlines. And upholding the family name. Finally, the plans parents make for their children, and the choices children make in regard to these plans.

This tale is about choices. Difficult choices. Choosing between what is right and what is wrong but easy. Trying to choose whether to please oneself or someone else. The choice to follow one's heart. And the consequences of our choices.

But mostly it is about love. Love for friends and family. Above all it is about the passionate, powerful, romantic love that one can feel for another, that sets the heart ablaze; the kind of love that once you have it, you don't know if you could live without it.

It all comes down to this: the powers of Love, Fate and Destiny, and the choices we make.

This is the age-old story of two people who meet and fall in love, although it is much more complicated than that. But first we must go back and take a look at the parents of said people, and the events that lead up to our story...

~*~

August, 1958

Alden and Cassandra Andreas landed in the fireplace of the kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, along with their two year old son Dennis, covered in soot. Alden took his wife's slender, perfectly manicured hand and helped her down from the fireplace. Cassandra shook off her husband and placed her small son on the floor. She proceeded to brush the soot from her deep blue robes and fix her pale blond hair with an air of disdain.

"Apparating would have been so much better...I hate Floo powder," she muttered to herself, but was heard by her husband.

"Now, now Cassandra," Alden said. "I would have preferred apparating too, but you know very well about the charms Perseus has applied here. It makes apparating onto the property impossible."

"Yes, of course I know that. I was simply stating my opinion," Cassandra snapped, continuing to fiddle with her hair.

Once Cassandra was satisfied with her own appearance she turned her attention onto her son. He was covered from head to toe in soot from the magical fire. Heaving an irritated sigh she bent down and cleaned off the struggling boy.

Cassandra managed to get the worst of the soot off the boy and tidy his golden hair. She straightened up and Alden picked up Dennis. The family headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs into the front hall. They stopped there. The couple had received a message from the Blacks saying that they had a proposition they wished to discuss. However, neither Cassandra nor Alden could see or hear any sign of Cordelia or Perseus. Not even a house elf was there to greet them, which was exceptionally bad behavior on the elf's part; an elf should have been there to greet the guests seconds after they arrived downstairs. Cassandra hoped that her own house elves would always be more efficient than this.

As if in response to her thoughts, two house elves wearing tea towels stamped with the Black family crest suddenly appeared at the bottom of the main staircase, right at Cassandra's feet. The blond witch glared down at the creatures through her icy blue eyes. They squeaked in slight fear and immediately bowed.

"Missus and Master are in the drawing room upstairs," squeaked the older of the two. "They tells us to come and greet missus and mister Andreas. Miki will take missus and mister's cloaks." The elf stretched out her long-fingered hands and took the cloaks, then scampered off.

The other elf turned to the visitors as his mother left. "Kreacher will take you to Missus and Master now," he said in his shrill voice. "Please follow Kreacher."

The elf started up the stairs, followed by Alden and Cassandra. Kreacher stopped and knocked on the drawing room door, then entered. "The guests is here," he squeaked, bowing.

"Well let them in, then go fetch us some tea," ordered Cordelia Black, waving the elf away with one hand, causing the large sapphire ring she wore to sparkle in the afternoon sunlight shining in through the large windows.

Kreacher bowed again and then scuttled away. Cassandra and Alden entered the room and were greeted warmly by their friends.

"Hello, how nice to see you again," smiled Cordelia. She crossed the room in a few elegant strides, her black hair fanning out behind her. She kissed both Cassandra and Alden on their cheeks, and finally she kissed the top of Dennis' head. He giggled in delight.

Perseus had followed his wife over. He shook Alden's hand with both his own, kissed Cassandra's hand and took Dennis from his father. Perseus went back and settled himself in his armchair with Dennis on his lap. "Come, take a seat," he said to his guests, then he let out a hearty laugh as the boy in his lap began to play with his black hair.

Cordelia, Cassandra and Alden sat in the three armchairs by Perseus'.

The four adults chatted for a while over tea and biscuits before Cordelia mentioned 'the proposition'.

"Well, I suppose we ought to tell you why we invited you here today," she said, rearranging her elegant purple robes.

Cassandra sat up straighter. "Please do, I'm rather curious about this mysterious 'proposition' you have for us."

Perseus looked at his wife. She nodded, and Perseus turned to his friends. "Well," he began, "as you know, to keep up the population of pure-blood wizards, we must ensure that our children marry into other pure-blood families."

"Of course. Can't have any half-blood grandchildren running around, can we?" Cassandra said haughtily, sipping her tea. She had been taught from childhood that any witch or wizard of Muggle descent was inferior, and stood by that belief. She came from an old wizarding family, as did Alden, Perseus, Cordelia and the rest of her friends, for that matter. Cassandra Malfoy-Andreas simply did not associate with half-bloods and Mudbloods.

"And you are of course aware of the tradition of arranging marriages that has been going on since the beginning of wizard-kind," Perseus continued. The Andreas' nodded.

"A very important tradition," Cassandra agreed. "I can't imagine what goes through the heads of Muggles and Mudbloods, not arranging marriages for their children." Her own marriage had been arranged by her parents and Alden's parents. Cassandra held old traditions and rituals in high regard.

"Our little Dennis here is already betrothed to the Zabini's youngest," said Alden proudly.

"A fine match, that one is," said Cordelia approvingly. "We've already promised our first child to the Jacobs' eldest, Madison."

"Engaged before it is even born," said Alden, shaking his head and smiling slightly.

"Are you against that?" asked Cordelia.

Cassandra laughed softly and shook her head. "Of course not. Why do you ask?"

Cordelia looked relieved. "Good, because the proposition we have for you is this: how about your second child and our second child get married?" It didn't matter whether the children were boys or girls; there were potions and charms that allowed two men or two women to have children, and same-sex marriages were not looked down upon in wizard society.

Cassandra looked absolutely delighted at the idea. "That sounds absolutely wonderful! Doesn't it, Alden?"

Alden nodded, his chocolate coloured hair catching the light, green eyes sparkling. "It will make a fine, respectable marriage."

"So it's settled then. A perfect way to unite our families," said Perseus.

~*~

June 1960

Sirius Owen Black, the first child of Perseus and Cordelia Black, was born on June 13, 1960. From the moment of his birth, he was engaged to Miss Madison Jacobs, who was five years his senior. Of course, he obviously wouldn't understand the concept of engagement for a few years yet.

Baby Sirius was visited by his fiancée and her parents. At the tender age of five, Madison Jacobs was introduced to her future husband, who was only a few days old at the time.

~*~

September 1960

Sandrine Guinevere Andreas was born on September 25, 1960. She was the second child of Alden and Cassandra Andreas. Sandrine, like Sirius and many other wizard children, was engaged from the moment she was born. Her fiancé, however, had yet to be born.

Sandrine's older brother Dennis, now four years old, was delighted to have a baby sister.

~*~

August 1962

On August 3, 1962, Regulus Harold Black, the second child of Perseus and Cordelia, was born. He was also engaged already to Miss Sandrine Andreas, of course.

Two year old Sirius was very happy to have a little brother, even though his parents told him that Regulus was too young to play with Sirius yet. Sirius knew that would change soon enough. In the meantime he delighted in 'helping' his mother take care of Regulus.

Chapter 1 - Letters

Ten-year-old Sandrine Andreas awoke to the sound of her mother knocking her bedroom door.

"Sandrine!" called Cassandra through the door. "Get out of bed and come downstairs for breakfast."

Sandrine groaned and rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. It was 8:00. Sandrine sat up and swung her legs over the side of her four-poster bed, rubbing her eyes. She grabbed her glasses from the bedside table and put them on, then glanced at the clock again to make sure she'd read it right; it was definitely 8:00. This confused her slightly: Sandrine couldn't think why her mother would be up this early on a Saturday morning in the middle of August.

Shrugging, Sandrine stood up, her feet sinking into the plush lilac carpet that covered her bedroom floor. She trudged sleepily across the room and out into the hall, not caring that her long brown hair was tousled and she was still wearing her light pink pajamas. Sandrine yawned widely as she started down the nearest staircase, which led to the kitchen.

As soon as Sandrine entered the massive kitchen a house elf hurried over to her and curtsied. The elf, Blinky, wore a white pillowcase stamped with the Andreas family crest, with a piece of rope tied around her middle as a belt.

"Does Miss Sandrine need anything?" squeaked Blinky. "Blinky will fetch Miss anything she wants."

Sandrine smiled down at the elf and shook her head. "No, that's fine Blinky. Are my parents in the dining room?"

Blinky nodded. "Yes, Miss, they is in there eating breakfast. Missus wishes you to join them."

"Okay, I guess I should get in there before Mum comes looking for me again. Thanks, Blinky." Sandrine crossed the polished hardwood floor of the kitchen, pushed open the large wooden door and entered the dining room. She immediately wished that she'd worn her slippers; the marble floor was freezing, as usual, but like always, she had forgotten this little fact. Sandrine hurried over to the long, polished table and sat down across from her brother.

Dennis grinned at her. "Morning, sis," he said, his green eyes glinting with laughter. "My, you look ravishing this morning."

Sandrine's green eyes narrowed and she stuck her tongue out at her older brother. "Shut up."

"Sandrine! Don't act like that at the table," snapped her mother.

Alden on the other hand, smiled slightly at his daughter's behaviour; he knew she had done that mostly to irritate Cassandra. She reminded him of himself at that age. Not only had Sandrine inherited her father's chocolate coloured hair and emerald eyes, she was also quite similar to Alden in other ways. Like the way she enjoyed getting a rise out of people, for example. Dennis, on the other hand, had their mother's blond 'Malfoy hair', as Sandrine and Alden called it, and his father's eyes, and he didn't really act like either of his parents.

Sandrine grabbed a slice of toast and began to smear a large amount of marmalade on it, looking curiously at her mother. Placing the knife on the edge of her plate, Sandrine took a bite of her toast and swallowed before addressing her mother.

"So, Mum," she began, "why are you up so early this morning? And why did you drag me with you?" she added, smirking.

Cassandra surveyed her daughter from over the rim of her silver goblet. She took a sip of her orange juice and lowered the goblet, a small smile gracing her lips and making her pale blue eyes sparkle.

"Well, darling, I thought you might have noticed it by now," Cassandra replied, her smile widening. She looked pointedly at a thick parchment envelope lying on the table beside her.

Sandrine looked at the envelope too. A moment later she shrieked excitedly and jumped out of her seat to grab the letter. She promptly tripped over something grey and fluffy, which turned out to be her mother's cat, Plato; he had evidently been curled up next to Sandrine's chair. The cat arched his back and hissed as Sandrine landed painfully on the marble floor beside him.

"Ouch! Stupid cat," she muttered angrily, standing up and rubbing her sore backside. "I could have managed to fall eventually without your help." Sandrine glared at Plato as he strutted away, although she probably would have fallen or crashed into something on her own; Sandrine was dreadfully clumsy. Her father often joked that it would be the death of her someday.

Sandrine stood there for a moment as the pain in her rear subsided. Then she remembered why she'd jumped up in the first place and snapped back to reality, hurrying over and grabbing the letter. The address on the thick parchment envelope read:

Miss Sandrine G. Andreas

East Wing Suite

Andreas Manor

London

England

Grinning and turning over the envelope, Sandrine saw the Hogwarts crest stamped into the wax seal. She barely glanced at it before tearing into the envelope and pulling out a sheet of yellowish parchment. She read over the letter, which was written in loopy green script. Sandrine's grin widened and she looked up at her family.

"Yes! Finally! I can't wait to go! When can we go buy our school supplies? Soon?" Sandrine burst out, bouncing up and down excitedly. Then she slipped and had to grab onto the table to keep from falling again.

Dennis began to laugh at Sandrine, earning himself glares from both his mother and his sister. "Sorry," he mumbled, cowering under his mother's icy stare and returning to his breakfast.

"I guess I can find it in my heart to forgive you," Sandrine said with a fake long-suffering sigh. Returning to her seat, she fished a second piece of parchment out of the envelope - her supply list. "So, when can we go to Diagon Alley?"

Alden looked at his daughter, smiling. "We can go next weekend, princess. I can get Saturday off."

"Really?" asked Sandrine, beaming. Alden nodded. "Great! Thanks Daddy!"

~*~

Tap tap tap.

Sirius Black groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, trying to block out the incessant tapping noise.

Tap tap tap.

Although the tapping continued, the black-haired eleven-year-old still refused to move from his comfortable position in bed. Sirius assumed it was quite early in the morning and wanted to sleep for a while longer, but -

Tap tap tap tap.

- the stupid bird at his window obviously wasn't going to let him do that.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming! Keep your feathers on," Sirius muttered irritably, sitting up and opening his eyes. He snapped his eyes shut again against the cheery sunlight pouring in through the windows; apparently it wasn't as early as he'd thought. Holding up a hand to block the worst of the light, Sirius opened his grey eyes again and climbed out of bed.

Tap tap tap.

"Hold on a second, you dim-witted bird," Sirius snapped at the impatient owl sitting on his windowsill. He crossed to the window and opened it, then stepped back to let the large tawny owl enter the room. It flew across the room and landed with a soft clatter on the large oak desk. Sirius followed the owl, which stuck out its leg when Sirius arrived at the desk. The boy untied the letter from the bird's leg. The owl hooted softly and flew out the window Sirius had left open.

Sighing, Sirius went and closed the window before looking at the letter in his hand. On closer inspection he realized it was addressed to him (as if he hadn't already guessed it would be) in green ink. The interesting thing was how accurately it was addressed.

Mr. Sirius O. Black

Second Floor Bedroom

Number Twelve

Grimmauld Place

London

Curious, Sirius turned over the envelope and saw a wax seal with a large letter 'H'.

Still not cluing in, he broke the seal and opened the envelope. He dumped out the contents of the envelope onto the desktop and sank into his desk chair to read.

Dear Mr. Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Of course, his Hogwarts letter. He should have known it would be coming soon; term started in less than two weeks.

Picking up the letter and supply list, Sirius left his bedroom and headed downstairs. He paused in the front hall, wondering where his parents would be. He decided to check the kitchen first; his mother usually ate breakfast late.

Sirius swung open the kitchen door and was greeted by the sound of his mother screaming at Regulus for some reason or other. Sirius leaned against the wall to watch the scene play out; it was usually good entertainment when his little brother was at the receiving end of their mother's fury. It didn't take long for Sirius to figure out what had got his mother raging.

"- the good silverware, what were you thinking, young man?!? I thought we'd taught you better than that, but apparently I was mistaken! You had better find every single piece of silver you took and then you're going to polish it until it sparkles again!"

"But - but, Mum that's not fair!" whined Regulus. "That'll take forever!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you used the silverware to play in the mud!" Cordelia screeched. "At nine years old you should know better than that! You should know perfectly well that silverware is used for eating, and shovels and buckets are used for playing in the mud!"

"But Mum, the other boys have nicer shovels than me and I thought -"

"Obviously you didn't think! Otherwise you never would have used the silver in the garden! Those spoons are Black family heirlooms! Now, get out there and collect them! Every single spoon! If there's even one missing, you'll be in for a world of hurt!"

"But, Mum, I'm hungry!" Regulus protested.

"NOW!" screamed Cordelia pointing towards the door. Regulus' brown eyes widened and he scurried out of the kitchen.

By this time Sirius was finding it very hard not to laugh. He had been the one who ever so subtly placed the idea of spoons as shovels in Regulus' head. Of course the younger boy would never realize it, Sirius had been so discreet. But it was very amusing to see the trouble his one little comment had gotten his brother into.

Cordelia sighed angrily and sat down at the table before noticing her eldest son standing by the door.

"Oh, good morning Sirius. Sit and have some breakfast," she said calmly, though her dark brown eyes were still clouded with anger.

"Morning, Mum," Sirius replied, taking a seat. "My Hogwarts letter arrived this morning." He held the parchment out to his mother.

"Oh, that's wonderful," she said, taking the letter and skimming over it. "I guess we'll have to go to Diagon Alley and get your things soon, then."

"Guess so," Sirius agreed, spooning brown sugar onto his porridge.

"Well, I think we're out of Floo powder at the moment, but I'll get your father to pick some up from work and we'll go shopping tomorrow," Cordelia said thoughtfully. Then her expression cleared. "Oh, my little boy is going to Hogwarts! How exciting!"