Madame Black || L. Evans

~one~

The train ride was bumpy, as always. Odette struggled to keep her focus on the small words that were printed onto the crinkled pages of her book.

"Bella," Odette said, looking up from her book. "How much longer until we get to the school?"

Bellatrix cackled. "Oh, Detty. Always so impatient." She ruffled her younger sister's hair, messing it up. Odette frowned and tied it back into a ponytail, but a few strands escaped. "We'll get there soon enough."

"We better," Narcissa added from where she was sitting. "This ride is horribly bumpy."

"It's not like they're going to fix it. Unless a certain house takes it up with Dumbledore," Odette said.

"Bloody Gryffindors," Bella muttered.

As if they had been summoned, the Black sister's cousin Sirius walked by their compartment with his friends, who called themselves "the marauders".

"Hello cousins!" Sirius said with fake enthusiasm. "Kill any babies lately?"

Bellatrix glared at him and took her crooked wand out of her pocket. "Anything else you want to say? Because I can promise you'll get a mouthful."

Unlike his strange friends, Sirius didn't cower in fear. Instead, he simply smiled and went on his way. Odette rolled her eyes at this, because she knew that Sirius wasn't as brave as he seemed. She knew that her cousin was afraid of his parents and the rest of his family, even Regulus, despite him being only eleven years of age.

"Bloody pig," Bellatrix growled. "He and the rest of his kooky band of misfits."

"Don't be petty," Narcissa scolded her. "We're all above that."

"All of us except for Andy."

Odette looked down at her book when her sister was mentioned. After it was revealed that Andromeda was dating a muggle born, their parents didn't take it lightly. Let's just say she was disowned, and when a Black other than Sirius saw her in the corridors, she was either ignored completely or not-so discreetly hexed.

"Something wrong Detty?" Bella asked her sister.

"Nothing," Odette mumbled. She couldn't show them how much she missed Andromeda.

"Good, because we're at Hogwarts. Get your wand and let's go."

Odette nodded and tightened her ponytail, which had loosened.

"Bella, have you seen my tie?" Narcissa asked. "It's not in my bag."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and threw a green and black silk tie at her sister. "Use my extra one, and tell Lucius to stop stealing your clothes. It's very unbecoming."

Narcissa blushed red. "He didn't steal it, I may have left it at his mano-"

"Cissy, I don't really want to hear about your romantic prowess," Odette interrupted. "A reminder that I'm only thirteen."

Naricssa blushed harder, and Bellatrix cackled with laughter.

"Narcissa!" a boy with shoulder-length blonde hair said. "I have your tie, I'm sorry I didn't return it sooner.

"It's fine Lucius," she giggled.

Lucius handed her the tie. "Hello Bellatrix, Odette. How was your summer?"

"Good," Bella replied with a smirk. "And yours?"

"It was wonderful."

"I'm sure it was," Odette whispered to Bellatrix, who sniggered.