July 10th, 1985, Grimmauld Place
"Mistress Selene. Time for lunch." Kreacher hollered grimly, preparing a fine, grand plate and glass on the table; with the scent of hot stew filling the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
Ten-year-old Selene Black was sitting on the floor, staring intently at the Black Family Tapestry for what must've been the hundredth time for this day.
If you'd ask her, what was her favorite part of the dark, dusty and dreary Grimmauld Place, Selene would always answer the room where the ancient Black Family Tapestry was located.
But her attention was always centered on one particular member of their family. She was glancing upon a face that was burnt, around the top part. It was labeled with the words 'Sirius'.
Ever since she was small, all could she remember was always being fascinated by staring at the burnt face.
For her family, anyone who was blasted off from the tapestry was a disgrace to their kin, but for Selene, she thought otherwise. Sirius was her brother. Yes, her eldest brother. She never knew nor saw him, based on the tales family members would tell her, Sirius ran away because of his different beliefs from their family and he was the only Black to be ever sorted into Gryffindor House.
The Blacks believed in pure-blood mania, and viewed half-bloods, muggleborns, and squibs as scum and disgrace to the Wizarding World. They were fond of the Dark Arts, and most of them were followers of Lord Voldemort, the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time.
Their mother, Walburga, blasted Sirius's face from the tapestry.
She also had an older brother, Regulus. He was different from Sirius, and followed his family's traditions. Selene knew him, but he died when she was only four, her father also died the same year, leaving just her and her mother.
A few years earlier, Voldemort was vanquished by an infant Harry Potter, who became known as the 'Boy Who Lived', after he murdered Harry's parents and failed to murder the child.
Selene, however, was sort of a look-alike to her brother Sirius. Like him, she detested the Dark Arts and her family's pure-blood mania, and was sort of mischievous. And Walburga disliked her daughter as much as she disliked Sirius, which made Selene often feel lonely.
"Mistress Selene."
Selene looked around, her attention turning away from the tapestry. Kreacher, the Black Family's house-elf was standing near the doorway, wearing his signature grim look.
"What is it now, Kreacher?" Selene groaned, scratching her dark brown hair.
"It's time for lunch, it's past noon." Kreacher said.
Selene rolled her eyes in irritation. It has always been like this ever since her mother had died a month ago. She was now an orphan, now left alone in Grimmauld Place with no family, just her and the house-elf. She felt more lonely than ever, but obeyed Kreacher anyway.
Because those were one of her mother's final requests as she lay on her deathbed.
Selene wanted to get out of the house so bad, she hated it so much there, she wanted to have real friends and a loving family who would cherish her deeply.
Meals at Grimmauld Place was one of the many things that Selene wasn't fond of, she just sat there on the table, alone, as she ate like an aristocrat while Kreacher would proceed to continue doing the household chores.
During the rest of the afternoon, Selene would stay in her gloomy bedroom, finding many ways to entertain herself. Reading books, playing Wizarding board games by herself.
She stood by her window, looking at the Muggle neighborhood. Children were playing outside, their laughs and giggles were heard, as their parents would come to their yards and play with them. Oh, how she wished she could experience those things. Throughout her childhood, her parents never played with her, they were always busy.
They never had time for her. Regulus was good company at least, but sometimes, he'd lock himself in his bedroom for 'important work', but all in all, he loved her very much. She was heartbroken when she found out he had died, it was truly one of the most traumatic events for her.
She decided it would be best to take a nap, well she had nothing to do.
~oOo~
"Please, Kreacher, it's for her own good."
"Never!" Kreacher squeaked. "Kreacher promised my mistress that Kreacher will look after her."
"She needs to have a proper family."
"You will never take Kreacher's mistress's daughter away, you filthy blood traitor, a disgrace to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and you- you Mudblood!"
Selene's eyes shot open. She awoke to the sound of intense arguing downstairs. Kreacher was arguing with someone. Or two.
That's weird, Selene thought to herself. It has been months since someone had visited their home. She leaped from her bed, going downstairs to check what was happening.
Downstairs, Kreacher was confronted by an unfamiliar couple. She has never seen them before. The woman was holding a bag, her other hand clutching to her husband's (as Selene assumed) arm. She looked somewhat familiar, it seemed to her that she saw the lady somewhere before, but couldn't remember.
"What's all the fuss about?" Selene interrupted the argument. The three abruptly stopped and glanced at her. The lady was wearing a surprised expression on her face as she saw Selene, and clasped her hand on her lips. "Cousin Bella?"
"Oh, mistress! You should head upstairs!" said Kreacher, trying to escort the young Black back to her room, but she shrugged, almost hitting his arm.
"No need, Kreacher." Selene said coldly.
The lady approached her, kneeling before her, making Selene utterly confused and baffled.
"You must be Selene." said the lady softly, shaking the young girl's hand, who nodded her head in reply.
"You know who I am?" Selene asked. "Why do you look like my cousin, Bellatrix?"
The lady laughed slightly. "Well, I've heard of you, but we've never officially met, well you weren't even born when I was disowned from this family. By the way, I'm Andromeda. Andromeda Tonks, your cousin and your brother's favorite cousin."
Selene's eyes widened. She's heard of Andromeda several times before. Like Sirius, her face was burnt off from the tapestry, for she was also disowned from their family, due to marrying a Muggleborn.
"Andromeda? I've heard of you! You're Bella and Narcissa's sister. But I gotta say, you're a lot prettier than Bella." Selene said jokingly, which caused Andromeda to laugh.
"And this is my husband, Ted." said Andromeda, as both Ted and Selene shook hands.
"Nice to meet you," Ted said sheepishly.
"Why are you here anyway?" Selene asked with curiosity.
"Well, it's been a month since your mother passed, so you have no other family to go to. So, Ted and I decided that it would be best, that you would come and live with us." Andromeda explained.
Selene's eyes further widened, her lips tugging into a wide smile. This is it, she said to herself, I'm out of this stupid house! Her dream was finally coming true, leaving Grimmauld Place, having a new home, and having a new family.
Kreacher was groaning at her side.
"Oh yes! I'd love to!" she squealed with delight. Kreacher couldn't speak, no words dared to escape his mouth. Andromeda and Ted smiled with happiness. "When do I get to leave? I'm so excited!"
"Tomorrow, before noon." said Ted.
Kreacher had no choice but to relent to Selene's wishes. After all, she was almost in her teens, she had to learn to become independent and choose what was best for her. After a few hours, Andromeda and Ted left for home.
The rest of the day, Selene lay smiling on her bed and jumping on it with excitement. That night, she packed all her things with some help from Kreacher, she couldn't sleep, because of her excitement.
The next morning, at around 11:30 am, Ted and Andromeda arrived in Grimmauld Place. Selene was sitting on the couch, wearing an emerald cloak with the letter 'S' inscribed upon the button with her trunk by Kreacher's side.
"Ready?" Andromeda asked her young cousin.
"Ready for anything!" Selene replied.
Ted took her trunk and Selene took a few last looks at Grimmauld Place, even her own mother's portrait yelling at her that she was just like Sirius, before she rushed back to the living room and bid goodbye to the house-elf.
"Goodbye, Kreacher. Keep safe." she said u comfortably, yet managed to smile at the elf that took care of her during her childhood.
Kreacher grunted. "Goodbye." Then, scurried upstairs.
The three of them apparated to Ted and Andromeda's home. It was not as big as Grimmauld Place, but was surrounded by many trees. The wind began to blow, which soothed Selene, she had never breathed fresh air in her whole life, it was somewhat satisfying for her.
"Welcome to our home." Andromeda said as the three entered the house. It wasn't as grand or fancy as Manors or castles in some of the fairy tales she had read. There were no portraits, no fancy tables, silverware or fancy rooms. Yet, it wasn't gloomy nor dusty. And the sunlight brushed upon some parts of the living room.
"It's not much, Selene. But it's all that we could afford." said Ted, placing her trunk beside the couch.
"No, no, it's very nice!" Selene said with a sincere smile as she gazed upon each angle of the house with wonder and amazement. "I think it's perfect."
"Well, we're glad you love it, Selene. Our home is your home." Andromeda said.
"Wotcher!"
Selene jumped a bit. A girl, who was no older than twelve, waved hello to Selene. She had bubblegum-pink hair, but it changed to blue, green, magenta, sandy brown, turquoise until finally returning to pink.
"Selene, this is our daughter, Nymphadora —" said Andromeda.
"Tonks, just Tonks," the young girl interrupted her mother's introduction. "No need to call me that, I prefer Tonks, it has a better ring to it."
"But you can call her Dora, if you'd like." Ted added.
"Tonks is great, actually." Selene chuckled.
"So you must be Selene!" Tonks said cheerfully, shaking Selene's hand enthusiastically. "Mum and Dad have been telling me all about you."
"Oh, yeah." said Selene.
Tonks gave Selene a tour to her room, where Selene would be staying. It was small, yet posted with loads of Hufflepuff banners, as Selene assumed, Tonks was a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts. And there were also posters of Tonks's favorite Quidditch Team and the Weird Sisters.
At around noon, Andromeda called the two for lunch. Just by the aroma of the food, Selene could tell that Andromeda was a terrific cook. Well, she indeed was. She ate heartily, she had never eaten anything good before.
Selene was ecstatic. She knew that her life was going to become better, now that she had left Grimmauld Place and found a new family. She was probably the luckiest girl in the Wizarding World.
A/N: hi guys! This is just the prologue of this story. What are your thoughts by far on this story? I hope that you all enjoyed this one.
Comment, vote, follow!
Love,
Jazl