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TRIGGER WARNING - ABUSE
Fourth year passed with little to no interesting activity. Aquila, Regulus and the Marauders finished the map at the beginning of the year and The Marauders, in return, agreed to let the twins use the Invisibility Cloak for their purposes, to which Sirius had asked 'anything illegal?'
The twins had responded with a no, and Sirius had looked crestfallen.
Bellatrix had been staying more and more away from her home, if Uncle Cygnis was to be believed. In recent developments, Walburga and Orion had begun to be influenced by Cygnus and Druella and had started to cast a condescending eye over Sirius' Gryffindor room decor. Sirius had, of course, taken inspiration from their looks and attempted to scandalise them further.
The next day, rolled up posters with permanent sticking charms had arrived. According to Sirius, Peter had bought those posters from his muggle village (with a red face, Aquila was sure) and had sent them to James for his parents to charm because apparently, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were the only parents who were less likely to die of a heart attack on seeing half-naked muggle women.
So here Sirius was, putting up posters and symbols of his Gryffindor pride around his room as Aquila and Regulus sat on his bed playing Exploding Snap. It was a terrible game and Aquila hated it, but Regulus had taken her chocolate hostage and was threatening to throw it all in the fire, unless she played the game with him. Aquila had nearly murdered him before agreeing.
It was the vacation before their fifth year (fifth year, merlin) and because of their parents being influenced more and more by their aunt and uncle, Bellatrix had been coming by often. Till now, there was no attack directly towards the children, but it was clear that the only way Sirius could even think of redeeming himself was by getting the Dark Mark as soon as his academic career ended.
When having this discussion with their parents, Sirius had promptly and cheerfully stated that the day he got the Dark Mark would be the day he would chew off his own foot and stitch it beneath the other one. Orion had slightly cringed, but the effect was undeniable, and their parents certainly did not approach Sirius about this again, lest they get another terrifying glimpse into their son's head.
In other developments, Uncle Alphard had recently taken a liking to Sirius and his ideologies and had been approaching the young lad at family dinners and parties. He always made a point to seek Sirius out, and while Sirius had found this weird at first he soon grew into this new found nephew-hood.
Bellatrix had been betrothed to a certain handsome man named Rodolphus Lestrange, who was as handsome as he was crazy. God forbid the both of them have children, with beautiful faces and cunning minds and a twisted brain with a taste for murder.
So, now, coming back to the topic at hand, Sirius was putting up posters while Regulus and Aquila were having an intense staring competition. Aquila screamed into her brother's mind when she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and Regulus flinched in surprise before pointing an accusatory finger at her.
"You cheater!" he exclaimed. "You cheated!"
Sirius snorted. "How do you cheat at a staring contest, Reg? Sore loser."
Regulus narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but a slight crack and Kreacher apparated into the room.
"Greetings to Masters and Mistress Black," he bowed low and eyed the new room decor with disdain, which Sirius definitely noticed.
"Hello, like my posters?" Sirius asked.
Kreacher bowed low again. "Of course, Master Sirius, they are lovely."
"Just how lovely?"
"Very much so."
Sirius got a wicked grin. "If you like them so much, I can get some for your room as well, Kreach."
Kreacher blanched and turned pale as snow. He looked over to Regulus and Aquila who were watching the interaction with amusement. Regulus tsked Sirius. "Stop scandalising him with your impure thoughts, Sirius. What is it, Kreacher?" he asked more gently.
Kreacher bowed again. "Mistress wanted me to inform you that Mistress Bellatrix is going to be attending the family dinner tonight, and that she expects her children to be dressed according to the situation." He bowed once again, and with a crack! he left once again.
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The old chandelier on top of the dining table filled the tense silence that had enveloped the room.
"Due to certain, developments," a smile at Bellatrix, "the ground floor parlour will be shut off and none of you children are supposed to go in there. Is that understood?" Walburga asked. Regulus and Aquila uttered low murmurs of 'yes, mother'.
"Is that understood, Sirius?" Bellatrix asked in a forceful voice. Sirius was still looking down at his plate with odd concentration, as if he was praying.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, please no.
Please don't tell me Sirius is sleeping, Aquila begged Regulus. Regulus slid down from his chair a bit so that his foot would reach Sirius', but apparently Regulus' growth spurt was no match for the huge dining table. Regulus and Aquila cast pleading looks at Orion, to whose left Sirius was sitting, or rather, sleeping. Orion took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, but looked away and remained silent.
Aquila felt like crying. Their father, the one person who had always and always wanted to have fun and supported them come what may, was now staring away from them as if he didn't recognise them at all.
Bellatrix whipped out a black handled knife from the sleeve of her gown and slammed it on Sirius' plate. It shattered into tiny shards and one of them flew up and landed hard on Sirius' hand, impaling his knuckle rather strongly. Obviously, Bellatrix had used some sort of Amplifying or Explosive Charm, considering Aquila got a huge shard in her ear as well, which made her miss Sirius' expression of surprise due to the ringing in her ears. She felt a strange pain on her cheek as well, but her cheek came away unscathed.
"You insolent child!" Bellatrix snarled, now looming over Sirius with her wand clutched in her hand.
"I think you dropped this," Sirius said weakly, throwing the knife gently at Bellatrix while trying to stop the blood flow from his hand.
Bellatrix growled, an inhuman noise, and not for the first time, Aquila wondered what her Animagus form would be. It seemed her brain was unable to comprehend much besides listening to the conversation that was happening. And of course, the ringing in her right ear which had turned into a shrill sort of whistling noise.
Sirius whimpered, the blood from his hand would not stop. He was no stranger to the tip of Bellatrix's knife, none of them were, but it still hurt a lot. Everything had happened so quickly, Regulus and Aquila hadn't been able to shield anyone.
Bellatrix growled again and grabbed a handful of Sirius' hair and dragged him to the sitting room. Aquila and Regulus tripped over themselves and clutched at each other as they entered the sitting room where Bellatrix was whispering something furiously in Sirius' ear while poking her wand at his neck, which she had bared pulling his hair backward.
Sirius shook his head, once, tightly, face scrunched in pain, and apparently, that was all Bellatrix needed.
In a flurry of movements, she released Sirius and turned him around so he was facing her and raised her wand. In a bright red light, Aquila only heard one word before she collapsed into Regulus' arm.
"Crucio!"
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i'm really sorry.
even in the movies, people try to romanticize bellatrix. i have to admit, helena bonham carter did a wonderful job playing her, but bellatrix is still an evil person with no redeeming qualities.
and yes, i know im a hypocrite in casting keira knightley, a widely loved actress, but i think that's where i appreaciate the irony.
outer beauty does not necessarily mean inner beauty.
i am always here to talk if you wanna, add me on my disc or pm me here on wp.
i love you all, and please take care and stay safe.
༻hy༺