Of Bluebells and Buttercups (when the Beauty was also the Beast)
Sirius remembered the day he first met Evan Rosier.
It was a pleasant summer's day, the heat of the high standing sun was softened by a welcomed gentle breeze. And in the well-tended garden that kreacher was so proud of, Sirius could see two children under the watchful eyes of the house-elf. Rosier, seven at the time, had come to visit his intended fiancée, who was a six-year-old.
It really was something ludicrous when you thought about it, if it weren't for the pityful circumstances. Cygnus Black married off his daughters while they where still in the cradle, and his brother Orion had done the same. In fact, the only reason why the two engaged got to meet each other before Hogwarts was because the Rosier heir grew curious when he heard about his affiance.
Sirius remembered looking at the scene through his bedroom window and feeling jealous. Aster was allowed outside! Sirius wasn't allowed to do that when he was six, how unfair had that been to his childish mind.
Aster was wearing blue that day, the first time she had worn anything that wasn't black, a summer dress that was tinted a lighter shade of colour than Sirius had ever known a Black's clothing to be. Sirius remembered feeling jealous of that too - he wouldn't even mind wearing a dress when it meant he could get to wear that same shade as the sky.
They made flower crowns, bluebells and buttercups covered their picnic blanket as well as some carnations and daffodils. Aster was already working on her third, while Rosier still struggled with his. Sirius didn’t know who taught her, didn’t know if she was taught at all. Aster always had a way of knowing things she shouldn’t, innocent things like this. (But also much more bloodly ones.)
The sun made Rosier's hair glow like gold, which complimented the flowers Aster had tangled there. Rosier was wearing blue too, which might explain why Orion and Walburga had their daughter put on that dress. (All Blacks dress according to their name all the time, but exceptions can be made for their daughters in the presence of their future husbands.)
He remembered looking at that scene under the weeping willow and thinking it must be something out of a dream. They looked like a fairytale prince and princess - and they kind of were. The Blacks were basically royalty and the Rosiers weren't far behind them.
Sirius didn't remember the day his little sister got married, but he did remember the day he found out. Because he had to figure it out for himself, for he and Aster hadn't spoken in years.
He remembered reading the Daily Prophet, looking for the obituary list that only grew longer every day, in the hopes that he would be lucky enough not to see another familiar name on it this time. He remembered seeing a moving picture of the two newlyweds. He remembered feeling relieved, because his little sister had chosen to be like Cissa and not Bellatrix. To be a perfect pureblood wife and stay in her husband’s shadow, where she would be overlooked.
Yet Sirius wasn't relieved for her sake, but for the wizarding world's.
He was relieved that his little sister had found someone who could fasten her to the realm of men. Someone to keep her from destroying it.
(It was only to be expected that Hell rained down that day Evan Rosier died.)