The Black Manor
Somewhere hidden between the greeneries of the French countryside and the songs sung by nightingales stood a mighty manor. Windows decorated the black, marble-stone facade like watchful eyes. Tended gardens brought a sense of perkiness and nostalgic attendance. The manor's hallways were occupied with shimmering sunlight and whispering paintings. Its rooms were filled with effusive laughter and gentle music.
In one of those halls, spectated by the portraits of previous habitants, Narcissa, Koronis, and Sirius's feet pounded against the emerald-green carpet. They scurried down the hallway, a trail of giggles marking their presence. The trio burst into one of the many rooms of the manor. Three other children, also two girls and a boy, had been awaiting them.
Regulus, who had been reading a story with his cousin Andromeda, shut his book with haste and jumped up. "And? And? What did they say, Cissy?" He exclaimed in French. "What did you hear?"
Narcissa, her usually pale skin now tinted with a blush, squealed as she twirled around her axis. Her white and black locks danced in the air as she walked ever so lightly as if gravity had trouble controlling her. Overcome with joy, she fell onto the bed, right into her sister Bellatrix's lap.
"Cissy is in love," Sirius sang as he pretended to faint into Koronis's arms.
"Tell us what they said, Cissy!" Regulus insisted as he scooched closer to his cousin.
Narcissa bit her lip in attempt to hide her smile. "Lord Malfoy gave my father his blessings! Lucius wants to marry me!" Narcissa blurted out. Her smile was so vivacious that everyone else couldn't help but smile aswell.
"You're so lucky," Koronis sighed. She went to sit with Andromeda who proposed to braid Koronis's hair for dinner.
"Aren't I?" Narcissa said dreamily. "He sent me a letter this morning. He told me how much he loved my hair. How much he loved me. He's just so . . . perfect."
"I've always loved your hair," Bellatrix noted as she twirled Narcissa's curls between her fingers.
"I know, Bella," Narcissa acknowledged with a heartfelt smile. "But, Lucius isn't my sister. He's not, you know . . . forced to accept it."
Narcissa had never felt very confident when it came to her hair, or any of her physicality. Of course, she was beautiful; she was a Black after all. Even after generations of incest, the Black offspring remained easy on the eye.
Still, Narcissa was a bit different. She had a physical condition that prevented the production of melanin; albanism.
Although black hair was a dominant gene in the house of Black, Druella Black had given birth to a white-haired baby. All her life, Narcissa fell victim to the many comments that family members and friends would make on her hair or her skin.
"Can she even be considered a Black?"
"Perhaps she's a bastard."
"She's so pale, how will she ever find a husband?"
Each comment weighed her deeper down into a pit of insecurity. So, when she was thirteen, she tried to magically dye her hair black. It backfired, and only a select few of strands remained permanently black. Her hair had become a swirl of white and black. Her parents had gotten mad at her for it, and she had cried for days on end. The insecurity of her hair grew only larger. No one had ever liked or even appreciated her hair. At least not out loud. Sure, her sisters and cousins tried to cheer her up, but Narcissa never thought they were genuine. So when Lucius Malfoy complimented her hair during Potions in their first year, she had established a soft spot for the blond with immediate effect. Now, they were bound for marriage.
"Lucius is so sweet!" Narcissa continued. "Once we're of age, we'll marry! Two years seem like too long to wait."
"You're luckier than most, you know," Bellatrix said. "Rudolph won't talk to me unless his parents force him to."
A few months ago, Bellatrix had traded her name for the name of house Lestrange. Like the name indicated, the family was a strange lot. Koronis would never admit it out loud, but she was scared of them. At each Sacred event (an event thrown in the name of the twenty-eight 'sacred' families, including the Blacks) both Koronis and Sirius would conceal themselves at the other end of the room just to avoid them. Bellatrix once told them that the Lestrange's dining seats were made out of the bones of the people who had crossed them.
"At least you're married to another family," Andromeda declared. "Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion couldn't say the same. Imagine you had to marry Sirius."
"Ew!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'd never marry Bella!"
"If you don't get married soon, you'll probably find yourself in that position, Andie," Bellatrix huffed.
Andromeda, braiding her cousin's hair, simply rolled her eyes.
"You need to find a husband soon before my father forces me to marry you," Sirius said, shuddering at the thought. "For my sake."
"I won't marry," Andromeda said. "I'll be like great-aunt Belvina; without husband, children, and yet have a fulfilled life."
"I hope I marry into a pure family like the Gaunts or the Rosiers," Koronis told. "Aunt Druella said that the Rosiers are a good family to marry into."
Aunt Druella, who was the mother of the three sisters, was born in the Rosier family. Also being from French origins, the Blacks appreciated and respected the Rosiers a lot. Evan and Pandora Rosier, also twins, were Sirius and Koronis's best friends. At every Sacred they were glued to one another. They'd explore the host's home on their tippy toes and play in their huge garden until they were lost.
"Nix, stop moving so much," Andromeda demanded as she positioned Koronis's head properly.
"Sorry," Koronis muttered. "I just hope I'll find someone like Lucius. Someone sweet and loving." Sirius scoffed.
"We all know that you want to marry Evan."
"Not!" Koronis protested. "Evan's just a friend. Who do you want to marry, Sirius?"
"I don't care, as long as it isn't a Weasley," Sirius noted. "Having to mix blood with a traitor is bad enough, but having red-headed children? That's foul."
Snickers and chuckles echoed through the room.
"But you know you're going to have to marry, right?" Bellatrix said. "You are the heir of the house."
"No, I'm not," Sirius retorted. "Nix is."
"No she's not," Bellatrix concluded.
"She is!" Regulus said. "Mother told us so. Nix was the first to come out of Mother's womb. It's her birthright."
"But she's a girl," Bellatrix reminded them. "Just like us, she'll marry into another family. How do you want be heir of a house you don't belong to?"
"They're only eleven, Bella," Andromeda said calmly as she wrapped Koronis's black curls into tight braids. "They're far from having to worry themselves with birthright."
That was a blatant lie. Birthright was something deeply treasured in most pureblood societies, and the house of Black was no exception. The house of Black was one, if not the most powerful house of Great Britain. They owned acres and acres of land in both Scotland and Great Britain, including the soil on which Hogwarts stands. Not only did they have a great economic influence, they had also managed to successfully and permanently weave their name into politics. Orion and Cygnus Black both had a seat in the parliament, and one of their grandfathers had been Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and another one had been the Minister. Orion and Cygnus were great friends with the Minister for Magic, consequently influencing a lot of his decisions.
There had to be someone to carry that legacy into the next generation, and then into the next one after that. So, many generations ago, it had been deamed appropriate to start teaching the Black children from the age of eleven how to manage the company and how politics work. Koronis and Sirius had turned eleven months ago, and their lessons had already become custom. They were quite interesting, and Koronis liked working with the numbers and graphs. Sirius preferred the political side of the course. He liked arguing with Koronis about the most unimportant issues that could be argued about.
"Andie did such a good job on your hair!" Narcissa exclaimed, snapping Koronis out of her thoughts. Koronis thanked Andromeda by giving her a kiss on her cheek before running to the closest mirror.
Soon, everyone started dividing and started doing their own thing. Sirius and Koronis had thought it a good idea to race eachother onto the canopy rooftop of the bed. Andromeda picked up a book and started reading it. Regulus, who had grown bored of reading, concealed himself to musical notes and played some piano in the corner of the room. The two other sisters were talking amongst themselves.
After many falls and bleeding noses on Sirius and Koronis's behalf, three knocks sounded. The door opened and revealed a house-elf.
"Kreacher," Bellatrix acknowledged with a soft smile.
Kreacher, who had been the Black's house-elf when their parents were still children, had found himself as part of the family. The children loved him. He'd perform small acts of magic that would always leave the younger ones baffled. He was always so kind and polite with them, and the children saw him as their equal.
"Kreacher!" Regulus exclaimed. He jumped out of his seat, ending his sonnet on a bad note. Regulus loved Kreacher more than anyone else did. Why, no one could fathom, but no one tried to get between it either.
"Good evening, children," Kreacher greeted in English. Although he had been serving the house of Black for ages, he didn't understand a single word in French. The children, who mainly communicated in French amongst themselves, had tried everything to teach him the language but it never prospered. Narcissa had even written an entire essay on how house-elves were incapable of learning a new language and that sort of boring stuff.
"Are you in need of anything, Kreacher?" Andromeda asked, switching to her British accent.
"My lord Alphard Black requested your presence."
Koronis and Sirius looked at each other for a moment before rushing out of the room and down the many stairs. When they got the top of the entrance stairs, they could already see him. As always, he sported black robes, black gloves and a mischievous smile that resembled that of Sirius and Koronis too well.
"Uncle Alphard!" Koronis and Sirius rushed down the stairs, almost crashing into each other. They jumped into their uncle's arms. With ease, Alphard heaved Sirius onto his shoulders, and Koronis onto his hip.
"Now, you two," Orion Black said, coming down the stairs, "let your uncle breathe. His travels must've exhausted him."
Orion's remark only made the twins tighten their grip on their uncle. Whenever their mother or father made a remark, the twins would execute the exact opposite; that's just how their brains were wired. They were natural rebels who did whatever wasn't expected from them, even when they didn't find joy in it (which was rare; they loved messing with their parents). Of course they knew when and when not to do it, but, they had missed their uncle too much to let him go.
"Aren't you supposed to be in London?" Sirius said in French, leaning on his uncle's head. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I came to see my favourite twins before they'd leave for Hogwarts," Alphard said. "You've grown so much!"
In three days, Sirius and Koronis would attend their first year at Hogwarts with Narcissa for her fifth, and Andromeda for her last. Bellatrix had graduated two years ago.
Regulus and the sisters came to greet their uncle as well. Alphard wasn't the sisters's true uncle, but he cared for them as much as he did for the twins and Regulus.
"Koronis!" Walburga's shrill voice sounded through the halls. She had followed her husband down the stairs. Koronis had always thought her mother was the most beautiful woman ever. She was long and elegant, her cheekbones stood high and her lips were always a pleasant shade of pink. Her black curls slid smoothly down her back, and her trademark gray eyes shimmered beneath her long lashes. Koronis aspired to be as extravagant a woman as her mother was.
"Why are you still in your ballet clothing? Dinner will be served soon. Go get dressed, please," Walburga requested.
It wasn't until then that Koronis noticed she still had her ballet tenue on. A black bodysuit and a black, flowy, transparent skirt. Her uncle Alphard let her go and encouraged her to follow her mother's instructions. Everyone else followed Koronis's example and went on to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was a very formal affair in the manor. Back in London, at Grimmauld Place, Koronis, Sirius, and Regulus didn't need to get their hair done or wear fancy dresses and robes. Yet, here in France, the manor demanded that. The Black Manor had always been an indispensable part of the Black family.
At first it was built as a summer house where the entire family could come together. It was also where the children that didn't attend Hogwarts would learn about potions, magic, and its history so that when they'd actually go to school, they'd excel and do justice to the name of Black.
It was in the Black Manor where many balls had been held, and where many significant moments in the family's history had taken place. Most Blacks were born in the Black Manor, the six cousins included. The Manor was a blessing, and so it was treated as such with respect and honor. It was the soil the family had used to bloom and prosper their glory on. No one knew that it would be the same place where the house would meet its warranted end.