The party begins
"How long is this going to take ? I can't feel my legs anymore !" Shouted the oldest brother from behind.
They've been walking in a forest for about half an hour now. Yes, they could have apparated, that if they knew the exact location of the castle, which apparently they didn't. Hopefully, it was only four in the afternoon, the sun was still high in the sky and it was the only thing helping them not to get lost even more.
"Shut up." Bellatrix spoke coldly. "Either help us find the way or don't complain. Spoiled kid."
"Spoiled yourself." He replayed, rolling his eyes. Normally, Bellatrix would stop, turn around, and curse him either verbally or magically. But right now she was too focused on trying to find her way to the mysterious "party" that she didn't even bother to shot him a look.
"Reggie, come help me with this bloody Map" Narcissa called, probably also trying to locate the place before Bellatrix loses her mind and kills the four of them for being late as if it wasn't her fault.
Regulus obeyed, moving closer to Narcissa and eyeing the map with a bored look. Now, the three of them were slighty ahead, bickering about the way and leaving Sirius and Andromeda a bit behind.
"So ?" Sirius asked, when the others were far enough.
"What do you mean "so" ?" The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Bloody hell Meda I haven't got news of you for months !" He shouted in a low voice. "So what I mean by "so" is that you're going to give me a very detailled description of what happend"
"Alright calm down kid would ya ?" She sighted, a smile taking place on her sweet face. "Mufliato." she waved her wand graciously. Once she made sure the spell was casted, she turned to look at her cousin with a serious face. "This stays between us"
"Ooh noooo ! You know I can't live If I dont tell my dear mother about it !" He acted dramatically, faking a cry. "Girl be for real. What is between Stardust and Venus stays between Stardust and Venus, and that forever" He then said with a wink.
Stardust, Venus, Peridot, Melinoé and Nero. These were the black cousins' nicknames. No one knew about them beside themselfs, and Sirius really sherished them a lot, because it was the only time someone from his boring familly agreed to be fun, aside from the Ritual and Andromeda of course. (it did take some curses for Bellatrix to accept the idea of being called anything else but her name, but it was worth it.)
"Forever" she repeated with a smile. "Alright sir, what do you want to hear first ?"
"Where did you go ?" He asked lmmediatly. Even after she was back, Andromeda refused to give any explenation about her desappearance. The rest of the familly found no other solution than to let go of the issue, alfraid she'd run away again. And they were right about the assumption, she would have definitely done that. She wasn't a fragile girl, wasn't stubborn either, she was just as alive as a fire. She wanted to sway the way the melody in her head went, even when the melody took paths her familly was against. She deeply loved her sisters, never exactly hated her parents, but she hated their ideas. She was just like him, just like Sirius.
"I went to the village" she answered, still smiling. She knew he wouldn't judge. She knew he wouldn't care weither she went to villagers, muggles, royals or wizards, as long as she did well, as she was fine. That was the difference between him and the other blacks. They asked where she went too, they did, with worry on their face. But it wasn't her they were worried about. It was true that The blacks cared about familly. Oh so much. They would kill anyone who hurts one of them. They valuated themselfs as highter than anyone else, and they got eachother's back no matter what. But if you go against them, you become a shame. They worry about you, but they worry more about you distructing their plans. Sirius wasn't like them. He was all posh and prestige of course, but he cared about his loved one's well being, it always went first, and she loved that about him. It sided next to the countless other things she loved about her dear little cousin. He was just like her, just like Andromeda.
"I lived with my muggle friends, oh Sirius, if you knew ! It was awesome" she sounded so happy it made him smile along. "We spent nights blasting music on every rooftop in town ! I just know you would have loved to be here, if only I could take you with me.." her spark went out for a second, then it was back. "I took care of animals at my friend's farm too, i always saw workers do it but i never knew it would be that fun to do it myself ! It made me realise Sirius, there is so many things we don't know about the world yet, we're missing out"
"What a deep resolution, dear Venus" he joked. "You're right, I would have probably enjoyed the rooftop nights, not sure about the animals part but why not" he giggled, she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, we're young, we have plenty of time to discover the world, every single bit of it"
"Not if we stay here" she sighted.
"Not if we stay here." He agreed. "So why did you come back ?"
"One last duty here. Why didn't you leave yet ?"
"One last duty here too" he smiled, looking at the distant view of a huge gothic castle. They were only some minutes of walk away.
"I'm married by the way" she added, smiling again.
"What the actual hell" he swore, flabbergasted to say the least, so flabbergasted he stopped walking for a second before catching up on Andromeda who didn't stop to wait for him. "Wait seriously ?"
"As Sirius as you" she joked.
"How ? No who ? And when ?" He asked, one after the other. Marriage was the last thing he would have thought of . His familly was a bit or maybe too weird about that topic. Let's say they took familly union to a whole other level. It was also a very delicate choice to take. "Toujours pur" etait la devise de la famille après tous. Andromeda was maybe ready to rebel, to go against royalty, to run away, but he never would have thought she was capable to take it this far.
"A muggle, an adorable man from Snowdin." She answered. Snowdin was a village some miles away from the one they were in, it was also under the reign of the Blacks. "We made an umbreakable vow, we're stuck to death, isn't that wonderful ?"
"Oh my god" was the only answer he could formulate. "It is more than wonderful" he finally smiled, trying to chase his surprise away, she didn't need negative energy right now. "Congratulations, bride. Im happy for you"
She laughed and squeezed him lightly, and at that moment he found himself wishing to the good lord her happiness was to last. Because if anyone finds out about it, it was over for her. Marriage with a muggle was out of question, it could cost her life.
"We arrived" regulus' calm voice dragged Sirius out of his thoughts. And with another discrete wand movement, Andromeda cancelled the mufliato spell she casted earlier.
"This castle looks even more demoniac than ours, and i didn't even know that was possible" Sirius said with a hint of disgust.
"What did we excpect from Melinoé's Friends ? " Andromeda joked, collecting a blank stare from Bellatrix.
"Alright, shall the party begin !" Narcissa said with a smirk. And with that, the five cousins entered the castle, who knew the surprises it held.