Young & Royal

Dancing, chatting and drinking. A lot of drinking, yeah. But not enough to be drunk, hopefully. That could be a brief summary to how the party was going for Sirius. He hasn't seen Bellatrix ever since they arrived here, for the best, he didn't particularly want to spend time with her and her friends, probably as mental as herself. His interactions with Narcissa weren't long either, she just chatted with him a bit, offered him a drink, a Saphire Martini, saying it was her favorite, then desappeared in the crowd with a tall young man with long hair as blond as she recently became.

Regulus and Andromeda were much more present around him that evening. Regulus mostly stayed with his brother because he didn't want to socialize, but them together in a crowded room of nobles quickly turned into a court, or maybe into a fashion show critique on Sirius' side. No dress unjudged and no face not laughed at, the Black brothers' favorite activity was definitely gossiping, and after some drinks, they were really mean (okay, maybe even without some drinks, judging was just instilled in their blood.)

Andromeda was also standing next to them, drinking a butterbeer ans mostly listening to their endless yapping, sometimes also adding a bit of her own spice here and there. It was always a good time to pour gasoline on fire, gossiping was just too fun and judging was really just a Black thing. 

"Have you heard he married the Howard duchesse ?" Regulus asked, a hint of disgust visible in his usually blank face. He didn't excpect to recognise that many faces at the party, but seems like most of the guests were familiar nobles from the wizarding world. What could one except from Bellatrix, it's not like she was going to celebrate christmas with muggles after all. 

"Pauvre fille..." Sirius sighted, a dramatically sad sight. "That's the exact reason they should stop arranged marriage among Nobles. Just look at him !  then look at her !" He shook his head. "They're tripping !" 

"I think it's time you stop drinking, dear" Andromeda giggled, taking the cup off Sirius' hand. He wasn't drunk, not really , just a bit tipsy. But he still shouldn't go any further away because they had to return home in some hours and their parents must not doupt they've been anywhere. 

"Yeah, you're right" he gave in easily, he didn't want problems either, not this once, he had enough to fill in for the rest of the year. 

"Regulus." A familiar voice called. Regulus turned around to face his older cousin, her messy black curls covering her face. "Come here for a minute." She ordered. He shot a quick look to his brother who returned it before following Bellatrix. She probably wanted to introduce him to someone, as he was the most evil looking of them five after her of course. 

"That was weird" Sirius said, ready to follow them. 

"Oh common !" Andromeda stopped him. "She prolly has some scary cousin activities to do with him, just drop it" she smiled, those sweet amused smiles. "Dance with your favorite star instead" 

"With pleasure, très chère." He grinned, graciously taking the hand she was offering and dancing his worries away. He was probably just being paranoïd anyways, it's not like Bellatrix would actually hurt any of them, especially not Regulus. She loved them, she was just a bit complicated. And a bit crazy too, but that's once again a familly trait he also shared. Swaying to the music's rythme, he forced his mind to stop thinking about it, stop thinking about the Blacks, stop thinking about the War, stop thinking about the coronation, stop thinking about Sirius Black and whatever mess waited for him back at the castle. Right now, it was just Stardust and Venus sharing a lovely dance, nothing else mattered. He allowed himself a break. 

The break unfortunately didn't last long as a piercing silence disturbed the peaceful moment he was having. The music stopped, people froze and the big door opened. Now that he looked back on it, he was foolish, they obviously stayed too long at that party for it to be a simple Ritual. They should have been back home long ago, but he was too carried away by everything to realise that until now. It was almost past 10pm.

Slowly letting go of Andromeda's hand, he turned to face the huge black door that was now full opened.  The nightmarish view of his parents, aunts and uncles confirmed his thought. Sirius made two assumption at that instant. One : they collectively forgot about the time which caused their familly to discover their little sneaking out and come here to put an end to it, a possibility he weirdly found himself wishing was true. It would bring problems for sure, but probably less that the second assumption which was two : His parents were actually part of the party and he was about to be introduced to a brand new problem to add to his collection of unsolved messes. He was foolish, Sirius was foolish, so so so foolish. How could he think Christmas would pass without any extra pains, especially when it was the Christmas Regulus takes the crown. Of course it was going to be a hell. And of course it was going to hell better than the years before. 

"What is going on.." Andromeda's soft worried voice dragged him out of his thoughts. For the better, because if he drawned any more in them, Sirius was alfraid there'd be no going out. 

"I wish I knew." He sighted, reaching for her hand again. "Maybe it's...-" before he could communicate his thought to his cousin, the whole room bowed down, the black familly included. Only Sirius and Andromeda were left there standing in confusion.

Andromeda, looking around her for any sign of explication, came eye to eye with her father who was also on his knees. She ignored his persistent look and kept looking among the guests. Her sister.  Where was her sister ? Oh there was Narcissa. Also bowling down. She didn't look surprised at all. Were they really the only ones left in the dark ? 

"Bow down for the dark lord, the one who will give us power and strength to take over the world !" Bellatrix' well known voice resonated through the whole hall, making her younger sister shiver. Alright, Andromeda didn't know what was going on right now, she didn't know who the Dark lord was and she wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she followed the order and bowed down too. She needed to gain her familly's trust to be able to run away again without problems. She needed to seem into their weird fantaisies. 

Once on her knees, she tried to pull Sirius down too. "Just act like it dear, you don't want problems do you ?" She whispered softly.

"Im not bowing down for anyone !" He shouted, quite litteraly. He was too mad to chose his actions carefully. So after all these years without Rituals, once they do one, it's a trap ? A trap to drag them in a party hosted by the "dark lord" ? Who even was that ? Sirius didn't want to know either, but unfortunately he knew he'd be introduced very soon. And whoever was that, if he was linked with his familly, on a christmas night, he was probably the devil himself. 

"Screw you !" she shouted back, her voice as scary as ever. Then, managing to make her way through the raws of guests still on their knees, she dragged her younger cousin towards the corridor. He could have stopped her, he was stronger physically, but he didn't. He was going to leave the ballroom anyway, so let it be her who takes him out if she wanted, maybe she could give him a bloody explenation to what the hell was happening too. 

"What the fuck was that ?!" He asked in a violent tone, getting rid of her grip and taking a step back. 

"That's your future, you poor thing" she said with a smile. A mental smile that sent shivers down his spine. Sometimes, he wondered if that side of Bellatrix was the same person as his cousin, his dear evil Melinoé.That's why Sirius would never know if he hated or loved Bellatrix, she was simply not a single human. 

"That's YOUR future alone, Bellatrix." He spat. "Where is Regulus ?" His eyes took a darker shade. 

"You're just as Black as i am, sinner" she answered, her eyes inspecting the other with a hipnotic effect. "We're as bad as eachother, you belong with us" 

"I dont care. Where is Regulus ?" He repeated, ignoring her words. 

"Regulus..." She said. "Regulus found his right place, he understood his duty as the crown prince." 

"What did you fucking do to my brother Bellatrix ?! " He shouted, approaching her, his hand near his belt ready to grab his wand if necessary. 

"Nothing! your brother is completely fine, he chose his own Destiny." She said, her tone dark and mysterious. 

"As if we get to chose a thing in this bloody familly !" He said, his words dripping with sarcasm. "I wont repeat myself, where is Regulus ?" 

"He must be heading towards the room by now, ready to bow for his Lord" she answered, walking toward Sirius. "Im surprised he even managed to let this a secret and not spoil the surprise to you, a real miracle." 

He was about to exit the room but her words held him back. No, she was lying. She was manipulating him, there was no way Regulus knew about this. There was no way he wouldn't tell him. Regulus was the most terrified of them all about this christmas, he couldn't have stayed silent and all while being so calm. 

"Shut up, you witch" he snarled angrily, heading to the door again. He needed to find his brother so they could both get the hell out of here. They waited too long. 

"It was his Idea for us to disguise it into a ritual" she added, still looking at him with deep manipulatrice eyes. "He knew you wouldn't accept to come otherwise" 

"Bellatrix! the dark lord is waiting for us" a familiar voice called from outside the room. No way. This voice.. It was without any doupt his baby brother's. 

Sirius felt his world fall down at that exact moment, as an evil smile curled Bellatrix' lips.

"Looks like he came to confirm which side he belongs to."