Anna III
As the days drawled on and the song stayed the same, the once-interesting snipes and shared disdain between Druella and Walburga became sandpaper on Anna’s ears. The few interruptions she did have were by no means great and more troubling than the interruptions in question knew.
Narcissa’s visit had been a welcome one, to Anna's surprise. Her words, on the other hand, were not.
Anna had been a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and had gorged herself on fanfiction. It had been an addiction, one she found hard to shake and when she did, well, if Anna returned to them every once in a while, nobody knew but her. She had read half the wiki and all the book and even with such a long time and her memories disappearing in the wind - cut down to when she was thirteen, her childhood seemed like a fog she couldn't lift - Anna still knew the lore. Knew it well enough that when Narcissa first opened her mouth to say ‘ I’m a natural Legilimens ’ something was seriously up.
Knew it well enough that there hadn’t been a ‘Rigel’ mentioned in canon.
A Legilimens , she had thought with gritted teeth but Narcissa had looked so unrealistically full of sorrow that Anna had lowered herself to her most inner, most natural instincts for once. A natural Legilimens had been explored as a fanfiction concept, a magic-sensitive user had been used in so many cliches and the younger Black was subject to their abrasions instead of the self-insert Mary Sue.
Anna would have been majorly upset if it wasn’t for the fact that a natural Legilimens hadn’t caught onto her whole reincarnation act.
“Maybe you’ll be a natural Occlumens to battle my natural Legilimency .” Echoed in her head, that rich tone of Narcissa reverberating through her skull unwitting and unwelcome. Maybe Narcissa was untrained except, no, she seemed perfectly capable and only overwhelmed at the thought of her abilities going buck wild.
Would it make sense, for Anna to be the opposite of Narcissa’s Legilimency?
It rose the question again, what effect Anna accidentally had created on canon. Rigel , Narcissa had told her with such a childish adoration and nostalgia that it hadn’t taken long to pin down the fact he had died young. If there had been a child born to the Blacks, who had died early, wouldn’t it had been mentioned? The books went out of their way to announce long ago disowned members but missed out on one singular boy? What were the chances?
The odds made her feel more nauseous than usual.
Druella had a strange fascination with carrying Anna around with her but for the first month of her ‘confinement’, as Anna liked to call it, Druella had been restrained to walking around the four walls of the nursery. The woman was ecstatic with joy at being able to take Anna with her as she made her way through the house.
It had been there that Anna had first met Cygnus, her should-be father. The only information that Anna had on him was that he was Walburga’s sister, father of Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa and if the younger girl was to be believed, an up-and-coming alcoholic. The damned liquid haunted her even after death, she thought balefully.
“Druella.” Cygnus had said in a cold, flat tone that matched Walburga’s exactly. “Is that her, then?”
Druella had tensed, so slightly that Anna wouldn’t have felt it if she wasn’t always in her arms, and Anna had felt the overwhelming urge to spit in his face. Anna wasn’t a huge fan of the woman, to be frank. She believed in the magical version of Nazi values and sought to teach her children them in turn but for the past month, Druella had been Anna’s almost-constant companion. She didn’t want to see her hurt, although getting a bit shook up might do her some good.
Is this Stockholm Syndrome? Anna thought, aghast.
“It is her , yes.” Druella had spat out and it was so uncharacteristically cold that Anna had peered up at the woman to see if she was about to pull a knife, or a wand, on the man. “Your daughter, Ursa.”
Cygnus had approached her, boots clicking against the floor as he looked down at her. Silver eyes and dark hair that curled wildly. Like Bella’s , Anna thought distantly. He could be described as almost pretty with such delicate features, it was no wonder all three Black sisters were beautiful.
“Hello, child.” He had murmured with an inflexion in his voice she couldn’t pin down. Anna had squirmed and the shadow of a smile had appeared on his face before he had turned up to face Druella again. Anna was clenched to her chest, held so tightly that she was surprised her face wasn’t buried in fabric.
Druella had nodded tightly, face strained with a placid expression. “Good day, then, husband.”
Warmth evaporated from his face, turning his lips thin and eyes narrowed as a heavy hand was placed upon Druella’s shoulder. His lips curled into a sneer but his irritation had been aimed elsewhere judging by the unruffled stare of Druella. Must have been, because Anna was gaining a healthy amount of respect for Druella’s ability to scare and scorn with only a look. “We’ll be hosting the Yule dinner this year, Druella. Make the necessary preparations with the elves, won’t you?”
With that, he had continued down the hall at a hastier pace than he had before. Anna would have joined him if she could. The glacier gaze on Druella’s face would freeze the bravest of souls as the woman breathed in a sharp breath that promised sweet vengeance.
“That man…” Druella had whispered furiously, voice lined and tired with years of a falling-apart marriage that Anna knew too well.
So that’s how Anna ended up here. Stuffed into a silken contraption that had too much silk and her curls falling around her head as Druella placed her into a woven bassinet that sat on a sturdier surface than the plush sofas. Distantly, she could hear the bright chatter of the three sisters as they hurried around the house. Anna didn’t know much about ‘dinners’ but she assumed that they were important, positively formal but rarely hosted by Druella and Cygnus.
Anna shifted again, feeling lucky that the material was as soft as it was. Even as an adult, she had never liked family gatherings. There was always a gap between her and her relatives, with the exception of her brother, on both sides. A rift that had never mended and a rift she had never sought to mend and she had been - still was - fine to leave it like that.
The door flung open silently, like all the other doors in the godforsaken manor.
It was Bellatrix who came bounding in because for all her youth Narcissa was bent to posture and demurity. Bellatrix's hair was pinned in place and kept in place by magic and for someone who would look far more at home in a pair of trousers, the older girl seemed to bask in the dress she wore. It suits her , Anna thought.
Andromeda came in after her. The little time Anna had spent observing the sisters had highlighted the fact that rather than Bellatrix and Narcissa, the two purebloods ‘left standing’ to put it bluntly, were more indifferent to each other than perceived. Andromeda played the almost-twin to Bellatrix well, if not a shade quieter and a touch more affectionate.
Narcissa trailed in after, back straight and chin up. The picture of the perfect pureblood, with her blonde hair arranged in a complicated hairstyle. It was offputting to see a look like that on a person so young and it would have been like seeing a tiny adult if it wasn’t for the smile that she swapped - or, tried to - with Anna and the way Narcissa fidgeted on the spot as if she wasn’t quite sure she was supposed to be here.
Druella gave them all a bright smile that hid the weariness beneath. “I thought you had gone to greet your Aunt and Uncle.”
Bellatrix brightened but there was the definite hint of something nasty. “We asked an elf to let us know when they’re coming through, just in case Cissy misses it.”
Andromeda gave Bellatrix a reproaching look that Anna would have missed if she wasn’t where she was sitting. It was gone before anybody who wasn’t looking closely could see it. Anna felt her curiosity stir, that damned beast.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” Narcissa huffed as all eyes landed on her. Anna half-expected her to deflate but she merely raised her chin. “At least I don’t have to rely on my lessers .”
Oh, shit, Anna thought with metaphorically raised eyebrows. Her current experiences were leading to a professional blank face. Bellatrix’s face morphed into one of rage that made Voldemort at his angriest seem sweet but a hand on her arm stilled the stirring storm. Andromeda gave both of them flat stares, looking so much like Druella that Anna had to give her double-take.
“Narcissa is just over-eager , isn’t that right, Cissa?” Andromeda said sweetly, making no room for disagreement.
Narcissa shuffled awkwardly.
Bellatrix glared steadily back, her fury withheld only by the middle sister but still ready to lash out verbally.
Druella sighed as if this was a daily occurrence, steeling her face into one of hard iron. “If both of you keep bickering, I’ll have you eat with the house elves like dogs! Bellatrix, go to the floo and wait for our guests. Andromeda, be a dear and join her. Narcissa, stay here . I’ll not have you two sniping over their heads if you can't act properly.”
Their mother's threats cowed neither girl if the steely looks on their faces were any proof, but Bellatrix took a tight hold of Andromeda’s hand and turned on her heel with a dramatic flair, all but stomping back out from where she came. Narcissa gave her a nasty look when the door closed, practically skipping over to where Anna was sitting with a distinctively cheerier mood than before.
“Bella's so bossy.” She complained with a frown, sitting on the sofa with a degree of grace that should be impossible for a child to accomplish.
“She’s just jealous, dear.” Said Druella absently, placing herself beside her daughter with a frown. “Bellatrix was lauded for her power as a child and now you are taking that spotlight. She’ll learn to share in time.”
Narcissa wasn’t appeased but Anna thought she never would be.
“Is that why she doesn’t like Sirius?” She queried with the innocence of a six-year-old.
Druella gave her a sharp look. “Bellatrix was the heir of the Black family before he came along, to-be one of the most powerful witches of her generation and garnering praise from every relative from the family. Now, she is being upstaged by those younger than herself. Anybody would have trouble adjusting to that.”
Narcissa tilted her head. “Did you have trouble adjusting?”
Anna almost choked on her own breath. Narcissa didn’t seem to realise the impact of her words as her mother stared at her with a cold, hard expression. She was waiting for one of them to break, for Druella to spit something unreasonable or for Narcissa to spill another of her secrets.
“Yes,” Druella said coolly, still unwilling to snap at her daughter if thinning of her lips was anything to go by. “If you wish for someone to entertain you, find it with Ursa. I have duties to attend to.”
Druella got up swiftly and swept away, hands clenched tightly at her sides and looking the epitome of an ice statue. Anna watched her go with a feeling of mild sorrow.
“Oh, I must have hurt her feelings,” Narcissa said, rather bluntly. “I do that a lot. I don’t mean to, Ursa, I don’t but sometimes people just think so loudly . You think nice and quietly, not like Bella or Mother or baby Sirius, it makes you a good company. For me, at least.”
The girl stilled as if pondering something. “Even Uncle doesn’t think as quietly as you do, you know, and he was trained by Aunt Cassiopeia. But it will be good to see him again. Uncle Orion isn’t very talkative but he brings the best gifts. Like last year, he brought me a...”
Even Uncle doesn’t think as quietly as you do.
Anna swallowed but the ready-made denial couldn't swim past the proof.
Fuck .