Work Text:
Written for the International Wizarding School Championship Season Two
Writing School—Issue five
Lesson : Flashbacks
School : Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Year : Year 5 — Deputy
Prompt : (action) Waiting
Word Count : 805
Bellatrix didn’t love anymore. She didn't trust anymore either. Both were unnecessary emotions. Both lead to unnecessary heartache. She had to admit, however, that watching people around her love and trust and have a family sent her into a state of melancholy. She had, after all, had that life once.
She sighed and stepped out of the ballroom of the Malfoy Manor and into the front garden, looking around for Cissy. She had told her to wait for her before leaving. Out of the corner of her eye she saw some children skipping stones in a small pond surrounded by Flutterby bushes, and her melancholy and heartache both deepened. She tried to pull her eyes away from the scene but found that she could't. The pull of the memory was too sharp.
They used to skip stones just like that, her and Andy. Cissy was little and could never throw them right but she used to tag along anyway. It had been a tradition. Bella didn’t even have to make any effort for the memory to resurface. It was there when she closed her eyes, and it was almost as if she could smell the scent of the wet earth that used to surround them every time they went to their holiday estate. She breathed out slowly as she made her way to a lawn chair away from the pond and let the memory wash over her.
They had been sixteen when they had last gone to their holiday estate. Two years ago. Andy had still been there with them back then. They were inseparable back then. Cissy was twelve. Andy was teaching her the basics of skipping rocks while Bella sat at the edge of the pond, charm in place to keep her dry. She supposed she had still known, back then, that Andy was doing what she wasn't supposed to. Fraternizing with filth. It was a matter of time before all of it caught up with them.
“Bella!” Andy called from where her and Cissy were standing. “Come on, join in!”
Bella looked back at the two. Cissy was aiming to throw a pebble and Andy was grinning widely. The sun shone brightly enough that she had to shield her eyes to see them.
“In a minute!” she hollered back, and returned her gaze to the brightly shining water of the pond. She wasn’t sure of Andy’s intentions. She didn’t know how to feel about that. They had always known each other’s secrets. But now … If she was talking to Mudbloods she had to stop. It was unbecoming. But it wasn’t like she could tell anyone. Cissy was too little. She couldn’t be burdened so. Druella and Cygnus were out of the question. She couldn’t talk to Andy either, accuse her like this. She sighed.
“Bella,” Andy said from near her. Bella turned to see her standing beside her. Her shoes and robes were wet due to the lack of a charm. Andy made a face. Bella pulled out her wand and charmed them dry. Andy sat down beside her.
“What are you waiting for over here?” she asked.
Bella didn't immediately reply, opting instead to fiddle with her wand. She couldn’t say anything to her. Really, what was she waiting for? ‘ For your sister to make a stupid decision and abandon you?’ a voice inside her head asked snidely. She shushed it.
“Nothing,” she finally said, not looking at Andy. Andy wouldn’t ever do that. She wouldn’t abandon her and Cissy. They were sisters, after all. Sisters do not abandon each other. Suddenly, she felt the effect of her charm begin to fade and Andy, a curious gleam in her eyes, grinned before pushing her into the muddy water and running away.
“ Andy!”
She could hear her laughing from where she was running towards Cissy as Bella gathered her now filthy robes and summoned her wand. She narrowed her eyes.
“ Just you wait, you—” she ran towards her even as she began to grin herself. Andy was now hiding behind Cissy, using her as a shield. Bella shot streams of water through her wand trying to aim for Andy’s face, soaking both her sisters in the process.
“Bella!” Cissy cried indignantly, but she was grinning too. It would be one of the last few happy memories they had together.
“Bella?” a voice called from beside her and Bellatrix resurfaced to the now, the smile that had made its way on her lips fading. “Bella, what are you doing here? I was looking all over for you.”
She turned towards Cissy and sighed before smiling sadly. “Just … waiting for you.”