Chapter Text
It was the winter of 1966 when three sisters found themselves chatting brightly in the library of the Black Manor, books strewn across the floor where they sat.
“So, this enchantment will let us talk to each other from anywhere in the world?” Narcissa asked, eyes wide in amazement.
Bellatrix smiled at her little sister. “Yes, it will. We just need three objects to cast the spell on so we can all communicate with each other. Any ideas?”
“Well, I was originally planning to save these ‘till Christmas, but I have something that might work if you don’t mind getting your presents a few days early,” Andromeda answered. Receiving no arguments, she cast a summoning charm and three rings came flying into the room and dropped in Andromeda’s hand.
They all bore a symbol of a snake surrounded by daffodils and stars, a nod to each girl’s namesake and the house of the elder sisters, and had their names inscribed along the outside of the rings. Each ring differed in the materials it was made from; one of jet black metal and set with amethyst, one of silver and blue topaz, and the last of brass and jade.
Andromeda handed the first ring to Bellatrix, who thanked her with a fond smile, and the second to a starstruck Narcissa, giddy with excitement. The last ring, Andromeda slid onto her own finger. “I got these made in Hogsmeade a few months ago. I thought it would be fun to have matching ones, and now they can connect us even more.”
Bellatrix nodded. “I think they’re the perfect choice for the spell, Andi.”
“I’m never going to take it off, so we can talk to each other even when you two have to be at school,” Narcissa said.
Bellatrix glanced over the book that detailed the ritual once more before taking the three rings and casting the spell to magically link them. “There. Now we just have to test it out. Cissy, why don’t you go upstairs and try to send a message down to Andi and me? Just touch the top of the ring and think about what you want to tell us.”
Narcissa jumped up and scurried out of the room. A few minutes later, Andromeda and Bellatrix could hear their sister’s voice in their heads, asking, “Is it working?”
They each touched their own rings to give an affirmative response.
Bellatrix turned to her sister. “You know, I’m actually kind of suprised that worked. A lot of the spells in these ancient books are either outdated or purely theoretical. It took a lot of modifications to get this one to be even plausible.”
Andromeda shook her head. “Please, Bella, everything you try to do with your magic works. You’re barely in your fourth year, and probably on track to beat Dumbledore by twenty. Also, heads up, we’ve got about ten seconds until Cissa runs back in here and strangles us with her love.”
Sure enough, Narcissa returned a few moments later and tackled the older girls in an enthusiastic hug. “You’re the best sisters in the whole world.”
The three girls stayed together like that for a while, basking in their love for one another.
The joys of childhood were good to the Black sisters, but every child’s heart is eventually tainted by the evil that plagues the outside world. Even the brightest lights can be put out by a determined shadow. Innocent hearts are broken and brilliant minds poisoned until all that’s left is a hollow shell of what once was.