Bellatrix Black climbed off the Hogwarts Express, with a huge grin on her face. She searched the crowd for her family. She hadn’t seen her parents or her sisters since she had left for Hogwarts, back in September. It had been kind of sad to leave the Hogwarts castle and all of her new friends behind, but she was glad to be going home. She had missed her family. And the repeated owls from her sisters told her that they missed her too.

Anxiously, she moved her had back and forth. Her long mane of hair, swinging behind her. Her eyes flashed through the crowd of unfamiliar faces. Had her parents forgotten that she was coming home that day? Sadly, that wouldn’t surprise her, but surely her sisters would have remembered. They always seemed so anxious to see her. They wouldn’t forget what day she was coming home.

She was beginning to feel concerned, when a small voice broke through the crowd. “Bella.”

Immediately, she recognized the voice of her youngest sister. She continued to scan the crowd, trying to find the little girl. A few seconds later, she spotted a blonde head bobbing through the crowd, and then small arms grabbing her around the waist.

Bella giggled and lifted the small girl into her arms. Narcissa kissed her on the cheek, and whispered in her ear, “I missed you, Bella.”

“I missed you, too,” she replied, holding her sister tightly.

“What about me?” chirped another familiar voice.

Bella returned Narcissa to the ground, and turned to her other sister, wrapping her in a tight hug. “Of course, I missed you too, Andy,” she told her.

She was still clutching her sister when her parents emerged from the crowd. They both looked down at their daughter with mere recognition, and nothing more. This had no effect on Bella. She was used to it. Her parents hardly ever regarded her with anything other than simple acknowledgement. She had learned to seek nothing more from them; it only resulted in disappointment. But she still loved them, and could not help being glad to see them.

Her father lifted her large trunk, and turned to her. He was a large and intimidating man. His dark eyes bore into hers. He was hardly the fatherly type, but he had tried with Bella, more than her mother had ever done. They were not close, nor would they ever be, but Bella knew he loved her, in his own way. He wasn’t distant with his children because he didn’t care; he simply didn’t know how to be any other way. Bella had forgiven him his shortcomings long ago. She gave him a small smile, which he returned. It was the closest thing to affection she would ever receive from either of her parents.

“We need to get home,” her mother said, impatiently.

Bella couldn’t imagine why, but knew better than to ask. Her mother never liked to be questioned.

As they turned to leave, Bella felt something tugging at her robe. She looked down to see little Narcissa staring up at her with her bright blue eyes. She stuck her hands in the air. “Carry me, Bella.”

Bella reached down to pick up her sister, but stopped short when she received a dangerous glare from her mother.

“She can walk on her own, Bellatrix. She does not need to be coddled like that,” she said sharply.

“Sorry, Mother,” she replied, softly, leaving her sister on the ground, with tears in her eyes.

Once their mother had turned around, Bella offered Narcissa her hand. The little girl accepted it, and beamed up at her.

The three girls trotted behind their parents until they reached the Leaky Cauldron. Inside, they purchased some Floo powder, and used the fireplace to get home, as none of the girls were able to Apparate.

As soon as they stepped out of the fireplace, Narcissa and Andromeda each grabbed one of Bella’s hands and started dragging her towards the stairs. She looked back at her parents, as if asking for permission to accompany her sisters. She wanted to make sure that they didn’t want to speak with her first; even though, she knew it was highly unlikely.

Her mother gave her a curt nod. Bella understood that the nod did not indicate consent; rather it indicated disinterest. It made no real difference to her. She was pleased to be left alone with the only two people who really cared about her.

They ended up in Narcissa’s room, which was actually Bella’s least favorite room in the house. It was so pink and frilly. Everything in the room screamed little girl, understandable, considering that was exactly what Narcissa was. But Bella had never allowed her room to look like this. When she was four, she had loudly demanded that her room be redone in a dark shade of green. She had never been the girly type.

She settled down on her sister’s bed, and pulled out two Chocolate Frogs for her sisters. They were both incredibly excited, as their parents didn’t ordinarily allow them to eat sweets. Their mother was constantly worried that they would get fat, and no proper pureblood would want them. Bella highly doubted that a Chocolate Frog would doom her sisters to a life of solitude.

“So what is Hogwarts like?” Andromeda asked her, with her mouth full of chocolate. “Is it full of Mudbloods, like Mum and Dad say?”

“Are Mudbloods scary?” Narcissa asked, looking gravely concerned about her future.

Bella sighed. This was going to be fun. If her parents were going to insist on telling her sisters about these things when they were too young to hear it the least they could do was explain it properly. Poor Cissy had probably been dreaming about ugly swamp monsters for weeks.

“Yes, there are a lot of Mudbloods at Hogwarts, but they’re not scary, Cissy. The way Hogwarts is run you may not even know who is a Mudblood and who isn’t. They don’t look any different. The difference lies within their heritage. Their parents aren’t wizards, they’re Muggles. That makes them inferior to us, but the school does not understand that, therefore, you must be on your guard so that you do not end up associating with the wrong type of people. But there’s nothing to be afraid of. You just have to learn how to put them in their place. I’ll still be at school when you start, Cissy. I will teach you how to handle them.”

Bella hoped her speech had been useful. She was far too young to be left with the responsibility of teaching her sisters about pureblood beliefs. Perhaps, she would have to ask her father to sit down with them, especially Narcissa. Surely, he would be able to sit them straight, if she had failed. Surely, he wouldn’t want his daughters confused about their status in the wizarding world. She waited in silence, to see if either of her sisters wanted to know more.

“If you can’t even tell that they’re different, why are they inferior?” Andromeda asked.

“Because this isn’t their world,” Bella told her, simply. “It’s ours. Being magical is our birthright, not theirs.”

“I don’t get it,” Andromeda continued. “They wouldn’t be at Hogwarts if they couldn’t practice magic, and if they can practice magic, they must have been born with the ability. Wouldn’t that make it their birthright too?”

“By letting people like that into our world, we are asking for danger. Muggles have hated our kind for centuries. That is why we keep our existence a secret from them. But by allowing their children into our world, we are risking Muggles finding out about us, and trying to destroy our world. They have done it before. Wizards and Muggles don’t mix.”

“Why do they hate us?” Narcissa asked. “We didn’t do anything bad.”

Bella put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “No, we didn’t do anything bad. Muggles hate us because we can do magic, and they can’t.” She knew it was time to change the subject. There was only so much an eleven year old could offer on such a serious topic. “But, listen, there’s a lot more to Hogwarts then Mudbloods. I’ve learned a lot of really neat stuff.”

“Like what?” Andromeda asked.

“Yeah, show us,” Narcissa piped in.

“But, I’m not allowed to do magic outside of school,” she told her sisters, in a playful voice.

“Please,” they both begged.

She laughed. “Okay, I’ll show you one spell, but you have to promise not to tell Mum and Dad.”

“We promise,” they both said, quickly.

Bella pulled her wand out of her pocket, and glanced around the room for an appropriate target. She spotted her sister’s fluffy white teddy bear, and aimed her wand at it. She heard Narcissa gasp.

“Don’t worry,” Bella told her, softly. “I won’t hurt him.”

She aimed her wand directly at the bear’s stomach, and calmly said the incantation, “Wingardium Leviosa.” She moved her wand to bring the bear into the air, and then directed it across the room and into Narcissa’s waiting arms.

Her sisters gave her impressed oos and awws. She smiled at them. It was no longer a difficult trick, but it had taken her a long time to master the spell. It was nice to get some recognition for it. She hadn’t gotten much from Flitwick, although later in the term he had awarded her house points for being the first to learn a more complex charm.

“Will you teach us?” Andromeda asked, anxiously.

Bella hesitated. Using magic outside of school was against the rules. Teaching her sisters magic would be even worse. But they were so eager, and she hated the thought of disappointing them. Besides, there was no way her parents would allow her to be expelled from school; she was a pureblood, after all. She had every right to be educated in magic, unlike many of her classmates.

“I’ll teach you that one spell,” she told them. “But you can’t tell anyone. And when you start at Hogwarts, pretend you’ve never heard it before.”

They both, enthusiastically, agreed to her terms.

She was about to hand her wand to Andromeda when there was a knock on their door.

“Yes,” she called, slipping her wand back into her pocket.

The door slid opened, and the wrinkled face of their house-elf, Doopsy appeared. “Dinner is ready, miss. Your parents is wanting you downstairs.”

“Thank you, Doopsy,” Bella replied. “We’ll be right down.”

Once the house-elf was gone, Narcissa allowed a very sulky expression to appear on her otherwise adorable face. She crossed her arms, and looked cranky.

“What’s wrong?” Bella asked her.

“I don’t want to go downstairs. Mum and Dad don’t care if I do. They never even notice me. I want to stay up here with you and Andy.”

“You have to eat,” she reminded her. “And I promise, after dinner we’ll come back up here, and I’ll teach you that spell.”

“But I don’t feel like being ignored.”

“You won’t be ignored,” Bella promised her, “because Andy and I will be there. We’re your sisters, and we’ll never ignore you. We all have to stick together.”

Narcissa rushed into her arms.

Bella smiled, and lifted her sister up. She could carry her down the stairs, without her mother knowing. In her opinion, Narcissa needed more coddling, not less. And now that she was home for the summer, she would do the best she could for both Narcissa and Andromeda. They were her sisters, and she would always be there to take care of them, even when their parents weren’t.