Title: Ghost Stories Characters: Druella, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black Rating: PG Summary: All children deserve bed time stories. Notes: All my love to my dear beta and the lovely mods. Hope you enjoy, flyingharmony
Every family has stories; tales that are told over and over again, stories so old and worn that a good listener can hear where they run threadbare. These are the stories for children, to teach them the lessons that can’t be taught from a textbook.
Druella always tells her three young daughters a tale before bed.
For Bellatrix, tales of glory of her house--filled with adventure and obscure magic. Her attention is rapt as she absorbs a truth every Black knows: there is no one better.
Andromeda wants love stories. Druella tells her of Pyramus and Thisbe, Guinevere and Lancelot and hopes to dissuade too many silly notions. ‘Why should they die?’ Andromeda asks instead, then sighs at the tragedy of it all and dreams of a love that’s larger than life itself.
Narcissa always chooses one that terrifies. Druella weaves tales of wolves and Muggles and bloody chambers for her daughter, taking great satisfaction as her daughters huddle closer and closer with eyes like saucers. Hopefully, her silver flower learns that fear is something to overcome.
Druella is always sure that someone dies. In the end, the most important lesson for a Black is that every story—even your own--is a ghost story.