Author's Note:

Words written in bold letters - in the story itself - were on the list of thirty words I have to use for this entire story.

Tragedy In Waiting

Legacy

April 17th, 1951

It was an hour before dawn when Druella woke in an otherwise empty bed. She sat up in bed quickly and lit the gas lamp on her nightstand. In the gentle glow of light, she read the note her husband had left for her on his pillow.

My Dearest,

There was an emergency at work and I had to go in early.

Not to worry, I'll be back before noon for your appointment with the Healer.

Stay safe.

Much love,

Cygnus

Druella sighed. Of all the things she loved and admired about her husband, his dedication to his work was not one of them. Granted, he was one of the best new healers St. Mungo's had. And on most days Dru was quite proud of the fact that he did not rely on his family's money to survive, as her cousin had chosen to do. But he had made a promise to her not to work for the next week.

She ran her arm across her forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat that were left there from her nightmares, which had been becoming quite frequent in the past two weeks.

"Hattie," she called hoarsely, just now noticed how dry her throat was.

A house-elf no taller that her nightstand appeared beside the bed; a child's faded bathrobe wrapped around her bony frame and a bright orange handkerchief tied around her head, no doubt things she had picked up in the dozens of old trunks in the attic. She carried a tray with a bowl of water and a pot of tea.

"Master Cygnus asked Hattie to bring Mistress Druella some tea when she woke to help sooth her sore throat. Mistress was having terrible nightmares again."

"I was screaming?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The elf poured a cup of tea and placed it on the nightstand, then conjured a facecloth and soaked it in the water. After wringing it out she handed it to the woman. "For Mistress' forehead, Ma'am."

"Oh, thank you, Hattie." Druella took the cloth and began to dab at her forehead. "Could you open the window? It's boiling in here."

Hattie ran to the grand window that overlooked a lake and slid it open a bit. She returned to the bedside.

"Is there anything else Hattie can help Mistress with?"

"Yes. Help me up. I can't seem to manage on my anymore." The house-elf did as she was told and made to follow the young woman to the washroom joined to the master suite, but Druella put a hand out to stop her. "I'll be all right in there, thank you."

She quickly did her business and went to the sink to wash her hands, briefly glancing up at the mirror as she did so. The creature staring back at her did nothing to improve her mood. Druella had said goodbye to her naturally good looks when she began losing sleep several months ago. Unable to sleep, eat and with almost constant pains lately, she cared very little about her appearance nowadays, but still hated looking at her reflection.

Her silver-blonde hair that ran in her family was normally long and slightly wavy. Right now it was pulled back in a messy pony-tail. Sapphire blue eyes stared out at her with bags under them. Her pale skin appeared even paler now, and sickeningly so. She groaned and finished washing her hands quickly so she could leave the room, but once outside she was ushered back to bed by her faithful house-elf.

"I want to walk around the house a little bit," she said.

"Mistress needs her rest. Hattie doesn't want anything to happen to the baby." Druella's hands instinctively flew to her protruding stomach.

"Nothing's going to happen to the baby," she said, almost as a warning.

"Not of Mistress stays in bed, it won't. Try to sleep. Hattie will bring soup and more tea when it's time to get up." The house-elf made sure Druella was covered by the heavy blankets before popping out.

The nineteen-year-old sighed as she stared around her bedroom. She was still tired, but had no intention of trying to go to sleep. Not with the nightmares threatening to come back at any second. She took a sip of her tea, hoping it would do something to ease the pains in her back. Or maybe Hattie had dropped some potion that helped with dreamless sleeping.

No such luck.

After about fifteen minutes of lying in bed and trying to think happy thoughts while still counting crups, Druella was fed up. She sat up in bed, leaning against the headboard. Crossing her arms over her chest, she pouted.

She loved Hattie dearly. The old elf had practically raised Dru and her older sister, after all. And it was difficult for Dru not to take orders from her now, even knowing that she was legally Hattie's owner now that her parents had passed on. But difficult or not, she was not going to stay in bed any longer.

She got out of bed clumsily - having to roll more than lift her body off the mattress - and walked back to the bathroom. Usually a walk around the garden did the most to calm her, but as it was still dark out Dru didn't want to risk it. She settled for a hot bath.

Hattie returned to the master suite an hour later to check on her mistress. She found Druella lying in bed, crying and holding her stomach.

"Is everything all right?" The elf hopped over to the bed and began to dab the woman's forehead with the cloth.

"No. I think something's wrong with the baby," Dru managed to get out between sobs. "Get Cygnus. Tell him to bring the healer here. Now."

"Yes, Ma'am." Hattie popped out and returned two minutes later. "Master Cygnus is coming. He says not to worry."

When Cygnus did arrive less than ten minutes later, he immediately went to his side of the bed and held his wife's hand as his friend, a healer in the maternity ward at St. Mungo's, checked her over.

"I'm afraid you're right to be worried, Mrs. Black. Something is indeed wrong," the healer said when he was finished his examination. "I think we should get you to the hospital right now and try to deliver the baby there."

"Deliver? The baby's not due for another week," Cygnus said.

"I know, but it's not going to make it."

"All right," Druella whispered. "But no hospitals. I want it to happen here."

"Mrs. Black, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I-"

"You bring whatever you need - whoever you need - in here to help you. But I am not leaving this bed."

The healer eventually gave in and left to get his assistant and some equipment. Meanwhile, Hattie was ordered to send out the announcements they'd had ready for the past month.

Cygnus' family started arriving before the healer returned. His older sister, Walburga, was the first to knock on the door in the early morning light. She pushed past the elf as soon as the door was opened, leaving several shopping bags outside for Hattie to carry in.

She made her way into the drawing room when she noticed her brother wasn't there.

"Where's Cygnus?" she wondered, acknowledging Hattie for the first time.

"Upstairs, Ma'am."

"Well go get him," she ordered, forgetting as she usually did that Hattie was a Rosier elf, not a Black one. There was another knock at the door then. "I'll answer it. You go get him."

Walburga opened the door to her parents. Not for the first time in the past nine months, she thought it odd how young they were to be becoming grandparents. Her father, Pollux, was only thirty-nine, and her mother, Irma, was forty-two. She knew better than to bring it up again though. The last time she made a joke about it, her father commented on the fact that she was twenty-six and had yet to marry, unlike her younger brothers.

They were all taking seats in the drawing room when Cygnus came running down the stairs and into the room.

"I'm glad you came," he said, rushing over to them.

"What's going on?" his sister asked in her usual commanding voice. "I thought Druella wasn't due for another week."

"She is, but there's something wrong. The healer wants to deliver the baby tonight. He's upstairs right now, preparing everything."

"Well go be with her," Irma said. "We'll be all right down here."

"Will you see to the other guests, then? Alphard should be coming. And I've invited Druella's cousin, Simon, and his wife over as well."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of everything," she assured him. He thanked them and went back upstairs.

The three adults sat back down and sipped at the tea Hattie had brought in.

"Do you think she'll be accepting of our ways," Walburga wondered. "Training the children, I mean. I hear the Rosiers don't teach their children anything until they go to school."

"That's perfectly normal," Irma, who had been a Crabbe before marrying, told her. "My father gave me one piece of advice before I attending Hogwarts, and that was about my pronunciation. In any case, I think it's far too soon to be discussing training. We should bring it up when he's about seven; see what Druella thinks then." Walburga nodded.

"I still say seven is too late," Pollux complained. "I know that's when we decided to start the training, but my sisters and I were trained when we were five years old, and we turned out just fine." He did not mention his brother Marius, who was a squib, and the ladies did not wish to upset him by bringing it up.

"Yes," Walburga agreed. "All of my children will be trained young as well."

Pollux stared at her skeptically. "Don't you mean if you have children? You've yet to find a husband, you know."

"Yes, Father." She looked down at the carpet.

"What ever became of that nice boy you were dating. Orlando Parkinson, wasn't it?" Irma asked.

"I broke up with him. He was ... irritating." Pollux shook his head. "I mean it! He kept following me around and making dates without talking to me first. It was just annoying. He started hinting at where he'd want to go for a honeymoon and that was the last straw for me."

"Oh, Walburga," her father sighed. "I don't see why this is so hard for you. No one else in our family has ever had so many problems finding a spouse as you. For Merlin's sake, you're twenty-six. By your age I had two children in Hogwarts already!"

"Dear, calm down. Remember, you're a rare case in your family," Irma said gently.

"Yes. I was lucky to have found my bride rather early on. But look at my cousin Arcturus' daughter. She's the same age as you, Walburga, and is happily married already has two sons, and a daughter on the way! And you know, if you don't find a husband soon, I may have to follow in Arcturus' footsteps. His son, Orion, is twenty-two and having nearly as much trouble as you. Arcturus has decided to arrange a spouse for him if he doesn't find one on his own by the time he turns thirty."

There was a knock at the front door before she had a chance to reply. She jumped up from her seat and hurried to answer the door.

Alphard Black, Walburga's other brother, had arrived with his wife and several gift bags - all of which they carried in themselves.

"Has she had the baby yet?" Tiffany asked excitedly as they put the bags with all the others in the drawing room.

"I don't think so. Cygnus hasn't been down to tell us in about a half-hour," Irma told them.

"What took you so long?" Pollux wondered.

"Nothing. We just figured we'd give Cyg some time to get everything in order upstairs before we showed up." The couple sat together on the loveseat and took the tea cups Hattie offered them. "So, are we all still assuming they're having a boy, or has the possibility of it being a girl been brought up yet?"

"The subject hasn't been discussed at all."

Alphard studied his father for a moment before smiling. "You've been here for a half-hour, what have you been talking about this whole time? No, wait, let me guess. The child's training, and ..." he turned to face his sister, "Wally's lack of a husband. Am I correct?"

"While we're on the subject of children," Irma said. "When, by chance, will I be receiving a grandchild from the two of you?"

"Mum, I really don't think now's the time for this," he sighed. "Today's supposed to be about Cyg and Dru and the baby, not Tiff and I."

"No, your mother's quite right. You have been married for two years now-"

"Two and a half. But, Dad, we're only twenty-four. There's still plenty of time for us to have kids."

"Alphard, have you taken notice of the family tree lately? Have you noticed how bare it is? Our line of the Black family is dying out and I fear we're the only ones left that are able to change that. My cousins, Lycoris and Regulus, never married. They're both in their late forties now, so there's no hope for them. And Arcturus had only one son, and he's well on his way to being a bachelor for life as well!"

"Okay, Dad, okay. Why don't we just enjoy the rest of our morning and talk about this later?"

-Later-

Druella's low moans echoed throughout the master suite, but never made it down to the guests. Cygnus made sure Hattie put a silencing spell on the room. The elf was now assigned to assisting Healer Pike while Cygnus worked to keep his wife calm.

Pike had given Druella several potions an hour earlier that were meant to speed up a delivery in the case of an emergency. So far it had been doing it's job. Unfortunately it would counteract whatever pain relieving potion he could think to give her.

"Almost there, Mrs. Black. Just one more push ... yes!" Pike carefully held the baby with one hand and took his wand from Hattie with the other. He waved the wand twice over the infant. Once to allow it to breath, and another to cut the umbilical cord. The baby's wail filled the room and Pike smiled. It most likely would have meant the end of his career if it didn't survive. He quickly wrapped it in a towel and handed it to it's mother. "Congratulations, you have a daughter."

"Oh, she's beautiful," Druella cooed, touching the baby's cheek. "She has your hair too." Cygnus smiled as he noticed that the baby did indeed have several tufts of black hair.

"Is she healthy?" he asked Pike, who had started running diagnostic spells over the mother and child.

"Everything appears to be fine - with both of them." The healer looked down at Hattie. "Do you have any experience caring for an infant?"

"Oh, yes, sir. Hattie took care of Mistress Druella and her sister when they was babies." The elf nodded proudly.

"Good, good." Pike turned back to the young parents. "Hattie will help you now. If you have any problems or concerns though, feel free to owl me." They thanked him and he gathered his things and disapparated.

"What are we going to call her? We never really decided," Cygnus said.

"We could name her after your mother," she suggested. "I know how your family likes to reuse names a lot."

"Only with men," he corrected. "What about your mother? Zaria Black."

"Maybe for the middle name."

"All right. Well, we do tend to do stars and constellations a bit."

Druella thought for a moment. "Hattie, will you fetch my astronomy book, please?" The elf popped out and returned a minute later with the book. Druella carefully handed the baby to her husband and accepted the book. "Thank you. Now, let's see. There's Altaira."

"Nice, but no."

"Zona ... no. Maya?"

"No."

"Oh, what about Calista?"

Cygnus groaned. "We're going to be here for a while, aren't we?"

Downstairs, Druella's cousin Simon had only just arrived with his wife Francine. So far he had taken to talking with Pollux about the bloodlines, and annoying the other guests while at it.

"Well, it doesn't really matter whether or not Dru has a son. For me, I mean. Technically speaking, I'm the last Rosier. I've inherited everything except this manor here."

"And why is that?" Irma asked.

"I suppose my uncle felt bad for Dru. Her sister died years ago of disease, so she was in line to inherit the manor anyway. But it is tradition in our family that everything of importance - such at property - be left to the first male heir to distribute to the rest of the family, should he not want to keep it. But what with Dru being engaged at the time - and evidently not receiving any property from your line..."

"That's not exactly true. We offered to let them stay in the house-" Pollux began before Alphard cut him off.

"With you and mum and Wally? Dad, you'd scare her away before they even reached their first anniversary. Why do you think I turned you down when Tiff and I got married?"

Cygnus came in then, saving Pollux from coming up with a snide remark.

"You can all come upstairs now."

He led them all into the master suite, which had more than enough room to accommodate them. He joined Druella on the bed. Hattie had put some charms on her while he's been down stairs. Her hair was down now, gently wavy and shiny. The bags under her eyes were temporarily gone, and she didn't look as pale as she had in past months. The baby had been put into a light pink sleeper with a matching blanket wrapped around her.

"A girl?" Pollux said, a hint of disappointment creeping into his voice. Irma lightly tapped his foot with her own.

"Looks like we'll have to leave it to cousin Orion to have all the boys, eh, Dad?" Alphard muttered to him with a grin.

"What's her name, Dru?" Simon asked.

"Bellatrix Zaria Black."

Pollux smiled slightly and nodded. The name, at least, he approved of.

Author's Note:

So that's the first chapter. Incredibly late and subject to change as soon as my beta (Kashy) gets back to me. I just wanted to get this up quickly to show everybody that I have not ditched the challenge. Anyway, I know it's not totally about Bellatrix, but wanted to start the story with her birth, and at least this gives some insight into her family. Next chappy will feature more of her, I promise. ;)

Review, review, review! Pleeeease!

-Lizzy